WHOA That's Good Podcast - I Was Headed Down the Wrong Path. One Text from Priscilla Shirer Set Me Straight | Sadie Robertson Huff
Episode Date: August 28, 2024Priscilla Shirer has been at the top of Sadie's "dream guest" list for six years and today she's so excited to welcome her to the podcast. Not only has Sadie loved and admired Priscilla for so long, b...ut Priscilla is a well-known name to the faithful WHOA That's Good audience because 10 years ago she sent a gentle call-out text that changed Sadie's life. So of course they're going to talk about it and much more! Priscilla also talks about her new movie "The Forge" and reminds us all why mentorship, blessing, and intentional time spent with people younger than us is life-changing. This Episode of WHOA That's Good is Sponsored by: https://helixsleep.com/sadie — Get 25% off all mattress orders AND 2 free pillows! https://www.drinklmnt.com/whoa — Get a FREE LMNT Sample Pack with any purchase! https://www.trymiracle.com/whoa — Get 40% off + 3 FREE towels with code WHOA at checkout! - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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What's up friends?
Welcome back to Woe That's Good Wednesday.
I hope you're having a good week, but friends, it is about to get so much better because
we have a guest and I haven't even told her this yet because I was waiting until we started
recording that for six years of doing this podcast, almost 300 episodes. When somebody asks me, who's your dream guest?
I always tell them Priscilla Shire.
And Priscilla, we have you on.
I'm not kidding.
I'm like, I am fan.
I know you're my friend.
Like, I know that.
I know that I have, like, you are so kind to me.
I could call you.
But at the same time, I respect you and look up to you
so much and learn so much from you. Oh my gosh. I'm not kidding.
I have said that for six years. And today my team was like, my
team has been so excited. We are so excited for you to be on this
podcast to learn from you get to chat with you. And so I'm
thrilled for all the Will That's Good podcast listeners to say
that we finally have Priscilla Shire on the podcast.
Well, thank you so much, Sadie, for having me. And I am going to just take this opportunity to tell you, as your big sister, how proud I am of you. And I am not just proud of you
for the ways that publicly you are honoring God. I am proud of you for the ways you have surrendered your life
to God all across the many dynamics,
just as a wife and a mother raising your children
and sowing into your extended family.
And then yeah, the fields that God has given you
to plow into and sow into,
and you're doing that with integrity and with care,
like you're not just mindlessly doing everything. I see you taking
care in the time and the talent and the treasure that the Lord has entrusted to you. And so I want
you to know I am just so proud of you and I celebrate you seriously. Thank you so much. Like,
that means so much to me. I have learned so much from you in that area, like, just watching the
way that you have lived your life and
the wife that you are, the mom that you are, the way that you do ministry. I've learned
so much from afar and moments up close too and it has just been such a gift. So I am
so excited to get to chat. I'm thrilled and I know you have a new movie out which is the
coolest thing, The Forge. What in the world? You are crushing it friend and I know you have a new movie out, which is the coolest thing, The Forge. Like, what in the world?
You are crushing it, friend.
And I got to watch the movie yesterday,
and I have to tell everyone listening,
it's absolutely incredible.
It is so moving.
It is so powerful.
You know when you first start watching a movie
and you're thinking of who should see this movie?
I'm like, oh, my brother needs to watch this movie
and this and that.
And then I'm like, whoa, this is actually speaking so to me,
you know, and you just, you, I mean,
everybody can learn something from this movie.
So I can't wait to chat with you about that in a little bit.
But since you are on the podcast,
I have so many questions I would love to ask you.
But to start, I'll ask you the question.
We ask every single person who comes on
the Woe That's Good podcast, and it's a bit of a big one to start the I'll ask you the question we ask every single person who comes on the Will That Skip podcast.
And it's a bit of a big one to start the conversation off with.
But the question is, Priscilla, what is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
I know I drop it like it's hot.
OK, I know.
That's for real right there.
There are two that come to my mind.
Can I tell you both of them?
Please do.
One of them was from an older, wiser woman in my life. She still is in my life, but this
was probably 20 years ago that she said to me, you cannot do a thousand things to the
glory of God, but you can do one or two.
Wow.
And so she said, find out in this season what those one or two or three things are that
God is calling you to prioritize in this season, and then ask Him to give you the courage to
say no to everything else.
Wow.
Then you can do those things to His glory.
Then the seasons will change and there'll be different priorities.
But for now, ask Him, what are the things you've asked me to prioritize, and then do
those things to the glory of God, but you can't do everything at the same time.
Okay.
So that has been life shifting for me.
Four minutes in and I'm like, can I go get my notebook and write this down because yeah,
that's really good advice.
I need that.
I needed that.
Oh, don't we all?
In every season of life, we all need that because there are always so many good
things, opportunities, invitations, whether on a small scale with friends that they want to do,
or on a big scale with ministry or business or whatever. But just because everything is a good
thing doesn't mean it's God's thing for you in that season. So we have to have patience and trust
that seasons change and to honor this season while we're in it, you know?
Wow, that's good.
Well, that's been a compass for me.
The other thing is that my mom, throughout her life, and she's in heaven now, but throughout
her lifetime in different ways, but then in the last two months of her life, when we were
really concentrating on the reality that she might be transitioning to heaven, this was
at the end of 2019, she said to us like emphatically
over and over again, the most simple thing. She said, stop and smell the roses. And what
she was saying was, don't forget to enjoy the journey. Like she wishes my mom enjoyed
her life, but her life was so busy and so full, building church with my dad, raising kids,
doing all the things you have to do in life
that are important things.
She wasn't saying neglect those.
She was saying, through the journey,
take a moment to stop and smell the roses wherever you are.
What brings you joy?
Do that, make time for that, prioritize reading the novel
when you can, or taking a bath bath or meeting a friend for coffee or
if you're in a city, don't just be there to do the thing you're there to do, but take three extra
hours to lay the flight so that you can just go by that museum. She was just saying, take a moment
to pause and actually enjoy, just live your life and enjoy the parts of it that God has given you
opportunity to. That's so great. I love that so much.
