Ever wonder how a moment of divine inspiration can lead to a journey of faith and resilience? Join us in celebrating the 100th episode of "God's Loving Sacrifice" where my son James and I reflect on the incredible journey that led to the creation of our podcast. Hear James share how his persistent encouragement and a divine encounter finally convinced me to start this mission. We also delve into the collaborative process, blending our perspectives and spontaneous speech, all while emphasizing the importance of focusing on God’s message rather than ourselves.
This special episode also offers heartfelt gratitude for the support from fellow podcasters like Stevens from Christ Alone Network, Rick from Renewed Mindset Podcast, and the invaluable feedback from our loyal listeners. Through challenges such as losing my husband and moments of doubt, we discuss the importance of persistence and the belief that even reaching one person with God's message is impactful. We reflect on the joy of seeing God provide new topics for future episodes and the rewarding experience of managing the podcast ourselves. Thank you for being part of our journey, and we hope our story inspires you to spread God’s word.
Ever wonder how a moment of divine inspiration can lead to a journey of faith and resilience? Join us in celebrating the 100th episode of "God's Loving Sacrifice" where my son James and I reflect on the incredible journey that led to the creation of our podcast. Hear James share how his persistent encouragement and a divine encounter finally convinced me to start this mission. We also delve into the collaborative process, blending our perspectives and spontaneous speech, all while emphasizing the importance of focusing on God’s message rather than ourselves.
This special episode also offers heartfelt gratitude for the support from fellow podcasters like Stevens from Christ Alone Network, Rick from Renewed Mindset Podcast, and the invaluable feedback from our loyal listeners. Through challenges such as losing my husband and moments of doubt, we discuss the importance of persistence and the belief that even reaching one person with God's message is impactful. We reflect on the joy of seeing God provide new topics for future episodes and the rewarding experience of managing the podcast ourselves. Thank you for being part of our journey, and we hope our story inspires you to spread God’s word.
My website is https://www.godslovingsacrifice.com
Gayla:
Hi, welcome to my 100th episode. What you're going to be hearing is a discussion between my son and I. Equality is not the best. It was the first time I did anything over the internet as a joint venture, so please excuse the trouble with some of the audio. I've also added audios from other podcasters who wanted to say congratulations on my 100th episode. So, without further ado, here it is. Today we're going to do something different. Today I'm recording my 100th episode, and so we're going to talk with my son James 100th episode and so we're going to talk with my son. James, and a couple of people have sent things to be put in here that have been a great help to me. Let's get started.
James:
Hi, this is James and I'm going to start this with telling about how God's loving sacrifice happened. How God's loving sacrifice happened. Dad died and died a couple of years ago and mom needed something, and I kept talking to her and telling her. You know, what I think you should do is a podcast. You were a youth pastor when I was growing up. You were really good at teaching and enjoy talking to people about God. I think you should do a podcast, and I told her over and over and over for months and then one day she called me and told me a little story about what happened to her on that day. And do you want to tell them the story about what happened on that day?
Gayla:
Well, I had been thinking about doing the podcast because I had to, because Jamie told me every time he talked to me and I walked outside and there was a man out on the driveway from our neighbor and they were redoing the house and for some reason I just thought I should start talking to him. So I was talking to him about things in my life and things that had happened and what God had done for me, and then I told him about the podcast and he turned around to get in his truck.
Gayla:
And then he turned around and he said Ma'am, I don't know you, but if you can touch someone's heart like you just touched mine, you need to do that podcast and after mom told me that story.
Gayla:
We started brainstorming and we were going to come up with a name and we went through hundreds of names and we didn't want everyone to know who she was yet, but we wanted her to be a part of the name. So Gayla was adopted and her last name was adopted and my dad's middle name was put in there for the middle. That's how we had God's loving sacrifice. So it is a mixture of mom and me and my dad.
Gayla:
Now, how do episodes get created and how do we come up with what we talk about every episode? That's actually kind of funny, because every week I don't know what I'm going to talk about. I just I can't come up with something. And then three hours later I just had a talk with and it always happens and then mom will call and she'll bounce stuff off of me and we'll talk. It will go back and forth and she'll tell me what she thinks and scriptures that go with it and I'll tell her what I think, and so my opinion is in just about every podcast that she does.
Gayla:
Well, his opinions that I'll take.
James:
Yeah, you know, but I mean, you go ahead, you do. You know a lot of this. Both of us have a lot of the same beliefs and so sometimes bouncing off of each other is just reinforcing what the other one believes. But sometimes I'll say, well, mom, yeah, I can see where you're coming from there, but have you thought of this? Have you thought of that? And it gets both of us thinking about different aspects and we blend those together and that becomes the podcast.
