Sharing Scripture in Everyday Life With Lindsey Tanoff (Ep 164)

---

ng and just published in late: 2025

She's someone just like you and me listening right now, a believer trying to figure out what it looks like to follow Jesus and share his word in the middle of ordinary life. And I think that's exactly why her story matters.

[: 00:01:16

---

Jason: So welcome Lindsey. I am so grateful to have you here

Lindsey Tanoff: Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it and I look forward to this discussion.

Jason: Me too.

[: 00:01:36

---

Jason: Um, I like to give the listeners the opportunity to get to know people better and I love to start with the favorite Bible verse, and I think you sent me John 14 verses one through four. Uh, I'll go ahead and read it here and then you can tell me what you think about it. Uh, do not let your hearts be troubled.

You believe in God, believe also in me. My father's house has many rooms. If that were not, so would I have told you that I'm going there to prepare a place for you if I go to prepare a place for you, I'll come back and take you to be with me. That you may also be where I am, you know, the way to the place where I'm going. That is such a beautiful verse and I, I love the book of John, but tell us why this speaks to you.

Lindsey Tanoff: Sure. Um, it's a great first question to start this off with. Um, so that particular verse. In the Bible.

[: 00:02:20

---

Lindsey Tanoff: Um, it really spoke to me in a time when I needed answers. You mentioned in the intro that, you know, I lost my mom to cancer about, it's been about a year and a half, and, um, which still is an odd, like it doesn't feel real, right?

Um, and so, you know, someone who goes through things like that, um, maybe you're, you've lost a spouse or a parent or a sibling, or you know, really anyone in life. Um, a lot of people look for answers. I turned to the Bible for answers. And while there are a lot of scripture, a lot of pieces of scripture that provide different answers, that one for me was a very straightforward answer of, oh, of course.

God has built this house of, uh, many rooms for everyone to be there. And oh, by the way, uh, Jesus, you know, is gonna come back and, and bring us there. And he, there's a purpose behind that and I. Really resonated with, um, the answer again in the Bible. That there is a place for us, uh, in the end. Uh, uh, there's not just like nothingness.

There's, there's an answer of where we're gonna go and a place for us to go. And so that's why it is one of my favorite, um, verses in the Bible.

Jason: Yeah, absolutely. And I, I mean, you and I talked, my, my sister passed away last June from cancer, and there is a lot of comfort knowing that there is a place where we will all, you know, get back together again and, and, and

Lindsey Tanoff: Exactly.

Jason: But like that. Thank you for sharing

Lindsey Tanoff: Mm-hmm.

[: 00:03:53

---

Jason: So you are from Dallas-Fort Worth area. Um, what's life like for you right now? What does a typical week look like for you?

Lindsey Tanoff: Yeah, I live in the Dallas Fort Worth area here in Texas. Um, it is, uh, gosh, springtime, so we're getting into warm weather, all that great stuff here in Texas. Uh, for those who don't know, it gets 90, a hundred something degrees in Texas. But really, uh, the Dallas-Fort Worth area is a huge metroplex, and I have been working here and living here for about, uh, gosh.

Since: 2009

Um, again, you mentioned that I had written a book previously and, uh, that is my side. Hustle or side, uh, interests that I do normally I have a nine to five job that I'm at Monday through Friday, and I did the book writing on the weekends and, you know, the, uh, the seven to 12 kind of deal. So yeah.

Jason: Nice.

[: 00:05:06

---

Jason: And, and I mean we talked

Lindsey Tanoff: you talked about your senior,

Jason: manager, sorry,

Lindsey Tanoff: sorry, senior brand.

Jason: I can say words. for

Lindsey Tanoff: For anyone who doesn't know what that means

Jason: day to

Lindsey Tanoff: day to day,

Jason: you

Lindsey Tanoff: can you describe that? Yeah. A brand manager is someone who, who it sounds very. Self-explanatory, but manages brands. So a lot of retailers, oh,

Jason: Right.

Lindsey Tanoff: they're a brand, they think of themselves. I would say that maybe in the past 10 to 20 years, there's been a shift of like, it's not just a company, it's a brand.

And you build, um, you know, your, your consumers, your customers are loyal to your brand. And what are the things that make a company loyal or. What makes, uh, people loyal to a product? And so I, my background is in merchandising, fashion merchandising, and I got into brand management. Um, gosh, I'd say again, like maybe 15, 10, 15 years ago.

And I've worked in retail specific jobs, uh, where again, you manage a brand and you, uh, help the team that, your marketing team that, that I'm working with to really just better define the brand and how do we connect with consumers and sell product.

Jason: I like it.

[: 00:06:15

---

Jason: So it sounds, sounds like you spend a lot of time being busy. What does rest and recharging

Lindsey Tanoff: Re

Jason: like for you?

