When life throws us curveballs, it's often those unexpected twists that lead to profound growth. Bethany from Little Oak Studio joins us to share her raw and illuminating story of navigating a faith-challenged divorce, anger towards God, and coming to terms with single motherhood. Her journey is a poignant reminder of the strength found in vulnerability and the surprising sources of support that bloom in adversity.
Throughout our heartfelt conversation, we uncover how personal trials can forge increased empathy and deeper connections with others. Bethany's artistic expression through Little Oak Studio emerges as a vessel of solace, channeling the Lord's love to those in the grip of hardship. Her experiences testify to how the mysterious ways our struggles can draw us closer to our faith and to each other, offering a compelling narrative that resonates with anyone facing their own battles.
As we wrap up, we reflect on the unwavering love and guidance of the divine, even when our own choices lead us down challenging paths. We delve into the idea that embracing our agency and the consequences that come with it can lead to greater understanding and peace. Join us in this episode for an exploration of the purpose behind our trials and the redemptive power of choice, all while celebrating the incredible support of our Remember Podcast community.
Find Little Oak Studios on Instagram
@littleoakstudios
And don't forget to follow us for updates and more uplifting content
@remember.podcast
The Inspiration by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
When life throws us curveballs, it's often those unexpected twists that lead to profound growth. Bethany from Little Oak Studio joins us to share her raw and illuminating story of navigating a faith-challenged divorce, anger towards God, and coming to terms with single motherhood. Her journey is a poignant reminder of the strength found in vulnerability and the surprising sources of support that bloom in adversity.
Throughout our heartfelt conversation, we uncover how personal trials can forge increased empathy and deeper connections with others. Bethany's artistic expression through Little Oak Studio emerges as a vessel of solace, channeling the Lord's love to those in the grip of hardship. Her experiences testify to how the mysterious ways our struggles can draw us closer to our faith and to each other, offering a compelling narrative that resonates with anyone facing their own battles.
As we wrap up, we reflect on the unwavering love and guidance of the divine, even when our own choices lead us down challenging paths. We delve into the idea that embracing our agency and the consequences that come with it can lead to greater understanding and peace. Join us in this episode for an exploration of the purpose behind our trials and the redemptive power of choice, all while celebrating the incredible support of our Remember Podcast community.
Find Little Oak Studios on Instagram
@littleoakstudios
And don't forget to follow us for updates and more uplifting content
@remember.podcast
The Inspiration by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Hey everybody, welcome back to the Remember Podcast, so happy to be here. I'm joined with my amazing co-host, makayla, and we have an amazing guest with us today. Not only Makayla.
Speaker 2:Yes, we have Bethany here with us. She's another amazing artist. I love her work and she shared with us a little brief summary of what her experiences and life story is, but we're so excited to go more into depth. Her name is Bethany and her Instagram or art page is Little Oak Studio, and her work is just amazing. We're so excited to hear more she has to say about what inspires her. So, bethany, go ahead and share your story.
Speaker 3:Hi, thank you for having me. So basically, my story starts from when I was a kid and my whole life I feel like I did everything like letter of the law, like exactly how I was supposed to quote unquote, and I followed all the commandments and I went to church every Sunday and I kept myself morally clean and I just did everything that a good Mormon girl should do. And when I was a teenager, I met my who would be my husband and we dated and I waited for him on his mission and then we got married in the temple when he came home, and so I just thought I was just on track to receiving all the blessings that I was entitled to and my life was just going to be perfect and pure bliss from then on. And reality hit me really hard after I got married because, without sharing too many details that weren't maybe mine to share, my spouse just made some choices that were really hard on me as a woman and on our marriage, and it led to worse and worse things. And it led to our divorce, which was really hard for me because that's not what I wanted and we had two little babies at the time and it was really hard for me to decide to choose that. But ultimately I felt like that was the right thing for me and for our family and I did go through with that divorce and I just remember that I was really mad at God for a really, really long time because I felt like he didn't keep his end of the bargain and I felt like I had done everything that he'd asked me to do, like I said before, and that he didn't keep his promise. Because look at where my life was and I was alone and heartbroken and a single mom of two little babies. And what happened? Why did this happen when I did everything I was supposed to do? Why didn't he keep his promise with me? And that was really, really hard for me and sometimes I still feel confused about why all that happened.
