Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 65 ｜ Q&A!

00:00:00.000 Hey guys, it's Allie. Welcome to Relatable. It is two days after Christmas. I hope that you guys

00:00:06.580 had a wonderful holiday, that you got to spend time with your family. I know that sometimes

00:00:11.020 Christmas can be super stressful. I don't know if you have a great relationship with your family

00:00:15.960 and your in-laws. I hope that you do. If you don't, maybe you're taking some time to yourself

00:00:20.720 today to enjoy your gifts, or maybe you didn't get any gifts and you're just enjoying some Netflix.

00:00:27.180 If so, I wish you the best, and I hope that you get lots of rest. I hope that you didn't have to

00:00:32.640 go back to work immediately, and maybe you even have a long weekend until after New Year's. If not,

00:00:39.720 if you're working and you are in the routine of your day, then best of luck to you as well. I

00:00:46.540 am chilling, except for doing this podcast. So today I'm going to answer some of your questions.

00:00:51.840 To be perfectly honest with you guys, I'm just going to be real. I don't know exactly what we're

00:00:57.060 going to talk about on today's podcast. I'm going to answer some of the questions that you sent me

00:01:00.940 and hope for the best and try to extend this to be at least 30 minutes for you guys. I usually find

00:01:07.400 something to say. I usually get long-winded about one topic or the other, so it should be fine.

00:01:13.000 But I'm just letting you know, I'm kind of going into this after the holidays with a more relaxed

00:01:18.020 mindset that we're going to figure out something to talk about, but I don't know what yet.

00:01:21.580 That is very atypical for this podcast. I always have notes, and I know what I'm going to say.

00:01:27.700 Today, you just never know. You don't know what's going to come out. Before we actually start and I

00:01:32.420 answer some of these questions, I have to tell you, I have to tell you, I know you guys have no

00:01:37.380 idea what I'm about to say. I have to tell you about my pillow. I got a review the other day that

00:01:42.640 said, I love Allie because she loves Chick-fil-A and pillows. Yes, true. I do love pillows, but not just

00:01:49.300 any pillow. I love my Bolster Sleep pillow. So you can go to bolstersleep.com slash Allie and get

00:01:54.340 10% off their pillows. Their pillows are amazing, you guys. I used to build this whole pillow empire

00:02:01.040 around my head to make sure that I slept in the correct way and I would still get a crick in my

00:02:05.940 neck. That's not true anymore. My Bolster Sleep pillow keeps its form all night. It's just the right

00:02:10.420 combination of firmness and softness, if you know what I'm talking about. It's not a feather pillow,

00:02:15.100 but it's also not like super firm to where you can't move your hat. Does that make any sense?

00:02:20.620 It's really perfect and it's made out of this material called tin cell. So it stays cool all

00:02:25.020 night, no flipping over to get the cooler side of the pillow. You've got it all night with a Bolster

00:02:29.840 Sleep. So you should go to bolstersleep.com. You should use promo code Allie. It's A-L-L-I-E,

00:02:35.240 not A-L-L-Y, not A-L-I, A-L-L-I-E. Get 10% off. If you're looking for a late Christmas present,

00:02:41.900 I don't know, maybe you're a trash person like me and you didn't get everyone's Christmas presents

00:02:46.160 in right away. Actually, I did this year. That's an accomplishment for me, but maybe you didn't

00:02:50.720 and you should just get this late Christmas present and whoever you're giving it to will

00:02:54.640 really appreciate it. Okay, moving on. I'm going to answer some of your questions that you sent me.

00:03:01.100 You always send me your questions via Instagram. That's where I interact with my audience the most.

00:03:05.200 It's kind of funny. It used to be Facebook that I had the largest audience on and I talked to the most

00:03:10.540 and then it was Twitter. Now it's Instagram. Let me tell you, Instagram's way nicer than any other

00:03:17.100 social media platform. I think it's because the people who follow you on Instagram and who see

00:03:21.860 your posts... Okay, so the people who see your posts on Instagram and comment on your posts

00:03:25.820 typically follow you because you don't share posts on Instagram. So there's not a huge chance of people

00:03:31.040 seeing something unless they follow you. So most of the people that comment on my posts follow me,

00:03:36.140 which means they probably agree with me. And y'all are just a lot nicer on Instagram or on

00:03:41.520 Facebook or on Twitter. You have no idea who's sharing your post. So you have no idea who's

00:03:44.920 going to see it. And the trolls just come out in droves. And yet I find solace in Instagram.

