The Gospel and Mental Health

Introduction and Guest Background 0:00

If Satan can separate us from God and from all good things that God created, we spiral, we fret, we worry, we try to climb on the throne ourselves and control outcomes. and it so disorders the biochemistry and that's like the really important message I think women of faith like you and I go into this this space of mental well-being to say every thought that you have will inform your biology every single thought you have. And attachment is so we have the spiritual warfare and I think he comes at attachment.

And if he can sever attachment from God and primary caregiver who should be reflective of the Godhead by loving securely. This is Doctor Talks, real talk from real doctors on the issues that matter to you most. Welcome back to Take Back My Brain. Today is going to be one of those conversations that you are going to want to like, subscribe, and share because it's going to linger in your spirit in the best way. So today I am sitting down with Tracy Spiaggia. And she is a powerhouse of wisdom, compassion.

She's full of Holy Spirit. She's a mama. She's a functional nutritionist. She's been trained by the clinic. She's a published author and so much more. Okay. So we're going to dive into a lot of truth today about anxiety, as you know, because that's my favorite topic to talk about and how we have mental strongholds that get built and we tear them down and why our brain needs to heal and how mamas have a big role to play in that with our kids and with our whole family. So Tracy, thank you so much for coming today.

Oh, thank you, Lori, so much for having me. I've been looking forward to this for a while. So yeah. I love it. I love it. I love it. So everybody has a story, right? And I find that most of us mamas who are in this health and wellness and mental health space, that we have our own personal story. So you have written a book called Chained It's Changed. And I know you have a deeper personal story about why you do what you do. So I would love to hear how God led you So what you're doing right now, breaking strongholds and helping families.

Yeah. I mean, that's what we all love to share. He's shown and revealed to people through the testimony, right? That's what we love to do. Let's just talk about the hard things, but the victory on the other side. And the truth is, Laura, you'll agree with this, I'm sure. Like, life, there is no, like, finish line. There is no, like, you know, okay, okay, now I'm on the side of victory. Like, there's temptation and there's trials throughout this experience, this side of heaven. So it's just, as we successfully slay one Goliath, we like to go out into the world and share with God on display and say, I went through something really difficult, seemingly almost impossible.

But I'm on the other side, but still there's other, you know, lurking lions around. But so, I mean, I've always been incredibly passionate about health and wellness. And I really do believe that that's a gift from God because not that long ago, maybe about three years ago, I did a deep dive into my own genetics. And it's kind of a miracle that I don't suffer more than I do. And I do. But I swear that he gave me this incredible passion for stewardship of the body from very young to keep me from suffering unduly because I wouldn't have had any framework.

I wouldn't have understood that it was genetics work. So it's actually just a little segue there, but I've always been super passionate about just taking really good care of my body and my brain and just trying to live a life that's honoring to God. Yeah, so I used to do personal training, ministry work mainly with tween and teen girls. And I also founded a fitness ministry in a women's maximum security prison in the town where I live. Yeah, that was really fantastic.

Personal Health Journey and Daughter's Diagnosis 4:00

It was four and a half years of going into a max security prison. I look back on that and I'm like, okay, that was so Holy Spirit because I didn't know where that bravery came from. I just had such gumption at that season of my life. I just knocked on the door and said, I want to share Jesus with these women. And I want to bring fitness and faith in here. And that never happened before. And it's never happened since. Unfortunately, the prison's since been closed down for abuse of the inmates, which is so horrific.

But that was a really cool thing. So I always was in the fitness, nutrition, personal training, distance running, that kind of thing. And then my daughter, she's our third child. She started at a very young age to develop a very strange lingering chronic symptom of like shortness of breath in the chest, lots of thick mucus. And that I had desperately tried to wean her from nursing. We were like 16 months in and I'm like, I'm kind of tapping out, but she never took a bottle, never took a pacifier.

I had to think of something. So clever marketing led me to believe that the little Danimal drinks at the time were not so bad, you know, the protein and the calcium for the bones and all the things on the on the fun label there. So that worked like a charm. She was able to wean from nursing and she would have her little straw pop it in there and shuffle over to the sofa, watch her little show, sip on her thing and, you know, all seem well. But she developed these symptoms and you do what you do.

