Hello, sisters, and welcome back to another episode here on the Intentional Mom Life with Jesus podcast. I'm your host, Sasha Starr-Robertson, and today I'm sharing a little testimony from my past with you guys that is really like the heart and purpose behind the Abide Journal that I created and really my intentions when this gets into the hands of ladies, just the fruits that my heart desires to see coming out of it.
So walk through this story with me about my past and see if you can see any correlations or anything in your life and how you want to live different. Welcome to the Intentional Mom Life with Jesus podcast. Do you desire balance and want to glorify God with your life? Music. Are you often up late at night conflicted between whether you accomplished enough or you were present enough with your kids?
Do you wake up with big, ambitious goals only to feel overwhelmed by all the things on your to-do list? Hi, I'm Sasha Starr-Robertson. I know the weight of that stay-at-home mom life. It can feel like a burden to stay on top of things when you don't know how to manage your time and struggle to read your Bible. You want structure, a routine that flows, and a little time to pursue things for yourself without mom guilt.
But you keep telling yourself, There's no time, and I can't find a good schedule. Well, sister, you've found the solution. On this podcast, you'll find encouragement to help you live rooted and grounded in Christ, time management tips for busy moms, and mindset shifts to help you feel organized, productive, and peaceful, focusing on what matters most. So grab your cold brew or kombucha and strap those kiddos into the car seat, and let's jump into today's episode.
All right so before i really dive into the meat and potatoes of this episode obviously we are talking about the abide journal and if you want to get your eyes on it maybe even while you're listening i just have to say the link is in the show notes you can go to intentional abundance.co backslash kickstarter is the short link that will redirect you directly to all the information about the abide journal and so kickstarter is where we are launching this if you will.
I just want to explain a little bit about how Kickstarter works. So it is an all or nothing platform, meaning when you go on to Kickstarter, you are making a pledge that you are supporting and backing this project via just contributing financially, or you can choose one of, I think, 16 different reward options that we have, and they each have like a dollar amount that correlates to them, you can get one, two, 10, 20, 50 copies of the Abide Journal through this process. But.
If we do not meet the goal by the time the campaign closes, nobody is charged, right? You make your pledge today, you're charged on December 3rd when the campaign closes, unless we do not make the goal. If we do not make the goal, nobody is charged on December 3rd, and I do not get any money, and this journal does not get printed. Like, we're going to have to go back to square one and be like, God, okay, how are we getting this into the hands of people?
Because this way didn't work, right? which I have faith God is going to do it. On day one, okay, day one, we were 51% funded. I about lost my mind. Like, it's crazy. We're currently sitting at 67% funded at the time of recording this. I'm hiding in my bedroom in the middle of the afternoon, congested recording this because I'm like, God has just had so much on my heart to share with you guys. But boy, has it been a season.
So anyways, you go on, you pledge, you choose your reward, you're charged December 3rd. Okay. Once we're fully funded, though, I'm going to go ahead and put that order through, even though it's probably going to be a month to two months before I get any money to pay off that order.
I'm going to go ahead and do that. And if we exceed the Kickstarter goal, then we're going to use that money to, my husband's going to help me kind of recreate it, do some tweaks, take some of that feminine energy, if you will, out of it. Get rid of the scripty writing, the references to mom life, the soft pink cover, and change that to some more masculine or neutral vibes, if you will. Sound like such a Jesus-loving woman right now, right?
And make it so you can get them for your husband and your youth as well. That's been a request that we've been hearing already, is like, my husband wants one, my kid wants one, we want one for the youth group, things like that. And so really hoping that we can exceed our goal by like 200 plus percent and get this thing created in multiple different versions.
So the Abide Journal, I've talked about it a little bit. It's essentially for daily time with God, for taking that time with God, whether it's through listening to a sermon, there's stickers that you can customize it so it's for sermon notes, or if you're doing a devotion, or if you're just reading a verse of the day, or you're going through an in-depth study, or you're just having a quiet time with God in the morning, whatever that looks like.
You're taking that time with God and sitting down with this journal. You're taking notes on it, which processes it neurologically different, like through a different part of your brain. I'm going to share a whole episode about that coming up soon.
You're writing stuff down. It gives you space to doodle and take notes, but it also gives you an opportunity to answer these question prompts that take God's word deeper for you, that instead of it going in one ear and out the other, you get to learn, actually learn about yourself and God through reading his word.
And you get to learn about the actions that you get to take in your life so that God's word becomes applicable and you start living or going deeper and living in accordance with that, abiding in him and his word, allowing it to change the way that you live so that you are going out and.