00:03:50.580 So that's where I interact with my audience the most. And so this is where you guys send me

00:03:56.380 all of your lovely questions. So one of the questions that I got is from Jess. What other

00:04:03.320 podcasts do you love and vouch for? I love yours and I've been trying to find others that are good.

00:04:08.240 They could be either politically based, Christian based. Okay, so here are the podcasts that I listen

00:04:13.000 to and I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings about what podcasts I don't listen to. So sometimes I

00:04:19.180 listen to a variety, but here are my mainstays. I listen to The Briefing with Albert Moeller. So this is

00:04:25.380 Approaching News and Politics from a Christian Worldview. I think that's actually the tagline.

00:04:31.060 And it's about some, it used to be 15 minutes. I think it's actually about 25 minutes now,

00:04:35.900 but it goes through stories, not of the day, but of the week or of the last two weeks that have not

00:04:41.460 only political importance, but cultural importance. He talks a lot about the moral revolution that's

00:04:46.820 happened over the past 10 years and really analyzes that and puts it back into the Christian 0.88

00:04:52.720 worldview and roots it in scripture. And I think he's really good. He is a conservative.

00:04:58.480 He doesn't necessarily say I'm a Republican or I'm a conservative, but he does have conservative

00:05:03.140 views. Of course, that could be a criticism of the podcast, but everything he says is scripturally

00:05:08.060 based. As you know, I believe that if you are a Bible-believing Christian, you are going to tend 0.97

00:05:13.260 to have conservative views, at least culturally, maybe not on every single policy, but culturally,

00:05:17.860 you're probably going to be pretty conservative just because that's how the Bible leans.

00:05:23.620 So he is conservative. He's a Christian. He is also a Baptist. You can take all of that as you

00:05:29.240 will. I really like Albert Moeller. I think he has a great daily podcast. It's one of those podcasts

00:05:34.260 that makes you feel smarter after you listen to it. Another mainstay is the Ben Shapiro podcast. So

00:05:40.140 this is the podcast that I go to when I just, I want what is happening that day, what news I need to

00:05:45.700 know and the details I need to know about those news stories. His podcast is completely different

00:05:51.160 than mine in that he's going to talk about the Russian collusion story. He's going to talk about

00:05:56.240 all of the minutiae of the day. My podcast doesn't do that. And the thing, the funny thing is,

00:06:02.520 is that, you know, people always tell me they love Ben Shapiro. Like, oh, I just, I love following

00:06:07.260 you and Ben Shapiro. No one has ever told me, I wish your podcast was more newsy or I wish your podcast

00:06:13.660 would cover the Russian collusion story. And I think that's because there are so many podcasts

00:06:18.620 that already do a great job with that, like Ben's podcast and other podcasts that cover the daily

00:06:23.400 news that people just don't come to me for that. And I'm completely fine with it. We have a kind of

00:06:29.460 a different approach and the stories that we choose are a little bit different and they're a little bit

00:06:34.560 more evergreen than the daily news. And so that's why I listen to Ben's podcast because it's different

00:06:41.580 than mine. It's different than the other ones that I listened to. And I highly recommend it.

00:06:45.260 If you just want to know what you need to know for the day, he's going to tell you the facts.

00:06:49.360 I also think that he is extremely fair. He's obviously conservative, but he's going to tell

00:06:53.800 you both sides of the argument. Um, so I really like Ben's podcast. I just feel like I can trust him

00:06:58.860 again. That's another podcast where you just, you don't just feel like, you know, more, but you

00:07:02.620 actually feel wiser. Like you feel smarter and it actually makes you think every time you listen to his

00:07:07.440 podcast. That is important to me. Um, let's see. Another one that I listened to is the just thinking

00:07:13.600 podcast. This is an exclusively Christian podcast. There is one episode, I believe a week. It dives

00:07:18.540 into a particular issue, typically a theological issue. Um, if it's a cultural or political issue,

00:07:24.700 they always, um, approach it theologically. And I really like it. I just think that they're very good

00:07:30.540 analytical thinkers. They are reformed. They are just awesome. I really like how they think.

