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cover of episode Ep 1058 | Mia Ditches Spring Break to Hang with Dad, Lands a Great Job & Teaches Jase a New Sport

Ep 1058 | Mia Ditches Spring Break to Hang with Dad, Lands a Great Job & Teaches Jase a New Sport

2025/3/17
logo of podcast Unashamed with the Robertson Family

Unashamed with the Robertson Family

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Al Robertson
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Jay Robertson
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Mia Robertson
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Zach Dasher
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Jay Robertson: Mia是我最喜欢的嘉宾之一,她上次来节目时身体状况不好,这次来是因为想换个环境。她与我一起体验户外活动,增进父子关系,我们一起钓鱼、打皮克球,也经历了一些挫折,比如第一次钓鱼没有钓到鱼,但最终以善举告终。Mia的经历让我联想到圣灵如同风和火一样,帮助我们战胜困难。我们还谈到了受迫害基督徒的信仰和毅力,以及Mia在Miamou的服侍。Mia的成长经历充满挑战,她经历了多次手术,这对她的人生产生了深远的影响。她学会了耐心,并在信仰中找到了真正的自我。 Al Robertson: 我分享了NetSuite软件的优点,以及我们家冰箱坏了的趣事。 Mia Robertson: 我分享了多次手术的经历,以及这些经历如何塑造了我。我从小就习惯了做手术,直到高中才意识到手术对我的影响。多次手术导致我的容貌发生变化,这让我感到困扰,但我的信仰帮助我克服了这些挑战。在哥斯达黎加的经历让我学会了如何在逆境中保持平静。我目前在教会担任大学实习生,负责与大学生建立联系,并带领敬拜。我热爱这份工作,因为我可以帮助人们找到归属感。 Zach Dasher: 我介绍了我新的播客节目《Not Yet Now》,并分享了福音的核心在于耶稣基督的到来和天国的临近。

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I am unashamed. What about you?

Welcome back to Unashamed. You know, Zach, recently, Jay, Zach, we told him we needed some high profile guests and some big names on the podcast. And he's been doing a good job. He's been finding some amazing people for us to have conversations with. But he has outdone himself today. He has reached deep into the archives to bring out what I consider to be one of our favorite and best guests today.

And that would be Mia Robertson, your daughter, Jay. So, Mia, welcome to Unashamed. Woo!

So Mia, if I'm not mistaken, you've been on the show once before. Is that right? Yeah, I think I've only been on it once. Yeah. So I remember the way that got set up for your last appearance on Unashamed. I was down at my mailbox and you and your mom were driving by and you just had like a major surgery and we've been praying for you and we've been talking about you a lot on Unashamed. It was like maybe a couple of weeks after Unashamed.

And so you're in the car and I come over to ask how you're doing and you're there. And so somehow it came up about you being on the podcast at some point to tell us about your experiences. And so I was like, would you like to be on the podcast? And you said, yeah, I'd like to do that. Well, what about tomorrow? And

And I was like, tomorrow? Okay, yeah, sure. You're always welcome. And so you came on and you were still like, you know, had stuff in your mouth. They were struggling, you know, with all of that. And yet you were precious and amazing. And Unashamed Nation loves you. So welcome back for the second time. Yeah.

Yeah, I was ready to get out of the house, I think. You get kind of cooped up in there. Yeah, my bad. Yeah, you spend a lot of time during those recoveries just needing something to do. Yeah, not like I don't love spending extra time with you and mom, but I think I needed a change of scenery. Come on. Hey, fast forward. How many years ago was that when you were on? Was that last year?

Yeah, that was about a year ago. Yeah, a year and a half. Fast forward, and now you're spending your spring break hanging out with dad. Oh, yeah. Because mom left. Yeah, she left after like three days home with us. Yeah. She went to the other kids. But we had fun. We watched LSU baseball and ate some crawfish. Oh, we did. So, yeah. Let's back up and tell that story. Yeah.

So last night, Mia said, oh, I'm going to be on your podcast tomorrow. I was like, oh, really? And she's like, what are we going to talk about? And then you told me two stories back to back, which I know you didn't think that it related to what we're talking about. But after I...

