A Force To Be Reckoned With
A Force To Be Reckoned With
219. 2025 is Gonna ...SUCK!
How can we turn the twists and turns of last year into opportunities for growth?
As we step into 2025, we’re taking a moment to reflect on the past year—the resolutions that got derailed, the unexpected messes, and the lessons learned.
This year, we’re focusing on what matters: setting boundaries, unplugging from distractions, and reconnecting with creativity and family. A holiday screen time detox reminded us of the power of being present, and our “State of the Union” talks inspired fresh ideas for personal growth and the podcast.
Consistency is the goal for 2025—whether it’s sticking to themes, growing spiritually, or navigating finances with purpose. Join us as we plan, pivot, and embrace whatever surprises the year has in store.
Episode Highlights:
- Lessons from 2024
- Prioritizing family and screen-free time
- Monthly themed podcast structure
- Intentional family bonding
- Spiritual growth with shared Bible verses
- Focus on consistency, not resolutions
- Honest talks on financial health
- Building community with transparency and humor
Links Mentioned in Episode/Find More on A Force to Be Reckoned With:
- Jointheforce.us
- Follow us on Instagram @bethanyadkins
- Find us on Youtube!
- Get your Bible verse printable here!
This show has been produced by Adkins Media Co.
We are at war and it's not against our neighbors, spouses, children, politicians or whatever else we feel like we're battling against.
Speaker 2:So the questions are who's the fight against, and are we winning or losing? We're the Adkins, and we are a force to be reckoned with. Are you ready to join the force well, hello out there hey, that was a new one.
Speaker 1:That was a new one I was trying to go for like a uh, like a morning dj I don't know that I've ever heard a morning DJ sound Whoa, whoa, whoa Out there.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone, happy New Year. So what will this be? January 7th, the first Tuesday.
Speaker 1:J7.
Speaker 2:In 2025. And you're not going to believe this. You're not going gonna believe this.
Speaker 1:You're not gonna believe this. Didn't we talk about that before? I don't know if we did or not.
Speaker 2:To be honest, I know we've talked about it, I think on an episode before, but we, you know we fell off again, but we have a plan. Last year was a little rocky, okay, and we're jumping into 2025 with a plan. If you don't, what is that saying? Fail to plan, plan to fail, and I think that was our year. Last year, it was just like how did it go by so quickly? Yeah, we were real reactive to everything, I feel like 2024, grabbed me by the hair and just yanked me around the whole year 2024 is violent.
Speaker 2:It was very uncomfortable. I think I have a whiplash, emotional and physical.
Speaker 1:But here we are in 2025.
Speaker 2:there's a couple of good moments, like you know two or two or three but it was a lot, man it was.
Speaker 1:It was a year yeah, the funny thing was is we said the beginning of 2024. Right, this is gonna be the year.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Don't ever say that. I think that's what we learned. Don't ever say this. I think that's what we learned. Don't ever say this is going to be our year. You just slowly, just quietly, make your approach tiptoeing into the year.
Speaker 1:If we learned anything from 2024, I'm just going to proclaim it right now 2025 is going to suck Maybe that should be the title of this episode 2025 is going to suck.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to use reverse psychology. You know what? I'm gonna write that down, right now 2025 you, you gonna suck remember our provocative titles we used to have. Yeah, we used to be so fun we used to be, so fun we used to be friends.
Speaker 1:Bro, what is that number? We used to be lovers Whoa, that's weird.
Speaker 2:We don't even know each other.
Speaker 1:Don't even talk like that ever again. Can you fix that number? It's bothering me Go. Thanks.
Speaker 2:Okay, so we hope that you guys all had a great end to 2024.
Speaker 1:Nice Christmas, so normally we're so planned the last.
Speaker 2:I mean we've had our podcast for what going on five or six years now, and the first four we did really cool christmas giveaways, like for the whole month.
Speaker 1:We would take the month off, so intentionally well, they're gonna learn why we stopped doing that why no?
Speaker 2:we did money giveaways like sometimes 400, sometimes 600.
Speaker 1:You can't give away money when you don't got it.
Speaker 2:Shut up. We're talking about business money, not the personal. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:I was out panhandling for some change.
Speaker 2:Okay. Anyway, I scrapped together a few last year. It's like I went into the year and I got everybody was like you know all the noise, like, oh, forget new year's resolutions, I just want to have, you know, be the best me and not have any goals yeah, you know what happened to those people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're fat and in debt Right here.
Speaker 2:Right here.
Speaker 1:Why are you looking at me? Their relationships suck.
Speaker 2:Again right here. You know what you might not have to do New Year's resolutions, but me and this guy right here.
Speaker 1:As for me and my house, we do. Sorry, God, if that was blasphemous.
Speaker 2:We're back baby, we're back Okay.
