Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode, A couple of nukes. As always, I'm your host, Mr. Whiskey. And you know, the devil knows the Bible. In fact, he quoted it to Jesus Christ and he must have known that wherever two or more gathered in his name, so shall Jesus be there as well. Because last time me and today's guest tried meeting and.And gathering in the name of Christ. We had tech issues the whole time, and I, I definitely think then he was trying to stop us from having a great conversation. But we're here today and we're gonna get into it. We're gonna get into our guest journey of faith, and I won't spoil anything. I'll let her do it.So Ms. Desiree Taylor, glad to have you here. Like I said, reconnecting, and could you please introduce yourself for us? Hi, my name is, uh, Desiree Taylor. I'm a, a writer. An author and a speaker, and I am a, a wife of my husband, so I'm an adult parenting and, um, I'm just really happy to be here today. Yeah. And so I mentioned a journey of faith and some obstacles along the way, and I'd love for you to start with.Your hearing in your journey with that and what role it has played in your life, in your socialization and your work as well as your faith? Hmm. Well, my, they, they started seeing some hearing loss around three or four. They just started keeping an eye on it. Um, my mom had the same hearing loss, same deafness, um, the nerve deafness.Um, so they were keeping an eye on me a little bit. By the time I was nine, I had my first hearing aid, which was, um, challenging because I was just getting into, you know, elementary school. I was in fourth grade and that was really kind of tough. The kids weren't, um, you know, we didn't really, people didn't really understand what hearing loss was.Yeah. And there weren't a lot kids there with hearing loss, so no one really knew what to do with me. So they stuck me in front of the classroom. The kids. Just kind of made fun of me a lot. So I took my hearing aid off and threw it in my locker and went back to class and said, okay, now I need, now I gotta figure out how to understand the teacher and everyone around me.And I just, I, I learned how to lip read by staring at my teacher. It was very hard, um, academically, but it was also hard socially because the kids just. Um, they just didn't understand and they, I was different. That's all they saw was that I was different. So it, my hearing loss has affected me in on a lot of levels socially.Um, but I took those things into my relationship with the Lord too. 'cause at the same time, you know, I never thought about it, but I realized this the other day that I was dealing with this new hearing loss and trying to understand life with that. And at the same time was when I was really. Thinking about who God was, trying to figure out who he was.So it was so interesting that all of those things were taking place at the same time. Um,yeah, I, I, I get that. You know, not many people know this. I guess now people will know, but my youngest sister, she had. An issue where she had a vein that went directly through like the channel of her ear. And so she needed, uh, amplifying hearing aid for that as well because it, in her one ear, everything sounded like she was underwater almost.'cause it had to go through the vein. And I remember she didn't want to wear it because she was maybe fifth grade, uh, probably, you know, like a very young girl. And, um. I remember we tried getting a round and clear one, so I kind of like blended in with her hair and all that stuff, and she just didn't wanna wear it because unfortunately, I mean, kids are cruel.You know, I, I don't get that mindset of, of making fun of someone for needing a. You know, I feel like, I mean, people with glasses still get made fun of, but I feel like not to the extent of people who have issues with hearing or walking, and it's just, it's a, a sad, cruel world out there that children will make, think, make fun of anyone that is a little bit different than what they expect.And so you talk about. Your journey of faith kind of aligning with that. And then, uh, I won't spoil it, but I know at 18 when you were young, some things happened and I'd love for you to share how that affected your journey. Yeah. So, and, and I guess I can put the hearing loss into this too. I, I accepted Christ around nine or 10 and, um.You know, I started learning about him, but I really didn't, I don't think I understood the relationship part with him. So when we don't understand the relationship part, we don't, we're not very rooted, I don't think. Yeah. And as life went on, you know, and I'm a teenager and I'm in high school and all of those things, you know, I'm looking all around me.I felt very lonely. I was lonely because of. The social issues with my hearing loss. Right. But also just because I was a, a Christian and people, you know, that's, it was just another thing that made me set apart and different from everyone else. And I didn't really have any other Christian friends in school itself, and I just got lonely and I really wasn't.Seeing that God was with me, I think that was the hardest thing for me to believe that God was with me, right. And that he was actually walking with me and you know, I looked around, you know, we do the comparing thing really well, you know? Yeah. I'm like, over here, seems like they got all these friends.They're doing fine. I don't know if I wanna be here anymore. So I just kind of said to God, I'm going for a little while and, mm-hmm. Um, it wasn't very long, probably a couple of years, but um, it just led me down a really bad path and I just leaned in a really bad pit and, um, very depressed, very lonely, very, um, feeling worse.And I felt when I walked away and I ended up pregnant with my oldest son, and it was through that, that God brought me back to him. Okay. Yeah, I think, I mean, what you're saying is very relatable to a lot of us. We don't feel like God is, is here. We believe in him, but we don't feel like he's with us or walking with us or seeking out after us.And I, I think a lot of us go away for a little while and then, you know, God will do stuff, some course correction and we'll get back on track. But it, it definitely is hard, especially when you