We are once again joined by musical artists Alicia and Whitney McDermott, of Keepin' It Global International Missions, to talk about what it looks like to use your personal life's journey to fuel your own ministry.

Alicia and Whitney go into detail about how even the toughest challenges they have faced in their life have led them perfectly to where they are today. Especially when we are facing trials, it can be really difficult to understand the growth we experience and the positive impact that it can enable us to have on others.

Join us as we step through how your own unique ministry can be crafted from some of the toughest moments in your life!

This podcast is produced by BeFun BeKind Podcasts. If you're interested in starting or growing a podcast like this one visit Befunbekind.com to start your journey.

Alicia and Whitney, it is great to have you guys back on.

we had a pod cast episode previous to this, and I really encourage all of

our listeners to go and check that out.

We're really specifically talking about your testimony and what

a cool story that you guys

have to tell.

You talked about the journey that you guys both went through and losing your Dad, and

also how that inspired you guys to really do what you're doing now with your, with

your music ministry, with your nonprofit.

With your books that you're both writing.

And that's what we kind of want to focus on here is just.

More of an understanding of the message behind what you're doing now with your

songs, with your ministry and with your books that you have coming out.

And Alicia I know that you have a book coming out very soon.

And so I would love to focus on that first and and just introduce that

to the audience and maybe understand more of the specifics of why you

were writing that, why you wrote that and how it relates to your journey.

Yeah.

So actually it's available now for on our website, Alicia and whitney.com,

but the title is reset, recalibrate, restore, and really I felt.

I had been on such a journey with the Lord, from our Dad's passing

and so much growth had taken place and so much just life lessons.

And whether it be in healing from, our broken home, when our parents divorced

or healing from grief or learning about giftings that God placed inside

me or learning about purpose and.

Partnering with God for your purpose.

And there was there, there's all these lessons that I learned.

And, but how do you tie all that up into one book?

I think that's one of the things as a writer that can be.

For people that want to write a book or start or share their

story is like, where do I start?

What do I include?

What do I keep out?

And how do I organize that?

And one day I was thinking about I felt this tug on my heart to start writing.

And I just felt like the Lord gave me those three words and he said,

I want you to categorize your.

story into these three parts reset, recalibrate, restore, and the reset was.

When the reset button had been pressed on my life, where I was felt like I

was at rock bottom, where I was in grief, where I said, okay, I can't

continue the way I've been walking or I can't continue in this way.

Where do I go from here?

And so I share about that and I share in the, in recalibrate in that section

of chapters, in the book of how God.

Like the title of our podcast brought me up higher, how he

recalibrated me to his standard.

And that's through learning to be teachable and pliable and mendable

in his hands and learning to, to lay down attitudes and offenses and

be put on the Potter's wheel and let him remove the marring from the

clay and make you into a new vessel.

To the restored aspect of it and what that looks like.

And one of the main things I talk about about being restored is

restored people, restore people.

And so God will often after he takes you out.

And brings you into a different level of healing and it helps

you through these things.

He'll often call you back into those old environments or into

similar situations in other people's lives and help them through it.

And so that's the book in a nutshell, and I'm super excited about it.

It's been a few years in the making and the fact that it's available

now and out there and in, in the atmosphere I'm excited about it.

yeah.

Isn't it an amazing though, when

you sort Been working on, you said it's been a few years

in the making, Really cool.

When you've been working on something for a few years , and you're able to put it

out into the world, what, you know, what an amazing feeling that has got to be.

It's exciting.

And it's scary all at the same time, because especially a book

like of this nature I share.

Like we talked about in the last episode, you have to be vulnerable.

And that, that's always like a, an aspect too.

It's oh gosh, here goes, but but yeah, super, super rewarding.

And just happy to have that, completed.

Yeah.

and reset, recalibrate and restore as you were, as I was learning about the book.

I just thought, those are things that we need to do often.

And I feel like oftentimes to your point.

for those types of things.

We wait to sort of recalibrate, restore.

We put types of things off.

And man, if we didn't do that, if we made that sort of a, sort of a constant thing

in our life, how would we grow from that?

Right.

Yeah, that's so true.

And that's something too.

I talk about the books.

It doesn't have to be.

A huge rock bottom moment.

Like it doesn't like it, it doesn't have to be that it's an invitation to like

anybody that follows Christ and wants to have a relationship with them to just,

go from glory to glory from grace to grace with him is it's a never ending

process, but it's a beautiful process because there's always, he never leaves.

The way they are when you partner with him growth is inevitable.

And so that's yeah.

