{"id":302064,"date":"2010-06-24T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-06-24T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/walking-by-faith-not-by-sight-part-1\/"},"modified":"2010-06-24T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-06-24T15:00:00","slug":"walking-by-faith-not-by-sight-part-1","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/walking-by-faith-not-by-sight-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Walking by Faith, Not by Sight, Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When teenager Jennifer Rothschild started having trouble seeing, she thought she needed new glasses; she was shocked to discover she would need to adapt to life as a woman permanently blind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2010-06-24.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"26.46M","filesize_raw":"27748720","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2822],"tags":[4932,2605,2216],"podcast_series":[7738],"cwp_profile":[3521],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-302064","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growing-in-your-faith","tag-difficulty","tag-sickness","tag-suffering","podcast_series-walking-by-faith-not-by-sight","cwp_profile-jennifer-rothschild","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/302064\/walking-by-faith-not-by-sight-part-1","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/302064\/walking-by-faith-not-by-sight-part-1","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"qfeDufrkdR\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/walking-by-faith-not-by-sight-part-1\/\">Walking by Faith, Not by Sight, Part 1<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/walking-by-faith-not-by-sight-part-1\/embed\/#?secret=qfeDufrkdR\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Walking by Faith, Not by Sight, Part 1&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"qfeDufrkdR\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"When teenager Jennifer Rothschild started having trouble seeing, she thought she needed new glasses; she was shocked to discover she would need to adapt to life as a woman permanently blind.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2010-06-24.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jennifer:<\/strong>\u00a0 This is not what I expected to hear that day.\u00a0 Blindness is one of those words we just don\u2019t <em>ever<\/em> expect to hear.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(song lyrics)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>In a world of darkness, <\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>Things can seem unsure.<\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe kind of word that falls deep to the bottom of your soul.\u00a0 And it scrapes everything on the way down that you once anticipated gave you security, and made sense.\u00a0 And it left\u2026 me\u2026silent.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(song lyrics)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>But I know for certain<\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>I can stand secure <\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>For there is a life within me<\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 This is <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> for Thursday, June 24<sup>th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Our host is the President of FamilyLife Dennis Rainey, and I\u2019m Bob Lepine.\u00a0 Today, Jennifer Rothschild shares with us lessons she\u2019s learned about walking by faith and not by sight.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(song lyrics)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>I\u2019m walking\u2019 by faith,<\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>Faith in His faithfulness<\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>Faith in His mercy, that\u2019s making a way.<\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>\u00a0<\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>I\u2019m trusting His grace<\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>Grace that is holding me<\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>Grace that is showing me<\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>Each step to take as I\u2019m walking\u2026<\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>I\u2019m walking by faith.<\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 Thanks for joining us on the Thursday edition.\u00a0 Have you ever stopped to think how much the Bible has to say about sight, and seeing, and vision, and just how that spiritual metaphor of light and sight?\u00a0 It really is a profound picture of being spiritually aware.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, and He gave us five senses so that, I believe, we could experience Him, see Him, and ultimately trust Him.\u00a0 Yet, it\u2019s interesting, Bob, in the Bible occasionally you\u2019ll find those senses contrasted with a spiritual principle.\u00a0 I\u2019m thinking of 2 Corinthians 5, which really I think is going to have a lot to say about the message we\u2019re going to hear today.