The Power of Faith in God
[00:00:00] You are listening to the Spiritual Warrior Coach with Barbara Saban, the podcast for discovering how powerful your wisdom, compassion, and courage is. Get ready to join Barbara and her guests as they explore and offer you advice on how to reclaim your power, your energy, and your authentic self. And now, Here's the host of the show, Barbara Savin.
Well, thank you for joining me today and welcome to the Spiritual Warrior Coach Podcast. I am your host, Barbara Savin, and I am here to help you reclaim your power, your energy, and your authentic self. I am a certified clinical and medical hypnotherapist, Reiki master and teacher. Energy Healing Specialist, Life Coach, and Best Selling Author of [00:01:00] Gentle Energy Touch, Beginner's Guide to Hands On Healing.
You know, I have been helping my clients for over 35 years. So let me ask you a question. Isn't it time that you believe in yourself? You know, your mind is going to provide you with your greatest challenges in life because it's so very, very powerful. So let's use that mind for positive thinking, creating balance, harmony, Peace, love, happiness, and anything else that your heart desires because one day the world will tap you on your shoulder and say, now this is your time to shine and speaking about shining.
I'm going to bring my guest on right now. Cheryl Johnson. How are you today? I'm great. Thank you. Let me tell my listeners a little bit about you. Cheryl's background is in the personal development space. Her focus has been on [00:02:00] educational programs that promote motivation, faith, and the constitution. She is the author of the book, Faith, the Power Within, and Cheryl shares her faith journey on her belief in God.
And she also shares a prescription where someone who may not have a belief in God can use faith to empower themselves to face the challenges of life. Is, so let me ask, is simply faith a set of beliefs or does it work? along the lines of the law of attraction where someone can use the power to bring about positive results in one's life.
So welcome Cheryl. I'm so happy that you said yes to come on my show today. Well, I appreciate you having me. I'm, you know, so yeah, so what, how did this all start for you? I mean, did you always have like faith in God or [00:03:00] trust in God? I'm just curious. Well, it's interesting because my mom told, this is from my mom.
Um, she said from the time I was a little girl, I've always had faith in God. I mean, I started with, you know, all the things. Kids pray for like, oh, I lost my doll or I lost something, you know, and it's like Heavenly Father Please help me find it and sure enough. I found it and I was like, oh that see this must work.
So You know it started off as simply Soliciting God to help me solve problems in my life. Mm hmm And it worked, but it's definitely been an evolution since that point. I, I can imagine. So the, so you've always had this in you like your whole life then I would assume. And growing up. So, so, uh, do you have any siblings that are the same way?
Or, um. Nope. As a matter of fact, my mom had five [00:04:00] kids and I am the only one. And it's interesting because I grew up in a religious home. And I'm sure we've all heard the scripture, faith without works is dead. And you know. And my mom, she's a very religious person, definitely believes in God, but it was kind of like, okay, let's do 99 percent works and 1 percent faith.
And then she's like, here I have this child who is, does 99 percent faith, and you know, that's not to say you don't have to do your part, but I recognized early on that, um, I needed God in my life and, you know, no matter how hard I worked and no matter how hard I tried without God, I wasn't going to get anywhere.
And my siblings, none of them even go to a church or hold religious. I think they believe they just. [00:05:00] for whatever reason have chosen to kind of abandon that. Yeah. So do you feel they've abandoned God or that they're just, do they know that there's a higher power or do they have that sense of, you know, feeling?
Um, that's kind of a mixed bag. Uh, they, I think they believe in God. Um, I think religion to them, um, you know, in some cases, um, my sister is, is, spiritual, religious. I don't know that she attends a church per se, but um, she definitely reads the Bible and prays and, and, you know, believes in those type of things.
My brother, eh, it's kind of a mixed bag. I think they believe. They just, it's too much work. It's a lot of, well, you know, I, I, I have two children. Uh, my son lives in, uh, Florida. My daughter's here in California and they're at the, on the opposite, opposite spectrums. You know, he, uh, just [00:06:00] converted, uh, so he's Catholic now and his whole family, and he is so much into the church.
And I have my daughter here who's, uh, not into that at all. Um, And, and she's still our faith, which is Jewish. And, uh, but she's not even Jewish. So she's very, um, just spiritual. And I guess she, uh, got that from myself because I am, of course, the Jewish religion, but I do not, practice it, uh, but I'm just spiritual.
Whereas my, my mother and father and my grandma was very Jewish and went to synagogue all the time. So it's amazing how, uh, two children so different, you know, and a mom now different, you know, and I'm happy for him that he converted, you know, if that's what he wants in his life, I am so happy for him. So, you know, when we visit, um, Florida.
We also, you know, help him [00:07:00] and show him that we really care. And so we go to church, you know, with him and it's fine. I mean, I believe it doesn't matter if it's church, synagogue, it does not matter. All that is, is what you really feel inside. You know, how you feel. I mean, I'm a firm believer of God and I've been calling God.
I mean, this has been a tough year for me. So I've even called him more than what I normally do. So, you know, um, yeah, it's, um, a beautiful feeling when you have faith, because I feel that if we, if we don't have that, that knowing and, you know, trusting and feeling and believing in that faith, then what is there for us, really?
Yeah, I've got four kids, and interestingly enough, none of them are, I don't know, even spiritual. Um, and you know, if you were to read my book and all of the experiences that they shared [00:08:00] with me growing up and I raised them to be, you know, what I believe to be deeply spiritual and religious, but they just, for whatever reason, have chosen to go a different route.