00:07:36.640 And I love how they articulate things and I love their exegetical style and really digging into

00:07:42.180 the Bible in such an accurate way. So the just thinking podcast, those are really my three main

00:07:48.020 ones. I also might listen to the Dave Rubin podcast from time to time. Uh, Oh, the Sheologians. I 1.00

00:07:54.420 listened to the Sheologians, um, as well, and they approach theological topics and I just think

00:08:01.000 they're really good. They're also reformed and very biblically sound. So Sheologians, 1.00

00:08:05.780 Ben Shapiro podcast, uh, the briefing and the just thinking podcast, those are my main ones.

00:08:11.540 And like I said, there are always other ones kind of sprinkled in there, but those are really good

00:08:16.780 ones in a good balance. And they're all just smart. They're, they're just, they're good.

00:08:21.080 They're not just informational, but they're actually analytical as well. Um, okay. Someone asked me,

00:08:27.960 what are your thoughts on someone taking birth control to control periods, acne or other medical

00:08:32.260 reasons? Is it still simple? Um, she said, I'm pretty sure in the Catholic church, it would be.

00:08:38.520 So she's asking me for the Protestant perspective on this. Uh, I don't, I personally don't think so.

00:08:44.580 Uh, no, I don't think so. If you're not sexually active and you're using it literally as a medicine,

00:08:49.260 I don't see any argument against that whatsoever, unless you're just against medicine in general.

00:08:53.820 Um, I don't think birth control itself, the pill itself is inherently simple. It depends on what

00:09:00.760 you're using it for and how it actually works. So I've gotten a lot of messages from you since last

00:09:05.360 week's podcast talking about birth control. And I've literally gotten both sides of the argument,

00:09:09.280 which is why, again, I think it's so confusing because one side is extremely sure that all birth

00:09:14.980 controls in some way cause an abortion or can cause an abortion, making, uh, the uterus just

00:09:20.840 inhospitable to a fetus and therefore are killing an embryo. And then I have gotten a lot of messages

00:09:27.760 from people saying, no, that's not true at all. It stops ovulation. So you're just not going to

00:09:32.480 conceive a child. Again, I don't know enough about the science myself. I'm learning to, to know which

00:09:37.700 one is true and you could have problems, moral problems, theological problems with it either way,

00:09:42.860 whether it causes an abortion or just stops ovulation. And I totally, I totally get that. Um,

00:09:48.280 but if you are not doing it for either of those reasons, now there could be medical reasons why

00:09:53.160 you don't want to get on birth control. A lot of people thinks it, think it messes up your hormones.

00:09:57.560 Um, but I certainly don't think it's simple to simply use it because you need to use it,

00:10:02.420 especially if it's not to actually control conception or control birth. Um, I don't have

00:10:08.320 a verse to back that up. That just seems, that just seems logical. Um, someone asks me just a very

00:10:15.600 offensive question to be honest. Why do you like Chick-fil-A so much? So I'm going to answer a

00:10:22.180 question with a question. What kind of question is that? I don't even, I don't even know how to

00:10:27.200 answer that. Why would someone not like Chick-fil-A actually, actually confession. I didn't like Chick-fil-A

00:10:33.680 when I was young. For some reason, I didn't like the peanut oil. It grossed me out. I don't know what

00:10:38.360 I was thinking. Then I was out of my mind. I mean, your brain isn't fully developed when you're young.

00:10:42.180 That's probably why I didn't, I didn't think I liked Chick-fil-A. I love Chick-fil-A. As I've

00:10:47.900 talked about before, I am addicted to Chick-fil-A, especially when I am pregnant. I love waffle

00:10:53.960 fries. I love Chick-fil-A sauce. I don't want to know how many calories are in Chick-fil-A sauce.

00:10:58.280 Don't message me about that. I know it's a lot. I love the grilled chicken sandwich. It makes me feel

00:11:02.980 like I'm being a little bit healthier than getting the fried chicken sandwich. And as I have heard

00:11:08.360 before, I've heard that Chick-fil-A is actually the healthiest fast food option you can get.