\u00a0 It says, \u201cFor we walk by faith, and not by sight.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s real easy to be from the \u201cShow Me State\u201d of Missouri, because I am.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(laughter)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe \u201cShow Me State\u201d says, \u201cIf I see it, I\u2019ll believe it.\u201d\u00a0 But, God, in Scripture, I believe, repeatedly calls us to believe it before we see it.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 And you remember our friend, Jennifer Rothschild, who was here.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 She\u2019s from Missouri, too, Springfield, Missouri.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 Just north of where you grew up.\u00a0 She was here a number of years ago, and we had a great time visiting with her.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI was recently at the True Woman \u201810 conference, in Chattanooga.\u00a0 I was there not because I go to women\u2019s conferences regularly, but I got invited to emcee this particular conference and to do a workshop while I was there.\u00a0 It was a great time.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tJennifer got up on Friday morning and shared this message with the ladies who were there.\u00a0 I thought we need to share this with our <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> listeners, and let them know about True Woman \u201810 that\u2019s going to be happening in September, in Indianapolis, and in October, in Fort Worth.\u00a0 And let them know there\u2019s an opportunity for them to register and be at one of these upcoming conferences.\u00a0 Really it is a great conference for women.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 It really is.\u00a0 Our friend, Nancy Leigh DeMoss, gives leadership to that ministry.\u00a0 I believe she is a prophetic voice today for the Christian community; especially to the hearts of women.\u00a0 And if women haven\u2019t been to one of these conferences, they really need to go.\u00a0 Because what you\u2019re going to get a little taste of, here in the next few minutes, here on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>, are the kinds of speakers you\u2019ll hear at one of these events.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 And the women, who were at True Woman \u201910, in Chattanooga, were very encouraged as Jennifer Rothschild shared from her own life, her own experience.\u00a0 She has been blind since she was a teenager.\u00a0 And, as it turns out, she has learned a lot\u2014about life, and about God, and about faith\u2014from struggling with her own blindness.\u00a0 Here\u2019s Jennifer Rothschild\u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jennifer:<\/strong>\u00a0 It was the late \u201870\u2019s, and I was a teenage girl.\u00a0 I was 15, and I had gotten my first diary.\u00a0 I would write down everything in my diary that mattered to me.\u00a0 And you know when you\u2019re 15 a lot of things matter.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI would write down what I wore to school, and what I wanted to be when I grew up, and if a boy talked to me.\u00a0 And in the margins of my diary, I would doodle because I loved art.\u00a0 I loved to draw.\u00a0 In fact I wanted to be an artist.\u00a0 In fact I had, you know, a little bit of a degree of talent <em>because<\/em> I was asked by my class to represent us on Field Day, as \u201cthe artist.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo I got a brand new white bed sheet, and I took it to school this particular morning.\u00a0 A friend of mine and I unwrapped it and unfurled it upon the brightly lit gymnasium floor.\u00a0 As I began to sketch in the middle of this sheet, I noticed that the sheet was dirty.\u00a0 There were little patches of gray up toward the top left hand corner.\u00a0 And of course I was bothered by this, and I went to wipe it away, but I couldn\u2019t seem to get the dust off the sheet.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe more I really focused on the detail of what I was drawing, the more I noticed it over toward the right side of the bed sheet.\u00a0 It appeared that someone had taken a Sharpie and jammed it, leaving dark black spots.\u00a0 Well, of course I tried to clear those off and they remained.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI remember saying to my girlfriend, \u201cI don\u2019t get this!\u00a0 We just unpackaged this sheet.\u00a0 It should not be dirty.\u00a0 This should be bright, clean, white.\u201d\u00a0 To which my friend said, \u201cJennifer? I don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about.\u00a0 This sheet is completely white.\u201d\u00a0 That was the first time I had a hint something was wrong with my eyes.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt wasn\u2019t long after, that my mom and I were going to visit a friend, who lived in an upstairs apartment.\u00a0 And as she and I walked up those stairs\u2014I was stumbling.\u00a0 My mom stopped mid-stride and asked, \u201cJennifer, what\u2019s wrong?