And, um, it's interesting because just today too, I was, I was writing a, a blog post. You know, between COVID and all of the difficulties of the last couple of years. I think we've all been challenged on a level that we just, you know, and I think a lot of us have felt abandoned in a lot of different ways for a lot of different reasons.
And, um, and that's, I talk about in my book, you know, if you were to read the first 90 percent of my book, you'd think, oh, she has this tremendous faith and it's never, I mean, it's been challenged, you know, and it's had to grow and it's had to evolve over time. But man, COVID just, not just COVID, You know, the illness itself, but just circumstances under which we had [00:09:00] to live.
Yeah, it's been rough. Yeah, and it really has, um, brought about a lot of discouragement, a lot of despair. Mm hmm. I think if without hope, and hope to me is a precursor to faith. Yeah. Yeah, without that, I don't know how people get by, and I'll be honest, I, you know, for the first time, I'm 60 years old, and for the first time in my life during COVID, I kind of felt abandoned.
I kind of felt like God just wasn't there, and, um, It was hard. It was very hard. I know I lost my business during that year. And I said, all right, uh, if this is what, uh, it's supposed to happen, then it'll, it'll be. And I would sit down and say, God, yeah, I just don't understand this. I've done everything. You know, that I'm supposed to, you know, because I'm an energy healer and [00:10:00] helps thousands of people have wrote my, my book, and I couldn't understand but I always had the hope and faith that this too shall pass, and that this was a test of, you could say maybe perseverance.
Or how my real test of, in God was there. And, and I knew without a doubt that this was, this was just temporary. And that this too shall pass. And then after COVID, you know, of course, and I ended up, um, in the hospital. I had, I had a surgery, parathyroid surgery, and then I ended up getting COVID again. And then, you know, I ended up in the hospital only like two weeks ago.
And I'm saying to myself, Hmm, okay, what is going on here? But again, Deep down inside, I know, all right, maybe I need to just step back a little bit and see what I need to change or just step away for a little bit. But again, my, my true belief and hope and [00:11:00] trust never changed. Um, because I knew. Again, there is always a reason for something to be, and I said alright, whatever the reason is, I may not understand it now, and I may never understand why, but I'm trusting that everything will just turn out in its own timing the right way.
Which it's supposed to be, whether it's right or wrong. It doesn't matter. It's whatever the the way is. And so, yeah, and I'm still, I'm still trusting.
Yeah. So let me, let me ask you, I mean, I know you wrote that book. So what, what actually prompted you to write this book about faith? Well, I've, I've been wanting to write it for a very long time, to be honest. Um, I've had some rather interesting circumstances in my life, and they're just, like I said, growing up, I, [00:12:00] you know, probably into my late teens.
I was always a person of, you know, my husband calls me a pitbull. Kind of once, once you lock on to something, you know, it's like, oh, you're never, you know, I'm very resilient, persevere through all kinds of things. And, um, but I'd always look to God as kind of, You know, Hey, I hate to say it, but in my book, it's kind of like, you know, your Christmas wish list, you know, God, here's what I need.
Here's what I want. You know, go ahead and give it to me. And I know that in some conversations I've had with my siblings, they, they were discouraged. To the point that I think that's kind of what led them off the path a little bit. I'm sure there's a multiplicity of reasons, but it was like, Hey, I was doing everything I should have been doing.
I was, and I'm asking you Lord for these blessings and you didn't give them to me. So why should I, you know, you're not keeping up [00:13:00] your end of the deal. Why should I keep up mine? And I, I, there was a real turning point in my life. Um, when I was, I'd always wanted, I know a lot of people aspire to be doctors, lawyers, you know, something grand.
I wanted to be a flight attendant. That was my great, great name. And, um, since I was about seven or eight years old, and then when I got to be, I don't know, 17, 18 years old, I started applying to the airlines. And this was in the days when you literally, you would write a letter to the airlines, they'd send you back an application, you had, on a manual typewriter, you had to type up all these applications, all these letters of, you know, I mean, this was a huge, big deal.
This wasn't like a computer where you spit it out, you know, one letter and it. prints five copies and whatever. But, um, it was, it was a big deal. And so I, like once every six months, I would go through this process [00:14:00] and every six months I'd get rejected. And I just keep trying until I was about 21. And when I was 21, and I didn't realize that this is another thing I didn't realize was that you, you know, most airlines aren't going to hire you unless you're 21 because you have to serve alcohol.
And. Second of all, I'm from small town USA, and they generally hire people in the bigger cities because that's where their bases are, right? But I didn't know that, I was rather naive. But, I went through all this process, and finally when I was 21, my brother was living in Guam, and he's like, Hey, my girlfriend works for Air Micronesia, which is, was at the time a subsidiary of Continental, and they're hiring, and I was like, Yeah!
So I looked up and it was like, Oh, they have a base in LA. So I wrote a letter and they're like, well, we moved our base to Houston. I was like, Oh, okay. So I sent my letter to Houston and they're like, Oh, by the way, our recruiters are in Denver. I was living in Wyoming at the time. And so I knew enough about it by this point that their processes to know that they [00:15:00] usually, their recruiting events are held at hotels, major hotels.
So I just started calling every hotel in the, I know, right around the airport in Denver. And finally, I stumbled across the hotel they were at. And oddly enough, they took my call. I mean, I mean, that's just like, wow. So I, I got this, um, I, and they said, this was on a Thursday. And they said, if you can get here by tomorrow, our last group interview is tomorrow at four o'clock, and if you can get here by four o'clock, then we'll interview you.