Living in the fruit of his spirit and shining a light and being the salt and light of the earth and so all that to say this journal I just was asked a question by my counselor a couple of days ago and I was just like dang like I need to share this like this needs to be a podcast episode because I was really struggling to reach out to churches or different people and asking them like hey, are you interested? Would you stock this? Would you buy this? Would you support this project?
And I struggle with the idea, I think, of like marketing for something that's bringing people closer to Jesus, but like for me to make money off of it, which in reality, like this journal would have to reach like 400x what I'm trying to raise for it for me to see any like tangible or financial benefit from it personally. All the money that we're raising is going into printing them. And then,
I still have business debt aside from that. And God has already said, hey, if we exceed the goal, let's make other versions so we can reach more people, right? And so I was really struggling with this. And he's like, what's the purpose of this? Why did you create this? What is the purpose of the product and why did you create it? And I shared a story a couple of weeks ago here on the podcast about how it came to be, right?
And I already had the page in my life and goals planner called The Daily Time With God. And it's essentially like the same thing, just very different format. It's a single page, whatever else. Whereas this is for your 90 day, like spiritual growth journey. I was just sitting there thinking about it. And I was like, you know what, I think it goes all the way back to my childhood. It goes back to this period of my childhood where my family decided to go to the Mormon church.
And so preface before we dive into this, like I am not knocking my family. I am not knocking my parents. I believe most of us as parents, we do the best that we can with what we have and what we know. And when we know better, we do better. We try better, right? But especially when you come from a family that's like multi-generational trauma. It's a long uphill battle. God knows, right? Thankful for his grace and his presence and him being with us.
But all that to say, thinking back on this time, and I was probably around like age five to 13-ish, maybe six to 12, somewhere in there, like real formative years. And prior to this, like no church, like I don't remember any prayer, any anything. We went to church. And when we went to church, it was kind of this idea that I think a lot of non-Christians or like first-time churchgoers think is like, you go to church and you've got to be perfect.
You act perfect. You wear the nice dress. You behave a certain way. And I think our westernized American culture, like cultural Christians, right? This is what we think and how we behave is like church people are good. Non-church people are bad. If I'm a non-church person, the church people think I'm a bad person. So when I go into church, I need to act like I'm on my best behavior. I need to pretend like I'm better than I am or that I'm different than I am or whatever else.
And I think that's a totally wrong idea and misconception, but this is what I experienced. And so I think a lot of us also have experienced this where we go to church on Sunday and we're this, you know, picture-perfect family. We behave a certain way. We talk a certain way. We dress a certain way. But on Sundays when we get home from church, it's still our home and it's still our family. And we operate in a very, very different way than what we acted like.
Did at church, right? And so there was still drinking, smoking, cursing, like still not living out a transformed life in Christ, not living out the fruit of the Spirit, not living out what God's Word leads us as an example through, right? Not what God calls us to do, not living with the Holy Spirit in us and behaving in that way. And I think this has happened a lot throughout my generation and maybe previous generations, maybe generations after as well.
Because when I went to church during that time, like, yeah, I learned John 3, 16. I knew that Christ came and died to save us, you know, that God sent his only son, but that was kind of it. And the rest of it was just being bullied and was pressure. And I just never got these good feelings from it as a young kid, right? And so when I grew up, when I was a teenager and a young adult, I wanted nothing to do with church. I wanted nothing to do with church people.
I mocked church people, and I was just off doing my thing, drinking, partying, whatever. And it was a really tough time in my life. And thankfully, the Lord was calling me, right? He called me to Him and completely transformed my life. And now I get to live this life that I do. And I've, through the years saw this kind of pattern, not just in my life, but in others.
And one of the things that I noticed is like so many people that I knew growing up or that I had met throughout life that grew up in the church had walked away, you know, like went to an all girls Catholic school or went to church with their parents or had this like really, you know, church going family. And And when they grew up and got to make decisions of their own, they ran from the church. And so I started leaning in and wondering why.
And I think one of the big reasons is discipleship, which I've already ranted on this podcast sometime probably like two years ago. I don't know. Maybe it was just on TikTok I ranted. Maybe I'll have to come back and do that one here. But that's not the topic I want to talk about today. The topic I want to talk about today is just this like Sunday morning Christian, where you go to church on Sunday and you're like, listen to the sermon, but then you walk out and your life isn't changed.
You're not abiding in the vine. You're not abiding in God and his word. You're not reading the Bible. You're not praying regularly. You're not convicted by the Holy Spirit. Your life truly isn't changed. Sorry, my kids came barrel rolling down the hallway and like pounding on my door screaming for me, you know, just for a snack. Obviously, it was a huge emergency. They wanted me to open a snack for them. So anyways.
Like, we've seen so many people who have the title of Christian, like cultural Christians, almost as what I would label them. Like, yeah, they're like, okay, yeah, I think a lot of the principles in the Bible are good things.