00:11:13.740 Now, I am not against a Wendy's. I'm not even against in desperate situations at McDonald's.

00:11:19.640 I'm not against, there's a lot of fast food I'm really not against. Now, I am kind of against

00:11:23.500 KFC. It didn't used to be. I actually grew up eating KFC. I'm kind of against some Burger King.

00:11:31.540 Kind of grosses me out. Not against Whataburger. I actually love Whataburger. I fight with myself

00:11:37.020 on a weekly basis now that I'm pregnant between, oh, do I want Whataburger or do I want Chick-fil-A?

00:11:42.620 Usually Chick-fil-A wins because it's faster and they say my pleasure. And I sometimes just,

00:11:46.900 or I somehow feel like I'm like supporting some kind of Christian cause. And I don't think that's

00:11:51.520 true. Chick-fil-A just goes above and beyond not to just make amazing chicken and chicken sandwiches

00:11:58.760 and waffle fries and sauce, but also they're just kind and they're efficient and they think about

00:12:06.040 the customer first. I think that a lot of fast food restaurants are just thinking about what

00:12:10.980 costs the least amount of money. And I'm a customer and I am spending my five minutes in line and my

00:12:17.320 probably $7 on your meal. And I want to be treated with respect. Okay. I think Wendy's is actually fairly

00:12:24.520 good at this. I think people sleep on Wendy's. I think people don't give Wendy's enough of a chance.

00:12:31.440 They never freeze their beef. Their fries are pretty good. Ranch dressing is good. I can't really

00:12:38.500 speak for their chicken fingers. Chicken fingers, I'm a Chili's girl. That's another place people sleep

00:12:43.960 on is Chili's. I personally think it's disrespectful to the chain of Chili's that people don't go there

00:12:51.220 more often. Their skillet queso, amazing. Their fajita pita, really good. I don't even think it's

00:12:58.780 on the menu anymore. Chili's used to be the place to go. And I just think it's very sad that it's

00:13:02.960 gone so downhill. So anyway, the question, why do you like Chick-fil-A so much? Because it's amazing.

00:13:08.600 And if anyone doesn't like Chick-fil-A, then it's not just that they're wrong. They're a bad person.

00:13:13.820 I feel like you can't trust them. Can you really trust people who don't like Chick-fil-A or don't go to

00:13:18.540 Chick-fil-A? I don't think so. That's just my objective opinion. Tips for young professionals,

00:13:25.120 especially those who want to work in politics. Tips for young professionals. Ooh, maybe I could do,

00:13:29.500 I could do a whole podcast on that. Tips for young professionals. Okay. This is from someone who had

00:13:35.320 an unsuccessful first part of my young professional career. When I graduated from college,

00:13:42.240 I went straight into PR. And I am such a typical millennial in so many ways. I know I

00:13:47.100 rail on millennials and all of the bad things about us because there's so many bad things about us,

00:13:51.640 but I have been at times in my life entitled, not okay with authority, just want to do what I want

00:13:59.740 to do. And no one can tell me any differently. Actually, I'm still like that today. That's why

00:14:03.500 I went into a job where I basically worked for myself. But I would say that's not a good mentality

00:14:10.160 to have, especially when you're first starting out. So you graduate from college,

00:14:13.260 you think you're on top of the world. I delivered my commencement speech. I graduated with honors.

00:14:18.240 Of course, I went to a school of 2,700 people and it was a liberal arts college. It's not like

00:14:23.520 I went to Harvard or something, but regardless, you think you're on top of the world. You think

00:14:27.680 you're invincible. You think that you know everything. You think when you go into your

00:14:30.740 first job that, yeah, sure. This might've been hard for some people. Some people might've had to

00:14:35.900 adjust, but I won't have to. I'll learn so much more quickly than everyone else. Ha. That's what I've

00:14:40.860 said. Maybe that's true for you. It was not true for me. So I went into PR and I had actually

00:14:46.180 interned at this place before. It was, it was a great place. A lot of people that I love worked

00:14:51.540 there, still work there. And it was a really good experience for me. But if you're PR, if you're in

00:14:58.320 PR, you understand PR is difficult. You deal with a lot of rejection. There are a lot of deadlines.