And I was like, whoa, okay. So I hopped on the next plane out of Rock Springs, Wyoming, and off I went to Denver. And when I got there, I went to the group interview, and lucky for me, I was on my way back to the airport, because it was a Friday afternoon. All the recruiters were on their way back to the airport, and I rode the same shuttle they did.
Oh, yeah. Um, so we, I, they got to talking to [00:16:00] me and they were laughing. They were like, we didn't really think you'd show up. And I was like, I didn't think you'd really answer my call. And, um, long story short, you know, a couple of weeks later I get this telegram cause that's, we didn't have email and all that stuff.
I get a telegram, which I'd never received in my life from Continental Airlines saying, Hey, we're inviting you to be, come to flight attendant training in Houston. And I was excited and I, you know, my prayers had been answered and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I was just so certain that, um, you know, this was, this was going to be wonderful.
Right. So after getting through, I won't even go into the long story of training and all that kind of stuff. It's all in my book. But, um, after working there for about six months to a year, I was really sick because I was working all the time, and it was just running me ragged, and I literally, I'd get in from one flight, and [00:17:00] they, I couldn't even leave the airport, and they'd be grabbing me, throwing me on another flight, and just so many things happened.
And, um, I remember I've been working every Sunday, couldn't go to church. Finally, I decided to go to church. I got a Sunday off and I remember sitting on the back row of church and just crying, you know, to myself. I was like, Heavenly Father, You know, this is like my dream, this is what I've always wanted, and you know, you helped me get it, I'm sure, you know, there's no way that, I mean, this, it was divine intervention that I got this job, and I remember, you know, saying, what do you, what do you, what do you want from me?
What more can I do? I'm so unhappy. And I was like, uh, I was married at the time, by the way, um, since I want you to have a baby and I was like, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, that's, that's, that wasn't part of my plan, but I was in a place where I'd been [00:18:00] humbled enough, I guess, that I was willing to go that route.
And so I ended up having a baby and I remember the day. I brought my first child home, and you know, I'm sure you've experienced this. Every mother has experienced this. This is nothing new or special. But I remember sitting there on the couch holding my baby the day I came home from the hospital and just tears flowing down my face.
It's like, oh, I've never been so happy in all my life. This is the most wonderful thing that could have ever happened to me. And at that point, I was, it just dawned on me. It was like, You know, God knows me better than I know myself. I thought I wanted to be a flight attendant. I thought that was going to be my dream come true.
I thought that that was going to make me happy. And the thing that I, it wasn't like I didn't like kids, but it just wasn't on my radar, just wasn't part of my plan. And I was like, okay, okay, from here on out, I'm yours. [00:19:00] Um, I, you know, I'm going to trust you because I know that you know me better than I know myself.
I'm your child, just like this new baby is my child. You love me like I love my baby. And I, ever since then, I had a very personal relationship. It wasn't, it was no longer, Oh, Heavenly Father, thank you for blah, blah, blah. Now I want blah, blah, blah. It was, I'm yours. But I will tell you, although that was a turning point, and although that having that baby made me extraordinarily happy, so happy I got pregnant again three months later and
yeah, so it shows you how much I know about how about kids, right?
That's when it got really hard. I, and that's what prompted me to write [00:20:00] the book. Back to your question was after 10, 15 years of being married and turning my life over to him, life just got hard and it got harder. And harder. And the harder I tried to do what he wanted, the harder it got. And that's what my brothers would tell me.
It's like, why do you keep doing this, man? Just do like we did. We gave up, you know? And our life became easy. We no longer had all of these trials and everything. And I was like, no. I made a promise. And I'm gonna stick by it. And, um, you know, I think that's in my book, that's kind of the process, you know, a lot of times we have this confirmation bias where, you know, we think something and, you know, certain things happen along the way, and then we hit this wall.
And either it confirms what we believe, and so it, you know, says, okay, good, I believe [00:21:00] that, kind of like when I was a kid, and I would, you know, make my Christmas wish list to God, you know, it was that reaffirming belief. Or you come up against this wall, and it's like, oh, this didn't turn out like I planned.
And you go, okay, where do I go from here? What do I do? And, you know, so for all those 15, 16 years that I was married in my first relationship, it was just really hard. And I, I kept a journal, kept track of all of that and, um, knew one day I would, you know, when I had time, cause I ended up with four kids and.
Yeah, a whole lot of other things going on. Um, so I, I knew I would always write the book, but it took me a long time to get to a point where I could write it. Then I got remarried, and that's another whole story in and of itself too, and how divine intervention came along, and our relationship was really great for the first, you know, 15, [00:22:00] 20, actually 20 years.
And then he had a real crisis of faith. And I was like, because in my first relationship, my, my first husband wasn't at all religious and didn't believe in God or things. So that was a real challenge. And so in my second relationship, I specifically was looking for that with somebody like that. And then after 20 years, he's just like, uh, I'm not sure I believe this anymore.
And that happened about the same time COVID happened, happened about the same time some other things in my life happened. And it was just like. At this point, I thought I had this faith thing down. I thought I had it down. Don't we all think that? Uh huh. And it was just like, oh, wait a minute. I guess you're not done with me yet.
I don't think we're ever done, to be quite honest. Oh, no. No. Even in the next life. Yeah, because I even see [00:23:00] for myself, you know, and, and I actually went back to writing, you know, another book, which I know it's something that I needed to do, and maybe putting some workshops together, and maybe stepping away from personal, you know, going to the office and doing sessions.
