WHOA That's Good Podcast - How to Show Fear Who’s Boss | Sadie Robertson Huff & Carly Patterson

Episode Date: March 20, 2024

Sadie has a heart-to-heart with gold medal winning Olympic gymnast Carly Patterson about motherhood, fitting into new seasons of life, and using fear to fuel your dreams. Carly reveals what inspired her journey from beginning gymnastics as a little girl to competing internationally within a few short years. Sadie discovers that she and Carly have a surprising and touching connection, and Carly gives a moving testimony to her commitment to her family and future as a mentor of young gymnasts. Try AG1 and get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D3+K2 AND 5 free AG1 Travel Packs with your first purchase exclusively at http://drinkAG1.com/WHOA ! Get a 4-week trial, free postage, and a digital scale at https://www.stamps.com/whoa https://www.prestonwood.org/chosen — Join me for CHOSEN on April 13th at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas! - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What day of the week do you look forward to most? Well, it should be Wednesday. Ahem, Wednesday. Why, you wonder? Whopper Wednesday, of course. When you can get a great deal on a whopper. Flame grilled and made your whay. And you won't want to miss it.

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I am so excited to have a conversation with the one and only Carly Patterson. She is an incredible Olympic gymnast. She literally has a gold medal. It was 20 years ago, but now she's about to step into mentoring the team as they head on to the Paris Olympics. She is just an amazing person, a huge inspiration. And for all of you gymnasts out there, she actually has a new line of leotards.

It's so cute. Go check it out at Plum Practice Wear. Y'all, I can't wait to dive into this conversation. She's a wife, a mom, and a great friend. And so Carly, welcome to the Woe That's Good podcast. Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. Yeah, it's kind of a funny story. I, for the first time, it's funny me being on this podcast with you, okay? And because last year, for whatever reason, I was like, I'm gonna just make like a vision board. And I was thinking like, I don't know,

like I don't know if you do that. I don't know if that's something you do. But I never done it before. And at first I kind of was like, like it kind of felt like, I just don't, I don't wanna manifest things, right? I don't wanna put things out into the world. Like I want it to be from God and like

you know, he wants for me. And so it's like, I just made it like these goals, these things I want to do better at these opportunities that I would maybe love to have if that were like God's will, like things like that. And so I put these different things and it's funny because one of the things was you or your podcast. No way. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Kind of crazy when I got that. And this was like back last year, like over a year ago or something.

And so when I got your email, like hey, Sadie wants you to come on the podcast. And I was like, I kind of like started crying. I was like, that's so crazy to like, you know, when you hand something over to God, like when you want to have these things that are from Him and these opportunities and like you want His will for your life, it's really cool to see when He answers or when He puts that thing in your path.

And so it's really cool to be on here today. Oh my gosh. I love that so much. I had no idea that you were about to say that. And so it's really cool to be on here today. Oh my gosh. I love that so much. I had no idea that you were about to say that. And I think it's so cool because I actually do the same thing and I've seen the same thing happen in my life. Like I started doing it in 2018 where each year

I would just kind of like write down vision that I was kind of seeing or feeling. And again, same thing. Like I wanted to be peripheral about it. I don't just want to wanna put things out to manifest, like you said. It's not like that. It's just like, okay, God,

what do you have for my life this year? What do you have for LO this year? What can I believe in you for that? Seems so much bigger than what I'm capable of doing, my own strength. But if you had it for me, I would step into it, I would work towards it. And I started writing it down because in Habakkuk,

I think it's Habakkuk chapter two, it says something along the lines of like, write it down, like write the vision down so that like the messenger can run with it. And I really love that because I'm like, it's really cool when you write something down and then you see it happen. When you write something down,

then you see God come through in it. And so I was like, okay, I'm just gonna write this stuff down. And I mean, year after year, I would write these things down. And this is what's cool about God. Like yes, God does, but only he can do and making those connections.

You know, like I didn't know you wrote that down. And we just were like, we should reach out to her. She'd be a great, yes. So that's God doing that. But also I think what it does too is it makes you work towards that. It's like, okay, I'm gonna trust you

for what only you can do, but I'm also gonna prepare myself to be ready for if that happens. And so I think even in the things that I look back on, the visions that I wrote down that maybe God didn't open that door that seemed like the big thing. There is so much that happened

and even the process of walking towards that, that God did that, that blew me away, that you learned from. So I love that you did that. I love that Will That's Good was on the list. That is just the coolest thing. But since you, I guess, are a podcast listener and a fan of Will That's Good, I gotta

ask you the question that I ask everyone who comes on the Will That's Good podcast. And Carly, what's the best piece of advice that you've ever been given? Oh gosh, I was mulling this over like, what am I gonna say? Like what's, because I've gotten different kinds of advice in different spaces of life and seasons and all the things, right? But I think, you know, I was praying about it and something that came to mind was this quote and it kind of goes with what we were just talking about too actually, and it's right above my husband's thing here and it says, pray like it depends on God,

work like it depends on me. And- That's so, that's like exactly what we just said. That's so good. Look at how God's working already, right? That's cool. Yeah. And so that right there just reminds me and of what we were talking about, like the relationship that we have and it's a two-way street with God.