And I feel like I have experienced that more now as a mom, where it's like you see,
I would be more, you know, in and out places, which now if I don't have the kids, I am.
But when we do have them, like we're taking more times in cities to like,
oh, what's fun here that we can do with them.
And you just see it so much more.
And like, I don't know, that's such good advice
and something that I wanna implement in my own life.
And I love how your second piece of advice
and your first piece kind of go hand in hand,
because if you do say yes to fewer things,
then you're actually able to slow down enough to enjoy it.
And I feel like when you say yes to so many things,
then that's the problem.
You don't have time to actually enjoy what you said yes to, because you're so busy going on to the next thing that you say yes to so many things, then that's the problem. You don't have time to actually enjoy
what you said yes to,
because you're so busy going on to the next thing
that you said yes to.
And man, I've gotten stuck in that cycle a few times.
And so I love that.
And this is the coolest thing about asking that question
to people at the start of the podcast,
because one of my questions I had for you
for later in the podcast was,
I have seen this about you, is that you say,
you do so many things, but since I know you
and I've been around you and even people who know you too,
you are picky with your yes.
Like you don't say yes to everything.
You actually say yes to a few things,
which is a good thing.
And people listening are like, that's not true.
She does a million things.
And you do, but you're very intentional with your yes.
And I was gonna ask you how you got to the place
of like discerning what to say yes to, what to say no to,
and I just love, because it almost always happens,
one of the questions I have prepared,
you answer in your best piece of advice,
because it's what you're obviously living,
it's what someone told you.
And so that was really, really cool to hear.
So I wanna hear so much about your story
because like I said, I followed you for a long time,
learned so much, but I don't really know a ton
about the backstory.
So your dad is amazing.
I actually have Tony Evans Bible study.
Like my Bible is his commentary.
So, you know, I'm learning from him.
Growing up, just seeing your dad do what he did,
when you looked at him and watched him, did you ever think like, I'm gonna follow in his footsteps,
I'm gonna preach, I'm gonna speak, I'm gonna write like that. Like, did you think that growing up,
was he kind of your example? Or what was that like? Well, in hindsight, I realized he was my
example. But in the moment, no, I had no aspirations for ministry
at all, not because I had a distaste for it. It just never occurred to me. It never occurred
to me that ministry would be a part of my life in a full-time capacity at all. So no,
I had completely different ambitions. When I graduated from high school, I went to the
University of Houston and studied broadcast journalism. I wanted to be a news anchor.
So that's what I studied, radio and television,
and I was willing to graduate.
And then back in the day, what you did
was get a job for $12,000 a year in Podunk, Nevada,
being a first year associate on some news station.
And then you slowly climbed the ranks in news,
and that's what I wanted to do.
So that's what I went to school for.
And the Lord completely just through a series of events that sometimes felt really disappointing.
I mean, I mean, the bottom line of it is after I graduated from college, I did get a couple
of opportunities in television.
And as soon as I would get the opportunities, the doors would close.
I mean, I barely had been at that station for a minute or barely
had gotten one or two opportunities to actually do the thing they hired me to do. And either
the show would close that they'd hired me for or the station would say, we don't need
you anymore. I mean, it was like an assault when you're in your young twenties and you're
just getting started and every opportunity seems like it keeps folding in front of you.
It really does feel devastating and feel like it's an
assault against yourself, like you are the problem and you're not good enough for the
job. So I remember feeling that way, but as the Lord was closing these doors, He was simultaneously
opening up these other doors. And again, this is something I can see in hindsight. In the
moment, you don't recognize that it's happening happening apart, honestly, from older, wiser
people that have clarity that are walking alongside of you in your life and are saying,
excuse me, ma'am, don't be discouraged.
Let me show you what's happening here.
So I don't want anybody to think it was like I woke up one day and was like, oh, forget
the disappointment.
I'm going to just go do ministry.
No, it was like these doors were closing.
I was devastated about it. But all the while,
beginning at the end of my college years in the graduate school, every now and then someone
was calling and asked, would I come and share a little Bible study? And I did that. And
most of the time it was to eight women somewhere and I'd drive 45 minutes and share God's
Word and they'd give me gas money and a
chicken dinner and send me on my way. And then somebody else would call and there'd be 10 women
there and I'd do the same thing. And then a cousin of mine who lives on the East Coast,
she ended up coming to Southern Methodist University for her undergraduate degree.
She's younger than me. And she went to SMU, Southern Methodist University in Dallas. So when she was there, she called me one day and said,
hey, I cannot find like a Bible study on campus. And I was just wondering if you'd come meet
with me and my friends. And at this point, I was probably 23. And I said, sure, I'll
do that. And to make a long story short, for five years, I just weekly did this Bible study
for never any more than 10 girls that met at SMU. And I did not know, you could not
have told me in a million years that the preparation, the study, just the discipline of preparing
to talk to those 10 girls, of relating to them, of trying to figure out what illustrations
will make this portion of scripture come alive to them, listening to them and hearing them.
I had no idea that would be the framework and help me to build the character required
for a ministry that He was assigning to me for women in a larger space. So, no, this
was not, to answer your question, this was not something that I planned for, strategized,
would have even imagined would be my life. But the Lord just very clearly started paving away.
And then wiser people around me started to help me to see what God was making clear.
Wow, that is so cool. I have so many thoughts because in a very similar way, I was, I was
actually, it's actually really similar because whenever I was younger even like middle school I thought I would want
to be a news anchor I thought like that will kind of be the the path I take because I have
like home videos of me saying what's up everybody this is the Sadie Robertson show and today's
weather forecast you know like I love kind of like reporting anchoring and different
things like that.
You're kind of doing that now, by the way.
Which is so funny, I know.
Isn't that hilarious?
That's the thing where I mean,
that God was using all these tools.
And I think so many times people think,
okay, well, it didn't work out for the news thing,
so that's over the TV thing.
And then here you are and you're acting,
and you're in front of the camera,
and you're doing the same things.
And the same for me, yeah, it wasn't that,
it was something different.