So, yeah, it's amazing how, you know, we get all these messages, and, um, If we, you know, it's like a voiceless voice that speaks to us, you know, it's that, that, that I want to call it our GPS intuition that guides us in the right direction, but we don't listen, we get lost. So, you know, and so, and like for myself, you know, if I, if I listen to it.
I'm pretty much all right, but when I say, nah, we're going to do something else, I get hit with something different. And then I wondered, gee, what is this about? Well, it's because I didn't listen to this. [00:24:00] And so this came about. And hopefully it gets me back to where I should have been. I mean, but sometimes it could take a while.
You know, it's uncomfortable. Oh, yes. I think uncomfortable is an understatement. Yeah. I know. So now, your second marriage, is everything going good now or? Um, it's improved, but you know, there's still, there's still some pretty significant challenges ahead of us. And, you know, whenever, you know, my parents in all their wisdom was like for the, in my first relationship especially, they were like, Oh, I don't think it's such a good idea to marry somebody.
I mean, other than religion and spirituality. We came from very similar backgrounds, you know, our socioeconomic status, we came, we're both from Wyoming, you know, that's kind of a, you know, a unique [00:25:00] environment, I guess you'd say, to grow up in. We both grew up in small towns. We both had a lot of those kind of things in common.
But my parents told me, they said, this is going to be a big challenge in your relationship. And it was. I mean, to say it was, Wow. It was significant. And, um, and ultimately it led to the demise of our relationship for not because of that in and of itself, but because of the friction and the contention that it created.
And, um, so I made sure the second time around that that's what I looked for. Yeah, but then it didn't turn out. I was just like, this is really hard. I mean, you know, and like I said, unfortunately, I, well, I've always, that's the other thing besides faith, I've always been extremely political. I was seven years old and thought, was very upset that I could not seven.
I think, sorry, I was 10 years old and I [00:26:00] wanted to go vote for President Nixon. And it's weird because I don't come from a political family at all. They're not political at all, you know, political. Yeah. And, um, so, you know, I grew up being very political and when my husband and I, my second husband and I got married, we both shared similar, you know, political beliefs.
We both shared similar religious beliefs, shared a lot in common as terms of what we like to do. Amen. And we, you know, had a lot of similar background, you know, he grew up in small town USA, like I did, same socioeconomic background kind of thing. So, you know, it was just like, oh, wow, this is, there's a lot of good things.
I mean, there were some other significant challenges, but, um, once, You know, once the whole COVID thing hit, and like I said, to me, COVID in and of itself wasn't necessarily the issue. Well, it was, because [00:27:00] he just had a whole different perspective on it than I did. He very, very much, I mean, I always grew up with, you know, play in, play outside, play in the dirt, eat dirt.
Yep. I did too. The more dirty we were, the better we were. Yeah. And he was very much, Oh, you know, very sanitary, you know, if you let the kids crawl on the floor and get dirty, then they're going to get sick and blah, blah, blah, you know, that kind of thing. And so when COVID hit, he had a whole different take than I did.
I was like, Oh, I mean, I was in California, oddly enough. At the time, you know, I'd be flying back and forth from California to Virginia. And, you know, there'd be all these people. This is before mask mandates were, you know, implemented and they'd all be wearing masks. And I was like, I don't need a mask, you know, they don't have their sanitary wipes and wiping everything down around them.
And that's [00:28:00] fine. You know, To me, to each their own. Right, exactly. But don't, you know, and there were people that would look at me like, oh no, don't breathe on me, don't look at me, and I was like, eh, whatever. And now I'm not saying this is because of my unsanitary lifestyle, if you want to call it that. I've never gotten COVID.
Um, and he has and, um, you know, and I've been in environments where I've been exposed like my husband and when my father died, there were six people at his funeral that had COVID, you know, so I've been in environments where I definitely should have caught COVID. Um, but
they're just, you know, and then being home together all the time because you can't go out, you can't do anything. Oh, yeah, it's not good. Yeah, and so a lot of the differences just seem to magnify and in the past, you know, all these challenges I had, [00:29:00] I think the thing that was really different between this particular set of circumstances in my life and the ones before were every time I would pray, I would get some kind of warm confirmation that you're okay, I've got this, you're all right.
Um, or if you read my book, I mean, like my husband said, he's like, I've never seen anybody who can pull miracles out of a hat like you do, you know, and, you know, he just always answered my prayers and sometimes in very miraculous ways. But with COVID, during this period, I mean, I define it as the COVID period because that's kind of, you know, although COVID doesn't have a lot to do with it, it does have something to do with it.
I would pray and I just wouldn't get that warm confirmation that everything was okay. Oh, interesting. And I wasn't seeing miracles. I wasn't I, [00:30:00] I'll be honest, I felt abandoned. And it's only been in the last probably six months or so, maybe, maybe a year that I have felt like, okay, I'm starting to feel like, you know, my faith is coming.
I can't say my faith went away. Yeah, but it's getting stronger again. Yeah, I didn't have that. I still believed. I never quit believing. I just, didn't have, you know, what I'd had before, which was really in a way to me was probably a more significant trial than all of the other things that happened in my life.
And believe me, there was mountains of them, you know,
it's a hard thing when you feel like God's kind of abandoned you. Well, you know, I, I, we got COVID [00:31:00] twice and of which one was on the way back from, Florida and, and I am one. You know, I, I, I believe that all the germs in the air is actually to an extent good for us because it builds up the immune system, you know, and thank God, you know, I, I very rarely really get sick and, um, on the way coming home, you know, a lot of people had masks and this was in, um, um, beginning of August and, um, I didn't wear a mask, neither did my husband, and, um, and we were in Florida for 10 days.