Speaker 3:And I'm not going to claim to be perfect and that I'm completely. I understand all the ways of God, I don't. But back then I was very, very angry and I guess I just learned over time and multiple times over again, that the more that I was angry with God, the darker and harder my life was and the more that I just kind of gave up and just said I need you. I'm sorry that I was so mad at you, but I need you. I need you to come help me. I need you to be my partner in this, because I'm all alone and I'm trying to raise these two boys the way that you would have me raise them, and I can't do it. And I need you to be my partner in this marriage and well, not marriage in this parenthood. I needed help with my kids and I needed help with my broken heart and I just needed him. And so the more that I let go of that pride and that anger and I let him in, the better and the happier and the more peaceful that my life got.
Speaker 3:And then that led me to realize all the blessings and all the ways that God had prepared me to be a single mom, which was kind of a weird concept for me to grasp because I was like I don't think that God wanted this for me necessarily, but there were so many things that, looking back, like I was prepared to be the single mom that I was. And so, first off, that I had been born into the specific family that I was born into, I feel like, was such a huge blessing, because I have six siblings that are all within my relative age group and we all have kids the same age and we're all really, really close. And so I had a lot of support. My boys have a lot of good friends and good examples around them and I just had people to talk to. I had people to lean on, I had people to babysit for me, I had lots and lots of support. And then my parents, who were amazing and helped me financially and supported me and just raised me to be strong and confident and able to handle hard things.
Speaker 3:And then another huge, huge blessing that I always just can't believe happened was my second son is only 13 months younger than my first son, and so I got pregnant with him when my first son was four months old, and it was not on purpose. And that was another time in my life when I was very confused by God, very upset at what he had given me to deal with in my life, and I did not want to have two babies that close together. But now, looking back, if I wouldn't have gotten surprised pregnant with that baby, I would have only had one child and he would have been alone and I would have been so sad and that I couldn't give him a sibling, and I feel like having the both of them was really, really healing for me and was what kept me going through those times, and so that was a huge thing that God helped me with and prepared me to be a single mom with was that I had a little companion to my first child, so that was really special. And then I had also just moved only two minutes away from my oldest sister and she was a huge help to me during this time and I had just happened to move just right next to her right before everything went horrible in my marriage, and so that was really special to me too. And then the biggest thing was that I had started Little Oak Studios, my art business, and by that time it had taken off and it was doing really well and I was able to support my family by myself with just my income from Little Oak Studios. And that was really really special to me, because a little part in my patriarchal blessing growing up that I always thought was really cool was it says something to the effect of you've been given all the talents and the abilities that you will need to support yourself in this life, and that made sense to me once I had to support myself with my talents.
Speaker 3:When I was single and alone and struggling. I could paint and I could make money for my children in that way, and it also was very therapeutic for me because I was able to paint things for people who were also struggling, some in the same way I was and some in ways that I've never struggled before, like child loss or infertility. I've painted for people of all walks of life who have had all kinds of trials, and for the month or two that I'm painting for them, it just puts me a little bit in their world and in their shoes and makes me realize that there's more out there and there's people out there that are struggling with so many things. Painting for all these people in such different scenarios and stories and different levels of acceptance of their trials has just immersed me in that world of OK. What can we learn from our trials? How can different, how do different people handle their trials? What can I learn from all these people's experiences that I can take into my life and how I handle my trials?