You take your child to the pediatrician and the pediatrician's like, yeah, I think your kid has asthma and maybe even some, you know, some allergies. So you get sent down those, those, you know, siloed types of professionals. And each of them were like, oh, severe asthmatic. That was from the pulmonologist. And then the allergist was like, okay, we did like the most brutal like prick test of both of the arms where you have to kind of. Oh yeah, that's awful. Oh, this is so awful. And like she raised on all of them.

At the end of the day though, they weren't really able to tell me anything. She just kind of got lumped into this kind of garbage can diagnosis of like, yeah, this is what she's dealing with. And the only option they have for you are these medications. And I just felt in my spirit like, this doesn't seem right. She's only three years old. This can't be right to go on medication. We actually got to the point where we had a cystic fibrosis scare. So we spent a year taking her to specialists at Robert Wood Johnson, up and down.

She did what was called the sweat test, genetic test. Turns out I'm a carrier. My husband wasn't, but they said very rare instances a child can still couldn't have the disease without both carriers. So it was a really, really difficult season by the grace of the Lord. She came back negative for that. And at that point, I was just exasperated. And I said, I'm going to just use my intuition, my God-given intuition and my common sense, try to unpack this thing and figure this out. And I said, what happened in her life at the time the symptoms began?

What was new? What was excessive? And all I could do were those, were those milks. So I did the unthinkable and I took them away from her. I mean, it was, it was not fun. That was traumatic. Yes. I took them away from her and my hand to God, in under a week, she was completely sedated. Right, sure. Like, completely. I'm talking, this girl would have pull socks, like 60, 70, like so crazy. Nebulizing, huge deal. I took it away and in less than a week, there was no, she had this like, this grunt that you, that I, oh my gosh, my mom ears can always hear it.

So I'm like, there's no way it was this easy. There is no way it was this simple. I have to test, so I gave one back. And as she drank it, she started with the... So that's when I said, this is insane. I did not know that there was such a direct intersection of the physiology and the food that we eat. I have to go back to school. So then that's when I started my very long, continuing to this day journey, understanding functional nutrition. and the interplay with the uniqueness of each person, their genetics, their gut health, and the food that we eat.

And then as logic, like you and I in this space, you almost could, because of your expertise, you could almost forecast she had a bit of a mental health crisis around 11. Think about that, right? You think about damage to her microbiome as she's sucking these red dyes and all of these chemicals and commercial grade dairy. She still to this day has a sensitivity to dairy, and I'm sure it's because I gave that to her. But hey, I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know. And I think that's a big point for you to kind of unwind for people as well.

You just didn't know. So that mom guilt, that condemnation, all that stuff, you don't know what you don't know. Exactly. And I hope that that really lands on the hearts of every woman or even man listening here, that we do the best we can with the knowledge at the time. And then when we gain better knowledge, we do better. to just go forward from there because God is a rescuing God. He is not a God who ever causes us to feel condemned. We know the enemies prowling around when we start to feel the shame of a choice we might have made, especially her parenting.

So that discernment is such a gift. So yeah, so around right when she hit puberty, I mean, it was like really quick and it was a rough ride. But that's when I started to really niche down and specialize in mental health. It also coupled with my daughter's trials was the loss of a lifelong dear friend to suicide in 2000. out of the clear blue sky, that made me realize that there are so many people who suffer silently, and I needed to be more astute and aware to pick up on subtleties. As a highly sensitive person, I know I have the ability to pick up on really subtle cues if I'm paying better attention to the lives of other people.

So those are the things that drove me to begin to really niche down and specialize in mental health. And that began around 2007. So yeah, so that's how I do the work I do. And I was able to navigate and totally take the lead in my daughter's journey. They wanted, you know, this medication and this type of invasive treatment. And yeah, no, like none of that's happening. I'm not putting her anywhere but home. And I'm not suggesting for a second that doing this another way that suits yourself and your family better is worse or better.

That is not at all what I'm trying to imply. I'm just saying for me, for me and my family, I knew and I had confidence in the Holy Spirit guiding me. I knew what she needed to holistically heal from the foundation up. And I just had the great fortune and blessing to be able to be a stay-at-home mother. So I didn't have to navigate taking time off of work or anything like that. I just was able to come home and just navigate school lunches and daycare and a lot of things that other families are navigating.

