The Vine with Joe & Katie Devine
As branches of the same divine Vine, we embrace the power of community and the guidance of faith, aiming to inspire and uplift our listeners as we collectively journey toward greater understanding and connection. Welcome to a space where vulnerability meets wisdom and where, together, we discover the beauty of being intertwined in the vine of life.
The Vine with Joe & Katie Devine
It's Fine, My Car Has Autopilot: Complacency and Why It Will Wreck You
What happens when life’s everyday hurdles, like perfecting sourdough on a rainy day, turn into profound reflections? Join us as we share candid moments of laughter and vulnerability, from Joe's tears over heartwarming dog documentaries to Katie's ongoing quest to master the perfect loaf of bread. Our conversation navigates the emotional highs and lows that shape our days, all while keeping humor and gratitude at the forefront, even when it means breaking into a spontaneous sing-along.
Ever found yourself cruising through life on autopilot and missing out on the meaningful connections around you? We dive into the importance of staying actively engaged in our relationships and spiritual journeys. Through personal stories of infertility and the unexpected community support it brought, and the joy sparked by a Ravens’ win or a spiritual reset at confession, we explore how surrender and connection bring strength. Inspired by Brandon Sanderson's wisdom, we reflect on acknowledging failures and embracing growth, particularly in the context of marriage and life's commitments.
Explore the powerful theme of faith in action, illuminated by the biblical story of Elijah and the widow. This episode challenges complacency, urging us to embrace active participation in our spiritual and personal growth. From quirky discussions on Daylight Savings Time and its unexpected bug-related origins to the call for continuous development inspired by St. Therese, we remind each other to stay safe, keep growing, and find joy even amid life’s complexities.
An exclusive from Dery Media Podcasts. Explore diverse perspectives and enrich your knowledge at derymedia.com. Telling stories that matter, sparking meaningful discussions.
And we're back people.
Speaker 2:I'm not gonna lie. So we've recorded. I mean, we say, I feel like we say this every time, but we've recorded this intro a couple times and I almost-.
Speaker 1:I haven't changed, I haven't wavered it. I know you haven't changed it.
Speaker 2:I really wanted to like give you the cue to start and then just be like we're back and take it from you.
Speaker 1:You should have done it, I know.
Speaker 2:I would have laughed, I know. So now, everyone's devoid of joy. I did not make that choice. I'm Joe Devine and this is my wife.
Speaker 1:Katie, katie Devine.
Speaker 2:And this is the Vine Podcast. Welcome back everybody.
Speaker 1:We are back and, better than ever, an incredible accent right off the bat. Yeah, it was better.
Speaker 2:the first time I said it. I still don't know what accent that is, are you? Like trying to be like Upper East Side Manhattan or something.
Speaker 1:I don't know. I just wanted to be different.
Speaker 2:And it was great.
Speaker 1:Sometimes I just want to be different.
Speaker 2:You know who doesn't want to be a little bit different. I'm starting to tear up about it actually see katie's making fun of me because I tear up frequently. Okay, what do you want from me? We were, we were watching. Well, we'll talk about the one thing that made me tear up, because it's going to be a part of the podcast later, but I feel like, weren't we watching a movie very recently?
Speaker 1:yes, what movie was it?
Speaker 2:it was a very dumb movie and it was a great great one of my movies.
Speaker 1:It honestly I thought was like, and you were just like uninvolved, until suddenly you were very involved was it that teen movie, the, not um the? Time hop or whatever. I don't know something. No, it was the dog. We were watching the dog documentary yesterday oh yes, it was the dog documentary yeah, if you it's on Netflix we are guys. If you haven't watched it, you should.
Speaker 2:It'll make you emotional they're just such good dogs. And one of the dogs looked like our dog and we were like, wow, what a life clearly we are a little obsessed.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes.
Speaker 2:So, Katie, not how are you, because that would be the wrong question. What were your pit and peak of this week.
Speaker 1:Wow, I think my pit is actually kind of today.
Speaker 2:Wow, yay Wow.
Speaker 1:Yay, sorry, I just if you know me and you follow me on Instagram, you know I've been going on this really long bread making journey.