Speaker 3:I've painted for people who have just lost children without any warning, like they, I don't know how, I don't know if I should share, or if it's maybe a trigger warning, I don't know, but there have been people I've painted for who've walked into their kid's room and they were no longer alive and things like that. Like I don't know how people handle something that graphic and that intense and that un, like they had no clue that anything was wrong. But I feel like the most faithful people that I've worked with are the ones that have had like the very hardest trials and it sounds like something that remained. That's been really eye-opening to me, because I feel like I don't think I would handle those types of trials very well if I lost a child or if I lost a parent or if my house burned down or things like that. But I'm just so inspired by all these people that I paint for who just trust in God. No matter what they're going through, no matter how hard it is, they just put their faith in God. They know everything will be okay and I feel like being able to see all these very, very hard, heartbreaking, devastating trials being handled with grace and faith just makes me more inspired that I can handle mine with grace and faith. And so, although a lot of times the stories and the things that I'm painting really upset me and hurt my heart and make me feel so bad for these people. It's super inspiring and helpful and beautiful at the same time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I I've just been thinking recently that I think that we all were given a chance to learn about and accept what we're going to go through in this life and that we all did accept it because we're here and we're living it. And I get a lot of comfort from that when I think that, okay, I knew that I would go through these things and I said that I could do it. And if I knew I could do it then, then I know I can do it now and it's just my attitude, it's just my level of faith, it's just how I handle it that'll get me through it. And if I just trust in God and follow Christ and try my very best, then that's all I can do and I can get through it. So that's what I've learned from painting and from my trials and just through living the last several years.
Speaker 2:Thank you for sharing that story is so touching and I'm so sorry that you went through that and experienced those emotions. But I am just so inspired by how you changed to, how you chose to flip your perspective on everything right. We can be so quick to be angry with God and be so I don't know, find contention and things. I know I do Like if something doesn't go my way and I'm like I'm not doing everything, and then all of a sudden like whatever I didn't expect comes from it. I am like what happened? And I just am thrown off my feet. I'm like what's going on right, and I know that's just, that's normal and it's okay to feel that, but at the same time, it's there's a greater perspective to it, right, and how you notice well, okay, and I love that.
Speaker 2:You looked at the resources that you had, your patriarchal blessing. You look to your friends, your family, and I just love that, because God placed us on earth knowing that we would have those natural tendencies, we would have the struggles and pains and, of course, he sacrificed his life for us. So we have the perfect person to turn to, who knows everything, but he also knows that we weren't here to be alone and that we are supposed to be with people, with family, friends and people who love us, who can be those guardian angels here on earth and guide us through life. And I've known that because that's in my patriarchal blessing. And I've come to realize that in my life, like you know, I have a hard time finding and trusting God, sometimes because of my own doubts and those things that Satan knows. Satan knows my weaknesses and he attacks you with that. But I do know the love of God and I do know that that is within my family and friends and who I surround myself with. You can really see that love of God and that guidance and he shows me his love and grace through them and I just like. Well, I love how you have taken your talents and have found peace through that and especially how you've drawn things and painted things that people have gone through.
Speaker 2:Yes, you may have done it for yourself, but going and putting yourself in a position to paint the emotions and the feelings and the hope that can come from their trials, or the things that can bring the Lord's love and remembrance into their life through a visual representation is so beautiful and I'm a person that, like I, feel so much like I wear my heart on my sleeve. You know what I'm feeling. You know and what comes with that is I have so much love for people around me and I know that's a gift from God to help me raise them up and to help me see them in a different way that normally maybe other people don't see them, and to see them how God sees them and love them that way. And so that touched me. When you were able to get into their position and maybe experience something, maybe get a little glimpse of what even Jesus Christ may have gone through Like having and knowing that experience and sitting with them and you painting the details, painting maybe the emotions, the colors that can represent what that was feeling, but also bringing a hope, if it's.
Speaker 2:You know if you're representing Christ or miscarriage, how? Maybe I don't know if you've drawn this, but I've seen pictures of Christ holding a baby. You know to represent loss, but he's protecting them, like there's so much representation that you can put in that and to explain and even bear your testimony that it's going to be okay, because you've gone through something hard yourself. And it just makes me like and when you said, like man, I don't know how they've done that, like, oh, I feel so bad, like it makes me hurt for them and feel for them, and it's, I get that too.
Speaker 2:I've talked to so many people and listened to other people's stories. I'm like man. I don't know how you've gone through that Like. I feel like man. That's not one of my strengths or that I'm surprised you went through that because I don't think I could have right.
Speaker 2:But that's the beauty of struggle, like we can share our stories and we can share what we've gone through.
