Have you ever felt like you were living in someone else’s shadow, wondering if your story even mattered?

In this moving episode of The Collide Podcast, we sit down with Bridgette Ridenour—sister to Kirk Cameron and Candace Cameron Bure—to talk about what it was like growing up alongside 80s TV icons while wrestling with feelings of being unseen and forgotten. Bridgette shares her honest journey of learning to rewrite the false narratives she believed about herself and how God is now using her life to bring hope to others who’ve heard “no” far too many times. If you’ve ever struggled with comparison, rejection, or finding your place, this conversation will deeply resonate.

Meet Bridgette Ridenour

Bridgette is the sister of childhood stars Kirk Cameron and Candace Cameron Bure. While she grew up in the orbit of fame, Bridgette's story took a quieter, more difficult path—one marked by rejection, unfulfilled dreams, and feeling overlooked. But through God's redemptive power, Bridgette is now living out a calling to encourage others, using her voice and her experiences to help people embrace the story God is writing for them.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn

• What it was like growing up in a famous family while feeling left behind
• How God speaks into our “no’s” and redirects us toward purpose
• Why comparison can steal your joy and how to overcome it
• The power of allowing God to rewrite your story
• How to hold onto faith when your life doesn't look how you expected

How This Episode Will Encourage You

Bridgette’s vulnerability will inspire you to trust that God sees you, even when the world doesn’t. Her story reminds us that the parts of our life we think disqualify us may be the very things God uses to bring hope to others. You’ll walk away with renewed faith that your story matters and that God is never done writing it.

✨ Lean into God's better story for your life—and let go of the one the world tried to hand you.

🎧 Listen & Subscribe - Don’t miss any new episodes! Subscribe to The Collide Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you listen.

Connect with Bridgette Facebook | Instagram

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Check Out These Collide Resources Inspired by This Episode

Personal and Powerful - This study reminds us that God intersects with our lives in ways that are both deeply personal and undeniably powerful.

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Hey, friend. This is Willow Weston, the founder and director of Collide and the host of this podcast. And if you're new here, so glad you hopped on.

If you're a regular subscriber, so glad you subscribed. And this week, I'm really excited to hand you over an interview. I just got done doing the with a woman named Bridgettet Ridenour.

Brigette is the sister of Kurt Cameron and Candace Cameron Bure, and she shares in this podcast what it was like growing up with two child stars, sitcom 80s sitcom stars, and her experience of feeling forgotten and how God has shown up in the midst of. Of that feeling and written a story that's all hers to share. And it's an amazing interview, and I think you'll be very encouraged by her story.

So check it out. Bridgette, I'm so glad that you hopped on to hang out with me today.

I have a jillion million questions, but first of all, I just want to say thanks for hanging out.

Oh, my goodness. Thank you for having me. This is so great. I'm so happy to be here.

Yeah.

I wanted to ask you, you have worked in the entertainment business for many years, including on projects like TV series such as the Full House and Home Improvement, in films such as Saving Christmas, Wild America, Perfect Game, and the Crew. Can you invite us into your life story and how you were invited into this business?

Yeah. Gosh, it's so kind of crazy. So I have. There's four siblings. There's four of us total.

And when we were little, we actually lived in an apartment building. And we were friends with another childhood actor, Adam Rich, who played Nicholas on Eight Is Enough. Yeah. And my brother Kirk and I, we were.

There's, like I said, there's four of us, and Kirk is the oldest. I'm the oldest daughter. And then we have a middle sister, Melissa, and then Candace is the baby. And Adam was working.

And so his mom had mentioned to my mom, Barbara, you should get your kids in the business. And my mom was like, no, absolutely not. But Hollywood is not where we want to go, what we want to do.

And so Adam's family, they moved closer to Hollywood, so because Adam was working. And just years later, my mom and Adam's mom reconnected and saw each other. And so they just started talking and.