Or they were raised to go to church on Christmas and Easter, or they went to church sometimes on Sundays as a family, or they have a cross necklace or a cross tattoo, and they like some scripture verses that they've cherry-picked out here and there, but they're not living in step with what God's Word says. They're not living in step with God. They're not enchanted by faith. They're not seeing His hand in miracles everywhere.
They're not living with the fruit of the Spirit. They're not living as salt and light. People see them, and they don't see Jesus. They see people that are hateful. They see people that are rude. They see people that just aren't even kind, but they claim to be Christians. Or they see people who put on this pretty face and act a certain way, but then behind closed doors or in their home or, you know, as soon as they take the face off, it's a completely different thing.
And I'm not exactly talking about being fake, if you will, like, and I'm using air quotes when I say fake, because we all have sins that we struggle with, right? But what I'm saying is the... The slap a label on Christianity or slap a label on I'm a Christian when the Bible is very clear about those who abide in God and who abide in the word. Christ says, if you abide in me, then I abide in you as I abide in the Father and the Father abides in me. And this is from 1 John.
And also in John 8, 31 and 32, it says, if you abide in my word, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. And God's word is such a gift and it's such a blessing to our lives. And when we are not plugging into that, we're missing out on communication with the Lord. And that's why Christ came and died for us is so we can have this open pathway to God. And I've heard it said, like, God speaks to us through his word, right? And we speak to him through prayer.
And so it's this circular communication. Yet there are so many Christians who don't read the word of God for themselves or who don't pray unceasingly, like regularly throughout the day. They don't seek the Lord and guidance and direction. They don't live in step with the Spirit. They're not living out the fruits of the Spirit. They're not shining a light in this world and being a city on the hill. They're not evangelizing. They're not fellowshipping with others in righteous
ways. They're not being the salt and light of the earth. They're just saying, yeah, I'm a Christian. Yeah, I believe in God. That's all it takes to get into heaven, right? And it's like, it's about so much more than that, okay? And so in sharing this testimony from my life, right, how like, what did I see going to the church? I didn't see going to the church that I did or in my home, what it was like to live in step with God.
And I walked away. In fact, I ran away because what I seen was was icky. And I think we've we've done that as a culture like this American Christian culture has done that so much that we can talk a talk, but we don't walk the walk.
And when people see that especially when our kids see that what they do is they run and I've said it before I'll say it again I think I even said it on the last podcast episode I put out that that our children what they learn is caught not taught you can tell your kids a hundred times something and it's still like in one ear out the other but it's what they see you doing it's how they see you living, and I talked about this in the last episode. You know, motherhood is kingdom work.
I think it's so important that we abide in God's word and that we live this out. But it's really difficult to live out what God says if we're not reading his word, if we're not plugged into the vine. But even more so, I talked to so many moms and so many other believers that really struggle with that.
You see this if you're in any Facebook groups for believers and for Christian women or Christian moms, they're like, man, I'm reading God's word, but it's like, I just don't feel him or I'm not close to him or I don't know how to communicate with him or I'm not hearing from him or I don't know what my purpose is in him and just so much more like they're reading God's word, but it doesn't feel applicable or it doesn't feel like anything's coming from it.
And I think there could be multiple reasons contributing to this, right? But one of the reasons is, we read God's word and we're not asking the right questions. And so that's what I've provided in the Abide Journal. And honestly, it's so simple. It just seems weird to even market something like this and share. I'm not saying that this is the way, this is not the Bible. This is just a journal that allows you to create that space and ask those powerful questions so that you can walk forward and,
with the Lord in very real and applicable ways. So it asks questions like to write God's word in your own words, right? Because what that's doing is it's processing it through a different part of our brain and allowing us to think about it in a different way, in a way that makes sense to us because now we're taking that word and we're processing it through our own perceptions, which we do need to be careful about.
But honestly, if you're praying and you're doing this regularly and you're in fellowship and you have good spiritual advisors, the Lord is going to lead you, right? And you build these barriers so you're not easily led astray. You're looking at the Word for what it says and what you can learn about yourself or God through it. There's so much of God's Word, especially in the New Testament, but also plenty in the Old Testament.
That talks about what we as believers are to do, how we are to behave, what the marks of a believer are, and how to know a believer, and there's so many warnings, right? And so we can learn so much about who we are, and how we are to act, and how we're not to act, and what we are to do and not to do through God's Word. God's Word is all about Him. It's all about God and Him sending Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit and God's character and our identity in Him and being made in His likeness.
And so there's so much we get to learn about God and His Word too. But then again, not only that, we get to ask these questions in the journal that, what do I get to start doing or stop doing based off of what I read today? And I think it's almost the most important question in the journal, because when we read God's Word and we don't sit down and think about that, when we don't ask that question, it's just like, okay, I'm done. Close the book. Move on.