Like we can, you know, have all these plans, but if it's not God's will or if, you know, we can even have these things that we want in our life to happen, but we have to hand those things over to God and God's not a genie. We're going to have to do things on our part as well and hold up our end of the bargain too. But as long as we are handing it over, we're asking if this is God's will and that's something that I've really tried to start doing and get better at in the last few years of like, look, if this is what you have for me, I'm all in, just show me the way, lead me to that path. But if it's not, just close that door.

But willing to work, it depends on me once God opens those doors. It's great. And praying about it, leaving it in His hands. That's great. I love that, I love that. I love that. And it's so cool,

because I always ask the Holy Spirit to lead these conversations and guide them. And I'm like, that is so crazy. We literally just said that, and then you summed it up with like the best piece of advice. That was a true, well, that's good moment. Okay, so let's go back to just the start of your gymnastics career.

So it was 20 years ago, whenever you went to the Olympics, which we were just talking about, that is crazy. First of all, just speak to that a little bit, that it's been 20 years. Does it feel like 20 years? Is in some ways it feel like yesterday? What does that kind of feel like for you?

I think for the longest time, it felt like yesterday. And then now it is starting to feel pretty far away. I think now being a mom and a wife, and it's just that seems like such another life ago, which is crazy. And then there are certain things and parts about it that still do feel like yesterday. Just like, you know, I could put myself right back in there in the arena of how I felt and what it looked like and that feeling of right before going up on the event and just, yeah, the surroundings. There's even like a bath and body smell that I had

back then that like I traveled with and it's like, if I smell that smell, it takes me right back to Athens. That's so real. That's so cool. I love that. And honestly, it's it's same for me and so many situations in my life. Like my daughter, like honey, she just kind of realized, well, she just saw all my dances from Dancing with the Stars. So now she like loves to ask me to watch them. She's like, I want to watch the Mario one. I want to watch this one. And that was 10 years ago this year that I was on that show. And same thing, it's like for the longest time,

it felt like yesterday, but now that I'm in this like completely new chapter of my life, just, you know, with my family, it feels like a different lifetime ago and I'm watching that with her. And in some ways, feeling like yesterday, cause I remember the dances and I could do it right then, right there.

But then at the same time, like, that is like crazy how different of a lifetime ago that feels to me. So that's interesting. I was just thinking about that for myself the other day, just coming up on a 10 year, a 20 year anniversary, it kind of brings you back and you take the goodness of those memories, but you also just like soaking the goodness of those memories, but you also just like soak in the goodness

of where you're at now. And before we kind of go into your backstory, I love that speaking about taking the goodness of where you're at now, I saw that you're actually getting to be like a mentor for the national team. What does that look like for you to step into mentorship for people going into the Olympics,

being someone who knows very much. So what they're feeling, what they're thinking, that look like for you to step into mentorship for people going into the Olympics, being someone who knows very much so what they're feeling, what they're thinking, the nerves that they have right now in this moment? Right. Yeah, that's been really cool. They kind of brought me on in January and they're like, Hey, we at first it started as like, would you just record this video talking about the importance of, you know, going into this Olympic year, what the next six months are going to look like, feel like, and just kind of tell your story briefly, like through a video. I was like, sure, no problem. And then like the next day they're like, hey, could we just, we got a

crazy idea. Could we bring you in and you do it in person? And then it just came, became this, you know, now national team mentor for the girls. And so I've been going in for each camp that we do. And at the beginning of it, just kind of having a topic that I talk on and just telling them stories, including that, that time for me and what it was like. And like you said, just kind of giving them that advice and those feelings because I've been through it all and just trying to be there to help them in whatever way and support them in whatever way. If they have any questions, if they want to,

like just anything. And that has been so cool and really, really fulfilling just for my heart because that's, you know, that was a part of my life for so long. And for the last, you know, good while, I haven't really been too involved in gymnastics and, you know, been having kids and just speaking and doing a, you know, having a different life kind of outside of gymnastics, but to kind of be brought back in and have this role to be able to kind of speak into them and just give them that inspiration, motivation from my perspective and being there.

It's it's a huge honor for me. And it's been really, really awesome to just be surrounded by them and get to know them and learn about them and hopefully, you know, help them on their journey as well. Let's be real friends. Every parent wants the best for their babies and that's where A2 Platinum Formula comes in. A2 Platinum Formula is made from fresh, pure milk that comes from cows who naturally produce

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that's A2platinum.com slash whoa. Yeah, that's awesome. I love that so much. I mean, I think even with, I know Simone Biles, like speaking out a lot about mental health and just her struggles, it's so important that in every season of your life or whatever stage you're in or whatever job you do,

you know, you have those voices in your life who are mentoring you, who are building you up, you know, you have those voices in your life who are mentoring you, who are building you up, who are making you mentally strong as you're training to be physically strong in whatever capacity. So I love that. And you know what's cool about just, I think gymnastics. So when I did that gymnastics event thing years ago,

I did not compete in a gymnastics event. Let me clear that up. I was speaking at one of y'all's event things. I was nausea-lucid and everyone. And I love just somehow I've gotten to be friends with so many Olympic gymnasts, which is just the coolest thing because you guys are the most inspiring, amazing people.