We were fine. Everything was fine. Coming home, however, the people behind us, uh, it was a teenage son, and all of a sudden, about two hours into the flight, he starts, uh, Like somewhat crying that he doesn't feel well and he's coughing and sneezing, you know, and you know We're in front of them and I looked over at [00:32:00] my husband.
I said, I think our luck just ran out
And lo and behold it did We ended up getting sick. I mean, but, you know, it took us out for like two weeks, but it wasn't that we were, I mean, we had the cough and the cold, but the fatigue was more than anything else. But, you know, I looked at it and I says, okay, maybe it's just time to rest a little bit.
you know, because I was looking to get back into my swing of things. And then of course I had to cancel all my podcasts and my clients and everything went like a little haywire on me. But again, you know, it's that trust and the faith and hope that, all right, this too will pass and then we will get back to what we need to do.
And I, I did. So, uh, but it, it, It took me out for a little bit, I have to admit. And I still won't wear my mask. I mean, you know, [00:33:00] we're good. I'm good. I know. Well, I'm not a mask lover to begin with, but I'm also extraordinarily claustrophobic. And on top of that, my first husband knew that and what ultimately ended our relationship was he got rather abusive and he took me and pinned me down on the bed and smothered me with a pillow and Oh, geez.
Yeah. And ever since then, it's just like this whole claustrophobia thing has gone to like a whole new level. So the mask thing was really hard for me. I see when you're required to wear masks, it became more difficult to go out. I couldn't exercise. I need to exercise because I couldn't wear a mask and exercise and all that kind of stuff.
So I mean, all these things built up to just make it, you know, um, a really difficult thing. And I think that, you know, I, I look at my relationship with the Lord similar, like I would look at my relationship [00:34:00] with the spouse. You know, there's good periods and there's times when everything, and then there's periods where, you know, barring that was the, I don't think abuse.
I don't feel bad for getting a divorce because I do think abuses. a justifiable reason to consider a divorce. I'm not saying you have to get a divorce, but I'm saying, you know, it's one of those things that, you know, um, and I'm not saying, you know, people can get married, divorced for whatever reasons they want to, but In my book, if I'm going to make a commitment, just like to the Lord, when I made that commitment to him, I, I, I'm not just going to, when things get rough and things get difficult, say, Oh, well, that didn't work out.
Sorry, you know, and so, you know, in, in our marriages and our relationships, if we're committed and willing to stick through those times, I think in the end, you know, things can get better. [00:35:00] I feel the same way. We need to, you know, trust. I always say you have to trust without a doubt that this will, it will pass.
Because when we start to doubt, then it really takes away, I feel, in our faith. Now a hope. And so the, I never want to not have that feeling. So with that, with, you know, in, in my life, without a doubt, no matter what is the outcome, it is what it's supposed to be. So, um, I guess it's, it's, um, it's my grandma's belief in me.
So that stick with me all these years. Um, yes. But yeah, so, you know, well, getting back to your book, um, you know, uh, I, I know in the, in the book you mentioned about, um, 12 stones. What, what actually is the 12 stones and what, [00:36:00] what is the significance of, of that? The, um, you know, in the Bible, there's many references to when, um, you know, when Adam and Eve got kicked out of the garden, one of the first things they did was they built an altar of stones.
to give thanks to God and as a way to remember him and the 12 stones, um, when Not when Moses parted the Red Sea and, you know, all that kind of stuff, but what was it Jacob? I get, I get names all confused in the Bible because they all sound similar to me. But anyway, Joshua? Anyway, when they crossed a river, you know, and it, as they got to the other side, they were rescued.
And when they got to the other side, they took 12 stones and they built an altar to give thanks. And so those 12 stones to me are, when I look back at pivotal points in my life, Um, where I feel like my faith was really [00:37:00] built and strengthened. Those are my 12 stones. Those are probably, to me, the most significant turning, not necessarily turning points, but they're the things I refer to when things get really hard, and I feel like, you know, honestly, these 12 stones are kind of what got me through this whole COVID period, because I could look back, and I could say, I mean, I think that's why we have scripture, and I think that's why I'm also an avid student of history, I love reading history.
I love reading about people who were successful and looking at their lives and saying, okay, man, my life's really hard, but look at, they survived. They got through that. And so these 12 stones are the things I look to and give thanks when things get really hard. Things get hard. Yeah, it's uh. I always say it's spiritual timing, you know, and we, we [00:38:00] have, again, the, you know, we, we have a specific journey.
Sometimes we know maybe what the journey is, but for the most part, I don't feel we, we actually, we, we somewhat understand our journey, but not, you know. You know, to the fullest extent, so, you know, every time that something challenging, I think happens to us, we, it's important to look at it in a different way and not be a victim, I want to say of it, because being a victim is probably one of the worst things that we could do to ourselves.
Oh, it is. And I think that's where being a student of history, and I look at, you know, the Bible, I, by the way, I, one of my favorite places to go is to Jewish synagogues and to, and even Catholics, to be honest, because, you know, their catechism and all that. They are, man, they know, they know their history.
They know the history. Mm hmm. And I love studying their history. I love studying, of [00:39:00] course, being, I'm a very, I love the American Revolution and I've been really into the pilgrims lately and I, you know, I thought I knew a lot about the pilgrims until I really learned a lot more about the pilgrims and, um, and, you know, about even during the Civil War and World War I and World War II.