see so many people. Whether they're in a journey of faith or not fitting in so well or, or getting along so well, or you see other believers and you're like, they make it look so easy and you know, it's, it's not, but like you said, there's a lot of comparison now more than ever with social media, you know, because there's a lot of Christian influencers or, or preachers out there are televangelists out there on social media who.Make it look so easy or make it seem so different than it is. And so I, I definitely can understand that and relate to that, and I think a lot of us can. And so you talk about God through the birth of your eldest child, you know, kind of bringing you back to him. What did that entail? What did that look like and how did that play out?Well, I think for the, like first six months maybe I was just kind of. You know, you get all the voices coming in, everyone's got an opinion about what you should do and how you should handle things and all of that. And um, so I was weeding through a lot of that, you know, and, um, I had to make a decision for myself of how I was gonna walk this out.And God met me really personally. Um. One night I was just, I was crying. I was just really at the end of it all, and, and I heard him speak to me and, um, I believe he did it audibly this time because I needed the personal touch from him. Mm-hmm. Um, it does, you know, he speaks to me in different ways at different times, and he does that with, you know, everybody who's has a relationship with him.It doesn't have to look the same way. So I'm really careful to. Just say he has to do it this way. But I believe he spoke to me in a way that I could really hear him to know what he was telling me and he told me to keep my baby and that he would be my husband and he would be his father. And Wow. It was so, I knew it was God.There was no, there was no other way of around it. And that was the other thing he needed me to know that I was really hearing him, I believe. That it was him and he was promising that he would be with me. You know, and he didn't promise that it would be easy. I think sometimes we take God's promises and we do, we, we expect that it's going to be easy or it's just going to be, there aren't gonna be any consequences.There were consequences to my actions. Right. And to this, um, the sinful life that I had allowed myself to fall into and. Sometimes those go away and sometimes those don't. You know, and he, I really believed it in that moment that he was gonna be with me. Plus I was desperate. You know, I really didn't know.There was no other way for me to go that would lead me anywhere. Good. So, um, I felt like he really, he was, I really saw this vision of him holding his hand out to me to take that and. I believe that night I did and I came back to him and I never walked away again. So if you don't mind me asking, were you considering abortion or adoption at that point when God spoke to you?No, I think, you know, this is something that's always kind of been I, I've thought about these things because I have people telling me that I should do that. Um. But I think at the end of the day, I just couldn't, I wouldn't have been able to do it. Um, you know, 'cause there's been times in my life and I've been depressed enough where I've wondered about, you know, suicide even.And I just couldn't do it. I value life too much, but God values life. Right? And that's not to, to say there's forgiveness and redemption in everything. Um. I believe he would've met me in that too. But in, in this case, I just really, um, I just couldn't do that. And, and then when he spoke to me, then I really knew.I mean, he, it's like he was assuring me of what I was already believing I needed to do. So, um, but I did, you know, I, I heard. People said to me, you know, and I took the opinions and I asked myself, could I really do that? There were a couple moments. And at that time, what was your relationship with the child's father like and what was the child's father's relationship with faith like, if at all?There was none really. Um, worked for both of those. Mm-hmm. Yes. Okay. And so, I mean, how did that play a role into everything? Especially I know from talking to you beforehand and researching that you grew up in a very legalistic church environment. So how did that impact your faith in your emotions, in your relationship with your family and the church and all of that?Well, it was tricky and it depends on each person. You know, each relationship's very different and, um, you know. I mean, the things that you bring out of being raised in a legalistic place. There's, I lived in shame and condemnation for years. It took me at least 10 years probably to get out of that. Um, and I still struggle a little bit today, but not, not so much.But because of the legalism and just legalism really kind of makes you question. Whether you're really forgiven and yeah, to really receive, I, you know, it makes you, whether you're actually forgiven and to be able to live like you're forgiven. And that was a struggle for me. Um, I did, you know, all the relationships were different with the different people.For some, you know, I was shunned a little bit with other ones. They did, you know, they brought me back in, you know. I did end up going back to the church that I grew up in for a while after. Um, and then God moved us on somewhere else, so, yeah. Okay. And. I know that you wrote a book called Created to Relate Living Beyond Religion, and you just mentioned about, you know, some churches and faith-based groups being kind of more legalistic or fear mongering or more shame-based, and they make you question forgiveness, which I think is that most important part is you, you have that.Am I really forgiven? You know, so how does your book tie into all of this? Well, it, it really shares the different struggles that I dealt with. Um, not just that one, but other ones. Because when you, when you really question whether you're forgiven or not, or if God can really receive you, um, where you are, it, it affects everything.It affects how you relate with him. It affects how you look at his word. It affects how, um. We pray it affects our worship. It, it just affects our relationships with other people too. And