Speaker 2:But it shows how miraculous God is, because he knows you perfectly and he knows what struggles, pains and weaknesses that you have. That will bring you to the greater good to let him come in. Because if we are, if our lives were like all the same, or if we were able to go through it with a breeze, what would be the purpose of God? Right, there has to be opposition, and maybe the opposition is feeling pain, feeling the things that make us really humble ourselves and be like okay, like I need God to get through this because we can't do it alone, right, and so I love that you were able to realize that and and yes, it can be a slow process and I'm sure it's still a healing process and a process of that you're going through, but I love how you're handling it and that God is realizing your efforts and you're helping so many other people. I know you are and you've helped me like sharing your story and you're being vulnerable is such a beautiful thing and I just am inspired by your story. That's awesome.
Speaker 3:So thank you, thank you so much I love to how you touched on that. Having trials can make you feel more empathetic towards others' trials and can make you more of a ally towards them, because they know that you know how they feel. I've had so many people reach out to me, people that I don't know, people that I knew in high school, friends of friends reach out to me and say, hey, I'm going through a divorce myself. How did you handle it? I'm like, I'm heartbroken, I'm dying inside, like how did you handle it? And I've made so many friends through that.
Speaker 3:So that's just one example of how going through trials, although it feels so lonely and it feels so terrible and hard and it is, it's it's so hard, it's terrible those feelings are not invalidated. It's just because other people are also going through it. But it feels purposeful when things like that happen and you can help someone else through something you've been through and you can remember exactly how you felt in those times and be like, wow, I could have used someone saying this or this, I could have used someone sending me this book. You know things like that where I feel very blessed and privileged to be able to do that to others now when they reach out to me about going through a heart divorce, I'm like here's what helped me. You like I will listen, you can vent, I'm here for you and that has been something that's been so special that's come out of this.
Speaker 3:Another thing that you said. That reminded me of some things someone said in church today. They said God allows trials and hard things to happen to us so that we will remember him and come to him because he is the source of all light and hope. And I really liked that because that also makes trials feel more purposeful and less like he's doing it to punish us or that he doesn't care that we're going through them. It's so that we will turn to him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I just love the idea of like having it being purposeful, oh my gosh. Because like, yes, I like feeling empathy for those who struggled and even if we maybe not know exactly what they're going through, but have felt those feelings before is so real and it makes you want to get through life more. Because having the knowledge that Jesus Christ died for us and knows that those feelings too makes us like feel like, okay, well, this is hard and of course, our feelings can be validated and the things that we feel are real. But to have that perspective that okay for me, like I've been able to do that for friends and like I've talked to at the Airpist before, I'm like, how can I look at this in myself? How can I, you know, heal myself when I am able and when I am so easily able to help others? And she said, okay, well, how would you talk to a friend, like in this moment, if you're trying to heal, how would you talk to your friend, right? And then it's like, okay, well, I love that feeling of feeling purposeful, because I know what it feels like, right, I can console them, I can help them and I can guide them through this and be their friend, be their hand.
Speaker 2:Well, that's exactly how who God is. That's exactly the reason why Jesus Christ died for us is so he can be that person for us, for you, and you can be that for yourself you can. You need to be a friend for yourself too and realize that those mercies, those angels, those people in your life like that is something that is also available to you. It's not just someone, something that you can give to people, but it's also is receivable to you, and that's by Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. That is how you can find that, and that just brings more meaning and like more reassurance and gives me power and confidence to realize.
Speaker 2:You know what I got this. I have the, the best mediator. I have the best person to hold my hand to get through this, because I know what it feels like to help other people and to feel those feelings with them, because there's someone greater that can do that with me and I can be. I know that I will make it out in the end, right, and so I just love that how you stated that and it just reminded me. Oh well, that's the whole reason of why Jesus Christ died, so we can feel that through him he had died, so we can feel these things and he can and he knows exactly what he can and he can be our friend and that guide us and he is our savior right, and so I just love it.