\u00a0 Can you not see those stairs?\u201d\u00a0 My response, \u201cWhat do you mean, Mom?\u00a0 You can?\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWell, it didn\u2019t take long until I was at the eye doctor, and then an eye hospital in Miami, Florida.\u00a0 After several days of testing at this eye hospital, the doctors had my folks and me sit down in a conference room where they began to explain what they had discovered.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI had a disease in both of my retinas, called retinitis-pigmentosa.\u00a0 I had had it for several years, just hadn\u2019t really been able to detect that it was present.\u00a0 But within a few months as a 15 year old, it became so rapidly active, that I was declared legally blind.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhat it meant was that a significant portion of my retina had already deteriorated.\u00a0 But moreover, the prognosis of the disease was that the entirety\u2014the remainder of my retinas\u2014would deteriorate until I was declared totally blind.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThat\u2019s just not what I expected to hear that day.\u00a0 Blindness is one of those words\u2014like cancer, like divorce, like autism, like bankruptcy\u2014that we just don\u2019t <em>ever<\/em> expect to hear.\u00a0 And we certainly don\u2019t expect it to become <em>our <\/em>word.\u00a0 The kind of word that invades our ideal picture of what faith is supposed to be.\u00a0 The kind of word that falls deep to the bottom of your soul, and it scrapes everything on the way down that you once anticipated gave you security, and made sense.\u00a0 And it left\u2026me\u2026silent.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd on the way home my daddy didn\u2019t speak, as he gripped that steering wheel.\u00a0 I know he was praying.\u00a0 My mother sat to his right.\u00a0 Women understand, whether you are a mother or not, what my mom felt:\u00a0 that intuitive desire and need to take it upon herself, so that I didn\u2019t have to deal with it.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe finally got home, and I went into our living room where our old upright piano sat.\u00a0 We\u2019d had that piano since I was eight years old.\u00a0 My mother bought it at a garage sale.\u00a0 And I had had piano lessons for several years.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe silence was finally broken as I began to play the piano.\u00a0 And the song that flowed from my heart, through my fingers, and filled my living room is the same song that still fills my darkness today, with a hope and a truthfulness.\u00a0 Because it was that old beloved Protestant hymn that says \u201cIt is well with my soul.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou know what I\u2019ve learned as a \u201ctrue woman\u201d who navigates in the darkness of faith and blindness?\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t have to be well with your circumstances for it to be well with your soul.\u00a0 We don\u2019t wait for our circumstances to change so that we can experience a level of contentment in our faith.\u00a0 We ask God to change us in the midst of those circumstances.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tPeople have asked me over the years, \u201cDo you pray for healing?\u201d\u00a0 And, to be quite honest with you\u2014I don\u2019t.\u00a0 Now there are days that are really dark and really bad where I will just cry out to God, \u201c<em>Please<\/em> take it away.\u201d\u00a0 But as a matter of my own prayers and spiritual disciplines, I don\u2019t ask God for healing because I trust Him to do it.\u00a0 I know He\u2019s capable.\u00a0 I want to rest in His sovereignty.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut you know what I really need more than healing?\u00a0 I need contentment.\u00a0 Because if I don\u2019t learn contentment in the midst of this circumstance is, then if by the mercy of God, He delivers me from it, I will be grumpy about something else.\u00a0 And there are women in this room, who are not redeeming the difficulty God has allowed in your life because you assume you\u2019ll be content when your circumstance changes.\u00a0 But my sisters\u2014true contentment only comes in the midst of the difficult circumstance; because God makes it well with your<em> soul<\/em>.\u00a0 Not always your circumstance.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWell, I went back to high school and because of such radical changes in my eyes, you can imagine, it called for some real adjustments.\u00a0 So my folks took me out of my very large public high school, in Miami, and put me in a smaller Christian school, in Miami, Florida.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd word got around, real quickly in this school that the new girl couldn\u2019t see.\u00a0 Well, that meant that the new girl became very popular to be asked on dates, because these boys knew I couldn\u2019t see how ugly they were.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(laughter)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd it was true:\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t see my face; I couldn\u2019t see their face.