But as I was sitting there listening to all y'all's talks, I'm like, there are so many spiritual metaphors when it comes to gymnastics. And I remember leaving that and being like, everything I'm about to preach is going to have a gymnastics analogy. Like, this is just so cool. I mean, facing fears, challenging yourself, all the things. So I feel like as we go into your story here in a minute, we'll get into the spiritual aspects of that and the challenges that you face throughout it and how you found the Lord in different aspects. But take us back to the very beginning.

So you started at six years old, I believe. What did that look like for you? How did you fall in love with the sport? Yeah, so I started just from my cousin's birthday party at a gym and I'm from Baton Rouge. And so it was just a little gym in Baton Rouge and so it was a just a little gym in Baton Rouge and absolutely loved it fell in love with it I think from that moment and begged my parents for a few months after that birthday party to

please put me in the sport was trying to do all the things you know off the couch and in the backyard and finally I guess I scared them enough to put me in that coach actually to the coach and the owner of that gym that day came over to me while I was just playing in the gym at the birthday party. And he asked where I take gymnastics. I was like, I don't take gymnastics. I don't do it. And so then he goes over to my parents and he's like, I think I see some talent and potential in your daughter. You guys should think about putting her in the sport. And my parents were like, that was not on their radar to put me into masters or sport. And so like I said, after months of begging, they finally did.

And then it kind of just progressed pretty quickly from there, going one class a week, then three classes a week, every day, twice a day, every day, every day except Sunday. Yeah, and it just progressed, but I think the love and the passion for this sport and what just kind of sparked a fire in me is what really just kind of took it

and got it to where it was, that talent, plus this love that I developed for the sport. And that's kind of where it started. That's so cool. And then by 12 years old, I saw you were starting to compete internationally and stuff. So six years old to 12 years old, that's really not a lot of time to start something

and then be as competitive as you were. So when was it that you kind of knew, okay, this is something that I'm not just good at, it's something that I really want to see myself go to the next level or just started, when did you start setting those goals for yourself that were bigger than the average? I go to gymnastics once a week kind of girl, you know?

Right. You know, I think just when I, I'm trying to think, when I watched the 96 Olympics, I was watching that, but not, I'm still pretty young and kind of newly in gymnastics. And, but I did get that like, this is making me feel really old, that VHS tape with the 96 Olympics.

That's so cool. I love it. And I remember, I mean, I remember watching it probably every day that I came home from gymnastics and just, you know, learning what the Olympics was and, you know, learning about like what that high level of gymnastics looked like. And like you said, yes, my my journey from start to, you know, elite level competing, you know, in different countries for our for the. That kind of happened in a pretty short span.

And I think, like I said, it was kind of that talent, the passion and the hard work. And I mean, and from everything, like absolutely 100% had to have been God's plan for my life because you just, I mean, everything just aligned for me. And a lot of times when I speak to people and young girls, young gymnasts, when I say I was 10 years old and I was level 10 in the sport, that's just like, they're all like, what? I'm like, now I wasn't perfect or great

or Olympic level at that age yet, but I was talented enough, I guess, to be there. And that was very, very young, but there was still, you know, at that point, tons of refining that needed to be done, tons of hard work and changing of techniques and, you know, to get to that next level, that elite level, that Olympic level, and that Olympic champion level eventually. But. It's incredible. So one thing that I was hearing in one of your,

I don't know if it was an interview or something that you said that I thought, man, that is a good life lesson for every single person to take home. You were talking about like, how do you stay, in like a better words, like how do you have a sound mind whenever you're in a space where you're competing at such a high level? Like how do you have a sound mind whenever you're in a space where you're competing

at such a high level? Like how do you get to the Olympics or get to this moment where everything's depending on the next three hours, everything's depending on like right here, right now. And you talked about just the importance of your preparation and trusting your preparation. And I thought that was like such a good message because I think so many people, like they struggle with,

like we talked about, it's just that mental aspect of doing something super hard or doing something super scary but being able to trust your prep. And I'm not a gymnast by any means. I can't even hardly do a cartwheel to be honest. But the, I mean, trampoline though, I can still do it back in history. I'm proud of that, but my cartwheel is lacking.