Speaker 1:I get excited thinking about it wonderful, wonderful things that have been shared so far, and I wanted to go back to what you were saying about. Well, really, it's kind of just been the theme of tonight, I think, is we've been talking a lot about trials, and I kind of have a I don't know, I haven't really met anybody that has the same exact mindset on trials as me, but I don't really know if we, like, chose the trials that we we are living through today, but we saw the possibilities for both the good things and the bad things, and we accepted the bad things or the amount of good things, whether they were the specific life that we went for, or, like if we saw the options of the decisions that we would make throughout our lives. Because I I very firmly believe and I mentioned this before on the podcast, but I very firmly believe that we have such a strong power in our agency to decide for ourselves, and that's the purpose of us coming here to this earth is to to learn how to be like God by learning how to make decisions like our Heavenly Father, learning to choose one thing from another, because that is the the power of God, and I think, whether we knew it or not, like when we were with our Heavenly Father, I think we were probably all knowledgeable, just like he was, but he had wisdom, he had experience, and that's what we're here to get. We're here to get experience for our ability to choose and I think, just like we I don't really know how to like put this exactly into words, but it's like like you see the decisions, you I don't really think we knew what decision we would make, but we knew that, the both sides of the options, and we accepted that for every little decision that we've made in our lives, what, even the little decisions, like what cereal am I gonna eat this morning? You know, like I think, I think we could see all of that and we chose to accept all of it for whatever it would turn out to be. And I think our Heavenly Father, he doesn't know what we're going to choose, but he knows what he's going to do, no matter what we choose.
Speaker 1:And I love what you were saying, bethany, about how you were prepared. You felt like God was preparing you to be a single mom, right, and I think that's not so much because he wanted it to you, wanted it to be your life, want you. I don't know if he wanted this experience for you, but he had set things in place to prepare you for the agency of others. And I think that's the same for every single person on this earth is, our Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us and he wants to help us and be with there, with us, and he prepares us for the decisions we make, as well as the consequences of the decisions of others. And I think that adds to the power of our agency is the impact that we make based on each decision we make, the impact we have on those around us, just based off these little decisions. I'm sure if your husband made a few different decisions, life would look very different for you right now.
Speaker 1:And you know that's a very hard and very difficult thing I've gone through, you know, not divorce, anything like that, I can't even begin to relate to that but I've gone through heartbreaks as a young, single man and and it's devastating, it absolutely destroyed me. But I know that the Lord was with me through all of it, even especially when I could barely be there for myself, he was. He was there for me and I think I kind of came up with this quote Well, you, you two were talking, and it's the hardest trials become the strongest testimonies, as long as we choose to let them. Because it for the last, like six to eight months of my life, I was very depressed and I let those trials that I went through Destroy me for a long period of time. But finally, over the last, you know, a couple months, I've been choosing to overcome them. I've been choosing to let them turn in, I've been choosing to use them for my good rather than letting them destroy me and I think, for anyone that's going through a hard time, through a trial, no matter what it might be, whether that's, you know, the loss of a job, the loss of a marriage, the loss of a loved one, especially a child we have so much power in our agency to choose to let it destroy us or choose to allow it To build us, to build our testimonies.
Speaker 1:And it all stems from coming to our Heavenly Father, and that's another thing is I. I think it's the way that we as a church talk about things. Sometimes I feel like we don't talk specifically or into the nitty gritty about it as much as I feel like we probably should, because I love to ask questions. I think very deeply about things. I love asking questions and when people say, well, you just got to bring your trials to God, it's like what? How? What does that look like? What am I supposed to do to bring my truck? Do I like have a basket of my trials and I bring it to, you know, the altar in the temple? No, I I'll probably get kicked out or asked like excuse me, sir, like, why do you have this basket? Like will you please leave? It's like no, like, that's not how we do that.
Speaker 1:How we how I think we bring our trials to our Heavenly Father and let him heal us, is we come to him in prayer, we come to him in thought, we come to him in scripture study and we, we choose to look very in-depthly or very oh, I don't have the articulate ability to really describe what I'm thinking but how we come to him is we choose To study him and implement things that we learn into our lives and then he will work through us. It's not you drop something off at his feet and then you go off and have all the fun in the world, but you come to him. How we come to him is we choose to study him, we choose to emulate him, we choose to emulate him and we act despite the struggle, despite the pain. And this has been the theme of More. I feel like it's been my theme for the last few episodes.
Speaker 1:It's been on my mind a ton is just the importance of making that decision choosing to be happy, choosing To love your Heavenly Father by choosing To do the things your Heavenly Father wants and asks us to do, and and one of those things is choosing to trust in the Lord and choosing to and I mean that's another way that we give things to him, as we trust in him and still act To be a, an object that acts and not is acted upon. But I wanted to ask you, what does it mean to you To trust in the Lord? What does trusting in him look like for you?