Speaker 2:Okay, it's literally been like the hobbit.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like a true journey.
Speaker 1:And I just have had peaks and valleys, more valleys than peaks. I've had a couple peaks lately, so I've just been really excited because I'm like actually making like edible bread.
Speaker 2:It's been very good, by the way. I've enjoyed it.
Speaker 1:And then today, and it just takes a toll on your mental health because if you know how to make sourdough bread, it takes over a day. So it's just like a lot of time and energy and a lot of flour a lot of flour and a lot of ingredients and when it doesn't work out, it just really you just feel so defeated. And today it wasn't working out that well and I like started a loaf yesterday and then this morning it should have like risen and it was like super doughy and wet and just not.
Speaker 2:It was not it.
Speaker 1:It was not. It it's still. I'm still trying to save it, but I still don't have a lot of hope in it. And then I made another dough that was just like a quick yeast dough that doesn't take 24 hours, because I just didn't have the patience and anyways, that that one did work a little bit, but it still wasn't the best. And it's just like a rainy, a rainy sad day and I've been a little bit mean to you, so I'm sorry you it well, first of all, thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you for saying that. You have not been that mean to me yeah, well, thanks I'm thank you for for apologizing. I will always accept an apology.
Speaker 1:You know, you just get kind of grouchy and I'm just feeling a bit like a grump.
Speaker 2:I get grouchy, no me, oh, okay, yeah. Sorry that came off the wrong way you said you know, you just get a little bit grouchy.
Speaker 1:Sorry, I mean I was speaking in second person.
Speaker 2:Yes, I love you. Sometimes you do get a little grouchy, especially if seasonal depression is a real thing for you, yeah, and it's just been so dark outside, I don't know.
Speaker 1:I just I need some sunshine in my heart.
Speaker 2:You do need just a little sunshine. Just I got a pocket.
Speaker 1:Got a pocket full of sunshine.
Speaker 2:Royalties.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but we are singing it.
Speaker 2:we're not the artist that's saying that song, so I think it's okay I thought that that was the exact reason we couldn't use the song because we didn't sing it I don't know sue us yeah, get after us, whatever music label owns.
Speaker 1:I got a pocket full of sunshine um, my peak was, I think, I think, releasing our last or not the last podcast, or the podcast, before just sharing, like our infertility journey.
Speaker 2:Look at you using the word.
Speaker 1:What, oh infertility? Yes, really, you're gonna make me say it again.
Speaker 2:No, I didn't make you. You decided to.
Speaker 1:But sharing. That was just. We got a lot of good feedback and like encouraging feedback.
Speaker 2:And a lot of people reached out to us and that was.
Speaker 1:It was just really nice because it was like you know you don't want that attention, but you do does that make sense like you want someone to reach out to you but you don't want to ask for help and it has been.
Speaker 1:um, it was just very comforting that week that we released it just the amount of people that reached out and we we're either like we're praying for you or we're also walking this journey with you. A lot of people that said that and I don't know. Just the acknowledgement was really special and I think I really spoke on how I wanted my treasure which is that is kind of a treasure to us to be received well.
Speaker 1:I felt like it was, and I felt like that was just like God's way of teaching us how to surrender in a different way.
Speaker 2:Just winners. That's what we were. We were winners through that podcast.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so thank you for listening and thanks for those of you that reached out to us. We love you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:All right, what about you?
Speaker 2:So I have a quick two-parter for my peak this past week. Um, oh, rhyming um, I would say so. The ravens won a very close game on thursday night and that was very good for my heart uh, very good for my mental health. Our marriage yes, very good for our marriage um just overall, just a very good thing when the ravens win, um, and then I would say the same day the Ravens won. I went to confession because of course you have to, because you don't want to have bad juju on your team.
Speaker 1:We are not saying that's how you have to do things. That is exactly how you have to do things.
Speaker 2:I've spoken with many devout Catholics who are also devout football fans and we have all agreed this is a must. But so, anyway, I went to Confession. I was right outside of Charlotte while I was traveling and I found this app that like shows you where confessions are and mass times around you, and I saw Confession Time that like worked with my schedule, which was kind of awesome, because who has confession on a Thursday morning at like 1030? So I was able to go and they actually were praying I think it's Lodz, which is morning prayer, right.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Yes, I got the approval from Katie.