But I will say whenever I need help, that would be great. Come help me because Honey has some talent. I'm not kidding. I think Honey has, she's like weirdly good at gymnastics stuff. So maybe you should come and help her. And in the meantime, help me. But in the same, in the same feeling I get

whenever I go speak in big places, I am so But in the same feeling I get whenever I go speak in big places, I am so nervous and I'm so wrong. But in those moments, one, I get to trust the Holy Spirit, which is the best thing ever. And that's what anchors me. But two, I trust the preparation. I'm like, hey, everything that the Lord spoke to me up until this point, everything I read, everything.

And I'm like, that's what's gonna come out from the heart so the mouth shall speak. What I put in is what's gonna come out. So talk a little bit about just the preparation process and how that really helped you in those big moments that felt so much bigger than you at 15, 16 years old. Yeah, well, first off, I mean, it wasn't just me, right? It ultimately takes a team of people

that are behind the scenes, that are helping, and in all of this preparation. So a great relationship with my coach was crucial. That's crucial for anybody, any athlete, an open, honest relationship, a close relationship. And that was awesome. I mean, he's still like my mentor today. It's all you know, my coaches more than I saw my own parents. And so you have to have that closeness and that relationship with them. And so I

had that he knew exactly how to coach, you know, each one of his gymnasts to their full potential, new in the push, new in the back off, new in the bring us to that peak position for those competitions. And so he was just very gifted in that way as well as just my family. My family being my rock at home and being so supportive and whatever,

wherever gymnastics took me and whatever the day held, whether it was a good day or a bad day, if I wanted to talk about it, if I didn't, they were just so supportive and they weren't those pushy parents. It was like, this is all you girl. Like, if this is what you wanna do and you wanna work this hard,

you wanna be at a gym for 40 hours a week, then you go ahead. We're back here supporting behind the scenes and we'll do whatever you need. But like, that's you. And so that was super crucial. And then just keeping me grounded and humble. And yeah, the preparation in the gym, you know, people, people, I think, see us do competitions and, you know, and compete on these big world stages. And we're already to that peak position where we're

basically having to make it look effortless and perfect, right? So they don't, sometimes the the difficultness of the training and the day-to-day and the failures and the times where we fell a million times in the in the gym, like you don't see that. And so it takes so much preparation leading up to all of these things and to be competition ready and to be that high of a level. You know, we're failing all the time. And we're learning from each failure and each time that we fall. And with each time that we make it, that we do a good turn, that we do a good routine, we are building that confidence within ourselves. Each time we do have a good competition,

we're building that confidence in ourselves and kind of getting another thing under our belt, another thing. But I think for me, the competition aspect was my favorite part because training seven hours a day, every day was a lot, it was hard. And to go out there finally on those competition days and to show people the hard work that I've been

putting in gym every day was just like the best. And yes, there were absolutely those nerves, one thousand percent. And you have to, I think, use the nerves to benefit you. Nerves are a good thing and I had to learn that and even now with me speaking as well, like nerves are good, nerves are there to, that's how you know you care, that's how you know you wanna do a good job and for me too, in those competition moments,

I was constantly praying to God. Like there was just this open dialogue talking, you know, nonstop. There are certain competitions that were, you know, maybe on TV or whatever. Even at the Olympics, if you look closely and I'm about to go up on floor, I'm just like, like my mouth is moving. And if you were like, what is she saying? Crazy girl. And I'm just talking to God. I'm just praying. I'm like, help me calm down and do what I know I can do. Help me just help that hard work come out when it needs to and when it counts.

And like you said, I know the work that I put in. I know that I'm ready, that I'm prepared. It's all about going out there, letting the nerves work for you. And I kind of just always tried to turn it into an excitement thing, you know? Like this is my time to shine and to show people the work that I've put in.

Like this is not the time to cower and be scared. Like go out there, be proud of all of the things that you've done. Remember like you're ready, you're ready. It's time to just go out there, almost go on autopilot a little bit, you know, and not, like I said, let the nerves work for you. If you follow along LO and our world,

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at the top of the page and enter the code, whoa. That's W-H-O-A. I love that, I love that. You just mentioning like nerves are a good thing because I agree. People ask me like, oh, do you get nervous before you speak? And I'm like, yes, every single time. And I'm like, no, I really, really do.

I promise I am not trying to be humble about that. I'm not trying to be like, no, I get so nervous. And I said, but I love that. And I don't want it any other way. If I was perfectly calm right before I went and spoke, like a message that I cared deeply about in front of 20,000 people, I might wanna like check my pulse

and make sure I'm still living, you know, because I think that's just part of it. But I love how you said like you gain confidence as you go. So when I say I'm nervous, I'm not afraid. Like I'm confident that God's gonna work through me and I'm doing what I'm called to do and capable of doing. But I'm nervous because I care. And I'm nervous because I want to give the people

what I know God gave me to give them. And I think in the same way as you steward your life, it's the same thing, whether it's gymnastics speaking, whether you're showing up to be a nurse or a teacher, whatever your job is, you're a stay at home mom. It's like, God, I wanna steward my job well. I wanna do what you've given me well. And the thing is, I love that you mentioned,