Speaker 1:It's all about the heart. I was just looking back to see when we started our podcast, I was actually really curious, it was 2019.
Speaker 2:What was it? July of 2019? Yeah, so this year, july, what July, july, what we got to have a July 2nd bro. Okay, july 2nd of 2025. That'll be six years.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's not a year you celebrate.
Speaker 2:Six, six years. That's a second. We could giving away six dollars. Okay, we haven't made it anywhere this episode, but okay, we planned, okay, I planned and I just told Corey the plan five minutes ago.
Speaker 1:I mean is anybody surprised at this point.
Speaker 2:We hope that you guys had a great break.
Speaker 1:I've planned like two episodes we did.
Speaker 2:So we're going gonna talk about our break, talk about some reflections there, talk about life and then stay tuned because we're also gonna be giving some updates on our podcast schedule and like the year at a glance and like what's to come, and I came up with a nice routine that I'm excited about. That I think will help you guys to not be like whipped around, like oh my gosh, are they gonna do an episode? This? Like we've never been as inconsistent as we were last year. Yeah, and we're so sorry and and we felt it and hold on.
Speaker 1:Why don't you ever apologize to me like that?
Speaker 2:oh, I'm so sorry I don't have to look them in the eye, so okay, let's talk about break okay it was fast, it was good, we were sick.
Speaker 1:The kids were like sick kids were sick, luckily you and I didn't get sick no, we oh pound it we um.
Speaker 2:I think a lot of people feel this way, but it's like we spent the whole break decluttering our entire house.
Speaker 1:I mean kinda, where were you?
Speaker 2:I went through every single room, yeah this dude was throwing it all away so why are you saying kinda?
Speaker 1:I mean we didn't like every second. I mean we rested too. I felt I felt like this break was the most restful christmas break that we've had since we've been married it has, so maybe it's been married for 13 years okay oh no and that's a bad number yeah to some people. I don't believe in that.
Speaker 2:Actually it's gonna be a great year but, oh, nope, nope, this year's gonna suck we've been married for 13 years and, yeah, normally we've gone like our. We were either in california and then flew home, or, if we lived in ohio, we were either in California and then flew home, or, if we lived in Ohio, we were going from place to place. Our Christmases were very full and then, like, sometimes we've gone out of town and done little cabin trips or gone on trips with friends, and this year we were just like again. We were like what happened this year and we were just like you know, our hair was like frayed and on fire and everything. And so we were like no, we're scaling back the Christmas plans, we're not leaving. If people want to come, they can come to us. We're not. We're doing minimal plans.
Speaker 2:We had nothing on the schedule which actually worked out because we ended up being sick and we would have had to cancel them anyway. So with that we did have a lot of rest, rest time, but we also got so many house projects done yeah which was good, and I spent a lot of time offline like, yeah, I, there were days where I would wake up and then I would just leave my phone somewhere and wouldn't be on it, you know, till dinner time, and which people are like, okay, yeah, what's the big deal? Well, my whole job is on my phone yeah like, and it's great and I love my job.
Speaker 2:but having that time away made me realize, like, how bad it is for my mental health. Sometimes my brain, thought processes, my internal dialogue Do you have an internal dialogue.
Speaker 1:Dude all the time.
Speaker 2:Because, did you know, some people don't.
Speaker 1:Some people don't talk to themselves. Yeah, some people don't. You know what that tells you about those people? They're liars. Everybody talks to themselves.
Speaker 2:I don't know. I'm pretty sure there are people that don't there's no way you know what?
Speaker 1:we're gonna take a poll no, because that would mean you don't think what you thinking inside of your head. Is you talking to yourself?
Speaker 2:no, but like you know how, all day long you're like oh, I'm so fat, I'm a loser, I'm don't. I'm a terrible person. Why did you say that? You idiot?
Speaker 1:Maybe you should not talk to yourself at all. That sounds terrible. I do not talk to myself like that. Mine is more like nope, don't say that one Nope. That thing's going to get you in trouble. Don't do that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can let that one slip out. Oh, that's a good one, give them that one slip out, oh yeah, oh, that's a good one give them that one give them that one, but you can go a little bit further mine is like go to the pole, you know I'd like to have on the podcast go touch the light, post you know who I? And I'm not saying that I am being um. I'm not saying that if you died I'd marry this guy.
Speaker 1:Excuse me, excuse me.
Speaker 2:Theo Vaughn. He's so funny, he is funny.
Speaker 1:but I sure hope you wouldn't. I feel like Theo's got some stuff not going on right now.
Speaker 2:Oh, he for sure does. But I would want to be his best friend, like I really like him. I think he's so funny, he's so entertaining. I just get his. I just feel like we're on the same. I just love his sense of humor. I was joking about the death thing I wouldn't remarry. We've already talked about this.