And Fran was just like, oh, my gosh, how are the kids? And my mom showed a picture and she was like, barbara, please let me get your.

Let me take your picture, the kids picture into our agent and just see what happens. And my mom was Reluctant, but finally said yes, okay. Because if, if, if I'm going to get my kids into the business, it's really because of Bridgette.

Bridgette is our little performer. She loves to sing, act, dance, she's in all the school plays. And if any of my kids are going to do it, it would be Bridgette.

So Fran took the picture in. We got a call a couple weeks later from an agent in Hollywood.

My parents took us four kids down and we interviewed with her and read some commercial and theatrical sides. And the agent took Kirk right away and said, I'd like to get him started.

She also took our sister Melissa wanted to start her in and then said bring Candace back when she's a little bit older because I don't start kids until she's, till they're six. And Candace was four at the time. And my mom said, well that's great, but what about Bridgette? Because that's why we're here. Like Bridgette's our little.

And the agent said, Bridgette is really, really good, but we, I do see that she's going to need some work on her teeth and I just don't take kids with braces. So once her braces are, then we'll definitely get Bridgette started.

Well, me having braces is a whole nother podcast that was just a very, very long journey. So as a young child, the opportunity for me to be an actress or performer didn't, didn't happen.

But when I graduated high school, I was given the opportunity to be a stand in on Full House and that Candace was working at the time. And I said, my mom came to me and said Bridgette, they'd like to offer you position at, on the show as a stand in as part of the crew.

And a stand in is basically someone who rehearses for the child actors when they're in school school because they have to have a minimum of three hours. And so they like someone to just play the character for a particular character or a guest star. And because of my petite frame, I'm 4:11.

It worked to my advantage to stand in for child stars, child actors and actresses. So I got to work on Full House and then that brought me over to the show Home Improvement.

After that I worked with Jonathan Taylor Thomas for many years and the kids on Home Improvement again, Wild America, the crew. I had a long 20 year career of being a stand in in the business. And then Saving Christmas is actually a movie that my brother Kirk asked me to be in.

I thought he called me one day and said, hey Bridgette, I'm doing this movie this Christmas movie, and I want to be. I want you to be a part of it. I thought he was going to give me a stand in job. Well, he actually was asking me to, to play his co star.

There's, there was a character, his sister in the movie. And he said, I want you to play my sister in this film.

And so, so I was able to, to, to work on saving Christmas and be in that film with him, which was.

I love that he was asking you to play his sister. That's hilarious. Now you're really inspiring me to want to go back and watch all these classic sitcoms and films.

And I have so many questions I want to ask you about what you just shared, but to give people context who are listening when you talk about, you know, this crazy story where one person, a neighbor, it's interesting to me. One person can change the trajectory of your life. This one woman neighbor, change your whole family's trajectory.

That's a powerful idea in and of itself.

But to give people context, because people might not know when you say, oh, we all went in and they offered Kirk something right away and said Candace could come. And your sister Melissa. You're talking about Kirk Cameron, and you're talking about Candace Cameron Burr.

And so people might just hear and go, oh, you're, you know, your siblings were in a few plays or something, but you're talking about, you know, you weren't actors. You lived in a, an apartment building and a woman's son was involved in acting.

And years later, you're the mom's cross paths and she invites you into this opportunity.

Yeah.

And I, I guess I'm curious, when all of your siblings got picked up and they said this about your braces, how did that message speak to you at that time? Did that impact you in a negative.

Way as a young child? Absolutely. Because I thought, I wondered why she didn't, why didn't, why didn't she choose me?

To be completely honest with you, Kirk didn't even want to go. Like, I'm just gonna throw it, lay it out there. Kirk didn't even want to go on this interview. He didn't want to be in the business.

That just was not his character.

And it was just, again, it was, it was heartbreaking for me, but my mom just made sure that I knew and I understood that when the braces came off, we were going to pursue that. For me, I continued to be in the school plays, I continued to do little local theater, you know, things like that and growing up and to.