you're gonna fail a million times. It's part of it. So, just to shout out the moment, that I already mentioned you're an Olympic gold medalist. So you can be someone who's failed many times and still be a gold medalist. And actually you don't get to the point of being a gold medalist unless you've failed many times,

because it's through the failure that you learn how to do the job. And I think that like so many people are so afraid to fail, they're paralyzed by the fear. And so many people, I think too, it's like they wanna have the confidence before they try. It's like they wanna have the peace before they do it. But I think the confidence and the peace

comes after you do it a lot of times. It's like, I got through it, I did it. But I think the confidence and the peace comes after you do it a lot of times. It's like, absolutely, I got through it, I did it, or even through the failure, like, okay, and I'm still alive. I survived it, it hurt, it was hard, but I'm stronger. Right. You gain confidence and peace, I think, through working through the things. Right. And that's like some of the best feeling. through the things. And that's like some of the best feeling. Like you said, afterwards, it's like that piece washes over you, that piece and then that like other flip side of the excitement of it. It's like the nerves are gone and now just the full excitement is like washed over, you

know? And that's how I would get after competing and finishing up a good routine or that's how I get same thing as you before I speak. And then after I speak and I walk off the stage, I'm like, I can do this. Yeah, that was great. I want to do it again. You know, and then same thing with competition. It was like that was, although I would get so nervous, that was still my favorite part. And then and then you finish that good routine and you're like, like, like that is why, this is what I love about the sport. Like yes, those nerves are there,

but that is because you care and it's a great thing. And yeah, I wouldn't have that edge. The nerves give you that extra edge, right? And I wouldn't have that competing before going up, and saluting and like having this extra little like jololt of energy to keep you sharp and to keep you ready. I'd be like, hmm, I'm gonna get, okay, well,

I'm gonna go now and whatever. Whatever happens happens. Like, no, we're nervous because we care and it's a good thing. You wanna feel it, yeah. I totally agree. I love that. It's the same thing with parenting too, right?

Yeah. Why is parenting so hard? Well, because we wanna be good parents. Because you wanna be good parents, because you don't wanna mess it up. And that's the, there's so much grace in parenting. I think it's so beautiful. And you really see how you will fail so many times,

but it's how you get back up, it's how you work through it, it's how you work through it with your kids. And some of the sweetest moments with Honey have been like the times where we both apologize to each other. I don't know if y'all experienced that, but it's like, she'll do something that will frustrate me

and then I might react too big and then I am sorry that how I reacted and she is sorry for how she acted or I'm teaching her to be sorry for how she acted, should I say. And we have this moment where I'm like, honey, let me explain what happened, right? And it's like, you did this and that upset me.

And then I am sorry for the way I reacted and you need to be sorry for the way you reacted. And we say sorry, and it's some of the sweetest moments, and some of the greatest moments. And Honey's getting to the point where she really retains what we're saying finally. And it's so funny, because she has such a first of all,

and leader mentality. And so now she'll tell me what to watch out for. When we walked outside, she's like, mommy, watch out for that hole right there. Watch out for the thing. So she's now teaching me for the mistakes that she's learned along the way. And I'm like, gosh, I just love it.

So it teaches you that same aspect of failing, getting back up, gaining confidence, getting stronger. You're going to feel again. How do you get back up? You did some things in gymnastics that really made you face a lot of fear, I'm sure, because you did things that people had never done before. Hence the reason you have a move named after you, the Patters of the Dismount. Tell me a little bit about just

your coach bringing up to you the idea of doing something that had never been done before. Were you game from day one or did it take a little bit of convincing? How'd that feel? Yeah, you know, there, it was a skill that I did on beam already, just like a single Arabian and, um, so roundup, I can't spring double Arabian off the beam, um, for any gymnastics listeners, right. But, um, and I did a double Arabian tumbling pass on floor. So I was pretty good at the skill in Arabian.

And so I'd always done a roundup back handspring double back. And one day he was just kind of like, let's, why don't we try to do double Arabian off the beam? And I was definitely game. Like I was kind of that gymnast too, that was a little more on the fearless side. I was game to try anything. And I kind of always trusted,

and this is why I tell other gymnasts too, I'm like, you have to trust your coach. Like if they tell you you're ready, if they see that you can do something, you have the potential to do it. And they're telling you like, they're gonna tell you to do something you're not ready to do, right?