00:15:03.040 There's a lot of pressure in just any kind of client relations whatsoever. I think it's great to go

00:15:07.700 into client relations after college because you learn how to write an email. You learn how to work

00:15:12.200 with people. You learn how to put your client first and to make other people happy. You learn

00:15:16.160 how to go above and beyond. And those are huge, amazing skills that I have continued to learn and

00:15:24.760 to use for the rest of my career. But I just wasn't prepared. I wasn't organized. I didn't know how to

00:15:30.040 maximize my time. I remember crying on a Friday night, working on a project that I completely forgotten

00:15:36.840 about. College, in my opinion, my college experience did not prepare me for my first job

00:15:42.180 out of college. And I probably was a little bit arrogant thinking that this is going to come

00:15:46.220 easily for me and not being as teachable as I could have been. I learned a lot about humility

00:15:50.180 in that first job, but I would like to think of myself as much more teachable now than I was then

00:15:54.340 because you make a fool of yourself a lot less when you just admit that you don't know something

00:15:58.800 and ask for help. PR though, at the end of the day, social media strategy at the end of the day

00:16:03.640 just wasn't my thing. And so after about a year and seven months, I moved to another job.

00:16:09.860 I actually managed and marketed for a pure bar. I thought that I was, this is going to be so much

00:16:15.380 more fun. Turns out I'm really bad at managing people. I'm just not good at managing a ton of

00:16:21.200 people that constantly need me. I'm just not good at that. I would rather you figure it out and do

00:16:25.860 what you want to do. So I should have, I don't even know what I would have done differently.

00:16:32.220 I probably would have stuck the job, the first job out a little bit longer. I would have been

00:16:37.580 more teachable. I would have prepared myself a little bit better in college and learn some

00:16:42.740 organizational skills and learn some time management skills. And I would have had a better

00:16:48.380 attitude in doing the things that I didn't want to do. I think that's a huge problem with our

00:16:53.560 generation that we have bad attitudes. We don't want to do things that are hard. We don't want to do

00:16:58.400 things that are inconvenient. We don't want to go above and beyond. We want to do the bare

00:17:01.920 minimum. And I can't say that I necessarily did the bare minimum and I was completely apathetic,

00:17:07.460 but I certainly didn't push myself as hard as I could. I didn't push myself as hard as I could

00:17:11.320 in college. And I didn't in my first few jobs. It wasn't until I was really on my own in this job

00:17:16.560 that I started applying myself, honestly, and working as hard as I possibly could. I wish that I

00:17:23.120 had realized that about myself early on and worked harder. I just wish that I had. So respect your

00:17:30.020 bosses, learn how to write an email, learn how to communicate well, go above and beyond for your

00:17:34.420 clients and work hard when you don't want to work hard. That is my tips for young professionals.

00:17:38.860 Do not, those are my tips for young professionals. Do not worry right now about finding that perfect

00:17:44.840 job that's going to be fulfilling and lucrative in all of these wonderful things. It's going to

00:17:49.540 happen, but your goal in life is not to be fulfilled and happy. It's to do your best. It's to use your

00:17:55.180 talents and your passions to the best of your ability and to trust God with everything else.

00:18:01.020 That's a lot easier said than done, but that is, that's, that's my piece of advice. You said,

00:18:05.860 especially in politics, especially in politics, stay above the fray. Politics are really hard.

00:18:11.180 It's easy to get down in the mud. That's why I live in Texas and not in DC or New York or LA,

00:18:16.600 where most political media people live, because I don't want to get into the politics of politics.

00:18:21.260 I don't want to get into the gossipy world right now. Um, it's a, it's a hard industry to be in.

00:18:27.780 That doesn't mean you shouldn't do it because we need more, uh, wise, awesome, honest people in

00:18:33.120 politics, but stay above the fray. Stay rooted, um, in your friends and in your family and in your

00:18:37.860 values and in your faith. Don't let yourself be dictated by, um, the lack of morals and the lack

00:18:45.440 of principles that is American politics. Okay. Next question. Okay. So I won't read the whole

00:18:56.100 thing. What are your thoughts on speaking your mind when the consequences could be damaging?