You know, you look at these times, you know, in people's lives when things were really, really challenging. Yeah. There's a part of me that always thinks, Oh, I could do that. I could do that. And now I find myself in similar circumstances as they were. And I'm like, Ooh, I don't want to do that.
Tough as I thought I was. Yeah. It's life back then was hard. Well, and it's, you know, I, being the very patriotic person I am, um, you know, I look at, you know, these Patriots of ours during the American [00:40:00] Revolution. I mean, when we say, Oh, they gave up everything, you know, no, they gave up everything, everything.
And I have, I really growing up, you know, of course, as you get older, you don't have that same, Oh, I can handle anything attitude. You know, growing up, I was always like, Oh, I could do that. But now I look and I'm like, Oh, You know, some challenges out there, you know, in the world. And I'm like, Oh, I don't, you know, what if I do this, you know, somebody may not like that.
They may get mad at me and come after me or something, you know, I'm like, Oh, I'm not as brave as I thought I was, but it goes back to faith. That's what I wrote about today. And one of my blog posts was, you know, that's because I'm relying on me. And you, and I look back at, you know, George Washington and like Abraham Lincoln and the pilgrims.
They're the three people, groups of people, anyway, I [00:41:00] wrote about in my blog. And it's like, they didn't, they did not try to do this on their own. No, they were very much people of faith. And, and it wasn't like, and I do believe, you know, in having a belief system. And I think that positive belief system can bring about good results, but they had a belief in God.
And to me, that's a, that takes it to a whole nother level level because God has so much more power than I do. I don't have to, I don't have to be that brave person. I can rely on him and as long as I have faith in him, things aren't going to go according to plan. I've learned that, but I, I'm going to, like you said, I'm going to be okay.
Well, that's it, you know, and sometimes we just need to surrender. You know, a perfect example, you know, I, I've written a book that that's been published since 2016. And, [00:42:00] uh, for the past, maybe year and a half, I've been asking the publisher to have my rights back. And he's been telling me no. Yeah. So he said no.
And then. Um, about six weeks ago, I decided I'm gonna, I'm just gonna ask again. And so I, you know, wrote an email, but before I sent it, I says, God, if I'm supposed to get these rights back, it'll happen. And if I'm not, that's okay too. Mm-Hmm, . So I actually just let it all go. Sent the email three days later.
Get an email from the publisher saying to me, you know, if you really want your rights back, you can have them back. He gave me my rights back as, as of the end of this month, I now have my book that is back to me and he said, you can do whatever you want with your book. It's fine. And he gave [00:43:00] it to me writing and I said, wow, thank you, God.
When I finally said it didn't matter anymore, whatever the outcome was, I surrendered it is when it happened. I, I, I was like, wow, maybe I need to do this other things too. I think you're, you're, you've hit the nail on the head there until, you know, it's, it's like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, you know, they surrendered themselves to God.
And once they did that, that's, that's when things started to really turn around for them. And, um, I mean, we all know about Valley Forge and all that went on at Valley Forge and, you know, that was a real turning point for George Washington. And that's, but that's when they brought in that French, I never remember names.
I'm terrible. I don't remember, right? They came and up until that point, they were just a bunch of ragtag farmers with, you know, [00:44:00] guns that were fighting the mightiest empire on the, on the earth at the time. But that's when they brought in this guy and he was going to train them and teach them how to be You know, and that was a real turning point.
Now, that doesn't mean that everything from there on out went well, but it was, it was a turning point. And I've noticed in much of the history that I study, the turning points in people's lives seem to be when they're willing to surrender. Just like when I was, you know, the very first story I told you about being a flight attendant, when I was willing to surrender my own wishes and desires and say, I'm gonna do what you want.
Mm hmm. Mm hmm. No, life didn't, that doesn't mean life went according to plan and everything was rosy. It just meant that I had that firm conviction and that belief and that stamina and the whatever that it was supposed to be. Yeah. I feel the same way. You know, I, [00:45:00] I know, uh, it is so important in my life to let, to allow and let God guide me and direct me, um, because then.
Yeah, things get a little crazy making sometimes, but there's all, it's all part of the plan. Mm-Hmm. . Oh yeah. It's part of the plan. Yeah. He's the captain of the ship and I've, I mean, I was 21 years old when I made that, and I'm 60 years old now. Um, hate to admit that, but I am. I don't hate, but, um. You know, ever since I've allowed him to be the captain of my ship, you know, that means I have to take orders, I have to trust there's a chain of command, you know, and there's times I just have to, even when I don't understand the command that you're giving me, or why you're giving it to me, I just have to accept it.
And people see that as [00:46:00] a bad thing, but it's empowering. It's very empowering. Yeah, I feel that they're all up there looking down and saying, okay, I'm going to give you a little rough time. I'm going to make you maybe get COVID or whatever, but there's a reason for all this. So just trust me that it'll all pass.
So yeah. Yeah, I really feel we're being guided and directed without a doubt. And, and it's important to just. I think just to listen, you know, and, and, and to feel just to feel and to let go, you know, my, that's one area where my husband and I are really different. He's very, um, my way. He wants to do it his way.
He doesn't like control his famous saying when I always tell him, well, we need to trust God. And he's like, yeah, well, God might think it's a good idea that I live in a cardboard box down by the river. And I'm like, well, If he decides that I need to live in a [00:47:00] cardboard box down by the river, then he's going to make sure I'm happy living in a cardboard box down by the river.