That's I'm glad that you got that from that.

Cause that's awesome.

Yeah.

No, absolutely.

Well, I can't wait to check that out.

Whitney, I know you also have two books, right.

Is that correct?

Do you have two books out?

Yeah.

The first one I wrote it's called beauty from my ashes.

We touched on it last episode, but it's just I was in the hospital that we

all were with our dad just surrounding his bed and we took his last breath.

I just.

Sitting back and thinking like, okay, what does life look like from here?

Cause I was going to school for business and marketing and our dad was in ministry.

So the plan was, I'd get my degree in and help him with his

ministry and so on and so forth.

And so much of my future was like built upon those things and

it, it just came crumbling down.

When he unexpectedly passed away, that just really marked the journey of me.

Going back to the core of who God created me to be, but just really, it

was the beginning of a grief journey that I had never walked before.

And that's a scary place to be at.

I lost other loved ones, but each relationship affects you differently.

And so when losing my dad it was just a huge loss and a huge devastation.

And so it was like, I just remember telling God that I'm in the hospital room.

I was like, I don't know of anything good that could come from this, but

I know that if any, if anyone could bring good from it, it's you like?

And that's what your word says.

And so I'm willing to partner with you.

If you can promise something good will come out of this.

Like I'm willing to partner with you.

And that really began that like beauty for my ashes kind of

journey where God just really.

Really walked me through what he was talking about.

And I say, like when he says he can bring beauty from ashes.

And so I actually gave my book that title, and it's just a small book that just hits

like the major points of walking through grief with God and what that looks like

and how you can do that in a healthy way.

And I just even talk about like how grief is a process and it's something that

we don't need to try and rush through.

A lot of times we'll find that we try and set dates on stuff, right?

After six months, like I'll be over this or after, after we get all the

whole first year done all the first over with I'll I'll get through this

grief, but you can't do it with grief.

I got to learn that really fast.

I just got putting these timelines on myself and God's Nope, that's

not how this works with me.

And I actually had a mentor of mine.

Tell me you've got to quit.

Gotta, quit doing the timeline.

So I just talk about things like that.

Like just letting yourself just giving yourself time and just doing

the next thing you know, to do, because it's so easy to get lost.

Time doesn't really exist when you're in like deep grief.

It's just this weird.

It's like everybody.

As his living and things are going on around you, but you just feel like

you're in this, I dunno this space like is the best I can describe it.

And so sometimes it's just I don't know where to go from here.

And so I just talk about just doing what's in front of you to do even

if it's as simple as I'm going to work and just showing up and doing

that or taking your kids to school.

Sports practice or if it's going to school for me, like I had to

step away from school for a season.

And so I just talk about just those practical things that that I know

when I was facing grief for the first time I had no clue what I

was going to be walking through.

And so I just hope it's an encouragement to everyone that.

reads it.

And I've gotten a lot of good feedback from it that it has been just a blessing

for people who've gone through us.

So that's my first book is about, and my second book is entitled occupy while

waiting the singles guide to pursuing God purpose and healthy relationships.

So a totally different genre of a book.

They're both faith-based of course, but Yeah, I just felt honestly, God's

history with me has just been like, when he's brought me out of something,

he's always had me like turn around and help others with that same situation.

It's literally what she just said.

People, Restore people.

God, doesn't bring you through situations just to just to bring you through them,

but it's also to help bring others through like when God was working

through Moses, like it wasn't just for Moses, it was so that he could bring.

The entire nation, Israel and eventually into the promised land.

That's how that's God's history track record with those people.

With Occupy While Waiting, as a Christian single it's just, it's a

weird space to be in once you pass like college age, late, mid to late

twenties into your thirties and you're unmarried, there's not necessarily.

A place for you always in the church, there's a lot of stuff for college age

and youth group and stuff like that.

And then marrieds and families.

But I just, I really noticed that gap and I was just like, all right,

God, like how can we fill it?

You're bringing it to my attention.

And so what can we do about this?

And so I wanted to write a book, just Just for that demographic of people.

And honestly, it's not limited to that age group, but just anyone who's single

on the church that what life can look like in Christ and pursuing God and

your purpose and healthy relationships.

So that's what that book's all about.

And it's not that's talk about dating and marriage and stuff in it, but honestly,

a lot of it's just about Learning to hear God's voice and how crucial and

important that is for each and every one of us, because there are going to

be situations that you're gonna, you're gonna have to make some choices and

decisions, like as much as I love my sister and she has my best interest at

heart, like she can't make decisions for me, she can't hear God's voice for me.