And to again, to kind of take your listeners back to who my brother and sister are. You're a child of the 80s, and you grew up with Growing Pains. And Mike Seaver. Mike Seaver. Kirk Cameron, that is my brother.

And then if you grew up with Full House, DJ Tanner is my sister, Candace Cameron Bray.

And my mom and my parents always made family things with them because they traveled so much and they got to do so many incredible things that when my parents could make it a family affair, they would.

And so even though I was not chosen and I was, I didn't grow up being a child star or actress, I was still in that whole world of acting and performing and seeing what they got to do as their careers grew.

How did your parents, or, I don't know if you grew up with your mom and your dad or just your mom.

Both parents.

But how did they help you navigate that experience of almost feeling like you weren't chosen and then your two siblings become famous sitcom stars? How did. How did that play out again?

I think it just goes back to the family unit that they created for us just as small kids. We always did things as a family, and it was never. We always supported everybody. I mean, I remember as.

As a child sitting in front of the tv, watching different shows and waiting and hoping that maybe we'd see a commercial that would come on, and there's Kirk or there's Candace, and we would all get so excited.

And, you know, as I mentioned, my mom and dad would always try and make those functions that they went to a family trip, a family thing, and just always encouraged us. I mean, even in the plays that I was in at school or the. The local theater, my whole family came to watch me in those things.

And so it was it growing up, it was never, well, Kirk and Kansas are doing this, and I'm going to be with them. And I, you know, I. Unfortunately, I can't be with you ever. It was. It was never that.

We were always a family unit, always and always supportive, always encouraging and just, you know, just. Just really being together and being that supportive, that supportive family, you know?

Yeah, that's awesome, because I think what a. What an important value to learn to celebrate each other's successes and celebrate each other's differing giftings and differing seasons.

And it is so helpful to have parents who can do that. Well, that's such a beautiful thing that your parents did for you. I just can imagine in that moment feeling almost.

And I've heard you and read you mentioned, almost feeling forgotten. Like, you know, did God Forget about my gifts.

And I think a lot of people, even listening can resonate with almost feeling like, hey, like, I see my friends getting these opportunities. I see my spouse getting these opportunities. I see people younger than me getting opportunities, and where's my chance?

You know, that's a common feeling. Do you. Do you have any advice for people who are feeling like that?

Absolutely. God has a plan and a purpose for. For everyone. And I get emotional talking about it because I. For a long time, I really felt.

Felt like God forgot about me because I didn't understand why I kept getting these no's When I finally started to. When the braces came off and I was able to go on auditions, I kept getting no's and I couldn't understand why.

And some of these auditions that I went on, I knew I nailed it. I totally nailed it. It was perfect for me. But God didn't open those doors. And now looking back and seeing the life that I.

That I did, that I have being a mom and the. The. The moments that I. That I have with my kids, I think. I look back and think, if God had given me what I wanted, I might not.

I wouldn't be here sharing my story with all of you. I. I truly feel that. And God has. Everything is perfect in God's timing. And God never forgets about us, My goodness, He created us.

He's given us our gifts and our talents, and we just have to trust and know that in his perfect timing, we will see those and be able to pursue those if we choose to. So, yeah, lots, lots of times seeing them and their careers, you know, growing and skyrocketing.

There were times where I just thought, I don't understand why they got chosen and why, why, why those doors aren't opening for me.

It's so cool to hear that you can now look back on those no's and see them differently.

And so my husband and I decided that we wanted to take a road trip to Nashville for that and to meet Kirk and be there. And so we grew up doing road trips, so I was all excited about it.

And so we, as a family, my husband and three kids, we took a road trip and we were in Texas and we came upon a dirt storm. Now, living here in the Palm Springs area, we get dirt storms all the time.

