[00:00:00] Speaker A: This is the Morning Journey Rewind with Mark and Brittany. Never miss a moment.
[00:00:04] Speaker B: This week on the Morning Journey Rewind, Mark and Brittany remind you to spend time with God, that prayer is powerful and that a picture rarely captures the full story. Also, are you a morning person? You can become one. And have you ever heard of a mobile baptism truck or a freckle phone? Also, Christmas is upon us already.
[00:00:21] Speaker C: Well, as we start the week, something to consider. How much time are we making for God in our lives? We make time for work, entertainment, our phones, our hobbies and our friends. But how much time do we make for God?
[00:00:35] Speaker D: Yeah. Billy Graham once said, insanity is making no time for God on earth and then saying you want to spend eternity with him in heaven. It's one of those things you think about. Our relationship with God is that it's a relationship. And if you don't spend time fostering that relationship, what kind of relationship are you actually going to have? You can't do that with your friends. If you never talk to them or never see them, then guess what? You're probably not going to have that friendship anymore.
Very similar that way.
[00:01:01] Speaker C: Yeah. Mark 8:36 says, for what shall it profit a man if we shall gain the whole world and lose our own souls? So spend time this week making that time, making room for God in your life.
[00:01:13] Speaker E: I just kind of channel surfing through the radio.
[00:01:15] Speaker A: Families are catching on and I'm like,
[00:01:17] Speaker C: wow, this is pretty cool.
[00:01:18] Speaker A: To the best way.
[00:01:19] Speaker E: But now this is the only thing I listen to now to wake up. My style of everything has started and changed.
[00:01:23] Speaker A: It's the morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:01:26] Speaker C: Have you ever thought about those things that you do for others? Maybe it's what you would consider a chore. Like making dinner for your family again and again and again is actually someone else's prayer.
[00:01:39] Speaker D: Yeah. A lot of things in life that we view as an inconvenience are actually something else that someone has been praying for. And it's really a lot about perspective. Like you said, like making dinner, dinner for your family. That's something that somebody else is praying for. That family that they don't have.
Or like hands, little hands that constantly need you. This is where I'm at in my stage of life. And my daughter's constantly needing me. But that child that I have is someone else's prayer who's looking for a child. Things like cleaning the house. Hello, everyone. We're all in that boat no one wants to clean. But you know, how grateful are we to be able to say God thank you for the house that we have to be able to clean it.
[00:02:17] Speaker C: Yeah. Someone prays for relief, maybe a breakthrough or a helping hand, and you are the one that is positioned to be the answer to that request.
[00:02:26] Speaker D: So maybe today, as you're doing these chores, be thinking about the other side of that. Switch your perspective and be thinking about the person who's on the other side of that praying for those things, for the house, for the family, for the dinner that needs to be made. And thank God for what you have.
[00:02:43] Speaker C: Hey, you can be a part of the Journey team that prays for the needs of other listeners. It's our Facebook group, the Journey Prayer Connection.
[00:02:50] Speaker D: All you have to do is look it up on Facebook. It is a private group, so if you're in need of prayer, you can post your prayer request there and know that it is safe in the hands of the Journey family and not just public for everyone to see. And also, if you're a prayer warrior and you love praying for people, that group is for you as well. Just search Journey Prayer Connection on Facebook. Post your praise reports as well. We know that God is working in your life, and we love to see when a prayer gets answered so we can all celebrate.
[00:03:13] Speaker C: We just mentioned the Journey Prayer Connection, and. And this next story is really proof of the power of prayer and to never stop praying.
[00:03:22] Speaker D: You never know how long you're going to be in the waiting, waiting for the answer for that prayer. And for this man, he was waiting 35 years. He had been praying for his dad for 35 years. And at 81 years old, his dad finally accepted Jesus and got baptized by his son in the baptismal pool. And not only did the dad baptized his dad, but his sons were in the water with them. So they had three generations in the baptismal pool together. And it's just proof that sometimes you gotta pray a long time before God answers that prayer.
[00:03:52] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:03:53] Speaker A: Uplifting and encouraging because you need it now more than ever.