And hindsight, you can see that. But for me, it was very similar. Like in high school,
whenever my family show started and all of a sudden our lives are like blown up and,
you know, junior year of high school, and my dates with the stars and everything's so crazy. And
yes, I see that that's such a blessing. On site, of course, God was doing so much. But at the time,
it felt really hard. Even though I was also, but at the time it felt really hard.
Even though I was also appreciative, it just felt really hard because I felt
like everything I had planned for my future was kind of like completely
changed. And so I thought, okay, well maybe, maybe this is the path God's opening up
for me, and I got excited for it. And I was like, maybe I'll do acting and TV
stuff and movies. And all of a sudden, it was like all of these roles
I started getting offered were completely against
the things that I really believed and my moral stood for.
So the doors were closing and yes,
I was a part of them closing.
I was saying no, but it still felt so hard to say no to
because it was like, okay, God,
if my plans I had before this aren't happening, and now you've
elevated me to this platform where all these doors are opening but I can't say yes to them,
then what do you have for me?
And I really didn't know, and that actually felt really hard.
And so I was just praying so much about it and all this stuff, but in the meantime, I
was leading Bible studies, and that's what I had done since eighth grade.
In eighth grade, I was leading the fifth grade there's in Bible studies
and then you know in high school I was leading a Bible study for my friends and
then I started dating someone in a different state and I led a Bible study
there and like everywhere I went I just led Bible studies because that's what I
love to do is like read the Word, teach the Word and I wouldn't have looked at
it like I'm teaching the Word. I would have looked at it like I'm just sitting
and sharing and we're diving into the Word
together.
I just love that kind of stuff.
And so yes, hindsight, I can see what God was doing, but at the time I really didn't
know.
And then one thing led to another, where God showed me this path, and I'm like, wow, that's
crazy.
And people called it out on me, like Louie and Shelly telling me that God's going to
use my voice to speak to this generation and I was like, what? I hadn't, I didn't know
what that even could have looked like until God just kind of started opening
those doors, but it was what I had been doing the whole time. And so people
always ask me like, how do you do what you do? I want to do what you do. And I
always tell them, start a Bible study because that is like at the heart of
what I'm doing,
and that's kind of how it all started.
And so it's so cool to hear your story.
There's so many similarities.
One thing that you mentioned was
as you were preparing for those five years
of that Bible study, you were thinking like,
what illustrations could show them this scripture
in a more powerful way?
Which one of my favorite things about your speaking,
your preaching is your preaching,
is your illustrations. You are like queen of analogies. I can think of like 10 in my head
right now I have to refrain from bringing up because we could talk about it all day
because I watch your sermon so often. But you're so good at that. And actually, whenever I started
speaking, I remember I wanted to get better at that. I was like, God, give me analogy,
show me things,
you know, in life, help my eyes to just be attentive
to those things.
And then I started watching your sermons to learn
from how you would transition from like a really great story
to like this really powerful moment.
And so people sometimes ask me like,
how do you do that whenever you're speaking?
Like, I wanna get better at that.
And I say, well, I would always go watch Priscilla's messages
and I'd watch it the first time through,
and I'd learn from what she's saying.
And then I'd watch it another time through,
and I learned from how she's saying it.
And it helped me grow in how I was doing that.
So I know that might sound funny, but in some ways,
I studied from you how to do that.
And it's cool, because now people say to me sometimes,
they'll be like, I love how you tell stories.
It's kind of like Priscilla Shire.
And I'm like, that's funny, because that's
who I learned from as I watch videos and different things.
But it does.
It illuminates people's minds to see something in scripture
that maybe it didn't connect before, but all of a sudden,
it's like, oh, wow, I get it now.
People sometimes wonder, because again, they'll
say, how do you do that?
And I'll point to your videos, or I'll
kind of explain in some way.
How would you articulate how you come up with illustrations? Is it
something that you're just constantly seeking? Is it something God drops in
your spirit? Like can you put words to how you study in that way?
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Well, to be fair, I grew up with a pastor who happens to be my dad that is a master orator. Like, again, this is something you don't realize in the moment because you're
just, you know, he's your pastor or he's your dad or whatever. And then you look back
and go, good Lord, I was sitting in a master class
for just the art of communication my entire life. So every Sunday since I was one year old,
all I've heard is my dad preaching. And Tony Evans is a gifted communicator, like unusually, you know?
Yeah, totally.
I thought this is the way every church was on a Sunday, that there were illustrations,
and then there was clarity in the message, and it was was exegetical and I knew where he was in the text. I just thought this
was normal. And then of course, as I've gotten older, I do realize what I'm so grateful other
people say to us all the time that your father is such a gifted communicator. So I have to
recognize the fact that I was in a masterclass my whole life. And my father is, he never preaches without
illustration. And so I just thought this was a normal part of how you communicate and to make
sure your audience is absorbing what you're saying. Because the reality is your audience is only going
to remember 10% of what you've said. So if you spend your time saying too much of anything, they actually are only going
to remember this teeny small sliver.
So what is better use of your time is to make sure that you're making a solid point and
then use the rest of the 30 minutes if you have 30 minutes or 20 minutes to make sure
you are just emphasizing that point with illustration, with application,
and with observations from the text.
You can't say everything you know.
You have to say, what is the point?
And then anything that does not undergird that point is for another message.
It's not for this message.
Because the 10% they absorb, you want that to be the point that you were trying to make.
And illustration is one of the most important
ways to make sure that a message, basically illustrations are incubators that house the
principle that you are trying to communicate to an audience. And so to the extent that
this incubator is created, that is the extent to which you can really cultivate this idea
or theme or biblical principle that you want to take
root in their souls.
So for me, and this again is something that a preacher that I admire so much, who's in
his 70s now, he said to me many, many years ago that he would keep, I wish I had it with
me, he would keep a little black book with him, which I got one of, I still have, but
now most of the time instead of writing in a little black book, I use the notes section on my phone. And I just have a file that says illustrations
in the notes section of my phone. And it is filled with things that happen in regular,
everyday life that occurred to me that they are shimmering with the possibility of illustration.
