Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - May 02, 2023


Ep 798 ｜ America’s Sacrificing Orphans on the Altar of Transgenderism ｜ Guests： Jessica Bates & Christiana Kiefer


Episode Stats

Length

34 minutes

Words per Minute

172.26831

Word Count

6,002

Sentence Count

469


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.480 A Christian single mom of five in Oregon is trying to adopt through the state's adoption
00:00:08.540 process, but she has been rejected by the state because she will not go along with gender
00:00:14.940 ideology.
00:00:15.820 Now she is suing the state of Oregon, claiming that they are discriminating against her for
00:00:20.820 her faith.
00:00:21.700 This is such an important story.
00:00:23.960 I've got Jessica, the mom here, as well as her representation, Christiana from Alliance
00:00:29.520 Defending Freedom here today.
00:00:31.120 We are going to get into this and talk about why this matters and also the amazing things
00:00:35.420 that God is already doing through her story.
00:00:38.540 And then we're going to have a little bit of fun at the end of this.
00:00:41.040 We're going to look at the ridiculousness at the Met Gala last night.
00:00:44.160 We don't really care about it, but also it's just fun to make fun of these crazy people.
00:00:48.400 All right.
00:00:48.940 This episode is brought to you by our friends at Good Ranchers.
00:00:51.120 Go to GoodRanchers.com.
00:00:52.640 Use promo code Allie at checkout.
00:00:53.980 That's GoodRanchers.com, code Allie.
00:00:59.520 Jessica, Christiana, thanks so much for joining me.
00:01:07.980 Jessica, we'll start with you.
00:01:09.680 You're suing the state of Oregon for denying you the opportunity to adopt children because
00:01:14.300 you're not planning on complying with the state's policy to respect preferred pronouns
00:01:20.520 and things like that.
00:01:21.380 Obviously, it's contrary to your faith.
00:01:23.180 It's contrary to my faith.
00:01:24.580 But I want to back up.
00:01:26.840 Tell us how you started adopting children and how you started taking care of children
00:01:33.280 who needed a home and needed love in the state of Oregon.
00:01:36.840 Well, I haven't yet, but that's the goal.
00:01:41.120 A couple years ago, I was listening to a focus on the family broadcast as I was driving into
00:01:46.660 work, and it was a single dad who had adopted a son out of foster care, and I kind of thought,
00:01:53.760 oh, that's really awesome that he did that.
00:01:56.920 And then it was not an audible voice, but it was really clear four words in my spirit just
00:02:03.960 saying, those are my children.
00:02:06.240 And, you know, trying not to crash, got into work and just kind of thinking about this and
00:02:13.360 praying and felt like God was leading me to look into adopting.
00:02:19.620 And that was a little over two years ago, I want to say.
00:02:23.320 It's definitely been a little bit of a journey, but ended up looking into the state of Oregon.
00:02:28.580 I had started, for whatever reason, looking internationally.
00:02:33.120 And I have five children, and my husband was killed in a head-on collision about six years
00:02:39.880 ago.
00:02:40.760 And so I kind of started just an open dialogue with the kids, see how they felt about it,
00:02:44.820 and we're praying about it.
00:02:46.520 And we felt like we would like to take in a sibling pair.
00:02:50.320 So not just one child, but we felt like we could help two out.
00:02:53.400 And this Columbia basically is kind of like, we can't really guarantee that we would adopt
00:03:01.120 a sibling pair to a single mom.
00:03:03.400 And it was going to be, you know, pretty expensive to get started through the agency I was looking
00:03:08.060 at.
00:03:08.260 And I think just to adopt internationally, it costs a fair amount.
00:03:12.320 And so then I just kind of felt like, okay, maybe I just need to look right here in Oregon
00:03:17.940 and go through the state system.
00:03:19.960 There's kids right here who need a family.
00:03:21.980 So in March of last year, of 2022, that's when I started looking into the states and starting
00:03:30.720 their process and started applying and, you know, getting references and getting fingerprinted
00:03:36.020 and going through some of their training and everything.
00:03:40.020 And you're a single mother, correct?
00:03:43.220 Right.
00:03:44.340 And several years ago, you lost your husband in a tragic accident, right?
00:03:49.740 Yes.
00:03:52.000 Yeah.
00:03:52.400 I was so blessed with such a wonderful husband.
00:03:56.080 And it's kind of funny because, you know, you look in hindsight, he and I, we had kind
00:04:00.080 of talked about adopting a little bit, but just felt like, no, God's not really leading
00:04:04.360 us to do that right now.
00:04:06.020 And I'm just with the history of losing him and all of that and just walking through that
00:04:10.800 with our biological children.
00:04:12.340 And I'm thankful because I felt like that was kind of God's mercy and just his timing.
00:04:17.100 He knows when it's the right time for everything.
00:04:20.660 And yeah, David was killed.
00:04:23.080 We had record snowfall out here.
00:04:25.200 It was crazy.
00:04:26.000 And he was the manager of the radiology department where I work at in Ontario, where we both
00:04:31.340 worked.