Speaker 1:Yes, I think so. Now I'm scared, I'm wrong.
Speaker 2:So they were praying Lodz and it was just really nice because I was not expecting it. I was kind of expecting just to like pop in, go to confession and then kind of get back to my day. But it was kind of a nice reset. Like I think, you know, if you work kind of a standard nine to five which I guess I don't really but you know, during your day a lot of times it's just spent working and you know, a lot of times like lunch is kind of your reset.
Speaker 2:Or I know a lot of people who they'll actually like work out in, they'll do something to like break their day up. And usually it's like a physical thing where it's like, oh, I just need to get moving again. But to do it spiritually, like you know, my day was kind of already halfway through and I had like a little break in there where it was like a spiritual reset for the day. Now it doesn't always have to be as intense as like praying lauds in a church and then going to confession, but it was really nice and it like really gave me a boost for the rest of that day and it was nice. It was really something I enjoyed so and it gave me all of the good energy and the blessings from the Lord that I needed to have the Ravens win, so it was perfect. And then I would say, my pit. I kind of agree with you that today, for some reason, is just.
Speaker 1:Because I've been mean to you. It's not that you've been mean, it's me. I'm a bully.
Speaker 2:You're not a bully. It is not you bullying me, but it has. I think it is just something like it's the first cold rainy day. There's something about those like cold rainy days where, like you just don't want to do anything and I think it just kind of gets in your in your mind, where it's like it'd just be so much easier to do nothing. Right, it'd be like for us it'd be a lot easier to, you know, not record this podcast and to not, you know, have youth group later tonight and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:But I think um but then we would get more depressed sitting around doing nothing, like it's such an internal battle.
Speaker 2:It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you're like oh well, I'm just lazy and I want to do nothing, and that's what's making me sad. So I'm going to continue to be lazy and do nothing. Like come on, we're better than this people.
Speaker 1:Okay, are you ready to jump into the topic? I am ready to jump into the topic, so I'm going to set the scene for everybody, so that this is just how we're going to introduce the topic what a storyteller okay, I'm going to set the scene um. Pretend you're me passenger, princess in the passenger seat, driving ultimate, ultimate passenger princess.
Speaker 2:Now I like to drive, but I would say I think in the 11 years we've been together, I can probably count on two hands how many times you've driven that's probably fair. I know how to drive, though, and I'm so I do know how to drive I promise okay for any of those who doubted okay, setting the scene again you or me, passenger princess in a truck on an interstate in the left lane. We are driving 80 miles an hour, 81.
Speaker 1:80 miles per hour, sorry, and we're just sitting in silence. And then all of a sudden the car goes to the left and then Joe's fancy little truck autocorrects right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it does. I mean we don't have videos, uh, but katie is demonstrating what the steering wheel is doing.
Speaker 1:I can only I, I have to like do the whole.
Speaker 2:I have to do the whole thing okay yeah, so again the truck veers a little bit to the left and then we're like, and then it auto corrects and it auto corrects right, right back to the lane, and it happens a couple of times.
Speaker 1:And then at this point, I'm a very anxious driver and rider. I'm like joe, put your hands on the wheel and you're like hang on.
Speaker 2:I did have my hands on the wheel, but sometimes you don't, you sometimes I'm taking a sip of a delicious coke. Zero. If they want to sponsor us, I would.
Speaker 1:I would love that, but yes yeah, or you just barely have your hand in the wheel at the bottom, okay yeah and so we just keep back to the back to the lane, and I'm like, hey, like you've got, you've got to put your hands on the wheel, and then you respond with it's fine, I have autopilot and it's not really autopilot.
Speaker 2:It's like the I don't know, it's like the cruise control. That's corrective. So, like on the highway, it'll keep you at the speed you want or within a distance of the car in front of you, and then it will turn for you as well.
Speaker 1:Correct, which I feel like a lot of cars have nowadays, including mine. Okay, but anyways, that is how we came up with this title, which is it's fine, my car has autopilot yes anyways, now it's your turn.
