What if the years you think you wasted aren't wasted at all?
Jordan Pruitt was just 14 years old when a demo recorded for $100 eventually landed in the hands of Hollywood Records. Within months, she went from growing up in a small town with one stoplight to performing for thousands, touring with acts like the Cheetah Girls and becoming part of the Disney music world.
But behind the success was a very different story.
In this episode of Out of Focus, Shannon sits down with Jordan for an incredibly honest conversation about the years that followed—the pressure of growing up in the spotlight, struggling with comparison and identity, eventually walking away from music, battling alcohol, and reaching a place where she says she didn't even recognize herself anymore.
Jordan opens up about getting sober and the difficult first months when she could no longer numb what she was feeling. She shares how therapy, AA, her family, and most importantly her relationship with Jesus became part of rebuilding her life and how sobriety ultimately deepened a faith she had carried since childhood.
They also talk about shame, five miscarriages, motherhood, marriage, the hidden seasons of life, and what happens when something you thought God might be finished with begins stirring in your heart again.
After nearly 15 years away from music, Jordan is singing again—and remarkably, she's re-recording the very song that helped launch her career as a teenager. She shares the moment Joel 2 reminded her that God can restore what feels lost, the unexpected doors opening without a manager or PR team, and why this time she's determined to let God lead instead of measuring her life by someone else's success.
This conversation is for anyone who has ever looked backward and wondered, Did I waste too much time? Did I mess up too badly? Did I miss what God had for me?
Jordan's story is a reminder that your lowest chapter doesn't have to become your final one. God is still able to restore, redeem, and breathe life into places you thought were finished.
“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten...” — Joel 2:25
If you're in a season that feels wasted, hidden, delayed, or impossible to redeem, don't assume God is finished because you can't yet see what He's doing. Keep walking with Him. Keep surrendering what you cannot change. The God who redeems people also knows how to redeem the parts of our stories we thought were lost forever.