So I love that you fact that said, this is a work for our family. This is the path that we were given. Because sometimes it's hard to do the whole thing, for sure. It's really hard to do the whole thing. I mean, I am gifted not only with a passion in this space, but now it's pulled one of my children in, and I have very much of a fighter nature. Like that's just, I'm such an advocate fighter type of personality that I didn't really want anybody but me in the driver's seat of that journey. But that doesn't mean that for any other mom who's in the throes of something so scary that that's the only right way to navigate the journey.

You have got to lean in to the Holy Spirit and let him maybe lead you to somebody who has that. advocacy and that fight spirit who maybe can go into a doctor's office. And oftentimes with my clients, I'm the one preparing them or even speaking to their doctors about actual holistic approaches because the moms maybe are a little more on the meek side where they just feel like, I don't want to challenge and they're already overwhelmed. Exactly. And that type of approach pulls them out of their nature and into a nature that doesn't fit.

It just doesn't fit. So yeah, so that's really how I came into the space and seeing the wonderful results for my daughter, not only with her physical and mental health, but for our relationship.

From Physical Health to Mental Health Focus 13:00

I mean, it's a season of our lives that we will forever be bonded because of what we had gone through together. And I really do anticipate the Lord using that in her life. as she chooses career paths and things like that, because just like we opened up saying, we are all here on purpose, for a purpose, and the purpose is almost always found in a really hard season of life. We come out with it saying, okay, now I'm geared up to help people who are starting to suffer in the same way that I am. I mean, that's what the scriptures say, that that's part of how we suffer well.

Yeah, and builds us perseverance and perseverance brings character, right? So it's all these things. I love your message, you know, listening to some of your stuff and you talk about strongholds. And so, like, I feel like there's so many mental health issues that you would call like a stronghold, right? And we as mamas, you know, you went through your own journey. And at the same time, there's all these moms out there struggling with their own anxiety and depression and strongholds. And we've kind of normalized that, Tracy.

We've just, you know, like everybody has it, right? And so what are you doing to help dispel that normalization of that dysfunction? Because that's not from the Lord. I feel like all of that is just straight from the pit of hell, and it needs to go back where it came from. And we need to stop owning it, claiming it, and speaking it into all of our family's lives. So how do you address that? I love the question because I really do believe, even if we were to get into your lane of expertise, which is so fascinating to me, the whole amino acid therapy, neurotransmitter support, that's brilliant stuff.

It really is such brilliant stuff. Everything, though, is preceded, in my opinion, by spiritual attack. So that's how we come at this normalization of even living an apathetic or just kind of numbed out life. Isn't that what you said? You're neither hot nor cold. You're lukewarm and I spit you out. Like we want to be people of passion. We want to be people who are eager to jump in and comfort others with whatever gifts and talents that we might have. So the first thing is to raise awareness to the reality that they're right here as we sit.

If you see the checkered chairs in my bag, I'll sit in one, the client will sit in the other and I'll say, you realize we can see the checker chairs and the desk and the plant, but what we can't see is the spirit going on right here as we're sitting here. So it's really to help raise that daily moment by moment awareness that it all matters, the things that we speak out loud, the thoughts that we hold in our minds. And listen, I am in this as much as anybody. Just because I have this perspective and I'm really super passionate about it doesn't mean that I don't fall into the same, you know, pitfalls that everybody else does, especially coming from a background where my attachment was definitely, if I had to guess what my attachment style would have been if I was assessed as a young 20-something, I probably would have been the disorganized.

Okay. Childhood was pretty, there were some beautiful parts to it, but as far as the attunement and secure relationship, that was definitely not there. There's still some challenges there. But that's all, if Satan can separate us from God and from all good things that God created, We spiral. We fret. We worry. We try to climb on the throne ourselves and control outcomes. And it so disorders the biochemistry. And that's like the really important message. I think women of faith like you and I go into this space of mental well-being to say every thought that you have will inform your biology.

Every single thought you have. And so we have the spiritual warfare, and I think he comes at attachment. And if he can sever attachment from God and primary caregiver who should be reflective of the Godhead by loving securely, when that is severed at all things wrong with the human experience, I think have their roots there. That's where all things begin, the spiritual attack and tearing down of secure attachment. Then we scramble into idolatry, we scramble into self-soothing, no matter how we do that.