Gave you a little heads up. You said, oh, well. Yeah. And I didn't know how they were going to relate yet because I told the stories and he was like, those are so funny. I was like, that's not really funny. I thought they were funny. Okay. The first one. So she's had an awakening and I don't want to have my view on this because like

Your first, what are you, 22 now? 21. 21. But you're fixed to be 22. I got like six more months till I'm 22. Yeah, but once you get that close, you are 22. Okay. Y'all think that I'm forgetting, but when you factor in the time in the womb, which I think should be added to your overall age, yeah, you would actually be 22.

Yeah, but I mean, I like being 21. I feel like 22 is really old. Okay. Oh, Mia, that hurts. I mean, I just turned 60 years old and you're talking about 22 being old. That was very, that was way in the rear view mirror for me. Hey, I'm trying to champion life here. I'm going into the womb. God created us in our mother's womb. Okay. So, but I would say, so for the first year,

I don't know when this transition happened, but at some point you started wanting to experience the outdoors with your dad because you fought that the first, let's just say 20 years of your life. So what, what happened in that transition? I mean, where, where, where did this come about?

Honestly, I'm trying to think. I don't even know. I think I was trying to find something else for us to do to bond. Yeah. We need some bonding. Because we only play cards, but I kind of wanted to be outside. Yeah. And so then I just wanted to go fishing. I couldn't find you. Mom was like, he's out there fishing. And I just ran up and caught up with you. And then I turned out to be pretty good at it. There you go.

You are good at it. Yeah. I mean, a natural. I think the first, I don't know how many fishing trips we went on, two or three, that we just, it was unbelievable. We caught 10 or 12 in like 30 minutes or less. Yeah. And it wasn't fishing. It was just catching. Mm-hmm.

But we finally, she experienced on this trip, our first adversity. So the other night we went, you had some of your friends there. You had played it all up. We're just going to go down there and catch them. Oh, yeah. I'd never been down there and not caught like a dozen. Yeah. So I was like, oh, we'll be back in 20 minutes with 10 fish and we'll cook them up. But it didn't happen. Well, you caught one huge brim and then I think I caught one crappie.

But in a weird way, it actually worked out because I cleaned them and your mom cooked them because I was going the next day on a trip. And she took them to fail. Yeah, we did. So that was very nice. It turned out to be a good deed. So yeah, we got that going on. So we struck out on the fish. And then she was telling me the stories, what happened, because I thought this was interesting. Even though...

She's kind of had this epiphany where she's experiencing the outdoors with her dad, and we've had success. And you really are good at it. Because even when she had some of her friends there, I think me and you caught about the same every time. And her friends were lacking, you know, even though all you basically had to do was just get the bait in the water. But, you know, they couldn't catch them. It's harder than it looks.

So you were telling me yesterday that you went and played pickleball, which I don't even know what that is. It's like tennis. For old people. Not anymore. Not anymore, Al. She's 21, Al, and she's out there playing. The people on the other court were all younger than me. Wow. It's a new thing. I don't know. It's really fun. It's like tennis, but there's a shorter court.

And you have different paddles. Ping pong, kind of. This is going to be weird, and y'all think I'm kidding, but I'm really not. Is a pickle, an actual pickle, involved? No, I don't know where that came from. You don't eat a pickle after the game or whatever. I actually have no idea where it came from. That was throwing me off. I guess I could have looked it up, but I would just be embarrassed to hear.

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own NetSuite. So tell us more about it, Al. So there's, you know, all kinds of questions when it comes to financial decisions about your business, bull market, bear market, what are the interest rates going to do? Is inflation up? Is it down? I mean, it would be awesome if we could see into the future.

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Speaking of opportunity, download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning at netsuite.com slash phil. The guide is free to you at netsuite.com slash phil. Check them out. That's netsuite.com slash phil. Well, I've told y'all before I saw a man who was a, let's just say he was a little off.

But he was one of our cameramen, which my dad said was a prerequisite to being a cameraman. You had to be weird because every cameraman he met was weird. But he used to be a health food inspector. So whatever degree you get that clarifies that. But what I learned is the way you get that is you'll try anything. I told this story before on an earlier podcast, but...