\u00a0 But, there were a lot of adjustments that came during that time.\u00a0 One of them for me, though, that was the most difficult was this recognition that what I longed for I would probably never have.\u00a0 And itwasn\u2019t just becoming an artist, though that was a deep disappointment.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tFor me, what I really longed for was independence; and ability to drive a car; to make my own decisions; to look in the mirror and decide if I liked the color that I was wearing that day.\u00a0 And suddenly independence, on every level, was being stripped away.\u00a0 Consequently, creating an insatiable thirst for independence, which I figured the only way to really quench it, would be to go off to college.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBy this time, I was a senior in high school, and I had decided that that would do it.\u00a0 So I was going to go an hour and a half north of my home, to Palm Beach Atlantic University.\u00a0 That was 90 miles north (you know\u2014close enough to be close, far enough to be far).\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd so that summer, after I graduated from high school, I got trained to walk with a white cane.\u00a0 So I had a sense of mobility, and a little bit of confidence.\u00a0 I even learned to navigate those busy streets in West Palm Beach.\u00a0 I was feeling real good about it.\u00a0 It was 1982.\u00a0 That meant that my mother and I went shopping for the\u2026(clears throat)\u2026rainbow comforter, the rainbow soap dish, the rainbow shower curtain, the rainbow wall hangings, the rainbow dust ruffles, the rainbow towels\u2026everything was rainbows in 1982 for my dorm room.\u00a0 I was ready to go.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI bought all my Espadrilles.\u00a0 Do you remember 1982?\u00a0 Uh-hum.\u00a0 All my Chino pants and my Oxford shirts; I thought I was so happenin\u2019 and ready.\u00a0 And so, on August 15, I was to be a freshman on the campus of Palm Beach Atlantic.\u00a0 And I thought it was the best idea ever, until\u2014August 14.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(laughter)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAt about three o\u2019clock in the afternoon, it hit me.\u00a0 I\u2019m about to go off to college, and I don\u2019t know anybody, and who\u2019s going to help me?\u00a0 I remember calling my mom out into the front yard, and crying, and negotiating, and lamenting, \u201cMom, I can\u2019t do this.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what I was thinking!\u00a0 I can\u2019t go to college.\u00a0 Who\u2019s going to tell me what food\u2019s on my plate.\u00a0 Who\u2019s going to help me know I ironed wrinkles <em>out<\/em> of my pants, rather than <em>into<\/em> them?\u00a0 How am I really going to know it\u2019s safe to cross that street in the middle of the campus?\u00a0 How am I really going to know?\u201d\u00a0 I was terrified.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tMy mom, who wiped away her own tears, said, \u201cJennifer, you have to go to college.\u00a0 You chose to go to college.\u00a0 You have prepared to go to college.\u00a0 And you\u2019ve got to go.\u00a0 But, you only have to go to college for two weeks.\u00a0 If you can\u2019t handle it, your daddy and I will come pick you up, and you can keep the rainbow comforter.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(laughter)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow that was quite an arrangement.\u00a0 We put all 13 of my Espadrilles in the trunk of the Ford Fairmont.\u00a0 And we drove 90 miles north.\u00a0 I remember hugging my mom in the parking lot of Northwood Dorm.\u00a0 We tearfully parted ways.\u00a0 I flipped out my cane with just enough attitude to get through 14 days.\u00a0 No more.\u00a0 No less.\u00a0 Well, within the first 14 days of being a freshman, and on the campus of Palm Beach Atlantic, I met this guy.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(laughter)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe was in the cafeteria line, and he was like no other guy I had ever met.\u00a0 He had the most charismatic personality.\u00a0 His voice smiled.\u00a0 I\u2019m telling you, I liked everything about this guy.\u00a0 I remember calling my mom within the first 14 days, and saying, \u201cOh Mom, I\u2019ve met this guy, named Philip Rothschild.\u00a0 Please!\u00a0 Don\u2019t ever make me come home from college again!\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(laughter)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWell, it took him four long years, but he did accept my marriage proposal.\u00a0 And that\u2019s the gentleman you saw walk me on stage.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(applause)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYep.\u00a0 Now here\u2019s the deal, ladies.\u00a0 For some of you in this room, it\u2019s August 14.\u00a0 Some of you are looking at your future, and you\u2019re thinking, \u201cWhat was I thinking?\u00a0 I can\u2019t deal with all this truth.\u00a0 This is a little much for me.