We dissociate, we go numb, we go into full on, you know, collapse states, we divorce because the conflict is too hard or we lean into the standard American lifestyle because there's so much comfort in that and the body suffers because that's not what we were designed. We were designed to eat specific foods, have specific rhythms and forgive quickly and when you're yoked with somebody and you make a vow before the Lord, you're in that relationship, you know, for good or bad, for sickness and health, we take the vow seriously.

So there's so many ways we've lost touch with living according to the precepts of the Lord and we suffer the consequences. And then what we do is we shake our fists at God and say, I really doubt your goodness because I'm suffering. I feel that he could just pull the clouds and be like, it's because the choices we're making, right? You know? Yeah. It's so much easier to deflect and say, it's God, either you don't exist, and if you do exist, you must be weak because you're allowing all of this to happen.

Whatever the narrative is, instead of doing it and saying, what am I doing that's out of step with the Lord and His law? And let me get back under the safety of that law. Let me securely attach to God and know that He's my stronghold. He is where I take refuge. And from that sense of security, We can then venture into relationships with more security because ultimately we have the safety of the Lord. So then the biology gets to settle down. The biology gets to settle down because, you know, we know whose we are.

We know that we belong to him. So anyway. I love that identity, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. And knowing where we're seated. I mean, I go through Ephesians a lot with my clients or encourage them to read, you know, the book of Ephesians about the being the victorious believer and who we are and pulling out all those I am statements out of the book of Ephesians. Cause you know, you are loved, you are blessed, you're a holy, you are seated in heavenly places. You are his masterpiece. And you know, so often we just don't get that.

Spiritual Warfare, Attachment, and Anxiety 19:40

We just don't understand who he says we are and I love that coming under that umbrella under those, you know, he wants to cover us. He wants to love us. He wants to bless us. He wants us to be safe and secure. There's so much talk about, you know, I just don't feel safe with you or I just don't feel safe in this place. There's so much talk about safety right now and that's all valid and good, you know, in specific situations. But our safety is ultimately found, you know, under him and his love and his goodness in Jesus Christ.

Amen. I mean, and that is something, that is a truth that is very easy to forget or compartmentalize or kind of tuck away because the world screams a different narrative. It screams like, you know, be your own savior. it's all about you and your feelings. If it doesn't work for you, move on instead of staying committed. Whatever the narrative is, this is why we can't forsake the gathering. And this is something that's in this season of my life, it's something that God has really put on the forefront of my mind.

I've got to be more intentional now that my nest is newly empty to no longer can say, well, I can't, you know, of course, of course, there's always, there's always Sundays, but outside of Sundays, since they've been adult, you know, young, young, let's say early to launch age, I've just been really, it's either I'm working or my husband and family, yeah, or I'm doing church. So there is a forsaking of the gathering of sorts in my own life for a good chapter. I would say that that's probably since it all started with my daughter, it's been like my full time and then COVID hit and going.

Here we are, it's 2020. Hi, everybody's gone and all the pets have since passed away. And I'll forget what it's like to have something on the calendar every week where I am just relating to my sisters in Christ and being reminded by them who I am. Because left to my own insecure devices, I will forget like that who I am. And I will revert back to the identity being found in my appearance or in my career or in how much I get to volunteer or the bank account, whatever it is. I feel like when we isolate, and I'm so guilty of this as more of an- Oh, I am too.

Very guilty of it, right? We have these little offices and we're so passionate about what we do and plunking away and doing our research and finding clients and helping people. The day's gone. The day's gone. I hadn't really met with somebody to just be with her and to just forget the titles and the letters, let's just be together as Teresa and Lori. Like that, I've got to get back in my life for sure. Yeah, and I completely understand that. My girlfriend and I, we started walking about a year ago.

We're like, okay, every Tuesday morning, it's Lisa and Lori's morning. And like, we rarely ever miss unless it's you know weather or whatever but we try to keep that really sacred because just to lift each other up every single week because like you said we're just we're in our focus we're in our zone you know and so outside of family you know our kids maybe you know a parent activity or whatever Like I barely see our neighbor and she's like, come over for a tea. And I'm like, I really want to, and then I never do.