Speaker 1:Ithia's funny, but dude's got a mullet.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's so funny Actually, I just like like him. He's really inappropriate though okay.
Speaker 1:So, anyway, was off our phones a lot and I was just gonna say one other thing about before that revelation what on theo vaughn. Was that? The other thing that I argue with is me arguing, with myself being a little wuss.
Speaker 2:Here we go.
Speaker 1:No, do you not do that?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:Is that just a dude thing? A wuss no when you're like oh nah, you don't have to do that. And it's like no, quit being a little wuss, do it Go further.
Speaker 2:No, I definitely don't do that.
Speaker 1:When you're trying to make excuses to not do things or to whatever like stuff like that. No, just take it easy, man, because I just do it. I'm just not a wuss. Oh my gosh, I just do it.
Speaker 2:I just get up and it's like you just do it. That's the difference between me and you.
Speaker 1:Then why do you call yourself a fat loser? Because I like snacks that doesn't go hand in hand it does it does not. I just do it. Yeah, I call myself a fat loser. After I did the thing that made me feel awesome.
Speaker 2:Okay, it makes no sense moving on so left the phone. It was so good. I took a really long time to respond to people. Sorry, but.
Speaker 1:Sorry, not sorry.
Speaker 2:I just realized how I need to implement better boundaries, even with work, so like I'm working on it, I don't have anything set in stone yet, but I would love to be able to come home from work.
Speaker 2:Once we go back to work and be like, okay, like I need to put my phone in my office and be done with it for the night because I just want to be present. We've talked about this a million times, but it was just they got to the point where I was away from my phone so much it would be like six hours, and then I would see my phone. I'd be like, oh, I should probably check it, I probably have missed calls, and I would feel stress in my chest like I don't want to check it, like I don't even want to look at it but your entire family was with you.
Speaker 2:It's not like no, but I know, but like the notifications of emails coming, like I was like I don't even want to look at this thing, but it felt so good being without it. So, but something else that I realized is that I'm a very creative person. I enjoy being creative, but the other thing even work aside, then I would spend time scrolling and filling all of my empty brain space with just reels or just entertainment was keeping me from tapping into, like my creative brain, and I felt for the first time in probably a couple years that I had time to be creative and think about you know the podcast, and think about new, fresh ideas and yeah, so it was good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I, I, it's the slowest week of the year for me for work, and so I just completely shut down. I think the only time I opened my laptop up the entire that entire week was to print your, like, your present off, like I think that was it. And then, yeah, same too. Like when I was doing my outdoor walks, I started listening to an audio book and it just started getting like sparking thoughts and ideas and things in my head. So I think that it was good to just step away, you know, take a break from the hustle and bustle of work, to enrich, spend time with the family and invest in ourselves and rest and recharge, just so that we can start this year off in a much, you know, after our foundation has kind of been set a little bit yeah, yeah, it was good.
Speaker 2:So anyway, it was enjoyable and we're about to go back to work and excited about it, excited about all that's to come in the year and there's so much I want to say. It's like this is not going to all fit into this episode. This is the problem Because I do want to talk about. For the first time in several years I actually made New Year's resolutions, kind of want to share about those. But also normally at the end of the year, you and I try our best to break away for like a night or two, yeah, and kind of do like a State of the Union.
Speaker 2:Is that what we could call it? We should just call it that where we're, we go, we're away from the kids. Last year we went to columbus. We didn't get to do it this year, so we kind of broke it up into a couple evenings. But what we do during that time is we like go over our finances, readjust our budgets, talk about our incomes and you know all of that, set some goals, um, just talk about like what we're doing with the kids for the year, any extra activities we're going to do for this year. We kind of dream together and just talk about the year, any house up projects that we have coming up, anything and we just kind of get it all on the calendar.
Speaker 2:Get on the same page start getting a game plan, yep we didn't get to do that this year going away just because well, we had sick kids and then child care is hard with two babies.
Speaker 2:Nobody wants five kids, two of them being six months and under, and um, so we just didn't. But we I spent a couple mornings getting up early and then we sat down at night a couple nights and did it and it was good. But that ties into the episodes and the year at a glance for the podcast. So I decided that for this year.
Speaker 2:Last year it was like so much was happening and so much that we couldn't share in real time, but who we are is like people that want to share in real time, and so it was hard to like discern that. And then also it was like do we even share those things? And this thing's also really hard. And then we kind of got comfortable not sharing the uncomfortable which, if you remember, when our podcast originally started back it was called Adkins Highlight Reel back in July of 2019. And it was talking about like sharing the real things. We were talking about our marriage and the struggles there and our debt and the struggles there, and we were getting out of debt. We were sharing real numbers and our income and all of that. And it was like I think now that we're in the community more and we know people that listen to the podcast locally like it used to just be strangers that we didn't know.