Lindsey Tanoff: yeah, rest and recharging is very important. You know, the weekends, Saturday is, uh, long walks and maybe some tennis, uh, and then Sundays I try to plug into the Bible or a devotional. Um, or go to church or a Bible study if, if that's in season. Um, and occasionally, sometimes some of the churches that I frequent here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, um, maybe there's a, a bible study during the week, like on a, usually on a Wednesday is when we have them.

So that's always nice to, you know, plug into that and recenter yourself, uh, reconnect with God and just, uh, you know, kind of recenter and just chill out for, for the weekend or for that particular time period.

Jason: Nice. A lot of,

Lindsey Tanoff: A lot of.

Jason: Myself included, a lot of the listeners balance these busy lives trying to make carve vow time for God. And I know that sounds terrible. We should put him first, but in the middle of it all and, and trying to balance that out. Uh, what is your average morning or evening look like in terms of your, your spiritual discipline?

Lindsey Tanoff: Yeah, that's a good question. I tried, uh, so for Lent, lent was, you know, um, gosh, what, a week or two ago? By the time I'm recording this, and I, I tried to connect every morning with a devotional for Lent, and I was decently successful at that. Um. Uh, yeah, other than that, I try and connect, uh, at, in the nighttime as I'm going to bed, do I say a prayer?

Uh, what am I thankful for? Do I have gratitude? Uh, and just, you know, really connect with God, uh, at that time and, and say hi to. You know, a couple people that I know that are up there and just hope that they're, uh, you know, saying it, keeping watch over me and just say a prayer to them. Um, but that's usually what my day, again, the Monday through Saturday and Sundays, I try to spend a little bit more time of, you know, it's not just a quick devotional reading in the morning or a quick prayer at night.

It's, it's the hour long church, or an hour and a half, two hours. Sometimes we. Spend that Bible study and then more reading through like nonfiction kind of, um, theology or Christian based books. Uh, and I try and give that a couple hours on a Sunday. I feel like that's a really important time to dedicate to, again, religion and your connection with God and just trying to spend more time than usual with that.

Jason: So before we get into the deep stuff, um, is there

Lindsey Tanoff: is there anything

Jason: to share

Lindsey Tanoff: share about you

Jason: might

Lindsey Tanoff: might surprise people? Oh gosh, that might surprise people. Um, I always share the fun fact about me that I grew up in a lot of different places. I moved around, um, I. Gosh, seven-ish times, uh, as a kid and young adult. So that's always a fun fact about me. But I think, uh, I, I don't think a lot of people know that I wrote the, the devotional.

Um, I share a little bit of it on social media, but it's not a, it's not a big thing because it's a, um, yeah, it was just a, it's a thing that I put together and wanted to share with the world, but sometimes it's hard to do that or how, how do you go about reaching a lot of people? And so I'm assuming most people probably wouldn't know that about myself either.

Jason: That's fair. Uh, so

Lindsey Tanoff: So let's,

[: 00:09:32

---

Jason: shift gears a little bit. Take us back to the beginning. You grew up in a churchgoing Catholic family. What was faith kind of

Lindsey Tanoff: like,

Jason: did

Lindsey Tanoff: what did it look like?

Jason: up in that household?

Lindsey Tanoff: Yeah, so to start from the beginning, my parents, um, my mom grew up Catholic. Uh, my dad converted to Catholicism before, uh, my, you know, the, my parents, um, had us and. My sister and I both grew up again in the Catholic household. Uh, our parents taught our CCD classes. My dad usually taught my classes, and my mom usually taught my sister's classes.

My mom also taught, uh, vacation Bible school during the summer. Uh, I would say we probably tried decently hard to go to mass almost every Sunday. There were probably a couple time periods where, you know, I, I played traveling soccer as a, um, as a kid. So you're gone for the weekend and. There, there isn't time to go do that sort of stuff or check into church while you're off traveling or driving to a different city or driving home.

Um, which I'm forever grateful that they, you know, always put us first and did all these things where they were running us around all over the place. But yeah, for the most part they were very, um, very involved parents in general. And they definitely tried with the, uh. Uh, you know, plugging us in with church and, uh, being part of our CCD, um, and our, uh.

Vacation Bible school, which for those who don't know what CCD is, it's basically like a children's learning session about stories in the Bible or, um, different topics in the Bible at, again, a child level, uh, as opposed to like the, the adult theology kind of approach to it. And so, yeah, it was, it's usually something for like elementary school kids to maybe middle school and then it kind of drops off after that.

Jason: Okay. I was

Lindsey Tanoff: I was gonna,

Jason: so I'm, I'm glad you volunteered that

Lindsey Tanoff: yeah.