And he just can't let go of that. He's like, no, that's a bridge too far for me. Yeah. I feel whatever our destiny is, whatever it's supposed to be, well, it'll allow, it'll just be. And we'll be happy. I think that's the key. We forget just like I didn't want to become a mom, but once I did, I was so happy. I mean.
When I say I was crying, I mean, I, first of all, I don't cry unless, unless I watch movies where dogs die or an animal dies. I just don't. Yes. I don't know why I don't cry. There's something about me. I just don't cry. But the day I came home from the hospital with him, I was just sobbing tears, just streaming down my face.
And I was just like, overwhelmed. I was like, Good grief, I've never, 21, 22 years old, maybe I was 23 by then. I don't know. Anyway, um, [00:48:00] yeah, because I was 23 when I had him. But anyway, I have never experienced such joy in my life. And when I say I trust him, that if I have to live in a cardboard box down by the river, I'll be happy living in a cardboard box down by the river.
And there's, there's a reason for everything that, and we, we have no, and we think it's because we're a victim or suffering or put on this work, you know, or to suffer. It would put on the search to understand. And to grow and learn. And that, that, it's really hard to describe and I'm sure you, you can probably explain this better than I can, but there's a strong connection between faith and growing and learning.
We think that when we take knowledge and information unto ourself that we're growing and learning. And when we have [00:49:00] experiences in our life that we're growing and learning. And I'm not saying that we don't, cause that there is. But when you bring in faith, and you bring God into the picture, that takes, once again, it just takes it to a whole new level, and I've never been able to put why that is.
I have no clue either. I know, I trust it, so we're good. There we go. I just say, all right, I, I, We're good. I'm good. Yeah, it's a tough one. And I tell myself, you know, I just, everything will work out and it's right timing and, and the way it's supposed to, you know, um, so yeah, I, like with you, you know, my faith and belief in God is like unshakable.
Yeah, I, you know, it's interesting too, because, um, many years ago, [00:50:00] I read something written by somebody. I'm so good at names, I can't even remember the names of books that I read or whatever. But I remember reading that, you know, God, even God, God gets his power from faith. And we always think of faith as the knowledge of things unseen, or I, you know, once again, I'm really good at quoting things, but you know what I mean.
It's like, faith means you believe in something you can't see, or something you can't explain, or whatever, right? Well, God sees everything. He can explain everything. And when I, I read that, that God, God's power comes from faith, and God acts on faith, I'm like, This just doesn't make sense to me. I'm not sure I'm buying this.
And it took me years, and I still can't explain it, but I understand that when he created all of these worlds he created, and when he's done all these [00:51:00] wonderful things that he's done for us and everyone else, that it was the power of faith that allowed him to do that. So even if it just means that, you know, if we go back to the, I'm sure you've probably read this one.
I remember the name of the book, so it's so easy to remember the secret about, you know, the power of just belief. Mm hmm. And making things happen because you believe, and I thought, okay, that's step one in God's faith, you know. Mm hmm. He believes he can do it. You know, and every once in a while I get these little glimpses into maybe how God would use faith in his own, you know, life or whatever.
Um, I hate to say life because life implies this mortal body that we have, but in his own existence. Right. But I think, wow, if he uses [00:52:00] faith and he gets that much power from faith, can you imagine what that does for you and me? Yeah, big time. Mm hmm. It's just attracting whatever we're supposed to attract.
Yeah, the Law of Attraction. The Law of Attraction, yeah, it's huge. Yeah, you know, um, I mean, I haven't won the lottery yet, but I like to win, but, but I keep on hearing, well, you need to buy tickets in order to win. That's true. I've had a hard time winning the lottery because I don't buy lottery tickets. I bought some, but it didn't work out too well, but, um, But I need to, you know, we, we have to just, again, just know that, well, if I buy, you know, eventually something will happen, even if I win a dollar, it's still winning something.
Yeah, it's not the, it's not the amount of money, but yeah, it's, um, I, I, I truly feel the [00:53:00] way you feel and, um, it's. It's very beautiful to know that somebody else is out there, you know, um, and I'm sure there's a lot of us out there that feel the same way. Yeah, I think the sad part is, is we're all kind of quiet.
Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, but I think we need to speak. We need to start getting out there. That's why I started my podcast. I figured, all right, something I always wanted, you know, talking about faith, you know, but I, I've been wanting to do a podcast for years. And then finally it happened last year because I, Finally gave up and said, all right, you know, and then I was sitting at my desk and I said, all right, God, what, what, what should I name it?
And then I, in my own mind, I said, oh, I'll name it my website, you know, motivate your life. And then I hear no, no. And [00:54:00] I says, all right, so what should I name it? And I heard the spiritual warrior coach podcast. And I chuckled and I says, all right, do you really believe. that this name is available. I mean, come on now, right?
And then I heard, well, just, just look. Yeah, just look. I looked, the.com and.net was available. Wow. And I said, wow, I am sorry for even, you know, doubting, doubting, you know that. So it, it's amazing when we listen Mm-Hmm. and then, but, but act upon it. So, you know, when I, so it was a.com, I immediately, you know, purchased the both, you know, the spiritual warrior coach, um, dot com and.net.
And I says, all right. Thank you. That's that. That's my name. That'll be the name of the podcast. Well, and that's a very powerful name I mean, it is [00:55:00] very empowering and yeah, I mean because I think we need to become spiritual warriors and You know this whole crazy, you know, no matter which side of the political spectrum you're on.