And I want that fellowship with her. I really, really do. So yeah, it's a challenge. And that's when we develop these strongholds and we develop this anxiety and this fear because we have isolated ourselves so much. And certainly COVID did not help that at all. I mean, it really didn't. It was such a stretch of time, I think even most, especially for children, because their frameworks are developing. The attention as far as like, you know, their plastic minds are shaping saying, oh, I guess just do life digitally.

You know, we're adults where we can kind of remove ourselves, use our intellect, remember what it was before, go back to the way it But these poor kids, I mean, they were the real victims, I feel, of that horrible season there. But even just conversations like this are so refining to remind me that I've got to shut my phone off because according to my device, I'm dying, but I'm totally not dying. You look amazing, just so you know. You don't look like you have low glucose at the moment. That's the problem.

Like I don't understand twice in the night. I was at like 40 something in the night. Right? Yeah. I mean, I'm like, how am I, I feel totally, but maybe it's been my normal, my whole life. It's been your normal, your whole, cause you're so healthy that you can handle that. Right? And so yeah, I guess I have to definitely just learn more about the ringing and dinging. Don't understand it, but. So, yeah, I mean, I know that you find this area of work as rewarding as I do, just gifting people back access to their best mind, their highest mind.

And, you know, you'll probably totally grace me, Laurie, like in the church. It's not, the body is really just kind of relegated off to the side. It's like, well, it's just like the vehicle by which you move. And I push back against that intensely. And I didn't, I've never really gotten received from my home church and I've been there 25 years now. I've tried several times to kind of bring a health initiative into the. And then, listen, if they didn't receive it and they thought about it, if they didn't receive it, it just means that the timing wasn't right because the Holy Spirit would have convicted them if it was meant to be there.

I understand that now, which is what led me to the prison, really. I'm like, okay, I'll go across the street and I'll help all up those ladies up there. But you just don't hear pastors preaching very often, hardly at all, about the prioritization of the physical container. And if the physical container didn't matter, then why did God have to come down in a body? Exactly. which way he chose, but he chose to materialize. He chose to come down in the same human flesh body that we all ambulate and do life in.

So if it doesn't matter and it's non-consequential, why was Jesus here the way he was? He could have come down in spirit and saved us just in spirit. And if the body didn't matter, he wouldn't have healed people. Exactly, exactly. I mean, it was like the second most common miracle he would engage in while he was here doing his ministry, aside from casting out demons. So even the casting of demons, it's to free the person in the container. So I just don't understand that either. I mean, have you felt the same way?

Oh, almost my entire adult life until when I started understanding this and to the point that in the garden before the fall. I mean, we forget what happened before the fall. We're so after the fall, right? And so how did God create the world? What was His will at that point in time? And His will was no sickness and disease. If that was His will, it would have been there from the beginning. right? And then there wouldn't have been a need to send Jesus to heal people, to save people. I mean, his death on the cross was to be saved, healed, and delivered, right?

Not just going to heaven. And so we forget the before the fall, right? And so I feel like that teaching has always been missing. And I mean, because the world, the church is just as sick as the rest of the world. Absolutely. And maybe even sticker. Maybe even sticker because we're like, oh, I can eat anything. Because the Bible says, you know, you can eat anything. You know, go ahead and just eat it. Yeah, I mean, that's really taken out of context. It is taken out. Really. And when we're told about what to think on, excellence is in that list.

think about things that are excellent. We are to do this life excellent. We are everything we do, we should be set apart and look different. So if the standard American lifestyle has gone completely rogue, shouldn't we be the odd ones still eating whole foods, taking rest seriously? Sabbath, seriously, family connection time, seriously, forgiveness, seriously. Shouldn't we be taking all these seriously so we're always that remnant of curious onlookers going, what is going on over there? But we are, I agree with you.

Our divorce rates are pretty much parallel in the world. Our rates of lifestyle-driven disease are pretty much parallel with the world. But I really hold, and this is where the scriptures warn us, if you're gonna go into leadership roles, if you're gonna be a pastor,

Faith, Body Stewardship, and Church Health 28:20

better make sure you really want that because that's a huge responsibility. So why aren't there more leaders and pastors convicting the congregation to say, let's take care of our earthly bodies? Because most of them are not healthy. Absolutely. I mean, that's not the case in my church, but I actually, There's lots of explanations for that, I feel, but I do live in an area where we're privileged to be, I think we're probably upper middle class, I'd call us. And we are very rural, so we have like farm markets and farm-raised beef, and it's right here for us.