And so I trusted that. And I was like, all right, let's go for it. Because how cool would it be if that actually did get put into my routine? And I remember just trying it from the beginning. And yeah, it was very, very scary. One of the scariest skill I could possibly do. And I mean, I think it's a testament to this day

that people are not just doing it. People don't do that skill. It's very risky, it's a testament to this day that people are not just doing it. People don't do that skill. It's very risky. It's very dangerous. And it's a little scary. But working towards that goal, working towards that fear, and overcoming it, and getting that into my routine, getting that skill named after me,

it was just one of the coolest moments in my career, to have something that I'll live on forever that we came up with that nobody else had done before. But it took, once again, failing at it so many times. It took scary moments with it happening where I took off a one foot because I was crooked on the first part of it and then like landing on my back. But it was these moments that showed me how to face fear, that showed me how to push past the fear. Because if I would have just stayed stuck in that fear and not pushed through it, I think you can still have fear to do something, but you can say no to it. And you can say, I'm gonna choose to be courageous instead

and through it, and I'm gonna still go for it, even though I'm fearful. Like that's, I've learned from so many other times and seasons of my life now, we're gonna have fear of so many different things that we're doing in life, but it doesn't mean that that needs to hold us back or that we shouldn't go for it. Like we still have to be courageous in our fear to step into that, whatever it is, and to

still go for it because on the other side of it, you don't know what could happen or what you could maybe even lose or never get to because you just were too scared to step into it. And I think something else is just that I've learned too and some, the last few years in certain seasons is that like, we're gonna be scared to do a lot of things or we're not gonna feel ready or we're not gonna feel equipped or we're not gonna feel like,

we're wondering if this is what we should do or what we should step into, or like I said, we're scared, we're nervous, but I've learned that you don't need to feel 100% ready to go to step into something. Sometimes, God's just calling you to step into it anyways, and you're going to gain, like I said, that confidence. You're going to gain that knowledge, that growth, that learning after stepping into it and doing it and while you're in the middle of it. But if you're holding yourself back and you're never going for it

because you don't feel 100% ready or you don't feel equipped or you feel insecure or you feel nervous, then you're never gonna get to that other side and what this thing could be. And so it's scary, yeah. But life is scary and life is very racking and we still have to be courageous and you know show fear

who's boss for lack of a better term and you know it's something that I've learned to just really step into even when I'm like I don't know about this. I don't feel equipped for that stage or I don't feel equipped for that skill, or I don't feel, you know, whatever. And it's like, nope, nope, we're gonna do it. We're gonna do it. And normally it turns out okay. Normally it turns out really good. If you know our family, the Robertson family is super big

on adoption and foster care. We are so grateful for the gift that it's been in our life. Three of my siblings are adopted siblings and I'm so grateful because they are just as close to me as my biological ones. And so y'all on that note, I am beyond honored to speak at the Chosen Conference at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas

on Saturday, April the 13th, with around 400,000 kids in America's foster care system and about a quarter of them waiting for a forever family. It's definitely time for the church and for Christians to stand up and help those who need help the most. The Chosen Conference will empower churches to start their own foster care and adoption ministries,

equip families who are already adopting and fostering, and encourage more Christians to get involved. So it will feature dozens of breakout sessions addressing a range of important issues facing those in the system today. I have seen the blessing that adoption and foster care is through the siblings that I have and I'm so glad that my parents took it to heart. James 127, which says to care for the orphans and provide a forever family to the most vulnerable ones among us is something that my mom and dad really, really took to heart and have led by example in through adopting. Also, my mom, Corey Robertson, is going to

be speaking as well, and I'm super pumped that we get to experience this together. Y'all are going to love hearing her message and her experience. So make plans to join us for the Chosen Conference on April the 13th at Preston Wood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. You can learn more at Prestonwood.org slash chosen. That's P-R-E-S-T-O-N wood.org, O-R-G slash chosen. We'll see you guys there. That's so true. It's so true.

And that's, that literally is faith. Like that's where faith comes into play. There's so many of us, it's like, we don't wanna have fear. We wanna have it all figured out before we step into the next stage of life or the next job or the next season or the next skill or whatever it is. But it's like, if you didn't have that,

then where does your faith come in? Because faith in Hebrews, it literally says, faith is the confidence in the things we hope for and the assurance in the things we cannot see. So that's a really fun verse to quote and a really hard verse to live by. It's like, oh yeah, the confidence in things we hope for, the assurance in things we cannot see.

It's like, wait, think about that for a second. You gotta be confident in something you only hope for and confident in something that you cannot see, which means you're gonna have to step out in faith and there's probably gonna be a little fear involved too. And I think that's why like every time God would come to someone in the Old Testament and he would start it off with like, do not be afraid.

You know, I love that. And we say that God always says, do not be afraid. And what I love about it is that God knows the human heart. I don't think God was coming to people just being like, don't be afraid, you know, like mad, mean, like you shouldn't be afraid. Why would you be afraid? I'm not afraid. I know.

I think he was like empathizing, like, Hey, I know what I'm calling you to do is scary, but you don't have to be afraid. And he always would follow it with a for I am with you. And so it's like, it's not just this command or these instructions to not fear, it's actually a promise of I'm gonna be with you. And because I'm with you, you don't have to be afraid. Because like you said, it's gonna work out.