One day we were filming. It was boring. We were in a duck blind. No ducks were flying. He found a jar of pickles that had fallen through one of the cracks in the duck blind. And the expiration date was like 11 years old. And they didn't look like pickles, like green pickles. They kind of had a brown fuzz over them. But they've been in here 11 years.

And we're all sitting there and he's like, hun, everybody's like, girl, that's terrible. He pops the top. Of course, we're not thinking this guy used to be a food inspector. And he grabs one of those pickles and it's just slime falling out of it. I kid you not. He just turned and took a huge bite and started chewing it up and swallowed it.

And we all had the gag reflex. Everyone started gagging to the point where I couldn't look at another human because I thought, oh, it's right here. It's coming. It's coming. But then he assured us that he started talking about the acidic something, something, something. And he's like, perfectly fine to eat. And my dad was like, well, how is it? He's like, oh, it's terrible. But it won't cause any health problems. So he kind of...

I can't remember what he said about that, but he did discuss that, but there was an expiration date on it. So I would figure that was deterred lawsuits. So anyway, you're playing the pickleball game. And when I said who won, you made an interesting comment. You said, well, it's really hard to say because the wind. And I was curious by that comment. And you were like...

whichever side the wind was in your favor. Now, I guess you mean with the wind or against the wind? Well, it was really just who could serve wherever the wind was blowing, if you were on that side, because no matter how hard you hit it on the other side, it would not go over the net because the wind was blowing towards you. So you would lose the serve every time. Exactly. So whoever had the wind in their favor won. So she was like, it really wasn't a competition. Well, you know where I went with that.

The Holy Spirit is referred to as the wind. So just check this out. If the wind is in your favor, if you have the Holy Spirit indwelling you, you're going to win. See what I mean? Now, you're telling me you don't see the connection? No.

But I didn't say that yet. I waited until you told the next story because Mia, I don't know where she got this from, but she's great at telling stories. You then said that, well, tell the next story that you told. Okay, so we got crawfish the other day. We did because we struck out on the fish the night before. Struck out on the fish and mom left, and so we didn't really want to cook, and our fridge is kind of broken. It is. So we got limited room for groceries. And look, I want to just clarify this.

I bought the most expensive industrial refrigerator in the world because I was tired of replacing refrigerators. And I've had this less than a year. And about every couple hours, it goes. It's the most annoying. The alarm is going off because the temperature is rising. So we called a refrigerator mechanic. Yes, there are refrigerator mechanics.

And he was inspecting. He got on the phone. It was a big, long deal. Interesting fellow. And I said, what's the problem? And he's like, well, when you bought this, now because they're trying to save the planet, they all have this new system with some kind of gas that's supposed to, and it's an ounce of gas that rotates around this little ball that's spinning, speaking of pickleball.

And he said, they basically, it just won't work. He said, but it's good for the planet. So I said, so what are you saying? He said, you shouldn't have bought the most expensive one. You need to buy the cheapest refrigerator out there because they're all going to go bad. He said, fortunately for you, this happened sooner rather than later and it's still under warranty. But, I mean, I just could not believe it. So anyway, our refrigerator's kind of on the...

On the miss. So we got crawfish just because we didn't want to buy groceries. Yeah. And we got eight pounds of crawfish and we got potatoes and corn and I don't really eat it. I like it, but with like my mouth, it's just not, I can't really bite into a piece of corn. Yeah. So you only got the crawfish. So I only eat the crawfish. Yeah. And we were powering through. It kind of felt like a little bit like...

We weren't just eating crawfish. It felt like I was, I don't know, like training for the military a little bit. Like we were really... You got to tass it. You got to finish. Yes. We were like, oh, we're really full. We were like, no, this was like $66. Like we have to eat all the crawfish. That's another point. Look, crawfish, Al, when we had the crawfish farm, that was... I mean, we made pretty good money, but now...

Eight pounds. So what is that? Sixty six dollars. We had eight pounds. What is that a pound? Eight bucks a pound. So we also got four butters and corn and potatoes, which cost money. So I think it's like seven dollars. They charge for that. They charge for the extras. We actually ate three cups of those butters. Yeah, we did.