um, so I really dug into those things and talked about the personal struggles and the mindsets and the strongholds that I dealt with.But that I've also realized are really common with people who have grown up in a lot of legalism and religious places without that piece of the relationship with Christ, because we were created for relationship with him. And if we, if we embrace that forgiveness and embrace that relationship with him, he helps us work through all those things and all those things.And there's freedom and healing on the other side. And then. Then we can share that with other people, and that's really the heart of writing the book. Right. And so what would you say it's kind of like a guidebook? Is it kind of a memoir or a bit of both? Like what will readers get out of it? Well, I'd say it's both because I guess in a sense, because it does share my story and my testimony.But it asks questions. You know, I've had a lot of people say to me, wow, I didn't really realize that I was struggling with that, or that was a mindset that I had. We don't even realize the word in these things sometimes. So it's been a place where people have realized where they really are, um, through my testimony, but also the questions that I ask.And I, my strength in my writing really is. Application. So, and then there's application to help you take that into your own life. So it's a mix. Yeah. And then in addition to your book, I know from going through your website you have a lot of blog posts from specifically for women, for mentoring and discipleship, for disability advocacy.And how often do you update your blogs and you know, what can we kind of get from those? Obviously each one is a little different, but overall. Well, I am, I, I try to blog once a week. Um, and then on the disability advocacy pages and the, the mentorship ones, you know, I do that a little more infrequently, uh mm-hmm.But I, I try to add some to those as I go along. But my main blog, I do one once a week usually, and it's really, right now I'm talking about the Beatitudes I'm taking. Stem through what God is showing me in his word right now. So a lot of it's that just kind of walking with Jesus together is my tagline.And that's, I wanna walk with other women, um, other people in there, their relationship with the Lord. 'cause God created us for relationship with him, but he also created us a relationship with one another. So, amen. I agree. And. What I like to do every time I have a faith-based guest on is if you could share with us one Bible quote, uh, for today, for whatever speaks to your heart right now, what would it be?Um, I gotta look it up. It's Isaiah 26 3.I can't quote it. I'm not very good at that. That's fine. I'm gonna find it.It's this steadfast of mind, you'll keep in perfect peace because he trusts in you, trust in the Lord forever, for in God, the Lord. We have an everlasting rock. So that's Isaiah 26, 3 and four. Um, and that's, that's one of my main verses that I rely on because. In order to live this life well, I have to keep my eyes on him.And when I keep my eyes on him, it's the only time that I have that perfect peace. And I really wanna live in his peace and with my eyes on him, not distracted by everything going on around me or people's opinions or all of that. So that's been one of my favorites. I, I agree. You know, I think it's especially now more than ever, I was actually thinking about the other day.In relation to staying focused of on, on the gym and studying and everything else, not just faith that we live in the age and world of distraction, you know, social media, marketing, advertisements, tv, radio, everything is always trying to grab your attention. And most of the time it's away from God. It's towards materialism, towards secularism or you know.Anything else other than the faith, you know? So I think there's a lot of distraction in this world now more than ever. And I think also, just going back to what we said earlier, you can be distracted by your own past, your own sins, your own guilt, and that can draw you away from Christ and from a relationship with God.So Lisa, it's important to stay focused and to stay on track and. There's a lot of good ways to do that, that I, I recommend like being part of a faith-based community by praying daily, by reading the Bible daily by. Studying scripture or implementing it into your life daily, you know, that consistency and that dailiness is so important and it's so easy to get off track.It's easy to wake up one morning and forget to pray, and then you suddenly fall into this habit of not praying anymore, and then you grow distant from God. It's so important to constantly be reaching back out, and so I, I do like that quote, you know, the not be distracted, which as I said is harder now than ever before.Mm-hmm. It, it is. And the other one that I go to lately has been about seeking God first, that Matthew 6 33, I just, he has to be the first priority, like you said, because you can get into those places where you just, it's too easy to get into the, what needs to be done in the everyday life. And, um, I wanna focus on keeping him first in all things, because then he says that he will, he'll take care of everything else if I do that.So it's just so important to really rely on his word that way. For sure. And Ms. Desiree Taylor, I wanna thank you for what you do for writing for guesting on shows to spread the word of God and to help build community and free people from, you know, from themselves and, and from organizations that have really legalized religion.Right? It's about a relationship, and that's what Jesus Christ came to reestablish is that hey. This is supposed to be a relationship in a community, not a, not this law. This law that punishment, this punishment that, and so. As much as Jesus came and did to try to make sure that was known, a lot of people took what he did and then used that to form even more rules.So I appreciate you sharing your story. Like I said, we're gonna have your website and description below where people can find your book, where they can find your blogs and they can find more about you. And so I just wanna thank you for coming on the show today. Thank you so much for having me. I'm loving doing this.