Speaker 1:Like you listening. Right now I'm going to see you at work and you listening. Right now I'm going to see you in Giant Eagle and you listening right now. I'm going to see you in. Hartville Hardware.
Speaker 2:There's only three listeners. Oh, and you. I to see you in Hartville.
Speaker 1:Hardware. There's only three listeners. How can that be? I'll see you at our son's basketball game.
Speaker 2:No, that's not true, but it's like, oh, I think that when we moved back from California, we lived here and we were in our own little bubble, like we really weren't established. We didn't know anybody and I was like I don't care.
Speaker 1:I'm going to. I'll share what we make and I'll share.
Speaker 2:And looking back I'm like, oh my gosh, I can't even believe that we shared that it's like crazy.
Speaker 1:But where? Where am I going with this?
Speaker 2:this isn't even part of my because we're going back. We're going back, baby, we're taking a home back. No, we're. Our year, at a glance, is every month. We're going to try and stay within a theme, like have a theme for the month, which this is structured with our family meetings that we talked about last year. So every month, we sit down with our kids, we're sharing a Bible verse that we're memorizing as a family. We're going to share that here on the podcast. So basically, each week of the month, each first week of every single month, is going to be the same. Then each second week of every single month is going to be the same. Am I explaining this right? Yeah, so week one.
Speaker 1:Will each third week of every single month be the same. What about the fourth? Sure will. What about the fifth?
Speaker 2:The fifth will in fact be the same. There are random fifth months. When we have them, they fact be the same.
Speaker 1:There are random fifth months, when we have them they will all be parents.
Speaker 2:Google everything. Episodes.
Speaker 1:I was going to try to stump you. People were like yeah the fifth week will always be the same there's not a fifth week.
Speaker 2:So I'll get to that, but month one is going to be always life update. You mean week one, yeah, week one of every single month. So that's what this episode is going to be always life update, I mean week one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, week one of every single month. So that's what this episode is supposed to be Life update, family meeting episodes and books that we're reading, stuff like that. So during that we're going to go through what we're talking about in our family meetings with our kids. We're going to share the scripture that we're memorizing as a family for the month to encourage you guys to print out the scripture, hang it on your fridge and memorize it as a family, and if you guys do this by the end of the year, your whole family will have memorized 12 whole verses by the end of the month. And then, for the whole month, we're going to kind of tie that verse into what we're walking through in real life. Okay, so that's week one.
Speaker 1:Week two Can one of those verses be the verse Jesus wept, no oh.
Speaker 2:No, okay, you can memorize that as a bonus episode or bonus week.
Speaker 1:but no, I'm already done. I just got to figure out what the reference is.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, week two is going to be lies from the enemy, and I'm excited about this one.
Speaker 1:So lies, lies, lies.
Speaker 2:Our, you know, our heart is to always be real. That's Adkins Highlight. Real week one. Week two is like the force to be reckoned with stuff, where the whole point of a force to be reckoned with is to encourage families and couples to have strong marriages together so that they can raise and equip kids to know how to have strong marriages and strong families and to go out into the world and be disciples and make disciples and fight against the evil schemes of the enemy. Because it's a very real thing. Spiritual warfare is real and that's the truth. But when you just say that, people are like, hey, what's your podcast about? And you're like, oh, spiritual warfare, they're like, ah, weirdos.
Speaker 2:But really this is real, you guys, and we also want to tie in the fact that, like you, can be a strong. You don't believe that there's a spiritual no, you can be a strong Christian, believing family, and still have fun amidst real life.
Speaker 1:More fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah, more fun. My life is way more fun now than when we were doing all the things we shouldn't have been doing.
Speaker 1:Partying it up trashing those bodies.
Speaker 2:So week two lies from the enemy. Week three, here we go money and marriage. So week three is always going to be talking about money and marriage. Where we're talking about, you know, marriage stuff probably parenting will tie into that um, just things that we're navigating in our marriage. But also we are getting back to debt and the debt that we're in hey, because guess what guys updates?
Speaker 2:we're back in it newsflash, so on january 21st, tune in, because that is our first live debt update again and where we're going to be sharing them every month and it's going to be really embarrassing if it's not good. So then week four, we're just going to be sharing. It's kind of like what we're learning. So, takeaways from the month, takeaways from the theme Sometimes it'll be us, but a lot of times we're hoping to have some good guests on and those are kind of our guest spots and then week five, when there's a fifth week we're going to be doing parents, google, google everything, which that was shockingly. That was cory's idea. What?
Speaker 1:do you mean shock? No, shockingly, it's been very requested yeah, but why is shockingly that it was my idea and that it was so requested?
