Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - May 20, 2021


Ep 424 ｜ Should We Beware of the Enneagram？ ｜ Q&A

Topics
Enneagram in Christianity pregnancy cravings Blue Bell ice cream flavors
Hosted by
Allie Beth Stuckey
Mentioned
Allie Beth Easter Tooth Fairy Jenny Santa Claus Elizabeth Tex-Mex Alison Bramble Berry Crisp Chris Renzema Ronald Reagan Mary Beth Alice
Ep 423 ｜ Feminists vs. Radical Gender Ideology ｜ Guest： Meghan Murphy Ep 425 ｜ How to Hold Fast to Christ Through Persecution ｜ Guest： Pastor Andrew Brunson

Episode Stats


Length

33 minutes

Words per minute

180.05

Word count

6,062

Sentence count

419

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged

Hate speech

4

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode of Relatable, I answer some of your questions about what I like, what I don't like, and why I like them. I also talk about my favorite music from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 Hey guys, welcome to Relatable. Hope everyone is having a wonderful day. This is another
00:00:14.920 one of my pre-recorded maternity episodes in which we are going to do a Q&A. I took a
00:00:21.500 lot of your questions off of Instagram. You guys are familiar with the format now. A lot
00:00:26.340 of times I get very serious or theological questions and I only get to about three or
00:00:31.520 four. Today, the questions that I'm looking at on Instagram are a lot of really fun questions
00:00:36.520 that I don't think are going to take me quite as long to answer. So hopefully I'll get through
00:00:40.720 quite a few of them. However, you just never know because like I say, I'm very verbose.
00:00:45.760 It might remind me of something else and then I might start talking about something else and
00:00:50.500 then I'll loop back to actually answering the question. And so it might take me a while.
00:00:54.820 That's just kind of how it goes. It's how my brain works. The ADD that the teachers tried
00:01:00.500 to tell my mom that I had growing up, it actually, well, it's self-managed first of all. But I
00:01:08.020 actually think that it has served me well in my current job because it makes me, it allows
00:01:16.800 me to think of multiple things at once and then provide you with comprehensive explanations
00:01:21.740 of the things that are going on or the things you guys asked me. All right, let's get into
00:01:26.280 some of these questions. Someone asked me, what is your favorite music and why? I get a lot of
00:01:33.660 questions about what kind of music I like. And in my old age, I can't answer this question as easily
00:01:40.860 as I used to. See, I didn't have podcasts in high school or even in college. And so I would listen
00:01:48.580 to music a lot more than, but now I listen to podcasts or I listen to audio books or I don't
00:01:54.200 listen to anything. And so typically when I'm listening to music, it is like worship music.
00:01:58.980 It's Christian music. I really like Shane and Shane. I like Chris Renzema as well. There are some other
00:02:05.640 artists, probably like random artists that I listened to and like, but I don't do a whole
00:02:10.440 lot of digging for music the way that I used to. I used to pride myself when I was in high school
00:02:14.980 on like knowing different kinds or like original music that other people weren't listening to.
00:02:21.780 That's such like a high school thing. And I was just like a little bit emo, just like a little bit,
00:02:27.980 not like fully emo. I'm not talking about like, you know, like super thick eyeliner, anything like
00:02:34.100 that or wearing all black clothes, but I did dye my hair black in high school. That was more just
00:02:39.720 because I wanted to. And because I wanted to see how I would look, not really because of the emo
00:02:44.540 thing. But as far as like the music that I listened to, it was pretty emo, pretty alternative. Now I
00:02:50.840 still like some of that stuff. Now I'm not saying that third eye blind is emo, but it is alternative
00:02:56.260 rock. I always really liked alternative. And I still find myself liking like nineties alternative,
00:03:03.040 that kind of stuff. I don't go actively looking for it and I'm not like jamming to it in my car all
00:03:07.960 the time, but I'll randomly just get a hankering for some like motorcycle drive by or something like
00:03:14.580 that. Uh, by third eye blind, I really like the nineties, the eighties and nineties in general,
00:03:20.400 not just for music. I just like the eighties and nineties. If you guys are ever looking for an
00:03:25.060 interesting documentary, um, CNN, I know, I know, but they have really interesting, like, um,