Jason: didn't know. Um, so

Lindsey Tanoff: so you.

[: 00:11:29

---

Jason: you've been very open about drifting away from God in your young adult life. Um, that, and that's a story I think a lot of people can identify with personally. I'm curious, what did that season. look like? Was it, was it kind of a slow fade or was it more of a deliberate away in a moment?

Lindsey Tanoff: Yeah, I would say it was probably a combination of both of a, um, you know, you become a young adult and I went off to college, you know, by I think 18, 19, and you think that you know all the answers and sure, you don't need to go to college or, or you don't need to go to church on Sundays or you don't need to do this sort of stuff.

Like you can kind of do whatever you want 'cause you've got. It's your schedule. You can call the shots now. And while that is partially true, there is also something nice about being able to have a place that you have previously gone to that you can continue to go through or go to, uh, by yourself or maybe with new friends that you make, uh, in a different part of your life.

And so, yeah, I think that is very. Similar to a lot of people. Um, I, like I said, when I went off to college, just kind of stopped going to church on Sundays, and I know that's what a lot of young adults do. Um, there's a lot of other fun things to be doing in college, right. And so,

Jason: Right.

Lindsey Tanoff: yeah, that was part of my, you know, you go to four years and then you graduate.

And I did have a couple friends in college who did a good job of like reconnecting on Sundays, and they would invite like myself and other friends along. Um, and every once in a while, I would say yes. And most of the time I said no though. Uh, and I would say probably after I had graduated and moved off on my own, maybe, maybe by the time I hit my mid twenties again, I had a group of friends who would kind of start going back to church or would be, you know, we would go a couple times a year at the, like at the most, and.

You know, until that was again, my mid twenties until I hit my early thirties, I think was when I started to realize that things like church and what your, your morals and values are, what you believe in and things like that, started to really resonate with me and. I knew that most of those things that I believed in was connected to church.

And so being able to go back to church and connect with people who had that same belief and, or maybe, you know, there's some people who don't have the exact same beliefs, but they, they're still willing to talk about things and learn about things. And, um, yeah, I think that was kind of my reconnection in the early thirties, which was also the same time my mom was first diagnosed with cancer.

Again, trying to look for. Answers as to why, why, right? Why this person, why our family, like, you know, we were church going, people who, uh, you know, it, it didn't seem, a lot of people say like, oh, this doesn't seem fair. This why us? And, uh, that's just not how it works. When you start, you know, looking into scripture, you start talking to other people.

Um, I have a couple friends who are, who have lost their, their parents as well, and it's like. That's just part of life. And the Bible gives you answers, uh, to some of that stuff, and it gives you a way to move forward and to process things and to understand the ups and downs of life. Uh, and it gives you ways, like verbatim ways that, you know, like John 14 that you had read earlier that I, you know, shared was one of my favorite verses.

But it also gives parables and stories for people to be able to better understand. Um. What God and Jesus are trying to tell us as we're reading the Bible. And so, yeah, I think my, to kind of circle back on what you had asked my final, like, oh, okay, I should really start going back to church, was that, you know, my mom had been sick and I just wanted answers.

And when I got the answers that, you know, made sense and really calmed myself, um, it made sense to keep going back to the thing that gave me answers. And that thing was church and, and the bible.

Jason: That's, that's awesome.

Lindsey Tanoff: Awesome.

Jason: Yeah.

Lindsey Tanoff: Yeah.

[: 00:15:36

---

Lindsey Tanoff: Roman

Jason: 10 17 says, faith

Lindsey Tanoff: message.

Jason: hearing the message and the messages heard through the word about Christ. I kind of feel

Lindsey Tanoff: I kind feel like you, that your faith, is

Jason: through scripture, uh, from what you've described. I mean. Am I right or

Lindsey Tanoff: I right or wrong, what does that look like? That like meaning on the.

Jason: for everything that felt uncertain, just come naturally at that point.

Lindsey Tanoff: Yeah, I think there's a lot of time that gets put into that. I mean, that was my early thirties that I was doing that. I'm now 37. That's seven years of having to like wrestle with and understand and listen to and ask questions, and that's only seven years of doing that with the Bible. There are people who have been doing it for.

Decades, you know, 50, 60 years of their life and they still have questions or they still have little things that they struggle with here and there, but in general, they have a very good understanding of the Bible and the message that is there. And yeah, I think it took, you know, like I said, several years of.

You know, well the Bible talks about this. Uh, how do I best understand that or what's other? How do I go search for other sources that help me better understand it? Or how do I better connect with people at church through a Bible study and how do they help me understand it? And yeah, I think it just takes some time.