\u00a0 When I look into my future, it\u2019s uncertain.\u201d \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u201cWhen I open my family photo album, the pictures aren\u2019t so attractive.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure this is something I really can do.\u201d\u00a0 And, so much of the reason we <em>hover<\/em> in the front yard of our life, and it\u2019s always August 14, is because we are so dominated by our feelings.\u00a0 I was terrified.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tFear is a legitimate emotion.\u00a0 You should pay attention to it.\u00a0 But, you should allow it to become for you, an intuitive detective that holds the hand of God, and walks you to the place of truth.\u00a0 You don\u2019t assume that fear is your destination.\u00a0 Fear is your tour guide that takes you to the place of truth, so you can discern whether it is a godly and appropriate fear, or not.\u00a0 When we are women who want to really walk with God that means we truly walk by faith.\u00a0 Not feelings.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSome of us are hovering, right now, on August 14, and saying, \u201cOh, what if\u2026?\u00a0 What if I really do trust God more than my feelings?\u201d\u00a0 What if?\u00a0 Or, \u201cWhat if I really do try to\u2026try to really trust God and follow His Word and my husband doesn\u2019t take it well?\u201d\u00a0 What if?\u00a0 What if?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSome of you are so dominated by fear that it\u2019s like this, \u201cWhat if don\u2019t get the spinach clean and my family gets e-coli?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWhat if\u2026what if my husband loses his job?\u00a0 What if\u2026my baby never recovers?\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u201cWhat if\u2026\u201d is the language of fear and speculation.\u00a0 We, as women who want to truly follow God and walk by faith, we don\u2019t speak \u201cWhat if?\u201d\u00a0 We speak \u201cWhat is.\u201d\u00a0 Here\u2019s \u201cWhat is\u201d\u2014God, who called you, is faithful.\u00a0 The same God, in the book of Isaiah, chapter 45, who said, \u201cI will give you treasures in darkness\u201d is the same God who is speaking to you, saying, \u201cIt may be August 14, and you may be looking ahead of you, and you may be seeing nothing but darkness and uncertainty; but He is the God who will give you treasures in darkness.\u00a0 Riches that are stored and hidden in those secret places.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut, you may never receive them if you choose to cling to that which is known and certain.\u00a0 If you hover in the front yard of your life, and you always let it be August 14, saying, \u201cWhat if..?\u00a0 What if..?\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBe women, who say, \u201cHere\u2019s what it is.\u00a0 God is faithful, and I trust Him more than I trust my feelings.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(song lyrics)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>I\u2019m trusting His grace<\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>Grace that is holding me<\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>Grace that is showing me<\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>Each step to take <\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>As I\u2019m walking\u2026I\u2019m walking by faith.<\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>And I\u2019ll keep walking, Lord\u2026<\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>Walking by faith.<\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, we\u2019ve been listening to Part One of a message from Jennifer Rothschild.\u00a0 A message from the True Woman \u201810 conference, held in Chattanooga, earlier this year.\u00a0 It\u2019s a great reminder that walking by faith and not by sight means that you take God at His word and even when you\u2019re afraid, or when your feelings are screaming, you say, \u201cI\u2019m going to believe God.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 And you\u2019re also saying, \u201cI\u2019m going to walk by faith, and not by feelings.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Faith is not a feeling.\u00a0 My friend, Ney Bailey, wrote a book about that.\u00a0 And how I wish I wasn\u2019t so controlled by feelings sometimes\u2014whether it\u2019s fear, worry, anxiety, anger.\u00a0 We, as human beings, are susceptible to walking by feelings.\u00a0 And the call of Scripture is <em>away<\/em> from what you\u2019re feeling, and a call <em>to<\/em> trusting, believing and betting your life on the Scripture.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI don\u2019t know what you\u2019re facing today; what you\u2019re going through as a single person, married, parent, perhaps a grandparent.\u00a0 But God\u2019s calling you to walk by faith, and be obedient to Him.\u00a0 Whether you see it or whether you feel it but to just go to the bank on the Scriptures.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 You know, Jennifer has just recently finished a devotional book that she\u2019s written for women, called <em>Fresh Grounded Faith<\/em>, where she shares a number of the insights that she has learned through a life of blindness.