00:04:32.460 And he could work from home.
00:04:34.020 And so he was going to work at home that morning.
00:04:36.760 And I had to be in for the early shift at 7 a.m.
00:04:40.140 And so I kind of remember asking him, you know, which vehicle do you want me to drive?
00:04:44.360 Which one should I take in?
00:04:45.520 And he just, without hesitation, was like, I'm going to drive you into work.
00:04:49.740 I'm going to get you there so make sure you get you there safe.
00:04:51.860 Yeah.
00:04:52.660 And this man who had just brutally murdered his ex-wife was fleeing police and chose to
00:05:02.400 run into us head on at like 80 miles an hour.
00:05:05.680 And David veered to the right, right before impact.
00:05:09.680 And so he ended up taking the brunt of it and was killed immediately.
00:05:14.100 I'm so sorry.
00:05:15.500 And you both have five biological children, right?
00:05:20.720 Right.
00:05:21.100 Five biological children, you're left as a single mother.
00:05:25.560 And I know maybe this doesn't seem like part of the story that's making the news, but just
00:05:32.160 I mean, on this podcast, we love to see how God orchestrates people's testimonies, whether
00:05:36.740 it's through tragedy or through loss or through hardship or through mistakes or whatever it
00:05:40.880 is.
00:05:41.200 And so tell us a little bit about just after that happened.
00:05:44.960 Obviously, it was devastating, shocking.
00:05:47.140 I can't even imagine how you tell your young children something like that.
00:05:50.960 But tell us a little bit what life was like after that.
00:05:55.880 And then getting to the point of saying, I think I want to adopt more children.
00:05:59.660 I mean, there's a lot that God would have had to do in that interim period.
00:06:05.380 Right.
00:06:05.820 Well, definitely something like that will test your faith.
00:06:10.660 It'll test what you believe to be true.
00:06:12.520 Do you really believe it?
00:06:13.580 And I love one of the analogies that my youth pastor used one Sunday sometime after Dave's
00:06:20.860 passing was this story that there was a mom who was dying of cancer and she went out to
00:06:26.380 eat with her family.
00:06:28.000 And after the meal, they said, hang on to your fork because the best is yet to come.
00:06:32.680 And just clinging to what the Bible promises us and what God says.
00:06:39.260 And I have to confess, too, for that first year, a couple of years, I really got into apologetics.
00:06:46.680 And that really encouraged me just to show how much evidence there is out there that what
00:06:53.660 Jesus did wasn't done in a corner.
00:06:55.920 And it's not cleverly devised myths that we're following.
00:06:58.740 Like, it's true history.
00:07:00.960 And God has definitely been the one who has seen me through.
00:07:05.400 I just know His grace has been around me.
00:07:09.720 And it does feel, when you have a loss like that, it does feel just like this void or this,
00:07:15.540 you know, this surreal, kind of like a dream where you're waiting to wake up and it's really
00:07:20.920 hard to believe it's real, probably for the first year or two even.
00:07:24.880 But God has definitely been there.
00:07:28.140 And watching your children go through that, you know, I have two loving parents that I
00:07:34.080 still have.
00:07:35.600 So my heart still aches for my kids not having their earthly dad here, but also just encouraging
00:07:42.580 them in their faith that, you know, Jesus told us to pray, Father, He wants us to have
00:07:47.520 that intimate relationship with God where He's the ultimate good Father.
00:07:51.880 So really encouraging them in that.
00:07:53.560 And then it's like, when He spoke those words to me, those are my children, it was in that
00:08:00.580 protective dad voice.
00:08:02.480 Like, I love them.
00:08:04.340 And it's like, He let me just catch just the smallest glimpse of His heart for these kids
00:08:08.960 and seeing my kids not have their dad.
00:08:12.340 And then thinking about these children that don't have really either parent or because
00:08:18.440 of, you know, drug abuse or other issues, they can't have that healthy, solid, grounding
00:08:24.540 family relationship with their parents.
00:08:26.920 It really makes you want to do something because even though we don't have a physical dad in
00:08:34.580 this house right now, I feel like we have a really loving family.
00:08:38.180 And I think the kids and I could give a family to some children who need it.
00:08:43.360 It just goes to show God's power, His ability to make beauty out of the ashes, to redeem any
00:09:02.280 kind of lost or devastating situation.
00:09:05.680 I mean, if you think about not just that your husband tragically died, but how he died, there's
00:09:10.040 an opportunity there for bitterness, for resentment, for anger, for unforgiveness, for that man
00:09:15.380 who made an avoidable, I mean, choice to, you know, make a decision that then ended in the
00:09:24.120 murder of the father of your children and your husband.
00:09:27.300 And not only have you, I don't want to say moved on from that, but you have begun to heal
00:09:33.460 from that by the power of God and then use your faith to then redeem the lives of other
00:09:39.360 people, hopefully, through adoption.
00:09:42.140 And so I guess about, it was four years after your husband died, I think if I have the math
00:09:46.820 correct here, that you kind of, that you were listening to Focus on the Family and you were like,
00:09:50.380 wow, I want to take part of that.