A hundred percent of the time she may have word for me or something, but I have

to learn to be able to do that on my own and to feel God's leading and direction.

So I talk about that.

I talk about the type of friends that are important to have around you.

And I talked about going back to the core of who God created you

to be and how to really find your purpose and your calling in life and

what that looks like walking into.

So it's just really a book that, that I wanted to be able to sit down and read.

And so that's what I wanted to offer people who are in a similar situation

that singleness is a, it's a gift.

And a lot of times it's not appreciated.

People are always trying to get you married off and things of

which marriage is a good thing.

And obviously like I want that one day in a family and things, but God that

doesn't I mean that God doesn't have purpose for me right here, where I'm at.

And actually like everything I've done so far has been as a single, starting

our music ministry, recording albums, like doing missions, work, writing books.

And so I want that to be an encouragement for singles out there

who are desiring to get married, that like life doesn't start at marriage.

It starts right where you're at.

God has a purpose for you right here.

And you don't have to wait.

Marriage isn't necessarily like the best part of life.

Like every part of life, it's the best part of life when you're doing

it with God it all matters and he has a purpose for all of it.

So that is the long version of what that book is about.

Yeah, no, that's amazing.

And you brought up a couple of times just finding your purpose.

And I think that is.

Perhaps something that struggle with a lot may be more so in sort of the generations,

like the millennials and gen Z, like the younger generations may be a bit more

there, but I think probably it's always something that people have struggled with.

You know, we tie our purpose to our job.

We tie our purpose to the relationships that we're in or the

lack of relationships that we're

in.

We tie our purpose to so many different things.

and in, regardless of what that is, that will fall at some point in time.

Everything that we can place our purpose in is, really.

It is really open to failure, with the exception of placing your trust and

the placing your foundation and Christ.

But I do think that really hits hard, for people and just

identifying what their purpose is.

So thank you guys, both for putting that out.

And my guess is.

The songs that you sing, and I know you write all of your, most of songs,

I believe that, is that sort of the same message that people would hear in

a lot of your music content as well?

It's really interesting.

Like a lot of our songs we will co-write or we'll write on our own or whatever,

but a lot of our songs are birthed out of our personal worship time with the

Lord, like sitting at home at the piano.

Yeah.

I had my morning cup of coffee, my devotion time, just free flow, singing,

whatever, or out of scriptures that we've read the, and or life experiences.

But like the majority of our songs are written from those heart

to heart times with the Lord.

And so we really with those, it's just like getting a glimpse into

our heart cry to the father or our heart cry in those situations.

We've actually a lot of our songs are that kind of in that realm

or I guess where they start from.

But we also have songs that we've written that are storytelling songs.

Like I, before I got married, we lost our dad the year that I was engaged.

So like I went through the whole wedding planning process, and just in the

middle of grief and things like that.

Thinking about not having that daddy daughter dance moment

or walking down the aisle.

And one of the nights, I just remember, I was like, just grieving

that and looking at old photos of him and stuff, and just just felt

this resolve come into my spirit.

That just was like, You wouldn't wish him back.

You know where he is, he's in paradise.

He's not sick.

He's not hurting.

He's not experiencing the things that we experienced in this world.

Like you wouldn't wish them back.

And I was like, I wouldn't because I know where he's at, but I will

say, daddy, save a dance for me.

Say one for me up there.

And I wrote a song entitled that daddy save a dance for me.

To be played at like my wedding and it just talks about I wouldn't wish you

back, but here I am, like, I'm in the white dress and I miss you, but will

you save a dance for me kind of thing.

And heaven one day when we're dancing before Jesus together.

And it's been really cool to watch that song that was written like in

one of those midnight, Hard moments like to see it blossom into something.

And like it's our most viewed video on YouTube.

We have it's our most so listen to song on Spotify and like we have we actually

ended up having to put the instrumental.

Available on our website because brides were wanting people to perform

it at their weddings and stuff.

And so that's other than the worship songs, like that's another aspect is

as we just have our heart to heart moments where we write out like those

story telling songs in the process.

Core is our first album that we wrote during that time of grief.

And we have a second album called a portrait of worship and that's just our

heart is that our worship would paint a beautiful picture for the father, what he

sees when he sees our lives, that it would just be pleasing to him and a current.

Crowdfunding.

And we have all the songs written but to work on our third album.

So we're excited about that as well.

I believe that music specifically can speak to people in an emotional way

that a lot of other things can't, or maybe nothing else can, especially grief.