And this particular dirt storm in Texas, we didn't realize how bad it was until we got into the middle of it and it blacked out our car. It blacked out our vision. We couldn't see past the front windshield of our, of our car.

And so it was a two lane highway going both ways with a grass median on, in the center and on both sides. And my husband start. Was driving and started to slow down and we finally came up upon the back end of a semi truck that had, was stopped and has its.

Had had its hazards on. And my husband turned around and looked at me and we were only behind this truck for a very short time.

But he looked at me in the back seat and he said, Bridgette, I don't feel comfortable being behind this truck. God is telling me to move this car over to the side. And I said, okay. And so he did. He moved it to the shoulder. So now we were next to the semi truck.

It was still very, very dark in this, in this cloud of dirt. And we weren't there more than just a couple of seconds after we had moved the car. And a semi truck going 75 miles an hour.

I'm sorry.

No, you don't need to be sorry. A semi truck going 75 miles an hour came behind us and smashed into the semi truck that we were just behind. And the cab exploded and the driver died. And it was literally like a Hollywood movie. The flames, the fire, the impact that was right next to us.

And at that moment I, God was telling me to get our daughter from the back seat and move her up into the center where I was with our older son. And I, we did and we buckled in her seatbelt.

And seconds after that, another semi truck didn't stop and hit us from behind and pushed us down into the ravine. And then that driver jumped out of his truck onto our car and said, get out of your car. The trucks in your car are on fire.

And we got out of the car and I could hear voices in, on the side of the road and still there was this huge cloud of dirt. You can't, you couldn't see. And so we just heard these voices on the side just yelling, over here, over here, come over here.

And so I just told everybody, run to the voices. And we got into this car and they took us down a little ways.

And with everything going on and the chaos going on was kind of annoying that, that he kept putting this in my head. But I knew he was trying to tell me something. And in that moment, I honestly could not remember what that verse was.

But I kept seeing it over and over and over in my visual.

Verse that said, for I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, not to harm you, but to prosper you, to give you hope and a future.

And God spoke to me that day and said, Bridgette, all those years that you felt overlooked and left out and you were angry at me that I didn't open those doors for you. I have a plan for you. I just saved you and your family from a major car accident. But you have to trust me in this moment.

I have a plan for you and I will reveal it to you one day. But it's got to be in my timing, not yours. That was the day I just, it just hit me that I have to trust God more.

And he brought me back to those moments of being a stand in and brought me back to those moments of being a mom.

And that time, that precious time that I was able to have with my kids growing up and the moments and the memories that I have that I share in my story.

If again, if God had given me what I wanted, I wouldn't have a story to share because I could have been traveling and performing and not seeking him fully and having those cherished moments and memories with my husband and my kids.

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It's amazing to me over and over again, when I get to hear people's stories, and I'm hearing this in yours, that it sometimes takes some of the most tragic or hard or difficult or painful experiences to almost prioritize for us, the most important things and sort of shift our perspective out of places of discontentment to places of contentment. And it sounds like that really happened for you.

It really. It really did. And again, I never. In. In that moment, it was just like. It was kind of like this light bulb. Like, he was, like.

God was, like, hitting me over the head, going, Bridgette, do you not remember your career as being a stand in and. And being in a movie and, you know, performing, being a ballroom dancer and competing and doing all of that? I've.

I've given you all of those things, but I also gave you those. Those times with your family that are so. That are so treasured.

And again, you know, the stories that I share with people and just how God used that day to remind me that it's all. It's all his plan.

So that was seven years ago that you had this. This experience with God where he rescued you and saved you and then spoke purpose over you. What is sort of ensued since.

Well, yeah, he is giving me opportunities, like I said, to be in this. In. In the movie Saving Christmas. I mean, I never thought that I would have been in a movie in the theater. And then also. That's crazy. I know.

That was super fun. I've been a dancer since I was a little girl performing.