Now, on everybody. But you know what I'm saying, we're a little bit slowed down in comparison to the rest of the state of New Jersey. It's wild in New Jersey. But in Huntington County, we did slow it down and we do have this privilege of access. We do have food access, fresh air access, outdoor access. So I think that that's probably why our congregation and our leadership is definitely not reflective of, let's say, I mean, what are the obesity rates at this point? I mean, it's got to be what, 60%? Oh, 70% of people are diabetic or pre-diabetic.

Okay. So, you know, I understand and have absolute grace for the reality not everybody has access that there are indeed food deserts. I understand all that. But I think you and I are both talking more just kind of globally. Like, you know, I'm not necessarily drilling in and kind of trying to sound critical of any one population or people group. I'm just talking globally. Globally, in general, right? Yeah. Yeah. If he could feed five, 10,000 with two fish and loaves of bread, It's not about the lack I don't have.

If you're not going to the Spirit to say, expand what I have, you see that I've only got a few pennies here. You know, like expand what I have. I just don't think that we take the power of the Holy Spirit seriously enough. That no matter where we live, what resources we have, if we honor Him by saying, I'm gonna be as excellent as I can with the stewardship of my life and relationship, He will be the expander of the resources. Yeah, so I don't know. Obviously, you and I both, we get very flush when we talk about it.

I know. I know. I get very passionate about it because I just want to equip the church. And it's very rare that I get called to a church to speak. Last week, like three weeks ago, was my first one in a very long time. And it went really, really well. I mean, people were receptive, but the pastor had already been talking about these things. kind of setting the stage for bringing that into the church. And so it's just my heart is to just bring health to the church because I see all of our, you know, we have a lot of evangelist friends and their friends and, you know, all these traveling ministers and you look at some of the, you know, the more popular ministers, I'm like, you are so unhealthy and I always come and help you.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, there's a, you know, there's a verse, everybody's very well familiar with John 3 16, but it's first on 3 16. And I don't, I'd actually rather not butcher it. If you don't mind, I'm just gonna. Yeah, look that up. But it's something, you know, to the effect of, you know, when we are saved and we follow Jesus, it's about laying our own lives down for the people we love. And I just don't think that that's impressed enough. It's about like, I just saw that there's like a new Broadway show, Real Women Have Curves, something along those lines.

I mean, it sounds innocent enough, but for me, I just felt like, okay, I just take so much issue with the title, with the premise, with the idea, what about the people who absolutely love and need these women here on this planet as long as possible? Like the food choices are one thing and it's not about the shape of your body. It's about the function of your body, the health of your body. There you go. So the verse is, this is how we know what love is, Jesus Christ laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers in the same way.

So I just feel like that's what it's about. It's laying down as a sacrifice and as a way to worship the Lord. These are the things I want that I know are sabotaging and maybe will deny the people I love the best version of me. I'm going to lay down my desire and the temptation to lean into this lifestyle for the sake of the people I love. So, you know, when you choose the standard American way of life knowingly, it's one thing when you just haven't heard the message, it's kind of like, you know, when you haven't heard the gospel, you know, you just don't realize that Jesus is here.

But once you know, and listen, let's just be honest with each other, in this culture, I see pretty frequently even people without homes, I see them with a device in their hand. So at this point, everybody pretty much knows that the food you eat has a direct impact on the health or a lack thereof. The lifestyle you lead is what informs your health state. So instead of saying, listen, this is what's quick and easy. This is what tastes good. This is what hits my taste buds. This is what I enjoy. Yeah, but then you're tired all the time.

Everything hurts. Your digestion is atrocious. So you can't go here and there. I have one client. I'll never see her in person. simply because of the severity of her colitis. She can't leave her house. So at what point do you start saying to yourself, things have to change? Things have to change. I don't know. I guess we all hit our own rock bottoms that are unique to each of us, but I just don't think Jesus sacrificed his entire life, his sinless life for us. Can't we sacrifice lifestyle choices and dietary choices from time to time?