Which I ate probably two and a half of them. Yeah, you did. I didn't even know that was a thing. Look, you know what's funny? When I woke up the next morning, I thought, I smell butter. And then I realized that some of the residue from the beard was lingering. Oh, yeah. You know what is funny about that? You're talking about a fond memory. So we powered through because we got...

you know what was left was about 30 of the smaller ones and me i was like we paid 66 for this i mean i was like i don't i don't think i can eat it i mean i i was and we were at the wall but we did eat everyone yeah we ate everyone and the little ones i think this is what caused my later problem they were so spicy because i think i don't know why the little ones were just so much more spicy

But when I was going to bed that night, my fingers were burning and I already took a shower. Yeah, we both immediately took a shower because the crawfish are messy. Yeah, it's on my shirt. Like you're just... You guys went all in there. I told dad, I was like, I could never... This is the most like unladylike I ever feel. Yeah, when you eat crawfish. Because I could never go... That's like the worst first date story, I think. Like if you're going to eat crawfish on your first date, there's no way...

a woman would enjoy that because it's just, you make, it makes us look so bad because I always leave smelling. I put my hair up and it's just, it's not good. So I took a shower with cold water at the end because my fingers were burning so bad. Yeah. And I take a Benadryl. I'm like, I'm freaking out. There's nothing. I can not see anything wrong with my fingers, but I'm like, I think like they're on fire. So I'm looking it up. Like, why is my finger burning? Like the skin of my fingers are going to fall off. And I look like,

If crawfish can have that effect, it said yes because of the spices. So until my Benadryl kicked in, I was literally in pain, curled up in a ball. But dad said that story about fire is relating to the spirit. No. Okay. We're going back to John the Baptist. Remember he said, I baptize you with water or in water, but the one coming after me, he will baptize you with fire.

The spirit and fire. Remember? Yeah. I was like, look, what are the odds though? She came in and told me two stories. I went and played pickleball. Who won? Doesn't matter because whoever had the wind in their favor won. The second one was my thing with the story. She just told my fingers were on fire. And I thought, what are we going to talk about? Well,

We're going to talk about wind and fire as spirit and dwell people. Don't you think that's cool? I think that's pretty cool.

So, Jace, what would you say is probably, what is the biggest inspiration that has come to you from persecuted Christians, whether it was our forefathers way back in the biblical days or even what's going on today? I think we're not just people who believe Jesus is real.

But you see proof of that by people willing to give up their lives rather than deny Jesus is who he says he is. And the book in front of you there is Todd Nettleton's book, The Voice of the Martyrs radio host. And it's called When Faith is Forbidden. Forty Days on the Front Lines with Persecuted Christians.

And what Todd did was in his travels through these restricted nations around the world, and this is in modern day for the last 20 years, he found amazing stories of people who have lived out their faith, just like those did in the first century to the point of persecution, including their lives, their freedom, and of course their wellbeing. And so when you go on this journey with Todd, you're gonna be inspired by what people of our lifetime and our age

have done to be able to stand up for faith. And so we want you to be challenged and encouraged by his remarkable stories and the stories of these people. You can do this by requesting a free copy, which is a great blessing, free to you, free to me. Request your free copy of When Faith is Forbidden by calling 844-463-4059 today.

That's 844-463-4059. Or you can visit vom.org slash unashamed. That's vom.org slash unashamed. But here's the good thing. Since mom was away, your mom, my wife, we did that right in the middle of the kitchen. Because usually that's frowned upon with your mom. She's like, let's go take that outside. Let's...

But it was a pretty good cleanup. And then we both had to go take a shower. I mean, it's like you go to your own separate rooms. It is an ordeal. But we paid $66 for that adventure, which was embarrassing. Here's the funny part, man, when you're telling a story. Do you know? I don't know if you know this. The second date that I took your mom on, we're dating. I had to go...

pick up crawfish bait because that's when we had our crawfish farm. And it was three, like, trash cans. Think of, they were metal cans with lids on them of fish heads that had been put out of the fish market, and it was summertime. And so when I got out, you know how those movies, they have the fly sound, you know, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz.