00:09:52.520 And then through the process realized you were going to go through the state of Oregon.
00:09:56.360 Did you assume at that point when you were going to try to adopt a child or be a part of the foster
00:10:02.440 care system that it would be pretty straightforward?
00:10:04.400 Like you would just kind of apply and then you would be a part of the process?
00:10:10.200 Yeah.
00:10:10.900 You know, I thought it would be pretty straightforward and I kind of thought that the biggest challenge
00:10:16.360 would be like making sure I have all the carbon monoxide detectors and good grates across
00:10:21.860 the window wells.
00:10:22.820 Like I thought it would be more stuff to like make sure the house is up to exact standards
00:10:27.400 that they want.
00:10:28.180 But I, I never would have dreamed it was going to go down this road.
00:10:33.500 Right.
00:10:34.040 Yeah.
00:10:34.440 Yeah.
00:10:34.900 So tell us, tell us a little bit about the first speed bump.
00:10:38.060 So you tried to become, was it a foster parent or adopt a specific child?
00:10:43.520 Basically adopting not a specific child or anything.
00:10:46.140 We hadn't met any siblings or anything just to adopt through the foster care system.
00:10:51.400 Okay.
00:10:51.680 So that was the first thing that you were trying to do.
00:10:54.220 Tell me about the first speed bump when you realized, oh, this is not going to be smooth sailing.
00:10:59.120 Well, so they have you take what's called a resource and adoptive families training, their
00:11:04.440 raft training.
00:11:05.560 And I took that back in June and definitely in July.
00:11:10.520 And one of the topics that's basically a full unit in that training is what they call SOGI,
00:11:17.120 which is sexual orientation and gender identity.
00:11:20.100 And they emphasize that you have to respect, accept, and then support children if they don't
00:11:28.580 have, um, if, if like, if a young man wants to transition and become a female, you're expected
00:11:35.560 to take him for cross-sex hormone injections or for surgeries or for whatever step they're
00:11:41.260 at or whatever thing it is that they're wanting to do.
00:11:43.280 Um, you would be expected to take children to like gay pride parades or post certain flags
00:11:49.220 or signs in your yard.
00:11:50.440 You would have to, so you would have to not just call this like boy by his preferred pronouns
00:11:57.040 so-called if he wanted to be a girl, but you would actually have to completely affirm and
00:12:01.940 then go out of your way to celebrate this, you know, identity.
00:12:06.700 Yeah, that's the thing that, and that's where I finished the training and then I emailed my
00:12:13.880 certifier, um, in the beginning of August and let her know, Hey, you know, the training
00:12:19.220 had a lot of really wonderful things that I'm using with my biological children right now,
00:12:24.180 but this SOGI thing conflicts with my faith and I have very different views and convictions
00:12:32.240 than this ideology that the state of Oregon is requiring, requiring me to do and to accept.
00:12:40.860 And it took a while to hear back, but that was basically the first speed bump is getting
00:12:44.760 through the training and then letting them know, Hey, I have conflict of conscience here.
00:12:49.100 And what was their response when you said that?
00:12:51.920 Well, it took about two months for them to respond.
00:12:54.840 And my certifier ended up calling me and, um, kind of just walking through hypothetical
00:13:02.560 situations.
00:13:03.300 And the one that she specifically brought up was, okay, well, you have a child in your care
00:13:08.480 who would like to transition and needs to go have hormone shots.
00:13:12.760 Will you drive this child to their hormone appointments?
00:13:15.620 And I told her, no, I, I believe that our gender is something sacred.
00:13:20.480 And not only that, I think I said, I, I think that's child abuse that it's just, yeah, you're
00:13:26.680 not affirming a person for who they really are basically.
00:13:30.480 And she basically said, well, we're basically going to pull your application and put it on
00:13:35.820 pause.
00:13:36.540 If you change your mind, then we can put it back into circulation.
00:13:40.700 And I, and I even said, so in the whole state of Oregon, you're telling me there's not
00:13:45.640 a sibling pair that doesn't have gender confusion issues or gender dysphoria that we could take
00:13:51.640 into our home.
00:13:52.660 And she said, well, that's, that's not really the point because even if we did allow that
00:13:58.140 years down the road, they could change their mind and, and develop these issues.
00:14:02.320 And you're not going to be supportive in, you know, taking them to these appointments and
00:14:07.960 things.
00:14:08.980 So, so she basically let me know that it was basically going to be pulled and everything.
00:14:12.940 And then about two months after that phone call, I got the official letter of denial from
00:14:18.520 the state.
00:14:19.340 So you couldn't, they said, basically you don't qualify to adopt anyone, whether they're
00:14:26.360 newborns, whether they're toddlers, whether they're 16 years old, you are not qualified
00:14:33.420 because you don't agree with the state's radical view on this, on this idea that you can change
00:14:40.920 your gender through hormone therapy or whatever it is.
00:14:43.940 And you won't go to gay pride parades, right?