It doesn't really matter to me anyway There has been such a spiritual revival throughout the world lately You know, last several years, and I think it's that I don't think I know it's that spiritual revival and that doesn't mean we're all going to go get baptized and join a church and whatever. But I mean, a true.
spiritual revival. That is what is going to turn this around and make this world and this country not all at each other's throats and be different. You know, if you have a different opinion on COVID than I do, that's fine. But we can still love each other. Exactly. Exactly. That's why [00:56:00] It, it, it, you know, it, it's a beautiful thing, you know, to, to disagree.
We show, that's why I tell even people I know. Well, that's why we have vanilla ice cream. We have strawberry ice cream, we have chocolate ice cream. I don't like chocolate ice cream, but you may, you know, I like strawberry and it's okay that I don't like, you know, a certain flavor and it's okay. That. I don't want to wear a mask, but don't crucify me, you know, for, for that, you know, yeah, everyone's gotten a little mean, I think, uh, but I, they need to realize that respect everybody else's opinion.
It does, it doesn't matter if you're right or wrong or this or you disagree. We, we all have free choice and free will to do so and free speech. Yeah. Well, and it's crazy if you think about it, you know, if people sat down and really thought about it, do you really want everybody to think and believe and act like you?
Yeah. It'd be boring. [00:57:00] I know. It'd be very boring. I know. But yeah, that it's the truth, but, um, you know, it's, it's been, um, It's rough going with, with some individuals. Mm hmm. It is. I, it is very hard and, um, I hope that through a spiritual revival and, you know, your Spiritual Warrior podcast that people can, can get the message that, you know, it, if you take nothing else away from God, the Bible, whatever, it's just to love your neighbor.
Yes. No matter what. Yeah. And that's it. No matter what, whether you agree with them, whether you like them, we just need to be nicer to each other. Yeah. I, I've always had challenges with someone on my block and, um, yeah, I could have been mean and there, [00:58:00] but you know, I, I look over and I always say, God, I'm sending them love and light and healing because I, I want them to heal and, and I don't want any, any harm.
You know, as much as, you know, they could be a little not nice, but it's, it's, it is what it is. Is it a test for me to, to show that I really, you know, want to send love and light and healing? So yeah. Um, and, and I feel it's so important, no matter who, you know, let's just, you know, let's, it's just, we don't have to be like them.
Let's put it that way. We don't and unfortunately, you know, I'll be the first to admit that there's times I just really have to step back and a lot of times it's in through writing my own blog posts or you know The things that I do that I'm reminded that I need to practice what I preach Oh yeah, oh we, yeah, I, every now and then something [00:59:00] comes at me and I say, oh, okay, all right.
Let me think this through now, you know, but yeah, it, it, it's, it's the truth. We, you know, it, it's so important to practice what we preach and, and, you know, that's why I, I'm. He even on the road and, you know, I get a little like, why did he cut me off or this? And then I say, well, it's maybe, you know, an emergency happened or, you know, give them the benefit of the doubt.
And I say, all right, whatever it is, just God, I want to just send, you know, healing light period so that it calms me down. Yeah. All right. And I know I'm, I'm doing the work of, of him upstairs. Yep. Exactly. So, where can my listeners get a hold of you? I mean, I could be sitting here talking for hours with you.
This is, I, I, I, the fact, this is a great conversation. It's a great conversation. Well, right now [01:00:00] the easiest way, you know, if you're looking just in terms of, um, because my book doesn't, I've got the website all ready to go, I just haven't even got a URL for it yet. Um, So what I think what I'll do is I'll send you the link once we're done here, and I actually have it, which should be in the next day or two.
Oh, okay. But, and at the bottom of that page is just one page website or whatever, you know, I didn't write the book to make money. So if, you know, if they're interested in getting the book, just fill out the contact us form at the bottom of the page and I'll be happy to, um, you know, send them a book. I'm also a firm believer in it being short and sweet and to the point.
So, it's not like you're going to be, you know, it's not a big, heavy lift to read it. So, but my email address is just Cheryl K. Johnson at Protonmail. com. And that's just C H E R Y [01:01:00] L K J O H N S O N at Protonmail. com. I can't even remember how to spell my own name. Well, we've been chatting all this time.
And what's the name of the book again? It's Faith, The Power Within. Okay. Do you have a copy to show us or? Oh, pretty. That is real. Oh, I love that. Yeah, I love the white inside. Yeah, that's the God's light. Mm hmm. That's exactly It's written under a pen name, so won't have my name on it, but it'll have my picture on it So at least you'll see that.
Ah, there you go well, Cheryl, I Cannot thank you enough for saying yes, and I I know things were a little crazy with all the cancelling and all this But you know again, it's the right timing it is Right timing. So, uh, I thank you so much. And, you know, I want to thank all my listeners, uh, for [01:02:00] listening, uh, today.
And again, a very big thank you to the, my very special guest, Cheryl Johnson. So please check out her book. And, um, I hope that you heard today what you needed to hear. So, uh, visit me at motivateyourlife. net. And please subscribe to this YouTube channel, the Spiritual Warrior Coach Podcast. We're also on Spotify, Amazon, uh, Chrome, um, gee, Apple, we're everywhere.
Um, and for those of you may be interested in, uh, learning about energy healing, uh, check out my book, Gentle Energy Touch, Beginner's Guide to Hands on Healing. So have a beautiful day filled with love. And with light, love, Barbara. Oh, thank you so much. Oh, you're welcome.