Gayla:
I know that one of the things that I do has to listen to every single one of them, and there's been numerous times that I'm going through it and he's listening to it and all of a sudden I'll holler there's your idea, because I'll add something he had said to me within it. But different people do podcasts different. James likes to do an outline and he does his podcast from the outline. I know another podcaster, rick, who you'll hear from. He does his whole dialogue. Me, on the other hand. A lot of mine is just ad hoc. I find the scriptures that I want to use and I leave it to the Holy Spirit to lead me in what to say. Luke 11, 12 is what I use for that and it says don't worry about how you respond and don't worry what you should say. The Holy Spirit will give you the words to stay at the moment when you need them, and they always have. Sometimes I'll write some of my stuff or sometimes I'll be quoting from an article.
James:
And I can tell every time she has written something. I know when she's off the cuff and I know when she has written something he always tells me you were reading that orange, mom.
Gayla:
Yeah. He says, well, I can tell when you got about here you just started going. The holy spirit and it it does make a big difference. I can tell in my spirit. When I'm doing it, I want to get the ideas across to you guys that I've read that I think are important for you to know, and so I want to make sure I get them correct. But when it's down to what the Holy Spirit tells me to do, it just seems to flow so easily, seems to flow so easily. There's been a couple of my podcasts that I've done that I've never had to edit because it was off the cuff from the beginning to the end and I can just go right through it. A lot of times when I get myself involved then I have to edit things out because there's a little bit too much meaning in there.
James:
And it's important to, even though you're trying to make a connection to the people out there, it's important to have very little you. This has to be about God and not about you.
Gayla:
I was talking about Rick. Rick is another podcaster and Rick has a podcast called Renewed Mindset and he's very, very good. In fact, he does TV and he's on radio. Um, he ran into me and he'll tell you in his little clip of how he did it.
Rick:
Well, hey, gala, this is Rick from Alabama. I am so excited for you. You know people. I ran into miss Gala and God's Loving Sacrifice completely by accident when I was flipping through podcasts and heard her calm, distinct voice, I was hooked. I was new to podcasting at the time and I just needed some pointers and some encouragement. And now when we get to talk on the phone, it can last for an hour or more like we've been friends for 20 years.
Rick:
I just want to say congratulations, congratulations, gayla, on reaching a remarkable milestone in your podcast journey the release of your 100th episode of God's Loving Sacrifice. The release of your 100th episode of God's Loving Sacrifice. That's a testament to your dedication, to your talent and the impact that you've made on your listeners. As a podcaster myself, I've been inspired by your podcast and I'm grateful for the positivity and the wisdom that it's brought to my life. Your podcast is truly a labor of love and it's a great medium for sharing the message of God's unconditional love and sacrifice to all of us. Your dedication to creating thought-provoking content and connecting with your audience, and always striving for excellence, is evident in each episode. This achievement, by hitting that century mark, is not only a testament to your consistency, but to the effort that you put into every aspect of the show.
Rick:
Ms Gayla, you are what the old-timers call a peach. It's an enduring term for someone who's just, delightful and genuine and consistently inspiring. Your warmth and your authenticity that captured the hearts of so many people, including myself. It's not just your knowledge and your wisdom that shine through in your podcast, but it's your genuine desire to make a positive impact on everyone, and your dedication to spreading God's message of love and sacrifice and compassion has created an incredible community that uplifts and encourages so many people.
Rick:
Reaching your 100th episode is a milestone worth celebrating and cherishing, and it signifies not only the countless hours of hard work and dedication you've invested, but also the lives that you've touched along the way. I don't know how many times your tears in your podcast have me crying driving down the road. It's just a wonderful experience. Your listeners, including me, we anticipate each new episode, knowing that we're going to be greeted by your soothing voice and your valuable insights, and just a gentle reminder of God's love and sacrifice. So, on behalf of all of us here at Renewed Mindsets, and as an avid listener myself, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to you, gayla, for your outstanding achievement. Thank you for your unwavering commitment, your enlightened perspective and your ability to instill hope in our hearts. I pray that you continue to inspire others and create content and touch lives with each episode of God's Loving Sacrifice.
Gayla:
I love you, see ya. The one that's in charge of that has his own podcast too, christ Alone, and those are two podcasts. If you want more God, listen to mine first, but listen to theirs. They're really good.