[00:03:57] Speaker C: You betcha.
[00:03:58] Speaker A: The morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:04:00] Speaker D: Well, the Internet can be an interesting place. There's a lot of times that we see a clip of something or a picture of something, and we think we've got the whole story figured out. And that's the case. And in this instance, there was a man at a Giants game, a baseball game, and his wife had their toddler, she was carrying their baby on her, and she went and got food for them and brought it back, and the Internet took that picture and basically told her to leave her husband, that he was a deadbeat how dare he make her carry the kid and all the food?
But that's not really what happened. I mean, context is key here. So what really happened is that he was there because he had a really good friend who was a Giants fan who had passed away. And. And so his wife said, let's go to a baseball game so you can enjoy the game and remember your friend. She got up to go get the food. He offered to take the baby. She said, don't worry about it. The baby's warm and content on me. I'll take her. And then she wanted to make sure he had food to eat because she had already eaten before the game.
[00:04:55] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:55] Speaker D: So here she is, trying to care for her husband in this moment of his grief. And the Internet has ripped this poor man apart.
[00:05:03] Speaker C: Yeah. Not only did they miss a little context, they missed the entire story in what happened.
[00:05:08] Speaker D: And that's the hard part. When we look at Facebook and Instagram and we see these things online and we think we know everyone's life story and everything that's going on in someone's life based on one picture, and we compare ourselves to those things and we take stories like this, that was a nice moment for this man and his wife, and turn it into something awful.
So if you're looking through the Internet today, like we always do, if you're scrolling, just remember, context is key here.
[00:05:34] Speaker E: We're just gonna worship, we're gonna be encouraged, and we're just gonna be together.
[00:05:39] Speaker A: That's the idea. You're on the morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:05:43] Speaker C: If you are not a morning person, but you would like to be, there are some things you can try that will help you be ready to face the day.
[00:05:51] Speaker D: Are you naturally a morning person?
[00:05:54] Speaker C: Depends on definition of morning.
[00:05:58] Speaker D: Like when you like getting up at
[00:06:00] Speaker C: 3 o' clock in the morning?
[00:06:02] Speaker D: No, I think for me, I am naturally a morning person just because, like, from the time I was 14, I was rowing boats on the crew team. So our practice was always in the morning. And so once I am awake, I'm ready to go. I don't need coffee, I don't need time to adjust. I'm up and I'm ready and I'm ready for the day. That's just how my body works.
[00:06:23] Speaker C: I think I'm becoming more that way. I was not a late sleeper ever.
So even on weekends, I'm up by probably 6 in the morning.
[00:06:33] Speaker D: And you've kind of had to adjust recently, like since you started doing the morning show. So you've kind of learned how to become a morning person.
[00:06:40] Speaker C: So here are some things that you may want to try. Scientists and researchers say these will work. Get early light. Okay, so your best option is natural sunlight. So like a day like today, get up early when the sun is up, go outside for a few minutes, Just get some natural sunlight.
[00:06:57] Speaker D: I was gonna say that is even getting a little bit harder as the winter months approach because it doesn't get light till like 7am so for us early birds, that's a hard one. For us.
[00:07:07] Speaker C: This is a big one. You're seeing more people talk about this ban blue light at night. Yes, I know you're a big proponent of that.
[00:07:17] Speaker D: Yes. That means put your phone down. My husband, when he wakes up in the middle of night, the first thing he does is pick up his phone. And I'm like, that is. Everyone tells you that that is the worst thing you can do to fall back asleep.
[00:07:28] Speaker C: So I'm getting better at it.
I always went to bed and then would look at my phone for 20 minutes or a half hour and then I've stopped that.
[00:07:37] Speaker D: Has it helped?
[00:07:38] Speaker C: Yes, it has. I do fall asleep and then stay asleep.
[00:07:41] Speaker D: This one's interesting to me. Working out, but not too close to bedtime.
So I guess you work out and that helps you, your body get tired for sleep.
[00:07:50] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. And then set an early sleep time and awake time and then try to stick to it. That's a hard one. That's hard to do.