And honestly, I think some of it is personality wise, I'm a pretty curious person. I like. Reading reading's one of my favorite hobbies to do. Um, I like reading things. I like listening to people as well and asking them questions and then rethinking about what it is that I thought that might be a little bit changed based on what someone else has told me.

And so, yeah, I think it's, uh, it's a learning kind of process and it takes time. It takes, you know, years. Um, and yeah, so I, I think it just takes a little bit of time when you're trying to figure that stuff out.

Jason: Yeah, it sounds like you should start a podcast. Uh,

[: 00:17:35

---

Lindsey Tanoff: Uh, so, so

Jason: your

Lindsey Tanoff: like your patience, you

Jason: It went

Lindsey Tanoff: went from just this

Jason: this growing back

Lindsey Tanoff: back

Jason: thing, a private thing

Lindsey Tanoff: thing, something wanted share,

Jason: And was there like a

Lindsey Tanoff: and was there like a turning.

Jason: there going from, this is helping me to, I need to give this to others. Like, you know, kind of

Lindsey Tanoff: Transition to created emotional?

Jason: you know, how, how did that

Lindsey Tanoff: How did that transition? Yeah, I had actually first started writing a historical fiction Christian book. Um, I guess I should back up one step. I have been wanting to write a book for like years, and I just couldn't quite figure out what it was going to be about and. I, you know, after doing a couple brainstorming exercises and some just research in general, um, I was like, oh, I kind of wanna write something that's Christian, fictional based, but I also really like historic fiction.

And I thought that would be an interesting tie together of how do you base something in like, I'm not sure I've actually ever read anything that was based in biblical times. That was a his, it's fiction, right? It's historical fiction, but it has a. Biblical twist to it. I'm sure they exist out there. I just, you know, haven't ever read one.

Most of the historical fiction is tied to more recent events, like World War I, world War ii, stuff like that.

Jason: Yeah, that makes sense.

Lindsey Tanoff: And yeah, and so I was like, oh, it'd be kind of interesting to write something like that. And I had started writing it and like 20,000 words in, I. I don't know, I guess maybe I had just recently finished a devotional and I was like, this devotional is great, but I think I could maybe do something a little bit different and, um, make it a little bit shorter.

Uh, and one of my things that I had done with this particular devotional that I wrote is I added in lines for people to go and answer the questions that I had included. So it gives you space to, you know, you don't have to go get another notebook, you can just do it right in this book. And so, yeah, I had, um.

I basically started putting, I kind of pivoted. I stopped doing the historical fiction and pivoted to putting this devotional together. And I would say it, I probably got to about a year of putting it together and doing research and, you know, trying to outline it all the steps that go into putting a book together.

And I kind of hit a wall at about a year.

[: 00:19:51

---

Lindsey Tanoff: Um, and I was actually in this course called Alpha. I'm not sure if you've ever heard of an alpha course before. Does that sound familiar?

Jason: I've never heard

Lindsey Tanoff: It's, it's a, um, Christian course that I'll have to send you information about this outside of it, but it's a Christian course that's run through, I guess a particular, the Alpha program and the church that I go to, which is a Catholic church actually puts on this Christian particular, again, program and they talk about a variety of topics and whatnot.

And one of the topics we had gotten to in that program was about sharing God's word. And by the end of that week or the end of that particular Wednesday Bible study, I just felt so convicted to like, finish the devotional and why it was really important to finish the devotional and like, I shouldn't give up on it.

I started it, see it through to the end, really put some like effort in there and, uh, I mean it's, it's an important like, you know, it's parts and pieces of the Bible that I've shared and. Yeah, just trying to finish the whole thing in general and, and send it out into the world to share with other people.

Uh, I just got really convicted after that particular, uh, Bible study course. And again, I think the particular topic of how to share God's word and why it's really important. Was the big, like, uh, uh, I guess a final turning point for me or like the, the final stretch, right? Of putting together, uh, the book or working on the project.

And yeah, after about a year and a half, I finally published it and sent it out into the world, if you will, um, and have it on Amazon and Barnes and nobles.com and. Yeah, it's just been a really fun project to work on. But mainly I wanted it to be, um, kind of broken up into a couple different topics that people could easily follow along with, but it also gives them 28 solid days, which four weeks, right?

One month. It's a shorter commitment. Um, it's kind of like an intro devotional for people to be able to use. So yeah, four weeks, every single day has a different topic. Each week has its own bigger umbrella kind of topic that, you know, is broken down into smaller topics. And then every day has a couple questions so the readers can read those over and really think about what they think about the topic.

Um, and then there's lines, like I had said before, there's lines included so they can go in and write their answers, um, and not have to pivot to another notebook, but everything's all in one place. So that was my big goal with the devotional.

Jason: Nice. So informative and convenient. I love it.

Lindsey Tanoff: Yeah, I hope so. Yes.