I'm not saying everybody's gotta be perfect, but close enough to perfect that your health markers are stable. Your health markers are stable and people look at you and go, how are you so healthy? And why is your whole entire church so healthy or your whole family so healthy? Like, what are you doing different? And then you get to put the Lord on display and say, the way he's called us to live, I choose to follow his law. And this is the outcome. This is the outcome. So it's all about glorifying him and his perfect design.

But we forsake the body part because leadership doesn't really teach on it. So if the leadership isn't teaching on it, how can the congregation prioritize it? Aside from people passionate like you and I, not with the faith component, where this is just the field with love. Yes. So yeah, and my passion is utilizing and capturing the unique power, Holy Spirit power of the mother in the home because she is the influencer of change. You know darn well when you get on board with something new, The whole family, like if you found a new stainless steel water bottle, no plastics, no lead, no aluminum, no, and you would get not just one for yourself, but one for every member of the family.

And you'd get a large garbage bag, fill it with all the plastic ones, heave it in the garbage. Everybody's drinking from this brand new, beautiful glass or aluminum water bottle. Exactly, exactly. Our husbands find it. They're like, look at my new water bottle. Yeah, because they're not wired that way. They're not wired that way. They don't have that Medusa type of existence where that's how the Lord made us. He made us to make order out of chaos, just like the Holy Spirit, and He made the husband to be the Godhead in the home, just like Jesus Christ.

So there's no fault or, I do it better than you. It's the unique design when the two come together, God is manifest in the home. And to be able to trust those two. Exactly. Because I have so many women, they're like, oh, I really want to make that change, but my husband is not going to let me or my husband will never be on board with this. I want to know what you say to that because I know what I said. I say 2 Peter 2, 2 Peter 3, that women, your husbands will be won over by the way you live. Just live it and he will follow you.

And of course your children, so much more is caught than taught with our kids. I have one client who's constantly like saying to her, she's the grandmother, she's the daughter, she's saying to her daughter like, you have to eat better, you have to eat better. And I'm sorry, the daughter is saying it to her, the grandchild. But it's not being muddled. The kid is trying to copy your behavior. Until mom begins to live it and talk less and just live it, they may not pick up on it in an instant, but believe me, that's the foundation you lay in faith.

You lay that foundation in faith saying, they will build their house on rock because I'm building my house on rock. Yeah. So, you know, we all go through our teens and we all kind of have this little rebellion season. But when that body starts fighting back and giving you symptoms you'd rather not have, you'll go back to your childhood. You're going to go back and reflect on how your parents built their foundation. And you're going to say, you know what, let me do it that way. Right. So that's really what you and I believe call families to is, listen, it's so much more about you.

It's so much more. So much more about the size of your pants. It's so much bigger than that. It is about setting an example and laying down a legacy and saying the physical body is part of the Triune God and I'm going to live that way. I'm going to honor the body that way. Amen. Amen. I love it. I love it. I love it. This is so good, Tracy. So, so good. Because us mamas are the heart of the home. And so if we do not live by example, if we do not take care of ourselves, we're not sleeping, we're not eating, we're not doing, we're not exercising, we're not doing all those things to give us a healthy lifestyle.

Mothers, Family Habits, and Leading by Example 38:20

you know, our family will just fall in the cracks for sure. But you know, my daughter, when she was, I don't know, like four or five, she was mad at me one day because I wasn't letting her eat stuff. She has celiac, so there's stuff she can't eat. And she put her little hands on her hips. She says, you know, when I'm 16, eatin' wheat. You know, and she was just really mad about it. And I said, that's fine. When you get 16, you can decide. Right. So now she's 18. She's like never going to touch it because she's like she understands because she caught what I was teaching.

Right. She goes to all the seminars with me. She helps me to cook. She lives. We live it to lead it. Right. That's what we do. And it's just such a beautiful thing. I see my son with his wife and now his son, and he's implementing things in his family because of what he saw modeled. And my daughter-in-law is like, I'm so glad you taught Carter these things because this is so a lot easier to implement here, and I don't have to think about it. And he's stretched her. She's like, our family didn't do this.