Speaker 2:because I was like, I'll be honest, when you first came up with the idea, I I was like this is so lame, so lame, like nobody's going to want to hear us. Google articles. It's not funny, it's just, but people loved it, so but it's the parents, google everything and then like a date.
Speaker 1:Just so everybody knows, Beth just took her right hand and tucked it inside the back of my knee. Just putting that out there for this marriage thing. Just want this recorded because this doesn't happen very often you're terrible, okay.
Speaker 2:So where do we even go from there? Where do we go from here? Um, um. So yeah, like the money and marriage episodes excited to do, like money tips might have money people on um, we're gonna be so okay, since this is week one of the year, let's just do our real quick life update family meeting books that we're reading and we'll share the scripture and then we'll get out of here because this is getting long.
Speaker 2:So, family meetings, what are we? Well, family update first, life update family update kid count how many kids do we have?
Speaker 1:One, two, three, four five.
Speaker 2:We have five, which is what I have to do.
Speaker 1:every time that we leave somewhere, I have to count.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we got five kids Our three biological kids, our two foster placements, some big case updates coming.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because we got like some little. What do we say? Maybe, like a little potential.
Speaker 2:Like it made the percentage go from like 50-50 to like 75-25. Yeah To a direction of the case, but we don-50 to like 75-25.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:To a direction of the case. But we don't want to share, so we do, we really?
Speaker 1:do, we do but, but we're not going to.
Speaker 2:So anyway, there are some updates coming.
Speaker 1:And we don't know when that'll be that we talk about it, so you're just going to have to listen to every single episode.
Speaker 2:The babies are so sweet have a six month old crew and one month old we don't have a name for her yet. She's actually two months old and she's so sweet, and so that's all.
Speaker 1:We haven't given her a nickname for the for the pod that's going really well.
Speaker 2:They're both happy and well adjusted, and liberty keeps telling me that we need to how about pilot now? No, that we need to how about pilot?
Speaker 1:No, no, that we need to take another placement. Liberty doesn't have to get up with these babies.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know. So if you're asking we've got this question a lot Are the kids staying? We don't know. If the kids do stay, will you be done with foster care? The answer is we don't know.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's who you're going with.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:What's your percentage?
Speaker 2:My percentage is well. No. My percentage is 99%.
Speaker 1:No 99% that we're not done.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because I was really feeling like we're done and but also I just feel in my heart like there's one more specific child that is supposed to be in our home. Not, I don't know this child personally, I don't know them. I'm not like trying to kidnap somebody's kid. I just feel like five is a good number, but I don't know, I can't even explain it. I just feel in my gut that there's one more.
Speaker 1:Didn't you just get your gut checked? Isn't your bottom a little off? Because I'm feeling a little 90% yes, but if the Lord's willing, then we'll just see. We don't know and the Lord might just be closing that door and having another one open yeah, what would the open door be? Whatever's next, the next season of life is whatever the next thing.
Speaker 2:I mean I wouldn't be. Yeah, this is a whole other episode, but I wouldn't be sad.
Speaker 1:I would be perfectly happy with our five.
Speaker 2:We might need a guest for week three of money in marriage yeah, to mediate this well, all I'm saying is we're praying about it and so if you would have asked me a month ago, I would have said absolutely 100 yes. If they stay, we're done. But I just don't know. So we'll see, I'm getting so old. I mean, we both have to be in agreement. If you're a hard no, it's a no, and that's the marriage tip. If you're not both on the same page, it's a no until it's resounding. Yes, I'm so tired, guys. I'm so tired Me too. I wake up with guys. I'm so tired, me too.
Speaker 1:I wake up with the baby, I wake up with the other one, and the other one wakes me up anyways.
Speaker 2:Okay, so that's our life update. Kids are well, basketball season's almost over and then can you even believe, once basketball's over, we have a break on sports until fall. I mean end of summer, yeah, beginning of august I can't wait, which I'm really excited about, because carter we've been his acting stuff has been kind of on pause because of foster care and we're kind of re-upping that this year, and so yeah that's exciting, what We'll see, what happens.
Speaker 2:We'll see what happens. So, as far as books books that you're reading I wish we had like sounds.
Speaker 1:Sounds.
Speaker 2:Like you know, for life update.
Speaker 1:That's not funny, but we need better sounds.
Speaker 2:Life update.
Speaker 1:You can program those with your own sounds.
Speaker 2:I know.
Speaker 1:We just have to figure out how to do it.
Speaker 2:All right, that was our life update.
Speaker 1:Cory, what books are you reading? Looking out on?
Speaker 2:this drive out on i-99.
Speaker 1:I don't know, doesn't it sound like somebody's giving the traffic report?
Speaker 2:yeah, it does all right.