And so I told her, I was like, well, I hate we got to do this, but I got to get this crawfish bait. I said, whatever you do, do not take the lid off of that can. Cause she was curious what was in there. I was like, if you do that, not only is the date going to be over,

You would have actually never been here, man, if she would have popped the lid on the buffalo. Because that would have been a deal breaker. But I was surprised that she got on the other end because they were –

I would say 75 pounds. And so she helped me get crawfish bait on our second date. I take that as a good sign. Yeah, that is. Knowing her like you do now. Yeah. I could not see that. He did it. Oh, so just hearing that, it took me back to my childhood. I mean, it's like everybody has this traumatic place that you go to. And for me, it's those smells that you're describing because it's

When growing up with fish guts and hauling stuff off to the river and smelly cheese, they were putting in dad's socks. And just I mean, it was just how much more disgusting could a childhood be? And so just hearing that, just like I just kind of had post-traumatic stress disorder when it comes to smelly food.

fish and smelly things. So that takes me back as well. So if I'm not mistaken, Mia, the last time you were on the podcast, you guys had just completed a Miamou yearly gathering where people come in from all over the country. And these are folks that you guys help and that make possible for them to have some of the blessings that you had, which is an amazing ministry. And so I

Tell the folks how that's going. I know it's a yearly thing that you guys do all the time, as well as I think you're doing a newsletter now and just a lot of regular interaction. So give us a little me a move update. So actually, we used to do like a yearly fundraiser. I think it used to be like poker.

Y'all used to have a poker night or something? Well, yeah, it was all for charity. All for charity. We figured out that Mia doing a newsletter. Yeah, that's what I was going to say. Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, we used to do poker and we used to do other fundraisers, but now the only thing that we do is a monthly newsletter, and that brings in so much money. So we don't really, which is like a good problem to have,

But we don't really need to do a bunch of fundraisers anymore because, like, Miamou has so much money now from people donating. Yeah. And so we still do our Miamou Fun Day, which is, like, first weekend of October. And so it's March now, so we had that a few months ago.

But everyone I've talked to, and I guess you can say this too, like that was the best year that we've had. I think so. Like we had so many people come from my school. We had 12 students come. As volunteers. As volunteers. And we did a color run.

And each color represented something that they, like, became clothed with on their white shirts so that whenever they left the BMU Fun Day weekend, like, they left, it was, like, strength, wisdom, like, things like that, that now they, like, could carry with them throughout the rest of the year. Yeah, because it's a very tough venture, as you can attest. There's lots of surgeries, lots of pain, and you're just, you feel different, you look different. So, yeah, it was a huge success. And just to...

you know, talk about the newsletter or whatever. I mean, that was Mia's idea. And it's, it's a lot like the Bible. You know, it tells a story. And so you're telling these kids stories and that's what, uh, is powerful about it. These are real people who are going through real struggles and, uh,

People hear their stories and they, they want to help out in a, in a small way. So it's fantastic. It was a good idea, man. So Mia, you know, our perspective of sort of your childhood and really your whole life, uh, as it, as it turns out, what is one kind of being on the outside and, and,

you know, knowing that you're going to the hospital, you know, many times different ones of us in the family were there and we're in the waiting room and kind of handholding with your folks and, and, you know, just praying for you and stuff like that. And then seeing you after it was over. And so our whole perspective of that is now the era of who you are, but I'm really curious what it was like from your perspective. How many surgeries did,

Have you had? I've had 16. So that's like, and you're 21 years old. So that's like 16 out of 21 years, you know, you were in some sort of major surgery, which is most of your life. And so all of us can't imagine what that was like for you. And so I'm really interested. I don't know if I've ever asked you this off camera on what that was like to grow up, to have doctors and nurses and chiropractors.

checkups and follow ups and going in for, you know, pre-surgery and all the things that you've done your whole life. So what was that like? Was it, did you, something you just got used to or, you know, you know, how, how did you get through it? And then also how has it shaped you into the person you are today? I think I didn't realize how like intense, like my childhood was until I got older. And I,

Like an example of I've always thought is like at Camp Chioka, we have prayer night and I never asked during prayer night. Hey, like I'm having surgery coming up. Like it just didn't feel it wasn't really a burden on my heart of like I'm having this surgery. Like, hey, I need prayers. Like I've had a hard life like.

That thought never crossed my mind. I never once brought that up. And now that I'm older, I'm like, I cannot believe I never thought that that was a big deal. Like, oh, hey, I'm about to have surgery and I can't chew food for a year. Please pray for me. It was like, oh, nope, just have another surgery. Like, go into Dallas every six weeks. It felt so normal.