00:14:47.640 Right.
00:14:48.200 Yeah.
00:14:48.500 That's what it came down to.
00:14:50.320 And, you know, they kind of make themselves sound like they're really inclusive.
00:14:54.320 They're really diverse and they want everybody to be involved and have fair access, but not
00:15:00.760 if you don't agree with their ideology.
00:15:02.240 And if you won't, you know, in my case, if you won't violate your conscience to uphold the
00:15:06.780 things they want you to uphold.
00:15:08.160 So a lot of people in your situation, I mean, you've been through a lot.
00:15:25.100 You have a lot on your plate just as a mom of five children, a single mom of five children.
00:15:30.760 So the fact that you not only wanted to adopt, but you wanted to adopt a sibling pair.
00:15:35.740 So more than one.
00:15:38.160 But after this, I think a lot of people in your situation would have just said, thrown
00:15:42.800 up their hands and just kind of given up.
00:15:46.660 But you decided to keep pursuing this, right?
00:15:49.120 Like, when did you decide, OK, this is not right.
00:15:51.960 I'm going to figure out how to fight back against this rejection.
00:15:55.820 Yeah, pretty much after the well, after the phone call, I did ask for an explanation in
00:16:03.840 print, you know, please of why I'm being denied.
00:16:06.000 And I kind of started looking for help, basically, and ended up coming across the ADF and the
00:16:12.900 Alliance Defending Freedom.
00:16:14.920 And once I contacted them through just their online form, I want to say it was like a week
00:16:20.360 or less.
00:16:20.840 They got right back to me and then they said, we're interested.
00:16:24.560 And so I started, you know, giving them all the information and emails.
00:16:28.160 And it was kind of funny because I'd been praying, you know, you're just troubled about
00:16:33.940 something like that.
00:16:34.760 And it doesn't sit well.
00:16:36.120 I had a mentor kind of tell me she's adopted several children.
00:16:40.480 And she kind of said, well, sometimes, you know, it's just tell them what they want to
00:16:44.880 hear so that you can get kids out of the system, which I can understand.
00:16:48.620 And like, the ultimate goal, yes, that's noble.
00:16:51.240 But it just, I was just so upset, I guess, about it feeling it was so unjust that I didn't
00:16:59.540 want to do that.
00:17:00.000 I wanted to fight it.
00:17:01.540 And I had been just praying for a sign of God's favor in all of this.
00:17:07.400 And then that's shortly after I had started really praying that prayer.
00:17:10.840 That's when ADF contacted me and started, you know, the process and saying, we're interested
00:17:16.080 in representing you.
00:17:16.980 Okay, so you had kind of made this public or you had reached out to them, you said?
00:17:22.540 Yeah, I reached out to them, basically.
00:17:24.900 Okay.
00:17:25.260 Okay.
00:17:25.820 And then, Christiana, tell me about this lawsuit.
00:17:29.180 Does the state not have the right to say, okay, you can't adopt if you don't align with
00:17:34.160 our values?
00:17:36.320 Well, the state of Oregon here is using an ideological litmus test, as Jessica explained.
00:17:41.160 They basically welcome people from all cultural and religious backgrounds to adopt and to
00:17:46.600 be able to adopt a child, be a welcoming and loving home for a child who is a good fit for
00:17:52.860 that family, unless you disagree with the state's gender ideology.
00:17:56.780 And they're barring incredible parents like Jessica out the door, simply because of her
00:18:02.700 religious beliefs about marriage and about the human body.
00:18:05.840 And that's wrong.
00:18:07.220 It violates the First Amendment.
00:18:09.220 And so Alliance Defending Freedom is just privileged to represent Jessica.
00:18:13.040 And we filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Oregon.
00:18:15.680 And we've asked them to allow her to move forward with the adoption process while the
00:18:21.120 case moves forward, because what they're doing here is just a clear violation of her First
00:18:25.100 Amendment right to not only speak her religious convictions and to say true things, but also
00:18:30.200 to live according to her faith.
00:18:32.960 And so the lawsuit alleges that this is a violation of the First Amendment.
00:18:38.300 And where are you in this process right now?
00:18:42.660 So we're still very early on in the process.
00:18:44.740 Just recently filed a federal lawsuit.
00:18:46.820 And we're still waiting on the state of Oregon to respond.
00:18:50.420 OK, so you're still very early on in this.
00:18:53.460 And what do you do during this waiting period?
00:18:55.760 Is there anything that ADF tries to do to, like, speed things up, to get things going?
00:19:01.460 Like, do you just repeatedly contact them or kind of what goes on?
00:19:06.220 Yeah, so we filed a motion for what's called a preliminary injunction, which is basically saying
00:19:11.580 the state of Oregon, what you're doing here is wrong.
00:19:13.540 It's clearly wrong.
00:19:14.740 And you're hurting not just Jessica, but vulnerable children who need a forever home.
00:19:19.220 Right now, there's an average of 8,000 children in Oregon's foster system who need a forever
00:19:25.280 home.