00:03:32.660 I think it's 50, I think it starts in the fifties, like decades, uh, documentary. So like fifties,
00:03:38.160 sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties, they have these mini series and early two thousands, I think
00:03:43.060 on every decade, like the past six or so decades, whatever it is. Um, I love those. Those are really
00:03:49.240 interesting, but I just love the eighties and nineties. I don't know why, including the music,
00:03:52.980 just the culture, probably cause I like Ronald Reagan too, even though I know he has some flaws.
00:03:58.600 Um, so I guess if I were to say like, besides Christian music, my favorite kind of music,
00:04:03.780 it'd probably be like alternative rock from the nineties. Um, but I mostly, we mostly listened
00:04:11.660 to like Christian talk radio, Christian music, and also country music growing up. So I still
00:04:17.720 really like nineties country. I do not like most of what passes is country music today. Most, I'm not
00:04:24.620 trying to be a snob. I just don't like it. Like I don't like the lyrics, but I really like
00:04:28.160 nineties, early two thousands, uh, country. And so, yeah, I hope that kind of answers your
00:04:34.500 question. I know it's kind of boring. Like I'm just not anymore like that interested in
00:04:39.200 searching for new music and things like that. I just kind of like hear songs that I like and I
00:04:43.540 listen to it. And then I'm kind of passive about the whole thing. Someone asked me thoughts on
00:04:51.660 Enneagram. So I get a lot of questions on Instagram about subjects that I've covered before. And I
00:04:57.480 understand people are new, so you can't know everything that I have talked about in the past.
00:05:01.740 And so I get a lot of questions about things that I have addressed a ton. Um, but one thing that you
00:05:06.760 can do, you can go to allybethstucky.com slash podcast. And every single one of my past podcast
00:05:13.300 episodes is categorized. And so that is really helpful. Also, you can type in on Apple podcasts
00:05:20.000 and maybe on Spotify too, maybe on YouTube, you can just type in relatable Enneagram or relatable
00:05:27.060 personality test. So I have an episode called personality test. I can link to it in the description
00:05:32.340 of this episode where I talk specifically about the Enneagram, but also I talk about it pretty
00:05:37.060 thoroughly in my book too. Um, look, it's got some weird origins. It's got origins in the new age.
00:05:43.960 It's even got potentially demonic origins. And I'm not, I'm not just saying that I'm saying that
00:05:48.360 the guy who actually inspired the Enneagram and popularized the Enneagram claims that he got a
00:05:56.360 vision from a demon about this whole thing. And like I said, I write about it in my book. And so
00:06:01.480 it's not just this like, Oh, this well-meaning psychologist in the mid 20th century came up with
00:06:06.840 this helpful tool to, for us to better understand personalities. Like it has some strange spiritual
00:06:13.580 new age origins, but so that's one issue with it. And again, read about it in my book. I'm not giving
00:06:20.060 it, I'm not thoroughly analyzing it completely right now because I don't have time to do that.
00:06:25.220 And I've talked about it so much, but I think one of the things that, um, it's troubling me about it
00:06:31.220 right now is that Christians seem to be using their personality tests is, uh, or personality test results 0.98
00:06:38.100 as like a justification for certain kinds of sin or certain kinds of things that they are calling
00:06:44.440 quirks that are actually sins, or they are justifying, um, you know, particular things that they do habits
00:06:51.300 or hangups by their personality type. And rather than reading the Bible, and I've actually gotten
00:06:57.060 testimonies from some of you guys who you temporarily got really obsessed with the Enneagram. I was
00:07:02.480 temporarily obsessed with the Enneagram, like towards the end of college, didn't see anything
00:07:06.260 troubling about it at all for a very long time until I started seeing so many people at the church
00:07:11.700 talk about their Enneagram type more than they're talking about their pursuit of Christ,
00:07:15.420 more than they're talking about their holiness. And so some of you have sent me testimonies where you
00:07:20.460 have, uh, you have found yourself reading the Bible and thinking about how does this apply to my
00:07:28.340 particular personality type or like my Enneagram number, or how do I read this as a seven or as a