[00:07:59] Speaker D: The sleep time is the hard part. Like going to bed at a consistent time. We try to go to bed at like 9 o' clock every night because then I get at least six hours, which doesn't sound like a lot, but I can function on six.
[00:08:12] Speaker C: I'm good actually for about five hours.
[00:08:15] Speaker D: Really?
[00:08:15] Speaker C: Yeah, five to six hours. And then I try to go to bed. I'm in that 9, 30, 10 range. But like the other night I was up to like 11.
[00:08:24] Speaker D: See, it depends on what's going on. So if you're not an early bird, there are some things you can do to become one, especially if you kind of have to for your job.
[00:08:32] Speaker A: Start on a positive note. You're on the morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:08:37] Speaker C: Well, baptism has gone mobile. Brittany and I were watching a video posted of a mobile truck, baptism truck going down the highway. The truck is equipped with. With a tub for baptizing.
[00:08:49] Speaker D: Never did I think I would see such a thing. It's kind of a cool concept though. It's called revive. And basically, you know, ministry can happen anywhere and people can Decide to get baptized anywhere. And this is like the first time I've seen something that's able to actually accommodate that. And so I assume that they don't travel with water in the tub because that would probably be a big mess.
[00:09:10] Speaker C: Yeah, the truck. The panels of the truck lay out the plan of salvation. It's on the side there.
[00:09:16] Speaker E: And.
[00:09:16] Speaker C: And if you want to look up more about the truck and the organization. The organization, as Brittany mentioned, is called Time to Revive. Their website is timetorevive.com they are dedicated to helping believers fulfill the great commission.
[00:09:30] Speaker D: I love that it's on the side of the truck too. So if you're ever stuck in traffic, it's a super easy way to witness to people and baptize them right there in the middle of the highway. I mean, if you're stuck in traffic long enough, it's a pretty cool idea. Love to see some something like that that exists.
[00:09:45] Speaker A: A great way to start your day. The morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:09:49] Speaker C: A rest retro style phone is trying to encourage kids to get away from their screens. This is called the freckle phone and it resembles a handheld gaming device.
[00:10:00] Speaker D: This is an interesting concept. So it's basically enticing your kids to get away from a screen by offering them a different type of screen. Now the cool part about this phone is there's no Internet capabilities. There's no YouTube, there's no social media. There's really no real way. There's like a walkie talkie option and like a device sharing location so the parents can see where their kids are. The point of the phone is to get them out in nature, take pictures of things. It's almost like a Google lens where it'll tell you like, this plant is poison ivy. Which something we all could use, actually.
But the hard part for me is that I know my daughter. And when there is a screen on, like if we turn the TV on at home, she's immediately like zoned out.
[00:10:36] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:36] Speaker D: Blocked out. Everything around her, like focus on the screen, have to pause the TV to ask her a question. Kind of blocked out.
[00:10:42] Speaker C: Well, there's probably a lot of parents saying that same thing, right?
[00:10:45] Speaker D: So I don't think. And my husband was like, oh, this is a great alternative for maybe when she's a little bit older. And I'm like, maybe when she's like very much older, when all of her friends are getting cell phones, maybe then we introduce this because right now I want her to go outside and play with bubbles like she did yesterday. Whereas if she Had a phone. Like, she would be more into that. She even made me take a video of her playing with bubbles and then immediately wanted to watch the video of herself. So I'm like, as cute as an idea as this is, I think this is a fun concept for kids. I also think that it's. It kind of doesn't defeat the purpose of, like, having them on screens, if that makes sense.
[00:11:18] Speaker C: Yeah. I do like the idea that parents can set up the phone approving who their kids call.
[00:11:23] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:11:23] Speaker C: So that part of it, I think, works really well. But to your point, there's still a little bit of a screen and interaction there as opposed to just having a cell phone without Internet apps, A store.
[00:11:40] Speaker D: Yeah, we're gonna go back to the walkie talkie days. That's what I had. And when all my friends got cell phones, Brittany got a walkie talkie.