Speaker 3:Yeah, that is a good question and one that I feel like I've felt More powerful and strong in in some points, and one that I've sometimes been like I do not know how to trust in God. I you know it's so hard, it's so up and down sometimes, depending on what's going on in your life, and Like there's been times when I felt like I really, really trusted in him and then something happened where I was like wait, that's not what I was trusting in what are you doing, and so it's hard to hold on to the trust when you feel like the way that your human, earthly brain thinks things should work out is Not happening.
Speaker 3:It's hard to be like, well, this must be what's God's will, because You're just like no, I, I feel like I know what would be right for me. So it is hard to let go of that and I've really really struggled with that and I'm not gonna claim to be a Pro at it by any means. But the thing that has helped me the most with trusting in him is I and I don't know what you guys think about this, but I feel like for me I felt God was kind of unapproachable, because I felt like you had to pray this exact way to get this result, or you have to go to the temple every week, read your scriptures every single day, and then he'll answer you, then he'll talk to you, and I've just kind of learned that, depending on your circumstance, I can't. I can't do that right now. You know I can't go to the temple every week, I can't always read my scriptures every single day, like I'm a single mom of three kids right now and I just I can't make that work, but I think I've learned more, more and more, that he is so much more accessible than we give him credit for that he will listen. If I just go to him in my brain as I'm making dinner and be like I'm really struggling right now, help me, you know, it doesn't have to be this huge production. I don't have to have, you know, a huge hour-long prayer necessarily to get any comfort or help. He's more accessible than that. He understands where I'm at in my life. He understands my heart and he can meet me where I'm at and and accepting and understanding. That has made me feel more trust in him, because it's made him feel more accessible to me To a point where I feel like I can trust him.
Speaker 3:Another thing is that, despite Despite the hard things I have gone through and the heartbreak that I've been through and the pain I felt and the struggles whether financial or emotional or mental that I've been through, he has been a constant. Whether I've wanted to Acknowledge that or not, whether I've been angry at him or not, he's always been there and looking back, I can always see when he's been and I can Easily pick out like okay, I was really really struggling this week and, like this random girl in my ward, asked me to lunch. Why did she think of me? Why did she ask me to lunch? And we went to lunch and it was amazing and it turned out she had been through a divorce in the past too and we talked and she helped me and now we're friends and things like that happened so so often that I could not deny that, even when I was angry at him and I didn't want him to.
Speaker 3:I Didn't want him in my life. You know, I was gonna show him. He still was there and he still sent people and he's still. He's still got me, he's got my back.
Speaker 2:I was thinking as you were talking, I was like man, that's so true. I tend at least me I tend to overcomplicate things. I'm trying to learn right now. My goal this year is to learn how to trust God and to find peace in my life through that, and so my goals are okay, well, I need to learn who Jesus Christ is in my life, and you just helped me remember. Okay, well, I don't need to do all the great like. Of course, these things are important and I should definitely strive to do those things right.
Speaker 2:But I shouldn't be so hard on myself and remember like okay, well, he's still here. Like if you're not like reading your scriptures at this moment, it doesn't mean he's like not going to be present. Like if you invite him in, he will still be there, even if it's in your heart, your mind, thoughts, you know, and I just remember like, okay, well, when I was younger, like how easy it was for me just to be like, okay, the primary stuff. Like, okay, well, like I was so innocent and like my mind wasn't so conflicted, right, I was like okay, well, if I need help finding like there's a moment where I needed to help finding my like athletic gear right for school or whatever, and I lost them. Okay, well, I prayed to God and I was like, hey, can you please help me? And then, soon after I found them and like, keeping him that in tune in my life, keeping him in tune with my brain and so present in my life and in my mind, like he, that's how he wants it. He just wants that relationship with us and we don't have to over complicate it and make it like so I don't know like you have to do this, have to do this in order, because that's what we do learn like right, and those things are important. We have to, we do should read the scriptures and go to the temple and things, because that helps bring the spirit. But he is also present in our weak moments, right, and in the moments where we may forget and in the chaos of I'm not a mother, but I'm sure motherhood especially when you're single, it's chaotic, right, and when we're stressed with school, like I am, like in work, there's he is present still in those. But we just got to change our perspective and be like, okay, well, if I need help, I'm going to ask him, or if I need strength, if and during this hard moment. I'm going to ask him and I'm going to keep him.