Speaker 2:I just I wanted to be able to like, I wanted to act it out, so you have to explain it now so I think it would help to have the other piece of the title, which is it's fine, my car has autopilot complacency and why it will wreck you. Um, and I think that the this literally like after katie yelled at me for not driving, she essentially, immediately afterwards, was like this is a great podcast idea. Um, and it is true, because I think in our lives, especially, um, my mom, you know, katie and I always like to do new things and like we're really motivated by large goals and so we're always looking for large, the next large goal me especially. And so, like my hardest times are when I'm bored, and I feel like when I'm bored, I just tend to put myself on autopilot, which can be really easy.
Speaker 2:And when you're in those times of boredom, if you're just on autopilot, you're just kind of frankly, a lot of times you're just not involved in your own life, if that makes sense. I feel like there've been large chunks of my life where I've just been doing, you know, like the same thing over and over again, where it's like oh, tuesday I'll leave for travel, I'll get home on Thursday, friday, katie and I will go out to dinner, saturday we do chores around the house and Sunday we watch church and not watch church. We go to church, watch football and then, you know, go to youth group, and then that's like six weeks in a row?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it's really easy to just honestly speaking of movies that make me very emotional. If you've ever seen the movie Click Katie, have you seen the movie Click?
Speaker 1:Probably not.
Speaker 2:Okay, so it's an Adam Sandler movie from like 2006 or so? Wait, maybe, I don't know. So it's an Adam Sandler movie from like 2006 or so, wait, maybe, I don't know, it's an older Adam Sandler movie.
Speaker 1:Does he like click a remote? Yes, and then it does something.
Speaker 2:What a one-to-one representation of the movie click we had from Katie there. So in the movie he like fast forwards through his life whenever he encounters like any problems and the remote. It like it's like an early version of ai. The remote learns when he's fast forwarding and so it begins to fast forward for him and then all of a sudden he's like an old man and like he never developed a relationship with his kids and you know his marriage went to, you know, sham or shambles or whatever.
Speaker 1:Doo doo.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly that's exactly what it went to, and it's just this idea that he was just fast forwarding through his life and he was missing these key moments around him because, ultimately, he was just bored or trying to move on. And I think that that type of complacency is really dangerous, especially in your faith life. One of our favorite verses and forgive us if we have used it before on the podcast, but it is 316, not of John, but of Revelations. So because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
Speaker 1:And this is like a favorite verse, not because it's like warm and cuddly and fuzzy feeling type verse it's like it's like a call you out verse.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And I think about this quote, this verse, and I think about, like you know, it makes so much more sense because I feel like the hardest people to reach are those that are just comfortable in their faith life, and I feel like it's really relevant to. I mean, if we're being completely transparent, I feel like it's really relevant to the season that we're in as we've explained.
Speaker 1:You know we've we've shared our journey and it's really hard when you want something to um move from where you are and whatever that want is, it's not happening. It's hard to move because you want to be prepared, you want to be ready for whatever that happens. But what if that's not what God is calling you to do in this moment? Because clearly it's not for us and I think we struggle a a lot with this because we I mean, I'm like the queen of being over prepared for everything.
Speaker 1:I mean I literally I went part time over a year ago in anticipation of starting a family. I we like we had budgets that we were trying to maintain and keep up with. We're like like we want to save this amount of money before we have a baby and whatever like you, just like you don't like feeling unprepared yeah, yeah, absolutely and obviously, like we're as prepared as we can be now.
Speaker 1:We're just sitting and we're waiting and it's. It's all part of the process, but it's so easy to just get comfortable with where we are and it's scary to think maybe we need to change the direction.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think, like backtracking just a little bit, one of the things my mom has told us many times is sometimes you're just in a period of your life where it's kind of boring, you know, and sometimes again going back to waiting versus hoping. Sometimes you are just waiting right, and so how do you use, utilize the best of that time? I think is really important, because if you go on autopilot and one of the things we didn't mention is it there is a fear that, like all of a sudden, when you're on autopilot, if you're not paying attention, if somebody slams on the brakes in front of you, sure the car should stop, but what if it doesn't?