Stevens:
God's loving sacrifice. Congratulations on your 100th episode. This is Stevens from Christ Alone Network and we are so happy that Rick recommended you to us. Not only are we fans, but we love having you as one of our guiding partners. We pray that the Lord continues to bless you with wisdom, understanding and courage to proclaim biblical truth in support of a biblical worldview. We are so excited to see what the Lord does with your ministry. We can't wait. God bless you.
Gayla:
Like I said, but I think that's so cool. I love the fact that I'm not alone in this process of doing my podcast. It's hard. My husband died. I am alone, not always alone, not ever alone. I know I always have God with me, but as another human. But to have James to be able to call and say, oh, I just know this, oh, god showed me this, oh, I was just talking to somebody and, boy, they were mad. I think I'm going to do something off anger. And it happens like that all the time. And then sometimes I will just see a scripture or hear someone say something on a show. And right now, at the present time, now, at the present time, I have 14 podcast subjects on my wall.
James:
I have four that I write about, so three months ago, you didn't Three months ago I was ready to stop. Yeah, it was almost week by week, and God gave you those so that you have to get through those before you can stop. So he keeps adding.
Gayla:
It's not that I really wanted to stop and it's myself, because you know, podcasters get this. Oh, how many downloads have I had? How many people are listening? And they kind of get that built up in their mind. And I had seven days that no one listened to anything and I thought am I just spinning my wheels? Maybe I shouldn't be doing this. It doesn't seem like anybody's listening, nobody responds and I really said to people I'm thinking about just stopping, even though I love it, I love teaching. But I talked to Jamie, I talked to God and God ended up saying I only need one person to hear it. If you get one person to hear it and that changes their mind about me, then that's all you need. So I quit looking at the statistics and trying to decide whether I have enough down words.
James:
Yeah, well, and then, and then, like what was it? Two Christmases ago you did Annie and Willie's Prayer, and I find that a very important poem that should be out there and more people should listen to it is a beautiful poem.
Gayla:
If you haven't heard it, go back and listen to it at Christmas time. Like you said, it's called Annie's and Willie's Prayer. My parents read it to me when I was a little girl and I read it to my kids. I now read it to my grandkids. It's a really good poem with a good moral statement, letting you know that God is always in charge.
James:
Absolutely.
Gayla:
I have a lot of them out there. If you didn't listen to my first part and started listening later on, I have some really good ones that I started with. I really feel like God had led me in a great way, but the quality isn't well. I was still learning, and so I'm trying to fix some of those and make them sound better.
James:
Well, I mean listen to my first one from a couple of weeks ago. That goes everywhere.
Gayla:
And that's the other thing about knowing another podcaster. Talking with Rick, he said if we ever have a problem like that again since he does tv and radio and stuff he has a little bit more editing equipment and he said he would be glad to help us with that. So it's really nice when you get these other christian people that are together, together, podcasting and sharing and trying to get the word of God out there. And that's what I'm trying to do. Jamie told you how it started. When my husband died, I kept praying Lord, there has to be something for me now, because I had taken care of my husband for seven years and I just wanted something to do that would reach people. And I really feel like he told me I want you to tell people about me. And that's how the podcast got started, because I called my son and said he wants me to tell people about him. But what people do I see? I said I don't even hardly get out of the house, so how am I going to tell people about him?
James:
And that's when you tell Sam every week.
Gayla:
And that's when Jamie started doing a podcast. And Sam is a great listener. He listens every week. He sends me encouragement. I just love Sam. I have a lot of people that listen all the time. My best friend she listens every week. Of course James has to listen every week.
Gayla:
He either has to listen before or after, or listen to it when it's not edited yet, and then listen to it after it gets edited. And I love those people that listen to it a lot. And I have those people Funny. I had one person say that she likes to listen to it at night because it puts her to sleep. And she said because you have such a soothing voice. And my comment to her was well, my dad used to tell people that I could talk you to sleep and whisper in your ear because I love to talk so much. But this being my 100th podcast, it's so funny. When I first started, I told James, I said how am I going to get to 10 podcasts? Is there 10 things that I need to talk about out there? And guess what? There was 10 things. There's been 100 things and I have 14 more on my board.
Gayla:
This date and time learning about God is so important. It should be utmost in Christians' minds. We should constantly be telling others about Christ, because we know the end of the story. We know what's going to happen if they don't hear about Christ, and that's one of the scriptures that I absolutely love is Romans 10, 14 through 15. It says how shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent as it is written? How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. And that's what I want to do is bring glad tidings of good things and help people learn to walk with Christ and live the type of life that I know what it can do, one of the things that I don't know if I've ever told you, guys, I really have a rough life and at one time I was a recluse.
Gayla:
I didn't want to go outside, I didn't want to answer the phone.