[: 00:22:24

---

Jason: So if

Lindsey Tanoff: So you uh,

Jason: I kinda wanna

Lindsey Tanoff: I kind

Jason: the devotional in just a second, but I just wanted to swing back to one more, question I think would help people is, you know, if you could speak directly

Lindsey Tanoff: directly,

Jason: listening right now, who's in that drift, who's kind of been pulled away or stepped away, what would

Lindsey Tanoff: what would you say to them? That's a really good question. Um, I think I would say to them. If you're really interested in, in reconnecting, um, reconnect either with your family members or your friends who are still involved in church or really go to a Bible study at church, like everyone is very welcoming.

They're, you know, they're more than happy to welcome you into the community, answer your questions that you have, and maybe if even those things feel a little overwhelming, like reconnect with a devotional or reconnect with. Maybe some, uh, YouTube videos about Christianity or the Bible and start there.

You gotta be a little bit careful about where your source, like what your sources are, um, be like, be, be very, uh, I guess selective and have discernment when it comes to that sort of stuff. But yeah, I would say, you know, if you're, if you're really hesitant, I would say start with the. Maybe a devotional of some sort, um, that has a really good rating on Amazon.

Or start with YouTube and see if you can find something there that has a lot of views, um, and then, you know, reconnect with your family and friends and, and then get into church again,

Jason: Or just go pick up connected a 28 day devotional.

Lindsey Tanoff: or that, that works too.

Jason: I'll make sure there's links in the show note for you. Um, so

Lindsey Tanoff: So speaking of,

Jason: into that. love

Lindsey Tanoff: love that you just jumped in

Jason: and it,

Lindsey Tanoff: and it reminded me.

Jason: recently

Lindsey Tanoff: Recently

Jason: a, a

Lindsey Tanoff: a series

[: 00:24:10

---

Jason: of Acts, so it reminded me of

Lindsey Tanoff: reminded

Jason: where they were just regular people with this extraordinary message and a mission. You know, acts one verse eight, A mission to share the gospel to every corner of the world. So

Lindsey Tanoff: so at.

Jason: I mean, is that kind of. Do you, do you get that

Lindsey Tanoff: You get that same feeling like,

Jason: what does this feel like?

Lindsey Tanoff: like

Jason: you were, you were just

Lindsey Tanoff: recall you

Jason: out of

Lindsey Tanoff: outta blue?

Jason: um, you

Lindsey Tanoff: Yeah.

Jason: just

Lindsey Tanoff: Looking for alignment there?

[: 00:24:36

---

Lindsey Tanoff: Yeah, it, it, I don't know if it's something I was called to do necessarily, but I do think that once I decided what I was doing and that I really wanted to do a devotional, um, you know, people use the term like divine intervention or, you know, things just came to me.

I would say it was kind of like that. I, I definitely started with an outline and once I had the outline of what I wanted each week to cover, which four weeks, that's four topics, that's decently easy to kind of come up with. However, coming up with all the different ones per day was a little bit more difficult, but that was.

Again, once I came up with the weak topics, it was a little easier for me to kind of be like, oh, I really love this particular parable, or I really feel like this is a great guideline for Christians. Like that's part of week three is guidelines for Christians, um, or. Week four covers lessons that shape us.

And like there are particular things in life that everyone goes through that the Bible has a lot of really good, uh, basically like guidelines or feedback to give people, um, on those particular lessons that all shape us. And here's the things that I think are really important, and let me plug them in and start writing about them.

And once I started writing about them, um. That was the air quotes, easier part that I, I could just kind of sit there and type up these, these ideas and then I would, the harder part was going back and connecting to. Actual scripture and making sure it's, you know, it was actually connecting to what was gonna be in the devotional.

Um, and just making sure that people understood it as well. Like that seemed to be the little bit more difficult part. But yeah, it, once I kind of got all the, all the, um, minor topics, uh, outlined and whatnot, it, it did go a little bit easier than what I expected.

Jason: Very nice.

[: 00:26:31

---

Jason: it's a devotional, guides you through 28 days of biblical themes, uh, with space for journal. Um, some area for reflection. I mean, is

Lindsey Tanoff: I mean,

Jason: there a

Lindsey Tanoff: is there, is there,

Jason: you chose that format? Were you just like in this reading a devotional wishing that you didn't have to go get a notepad or like,

Lindsey Tanoff: Basically.

Jason: That's

Lindsey Tanoff: had done a couple different devotionals, um, great devotionals by the way. Like, uh, you know, there's, I don't know, too many devotionals that aren't great. The part that got me though was I was like, you know, some of it, the text is a little small. Um, I wish there was more lines for me to finish writing answers.