Speaker 2:You know, to have a relationship with God it needs to be two ways. And there's this, someone in church today who said this quote. He said in order. He said he can guide our footsteps only if we move our feet right. He can guide us, but it's up to us if we move our feet, if we invite him in, if we it's a two way street to have that relationship.
Speaker 2:We must put forth that effort to do to getting that relationship with God and realize he's still here, no matter what. And that also means communicating him in it with him, and inviting him in all things and remembering him in all things. And and when you were talking, I remembered that scripture where it says that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. And that's true. And the old time, like way back when the scriptures were being written, and even before then he was the same. But that's also relevant in our lives, right, he is the same God that he was when we were younger. He's going to be the same God that he was when we were having, when we trusted him in those moments, but maybe something happened and then we got angry or whatever, but he's the same God. He is constant, like you said, and that is, he is constant in our lives and he's going to be the same and he's going to provide the same blessings.
Speaker 2:But, honestly, it's us, in our imperfections, the natural man, that we will fall short, and maybe he we need to realize okay, he's the same. Allow, let me allow him to come and help me. Let me let me do the things that I need to to feel those blessings and to feel that the things that he's able to do in my life, by remembering him right, and that's like the goal of the podcast is to help remember, help others remember that he's constant and he's in all things, whether it be our talents, whether it's our struggles, the things of everyday, the nature around us, who we are as individuals. He is in everything and if we open our eyes to those things, to the our surroundings, to be more aware of that, then we can realize that he is within us all and that there is so much love and opportunity for each one of us.
Speaker 2:And but it's up to us, right what Dallin was saying it's our agency, it's what we choose, because it's us that is falling short, it's not Christ, it's not Heavenly Father. He is there, but we of course we're going to fall short. But are we going to get back on our feet and allow him to guide our lives again? Are we going to start walking, even if we picked us up, like he like that poem, like he sometimes like the footprints in the sand? Right, he, we see one, two sets and maybe at the moment it may be him carrying us. But even after that, are we going to learn from that experience and continue walking with him? So I just thought. So many thoughts come into my mind, but I was like man. This conversation is so wonderful and so many new perspectives that we can all learn through this conversation and to help us be more aware of who Christ is in our lives and in our struggles.
Speaker 1:There's like a dozen thoughts that I had and I was thinking about talking about.
Speaker 1:I know we do Now I can't quite remember what they were. I love, I loved everything that has been said so far. It's been, it's been really amazing. I really think our Heavenly Father has so much to do in our lives, so much involvement. He's including himself so extensively into our lives because he is our Heavenly Father and he does love us so deeply. And I think, going back to having that connection with him and maybe we are struggling to read our scriptures, struggling to schedule appointments to the temple or make time to do those things, but I think if we look at the higher law a little bit and look at the meaning or the reason why we are supposed to do those things, it's because it's easier to focus on the Savior when your nose is in his book. It's easier to focus on the scripture or on the Savior when you're standing in his house. But even if we're struggling to do those things, if we can keep our focus on him the best that we can, he will be so involved in our lives. I myself, like I struggle to read the scripture and I struggle to pray, I struggle to go to the temple, and I'm everybody does. I'm not special in that sense, but I the one thing I do Try very, very hard to do is to involve my Heavenly Father and my Savior and my thoughts, and Part of that that is, I spend way too much time scrolling Instagram and there's a lot of gospel content that comes up, which I'm grateful for, but I Love.
Speaker 1:There's a video that I saw today that really just struck me and it was this young man. Well, it was kind of a skit that he did, and he like walks into this room. Well, first it shows him in this dark room and he's just kind of like, you know, like kind of hyping himself up, like you know, now's the time, and then he gets up and walks into this other room and then, all of a sudden, this being turns around and turns to him. It was the same person, but you know, different character. It was a skit. And the person turns around and is like, oh, my son, welcome back, I'm so happy to have you here. It's like all excited.