00:19:26.120 And so we're asking the court to put a pause on Oregon's unconstitutional policies while
00:19:31.300 the lawsuit moves forward.
00:19:32.780 But I think the second big thing we're doing is just trying to amplify Jessica's voice.
00:19:36.700 I mean, you can hear she's an incredible mom.
00:19:38.700 And she would make an incredible safe and loving home for a child in the state of Oregon.
00:19:42.980 Unfortunately, what's happened to her is happening to other Christian families across the country.
00:19:48.320 We're hearing more and more stories of families from other states who are experiencing similar
00:19:53.060 discrimination from their state organizations and barring them at the door from even being able to foster
00:19:59.600 or adopt a child who agrees with their religious convictions.
00:20:02.860 So this is an increasing problem.
00:20:04.420 We want to raise awareness about this and help Christian families recognize that what's happening
00:20:09.660 to them violates the First Amendment.
00:20:11.800 And there are solutions.
00:20:14.320 Wow.
00:20:14.660 And it's just fundamentally anti-truth as well as anti-First Amendment.
00:20:19.940 I mean, the entire idea that a child can even change their gender or that that's a good thing
00:20:25.660 or that that is so important to a child's well-being that it's actually better for them to stay in the
00:20:31.720 foster care system than it would be for them to have a loving, secure and stable home where someone
00:20:37.420 is taking care of them.
00:20:38.760 And if that family simply says, you know what, God put you in the body that he wanted you to be in,
00:20:45.400 and I'm going to affirm that.
00:20:46.760 I'm going to love that.
00:20:47.860 And I'm going to celebrate that.
00:20:49.220 They actually want the opposite.
00:20:51.360 They want someone who says, no, I'm going to approve of maiming this body in the name of an
00:20:56.980 ideology that maybe I don't even agree with.
00:20:59.900 It's it's it's really, really sad, even beyond just the constitutional problems with it,
00:21:05.380 just the fundamentally moral and truth problems with it.
00:21:09.380 But you're right.
00:21:10.160 There are several states that enact this kind of policy, and it probably goes unchallenged in a lot
00:21:16.980 of cases, maybe because of what you said, Jessica, that some parents are just like, I'm just going to say
00:21:21.780 what I need to say.
00:21:23.020 I'm going to lie, which I agree with your reasoning that that's just not the route to go.
00:21:26.900 Or they just after they're rejected, they just say, well, I guess there's nothing I can do.
00:21:32.980 And they don't even realize that there is an avenue to push back on this because they don't
00:21:37.980 realize it's a violation of the First Amendment.
00:21:40.580 Christiana, what is the kind of euphemistic language that these more progressive states
00:21:46.000 are using to justify their policy?
00:21:48.020 Are they saying it's like pro safety, anti-discrimination?
00:21:51.320 Or how are they kind of casting their position?
00:21:53.740 Well, the state of Oregon is casting it as supporting or accepting a child
00:21:58.560 in their gender identity and gender dysphoria.
00:22:01.660 But I think you made such an important point earlier.
00:22:04.380 This transgender ideology is not only wrong and false, but it's dangerous.
00:22:09.900 And it's harmful to children.
00:22:11.780 What the state of Oregon is demanding that Jessica agree to ahead of time before any child is in the
00:22:16.820 picture is that she would take them to receive dangerous puberty blockers and cross-sex
00:22:21.880 hormones, potentially even life-altering surgeries, which just would, it's tragic what they're
00:22:28.740 doing to these young children.
00:22:30.600 And so the ideology is not only wrong and false, but it is dangerous.
00:22:35.200 And so that's why it's so important to have Christian families like Jessica and her children
00:22:40.140 standing up and wanting to speak truth and love and accept a child for who they are and
00:22:45.300 help them see the reality that they're created in God's image and that their biological sex is
00:22:49.660 a gift to be stewarded.
00:22:51.880 I mean, it's pretty incredible when you stop to think about what this story really represents,
00:23:08.140 that there is a state in the United States of America in which faithful Christians cannot
00:23:13.920 adopt because they will not agree to potentially one day allowing their adopted son or daughter
00:23:21.560 to either be chemically castrated or to get a double mastectomy in the name of gender
00:23:27.500 confusion.
00:23:28.420 Like that ideology is so important to the people in charge.
00:23:32.500 They're literally willing to risk a child's and adolescent's well-being on the altar of
00:23:38.780 it.
00:23:39.040 It's really sad.
00:23:40.940 What can just the average person do?
00:23:43.580 Okay.
00:23:43.840 So they're incensed right now.
00:23:45.340 They're like, I can't believe this is happening.
00:23:46.840 Whether they live in the state of Oregon or they live somewhere else.
00:23:49.460 Is there anything that like my audience members can do to push this case along, to push back
00:23:55.540 against policies like this?
00:23:58.240 Well, first, I encourage you to share Jessica's story.
00:24:00.780 You know, being aware that these types of cases exist and that there is an avenue to legally
00:24:05.400 push back against government overreach and state forced ideology is the first step.