\u00a0 And we\u2019ve got copies of her book in our FamilyLife Today Resource Center.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou can go online at FamilyLifeToday.com, and the information about her book is available there.\u00a0 Again, it is called <em>Fresh Grounded Faith<\/em>.\u00a0 The website\u2019s FamilyLifeToday.com.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd let me also mention that this message was originally presented at the True Woman \u201810 conference, in Chattanooga, back in March.\u00a0 There are two more True Woman \u201810 conferences coming up this year:\u00a0 one in Indianapolis, in September; and one in Fort Worth, Texas, in October.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd there\u2019s a link on our website at FamilyLifeToday.com to the True Woman website\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf you\u2019d like to get more information, or perhaps register for one of these upcoming conferences\u00a0 go to FamilyLifeToday.com, and you can link over to the True Woman website.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI\u2019m going to be at both of the events, as the emcee.\u00a0 I hope you can come out and be at one of these two events.\u00a0 These are great two-day conferences for women with a line-up of great speakers who are going to be there.\u00a0 Again, get more information when you go to FamilyLifeToday.com, and click the link for the True Woman \u201810 conferences.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tLet me say a word of thanks to those of you who help support the ministry of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 As we head into the summer months, honestly we\u2019re heading in at a little lower spot than we usually head into summer; a point where our giving to FamilyLife has been down over the spring months.\u00a0 Of course summertime is often a slow time for ministries, in terms of receiving donations from listeners.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThat\u2019s why we would love to hear from you today, if you can help with a donation of any amount.\u00a0 Your support is what helps keep <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> on the air on this station, and on our network of stations all across the country.\u00a0 It would be a great encouragement to us if you were able to make a $10, or a $15, or a $20 donation\u2014whatever you\u2019re able to do.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGo to FamilyLifeToday.com and make your donation online, or call 1-800-FL-TODAY, and make your donation by phone.\u00a0 And, as a way of saying thank you for your financial support, we\u2019d love to send you a copy of a book by Truett Cathy.\u00a0 He\u2019s the founder of the Chick-fil-A restaurants.\u00a0 He\u2019s written a book called, <em>It\u2019s Better to Build Boys, Than Mend Men<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s about how we raise our sons to be young men of character.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThat book is our thank you gift to you when you make a donation of any amount this month.\u00a0 If you\u2019d like to receive a copy of the book, type the word \u201cBOYS\u201d in the key code box that you find on the online donation form.\u00a0 Or call 1-800-FL-TODAY.\u00a0 Make your donation by phone, and just mention that you\u2019d like a copy of the book on \u201cBuilding Boys,\u201d and we\u2019re happy to send it out to you.\u00a0 And, let me just say thanks, in advance, for whatever you\u2019re able to do in support of the ministry of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 We appreciate your partnership with us. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd we hope you can be back with us tomorrow when we\u2019re going to hear Part Two of Jennifer Rothschild\u2019s message on lessons she\u2019s learned from a life of blindness.\u00a0 That comes up tomorrow, and we hope you can be back for that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team on behalf of our host Dennis Rainey.\u00a0 I\u2019m Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We\u2019ll see you next time for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHelp for today.\u00a0 Hope for tomorrow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts for you. However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright \u00a9 FamilyLife. All rights reserved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>www.FamilyLife.com<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>","theme_header_position":"","post_header_is_sticky":"","is_header_overlay":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/302064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302064"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302064"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_series?post=302064"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=302064"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=302064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}