He's gonna work it all together for good. I love like, Shelly Giglio posted the other day, she's like, if you think you are gonna mess up God's plan for your life, like you think you're too powerful then because you're not gonna mess it up. Like just try. Thank goodness for that truth. Yes, thank you God for that. So like step out, have that faith and He's gonna be with you and cover you in those moments and

pick you up whenever you fall, whether that be literally, if you're trying a new trick, or spiritually, if you're just stepping into a new stage. And I love what you said about just like trusting your coach's voice. Gosh, like I'm telling you, you can preach on gymnastics all day long. I think like, I mean, so many correlations. Like obviously trusting the voice of the Lord,

but even just the people in your life, I always say that, that it's so important to have a strong community who knows you and knows your heart. Because for me, for instance, like with being on social media, I get so much hate every single day. And I actually had-

I can't imagine, girl. I had a friend call me recently and she was upset about a situation because she got some criticism and she said, have you ever faced this before? And I kind of like Googled it. I was like, yes yes just about every day. I'm here too.

But you know it's part of it but I will say like it is hard it's hard to get hate it's hard to see what people think of you and it's unfortunate for sure it's sad it's frustrating at times sometimes I have better than others but what helps me so much is that I know I have so many people in my life who speak truth in my life. And if I was actually off or if I was doing something I shouldn't be doing, I trust the voices in my life that they would speak into me and say, hey, Sadie, you shouldn't be doing that, or you can't do that, or whatever. And I know if they say I'm good or if I can't or whatever it is, then I trust like, okay, they're for me. They know the kind of life I'm trying to live.

They know I'm trying to live worthy of calling on my life and they're voices I can trust. And it helps you weed out those voices that you can't. And in the same way, whether you have a social media following or not, voices are going to lie to you all day long in your head. They're gonna tell you you can't do stuff. They're gonna tell you you can't do stuff, they're gonna tell you you're not good enough,

you're not worthy enough, you're not qualified, you're not this, you're not that. They're gonna tell you to listen to your fear, all the different things, whether that be someone actually saying it, someone commenting it, or just the lies of the devil himself saying it. And so knowing that you have the voice of the Lord,

and knowing that you have voices of trusted friends, mentors, coaches who are actually speaking truth and who see you, what you're capable of, what you actually can do, and maybe what you shouldn't, like you can trust their guidance. And so I just think that's why it's like so crucial. You learn to hear the voice of the Lord, but you also like know the people in your life who you need to turn up the volume. You know, it's like, you got a microphone in my life. What you say, like it actually holds weight.

And I think it's really cool, like seeing your relationship with your coach and how you're all are still friends and how like you've kept that voice in your life because you trust him. Look at where he got you. But anyways, speaking on community, one thing that I saw you say one time, it was in the speech that you were giving, maybe when you were getting into the hall of... Oh, the Texas Sports Hall of Fame? Yes, which is so epic and so amazing. And your speech was so good. But one thing you

said was you're thanking everyone. And then you got to your husband and your family and you started getting emotional. And what I loved that you said to him was along the lines of, you weren't there in my gymnastics years. And even though those years were some of the best in my life, they hold nothing to what you and our family has given me. Can you just speak a little bit to just, yes, your gymnastics years were amazing,

but the season you're in now, as a wife and as a mom, like what that has meant to you and the dream that you're kinda living in now. ["Dreams Are All That Matters"] If you haven't checked it out yet, LO has a new website. It looks amazing. It's the same website, I guess, but a new face to it.

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No long term commitments or contracts. Just go to stamps.com, click the microphone at the top of the page and enter the code WOAH. If you're a business, you need this. of the page and enter the code, whoa. If you're a business, you need this. Yeah, I'll try and hold it together on that one. That one's a hard one. But yeah, I am so grateful to God for my gymnastics career, for the opportunities that he placed in my life. And as you pray, like the platform that he's kind of had given me the last 20 years. And it was truly his plan for all of this.

And I can see that looking back now, you know, but as amazing as those days were, as amazing as the accomplishment of, you know, achieving my ultimate goals and dreams for my life in gymnastics and becoming, you know, an Olympic champion. That all of that is so fleeting, you know, all of that is only for a moment. Um, in the highs of it. Yes. I like, I've got my, my stuff back there, you know, like my wheeze box and trophies and things, but it's like, that's where it is.

Like, that's not, that's not what I like wake up in the morning and go, oh, thank goodness I did all of that because I can have fulfillment in my life and my day. It's through, you know, God, obviously, first and foremost, and the family that he's blessed me with in my life, it's funny because I know that I was supposed to marry Mark as well. He was, where I went to school kind of growing up, right down the gym, he worked at this vet's office right next to it. And so for so many years, like we were like right there,

but we didn't know, like so close yet so far. And like, who knew? He would like walk the dogs in front of that school that, you know, on days. And I'm like, how did, you know, maybe I saw him at some point, but it's just, yeah, it's just cool to see, God brings what He has for your life into your life. And I'm just, I'm really grateful for my family, my husband, my kids. And that is what brings me true fulfillment in my life is a strong, godly marriage, raising my kids

to know the Lord. And like I said, it's hard. It's like sometimes it can be such a burden because you want to do sorry you're good um I struggle a lot, get it together, Karlie. You're great. I struggle a lot with just the outside noises of this world and what my kids could be hearing or learning and I just want God's voice to be

that ultimate voice for them, like, no matter what. And it's hard, it's hard to, you know, want to just instill all of that in them. And you're just hoping that it sticks, right? Like, you're just hoping you're doing enough, that you're giving them enough, that you're teaching them enough, and that they have enough, like you said too,

like just people and influences in their life that they're surrounded with that are gonna continue to speak into them and to speak into who they are and who they are in Christ. And so it's just, like I said, it's a heavy burden to want to be a good parent, to want to raise godly kids, and to just want to have a life worthy of the Lord.