I don't know yet what they're going to illustrate. I don't know exactly what verse they're going
to connect to. I don't know what message the Lord might give me in the future or what chapter I
might be writing in a book one day. That might help to emphasize the point. All I know is,
this is interesting. It's something somebody says, or it's a commercial that I see, or
it's something that's just happening out in the world. And I realize, oh my goodness,
if I don't write that down, number one, I'm going to forget it. Number two, whatever sense of sacred awe I feel that's
attached to it, I need to go ahead and record it while I'm in the moment of that. So I'll just put
like, you know, it's probably down to number 329 on my phone and I will just put 329 and then I just
put enough, a couple little sentences
that will remind me of the thing that I saw happen
in traffic the other day.
And then when I'm creating a message
or I am writing chapters in a book,
I will just scroll through and I'm constantly,
that's a habit of mine, twice or three times a month.
I might just kind of scroll through my illustrations
and just kind of remind myself of some things
that are there. And then one of them will leap up off the page and it's like, oh my
gosh, that's exactly what I need for this message I'm working on or exactly what I need
for this chapter that I'm writing. And so, for me, and this is what I learned from that
preacher that is now 70, I remember him saying to me that one of the things from Luke chapter 2, I believe,
that it says about Mary when she's watching her little boy Jesus running around, get lost in the
temple, she can't find him. There's this one little verse that says, and she treasured all of these
things in her heart. And his point was, we have lost the art of treasuring the things that God is
trying to use to speak to us. It goes one ear and
out the other. We might even acknowledge it. Thank you, Laura. That was a great little
moment. But treasuring it is making a record of it. It's sitting on it. It's meditating
on it. It's coming back to it. So, for me, that means writing it down. And I've even
asked the Lord to help me to be more disciplined with that because sometimes it'll be in the
middle of the night that I remember something and I'm like,
I am not getting up in the middle of the night
to write this down.
I'm tired.
I'm staying asleep.
But I want to be a good steward of those bits
and pieces of illustration that I'm not exactly sure
how they connect yet, but I know there's something on them.
And so I want to try to do that.
You just articulated that so beautifully.
Like I am like, yes, yes, yes.
That is exactly what it's like.
And also encourage me to be a little bit more disciplined.
If I need to write a note scene because I'm constantly like,
where did I write that down? What note was that?
I just need to have one file because it's so true.
Someone asked me the other day, they were there,
a speaker and they were asking me, okay,
how do you form sermons?
I'm like, oh gosh, I couldn't even tell you.
I don't have like a structure.
It's it's kind of different every time.
It's really like sitting with the Lord and just listening and then kind of one thing.
I wish I was like, OK, I'm going to have analogy here in scripture here,
but that just doesn't happen.
And I was like, but I was like, I guess the best way I could say it
with these things is I think about Psalms one, two and three.
It's like for those who meditate on the word day and night.
It really has to be just like a meditation.
And it's so cool.
It's like as I'm thinking about something so much, like I have this message coming up
and I'm thinking about those people and I'm thinking about kind of the overarching theme
of what I'm going to talk about.
Because I'm thinking about it so much in any of those quiet moments or even not, even in
the busy moments where you see something that is like, that's actually what I'm trying to say this is
perfect for this moment it's like it just attaches itself to that thing and
I love how you said I can't remember exactly how you say it but it's like
there's something on that like some things it's like I'm not sure how that's
gonna come into play but there's something on that that I can't stop
thinking about and then if you give it a little bit more time to meditate on it, then you're like,
oh wow, like that's so cool, you know? And I had that moment the other night. I was like,
just there's a million things going on. And I finally got the kids to bed and I was like,
I'm going to clean out their toys, which I was like, why am I doing this right now? This
feels like I should not be cleaning out the toys in this busy week. But it was while I was cleaning
out the toys that the Lord began to like speak to, this analogy and this thing. So it can be any moment. It's just if you
have your heart set on that, your mind set on that, and you're asking Him to speak, He will.
And it blows my mind every time. I think that's why I love that there's no formula to the messages
because every time it's a journey with God and it's so exciting as He's like unveiling the
Word to me. One, He's teaching me before I ever get to go and share it with anyone else. And it's a journey with God and it's so exciting as He's like unveiling the Word to me. One, He's teaching me before I ever get to go and share it with anyone
else and it's like such a fun journey. So it's so cool to hear that that's
similar to how you do things. You know it is amazing because you are, you know,
you speak, you preach, you write, you have books, Bible says all that stuff, and you
act which is just so cool because not only do you act,
you're a great actress.
And in this movie, the first five minutes,
I'm like, first of all, she looks amazing.
Second of all, she just grabbed the attention
of every mom in the world who's going to see The Forge.
And third of all, she's an incredible actress.
Like it's so amazing,
which I'm about to ask you all about The Forge,
but first, just in all the different roles that you do,
and obviously this is not mentioning that you're a mom and a wife and all those things,
but in the specific like jobs you have, which one do you feel like, do you feel like there's one
where you say like that feels, that feels like I'm the most confident. And the other ones I'm doing
because God's opened that door, but this kind of feels like my lane. And how do you overcome
those insecurities to say yes to the things that aren't necessarily your lane,
but something that God's opened the door for you to do?
I would say the one that is probably most natural to me
is speaking and the one that is message preparation,
let me just separate that from speaking.
Message preparation is very hard for me.
It is something that is a constant,
for lack of a better word,
thorn in my flesh where sometimes if in years gone by and even now if I'm not careful,
it can be so tedious and arduous that sometimes I'm like, Lord, is this what you called me to do?
Because this cannot, this is not supposed to be this hard, is it?
But if I separate the message preparation, actually delivering a message to people where I can see their faces,
sort of see where the Holy Spirit is causing something to land on them or sense in the room where
there is something happening that's beyond just the words that I'm saying. That to me
is just something that I'm incredibly endeared to and there's just nothing like it.
That's cool.
Other than that, well, including that, but other than that, everything else that I've
done, it is only because the Lord has given opportunity and through a series of events has confirmed,
despite your insufficiency, despite this is not your skill set, despite the fact that
you are not necessarily qualified or experienced in this way, I'm inviting you to join me on
this journey. Writing, no English teacher I've ever had would say
that I would have written a book ever.