00:07:36.060 two or as a three wing four or whatever you are, or like, how do I see like this, um, bad part of my
00:07:45.100 Enneagram number coming out when I think about like my sanctification or when I think about my life in
00:07:50.940 Christ or when I'm looking at this particular scripture passage, I don't think that the Bible
00:07:56.200 gives us that permission. The Bible certainly doesn't give us that direction. I'm not saying that there
00:08:01.380 aren't different kinds of personality types and that we don't do better to understand what they
00:08:05.820 are, because I do think understanding people does help us in bettering our relationships.
00:08:12.520 It helps us be better friends, but ultimately what we're called to do is not to be the best version
00:08:18.140 of ourselves or the best version of our personality types. We're all called no matter what our personality
00:08:23.740 type is, is to be like Christ. And so, um, being you like serving other people is not a personality
00:08:32.100 type. So just because you're not a two, for example, doesn't mean that you're not called to serve people
00:08:37.500 just as selflessly as someone who is an Enneagram two, um, is just because you're not a one or you're
00:08:44.460 not an eight doesn't mean that you aren't called to be bold for the gospel in the way that someone who is
00:08:50.580 a one or an eight might be just because you are not a nine doesn't mean that you are not called to be
00:08:57.360 a peacemaker just because you don't think it comes as naturally to your personality type. And so that's
00:09:03.880 what troubles me is that the commands that we are given by Christ, the commands that we are given in
00:09:09.780 the Bible are not tailored to particular personality types. Like we are all called to be peacemakers.
00:09:15.120 We are all called to be, uh, people who share and show the gospel. We are all called to be like
00:09:21.520 Christ. We are all called to holiness. And yes, God does, does give us certain strengths and, and we
00:09:27.880 have certain weaknesses. Absolutely. And like I said, it's okay to understand those things, but they're not
00:09:33.400 excuses and they can't be, we can't see them as, um, uh, un-overcomable, um, like, uh, just
00:09:45.740 insurmountable, I guess is the, is the accurate and better word, insurmountable obstacles to parts of
00:09:53.560 the Christian life. Like we are all called to emulate the same fruit of the spirit. And, um, I do think
00:10:00.380 that we all have different spiritual gifts, like Ephesians talks about that. The new Testament talks
00:10:05.120 a lot about different spiritual gifts that God gives some of us and not all of us. And those are
00:10:11.340 particular to who we are as individuals. Um, but that's not talking about our particular Enneagram
00:10:17.540 type. So I just think that the obsession with the Enneagram in the church is a lot more unproductive
00:10:25.180 and counterproductive than it actually is helpful. Um, again, when I get messages from people saying
00:10:31.740 that they are interpreting scripture or reading scripture, they find themselves through the lens
00:10:37.260 of the Enneagram rather than just as Christians filled with the Holy spirit. That's when, you know,
00:10:42.520 like we've got a problem, like we've kind of got an idol and there's a lot of self-obsession in what I
00:10:47.340 call trendy narcissism surrounding personality types too. Um, because there is this message in secular
00:10:54.780 circles that says that your goal in life is to find yourself. Your goal in life is to understand
00:11:00.800 yourself. Your goal in life is not to help other people. It's actually to help yourself, not to serve
00:11:05.640 other people, but to serve yourself, not to love other people, but to love yourself and prioritize
00:11:11.300 yourself. And so, as I talk about so much in my book, what my book is about is this myth that once you
00:11:18.140 go deeper inside yourself and you fully understand yourself and you're able to love yourself and manifest
00:11:23.760 all of your, uh, you know, inner strength and your internal goddess and all of that, you'll finally
00:11:30.320 be happy and free and whole and fulfilled. Um, part of that is people use personality tests is kind of
00:11:38.520 like a tool to self discovery. And that's not what the Bible calls us to like the Bible doesn't call us
00:11:44.680 to that kind of self-obsession. We are not on a journey deeper inside of ourselves as Christians.
00:11:50.720 We are on a journey to Christ. We are called to deny ourselves, to put off the old self and put on