You know, we've talked a lot about grief in our previous episode

together and here as well, but I think grief specifically as something.

And if you find the right song that just hits you in the right

way, it can be so helpful.

So very helpful to you potentially in a way that just, nothing else can.

And I don't know the dynamics, I don't know, the chemistry of all

that, but it just seems to me that music as a special place uh, of impact

when it comes to things like grief,

Yeah what's neat is we've even we've mentioned

that we do missions work and so we've been to Honduras.

Tanzania.

And then we were in Israel, but more for the sights and tourists thing.

But in all those places, we were able to sing and sometimes we're leading worship

at church, or like in Israel, it was like a hotel lobby where like a bunch of us

just crowded around a piano, but this does see like despite language barriers

and everything like and even despite the.

Cultural differences and religious differences especially with

Israel it was so cool to see how it just United all of us.

And it didn't matter.

Like even like with the church services that we led worship in we

just all went to that same place.

And what I love is that each place like has a unique sound.

And so God like when we were worshiping in Tanzania, man, I was just like,

this is what heaven has to sound like.

Cause they like everyone was, everyone can

sing

beautiful voices.

Like in the crowd, here, like in the states, I feel like everyone

tries to like, not be heard in the crowd cause they don't think they

can sing, but in Tanzania, like everyone's just like belting it

cause they have beautiful voices.

And yeah, it's just like a really neat kind of all the walls are down.

When it comes to music and regardless of where you're from or what language

you speak, like God, whatever he did to music, like whatever special ingredient

he put in it, like it just unites us.

And I love that so much about music.

Absolutely.

I can agree.

Yeah.

I think what's the universal language, I guess.

What would you say to the, what would you say to the person that is, maybe where

you guys were when you were starting on your journey, trying to identify what

their passion is trying to identify, what their purpose is, trying to follow Christ?

Something that comes to mind is seek first, the

kingdom of God and his righteous.

And all these things will be added unto you.

And I'm not allowing labels that other people have put on you or maybe labels

that you've even put on yourself to be the hallmark by which you live your life by,

or think that this is all I'm going to.

Whether, like you mentioned before, whether it's your giftings, whether

it's your job whether it's your shortcomings, whether it's your sins.

So often we can allow people to label us that, he's the slacker,

she's this, or what she's the overachiever or whatever it is.

And we can find our identity in those things and be so wrapped up.

When we can't play that sport anymore because of an injury.

What, who am I then?

Or, whatever but when we wrap our identity in Christ and who he says, we

are, that the circumstances may change.

The environments may change and the people around us may change

and they may affirm us, or they may be against us, whatever it is.

But when we build our life upon that foundation you always

know where to run back to.

Sometimes I know, even in my own life, you can get off base or you can try to

people please, or you can try to fit those images of what maybe the world deems as

successful, but you're never going to be happy unless you're doing what God

called you to do and designed you to do.

You can do a lot of things that look great on paper that looks.

On social media or whatever, but if they're not what God asks you to do,

you're going to, you're going to be empty.

And one of, one of the things that like, as far as a step-by-step thing, or what do

I do, what, how do I make this decision?

One of the things that we've gone by is follow the peace.

And even if.

And opportunities come and it's really scared us because we're like,

we're not qualified or we're , but there's still been like a piece

that's deep inside that says, no, you should take the step and do it.

But there's been times where there's been big opportunities opened up to

us, but there's, it didn't feel right inside, even though it could on paper,

be exposed us to a lot of people and do this and do this and could open a lot of.

But it didn't have the piece that accompanied with it.

I think that's a real telltale sign is that when you spend time with

the father and you recognize his presence and you recognize what his

piece is in and what it's not in, that's like such a great tool to have.

Just have those day by day decisions that come up.

Yeah.

So good.

She said a lot of good things.

I don't know What more I could add, but I guess one thing that comes

to my mind is just like following after Christ is countercultural and

God's gonna, God requires things of us and ask things of us that are.

Seem really maybe like backwards or different to people who are just living

the American dream or who are just living for themselves or their flesh.

And just a heads up, not, everybody's going to have the vision that you have.

And part of that is because that's the vision God's given you.

That's your baby to, to carry and to take care of.

So not everybody's going to have.

Have that vision or support you in that, but just knowing that if God's

called me to do this, like I'm going to stand firm and I'm going to do it

because there's a reason for that.

And Alicia said when you submit your life to Christ, like you're

never fully satisfied unless you're living the life that he has for.

There are temporary pleasures.

There are things that maybe offer some security or things like that.