And I remember when Candace was offered to be on Dancing with the Stars, and I got to see her ballroom dance. And ballroom is one of the dances I never tried. And so after seeing her on Dancing with the Stars, I thought, I've got to try ballroom dancing.

And it was like this whole new world for me, and I absolutely loved it. My instructor actually asked me to compete in a local ballroom dance competition three months after I started. And I said, you're crazy.

There's no way. And he said, no, you can do it. And so I learned smooth and rhythm dances, and I competed, and I. I did really, really well.

And, you know, now it's like God is opening doors for me to be a guest speaker and motivational speaker at women's conferences and events and doing podcasts like these. And I just. I'm so thankful, and I'm so Grateful that God gave me that. That. That message that day, because I wouldn't have.

I wouldn't have a story to share.

Hmm. I love that you're starting to share your story more and more.

Like you said on podcasts and speaking at conferences, I love that you are taking what God has done in your life and the story that he's writing, and you're beginning to share it with other people and help them in their stories. And I'm just wondering, as you come across women who.

Who do feel forgotten, who do feel like they haven't quite figured out what their purpose is yet, how are you seeing God use your story to help those.

Wow. Well, when I go and I share, I always pray before, and I ask God to show me the women that needed to be there that day, and he has clearly done that.

I've had women come up to me just in tears and just tell me how much my story has impacted them or how it has resonated with them, because I think a lot of. A lot of women, not even women, I've even had men come up to me and.

And share with me that they have also in the shadows of a sibling or a friend or something like that, that they have felt that they've been forgotten about. And it's having that. What I would say is having that personal relationship with Jesus and just. Just knowing and trusting that God has. God has a plan.

God has a purpose. He never forgets his children. And in his time, he will reveal it if it's. If it's in his. If it's in his plan to do that.

And sometimes, you know, I felt so many times being a mom, you know, this is just an amazing season for me, but there's so many things that I wanted to do and. And I was okay.

I was okay with that because God just poured into me so I could pour into my children and raise them up, knowing who Jesus is and that God loves them and all of that. Never, never. Don't feel that you're forgotten about. Because there's so many women, I think that. That feel the same.

Absolutely. I mean, I talk to women all the time who feel that way, and I love that you're encouraging us to find contentment in what God has for us right now.

I was just in a conversation even yesterday with a woman who was. Was struggling with what God is doing in her life when it feels like there's a lot of sort of hardship or dead ends happening in her calling.

And we just kind of talked about the idea that you know, sometimes for such a time as this, for a season, you run into no's, you run into dead ends, you run into seasons of slowness or what looks like lack of business success or whatever it is.

And, you know, if we can shift our perspective and begin to ask God, you know, in this time where I'm not getting what I wanted, what do you have for me in this? What can I receive in this time? And it's a shift of perspective. And I love that you've shifted your perspective and you're inviting us to do so.

I'm kind of curious because you brought up a minute ago the idea of the experience of living in the shadows of someone else. And as a mom, I'm wondering how you've made sure that your kids know that they're always chosen.

I think it just goes back to the way that my family always kept us as a unit. We didn't grow up in a Christian home. My parents were not believers. My parents separated when Kirk and I were seniors in high school.

And I thank God that they never divorced. The beautiful thing is my parents are both believers now. My whole family is. My dad, my brother was actually able to baptize my dad several years ago.

Wow.

Yeah. And I. I think as a mom, just giving the.

Giving the love and the encouragement and the support to each one of my kids together and separately and being in God's word and.

And supporting them in what they want to do and just telling them that I believe in them, even if things don't go the way that they are hoping, reminding them that God has a purpose. I mean, my goodness, they were involved in this car accident. They were also involved. Not one of us were taken that day.

All five of us could have been taken that day in that moment.

And I remind them all the time that that is was also a moment for them to know God has a purpose for you all and, you know, just trusting in him that. That he also has a plan for them.

I. I'm very curious because it's such an interesting piece of your story. Your parents weren't Christians. You didn't grow up in a Christian home.