00:11:57.400 the new self created after the likeness, not of our, uh, the best version of our personality type,
00:12:03.840 but created after the likeness of Christ. And so you might be thinking those two things aren't mutually
00:12:09.580 exclusive. I'm telling you that when we obsess about all of our different personality traits and
00:12:17.800 our quirks, and we are obsessed with self-fulfillment and self-discovery, it will absolutely
00:12:22.920 inhibit, um, our self-denial and our putting off the old self and pursuing Christ and holiness. It
00:12:30.300 does become an idol. Not everyone who uses the Enneagram is idolizing themselves or their personality
00:12:36.760 or not everyone who uses personality tests is either, uh, is, is doing that either. Like I said,
00:12:42.420 there may be times and there may be usefulness to some of these things, as long as they are used
00:12:47.940 as tools and not the goal. Again, a thorough answer. I told you guys, it's so hard for me to
00:12:53.700 stay abbreviated, but you guys ask good questions and it makes me think about things. So before you
00:12:57.980 hit me with your anger, because a lot of people are very defensive of the Enneagram, you're welcome
00:13:03.800 to send me those messages, but please go back and listen to my previous episode on personality tests.
00:13:10.680 And then, um, I also did, uh, like a new age episode with Doreen Virtue that you can go listen
00:13:17.440 to. And then also read my book about it. I have a whole segment on personality tests and specifically
00:13:21.840 the Enneagram. If you want to know more specifically what I think about it and why I have some trouble
00:13:27.900 with it. Um, someone asked my favorite meal right now, my favorite meal right now. That's very
00:13:36.520 difficult. As I'm recording this, I am, um, like eight and a half weeks pregnant. Yes. Um, uh, yeah,
00:13:47.380 I think that's how far along I am. It's hard to remember for some reason, but, and so I've had
00:13:52.120 cravings. I've had Japanese food cravings, um, miso soup for some reason.
00:13:57.900 I'm really liking these mixed salad bags, uh, that you can get from Target. You can also get
00:14:03.220 them from Whole Foods. Um, ice Jenny's ice cream. You can also get Jenny's ice cream from a Whole
00:14:08.940 Foods. If you guys haven't had Jenny's ice cream, it's really good. J E N I apostrophe S. They have
00:14:16.080 like Bramble Berry Crisp, I think is what the flavor is called that I really like. It's my favorite
00:14:21.880 flavor. I know this is not a meal. This is just kind of like a hodgepodge of things that I really like
00:14:26.980 right now. I always like Tex-Mex. Um, I always like pizza, but actually like I'm kind of over
00:14:34.000 pizza right now, but I always like Tex-Mex. I always like tacos. I always like guacamole.
00:14:38.860 It made some good guacamole last night. I can never get tired of guacamole. You know, I'm just,
00:14:44.220 I like carbs, carbs, especially during pregnancy. But as for my favorite one meal, it's very hard to say
00:14:50.900 because I'm just constantly kind of wanting different kinds of things. What's my favorite
00:14:55.680 color. My favorite color, I think is the color of like my podcast branding. I really like all forms
00:15:02.000 of light blue. I would say like, if I have a color, that's my color, like that periwinkle color. Um,
00:15:09.600 I like wearing it. I like looking at it. I like decorating with it. Our house is not periwinkle
00:15:14.280 though. Don't worry. But I like that. I like all forms of light blue. It's just calming. It's just
00:15:20.800 pretty. Um, someone said, if you're at Starbucks and they ask you for your name, do you say Allie
00:15:26.580 or Allie Beth? I would say Allie. Um, it's just easier. It's just easier that way. I say Allie Beth 0.63
00:15:34.800 and people's brains sometimes just malfunction. Elizabeth, Alison, Elizabeth. No, I didn't actually
00:15:43.640 say either of those. Alison, Beth, Alice. Um, I don't know why, like when I add the Beth on there,
00:15:51.920 I was on Fox and Friends one time and they literally called me Mary Beth. I was like,
00:15:57.260 that's not, it's not my name. It's not my name. Um, so people get confused when I say Allie Beth,
00:16:03.400 unless I'm like in the South, um, where they understand, like I've got tons, I've got a lot
00:16:10.620 of friends with double names. And so it's very normal to have a double name in the South. If I
00:16:15.900 go somewhere up North or if I'm talking to someone that is not from the South, they're very confused.
00:16:21.200 Like why would someone have two names? So typically I just say my name is Allie when I'm talking to