00:19:00.860 I think this is a difficult question because there is certainly a balance in this. Whenever I'm talking

00:19:08.120 to college students, uh, I say what I think a lot of people have said, of course, I would love college

00:19:14.060 students to be able to stand up in class and say, professor, you're wrong. Stop shoving this post

00:19:19.580 modern crap down our throats. This is not how history played out. And white people are not bad. 1.00

00:19:26.000 And America is not an aggressor. I think that would be awesome. But at the same time, uh, I'm not sure

00:19:31.320 if that's always a battle that is worth fighting in every single situation. I think pick your battles

00:19:36.680 wisely. Um, it depends also on what the argument is. Are you listening to someone blaspheme? Are you

00:19:43.140 listening to someone, um, purport something that is dangerously untrue that you think is going to have

00:19:48.660 negative effects on you on the people around you? Um, then maybe there's a respectful way to say

00:19:53.480 something. Maybe it's not in public in the classroom or wherever you are. Maybe it's privately go to that

00:19:57.740 person and express your concerns. Um, but if it's just something where a professor or someone, you know,

00:20:02.960 makes a passing remark, um, that you don't agree with, maybe just let it slide. I think picking your

00:20:09.740 battles is a matter of discernment. I can't necessarily tell you the formula for your life

00:20:14.360 and your situation, which battles are right to fight and which battles are right to just ignore.

00:20:21.080 Um, but I think it's a matter of wisdom. It's a matter of discernment. And of course,

00:20:24.240 when it comes to standing up for your faith, I think it's pretty much in every single situation

00:20:28.780 standing up for politics. Maybe not so much. It just depends on what's on the line. Is it your entire

00:20:33.720 job and your family's going to starve? And, uh, if, if, if you say that you're a conservative and voted

00:20:39.320 for Donald Trump, okay, well, maybe you, you, you don't need to say that. It's also possible just

00:20:44.320 to live a conservative life, um, and a life that aligns with your politics without having to be

00:20:51.320 aggressive and shove it down people's throats. Um, of course, when you're asked about it, I would

00:20:55.660 never lie. I would never be dishonest. I would never try to cover it up, but that doesn't mean

00:21:00.260 you go around picking fights with people that you disagree with. Again, that's politics, your faith.

00:21:04.480 I think it's always important to be bold in a loving and truthful and a kind way.

00:21:09.340 Hope that makes sense. Um, what do you do to de-stress and mentally get away from the crazy,

00:21:14.680 uh, political world that you are immersed in? Um, well, I was just talking about that

00:21:21.120 when I'm feeling particularly overwhelmed, this is not something I'm bragging about. This is a bad

00:21:25.660 thing that maybe in 2019, I can rid myself of when I'm super just like in the moment. Oh my gosh,

00:21:31.480 I don't want to think about that thing. Or I don't want to do that one thing, or I'm just

00:21:34.320 stressed to the max and overwhelmed. I scroll through Instagram particularly. And this is so

00:21:39.620 bad guys. This is so bad. I know it's bad. Particularly. I scroll through keeping up with

00:21:46.300 the Kardashians clips on my discover page on Instagram. Instagram knows that I love watching

00:21:52.380 the Kardashians. I don't love the Kardashians. I actually think that they're so obnoxious and

00:21:57.320 largely ignorant, but they're so entertaining. I love watching like the 32nd clips from past

00:22:04.880 episodes. I have no idea why. Like I don't actually watch keeping up with the Kardashians

00:22:08.300 on television. I just watched the clips and I could do that for probably six hours. I did that

00:22:12.820 for 30 minutes today. Why did I do that? I don't know. Cause I hate myself when I'm done because I'm

00:22:18.400 actually dumber at the end of it. They're saying nothing of substance whatsoever. Um, and yet I do it.