I didn't either. But it's very interesting that all of you now love and follow Jesus and your brother baptized your dad. How did all of your lives change?

How did you stumble upon this Jesus who, you know, when we collide with him, he changed, just radically changed their lives.

Yeah. You know, growing up in Hollywood, Hollywood is brutal. It's not a world that most people know. Some. Most people I think would.

Would see all the glitz and the glamour and the fame and all of those wonderful things on social media now that you're seeing of all these celebrities, but being in it, even as a, as a child, it's, it's not, it's not healthy. And because my mom was the manager of my sister, of Candace and Kirk's careers, it really pulled my parents apart. And.

And then when Kirk was doing Growing Pains, he was introduced. He was, he was asked to go to church, and he went to church for the very first time.

And this was like, in the height of his career when he was like this teen heartthrob. And he went to church for the very first time and heard the gospel.

And one of the questions that the pastor said was, if you were to die today, would you go? Would you be going to heaven? And Kirk honestly sat and thought to himself, no, I wouldn't be going to heaven.

And even though I've got all this fame and this fortune and money and all of these things, I wouldn't be going to heaven. And so he was driving home one day and he just, the Holy Spirit just convicted him.

He pulled over to the side and he said, lord, I've never prayed before. I don't even know how to pray, but I'm going to pray and I'm going to ask you into my life and for you to show me what this whole thing is about.

And because I, I, I, I want to spend eternity, I know there's got to be something better than where I'm at and what I'm doing right now. There's got to be more to this. And so he prayed the sinner's prayer by himself that moment, all by himself, and asked Jesus into his life.

And then it was just him, him planting seeds with us and my mom and dad and just planting seeds. And my dad was very. Didn't really want to hear about it because that's just how he was raised and things like that.

My mom grew up going to church at, you know, Easter and Christmas and knew Jesus as a little girl, but just as a family. It was, we, we didn't grow up.

We, we also went to church at Christmas and Easter and all those things, but it was just Kirk planting those seeds of, of what he was learning by going to church and reading the Bible and what he was being convicted of and just seeing him change, seeing him change just completely from the inside out, and all of us just kind of going, gosh, this is what I want some of that, you know, I want that too. And, and I'll never get, I'll never forget when I accepted Christ.

I was 16 years old, I was at a church concert and Kirk was with me and he just could kind of see in me that they had, you know, the pastor had said if anybody wants to ask Jesus into their heart to come forward. And Kirk could just, could just see me crying and all of that. And he just whispered, do you want to go up? And I said, yeah, I do.

And he brought me up and he said the sinner's prayer with me. And he was 17, I was 16 years old. And that was when I accepted Christ. And then it was just kind of like a snowball.

And my dad, it took years, you know, for my dad to just kind of ask questions and learn and again, just planting those seeds with him and he. I'm not exactly sure how many years ago it was, but he accepted Christ. And again, Kirk was able to baptize him.

And it's just amazing to me how I feel that God put us in this industry, in this business that's so dark and so whatever you want to call it, but yet he had such a hand over our family this entire time and protected us from that world. And now knowing how he's using us as a family to spread the gospel. H because again, we didn't grow up in entertainment.

It wasn't like we all were like, hey mom, we want to get, get be on tv. We had no knowledge of that at all. But yet God used that, kept his hand over us and is now using us to spread word of God.

It's fascinating to me that your brother at, you know, you say kind of the height of his career, being a heartthrob and having pretty much everything another 16 year old would dream to have.

And he's posed with spiritual questions that sort of knock him over to the point where he has everything and yet without Jesus, he realizes he has nothing. And he has this genuine spiritual experience.

And you all see that Jesus was changing his life.

And I think it reminds me of the New Testament where you kind of know where Jesus is back in those days, because one person's life was changed and then another person's life was changed. And then all these broken, hurting people in despair are coming out and blind people are saying, have mercy on me.