00:16:26.640 anyone that I don't really know. Um, honestly, I hardly ever tell people that my name is Allie Beth,
00:16:33.280 just because again, it just gets too confusing for people. Um, but that is my full name. Like
00:16:39.480 Allie Beth is my first name and I don't really have the middle name. It's kind of weird. Like
00:16:43.860 Beth is my middle name, but it's also part of my first name. Like my parents have always called me
00:16:49.040 Allie Beth. My teachers growing up, I'm pretty sure called me Allie Beth. I think my parents' friends
00:16:54.400 probably call me Allie Beth. There's just different people that say Allie Beth and some people who say
00:17:00.100 Allie. And when the Allie people call me Allie Beth, or when the Allie Beth people call me Allie,
00:17:06.340 it sounds weird. You got to stick to one. If you're someone who says Allie, you got to stick
00:17:10.700 to Allie. If you're someone who says Allie Beth, you got to stick to Allie Beth. But I would say,
00:17:14.520 yeah, for the most part, I introduced myself as Allie just because it's a lot easier, but it's
00:17:18.700 actually still difficult because people don't know how to spell the name Allie, which is not their fault
00:17:23.980 because there are a lot of different spellings and it doesn't bother me. It doesn't bother me when
00:17:27.900 people spell my name wrong. Some people get super uptight about that, but it just, it doesn't affect
00:17:33.880 my life. And why would I waste my energy on getting mad about something like that?
00:17:48.040 Let's see. Next question. How do I remain optimistic with all the constant bad news? And this is a
00:17:54.560 question that I get asked a lot. So it's really easy to kind of get wound up, but I'm not going to
00:17:59.760 say that I don't get wound up. Obviously I do. There are times when I'm going to sleep at night
00:18:03.680 and I think about all the craziness that's going on in the world. And I'm like, this is awful. And I
00:18:08.500 think about what's going to happen. And I think about the what ifs, and I think about raising our
00:18:12.280 kids in a world like this. And it's really sad. And yes, of course, I know that ultimately,
00:18:18.560 our hope is in heaven. Our hope is in eternity and that God is going to rule in perfect peace
00:18:26.080 and perfect sovereignty. And I have that to look forward to. There's not going to be any injustice.
00:18:30.860 There's not going to be any deceit. There's not going to be any corrupt bureaucracy. There's not
00:18:35.900 going to be any sorrow. There's not going to be any sickness. And so of course I have all of that to
00:18:39.820 look forward to and that gives me joy. But I also just like in the here and the now do believe that
00:18:48.080 like there's a lot to be done. And I guess God just like renews the optimism and renews the energy
00:18:54.080 for every generation that he places when and where he does, because we can't all just start out being
00:18:59.720 completely dejected and discouraged. Maybe I have too much optimism because of my age and I'll grow
00:19:03.980 cynical in several decades. But I just refuse to give up on the country. I refuse to give up on
00:19:11.960 where we are. I think that we are facing unprecedented challenges worldwide to freedom
00:19:19.360 and to human rights. And I think that we're seeing a lot of moral degeneracy. We're seeing a lot of
00:19:26.860 corruption. We're seeing a lot of trampling of civil liberties. And of course, all of that scares me.
00:19:33.840 When you look at the threats, both foreign and domestic. And of course, that worries me. And
00:19:39.600 it's just constantly another story every day of something terrible happening. And then add on top
00:19:46.400 of that, the spin that comes from people on the internet, from activists, from so-called
00:19:51.840 journalists. That is probably the most frustrating part. It's probably not the bad things that happen.
00:19:56.940 I mean, yes, the bad things that happen are, of course, sad and terrible. I think one of the most
00:20:02.220 frustrating parts, though, is how we are just unable to see things as they are. That we are constantly
00:20:08.800 trying to superimpose our preconceived narratives onto reality. That is just beyond comprehension to
00:20:21.640 me. That we do not share a desire to see things as they are and a desire for the truth. That is
00:20:29.260 very, it's just frustrating. And that is, I think, ultimately what prevents the left and the right
00:20:35.360 from coming together. And you guys know I'm not a moderate. And I don't think that you have to be