Same.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
And then of course with acting, I mean,
there's no reason why that I should have been
in war room 10 years ago,
which I can't believe it's been 10 years ago.
And then I thought that would be the only time
I would ever do it.
I said no at first, and they called me to ask me to do it because I thought to myself,
everybody in the world has seen a movie that could have been good, but that one person
that thought they could act was in it, and it destroyed it.
So I told the directors when they first called me about that one, I said, no, y'all like,
I actually texted them the name of some African American women who are actors who I didn't know personally, but I said they would be so great
like this is what they do for a living, maybe call them. And they said, I just really feel like you
need to consider it. We feel compelled that at least you should pray about it. So when we did
finally agree to do War Room, of course, I thought that'd be the only time in my life
I would ever do that.
That was a one-off thing, a great adventure with God,
a great adventure for my family.
One of the reasons I did it is because we would get
to take our boys on set.
Who gets to see a movie set?
Who gets to just be a part of a movie making process?
And we were homeschooling them at the time.
So I thought, oh great, let's just do it.
It'll be an adventure. But because I'm not in the film industry, I thought it'd be the only
time in my life. And so now with the forge, this is the fourth film that I've been in.
And all of them have been connected to ministry and purpose. The only reason I'm doing them
for now is because it's ministry. These are clear, unapologetic Jesus films who have
great storylines. They have technical excellence. And so they are part and parcel with what I'm
doing. I don't feel like it's off the beating path and now I'm going to Hollywood. No, I'm just doing
another way of basically sharing a message I would want to share anyway. And, but it's still, I still feel like a fish out of water.
When I write, I feel like a fish out of water.
When I'm in a film, I feel like a fish out of water
in so many ways, because that's not what I'm trained to do.
It's just an invitation that God has given me.
And I use that word strategically, Sadie,
because, you know, War Room, for example, or the forge, they're
going to impact people with or without me, but I'm the one that will miss out on the
opportunity to have partnered with God in that particular endeavor. If I let fear or
insecurity keep me from partnering with God, I don't know that that's necessary, a sin not to do it.
It's just the Lord saying, you're invited. Do you want to come or not? Are you going to really let
the enemies, a voice of fear and intimidation, keep you from being a part of my purposes in
this generation? So, to answer your question, that was a long way of saying speaking probably feels the most natural to me. But all of them really have just been invitations with God saying, you
can come if you want. That's so good. I'm making opportunity for you too. Yeah. I love
that you said too, that it's not a sin, but you miss out. And I think that that's so much
of life. It's like God invites us into all these places and it's not a sin to not do it,
but man, you're missing out on the fullness
of what he has for you and what you can do.
And it's so cool, like obviously God anointed you,
God anointed us with his spirit
and you carry that anointing in your everyday walk.
You carry that anointing when you speak,
when you write, it's his spirit that comes through you.
And when you act the same way,
like that's why it was so cool watching the movie
because there were moments and I don't wanna give away
parts of the movie because every part I would want
to really talk about would be too good to give away.
I'm like, no, you actually need to see it.
But there's so many moments where I had chills
and I'm like, wow, this is so powerful.
I'm tearing up and it's that same feeling
that you would feel if you were watching a sermon from you
because it's preaching the gospel. It's the gospel on display through a
different, you know, way, but the same power and it's just amazing. So I know
like we talked about the beginning, you get asked to do a thousand things, you
got to pick the couple. What about the Forge movie when you read the script
that made you go, I want to do this one?
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Well, part of the reason why was because the Kendrick brothers were behind it. And I've known these men now for, you know, 15 years or so. It's kind of like the Irwin brothers. I have such respect
and I know you know them. I have such respect for their integrity and their character and their refusal to water
down or sugarcoat Jesus and to sacrifice Jesus and their honoring of scriptural principles
on the altar of fame or money or notoriety. So because it was them, that was the first
thing that drew me and I've just been privileged to be able to partner with them in ministry.
The second reason was, was because when I read the script, they wanted me to play a mom of a 19 year old boy.
And I've got to admit to you, Sadie, can I just say, when they said to me, you're going to be the mom of a 19 year old,
my first thought was, y'all's casting is horrible because that will never be believable.
No one will ever believe that I could be the mother of my children. Then I snapped
back to reality and remembered, oh I have a 19 year old in real life. I am a mom to
a 19 year old. That's awesome. Like I probably do look like that. No you don't
though. That's the thing. That's not when the movie started. I said, wow, she looks amazing.
Oh, well, thanks.
But it was this sobering moment where I was like,
oh, shucks, I don't look like that.
That is awesome.
That's why I wanted to do it
because it's about a 19 year old young man
whose life has changed because somebody mentors him.
And I have three sons.
They are 20, just about to be 22, and 20 and 15.
And what I have known for sure, gratefully in our family,
they have a great involved father
and uncles and grandfather.
So they have a lot in our biological family of influence.
But when a coach, like the coach of their basketball team,
or when some man they admire because
of his excellence in whatever his craft is or his industry is, when that man affirms
my son, or when that man challenges my son about his character, when that man just walks
beside him and places value on him and puts his arm around him and listens to him, it
is remarkable and exponential, the impact that that has had on my sons. So
when I read the script, I not only thought of my boys, but I remembered when I was 19
and 20. And there were women 10 years older than me 27 or 28. And they said, come over
to my apartment or let's go have lunch or I'm going to take you to the mall or take
you out for brunch. Oh my gosh, like when you're 16 and a 26 year old pays attention to you, it is like, you
just think y'all are buddies.
But in hindsight, I'm like, oh no, they were intentionally spending time with me to help
shape me.
And so now I realize how critical that was for my life.
And that's why when I read the script, I was like, Oh my gosh, this is a
wonderful opportunity to remind the body of Christ specifically how important mentoring
or discipleship really is in all of our spiritual growth.