But it's never trust me when I say it pales in comparison to what a

life living sold out for Christ is.

He's taken us on a lot of events, adventures that we

never would have gone on.

I never could have dreamed or imagined.

Because we said yes to him.

And so just continue even when it doesn't make sense, continue to say

yes to him, even when it's hard.

Yeah.

Even when life hasn't turned out, like you expect it to you just keep saying

yes to him because there is a reward and there is a plan and a purpose for you.

And so just don't give up on that.

Yeah, What would you say to that person, relationally,

specifically Whitney?

I mean, either of you, but Whitney, you wrote a book on this, So what would

you say to that person , relationally that is trying to figure graduating

college or, coming into adulthood, trying to balance finding your purpose,

your career, and also sort of thought process of, singleness of marriage

and just the complexity of that.

What would you say to that aspect of it?

Yeah I wish I had a clean cut answer.

If anybody has a nice formula, hit me up, email me.

I'd love to hear it, but I guess yeah, just for me, it's

been there's a verse, man.

Paul says it.

I can't think of where it's at right now.

But in the message version, basically, Paul.

Don't be wishing you are some somewhere else or with someone else where you

are right now is where God has you.

So live, obey, believe love right here.

This is something like that.

I'm paraphrasing, of course, but I know it just says live in love and obey,

like right here, right where you're at.

And my, my encouragement from then listen out and I'm living in it, just what gets

me through is just saying like, All right, God what do you have for me right here?

And just trying to really be present with if you're graduating college, of

course I'm celebrating and job hunting and doing all that stuff, but just

realizing that life is so much more about the journey than it is the destination.

Because that's what I spent my whole life growing up thinking like, man, lots,

I get to this point, once I graduate college, once I move out on my own,

once I get married and have kids, but what I've realized is those are really

cool milestones, but I didn't really learn stuff in those destinations.

I learned it like on my way there.

And so just finding significance in, in the waiting or in the process it would

be my best encouragement to you because.

Life, doesn't start at those big milestone moments.

It's going on right now.

And you'll miss it?

If you just keep keep your eyes looking at the destination the purpose and the

roots grow and the journey the mountain tops are cool, but it's the valleys

and things where the roots grow deep and retrieves grow and there's life.

So I guess that would be my best encouragement.

Yeah, those are wise words.

Thank you for that.

I appreciate that.

And I agree, you know, I think even if we look through, the heroes of

the Bible, so to speak, we see, we often see, the major parts of their

life, either the low valleys or the high mountains that they're on.

But the rest of the time, they're living life, they're going through

the same sort of struggles and the same sort of things that that we do.

And I think sometimes we miss that specifically with Jesus.

He's an amazing example of this.

If you just look at his life and, look at how he handled

relationships and look at how he.

How he dealt with with people.

Um, He did it in a very deep way.

He did it in a very intentional way and he lived life with people.

And so I think it rings true to that.

I think you're just putting out some really cool stuff.

And so I encourage our audience to go check it out.

I know you said Alicia and whitney.com.

go ahead and tell us your, you mentioned last episode, your social media and,

and kind of where some could follow you.

if you would mention that again, as we close down, so people

can continue to follow you.

Yeah, So of course our website's a great place to start Alicia.

And Whitney dot com and then you can find us on social media platforms, Facebook,

Instagram, Twitter, at Alicia and Whitney.

And you can find our music anywhere where music has streamed.

Apple music, Google, Spotify, Pandora, et cetera.

And then our podcast is coming up higher and you can find that anywhere.

Where podcasts are streamed.

So we would love to have you subscribe.

We have YouTube channels as well.

So you can find us at a lot of different places but definitely

like subscribe to our content.

So you can see whenever we release new stuff, because we're

always releasing something.

Yeah.

No, absolutely.

and you have an album, a third album coming out, I believe in 2022.

Is that correct?

Coming up?

We're going to start.

Yeah, We're we're going to start recording or hopefully get working

on the music aspect of it at the beginning of 20, 22 January.

Yeah, we're be on the lookout for that.

And we're super excited about it.

It's going to be our best one yet.

I think so we're working with a great producer and and that makes,

we're excited to work with him.

And so we're yeah, it's going to be good.

So stay tuned.

Yeah, that's awesome.

Well, I've heard several of your songs on your first year album, so

if it's the better of those three and I'm sure it will be amazing.

Thank you guys so much.

It's been a pleasure chatting with you, looking forward to staying

in touch with, with your content and what you guys are up to.

I encourage our audience to go check out your website and and

check out some music by your books.

Thank you so much.