00:20:41.200 a moderate to care about truth. You guys know that I am a conservative. And yet, I get really frustrated
00:20:48.800 when each side cannot simply want to argue things on their merit. They can't actually have any kind of
00:20:58.340 intelligible conversation or debate about different ideas and different policies and different issues
00:21:03.100 and different things that happen. Because we are so wedded to what we want to be true. We are so wedded
00:21:11.740 to our foregone conclusions that we're living in different realms of reality. I think that really
00:21:16.900 weakens us as a country. And that does, that does scare me. However, I just haven't lost hope. I have
00:21:25.040 not lost hope for the country. I haven't lost hope that things are going to get better, that things are
00:21:28.960 going to swing back in the other direction. As far as morality goes, as far as narratives go, I just
00:21:34.680 haven't lost hope for that. I still believe that people have power. I believe that voices have power.
00:21:40.580 I believe that knowledge is power. I believe that truth has power. And obviously, like I said,
00:21:46.080 I believe that God is totally sovereign. He can do whatever the heck that he wants. And I believe
00:21:51.240 prayer. The Bible says that a prayer of a righteous person has great power. You are made righteous by
00:21:57.240 Christ. If you are a Christian, your prayers have great power. So it would be, I think, ungodly for me 1.00
00:22:02.840 to give up hope. And so I guess that's what keeps my optimism. And plus, like, just remembering that
00:22:11.120 there are things that matter more. Like, I just love my family so much. I love the things that I do
00:22:18.060 outside of this job, even though I am thinking about the news and politics a lot. And it seems like
00:22:24.080 everyone else is too. And so I can't really escape it. But also, I love when I go somewhere and I'm
00:22:30.480 talking to someone and they're completely oblivious of what's going on on Twitter. Like, I love to be
00:22:36.600 reminded that the people who are on Twitter and even on social media are a minority of people
00:22:41.100 in the country. Most people actually are completely detached from politics and things that are going
00:22:45.960 on. I'm not saying that's a good thing. I actually think that we all need to be really paying attention
00:22:49.480 right now. But it is nice to have conversations with someone who aren't, they're not caught up in
00:22:56.020 the daily drama of whatever is going on in the media headlines. So being reminded that that whole world
00:23:02.140 exists too. And that really, if you go out in public, most people that you talk to are very kind
00:23:07.400 and don't really care about your politics or aren't going to ask you about your politics and are willing
00:23:11.720 to have a respectful conversation with you about whatever. Like, that's also a nice reminder.
00:23:18.680 Someone asked me a lot of food questions. Go to Chick-fil-A order. Well, actually, it changes a lot.
00:23:25.500 Sometimes I'm in the mood for a grilled chicken sandwich. Sometimes I'm in the mood for a grilled
00:23:33.560 chicken cool wrap. That has probably been like my longest running order, probably literally since
00:23:39.400 like seventh grade, grilled chicken cool wrap with creamy salsa. And so I still, that's still good.
00:23:46.700 I hardly ever get a fried chicken sandwich. I don't know why. That's probably like the rarest thing
00:23:53.440 for me to get. I really like their Southwest salad too. Not healthy the way I do it because I put
00:23:59.800 creamy salsa on it. Like their tortilla soup. Let's see. And sometimes like also very rarely,
00:24:09.260 like I just don't actually usually get their fried chicken, but very rarely I will also get chicken
00:24:14.300 strips. Very rarely I will get like a chicken biscuit in the morning. Although I love their chicken
00:24:19.500 biscuits, although they don't fill you up. They put something in there. That's like, I need 17
00:24:25.240 more of these in order to be even remotely satisfied. But I don't eat 18 chicken biscuits.
00:24:31.080 I promise. I probably could, but I don't. So go to Chick-fil-A order. Hard to say, hard to say.
00:24:38.440 And I'm not really a lemonade gal either, but I don't, I, we also don't really drink like soft drinks
00:24:44.860 in our house. And so that part is also difficult, but you want a little bit of carbonation if you're
00:24:49.340 eating fries and things like that. And so I typically do, if I'm going to get a drink,
00:24:53.300 which a lot of times I just don't, I'll get like a Coke zero. Um, let's see. Someone asked me Santa,