Speaker 1:Remember that actually happened, that literally happened to you while we were driving. One time, like remember we were on the interstate and again you want me to act it out again. Perfect.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:And it just kept going left, and we're so used to it, correcting it and going back into the lane, and it didn't that time. And I remember you were like, oh my gosh, like normally it corrects it. And I'm like, well, that is why you keep your hands on the wheel, people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yes, Well, and I think again too, you know, ultimately we are our whole lives were on a true journey, right, and we are supposed to be walking on the road into heaven, right, running the race, and if we're on autopilot, we just miss all these super important things. We miss, you know, the development of a true relationship with God. We miss the friends or the family members who are calling for our help. You know, we miss the even, honestly, sometimes, the yearning within our soul to go deeper. Right, we're just kind of again, we're just numb to it all um, and there's a really cool quote kind of, about the idea of being on a journey, um, that I actually read to katie last night. It is from a book. Yes, I did tear up when I read it Because it if you, especially if you read the whole book series.
Speaker 1:it's funny because Joe was like reading me this quote. It's a lot longer than one sentence, but when he started reading it to me yesterday I thought it was just one sentence, because I couldn't get through it. And I was like that's why you're so emotional, but you can now share that quote.
Speaker 2:I might not be able to get through it.
Speaker 2:So this is from a book called Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. Shout out to anybody who loves the Cosmere, which is a fantasy series. If you haven't read it, please read it. They're incredible books. They are pretty big, but anyway, this is written by one of the main characters and he's writing a book kind of like to the world, and the preface of the book is this the most important words a man can say are I will do better. These are not the most important words any man can say. I'm a man and they are what I needed to say.
Speaker 2:The ancient code of the Knights Radiant says journey before destination. Some may call it a simple platitude, but it is far more. A journey will have pain and failure. It is not only the steps forward that we must accept. It is the stumbles, the trials, the knowledge that we will fail, that we will hurt those around us. But if we stop, if we accept the person we are, when we fall, journey ends. That failure becomes our destination. To love the journey is to accept no such end. I have found through painful experience that the most important step a person can take is always the next one. I, I made it through. I made it through, you did you?
Speaker 1:did, and it's such a good quote, but the the sentence that you said yesterday before you started crying was the most important words a man can say are I will do better, and then just starts crying and I was like that's it what did you do?
Speaker 2:like what did I do? But so what? Again? We're talking about the idea of autopilot and how that's dangerous. If you read that quote, that does not sound like someone who is on autopilot in their journey of life, but what kind of stands out to you?
Speaker 1:I just love like the acknowledgement of failure.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Because we will fail.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And what kind of brought this topic up to us recently is just thinking and reflecting like on our marriage?
Speaker 1:Yes, as we do often, apparently, and my sister and her uh, second and fourth, uh, monday of every month, yeah, first and third, whatever it is yeah, my sister and her fiance are getting married this saturday, which is so, but something that we've loved doing with them is just like diving into like the meaning of marriage. Obviously we're experts, you know three. And just like diving into like the meaning of marriage obviously we're experts, you know three.
Speaker 1:And a half years into this course, and multiple podcasts at this point credible resources right here, um, but just like having that back and forth conversation with them, like they are in the engagement era. They've been prepping and preparing for this. We've been married for a couple years now, so be able to kind of sit down and like bring our brain cells together.
Speaker 2:All two of them.
Speaker 1:And have these conversations, it's been like bringing a lot to the surface, and I think the acknowledgement of your failures as a human being is just so important, not only to your identity as a person, but to your marriage, to all of your relationships, and the more that you, I think, as a people, pleaser myself, I don't want people to know I'm struggling because I don't want to be that burden on them, so instead I won't. I will either A not say anything or B kind of deny it, and the more I deny it out loud, I'm also denying it internally, and so then I don't even recognize that that's a fault of mine.
Speaker 2:Does that make sense?
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely so kind of in a meek way. I'm trying to not bring the attention onto myself, but by doing so I feel like it's a cowardly thing.
Speaker 2:You know, yeah, no, I.