Speaker 1:And then the, the guy that just walked through the door you know the human being he's like oh, but, but I've sinned. What are you talking about? Why are you so happy? Like where's the punishment? I'm, that's what I'm ready for, and and the character God is like it's like what? What punishment? Like I already suffered that. Like what are you? What are you talking about? It's like come, let me tell you all these things. Let me, I've got so many go amazing things planned for us and he's just getting all excited and and the person was like, but, but I've sinned. He's like it's okay, I Love you, I know what you've done and I've forgotten it.
Speaker 1:Come, let me tell you a story. Let me tell you about a time that Satan and hinted me, and then he starts talking about the 40-day fast and then and the lobes and the, or how Satan was tempting him with bread and then, and then it cut to to Video of him like reading the scriptures, and then the, the voice was still playing over it and then it faded out and that it's like it hit me. It's like where do we go to to hear the stories of the Savior and that's the scriptures and that's that's how we can relate to him and that's how he can relate to us? Because right now it's like when we're not surrounded by him physically, with his physical stuff, it's very easy to lose track of him and, like that video just struck me. I was like holy crap. That's so amazing and so it might just be the primary answers.
Speaker 1:You know, read your scriptures, go to the temple, say your prayers, but that's how we surround ourselves with him and that's how we can hear his stories of how he suffered, just like us, because he did suffer. He performed the greatest miracle there ever, never was and ever will be, in a garden at the foot of an olive tree, and it is there that he suffered for each and every one of us. He suffered so much that he bled from every poor and he prayed out to God saying my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? He begged the father to take this cup from him. But then I love the character of Christ, the true character of Christ, where he then says Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done, and he completed the atonement, the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:He Is probably the most relatable and unreliable, unrelatable person in the world Because he knows us so well and yet he's done this amazing thing for us. And I Just want to share my testimony before we close because we're getting kind of long, but I Testify that he knows you, bethany, he knows Mikaela, he knows me and he knows each and every person on this earth that has ever lived, has yet lived, and, and those who live now. He knows each and every one of us and he loves each and every one of us so deeply, and that is why he will always be involved in our lives, even if we are so far from him. It may feel like we're far from him, but he's just around the corner, he's just a doorway away, and I testify that it takes our action in order to invite him into our lives that we can see and fill his presence, just like it takes a person's action to knock on a door. And what that being said, do either of you have any final thoughts?
Speaker 2:You put that period to the conversation is awesome. So Fair enough, fair enough.
Speaker 1:Well, one thing I do love about this podcast is we get to hype our guests up so much at the end, and so thank you so much, bethany, for coming on. You have an amazing story and I just I know you're helping so many people Through your art, through the Spirit that you have. It truly has been amazing to have you on and to hear your story Is my hope, to just help spread the gospel and Peace and comfort to those in need of that.
Speaker 3:So thank you so much. Well, you're doing great.
Speaker 1:Feel free to give your art page a shout out and whatever else that you would like to do Our listeners to find you on. Okay, yeah, you can find me on.
Speaker 3:Instagram at little oak studios, and then I have an Etsy shop that's little oak studios dot Etsy comm, so you can find me at both those places. Awesome, and I was gonna ask actually, where does that name come?
Speaker 1:from little oaks.
Speaker 3:Okay, so I started my business after my self-made I um started my business after my second son was born, because we needed more money and we were desperate, and so my second son is named oakland and so I named it after him little oak. And then studios because art. So yeah, it's after my second son.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's cute, that's so awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah well, thank you so much again for coming on and thank you to our amazing listeners for sticking up to the To the end of another episode. We couldn't do it without you. I know mackayla and I are so grateful for our listeners because we get to come on and do things like this and meet such amazing people and hear their stories, and this, this podcast, probably helps us far more than it helps anyone else, and so we're grateful for the opportunity to do it. And If you're not following us on instagram, make sure to do that. It's at remember dot podcast and there you can find a calendar to sign up to Meet with us and record your story. We love to hear people's stories, so you can sign up on our calendar. We also have a link to our etsy shop for some of our merch. And what am I missing? Oh yeah, we want to hear your feedback. Mackayla is going to give me a look, I know it.
Speaker 1:I'm we want to hear everybody's feedback, so feel free to leave a review, write the show and we would love to hear from you guys and Thank you so much and remember him. You, you.