Yes, so true. And it showed that it's going to be such a tool for people. And I had to
say from a personal story that I have shared on this podcast several times so
people who are listening know this but I've never I don't know that I've ever
said it to you and I don't know if you remember this but it was a huge moment
in my life when I was 18 years old I you know just got off yes with the stars
and again I just kind of took it out of that time of my life where I really
wasn't sure what was next and all these opportunities were kind of coming in
Hollywood and they were really exciting and enticing although yes I said no it I really wasn't sure what was next. And all these opportunities were kind of coming in Hollywood
and they were really exciting and enticing.
Although, yes, I said no,
it was actually hard to say no to.
I remember like my agent at the time said,
no one is gonna take you seriously
if you say no to this.
Like if you say no to this,
then we're not even gonna keep pitching you to people
because this is so crazy you would say no.
But at the same time, even though I was saying no
and I was kind
of standing strong in that, I was still like, okay, but do I kind of want that? Like I was just weighing
that in my mind. So at that time, I am in Mexico with my family and I am 18 years old. I'm in Mexico.
My sister's getting married. I'm posting all these cute pictures, posting selfies, and I'm feeling
myself. Okay Priscilla, to be honest, I'm feeling cute and I'm posting it. And I get this text and I see your
name pop up on my phone, Priscilla Shire. And I'm like, Priscilla Shire texted me. And mind you,
this was before I was speaking, this is before I was doing any of the ministry
that I'm doing now and hadn't like stepped onto that road yet. But I still
thought it was amazing that you texted me,, what did she text me about? And you're like, hey little sister. And then
you go, um, I just want to say, I'm following you on social media and a couple of the pictures
that you've been posting, I don't think represent what you're probably trying to, that you want
to display. And you go on to share that you felt like
they were a little bit, honestly,
like they kinda had like a little sexual in the window.
Like they were just kinda provocative,
the way that I was posing.
You did, you did.
And to be fair though, to be fair though,
you were kinda right.
Like, I mean, I was, I was like,
I was trying to be cute on social media.
We had never talked before?
We had met one time at the Dove Awards.
I'd hosted the Dove Awards,
and we met and we had an incredible conversation.
So you had my number.
So you texted me and were like, no, no, no, no, no.
I have to tell you, I tell this story to people
as like one of the most loving and kind things
that someone did for me at the time
that actually made me, like truly made me stop and go,
what am I trying to do?
Like, what am I trying to show on social media?
Like, it actually made me,
because I hadn't even asked myself that question yet.
I'm just doing what every other 18 year old is doing
and posting myself looking cute in my swimsuit in Mexico
thinking like, hey guys, look at me.
And you texted me that and I was like, you know what?
I don't want to do that.
Like I actually, that actually is not
what I'm trying to display.
And I actually came back to you a little defensive,
I'm not gonna lie.
I remember going like, I can see what you mean on this picture.
The other one, I'm not really sure.
I did, and I'll just be honest in admitting,
this is so, that's embarrassing.
I was very embarrassed, but I remember.
I'm a little embarrassed.
No, no, no, no, no.
I mean, God used that in so many ways.
But then, okay, so that year, hold that thought,
that's in November, that my sister got married.
Here comes December for Christmas.
I had asked for like chat books,
which was like basically it's like this book
that prints out your monthly pictures.
I wanted like my monthly Instagram pictures
in like book form.
Well, my mom gives me this gift of chat books
and almost every cover of the chat book
from my social media was a selfie.
And I was so embarrassed.
I was like, this is like not even entertaining at all.
Like this, this does not actually show my year that I had.
This is like embarrassing.
My life was so, it looked so self-absorbed.
It was just shallow.
It was so shallow.
And that was such a pivotal moment for me
because I'm like one, this person
who I actually genuinely respect and look up to,
called me out.
Two, I just got to see firsthand what she's talking about
because my life is very self-absorbed
and this is what I'm posting on social media
and I actually don't want people to see me.
I want people to see Jesus.
And so I changed the way I did social media.
And here I am, nine years later,
and my social media has truly made a lot of impact
for the kingdom.
I really believe that.
It has.
And that was me going,
this is not the way I wanna do things.
And so you discipled me from afar in that moment.
And that has like, I think that was probably
why I watched your videos to learn from.
That's why I learned from the way that you did analogies
two years later when I started speaking,
okay, I'm gonna watch, how does she do this? And I've just watched from afar how you, you know,
even when you became a mom, how you say no to things and you involve your boys and then you as
a wife, how you respect your husband and like, I think you doing that made me realize like,
she's doing it the way that I would want to, you know, and I know God, we're different people and
God's doing something in my life, you know, unique.
So I'm not saying everything is the same,
but it helped me go, yeah, I actually wanna learn from her
because she's doing it the way I would love to one day.
And I would-
Wow.
And so anyways, I say that to say, like,
I think about that a lot because I tell other people
who listen to this podcast, one, receive it.
If someone does, like invite that into your life.
That's what I was just thinking about. You need to receive that mentorship, that discipline.
I do remember being defensive and embarrassed,
but at the end of the day,
it made me ask myself that question,
which is the same thing in the movie,
not to give everything away,
but whenever the man said to Isaiah,
what kind of man do you wanna be?
And then he comes back to him and he says,
I've been thinking about that question. This is what kind of man do you want to be? And then he comes back to him and he says, I've been thinking about that question.
This is what kind of man I want to be.
And I think that was a really similar moment for me.
What kind of woman do I want to be?
What do I want my social media to be?
And I have been in rooms with influencers
that I've gathered together,
girls who have gotten famous for different reasons.
And I have told them the story of you texting me.
And I've told them that like, and no, and I have told them the story of you texting me and I've told them that
like and no and I've told them about how like the what it made me ask myself and so I'm actually
really grateful to share that story with you because I've I've tried to help people receive
that in the same way and then also now that I am you know I'm only 27 I'm not not like you know a
lot older but there are 16 year olds who I look at
and I'm like, hey listen, like let's hang out.
And then also getting to share like,
hey what's your social media about?
Because if you're not careful,
it's so easy to conform to the pattern of the world
and you're not thinking about it.
You're not realizing, you're not,
I wasn't thinking, consciously thinking,
this is what I'm trying to put out.