Speaker 1:I'm not owning up to it. I'm not owning up to the fact that this is something that I struggle with, or I'm scared of failing, so I don't even want to try, or I won't take that next step because I don't want to fail. And that is the worst possible place that you could be in.
Speaker 2:That is the lukewarm that you would be spit out for To be afraid of again the next step. Right, because never is anybody in the bible yelled. You know I mean yo, that's a strong word, and never is also a strong word. Frequently in the bible it's not the people who failed and then got back up that are, you know, chided and are reprimanded, it's the people who fell and did not get back up.
Speaker 1:Right. What if I told you the failures that you've had in life. That is what makes you beautiful. That is what makes you who you are. I love that it says. But if we stop, if we accept the person we are, when we fail, the journey ends, that failure becomes our destination. But to love the journey is to accept no journey ends that failure becomes our destination. But to love the journey is to accept no such end Like that is so good.
Speaker 2:It's a great quote.
Speaker 1:It's such a good quote and I see that in a lot of you know, I see that a lot in my patients too. Like your health is all mental too, like it is a mental battle just as much as it is a physical battle. So I see the people that are holding on to the journey, seeing the beauty in this journey, and then I see the people that have just accepted the failure and I see them physically deteriorate like it's not just it's, it's not just our physical well-being, like it, your mental health matters.
Speaker 2:like your spiritual nourishment matters no 100 and I? It makes me even think about imagine if peter had not told god he loves him three times after denying him three times. You know, yeah, like again, one of the other quotes that I love is we will hurt those around us, right, like that's. You know, that's Like we, especially the people we care the most about, we will hurt them. And Peter, in a very intimate way, hurt Christ right, literally denied him, you know, saying while Christ is experiencing one of the most painful things imaginable, peter turned his back right, but he did not give up his journey there, right, and then it led him to become, you know, the first Holy Father, the first Pope, right, and that's like such an inspiration to us.
Speaker 2:And I think what's interesting is like on our journey of life, right, if we're on autopilot, sometimes we miss what's around us and we miss some of the, I'll say like the beautiful side roads, right, like oftentimes I'm driving up through, you know, the Appalachian mountains and when I'm on autopilot I'm not paying attention to, honestly, the beautiful scenery that's around me. And I think what's fun is sometimes God does and Katie said this when we were kind of outlining this episode God gives us little side quests right. So what do you want to speak on that a little bit more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, you got it. There is a. So we went today's Sunday and we had gotten back, we went to mass this morning and the first reading just kind of stood out to us, and it's 1 Kings 17.
Speaker 2:Not only because you make bread.
Speaker 1:Oh funny. Now, everything that I like, everything I do revolves around bread, my conversations, everything everything anyways, um first king 17, 10 through 16. Let's see if I can read this through. In those days, elijah the prophet went to zarephath as he. Are you going to correct me?
Speaker 2:no, you were right.
Speaker 1:I was going to say better than I would have done as, as he arrived at the entrance of the city, a widow was gathering sticks there. He called out to her please bring me a small cup full of water to drink. She left to get it and he called out after her please bring along a bit of bread. She answered as the Lord, your God, lives, I have nothing baked. There is only a handful of flour in my jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now I was collecting a couple of sticks to go in and prepare something for myself and my son. When we have eaten it, we shall die.
Speaker 1:Elijah said to her Do not be afraid, go and do as you propose, but first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Then you can prepare something for yourself and your son. For the Lord, the god of israel, says the jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the lord sends rain upon the earth. She, she left and did as elijah had said. She was able to eat for a year, and he and she, and her son as well. The jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, as the Lord had foretold through Elijah.
Speaker 2:Love it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, such a good verse. And I was just like, obviously what stood out to me the most is that first in there that says do not be afraid, go and do as you propose, but first make me a little cake and bring it to me, for the Lord. The God of Israel says the jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry. And that just hit me, because I think that's a lot of where complacency comes into place, like okay, I, I have this much flour, I have this much oil. How can I make this last for as long as I need?