[00:11:47] Speaker E: I turn y' all on in the
[00:11:48] Speaker D: morning when I get in my truck. It's helpful when I'm taking the kids to school.
[00:11:51] Speaker E: Here we go.
[00:11:52] Speaker A: It's the morning Journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:11:55] Speaker C: Well, it's that time of year. People already starting to listen to Christmas music.
[00:11:59] Speaker D: It's official. The Christmas creep is on. It's creeping into our daily lives. If you've been shopping at all, you've seen Christmas things in the stores. But according to Spotify I, over 100,000 people created a Christmas playlist in the month of September.
[00:12:13] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:12:14] Speaker D: Which is crazy to me.
[00:12:16] Speaker C: I'm pretty sure one of those people would be our business manager, Susan.
[00:12:20] Speaker D: You are correct. I texted her on the 1st and said, are you listening to Christmas music yet? And she said, you know I am.
[00:12:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:12:25] Speaker D: And so here at the Journey, we love Christmas music too, but we don't like to rush the holidays. So we will start our Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving. So you'll get through Thanksgiving, and then it'll be all Christmas music through the new year. But yeah, it's. If you're one of those people, power to you. I like to separate my holidays and, like, enjoy them individually. And so after Thanksgiving, all the Christmas, all the music, all the decorations, all you want, but not until then.
[00:12:51] Speaker A: Start on a positive note. You're on the morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
Hey.
[00:12:57] Speaker C: Next Tuesday, the Journey will be delivering our Tuesday tasty treats. Make sure you sign up your business or organization.
[00:13:04] Speaker D: We love delivering treats from Sweet Indulgence Bakery to your office. But you have to sign up if you want us to come by. So you have until next Tuesday to get signed
[email protected] all the details are right there, but it's just a fun way to make a Tuesday feel less like a Tuesday and more like a Friday.
[00:13:20] Speaker A: We just wanted to say thanks for making us part of your day. It's the morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:13:26] Speaker C: A bad day. Have you ever had one of those? Sure you have. We have all had them. A day when nothing you try works out, nothing seems to go the way you had planned it. And there are some things that you can do to kind of help you get through the day and get through those times. Obviously for us one of the big thing is to take that to the Lord. A good day or a bad day?
[00:13:52] Speaker D: I think the hard part for me is sometimes I'll have a bad moment and I'll let that spiral into the day just being bad. And really it's just that small moment. And if I can take that thought or that moment and give it to God in that instant instead of like dwelling on it, it does tend to make the rest of the day go a little bit smoother and a little bit better.
[00:14:11] Speaker C: Yeah. So that speaks to one of the things that you can try and that's self awareness and reflection.
[00:14:16] Speaker D: Yes. Being present is huge. Also, sleeping is one way to reset after a bad day. So if you can squeeze a nap in. I know it's hard to think about if you're having a bad day. A lot of times it's because you're rushed and you've forgotten something or something's gone wrong. But if you can take a moment to nap. I know middle of the day when I get my nap in, sometimes that's the perfect reset.
[00:14:34] Speaker C: Yeah. And then if napping did not work for you, then get up and move. Even shifting your physical state, even if it's a brisk walk, can help you change your thoughts.
[00:14:44] Speaker D: It's funny because I was feeling kind of down yesterday and we were eating dinner and my husband looked at me and he's like, I think you need to go for a walk after dinner. And he was like, I'll stay here with the kids. I think you just need to. And sure enough, I went for a walk around the neighborhood and felt so much better when I got back. Like just being out in nature, especially with the cooler weather, weather and the sunshine really did help to like reset my move. Having that time to like just talk with God about like why I was in a bad mood. Cuz sometimes you just don't know and you just are.
[00:15:12] Speaker A: Thanks for catching up on the morning journey Rewind podcast With Mark and Brittany.
Start on a positive note. You're on the morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:18:51] Speaker E: Sa.
We're just going to worship, we're going to be encouraged and we're just going to be together.
[00:19:25] Speaker A: That's the idea. You're on the morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
Turn on hope and encouragement. It's the morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
With Mark and Brittany.