00:22:24.920 I don't know why, but that is one way. I guess I de-stress the stress only goes away for so long

00:22:30.720 though. Um, to really de-stress, I try to put away my devices, hang out with my husband. Um,

00:22:39.360 when people ask me what I like to do, I'm like, I don't know. I like to watch TV and eat really

00:22:45.020 filling food with my husband. Like a great night for me is watching like a show that we've been

00:22:50.200 watching for a long time. Like right now we're watching band of brothers and eating pizza. Like

00:22:55.040 that is a great night for me. Not seeing anyone except for my husband, not having to talk to

00:23:00.200 anyone. Makeup's already off in my sweat pants under a blanket with my cat sweat pants and

00:23:08.460 watching TV. That's a great night. So maybe that's what I do to de-stress. I also like talk like

00:23:14.200 talking helps me de-stress. Maybe it might also wind me up. I'm not really sure, but I like talking

00:23:20.140 things out with my mom. It helps. Um, also I'm not really immersed in the political world because

00:23:26.740 I live out here in Texas away from all the madness. Okay. Can you talk a bit about what it means

00:23:32.860 for Christians to be first and foremost, citizens of the kingdom of God and how that fact should

00:23:38.900 inform exactly how we are to operate in the kingdom of men, whether in the realm of politics or

00:23:43.080 anywhere else? Wow. This is a big question. I'm not sure I can answer it comprehensively.

00:23:46.640 Um, so you're absolutely right that Christians are citizens of heaven. Uh, first and foremost, 0.99

00:23:51.840 that means that how we behave, how we act, the things that we think should be shaped by eternity.

00:23:56.760 So are the anxieties that we have, the priorities that we have, um, should be shaped in light of

00:24:02.160 eternity. That means we don't worry about the things that the world worries about. Um, that's why it says

00:24:07.480 we're not supposed to worry about what we wear, what we eat, what we drink, that our heavenly father

00:24:11.600 knows that we need these things and he's going to take care of us. And that non-Christians are the 1.00

00:24:15.720 ones who worries about who worry about those things, but we don't have to, that God is going to take

00:24:20.120 care of us. That doesn't mean that he is going to provide us, uh, with all of the financial benefits

00:24:24.380 that we think that we deserve, but whether in life or in death, he is going to be there for us

00:24:30.980 perfectly and he won't forsake us. Um, so it means that our entire thought life and therefore our

00:24:36.840 entire, uh, actually walking life, our entire action life is in light of what is important

00:24:44.980 eternally, not what is important temporarily. Do I live like this? No, the things that I am

00:24:49.540 concerned about are typically the things that are happening today, the things that are happening

00:24:52.840 tomorrow. What am I going to do about this, uh, this aspect of my job? How am I going to get this

00:24:59.000 done? Oh, I have to travel tomorrow. This person didn't, uh, book the right thing for me. What if

00:25:03.800 this goes wrong? I'm always concerned about the things that are happening right now. The things

00:25:08.580 that I feel like I don't have control of the things that I feel like are, are not going my way. I'm

00:25:12.720 very rarely focused or worried about things that are eternal. Like, Oh, what about the state of all

00:25:17.900 of these people's souls? What about the lost people in the world who have never heard Christ before?

00:25:22.360 That's not what's keeping me up at night. It's typically selfish things and temporary things.

00:25:26.280 So, uh, being a citizen of heaven doesn't mean that you're going to be perfect in your thought

00:25:30.700 life, but it does give us a different perspective. Now we are in the world, not of the world. We are

00:25:36.360 not conformed to the patterns of this world. So I do think that that means that we participate,

00:25:40.580 um, in, in the spheres of the world that are seen typically as worldly, that Christians can be

00:25:46.960 involved in government, that Christians can be involved in politics, in media, in art,

00:25:51.720 in whatever it is, um, and glorify the Lord in doing that. The Lord gave us particular gifts

00:25:58.540 that we are to use to glorify him. And it's important that we are salt and light wherever

00:26:02.640 we go. If all of Christians extracted themselves out of politics, there'd be no Christians in 1.00

00:26:07.100 politics and no light in politics at all, in all at all. I think I said that correctly.

00:26:11.960 Um, so I don't think it means that we just sit in our house and we pray for Jesus to come back.