But it was what I was putting out.
And for the record, no one can go back and look
because I deleted them.
So you can't, no one go stalk my Instagram
and try to find out what I'm talking about.
It's all deleted.
But it was such a good moment of discipleship and mentorship.
One of the things in the movie that I loved
was that your husband and son was in the movie.
I recognized them in the Forge moment
and the discipleship moment. And I wanted to ask you in because I feel like not a lot of people
probably especially listening to this podcast have ever been disciple before.
You know like they might not even know what that looks like and there's a
moment where the guy gives a blessing you know there's like a blessing moment
there's moments where you're praying over people. People like might watch that and go, I've never seen
that before, I don't even know what that looks like. Is that something that your
husband did for your sons? Like is that something that you had already seen and
did you kind of have some, I guess, input on what those moments in the movie should
look like? Like as far as like the blessing or the details of it.
moments in the movie should look like, like as far as like the blessing or the details of it.
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Well, hold on.
I know I'm skipping ahead of a big part.
I'm like, don't talk about that.
I feel awkward move on.
No, first of all, it was like you said nearly 10 years ago.
So I kind of don't remember that.
But I want to say to you a couple of things about that.
Number one, the first thing I thought of
were the women who have done that for me.
That I can remember Kay Arthur in the most spectacular way,
calling me out about a couple of things.
You know, when I say calling me out loosely,
not in a negative, harsh way.
But like you said, just like,
hey, I want to bring this to your attention,
either about something that I was teaching that she maybe thought was not exactly
what the text was saying, or some dynamic she saw in my family. And my first feeling was a little
bit defensive too. And then in hindsight, you're kind of like, you know what, I'm so grateful that
that person just mentioned something to me that I didn't even realize then that I wanted to know. So I guess I just
say that to say, as you're saying that about me to you, I just was thinking, oh my gosh,
I actually now feel so grateful for the people that when I was 20, 21, 30, 35, that are 10
years down the road or 20 years down the road that made it their business to see about me
in that way. That's cool. So I'm grateful for that. But it also says a lot
about you. And I wanted to say that to you too, because I think that's an example for
the people that are listening that maybe are being called out by a mother or an auntie or a mother
in the church or somebody that they have seen from afar that just says to them, hey, watch that.
The fact that you recognize the defensiveness, but then there was a softening
as the Lord just gently sort of reinforce that message. And there was a softness in
your heart to receive it. That says a lot about you. There are sometimes a lot of Elijah's,
but few Elisha's who actually are receptive and tender and teachable and willing to listen
when there's somebody that's further down the road
that's just trying to help them.
And I say that as someone who has been that person
who has kind of been like, okay, yeah, all right,
I got it, don't worry about it.
But in hindsight, I'm like, man,
I'm so glad that woman said something to me about that.
So anyway, I just couldn't like jump forward
without addressing the fact that I'm so so sorry I texted you like that.
That was me in my awkwardness saying,
okay, move past it, I have to get on.
And I love that you stopped and you're like,
hold up, we're gonna talk about that for a second.
It needed to be talked about, it did.
To be fair, you needed time to respond.
I'm like, tell me about how awesome your husband is
and how he disciples your sons.
Do, do, do, do, do. I'm like, what happened? What did I do? But I can see that if something like felt,
if I saw something in somebody that I loved and admired and she was a younger woman than me,
I can see, I can't remember that. I can't believe I did that. But I can see how,
if it was just like, if I was feeling a way that I would have tried
to pick up the phone and just tenderly just be like,
hey, Sadie, I just love you so much.
And I just want to make sure this is the choice
that you want to make.
But now I'm going to be like going back
through all of our messages to find the things.
I hope it's deleted.
It was 10 years ago.
But listen, you're going to have to call me later
because there's not like, you know,
thousands of people listening to this conversation.
I'll have to tell you more of the details
because it was so timely that you sent that.
I mean, it was timely.
I'm telling you, that's why I'm sharing it
and that's why it was so powerful
because like I said, it was,
I was saying no to the things the world was offering
but it was hard and it was tempting.
And I think I was really in that moment
of which kind of way am I going to go?
And I think that's why it was like,
oh yeah, actually I needed to hear that
because I needed to slow down for a second
and ask myself what direction do I wanna go
and am I leading like that?
Does my life exemplify what I'm actually saying
I want it to exemplify?
And it was not.
And so, yeah, it's off in my heart.
And I think that's the thing you never know
with a word spoken, even just like in the movie,
you never know what's gonna land with someone.
And for me, that day I was defensive,
but then I couldn't stop thinking about it.
And then a month later, when I get the chat books,
I'm like, okay, there's my confirmation.
Like, this is not what I want my life to look like.
And I remember after that,
starting to really be intentional
about the captions I was writing.
I wanted the captions to like be meaningful.
I wanted my page to not just be about me even.
And this is funny, but truthfully,
like selfies at the time, they just did better.
Like I was gonna get more likes, I was gonna get more comments.
And then if I posted pictures with my friends
I wasn't going to, or this or that,
and I just remember going, I don't care if I don't,
because that's not what I'm trying to do,
that's not my goal, that's not what success is to me.
And you have to stop and ask yourself those things,
or else you'll just keep going with what's working
when it might not be what God,
what's right, you know?
And so no, pivotal, pivotal moment,
not to blow past pivotal.
Thank you Lord that you use that in a beneficial way.
It was beneficial.
It was a call out.
It was the best call out possible.
Anyway, okay, to answer your question about the blessing.
Now that we've gone through that.
Okay, but to back up to that, let me go to the blessing.
Why I said that.
I said it because this, when, okay, even bringing up your text,
not a lot of people do that for people.
And it is the most loving thing you can do.
The blessing thing, like to be real, I love that, but even people
watching it might go, that would make me feel uncomfortable. Like they've
never experienced that. And even though that's the most powerful thing, like I
mean if you get a blessing over a pastor, a church, or a mentor, or a friend, like
like you said, something rises up and you go, wow I can do the things I
didn't think I was capable of doing. Someone's calling it out on me.