00:24:10.980 Secondly, if you're aware of other Christian families or believers who have been discriminated
00:24:17.200 against by state governments because they won't bow down to the government's gender
00:24:22.060 ideology, contact Alliance Defending Freedom.
00:24:24.660 Let us know.
00:24:25.160 We would love to have a conversation with you.
00:24:27.180 Jessica, I'm so thankful that you are sharing your testimony.
00:24:31.300 I mean, there's a, you know, Philippians 4.13 is very often overused and sometimes misused,
00:24:36.760 that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
00:24:38.940 It's kind of something we grew up saying like before soccer games or something, but it's
00:24:42.720 a real verse that has real power.
00:24:44.520 And I think that you and the way that the Lord has worked through you and worked through
00:24:49.320 your perseverance is a real testimony to the truth of that verse, that looking at your
00:24:54.140 adverse circumstances, anyone would have said, you know what?
00:24:57.300 You just need to sit everything else out.
00:24:59.620 You just kind of need to chill.
00:25:01.620 You don't need to worry about what God may be calling you to do or extra steps you need
00:25:05.840 to take.
00:25:06.220 And yet through the power of Christ, you have persisted.
00:25:08.800 And there are many, many reasons, many reasons, seen and unseen, known and unknown, why God
00:25:14.040 preserved your life that night.
00:25:15.420 But I have to think that this is one of them, that God, the God of redemption is bringing
00:25:21.240 such beauty and such purpose out of a devastating situation that Satan meant exclusively for evil.
00:25:28.220 So I just want to thank you for persisting and for using your testimony in a powerful way.
00:25:33.380 Like we do not know how God is going to even use your beginning efforts right now to save
00:25:40.120 and preserve the lives of other people, to bring people to himself.
00:25:44.160 And so even if it seems like things are stalled or even if it seems like things aren't going
00:25:49.140 your way right now, like I am very confident that the Lord is using this for his glory.
00:25:53.800 And also ADF, Christiana, like I really believe y'all are doing the Lord's work by representing
00:25:58.400 cases like Jessica's.
00:25:59.840 So just God bless both of you.
00:26:02.140 And Jessica, if there's anything else that you want to say that you want to end on, please
00:26:06.160 say it.
00:26:09.080 Oh, wow.
00:26:11.060 Well, it's funny because when you live through something like, you know, after losing Dave
00:26:15.480 and everything, part of you sometimes questions, you know, do I really have to be here, God?
00:26:20.060 Like I'm ready to go home too.
00:26:21.600 But that's been the prayer of my heart is, God, if you can still use me to help people
00:26:26.920 to wake up to you and to know you and to come to salvation, okay, I'm all in.
00:26:32.940 And one of the verses, I'm going to forget, I think it's Psalm 126 or 26 at the end, and
00:26:38.980 I believe it's David.
00:26:40.440 But he says, I'm confident of this, that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land
00:26:45.760 of the living.
00:26:46.340 Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
00:26:50.440 And so I feel like that's a piece of scripture that's been really meaningful, and I'm just
00:26:55.600 trusting him.
00:26:57.480 Yes, yes.
00:26:58.260 Well, thank you so much for your faith.
00:26:59.780 It's a testimony for all of us.
00:27:01.460 And Christiana, thank you so much too.
00:27:03.340 I do encourage people to support ADF and to, if you've got a story similar to Jessica's,
00:27:09.840 to reach out to ADF too.
00:27:11.200 Thank you so much, Christiana.
00:27:12.440 And thank you both for taking the time to come on.
00:27:14.300 I really appreciate it.
00:27:15.240 Thank you.
00:27:29.040 Okay, we're just going to quickly go through some of these outfits from the Met Gala last
00:27:34.360 night.
00:27:35.100 Brie, I don't even know what the Met Gala is, to be honest.
00:27:37.980 What do they do after they walk the carpet and then go inside?
00:27:41.460 I think it's like a fundraising event.
00:27:44.160 For the Met.
00:27:45.360 For the Met, I think.
00:27:48.240 Okay.
00:27:48.960 So they go inside and look at art?
00:27:51.060 Yeah, I think there's like a whole display of like the, I don't know, the outfits from
00:27:56.360 the theme or something.
00:27:57.880 It's...
00:27:58.120 Okay.
00:27:58.600 I don't know.
00:27:59.120 What was the theme of last night?
00:28:00.580 So last night's theme was Karl Lagerfeld.
00:28:03.400 No idea.
00:28:04.160 He was the creative director of Chanel.
00:28:06.840 And he died, I guess, pretty recently.
00:28:09.760 Okay.
00:28:10.020 And so it was just like honoring his fashion.
00:28:14.020 Okay.
00:28:14.300 Yeah.
00:28:14.780 All right.
00:28:15.320 So let's look at some of them.
00:28:17.540 First, let's look at the first picture.
00:28:19.720 So we've got Kim K and her servant in the background.
00:28:23.320 Mm-hmm.
00:28:24.320 Um, all right.
00:28:26.940 So we've got some beads, some beading.