00:25:00.880 Easter bunny, truth fairy, et cetera, asked me to talk about that. So I talked about Santa at Christmas
00:25:06.840 time. I have a highlight bubble, I think still on my Instagram page about Santa, how I think it's much
00:25:12.600 better to tell your kids about the real gift giver, like the real omnipresent one who actually can see
00:25:22.760 you when you're sleeping and who actually does know when you're awake. The Bible says like God
00:25:27.360 sees you're lying down and you're waking up. He can hear, he knows your thoughts. Um, he can search
00:25:35.860 you out and he actually is present everywhere. And he actually does know everything that we think,
00:25:40.800 say, and do. And so in, to replace who God actually is with, uh, some, uh, cheap version
00:25:49.600 of God, Santa Claus, I just think, why would we theologically confuse our kids that way? And I
00:25:56.360 understand the reasoning. It's fun. It is magic. I was raised, you know, I was raised believing in
00:26:03.200 Santa. Although I will say I found out pretty early that Santa wasn't real. Cause I figured out the tooth
00:26:08.080 fairy, it's what happens when you have older siblings. And I knew, and so I figured out
00:26:12.920 deductive reasoning that that must mean that Santa's not real. And I was like five or six. Um,
00:26:17.720 and I was upset. I remember being upset with my parents about it and thinking that they lied to
00:26:21.840 me. Not every kid is going to feel that way. Some kids are going to be totally fine with the idea
00:26:26.680 that their parents kind of perpetuated this fantasy just in order to be fun. And in order to like,
00:26:32.080 you know, what parents call magic and things like that. So I understand, I'm not judging you if you
00:26:37.580 make a decision that is right for your family. But when I actually think about it and I peel back the
00:26:43.520 layers, I mean, Santa really is like this very legalistic version of God that he puts you on a
00:26:50.480 naughty or nice list and apparently allocates your gifts based on the things that you have done
00:26:56.020 throughout the year. And God, the truly good and all powerful gift giver, he doesn't do that. Like
00:27:04.340 he, he gives you gifts according to his grace and his goodness, not according to the things that he
00:27:10.660 sees and the tallies that he makes based on the things that you did or didn't do. I also think it
00:27:15.580 can be very manipulative to try to incentivize kids behavior based on whether or not Santa Claus can
00:27:21.800 see them again. Like, I just think that you're setting yourself up for difficult conversations
00:27:26.560 about God. Now, again, I know there are a lot of you who have handled it perfectly and seamlessly.
00:27:32.140 The transition was no big deal at all. Um, and so, and I'm not pretending to be like some super
00:27:37.580 experienced mom who has like 10 grown kids who can tell you everything that worked. I'm just saying,
00:27:43.000 when I think about it from a theological perspective, do I think if, if my question is always,
00:27:47.920 how do I make my kids love God more? Like, how do I show them who God is, how good he is,
00:27:54.640 how big he is, how real he is and who they are according to him, does Santa Claus, Easter,
00:28:02.520 Tooth Fairy help or hurt that? Now, maybe you think it's neutral. I think in particular,
00:28:07.280 when it comes to Santa, it can be not always, but it can actually be counterproductive. It can
00:28:13.160 actually be very confusing spiritually for them. Easter bunny. Um, you know, I, I grew up believing
00:28:21.020 in that too. We got Easter baskets as I've kind of thought about it more as being a mom myself.
00:28:27.280 I'm like, well, hang on. Why do we even do Easter baskets? Like, why do we make something
00:28:31.980 like the resurrection of Christ about getting presents? And I guess you could ask the same
00:28:37.920 thing about Christmas too. Although I do think that there's a little bit of more of an alignment
00:28:42.440 there with the Christmas story than the Easter story. Um, and I, again, I'm not saying that if
00:28:49.420 you do Easter baskets for your kids, that that's like, you know, terrible or anything like that.
00:28:55.000 Honestly, I mean, our child was too young last year to even know what was going on. I'm just saying
00:29:01.740 that this is something that I've thought about. It's like, why do we do Easter baskets? I'd be
00:29:06.500 curious to hear from some of you guys, um, why you chose to do that with your family and kind of