[00:20:31] Speaker E: You guys always make me smile.
[00:20:33] Speaker A: The morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
Your day starts with encouragement. The morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
Your day starts with encouragement. The morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:22:19] Speaker C: Well, Willpower Christian cyclists began back in 1993. They are celebrating 33 years of ministry and they have a big, huge milestone coming up. On October 28th, willpower plans to hit 1 million miles pedaled. Judy Bowman is the founder of Wheel Power. She's with us this morning. Judy, good morning.
[00:22:40] Speaker E: Good morning.
[00:22:41] Speaker C: Great to have you with us this morning. That's incredible. One million miles coming up.
[00:22:46] Speaker E: Well, that's actually the personal record. Our ministry collectively has done 3 million miles.
[00:22:50] Speaker D: Wow.
That's amazing.
[00:22:52] Speaker E: One million is going to be the woman's world record. That's what I'll be setting.
[00:22:56] Speaker C: That's amazing.
[00:22:57] Speaker D: It's not only just a woman's world record, it's also on your birthday, which is a pretty big deal.
[00:23:01] Speaker E: I decided to finish on my birthday and have a big splash. Right.
[00:23:05] Speaker C: So what led you to start Willpower? How did it all begin?
[00:23:10] Speaker E: Well, I got my bike when I was really young, six years old and always started biking. And when I was 15, I was actually born in Portland, Maine and my folks moved us to la. And on that trip, I told my family one day I wanted to ride my bicycle across America as a 15 year old girl.
[00:23:24] Speaker D: Wow.
[00:23:24] Speaker E: And at that point I said, I want to meet people and I want to see our country. So I joined the Air Force. I'm a veteran. And anyway, as life went on, I came to know the Lord when I was 28 years old and I went through a tough time. I was beaten, abused and cheated on by my ex husband. I was a single mom when my son was three. And anyway, through all of that, after I came to Christ, I just felt like everybody needed to hear what I had heard because I had kind of lived in, you know, not a Christian kind of world type thing. I mean, I was always a good person, always thought I was good enough, you know, things like that.
And in fact, you know, the funniest story is my mother was a nun, so she was in the convent wow. She was in the convent for a couple of years, but then she left the convent and, and she got married and she got out of the habit and had seven children.
So I was raised in that environment, but I never had the personal relationship and I just was so burdened that so many people didn't hear truth.
Anyway, as God led me to continue bicycling all my life, one day I was riding and I just thought, wow, what a great opportunity to talk to people. You're wide open.
And so God gave me the vision to start the ministry because of things that had happened in my life. And it's, you know, we've never had anybody hit by a car.
[00:24:41] Speaker D: That's amazing.
[00:24:42] Speaker E: And we've had thousands of people have come to the Lord. I've written a book called the Wheel, Meaning of Life and a lot of salvation stories and just encouraging Christians. It doesn't have to be on a bike. I mean, I witness in the grocery store and Walmart.
[00:24:55] Speaker D: I was going to say, how have you connected riding the bike to being able to witness to people? Because you are biking, a lot of times people are driving by in their cars. But how do you actually make that connection with people while you're riding?
[00:25:05] Speaker E: Oh, when we're going across the country and I've done 15 coast to coast trips, but when we're on the road, we actually will stop when we see people.
[00:25:13] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:25:13] Speaker E: Or we have to stop and use a bathroom or we've got to go have lunch. And we just. So it's really, I disciple all the people that come with us to get them used to just starting a conversation. It's connecting with people is what witnessing is all about. You know, God told us to go and make disciples of all nations. And in John 15:16, Jesus says, you didn't choose me, but I chose you to go and bear fruit.
So my message is speaking in churches all over the country to have them get out of the pews and outside the walls of the church and we can change our world by just sharing the truth of the word of God.
[00:25:48] Speaker D: It's so true. Getting out in the community really is kind of the first step.
[00:25:51] Speaker C: And coming up on October 28th, Judy is setting a world record. She will bike 1 million miles.
[00:26:02] Speaker D: Now, this is so cool because you're going to Florida and you could have completed this million mile marker in Florida, but you're actually going to come back here to Lynchburg to do this.