But it's the biggest blessing. It's the biggest fulfillment and joy in my life to be able to know God. I'm so thankful for my foundation as a young girl, and my parents raising me in a strong Christian church and home because that is what I can go back to and cling to as I was growing, as I was getting older, as I was going through all of these things in my life that were going to try and pull me away from God. They were going to try and, you know, distract me.

And there were those times, you know, that like you get off the path, you know, that you put God on the back burner, you know, that your relationship just starts to become this distant thing that you maybe feel like isn't that necessary, you know? But thank goodness for that strong foundation that my parents instilled in me to always go back and like I knew he was always

there. I knew he was never letting me go even though I let him go, even though I kind of put him on the back burner of my life. Like he was always still right there like waiting for me to come back and so I feel like as long as I can instill those things into my kids so that when they do veer off, because I know that that is gonna happen, like we're human, we're sinful humans, and I know that that is gonna happen. And I just want them to have that anchor

to always be able to come back to and thank God. And so, yeah, I don't even know where I was going on all of that but man it's just it is it is my biggest calling my biggest fulfillment to just be entrusted with the family that God has given me and you know that's that's my main priority yeah priority and purpose in life is just raising a godly family. That's so good. Honestly, just even your emotion behind it and everything you shared, it's really cool because you can talk about your accomplishments and you can be proud of them and you can learn from them and you can teach people how to navigate through those things too. But then when you talk about like your calling, you know, there's such a

weight to it. And our family is our number one calling, our family is your number one ministry. Like, you know, you can talk about doing all the tricks all day long, and there's no tears, but you talk about training up a family who loves the Lord. And that's where you're like, okay, this is the nitty gritty. Like this is the real stuff. This is what life's all about. We have a sign in our house and it's like right when you walk in, first we have like Christ is our firm foundation,

the lyrics to Firm Foundation by Cody Korn. And then above that, we have this thing that I got made when Christian and I first got married, and it says, this house will set the tone. And I just had those words written on a plaque, put it in our house, because I'm like, this house is gonna set the tone of like, anything that happens outside of this house.

So if our ministry and our family isn't strong here, then like our ministry out there will not be strong. Like, this is where we pour in, and then our ministry out there will not be strong. This is where we pour in and then we pour out. And I think that it's just so important. I love how you're saying you wanna do all the things in the world and yes, you can do all things to instill it in them, but I think ultimately the biggest thing is living it.

Like you said, seeing your parents live the godly lifestyle that they did and raising you up in that home, like that's what I fall back to. Like how my parents did it, how my grandparents, like this legacy of faith. And then it's like, even in the times that I veered off and left the Lord, put him on the back burner, I always knew he was there.

And I always knew I had a family that loved me and that was for me. And that like, I knew the right way to go. You know, I knew Jesus was the way, the way, the truth and the life. And so like trusting that my kids will know that because I live that, trusting that my kids will know it

because they saw their parents go to the Lord time and time again. And so I think like at the end of the day, you really do just have to instill all you can, but like trust the Lord and know that how you're living it is hopefully gonna be the best example. And like something I pray over my girls every night is always praying like, God, I pray that there's never a day

in their life that they don't know how loved they are by you because I always think about, I'm just like times in my life where I was like insecure or didn't feel loved and all this stuff. I'm like, that's such a lie. So I'm like, God, would they always know that they're loved by you and surround them with the best people

to remind them of that. And so like praying that friends would come around them and when they start school and that they would be the friend to other people that will speak truth and love and grace and all these things. And so we're gonna be the prayer mommas. We're gonna be the prayer mommas

who can instill all the biblical truth in their life and trust that God's gonna do the rest. Kind of back to your, well that's good advice. Like God, I'm gonna trust you with the things that I cannot do. I'm gonna work as hard as I can towards the things that I can. So man, that's a full circle wrap up. But friend, everyone can learn from you in so many different ways. You're the best mentor for those girls

on the gymnastics team, but an incredible inspiration to everyone who gets to follow you on social media and be your friend in real life, just as a godly wife and a mom. Thank you for the way that you live your life. You're like light of the world, city on a hill status. And I'm just thankful that I got to know you. I'm thankful that you put this on your vision board

so that God put it in our heart to ask you to be on because this has been so good. But truly, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Yes, thanks for having me. you