Gayla:
I would sit in the house with TV turned all the way down so nobody could outside could hear me listening to me. When the kids were at school, when my husband was at work, I would hide. One day I woke up and I went and I looked at myself in the mirror and I thought, god, this isn't the way I really want to live my life, this isn't the life that you have for me, and I was tired of being hurt, angry and miserable and I walked into the living room and I opened the curtains of our picture window and I sat down in front of that picture window and I cried and every day I sat there until I got to sit there and I cried until God helped me get through that. And God, from that moment on well, even before that moment on he's been on my side, but he's really been on my side. If people knew all the things that have gone on and things I've gone through, I always come out the other end and God has blessed me in some way.
James:
Well, god has sent us to shed his light into the world, and if you're hiding in a house with the curtains pulled, then you're hiding your light under a bushel.
Gayla:
Yeah, and he's the light of the world and he gives us the light, and he's the light of the world and he gives us the light. Again, I haven't got a chance to thank everyone who's listened to me. I mentioned a few of you, but I thank you. It's been a fabulous almost two years. In August it will be two years. So now my 100 also includes five music episodes that I did. If any of you got a chance to look at those, those are listened to, those. I was pretty proud of those, and there may be a few more of those that come out from that time to time. And this next hundred we may be adding some new things, some Bible studies and a certain book of the Bible or me.
Gayla:
James is going to start doing one every once in a while, maybe once a month, once every couple months. He has a lot on his plate. James has two children wonderful children and I'm not prejudiced because I'm their grandmother but he also works and has two big dogs that love their Grammy, so he's very busy. His family is just wonderful and I'm looking for a time that I can spend a lot more time with him. But that information will come sooner than later, probably probably but I'm looking forward to it.
Gayla:
I look forward to the next year, next two years, however many years God gives me At this point in time. This doesn't end. Until God ends it, hopefully my voice will hold up and I won't sound like an old woman doing it. But I do have a website and I think you all heard from my website. I pay for my website. I bought my own domain and I pay every month to put this podcast out. I don't make any money on this podcast. I don't think that I need to make money on telling people how wonderful God is, and it's wwwGodsLovingsacrificecom.
Gayla:
And there's a place to contact me. If you listen to me on YouTube or Spotify, you'll see our Apple or any of the other places you look to me, you'll see a thing where you can leave comments. I can't respond to those comments if you leave them there, but you can leave me prayer requests. You can leave me suggestions of things you'd like to hear about, criticisms on things that I've already talked about that you disagreed with. I'm always willing to look at it again. Don't let that keep you from having a friend in Christ because you guys disagree. So that's real important. Yeah, talk to me, send me something on my Facebook. I mean on my website and on Facebook I can respond to you. On my website you can go to the contact information. It will send an email to me and I can send an email response back to you. Feel free, I would love to hear from people. I hear from Satan but, Sammy's my guy.
Gayla:
What do I say? The 100 podcast. I'm so excited and I so look to the future of what God's going to show me and show others, and what God's going to do in my life and James' life, how he's going to lead this podcast. But again, I thank everyone for listening to me. I know this wasn't much preaching this time. I did use some scriptures, but that is what this podcast is all about. It is about God's love and sacrifice. It is about John 3.16. And if you look at my logo, it says John 3.16. If God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life, and if that isn't God's loving sacrifice, I don't know what is. I'm so proud to be chosen by God to present his word to you. James, do you want to say anything?
James:
I enjoy it. I like being able to go back and forth with the scripture and back and forth with you on what we believe about the scripture. And then hearing what we come up with every week is great. And when I said I listen multiple times, I listen multiple times, I listen when you're coming up with the idea, when you're coming up with the scriptures for the idea, when you've got a lot of it together, after you record it and then again once it's posted. So it's my part of this and I don't want to lose it. I enjoy doing it with you and so I'm looking forward to the next hundred what you're hearing here the two of us is God's living sacrifice.
Gayla:
This is my whole crew. I know lots of other podcasts, use people to edit, do transcripts for them and all of that, but we do it ourselves just the two of us.
Gayla:
And it's very, very, very rewarding. So I hope that you kind of enjoyed this little. I hope that you kind of enjoyed this little how God's loving sacrifice got started and where I want it to go. I want to leave you with a scripture. It is John 14, 26. It says but the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I've said to you. And the Holy Spirit will. You need to be in his word, you need to listen to his word, you need to read his word, you need to be in prayer, listen to the Holy Spirit and tell others. I don't go anywhere that I don't tell whoever I see about God. So tell others, and I thank you.
James:
And I'd like to say thank you not only to our listeners, but to people who are going to be added on to this.