But people have not one stepped into that either way, like from a being discipled or
a discipling.
And so I love that your husband was in that and I was trying to tie that in because I
feel as though he probably does that in your home.
So y'all are so used to that.
And maybe you wanted to display that in the movie and maybe a lot of churches are, but
maybe they aren't. And so for people watching, how do you even start
doing that? How do you step into doing that? Well, to answer your question, for those of
you that don't know anything about the movie, The Forge is a movie about an 18 year old
young man, 19 years old, who's floundering. He is raised by a single mother. He doesn't
have a male role model.
And he hasn't had that affirmation and blessing and direction and challenge. Basically, he
needs to be handed his man card by a man. Like, no matter how good a mother is, she
cannot hand a boy her man card. Another man has to do that, really. And she could be great
at mothering. That doesn't diminish her side of the coin. But there's something about a man affirming a young man
that calls manhood out of him in a unique way.
And so this film is about other men showing up
in Isaiah's life, which shifts the course
of his entire life.
So that group, the forge, which is also symbolic
because when something is forged, it's forged in fire.
And a sword is symbolic in the film.
When anybody sees it, they'll see how symbolic a sword is.
And it comes to a sharpened point
because it is put in heat and pressure.
And that's what makes it useful, purposeful, and sharp
to do what it is that it was created to do.
So that's the mind, the imaginative picture around it.
But the name of the discipleship group
where there are seven older men
discipling seven younger men is called the Forge.
And within that Forge group,
which by the way speaks to the integrity of film writers
like the Kendrick brothers and like the Irwin brothers,
for the Forge, there are two professional actors
in that group.
Everybody else, they handpick men who they thought
are doing this in their real life. Wow.
Who are honoring God by mentoring young men and discipling young men. And they ask them,
will you be in this scene? So that's why they asked my husband and my youngest son,
my husband, who I think you've met Jerry before on a couple of different occasions, but
Jerry's the most behind the scenes, not trying to be in front of the camera person I have ever met in my
life. But the reason he did this is because he thought what an opportunity to cement for
me and one of my boys, what I hope I'm doing as their father, which is making sure to help
shape them into the men that God has called them
to be. But to answer your question, Sadie, the scene you're referring to, where these
men literally get around Isaiah and bless him verbally, like, I affirm you, I bless
you in Jesus' name, I speak God's promises over you, that unique dynamic is in a movie.
I have seen that happen one other time, like at a conference,
where they had men stand up that didn't have the father's blessing in their life.
And they kind of did that in a large way, where they had other men at the conference stand with these brothers,
and they just affirmed them in an organized, formal way like that.
But really, this is a film. Most men, including my husband,
aren't walking around laying their hands on boys and saying these things out loud in a
formal way. Blessing comes about in bits and pieces with affirmation when you say, I am
proud of you. God's hand is on your life. Do you see how God is working? Do you see
that? That is the Lord
aligning your steps. Or when disappointment comes to your son or your daughter, by the way,
women doing this for other young women, when disappointment comes saying to them,
all things work together for the good, like don't let the enemy turn this around and make this
something where you feel like God is no longer with you and walking with you. God is for you.
And if he is for you, nobody can be against you. So blessing happens in the car while you're taking
your kid to school. Blessing your kid happens or your mentee, the neighbor across the street,
the kid that always wants to sit next to you at church and you're not exactly sure why,
but you just keep inviting them into your circle. When you look at them and say, you're
a great communicator,
even though that's why maybe like with me, that's the reason why they're getting in trouble
at school because they talk too much. But you look at them and you're kind of like, you
know, you're a good communicator. Like maybe that's what God has wired you to do. It's
somebody speaking affirmation and challenge, by the way, because in this film, you not
only see men affirming Isaiah, you also see them saying to him,
you know, part of being a man is showing up on time, being responsible and having character.
Can you do that? Stop, stop lollygagging with your life. It's time to grow up and be a man.
So you see the challenge, the counterbalance of challenge and affirmation joined together
where older men are basically
paying attention to this younger man and saying, we got you. That's a blessing.
That's great.
So the formal way it's done in this movie, it's a movie and it's going to provide a
soundtrack and a framework for people who will do it in large settings or who just need
some wording to start figuring out
how to do it within their own families.
But it doesn't have to be formal like that.
It's just you and that person
and you looking at them and saying,
God's hand is on your life.
And I got you, I'm gonna walk with you
while you go through this part of your journey.
That's great, that is so good.
It's so cool, you've really lived out the message
you're preaching on this podcast.
I've talked about you calling me out at 18, but you also blessed me at the beginning of
this podcast.
Every word you said, I literally thought, I'm going to listen back to this and really take
this in, what she's saying, because it meant so much to me and I treasure that.
And I think, you know, that's what I was thinking about the movie.
It's going to be such a tool for the church because you can take a discipleship class,
you can learn so much, and I highly recommend that if your church offers that. But this
will be that in a visual way, in a way to really learn. I would encourage you take
a notebook to the movie theater which I often do because you never know how many notes you know.
Seriously because whenever or I just do it on my phone but I have to turn my
brightness down. So if you're going into a movie that you know you can learn from
like man there's so many. I remember when the Mr. Rogers documentary came out and I went with my notebook because I was like,
there's so many good things I know to learn and take from. And then we just had a movie,
Possum Trot, that the Sound of Hope, the story of Possum Trot, and they were on the podcast.
And I was like trying to take notes on my phone because even just the voiceover,
Miss Donna Martin, everything she was saying,
I was like, man, I'm gonna write this down.
And this is certainly a movie to do that.
And so for everyone listening,
The Forge is out in theaters, go support this movie.
I can't tell you how important it is that you show up,
that you buy a ticket.
It shows people in Hollywood that these are the kind
of movies you wanna support, that you're interested in,
and it helps them to do more movies like this.
So Priscilla, thank you so much for being on this podcast.
Thank you.
It was just such a blessing and congratulations on the movie and all the things going on in
your life.
I love you and respect you so much.
You too.
I'm so grateful.
Ditto.
Thank you for having me, friend.
I appreciate you. Thanks for watching!