And lepers are saying, will you heal me? And women who are caught in the act of adultery are standing there and there's Jesus with them.

And it's like all these people's lives, lives are Being changed. And I just love that the story of your family. A lot of times people have these experiences where they reach out to God in despair.

But you know, you're talking about your brother who was in some sense in this really successful season of his life. And even then, Jesus shows up to him and he surrenders and you see the change and that changed your whole family.

And now you all are being used to change people's lives. It's an amazing story.

Thank you. Thank you so much. I'm truly blessed and never, never did I think that I would be on this side of being able to share my story and God's word and.

Well, speaking of that, you're writing a book.

I am.

And I'm just curious, and this is my last question I want to ask you because of course I could talk to you all day, but when is, when do you foresee the book coming out? What do you hope people will receive from it?

Well, I'm just starting the book. Just starting the book. I've. I've met some amazing people who have come alongside of me and are helping me with this.

No, I just want my story to give encouragement to women and share my story, my good and my bad life experiences and, you know, the hurts and the joys and the, the triumphs that I've had and just really encourage other women to just know that they're loved. And there's women out there that are going through the same thing.

Like I said, I meet women when I go and I speak and they're just like bawling their eyes out and just saying, you have touched me. I have felt like you have felt. And that's so encouraging to me too, because there's times when I feel like, am I the only one that feels this way?

Am I the only one that sits in my room and just cries and wonders, like, what am I doing? There's more that I want to give and how am I gonna. How am I gonna do that?

And so when I meet those women, it's also a blessing to me to meet those women and to share stories together.

Bridgette, I know that there people listening today who want to connect with you and hear more about your story. How can they do that well, they.

Can absolutely go to my Facebook or my Instagram. They can just search Bridgette Cameron, Bridgette Ridenhour, and they can follow me there and, you know, follow me on.

I'm always posting, like, what podcasts that I'm doing and where I'll be speaking at the next, you know, women's event or group. And I'm, I'm, I, I love sharing my story. So anybody that is interested in having me come, please just reach out.

And I'd love to, I'd love to talk about, about doing that.

Awesome.

Well, I love that you are leaning into the purpose that God rescued you for and that you're connected, continuing to tell your story and use it to help others. So thank you for hopping on today and sharing a piece of it.

Thank you so much for having me.

Friend. I hope that you enjoyed that interview. I know that there's so much that I receive from talking to Bridgette.

I love how candid she is about her story and the way that, that getting no's again and again and again shaped her and the way that she felt forgotten. I love how God showed her he was writing her her own story and he was purposing her in his timing.

And I think that's such a good reminder to you and I when we feel like all these other people around us are getting opportunities and we're not. And yet, yet he's doing something and sometimes we can't see what he's doing, but he's writing a beautiful, good, meaningful story.

And if we can hold on to that hope and be open to shifting our perspective.

I'm really practicing myself a lot lately, trying to figure out what I can receive when I'm smack dab in the middle of chapter seven and it feels like the story's over or it's not going the way that I want it to go, or I'm hitting dead ends.

I'm holding my hands out, palms up, and I'm saying, God, this isn't the way I wanted it to go, and it's not the way that I would have chosen it to go. But what do you have for me to receive here? And I encourage you to pray that prayer with me.

Me.

If you're in that place, friend, if you have a friend that you know needs to hear this episode, somehow it will encourage them. I invite you. It's a simple act. Just send it on and share it. And if you haven't subscribed to this podcast, make sure that you do.

It'll come into your. Your phone or. Or however you listen to your podcasts. And it'll be there every single Wednesday just for you, to encourage you to keep colliding.

And as we heard from Bridgette, we know that when we collide with Jesus, he changes us. And sometimes it's slow change, and sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's instantaneous change, but either way, way, it's beautiful change.

And the more we collide, the more whole we become. So keep colliding, friend, and we'll catch you next week.