Speaker 1:That's enough of that okay, you gotta get rid of it um what books are you reading? So I am in. I feel like I've been reading this one for a minute. But uh, the bonhoeffer biography that oh, it's like so fat eric metaxas? Are you talking about the book the uh? Eric metaxas wrote?
Speaker 2:you're borderline being rude? I'm not. Yes, you are. I didn't even say anything.
Speaker 1:Anyways, yeah, it's like 700 pages. So I get to a point where I'm like, alright, dude, I need a break from this one. So then I read David by Chuck Swindoll.
Speaker 2:Am I saying?
Speaker 1:that right, swindoll, I know who that is. I've read a few of his books, but anyways, that one was really good. Can I even say the title of the other one and I'm reading right now. I think it's fine. Yeah, I'm not gonna say it, but I'm gonna say it if you know what I mean. It's not exactly an appropriate title, but there's good stuff in the book that there's things that do any of you out there like to read, especially like personal development type books, like reading it, and then you like disagree with the author on several things. But then there's other things you're like oh, that's a good, that's good and you can pull that out yeah, you know what I mean so, yeah, there are multiple things in this book that I'm like, yeah, I don't agree with that at all.
Speaker 1:And I like have a little argument in my head with him on it and there's other stuff I'm like, oh, that's really good. Anyways, I don't remember the author's title, and this was a popular book but it's called the Subtle Art of Not Giving a Crap. Really. No, it's F word, dude. It ends in the F word Okay.
Speaker 2:Okay. So yeah, it's f4 dude. It ends in the f4 okay okay, so yeah.
Speaker 1:So what books are you reading?
Speaker 2:so right now I'm. I stopped reading like a week into december because it was just a crazy month, but I'm reading a book called the autoimmune cure and it's really good. Um, I've been having health stuff for ever. Where'd you get that book?
Speaker 1:I got it offline well, I mean, like who?
Speaker 2:amazon.
Speaker 2:I just was looking up stuff on amazon about autoimmunity because somebody recommended yeah, because and again, like maybe we should do a podcast today because there's just so many things we haven't talked to you guys about, because last year was crazy. But, um, I got I love dr hyman got this blood work done that he he has this thing called function health where you pay like 500 for the whole year and then you go and get hundreds of labs drawn that give you a huge insight into your health, which you need to do it, by the way, and I got all these results back which I knew I had stuff off, but I had a lot of autoimmune markers come back, and so it started me down this trail of like doing digging and figuring it out. And so I'm reading this book. It's actually so good and I'm only probably an eighth of the way through, but just talking about the effects of stress and trauma, which sounds so I don't know, like you know.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean no, I know, because when you just said it, but they talk about, like how there's big t's and little t's, like a big trauma would be like your husband died hold on big what t's h-i-j-k-l-m-o-p-q-r-s t oh, okay, like ice t, yes t big t would be. Your husband died, okay, a little tea.
Speaker 1:Should that be a big tea to you, because I'm pretty sure another tea theo would come swooping in with his mullet I'm sure theo has other prospects.
Speaker 2:Trust me stealing up my life insurance you have none, yeah, okay so, but a little t would be like something that you like a little blip of stress like when you like you thought you were gonna fart and then you actually, like, pooped a little in your pants no like that.
Speaker 2:That's not a little t, a little trauma you're stressed out at work and then you have come home and your kid is is. You're going through hard stuff with your kids and then maybe, like you, have a season of foster care. That's stressful, it's like nothing, that's like people would be like a big. T is like when people are like acknowledge it like, I feel like it's definitely big t's yeah, but a little t is more, just like little stresses you know how you fix little t's though what t bell no, no, you don't, that's in the 2024 and then you do a 75 hard and all is well
Speaker 2:we're done with that. But all that to say is that big t's and little t's both have really bad impact on your body and your health and your immune system. And it's yeah, I just I'm not good. I used to be so good at managing stress. I don't know what happened Not anymore. I just feel like and I wake up, get up out of bed and I feel like I'm being, I'm in fight or flight all the time, and so, anyway, it's a really good book.
Speaker 2:I feel that yeah, but it's not supposed to be like that.
Speaker 1:I mean, I know that, right, you need to read this book. You need to read this book. It's not boring, is?
Speaker 2:it. No, it's really good. So anyway, that's the book I'm reading, but about that, can we do you have any new year's resolutions? No, are you kidding?
Speaker 1:no, I already told you when we were walking so I didn't do resolutions, not because I don't believe in resolutions. I actually do believe in resolutions, I've always believed, but I not in like in the normal sense of the word, or everybody fails at them by the second week of the year. But I I'm I am very firmly, highly, highly believe in goal setting and breaking. I mean we've talked about it on the podcast about breaking those goals down into manageable chunks. So like, yeah, I set goals, I set work goals, goals down into manageable chunks. So like, yeah, I set goals, I set work goals, I've got health goals and stuff like that and book goals. But I don't really do resolutions because I I set goals every year. So for me it's not like I don't like do a resolution thing, but I did a word because I felt like last year it kind of goes into what you're saying Last year was this just like a lot of reactiveness towards life and I mean I was like that with work too.