00:28:30.480 Yeah.
00:28:31.000 A nice little corset there.
00:28:32.920 A nice little corset.
00:28:34.100 I remember people were so mad because she was wearing Marilyn Monroe's dress like a few
00:28:38.060 years ago and like ripped it, which is so disrespectful.
00:28:42.940 Um, okay.
00:28:43.940 From a, I mean, Met Gala is not about necessarily looking just like beautiful.
00:28:48.500 It's about like meeting the theme and looking a little weird.
00:28:51.680 Yep.
00:28:52.040 So, and I have no idea who this director was.
00:28:54.420 So I have no idea if this is like an accurate representation.
00:28:57.160 Just think Chanel.
00:28:57.820 What you know of Chanel, I think.
00:28:59.760 Which is like nothing.
00:29:01.160 Maybe the perfume.
00:29:02.720 Yeah.
00:29:02.980 Okay.
00:29:03.240 Rating one through 10.
00:29:05.000 This is definitely not the worst I've seen her in.
00:29:06.660 10 being the best.
00:29:07.720 I would maybe go with like a seven.
00:29:09.460 She looks pretty.
00:29:11.160 I'd say five.
00:29:12.480 Five?
00:29:13.060 Yeah.
00:29:13.700 I was too generous.
00:29:15.240 Okay.
00:29:15.600 Let's look at Emma Chamberlain.
00:29:16.960 This is like a, this is a YouTuber who has become insanely famous.
00:29:22.060 Okay.
00:29:23.360 Sure.
00:29:24.080 I don't know.
00:29:25.160 Is socks with heels.
00:29:26.560 That's a thing right now.
00:29:27.700 I've seen that.
00:29:29.080 You've seen that?
00:29:29.940 Yeah.
00:29:30.140 I've seen that.
00:29:31.300 I hate this, but.
00:29:33.540 You hate it.
00:29:34.600 Okay.
00:29:34.940 And I, okay.
00:29:36.080 So I like this color on her.
00:29:37.540 I actually love this color in general.
00:29:39.420 Her makeup is really dark compared to the light blue.
00:29:43.920 Yeah, that's true.
00:29:45.880 But I do like the color also.
00:29:47.820 Yeah.
00:29:48.340 Okay.
00:29:48.800 I'll rate this.
00:29:51.820 A four and a half.
00:29:53.320 What would you say?
00:29:54.680 I'd say three.
00:29:56.840 Okay.
00:29:57.140 Well, no, that's, I'll say four.
00:29:58.980 Cause there's worse.
00:30:00.120 There's worse.
00:30:00.720 Okay.
00:30:00.920 Let's see.
00:30:01.600 Pedro Pascal.
00:30:04.960 Hate.
00:30:06.140 Hate.
00:30:07.880 Hate.
00:30:08.740 He looks like a 12 year old Satan.
00:30:14.140 He's wearing shorts, which no man should ever do.
00:30:17.240 If you're not at the beach or pool after the age of 12.
00:30:19.440 No, you're right.
00:30:21.420 And someone, someone told him this would be a good idea.
00:30:23.680 And that offends me.
00:30:25.260 Yes.
00:30:25.700 So for those of you who are listening, he's wearing a red and black combo, which again
00:30:29.920 is like really only appropriate in certain cases.
00:30:32.840 If you are Beelzebub is one of the circumstances, but he's wearing like crew socks, weird dress
00:30:39.780 shoes, a red trench coat, black, like trouser shorts that are, I don't know, seven inches
00:30:47.140 above his knee, red shirt, black tie, slicked back hair.
00:30:51.360 I mean, he's a very, if I, if I can say just objectively speaking, a very attractive man,
00:30:56.200 but this looks awful.
00:30:58.560 Yeah.
00:30:59.740 No, agreed.
00:31:00.780 It's not good, but everyone loves him.
00:31:02.540 So he can get away with it.
00:31:03.620 I guess 1.9 for me.
00:31:06.880 Specific.
00:31:07.400 I'll go to, Oh, I'll round it up.
00:31:09.660 Okay.
00:31:10.560 I might have to skip some.
00:31:12.420 What looking at the list?
00:31:13.660 What do you think is most important to look at?
00:31:15.160 Who's this?
00:31:15.740 This is bad bunny, which look bad bunny.
00:31:18.060 I thought bad bunny was a woman.
00:31:20.460 No, you're probably mixing that up with someone else.
00:31:22.680 This is bad bunny.
00:31:23.700 But Kayla show the other picture because this looks normal until, until, until you see the
00:31:28.700 back.
00:31:29.660 Oh, disgusting.
00:31:31.320 Okay.
00:31:31.680 Again, this is like womanly.
00:31:34.060 Yeah.
00:31:34.580 He's got, he's wearing like a backwards necklace and like the back of his outfit is cut out.
00:31:39.140 Okay.
00:31:40.100 Okay.
00:31:40.780 Maybe I was thinking of Doja Cat.
00:31:43.020 Maybe.
00:31:43.420 Is Doja Cat a woman?