Like, there's only four lines here. How am I supposed to, um, I like writing. How am I supposed to only answer in four lines? And so most of the days have, you know. At minimum eight lines for people to be able to add their answers in. Um, and I knew that I wanted to, I guess I should start with, I knew I wanted it to be shorter, you know, if people were picking up a devotional for the first time.

28 days seems manageable. Like, you know, it's, that's a month, 28 days, I can crack this open. Yeah, read this, answer the questions, write some stuff down. It's like 20 minutes per day, you know. Whereas in some of these other devotional I look at, again, there's, there's nothing wrong with committing to it for 90 days or like 365 days, but that is a lot.

And so I just kind of wanted it to be a little bit more manageable for people and. Uh, you know, hopefully this can also be, the devotional is also interesting to people who. You know, kind of like you asked before, how do the people who drift away, uh, you know, 60 days, 90 days, 365 days is a lot to commit to when you've drifted away.

But 28 days might be a little bit easier to commit to when you might have been disconnected for a while. And so I just wanted it to be a little bit shorter so that those who, the people who again, who have drifted away are like curious about Christianity and the Bible. It's a little bit easier for them to commit to it for that shorter time period, whereas in the people who are already, you know, they, they've got a lot of understanding of the Bible and religion, 28 days is probably a breeze for them.

Uh, they're probably like, oh, I can just, you know, I'll easily fit this into my schedule. And so I tried to be mindful of different kinds of people who were going to be reading the devotional.

Jason: Yeah, that's a good

Lindsey Tanoff: It's a good way to build

Jason: discipline too. I mean, you sit down for 28 days by, by the end of.

Lindsey Tanoff: by the end of

Jason: That

Lindsey Tanoff: that period of time

Jason: a

Lindsey Tanoff: now happens. Yes, exactly.

Jason: So I like that. Hopefully looking for more when they're, when they're finished with that.

Lindsey Tanoff: Yeah.

Jason: Um, without

Lindsey Tanoff: without obviously giving,

Jason: away, uh, what keeps a mystery out there?

Was there

Lindsey Tanoff: was there anything

Jason: that you

Lindsey Tanoff: that you wrote or anything in

Jason: that

Lindsey Tanoff: that actually surprised you?

[: 00:29:22

---

Lindsey Tanoff: Um, things that surprised me. I did get to, I guess week in week four where I talk about lessons that shape us. There are a lot of lessons that we learn in life in general, and. I wrote some kind of parts that, um, there was a section on grief and you know, again, with my personal story of losing my mom, grief was one of those ones that was really easy to write about, but also a little cathartic for me in the terms of like, uh, a kind of therapeutic of, oh, I'm sharing.

You know, grief kind of lessons that are in the Bible that help all of us. Um, and so that was a little, that was kind of interesting to be able to write through that stuff.

[: 00:30:07

---

Lindsey Tanoff: The parables were really fun for me to write. One of my favorite, um, parables is the, the wise, wise and foolish builders. So the, their building on, you know, are you building on something that's solid?

Are you building on something that's like sand and it's just gonna fall away? And the idea that like. You know, as humans in today's world, we build our lives on different things. Maybe their ideas, relationships, um, where you work, what is it that you do for work, that sort of stuff. Uh, but really morals and values and things like that.

And so building a house, air quotes, house, when you build your house and your life on things that are. Really important or really have meaning to them. Um, again, morals and values that are very important to you, that's something that you should consider as an, as an adult, maybe as a young teenager and a young adult.

And, and adult adult. Um, and so I, the purpose of parables, that particular first week was really fun to write. Um, but I think one of the ones that really was interesting for me to write, um, is in week four I talk about tough love and. Originally I was going to, uh, title it something around Love in general, and then I thought, you know what?

Everyone knows what love is like, what the love, lovey-dovey kind of love, like hold my hand and gimme a hug and fall in love with someone. Like everyone knows what that is. But I wanted to be a little more prescriptive on what Tough love was and how the Bible does talk about. Tough love and you know, there are ideas of how you, how, how you're supposed to treat people and how different things like that.

And sometimes tough love though is telling people the truth and telling, you know, not just telling them what they want to hear. And that can be a really difficult lesson. For us to learn, uh, and for us to share with other people frankly. Um, but that was probably one of the things that, you know, is the most interesting of, um, or thing that I found, I guess, difficult or interesting while writing the devotional or I, I was surprised that I picked, you know, putting tough love in there as opposed to love, love.

Like, love, love just seemed too easy to talk about. Right,

Jason: Right. Yeah.

Lindsey Tanoff: Yeah. Well, I mean, I got the love

Jason: a selfless.

Lindsey Tanoff: choice.

Jason: you

Lindsey Tanoff: Choose love, not

Jason: a feeling.