Speaker 1:I was very reactive to things coming in, reactive to things as they happened to us throughout the year. So my word this year is consistency. So I want to be more consistent in everything. So all of my work goals are primarily based off of being more consistent. My health goals are based on being consistent. My reading goals are based on being consistent, all of it. So I'm trying to just embody that word and be more consistent, because last year, for sure, and maybe even a few years, I feel like I have not been consistent. Yeah, and really consistency in anything good is the key to making it a habit yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:No, that's really good. Well, I have 10. I don't know if I should share all these, because it's none of anybody's business.
Speaker 1:Why not?
Speaker 2:No, I will. I'll just go through them quickly. One read 25 books, which is about two books a month, which I'm really excited. I just I have a personality where Did?
Speaker 1:you have a different number last time when we were talking, or was it 25?
Speaker 2:It was 25. Yeah, what did you think? It was more than that was it 25?
Speaker 1:it was 25. Yeah, what did you think?
Speaker 2:it was more than that I couldn't remember if it was 24 because that makes more sense or if it was 30. No, it was 25, okay, but I'm just, I have the personality where I think we both do, where I need something to strive toward, so, like I have to have these goals which is like last year.
Speaker 2:I like I said, I said I bought into people like, oh, I don't people. Some people do well with not having resolutions and it stresses them out for me. It's like it gives me a reason to move, can I?
Speaker 1:get up. Let me just say something real quick, cause I don't know there might be one person out there that I feel like this helps. But a lot of the resolution things like the reason that people fail goes back to the goal setting thing. Is you just say I'm going to lose 10 pounds, or I'm going to lose a hundred pounds, or I'm going to do that?
Speaker 2:I think people know this.
Speaker 1:No, I don't. I think a lot of people don't, and that's why they don't execute. Because you have to break it down into manageable chunks and you can't go too hard the first week or two, and I think that's the other reason why people fail. It's like when you first start working out again and you haven't worked out in a while and you just think you can do what you've done before and you go too hard and you get so sore that it's like oh, I can't even do chest again because I'm so sore. Oh man, I can barely walk today. I can't go jog, you went too hard. You have to break it down into very, be realistic and have manageable chunks and just stay consistent with that. And then, next thing, you know you'll execute on it and maybe you don't see the results in the first week, two weeks, even 30 days, but if you keep it up in the next two or three months, then you see it, yeah, so anyways.
Speaker 2:So read 25 books. I've had this on my resolutions three years now. Not three in a row, but once in 2020, once in 2023, and then this year, 2020, we got COVID 2023, the week that I was supposed to do this, we got four kids back in our home unexpectedly and I wasn't able to make it to Columbus. This year is my year, I don't care. I'm running a half marathon. I used to love to run when I was a nurse. I know it's hard to believe right now, but when I was a nurse it was my way to decompress. I worked night shift, couldn't sleep, so I would come home and run a few miles and then I would sleep. Great, I love to run races. The furthest I've run is like a 15K, which isn't a ton and I'm not a fast runner, but it's like therapeutic for me. So, running a half marathon, my third payoff all credit card debt, which we're going to do We'll talk about more on the 21st Then reading 10 books.
Speaker 2:As a family, we really time is going so fast and we love family time, but we're trying to do more intentional things than just sitting in front of the TV. So we've, last year, have gotten to a better habit of reading with the kids at night Not great though, because, again, not consistent. So we have some chapter books that we sit down with and read with the kids at night before bed. So my goal is for us, as a family, to read 10 of those Getting Then memorizing 12 Bible verses as a family. You skipped no.
Speaker 1:I'm not sharing that one.
Speaker 2:I'm not sharing that one. That'll come when it comes. So, memorizing 12 Bible verses as a family, you guys can do this with us because each month we're about to share the Bible verse, we'll give you a printable, put it on your fridge, all that, and then conduct and complete 12 family touch bases, which, again, you guys can do that with us every month. We're going to sit down and do kind of a mini state of the union with our kids and talk about chores and allowances and reading and all of that. We're going to do one a month and then, honestly, the other ones I don't feel like people would care about. We're going to talk about number 10, more on the third week episode, which is study, investing and start investing and then, um, outside of our, what are they?
Speaker 1:401ks. And then um outside of our. What are they? 401ks.
Speaker 2:And then I have this um one of our goals that we've had for a while, which I feel like we're getting closer to it. It's not immediate but is Corey has always wanted to do like Airbnb, have properties for Airbnbs, and so I have this course and I want to go through it this year and kind of reevaluate can we go back to number five? No, we cannot, I'm not sharing. There's accountability no, oh, we have to share. We shared our books, we shared our resolutions and now we have to share our bible.