00:31:44.680 Yes.
00:31:45.100 Doja Cat's a woman.
00:31:45.960 Doja Cat.
00:31:46.480 Oh, wait.
00:31:46.960 Let me rate that.
00:31:48.100 The front is better than Pedro's.
00:31:49.980 So two, it's in the two because the cut out in the back is so disgusting.
00:31:55.980 I would say 2.7.
00:31:57.400 Okay.
00:31:57.820 I'll do three.
00:31:58.640 Okay.
00:32:00.180 Okay.
00:32:00.680 I guess I was thinking of Doja Cat, bad bunny, same kind of deal.
00:32:03.800 Um, okay.
00:32:06.980 Yeah.
00:32:07.220 Is there another picture?
00:32:08.300 You're going to want to look close up at this one.
00:32:10.880 She's wearing cat ears for those listening.
00:32:12.820 Oh, no.
00:32:14.980 So she has, okay, this, she got the same makeup artist that they use for Jumanji when the little
00:32:21.180 boy turns into a monkey.
00:32:22.720 The monkey.
00:32:23.060 You know what I'm talking about?
00:32:24.260 Yeah.
00:32:24.440 It's the same deal.
00:32:25.680 So they like put on, I don't know, prosthetic nose and, and like upper lip so that she actually
00:32:30.440 looks like a cat.
00:32:31.300 She's wearing cat ears, but they also made her face look like a cat.
00:32:34.500 I don't know what she looks like.
00:32:35.880 And I'll, I'll explain why.
00:32:37.800 Karl Lagerfeld has a cat named Choupette and he left 1.3 million pounds in inheritance
00:32:45.640 to the cat.
00:32:46.780 Okay.
00:32:47.240 Who now lives in Paris and has a full-time housekeeper.
00:32:50.100 Just for the cat.
00:32:51.260 Just the cat.
00:32:51.780 Just the cat.
00:32:52.360 So that's why she's dressed like that.
00:32:53.500 Really weird.
00:32:54.420 Okay.
00:32:54.780 Anne Hathaway.
00:32:56.260 Um, I have not seen Anne Hathaway in years.
00:32:59.940 I can't even really see this.
00:33:02.340 Um, do we just have one photo of her?
00:33:04.880 Okay.
00:33:05.240 Tell me what's going on.
00:33:06.300 You can see it a little better.
00:33:07.380 It's kind of like, um, fabric put together with like expensive, um, safety pins.
00:33:13.800 Yes.
00:33:14.260 Is the black a part of her dress or is that someone else's dress behind her?
00:33:17.600 Oh, that's a good, no, I think that's someone else behind her.
00:33:20.420 I could be wrong, but I think she looks amazing.
00:33:22.900 I mean, she, she does.
00:33:24.120 She looks like she has not aged one day.
00:33:26.740 Yeah.
00:33:26.880 That's rude.
00:33:28.260 Um, okay.
00:33:31.660 I mean, I don't like the safety pins, but I'll probably say a six just because she herself
00:33:37.660 looks great.
00:33:38.740 Yeah.
00:33:39.000 I'd give it a seven.
00:33:40.300 Okay.
00:33:41.100 Last one.
00:33:41.940 Last one.
00:33:42.340 Jared Leto.
00:33:42.600 What?
00:33:45.540 Is this Photoshop?
00:33:47.000 No, it's not.
00:33:48.460 Is he the, is he being the cat that inherited the 1.3 million?
00:33:52.360 He's being Chupette the cat.
00:33:54.300 Okay.
00:33:54.620 So that's what Chupette looks like.
00:33:56.340 Okay.
00:33:57.000 Oh, okay.
00:33:57.760 He's literally just wearing a bodysuit.
00:34:00.060 Yeah.
00:34:00.820 Furries everywhere.
00:34:01.840 So excited.
00:34:02.480 Um, he's wearing like a bodysuit of a white cat.
00:34:06.420 It looks, it looks like someone, like a sticker on the screen.
00:34:11.300 Like it looks Photoshopped.
00:34:13.160 Wow.
00:34:13.980 Yeah.
00:34:14.220 Okay.
00:34:14.480 And then he takes off the head of the suit and he gets a picture of himself.
00:34:20.400 He's got a lot of eyeshadow on.
00:34:21.800 I kind of respect it because it's like low effort, you know?
00:34:25.160 Low effort.
00:34:26.700 And maybe he's like kind of making a mockery of the whole thing.
00:34:29.220 I don't know.
00:34:29.780 Um, I mean, sure.
00:34:31.540 You know what?
00:34:32.020 10.
00:34:32.540 10.
00:34:33.360 Agreed.
00:34:34.060 10.
00:34:34.520 10.
00:34:35.380 Um, all right.
00:34:36.660 That's all we've got time for today.
00:34:38.640 Lots of nonsense to put punctuation on our very serious and important episode.
00:34:43.480 Just some unimportant things for your viewing, listening pleasure.
00:34:48.160 All right.
00:34:48.700 We will be back here tomorrow.
00:34:49.880 See you guys then.