00:26:16.400 I think that it means that we share the gospel through everything that we do. We work hard,

00:26:20.800 heartily is for the Lord and not for man. Um, and that we keep our eyes on Christ and our

00:26:26.220 perspective centered on him. Okay. Let's see any more questions. Okay. Interesting question

00:26:35.540 thoughts on tattoos and biblical reference to them. So I believe this, I didn't look this up before

00:26:42.680 cause I forgot about this question. Um, but I believe there is an, uh, or there is a verse

00:26:49.560 in Leviticus that talks about not tattooing your body. Typically Christians don't heed to that 1.00

00:26:55.160 because there are a lot of laws in Leviticus, uh, that we don't abide by because they're not in the

00:27:01.580 new Testament and they were meant for the Jewish people and not for the Gentiles. Now there are some 0.92

00:27:06.260 things that are in the old Testament and the new Testament that of course we abide by. Um, but that

00:27:11.580 typically isn't one of them. Now I'm not going to say definitely that it's God's will that people

00:27:16.700 get tattoos. And I'm not saying it is, uh, necessarily the Christian thing to do, but I'm

00:27:22.740 also not sure that it is a sin. Uh, according to the Bible as a Christian, I do have a tattoo.

00:27:30.080 I don't know if I've ever said that on my podcast, but I do have a tattoo and I won't tell you what it

00:27:35.800 is. I'll let y'all, I'll let y'all guess what it is. It's not a butterfly. I can tell you that if I've

00:27:39.840 never told you that, um, that I, I have a fear, I have like this crazy fear of inanimate butterflies.

00:27:48.120 I don't not fear. I just don't like them. Like no offense. If you like inanimate butterflies,

00:27:53.820 but I will not buy a planner, a shirt, a dress, a wallpaper, whatever it is with an inanimate

00:28:02.240 butterfly on it. I just don't like them. I just don't like them. And now I'm forgetting why I even

00:28:08.000 said that. Why is it? Oh yeah. Tattoos. It's definitely not a butterfly. Cause I don't like,

00:28:11.980 I don't like inanimate butterflies. Just FYI. Okay. Last question. Do you have fears about

00:28:17.520 bringing a baby into the chaos of the world that we live in? Or do you see it as an opportunity to

00:28:21.540 bring humanity back to God and raise your child morally? Because I know that I struggle with that

00:28:25.300 being a mom, but also see it as a great opportunity. Um, of course I have fears. I have fears that I

00:28:32.340 won't have enough time to teach my child. What is true. I have fears that once they go into the world,

00:28:38.840 once they start school, of course, once they graduate and go off to college and become an

00:28:43.040 adult, that they'll fall prey into, um, into the lies of this world. Uh, of course I, I worry about

00:28:51.860 that. Um, but as I said, on Tuesday's podcast, like my child is not mine. I entrust them to the Lord.

00:28:58.180 They are the Lord's God has a plan for my child that doesn't even include me. Doesn't even involve

00:29:03.540 me that will last long after I am gone. And I do see it as an opportunity, I guess, uh, to raise a

00:29:10.340 child in the Lord. And I hope that this is, uh, another Christian and a Christian that is passionate

00:29:15.460 about God and passionate about sharing the gospel. Um, but of, of course I have fears, but like in all

00:29:22.800 things, I have to trust God with those and know that if I wasn't supposed to have a child, I wouldn't

00:29:27.260 have a child, but that he has a perfect, a perfect plan. And he cares about this child way more than

00:29:32.180 I do. Um, that was my last question. Thank you guys so much for listening. I hope that you guys

00:29:39.240 have a great new year's. I, well, I will be here. I will be here next week. We will have podcasts next

00:29:46.260 week. Maybe we'll talk about new year's resolutions. Feel free to send me recommendations for what you guys

00:29:51.200 want. Uh, last week when I checked this podcast was in the top 100 for news and politics, which is

00:29:57.840 awesome. And that's all because of you. Thank you guys so much for listening. If you have feedback

00:30:01.820 about how I can make this podcast better, please email me, Allie at the conservative millennial blog.com.

00:30:06.740 I really, really would love your recommendations. As you guys know, I take your feedback really

00:30:10.860 seriously. So please send me anything that you think that I can do to make this better or to make

00:30:16.120 your listening experience more enjoyable. Uh, love you guys and see you soon.

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - December 27, 2018

Ep 65 ｜ Q&A!

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