00:29:12.260 how you balance, okay, the fun so-called secular parts of Easter, like Easter icons, which is all
00:29:19.740 super fun decorating Easter eggs, all super fun Easter egg baskets, things like that. Not against
00:29:26.720 that. I'm curious to know, as like a Christian parent, how do you kind of do that? And then also
00:29:32.160 say, okay, but this is what Easter is about. It's not about bunnies. It's not just about spring. It's not
00:29:36.720 about chickens. It's not about Easter icons. These all things are, these things are all well and good,
00:29:41.340 but like, here is the power of Easter. Here's why we celebrate resurrection Sunday. Do you find that
00:29:47.820 hard to balance between those two things? Are you a parent who just decided to nix all of the,
00:29:54.220 you know, um, what they, what some people would call pagan parts of Easter, uh, or have you found
00:30:01.680 a balance? I would love to hear from you guys actually on that, because I'm curious because
00:30:05.820 it hasn't really been something that we've had to think about, but I have been thinking about again,
00:30:09.960 and that question of like, if my goal is to point my kids toward Christ, what is going to best do
00:30:16.500 that? And I don't want to be a fuddy daddy either because I really like fun and I really like, you
00:30:21.540 know, the joy of Easter egg hunts and all that kind of stuff. I think it's great, but you know,
00:30:26.480 my goal is kids who love the Lord and know that the Lord loves them. How do I do that in the best way,
00:30:33.340 most productive way possible when it comes to Easter? I'd love to hear from more experienced moms when it 1.00
00:30:38.580 comes to that kind of thing. Tooth Fairy, I don't, Tooth Fairy doesn't bother me as much because
00:30:46.520 you're not talking about like trying to superimpose like a secular character on what's supposed to be
00:30:53.800 a religious holiday. Um, that I don't remember getting too upset when I learned that the Tooth Fairy
00:31:02.580 wasn't real. It was Santa. That was the really difficult one. Tooth Fairy. I mean, it just
00:31:07.760 depends, I guess, if you want to give your kids money every time their tooth falls out and your
00:31:12.160 explanation when you accidentally sleep through the night and you don't put that money under their
00:31:20.040 pillow or when they wake up, what do you do about that? I don't know. I don't remember that, but I do
00:31:26.060 remember a few times when I think the Tooth Fairy forgot. But again, I also figured it out really early.
00:31:31.240 So I guess my parents didn't really have to do that, um, for very long. Um, I know people also who give
00:31:38.720 their kids like 20 bucks for a tooth. That I can tell you we will not be doing. That sets too high of
00:31:47.520 a standard. Are you kidding me? Like a quarter is great. What are they going to spit it on? But anyway,
00:31:53.480 y'all do you. Okay. Um, let's see. Is there anything else favorite? Okay. I'll end on this
00:32:05.620 one. Favorite Blue Bell ice cream flavor. Ooh, someone asked me this the other day. Um, cookies
00:32:12.940 and cream, probably like my all-time favorite. Again, one of those, like the chicken cool wrap
00:32:19.640 from Chick-fil-A. One of those that has been in my life for a very long time. One of the constants
00:32:24.360 in my life. A couple of years ago, when you remember when people were, um, licking the tops
00:32:31.860 of ice cream because they're ghouls who I guess weren't raised correctly and they were putting it 0.60
00:32:37.980 back in the freezer and they were being caught. And thankfully they went to jail because of that,
00:32:42.120 because that's disgusting. Um, that was happening to Blue Bell. Um, and that was really troubling for
00:32:49.160 me because I really love Blue Bell. Like I said, big part of my life. So I would say that, um, is
00:32:56.220 cookie two-step one of them? I think it is. Uh, but cookies and cream definitely, but honestly,
00:33:01.460 just like Blue Bell vanilla is good. There's no better vanilla ice cream than Blue Bell vanilla ice
00:33:09.440 cream, but cookies and cream to me, it's the way to go. Chocolate chip cookie dough. It's good. It'd be
00:33:14.740 better. I think if there were Oreos in there too. Um, yeah, you can't go wrong. You cannot go wrong
00:33:21.660 with Blue Bell. We've talked about ice cream twice on this podcast today. So if you can't tell, I really
00:33:26.260 like it. Um, okay. I think that's all I got for today. I don't think we even really talked politics,
00:33:33.740 but those are fun questions. Thank you guys so much for sending them. I will see you guys
00:33:38.940 back here soon.