Speaker 1:yeah and and there's no room to take any risks, because your lives are literally on the line you and your family and so I understand the temptation of complacency, but it's funny, like when you were at that, at your wits end and you don't know what to do, you barely feed your family and you ask God for help. God says, okay, well, actually I need you to make that loaf of bread and give it to me. And I just find that so funny because I feel like that happens so often and that's kind of where the side quest came in, like it's like God was like actually I know you wanted to do this, but let's do this first.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And often it doesn't make sense Like well, that doesn't really make sense. I don't. Not only do I not have the resources for it, but I literally like we're going to die without this food.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And so I just find it fascinating that God was like do this, but trust that I will provide you more and your jar will not run dry.
Speaker 2:You are not a big video game player, which is shock to the world. But one of the interesting things which I thought was funny, you used the word side quest. In a lot of big story based video games You've got the main plot like the main you know journey that you're going on for the game, but then you also have to complete side quests. But the side quests usually are all optional, meaning you don't have to do them. But if you do the side quests, they oftentimes will give you like really good rewards that make your main quest a lot easier. Right, they'll give you better weapons or, you know, like a new partner or something like that. So the more side quests you do, the better prepared you are for the true journey. And I think it's very similar, honestly, in our own lives, because the more you go off on some of these small side quests where you feel like God is pulling you, maybe off of, you know, the path you thought you had set, oftentimes he's preparing you in a way for something that could be to come right.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:The other reason I really love this verse is I think it just continues a trend and I'm pretty sure we've talked about this on previous episodes, but it continues the trend of, I feel like a lot of times in the Old Testament and when Jesus ministers to people in the New Testament, it kind of follows a very similar pattern, right? So the prophet or Christ will enter into a town or they'll enter into someone's life and they will be the first person to speak to this. You know the non-prophet or Christ character, right? So, for instance, in this story, elijah speaks to the widow first. So, for instance, in this story, elijah speaks to the widow first.
Speaker 2:And I think in our lives we don't realize it, but God is oftentimes the first one to actually show himself to us, right? And what's interesting is, something is then asked of the widow in this story, but oftentimes, in a lot of these stories, something is asked of the main character. An action needs to be performed, right and end. They all require a little bit of faith, right? This woman, literally, was going to eat her the last of her bread and then she was going to starve to death and die that that and she accepted it and elijah was like hey, can you please make me a loaf of bread?
Speaker 2:I'm a little bit hungry. And she had faith and did and she was rewarded. And I think one of the things that is good to you know state here and Father Longenecker at Mass this morning said it as well it doesn't always mean that you're going to be rewarded in the way that you think. Right, just because you gave your last loaf of bread does not mean you're going to have, excuse me, 400 loaves of bread, you know, the next day, but it's. You will be provided for, whether spiritually, physically, monetarily. When you do give and you give into that action, god does reciprocate it.
Speaker 1:And I think that's a beautiful thing. Well, and I also feel like you know, people think like we're offering these sacrifices to the Lord, but because he like needs it, but he doesn't Like, he doesn't, he doesn't need our money.
Speaker 1:He doesn't need that extra loaf of bread, he doesn't. He doesn't actually need that. And I think what he's instilling in us you know from our experience like it's that action, that willingness to give of ourselves is what sanctifies you. And then, the more that you do that, the more it becomes natural and and I, I like, I'm grateful for those opportunities to practice that, and this is something that your mom has told you multiple times and you tell me all the time, like when you are asking God for these certain virtues, these virtues of patience, these virtues of courage, whatever it may be, god doesn't just give you courage, he doesn't just give you patience, he gives you opportunities to be patient. Or he gives you opportunities to be patient or he gives you opportunities to be courageous. And yes, that's something that I've, you know, you've instilled into me as well and like has been really important to our marriage, because you can't just be a good wife, you can't just be a good husband you, um, you have to practice it.
Speaker 1:You have to practice it. You have to take the opportunities to prove your love to one another.
Speaker 2:Desire alone is not strong enough to develop a faith or a relationship. It's just not.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, pardon the doggies in the background.