Lindsey Tanoff: right.

Jason: it's really hard to explain that to somebody, um, who's not familiar with the, the construct of love in the Bible and, and

Lindsey Tanoff: And how God loves us,

Jason: And I mean, you know,

Lindsey Tanoff: obviously,

Jason: a hundred percent, but, um, but

Lindsey Tanoff: but knowing that,

Jason: love is, I mean, there's, there's a lot to be said about that.

Lindsey Tanoff: yeah.

Jason: So I, I,

Lindsey Tanoff: I, you know, you mentioned,

Jason: And, I will

Lindsey Tanoff: I'll say

Jason: there, you know, we've, we've

Lindsey Tanoff: we shared a little bit,

Jason: mother, my sister, um, I've lost friends in the

Lindsey Tanoff: the

Jason: What

Lindsey Tanoff: people don't,

Jason: really expect is that the grief will come sneak up on you sometimes,

Lindsey Tanoff: sure.

Jason: um, you know, even, even several months later, um, you know, something will happen and I'll think, oh, I should call my sister. And it's like, oh, I can't. So, um,

Lindsey Tanoff: Yeah. Yeah, that can be really tough.

Jason: I think that would be a very

Lindsey Tanoff: Be very valuable.

Jason: uh, uh, chapter for me or, uh, whatever that

Lindsey Tanoff: Whatever

Jason: uh, on grief for me. But, so I'm, I'm gonna go

Lindsey Tanoff: I'm gonna.

Jason: it and I encourage others to do so as well. And like I said, I'll put links in the show notes to make sure they can get to your information and, and your, your book's information.

So.

Lindsey Tanoff: Yeah, thank you.

[: 00:33:53

---

Lindsey Tanoff: And hopefully people find, you know, some meaning in each of the days and each of the weeks, and it's just maybe a starting point for them and, um, maybe something that they connect with, uh, pun intended, since the, you know, the devotional is called Connected. Um, hopefully it is something that they actually, yeah, something that they actually connect with and find meaning in and enjoy picking it up.

Every day. That's the intent of it, is that you pick it up every day for 28 days and that you commit to it. And like you had said earlier, hopefully it. Encourages a habit, and maybe they'll go look for another great devotional afterwards, or maybe it will continue. Um, maybe they'll continue to, you know, search out great podcasts like this and this, and this particular podcast becomes one of their daily kind of, um, podcasts that they listen to.

That's, that's another great, uh, source actually for people to go look for is, you know, just, uh, go look for podcasts and, and start listening to series. So it's a great source.

Jason: Yeah, there's, there's a lot of 'em out there. There's a lot of really great ones. You know, I, of course I want people to listen to mine, but I've actually

Lindsey Tanoff: Actually

Jason: podcasts, uh, guests on here and, and. You know, it's in, you can find it throughout my podcast. There's some really, really smart, really great people out there doing this as well. and I've talked to a few of them, so definitely do that. Especially if, if you're not big on, not everyone's big on reading. I love reading a book, but,

Lindsey Tanoff: right.

Jason: some people are more auditory. If you have a commute to work, that's a great way to, to kill the time is they're on a, a podcast.

Lindsey Tanoff: Oh, sure. Yeah. If you have a very busy life, like, you know, uh, I'm usually listening to them while I'm doing some work or if I'm commuting to work on the occasion, um, or if I'm on a long walk. Plug those in, you know, plug the headset in and turn on a, a podcast or doing chores around the house. That's a really great way to be able to, again, reconnect, connect to whatever it is, um, in terms of God's word and the Bible and learning about that sort of stuff.

And, um, and it's great that people like you are out there putting out podcasts and doing the research and connecting with people like myself and other authors out there, or other podcast hosts. Really just connecting and, and sharing God's word and focusing on the listener and what it is that they, um, would want to hear.

Jason: Yeah, and if you're out there listening and you wanna hear something. Go to my website, shoot me an email, I'm open to it. Uh, so this, this has been genuine and encouraging. Uh, I appreciate it.

[: 00:36:22

---

Jason: Do you have any, any final thoughts, any final words for the listeners?

Lindsey Tanoff: Um. I guess just, you know, uh, keep going. If you're, like Jason had said, if you're slightly adrift, uh, keep going. Connect with the people around you, connect with your family and friends who, uh, go to church and who are religious folks. Um, also. Go to a local church that you might find a connection with, and sometimes it takes multiple churches to connect with.

I will say that as well, that that is an important, yeah, that's an important kind of, uh, aspect of refin refining your way back to a church. It might take a couple churches, it might take a couple, uh, groups or ministries that you connect with and whatnot until you find a great place that you feel like really speaks to you or.