It's almost like become this checklist item. Okay, yep, checked. Read the Bible today, but are we allowing it to make that distance? Some say the furthest distance, you know, the 12 inches, 18 inches from your head to your heart. Like, are we allowing it to marinate, if you will? Side note, I love doing side notes. Like my brain is just this, I don't know, ADHD brain or something. But I think these pictures also paint a really good picture.
So we got chicken thighs recently and I was just like, I had this realization, like everybody else's food is so much better because they're using chicken thighs instead of chicken breast. And so I bought chicken thighs and we made the best barbecue chicken ever. But a part of that was to season it and then put it in the fridge and let it marinate overnight.
And then you cook it. And so a couple of days later, we're like, we wanted to make the same recipe because it was so good, but we wanted to do it quick. And so we're like, yeah, we'll just season it and throw it on. We didn't give it the time to marinate in those seasonings for a few hours or overnight, like the recipe had said, and it was significantly less delicious. And that just really got me thinking about like, this is what we're doing with God's word.
Like, we're just like reading it really quick, allowing it to get that seasoning thrown on our life. And then it's just like a flash in the pan. It's like, how are we walking that out? How are we using this incredible tool that God gave us? When God references His Word as in the armor of God, right? When we're talking about spiritual warfare and the armor of God. He talks about the Word of God. It's the sword, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
And if you really think about, I talk about this in my Seek First course, if you really think about a sword, they are heavy. If you've ever felt like a real sword, ain't nobody going to pick up the sword and use it properly. I would have to pick up a sword with two hands and I'm not even going to be able to move it around and defend myself. Somebody's probably going to be able to use the sword against me because I don't know how to use it. I can't even pick it up and move it around.
And so for somebody to be a skilled swordsman, they need to practice with that sword. They need to build up their muscle strength to be able to hold the sword, to use the sword. They need to practice their sword thrusts, their stances. And it takes a long time of consistent, dedicated practice to understand how to use a sword properly and to be able to use it as a defense. And God gave us his word as a sword to defend ourselves against attacks.
And we're not even opening it. We're not even practicing with it. We're not even allowing that sword to be the tool that it is that God gave us. And it's why so many of us are weak. It's why so many of us are easy prey. It's why so many walk away from God's word and God's truth. And I just want to urge you, sisters, like this is such a gift and we get to use it and we get to use it properly.
And so this is just a pattern from, you know, a story that I can think back on in my childhood that came up when my counselor asked me, what's the purpose of this journal? And why did I create it? I think back to that. And I think it's why I created Seek First, too. It's why I have this Connect with God challenge.
Because I know every time I am feeling weak, I am feeling less than, I am feeling stressed and overwhelmed and anxious and not enough and I'm getting short with my kids and whatever else, every time I'm feeling like I don't want to feel or like I don't measure up, it's because I'm not living in step with the Lord. It's because I am not feasting on His Word. It's because I am not living in step with the Spirit.
I am not being fed by God's Word, allowing it to marinate in my life and then taking action on it. It's not applicable to me. It's not applicable if I'm not opening it and reading it. And it's not applicable if I'm not processing what I'm reading. And I think, man, we go to church every Sunday. Some of us go to church every Sunday and every Wednesday.
And we're listening to sermons and we're listening to podcasts and we're trying to read God's word and we're doing Bible study after Bible study after Bible study and it's just like consume, consume, consume, consume. And what good is it doing us? Like, we actually have to stop and ask, what good is it doing us? And so I'm hearing my baby girl sounds like she's awake from her nap, so I'm going to jump off here.
But if you relate to this episode, if this resonates with you, whether it's the story or making God's word applicable in your life, I would love it if you would just go check out the Kickstarter. We need it to be 100% funded to print this journal and get it in the hands of people. We've already had, I think, 70-something. My husband's the one keeping track of the numbers. I'm just like,
what percent are we? We got to get to 100. And he's like, you have this many journals going out the door when you're funded. So I think it's 70-something journals that people have essentially paid for and pledged.
And so can you please help me get the journal in their hands and yours and so many others so that God's Word can become applicable, so we can have this motivation and encouragement to feel this beautifully soft, elegant, high-quality journal in our hands each morning, and that can encourage us, right? If God and His Word is not enough to encourage us to get in it and seek Him consistently, maybe this nice, pretty journal will be.
And if you love printed products, you're absolutely going to love this. It's thick pages and so much more. You can go learn all about it on the Kickstarter, intentionalabundance.co backslash Kickstarter, or the link is down in the show notes. Thank you so much for listening. And if you're convicted, take it to the Lord. Love you, sisters. God bless.