Speaker 2:They just want to say hello yeah they just want to be on the podcast. Maybe one day, guys, maybe. But again, that's the. They just want to be on the podcast. Maybe one day, guys, maybe. But again that's back to the lukewarm thing, right? It's easy to desire a relationship with God. Honestly. It's easy to say, like well, if there's an ultimate being who created everything and is all loving and all good, yes, I would like to have a good relationship. It's significantly harder to actually do it right relationship. It's significantly harder to actually do it right. Autopilot is desiring things, but actually driving, actually being the person on your journey that, to me, is what we're called to do.
Speaker 1:And acknowledging when you mess up 100% when you're not doing enough, when you are being lukewarm and just simply like that simple prayer of like God, like, enter into my heart, show me what to do, help me to grow Like he will give you the opportunity to do that. Yeah, like it's just, it is. It is such a tough thing. I think that like we grapple with, because I feel like complacency is the sin for the like, the mediocre, faithful man, you know, yeah, it's, it's the sin for someone who has developed a little bit, maybe in their faith. And that's enough for them.
Speaker 2:Yes, and that's enough, and it should never be enough.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you should always be growing and wanting to grow, because there's more God to experience. Absolutely.
Speaker 2:You know, like there is so much more God than we could ever even begin to comprehend, and we should want to try to get our closest to experience all of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, one of my favorite quotes I'm going to butcher it because I don't have it in front of me but St Therese, she said that when she dies, she's going to do the most amazing work in heaven. And she died at such a young age yeah, I don't know what, in her 20s or something. She was young.
Speaker 1:She was very young and she did an amazing work on her lifetime here on earth. And for her to say like oh, I know I'm gonna do even greater work in heaven. Um, like that, there's so much god to experience like it's's not just just the God we experience here on earth.
Speaker 2:So we'll leave you again. Um, just cause I'm selfish and I just love this quote, so I'm going to leave you again with a little piece of it. Um, some may call it a simple platitude, but it is far more. A journey will have pain and failure. It is not only the steps forward that we must accept, it is the only the steps forward that we must accept. It is the stumbles, the trials, the knowledge that we will fail, that we will hurt those around us. But if we stop, if we accept the person who we are, when we fall, the journey ends. That failure becomes our destination. To love the journey is to accept no such end. I have found through painful experience that the most important step a person can take is always the next one.
Speaker 1:Nice.
Speaker 2:So our marriage meeting is going to be very quick. It's a pretty easy one. Katie, what just happened last weekend that a lot of people gripe about, do you have any idea? It is not anything to do with the country. It's more to do with our day-to-day. Something happened in between Saturday and Sunday last weekend.
Speaker 1:It was the monkeys.
Speaker 2:It is not the monkeys that escaped captivity in South Carolina. We got an extra what last weekend? It happens at nighttime.
Speaker 1:Oh, an extra hour.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, so I don't know if you knew this and this is just a fun little fact. So everybody, like I, always kind of thought daylight savings time was like good for farmers and they really liked it because it was more daylight and Benjamin Franklin had mentioned it. But it turns out now this is just with somebody told me this and this is with a little Wikipedia research, so I could be wrong, but Daylight Saving Time actually is from a New Zealand entomologist, which is a guy who studies bugs named George Hudson, and he proposed it because he wanted more time in the afternoon after he was like working his day job. He wanted more light so that he could go hunt bugs how true is that?
Speaker 2:it's he. He was literally the first person to like truly propose daylight savings time and that he literally said that was his reasoning for it this would be be a fun debate topic.
Speaker 1:I wonder what the people think.
Speaker 2:About Daylight.
Speaker 1:Savings Time.
Speaker 2:Most people do not like it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I just want to know what do you think about Daylight Savings Time. Right now I'm not a fan, Especially since we both had a grumpy, dark day, a gloomy day.
Speaker 2:Well, there's your little factoid, there's our marriage meeting. So bugs are the reason we have daylight savings time.
Speaker 1:I could have gone without knowing that. Okay, wow.
Speaker 2:She's still grumpy everyone.
Speaker 1:Wow Well, thanks for joining guys.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Another fun conversation.
Speaker 1:Remember keep your hands on the wheel, Don't rely on autopilot.
Speaker 2:Unless you're me all the time.
Speaker 1:I don't want to know that you do that, and let's keep growing together.
Speaker 2:Bye, y'all Bye, thank you.