He's like, well, this is how we do it here. We buy grass-fed meat. Yeah. And it's just a beautiful thing. And we never made a big deal out of it. I teach my clients, don't make a big deal. Just change it. Instead of asking, hey, can I buy grass-fed instead of regular, whatever, just start buying grass-fed hamburger and change that. And then all of a sudden the Holy Spirit will say, now change this, and then let's change this. and change this and let's don't put this in the house anymore. Don't bring the Oreos home anymore, right?

So you just start making these little changes and you add things in and you subtract and then all of a sudden you've made these shifts and you have a healthier lifestyle. It doesn't have to be this grandeur thing that you need to do in order for your family to be healthy and honoring. Absolutely. I mean, it certainly could be if you're all gung-ho. It could be, yeah. Of disease that it requires. It requires that, yeah. Sound and face, that's one thing. And maybe you and I see more people like that than other types of practitioners.

But it is about the small micro changes as offerings to God. And I can't help but keep hearing in my spirit, like anybody listening to this going, well, good for you two. I can't afford the grass-fed meat. And listen, I hear that. I hear that. Again, I go back to do what you can. Make meaningful, impactful changes that you can within the resources you're given, because I'm telling you, that's all God calls you to. He doesn't call you beyond the resources that you have. And maybe that would lend itself for an opportunity to scrutinize the life you're living.

Maybe you're living somewhere really expensive in comparison to the income. Maybe a move that might be necessary to think about or, you know, your salary mom ends up being a near wash when you consider daycare and maybe it's a harkening back to the home for a while while you institute some changes. I don't know what it looks like, but if anybody is hearing this and feeling judged or this is not true for the privileged, Please, I speak against that. That is a lie from the pit of hell. Everybody, at the very least, has opportunity to make upgrades to their thought life.

At the very least, start aligning yourself for what is true, what is noble, what is honorable, what is pure, what is right, what is lovely, what is excellent, what is admirable. Align your thoughts with that. That alone is going to right-size you by some chemistry. Just that. Amen. You know, and we can default to a victim mindset when we start hearing these things that are seen out of reach for you right now. What is not out of reach for you is your faith in the Lord, is you're consuming the scriptures every single day, taking your thoughts captive and figuring out what are the giant Goliaths in my life with one stone I can take down.

Everybody can do that exercise and make huge impact in their home. Everybody. Thousand percent Tracy. That is such a good word today. Thank you. Yes, that's amazing. What Bible verse do you want to leave for everyone? Probably Proverbs 423. Be careful how you think for your thoughts shape your life.

Closing Encouragement and Prayer 42:30

Amen. Amen. I love your passion. I love your mission. I am so glad we have connected and thank you for blessing my audience today. It has been a privilege to have you on. Fantastic, Lori. Thank you so much for having me. Will you pray over our audience? Gosh, absolutely. Heavenly Father, we come before you humbled, faces down, in awe of who you are, of what you've done, what you're doing now, and what you will do in days to come. I cannot live one second without your grace, without your mercy, without your love that surpasses understanding.

Yes, the peace, but the love surpasses my understanding. I pray, Lord, that every ear who hears this message feels the conviction of the Holy Spirit and understands in a new way that the way we live matters, that we must be intentional, Lord, to our choices minute by minute and day by day. Lord, let them honor you to the best of not just our ability. If we leave it there, then we'll fall short. But we're going to ask that our choices honor you to the extent that the Holy Spirit can manifest, Lord.

We want to display your glory through the way we live, through the choices we make. We want to live long, robust, healthy, impactful, vibrant lives, God. And that is not possible living assimilated and conformed to today's culture. I just speak a fresh word over everybody here, Father God, that by the Holy Spirit, your power alone, we can begin to live new, refreshed, and empowered in a way that we only can point upward. We love you, God, and we need you minute by minute. In Jesus' name, I pray.

Amen. Amen. Thank you, Tracy. All of Tracy's contact information is in the show notes, so make sure that you follow her, you like, subscribe, become her client, do whatever you need to do what the Holy Spirit says. And thank you all for listening. I will see you in the next episode. God bless. See you next time. Thank you for tuning in to Doctor Talks. We hope today's episode has enlightened and inspired you on your path to optimal health. Each day is a new opportunity to make choices that empower your well-being.

For more insights and strategies, subscribe to our podcast and visit our website, www.doctortalks.com. Stay connected, stay healthy, and join us next time on Doctor Talks. Real talks from real doctors on the issues that matter to you most.