[00:26:10] Speaker E: Well, I decided it'd be more fun to finish with my family and people in town and just Kind of make it a big splash, so to speak. So on the 28th, which will be my birthday.
[00:26:21] Speaker D: Happy birthday.
[00:26:22] Speaker E: I don't know if I should say how many decades it is, at least seven decades. But no, it's exciting.
But I went down to Florida to do those last few hundred miles because they have paved trails and there's no traffic and I don't have to think about being out on the roads and stuff like that.
Plus, I've got an opportunity through this world record that's coming up to speak in Christian schools down in Florida. I'll be in several churches. I'll be doing some youth programs and just encouraging Christians.
It's not about riding a bicycle. It's really about the heart of loving the Lord and wanting to love people and tell them about Jesus. And that's what our ministry's always been. It's not been the bicycle, but it's really been the purpose of what we're doing. So my passion and my purpose is to tell everybody I can about Jesus every day.
[00:27:09] Speaker D: So on the 28th, you're coming back, you're doing the Blackwater Trail with all your family. What time, do you know what time of day yet you're gonna do it?
[00:27:17] Speaker E: I think it's gonna be close to the afternoon and I'm trying to work that out with my son and family. So it's probably going to be looking at maybe 4 o', clock, ish, 4 to 5 before you know it's going to be fall. So it's the weather change and time change, but yeah, so I think it's going to be that afternoon. Three, four o', clock, hopefully.
[00:27:36] Speaker D: Fun.
[00:27:37] Speaker E: Anybody that wants to bring a bicycle and do those last 10 miles or so with us, I'll post some more things on my Facebook page and you can do the same. That'd be fun to have a blast. A group of people.
[00:27:50] Speaker C: So the date is October 28th, so be looking for that. Judy, how how many times have you ridden across the country?
[00:27:58] Speaker E: I have done 15 times across America.
[00:28:00] Speaker D: Wow.
[00:28:00] Speaker C: Amazing.
[00:28:01] Speaker E: Like I said earlier, when I was 15 years old, I said I want a bike. And I thought it was interesting that I kind of ended doing 15 across country. But all 50 states I've pedaled in and I've led 63 mission trips on the bicycles.
[00:28:14] Speaker D: That's awesome. And you were talking to us a little bit about how it really is just about conversation, Opening that door, having that conversation, someone simple as I like your outfit can lead to sharing the gospel. And you've seen several people Come to know the Lord through this ministry.
[00:28:28] Speaker E: Oh, yeah. Thousands grocery stores. I mean, anywhere you go, there's people. Obviously there's people. It's just finding that connection with people. I've recently written a book called the Wheel Meaning of Life. And it's not about bicycling. It's about the stories that we've met on the road. We have thousands of them. I've picked my top 28. 28 is my kind of number. My birthday number. I got saved when I was 28. I kind of followed that little pattern. But the stories are just amazing. If anybody wants a copy of the book, I'll be glad to send them.
Excuse me, mailing to them, but it just helps you to think about the people that we meet every day, wherever we go. Even walking in the park or grocery shopping is one of my favorite places.
[00:29:09] Speaker D: Everybody's got to go to the grocery store. That is for true. Well, thank you so much, Judy. And if you want to get involved and ride those last few miles with her on October 28th, we'll have some more details as it gets closer. But thank you for being with us.
[00:29:20] Speaker C: Thank you so much.
[00:29:21] Speaker E: And I hope the both of you will get your bikes and dust them off and join them.
[00:29:24] Speaker D: Yeah, I know we got a new bike trailer for the kids, so I'm ready to go.
[00:29:27] Speaker E: Go, Mama it.
[00:30:16] Speaker B: Welcome to Diary of the Mom Squad with Kate and Brittany. Tune in for insights into the hilarious, heartfelt, and often chaotic world of motherhood, where no one has everything figured out and we all need a whole lot of Jesus. So grab a cup of coffee, take a break, and join this crazy journey together. This is Diary of the Mom Squad, where moms connect, support, and thrive.