Speaker 1:Verse for the month oh so for this hey we should say it at the same time and see if cause we both.
Speaker 2:It's not the same. You remember, you memorize the wrong version.
Speaker 1:Look, I memorized the wrong version.
Speaker 2:Yes, look, look, I made this, it wasn't wrong when I memorized it. I made this really pretty printable. I'm going to put it just in I just in Google drive and put it as a link in our show notes so you can download it and print it if you want for free. But the Bible verse I thought this was a great one to start out the year.
Speaker 1:Okay, there's only one word that's different.
Speaker 2:I thought this was a great Bible verse to start out the year, and it's Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, which it's actually a really common verse, so you might have a head start on it. But even if you're like, oh, I got that one in the bag.
Speaker 1:Proverbs 3, verses 5 and 6.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sorry.
Speaker 1:No, I just you said it right, but it sounded like.
Speaker 2:Yeah. But even if you haven't memorized, the goal is, as a family, we're memorizing these and we set the expectation with our kids at our last family meeting. At our next family meeting, you're going to be expected to stand up and recite this to us. So it is trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean, not on your own understanding. In all of your ways, submit to him and he will direct your path. I just thought that was a great verse for the year. It kind of goes with our theme of like. We can have plans, we can have goals, we can have aspirations, but in everything that we do we have to trust in God. Even there's going to be months and weeks, even as much as we plan, where things don't make sense, we still need to trust. We need to lean not on our own understanding. We need to submit to him and know that at the end of the day, we do our best to be the best that we can be, but ultimately he's going to direct our path.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So that can mean, as you're setting goals or resolutions or whatever, you may get into it and God's like, yeah, actually I don't want you to do that one, and you got to be okay with that because that's his plan, that's his will. Why are you smirking? He definitely wants you to do number five. Everybody should do number five. There's no.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I think the last 15 years since we've had Carter, he's been like yeah, I don't know, you can hold off on that one, I don't know, like you were just saying I don't know if he's telling you, you can hold off. I know, I'm just kidding, okay. So yeah, I mean.
Speaker 1:Are you just talking to me now or are you going to talk into the microphone?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean he may not want me to do Airbnbs Right Like that's one, but we're going to pursue it.
Speaker 2:But number five.
Speaker 1:Everybody needs to do number five.
Speaker 2:Right, but this is a good leading. Everybody needs to do number five, everybody should, and nobody knows what it is.
Speaker 1:Everybody do number five right now. It needs to be on your resolutions.
Speaker 2:You're making it sound like it's something it's not. Now it needs to be on your resolutions.
Speaker 1:You're making it sound like it's something it's not. You have to have it. No, it's true.
Speaker 2:Everybody needs it.
Speaker 1:Okay, young, old, male, female.
Speaker 2:Stop. You're making it sound like inappropriate. Why am I Listen to yourself? That's not inappropriate, okay, but what you were just saying? Is sometimes you might have goals and plans and God might have something else for you. But, like you were saying, he might not want us to do Airbnbs and this is kind of a teaser for next week.
Speaker 2:Thanks but this teaser for next week, like you were talking about the Airbnb thing is, sometimes we have these big visions in our head of what our life is going to look like and we have these goals and there's nothing wrong with that. But we also have to be open to God, like intervening, yeah.
Speaker 1:And it's okay to you were saying, like it's okay to start taking steps towards that goal and even make a plan for the goal and start even executing on that plan and praying for to God, like if you don't have a clear answer sometimes on something like just praying, okay, if you want me to do this, then you know, make it, make it known, and I'm just, I'm going to keep taking steps towards it if you don't shut the door and I think that that's okay. It was like when we were looking for a house, we were trying to figure out which house to purchase and we were just asking God, hey, we're going to put an offer in on this house and if you don't want us to get it, then shut the door. So, yeah, I think that that's okay, but we'll dive into more into that next, next week all right, I think that's it.
Speaker 2:I think we covered a lot and um, we hope that you guys have a great start to your 2025. If you haven't had the time, like we had, to kind of get yourself in order over break and get yourself aligned with your spouse and, you know, get your priorities set for the year. It's not too late, like it doesn't have to be December for you to do that. You can start in January. So if you if you're not there yet, I would just encourage you to maybe find a couple evenings throughout the month to get on the same page, maybe set some intentions for the year and, yeah, it really feels good to not wander aimlessly.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:To have some goals.
Speaker 1:So yeah, and everybody, just make sure that you go back into the episode if you didn't write it down, but write down exactly what resolution number five is and make sure that you do that one.
Speaker 2:Happy New Year you.