Works really well with your, uh, even schedule. Well, you know, if a church works well with your schedule, that's an important thing too. Can you make it on a Sunday? Do they have a Saturday night mass that you can go to? Um, that's another great, uh, resource to be able to do. But yeah, there's, there's just so many things out there that you can plug into or go look for if you are.

Uh, curious about Christianity or you're curious about the Bible and God's word. Again, this podcast is a great one. Um, devotionals, my devotionals a good place to start, but yeah, there's just, there's so many great things between, again, YouTube podcast books, devotionals, uh, actual physical churches to go and, um, you know, meet people and whatnot.

But yeah, just keep, don't be discouraged. It does take time. Um, but keep going and, and don't give up on it.

Jason: absolutely.

[: 00:38:00

---

Jason: And there's different types of churches. You know, you have the Orthodox, you have the

Lindsey Tanoff: Catholic.

Jason: if you know, uh, liturgy and, and that speaks to you, you've got non-denominational churches.

Lindsey Tanoff: Sure.

Jason: of them, you know, Pentecostal, there's a lot of 'em out there, and I, you know, I don't bag on any one church.

If you get something out of it, if you're closer to God because of whatever church you go to, Do it. That's why I think there are so many denominations is because it, people are different. We need

Lindsey Tanoff: Yep. Absolutely. Yeah, there's a lot of difference between, I mean, like I, I myself am Catholic and it's a, it's more traditional. So if you're looking for something that's a little bit more traditional, that might be something up your alley. Whereas in, if you are looking for more worship type of music, like the contemporary Christian music, maybe a Bible church or a non-denominational church is more of your speed or what you're looking for.

And there is. Yeah, there's a lot of different options out there. I don't know if you have a lot of different people from different denominations on the podcast, but um, I'm sure there's probably quite a few people who give, yeah. Who give different feedback depending on what denomination they come from.

Jason: Yep. I had a guy from a cowboy church that was awesome. Love

Lindsey Tanoff: Oh,

Jason: Um, I

Lindsey Tanoff: sounds fun.

Jason: an author who was Jewish. I mean, I, I love talking to different kinds of people, different walks of life. 'cause you learn so much.

Lindsey Tanoff: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And this is again, the podcasts like this where you have multiple, uh, walks of life and multiple viewpoints, but there's, there's still, while you say multiple viewpoints, they still have this umbrella understanding of, of God and Christianity. And there are sight differences here and there, but for the most part, you know, everyone has the same.

Kind of belief system. And really it all goes back to the Bible, right? And so everyone has the same uh, book, big book there of what they follow. And it's the Bible. And I think that's the really important thing, is that people find it important and people find a connection with it. And it's. It's gonna take a while to read through the Bible and really get an understanding of it.

I'm sure there's probably maybe pastors or priests that you, Jason, have talked to who they've been doing it for years, decades, and they're still like, they've got a good understanding, but you know, they're still kind of maybe wrestling or understanding, uh, different parts of it.

Jason: Yep. It's one of the one of the things I love about this particular genre of podcast. I will never run out of material.

Lindsey Tanoff: material, sure. Absolutely. Just so much.

[: 00:40:24

---

Jason: But I love that you didn't wait until you had a theology degree or, or a specific platform or everything figured You just you said yes and went out there. And did what was in front of you. And look what God has done.

[: 00:40:37

---

Jason: Romans 10 14. Ask how people can believe in something they've never heard about. And the answer of course, is that someone has to tell them. Someone has to share the word and and, and what I want every person listening to hear today is this. That

That someone absolutely be you. It doesn't require any any special training. It it doesn't require an audience. Just this requires a and a God who is faithful to work through ordinary people doing ordinary things. And I love that about God. I think he

loves. The average person to get the get the word out. Um,

book

[: 00:41:11

---

Jason: book, the Connected, uh,

Sorry. Connected 28. Eight

It's, it's

is' beautiful. It's

an

an accessible way to start. It's a great way to get

Uh, on the

on the track.

that's, you know, for your own faith walk or somebody you've been wanting to share the word with, you could find

You find it on Amazon,

I think you said Mar and Noble.

Lindsey Tanoff: right? Yes, that's correct.

Jason: Okay. Um, get out there and learn more [email protected]. I will

I'll have all of the information you need to share us,

be

so be sure to check that out.

Thank you again, Lindsey. I, I so

So appreciate

here and God bless you.

Lindsey Tanoff: Yes. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it and this was great talking with you. Thanks you so much.

Jason: Oh, you're welcome. As

As for. Until next time, keep loving your neighbors. Dive into God's word daily. May the Lord bless you and keep you and fill you with his peace. Take care. God bless, and I'll see you in the next episode. I.

Share Episode

Shownotes

Transcripts

Follow

Links

Chapters

Video

More from YouTube