And so I would, like, ask for prayer about something else that's, like, was much smaller. Like, oh, like, something about school. And so until I had a big surgery my junior year of high school, now that I was older, like, it really affected me. Yeah. And, like, it made my, like...

Which I guess maybe, I guess you would notice, but like my face changes slightly every time I have surgery. I would say a little more than slightly. Well, but like after like a year of surgery, like my face just looks a little bit different. We know everyone's like, they can still tell that's Mia. Oh, hey, it's Mia. But like slight changes. But the older you get, they say the harder it is to have like major facial surgeries. Because even though it's like, yeah, that's still my face.

It looks just a little bit different, which is really hard on you. Yeah. So I didn't realize that until my junior year. I was like, I look different. I sound different. And it was really hard on me. Yeah. And it was hard on the parents for a different reason. It's like, it's a weird, it's hard to explain. It's like everything about your kid, you grow to love. And so when something changes, you feel like,

You changed everything you loved about the kid, even though you know, oh, this is for better health. And there's some kind of psychological issue there. So probably the most basket case moments of...

being a part of this, your adventure was that. It's like, I remember the first time you had the surgery and you came, me and your mom just busted out bawling. We're like, what happened? Even though it was like, this is great. The doctor was like, what's wrong with you? It went awesome. We're like,

What happened to our girl? She's different. So there's some kind of psychological thing. And then I think it happens to the actual person going through the surgery later. And I think that some of that is just you're now a teenager. You're aware of what people think. It's just so amazing that when they're kids, that's why they handle it the best. There's, oh, yeah, I got another surgery. ♪

So I just got back from a retreat, a men's retreat, and I slept on a mattress at a church camp. And I'm going to tell you right now, the mattress, boys, it makes all the difference. The

The minute you said mattress at a camp, I knew exactly where you were going with this. Oh, it's ridiculous. Yeah. So I've been spoiled. We all have with our sponsor, Helix Mattress. That's what I have at the house. That's what I normally sleep on. And I mean, I ought to recommend that. I mean, sleep is, I'm telling you, if I don't sleep good, everything else goes haywire. As I mentioned, we sleep on a Helix mattress at home. We took the super simple Helix Sleep Quiz and we were matched with the Midnight Luxe mattress. It's not too firm, not too soft. It's not too soft.

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To be honest, like, I always have, like, one breakdown. Like, and Dad saw it one time. Dad will lock himself in his room, basically, when I have surgery because he, like, cannot see me. And it's not like he's, you know, a bad dad. It's just, like, it's hard for him to see me, like, suffering. Yeah, it is.

But I always have one, and it's just because usually, I mean, anybody's like this when they're hungry. Like, you are just at your worst. You're so hungry. And I've eaten the same meal for, like, three weeks. And all I want is, like, a cheeseburger or something. Yeah. And I'm just so ready for it to be done. And I remember after that surgery I had two years ago or a year and a half ago, they were like, oh, like, three weeks. You know, and then you can eat solid food.

I was like, three weeks? This is the best day of my life. It's not like eight or ten. And like three weeks go by and we FaceTime my doctor and he's like, yeah, good to go. And then my orthodontist calls me. He's like, no, you need to wait six more weeks. And I was like, okay. So they were kind of going back and forth and they're like, no, you need to wait.

And I just like lost it. We were watching some like chick flick. Me and my mom were on the couch and I just lost it because I just wanted to eat like a burger so bad. Yeah. And dad walked out and you were talking to mom and then you like saw me and you were like, oh.

And then he just walked back in. It was like too much drama, too much drama. Too much drama. Too soon. Yeah. So it always happens. I just feel like ever since then, ever since my junior year, I've always had like one like day where I just want to like cry. Yeah. But then I'll pick myself up together and pick, you know, do good and push through. But.

Yeah, I feel like that day, I don't know when it's coming, but I always know I'm going to have one breakdown. So, Mia, I've never thought about what you just said before. It struck me as such a huge thought is that you have spent so much of your life waiting for

to be healed. I mean, in other words, you have this procedure and then it's like weeks or months or whatever they're telling you. And you've got to patiently wait for that to happen, to go back to eat again, to be able to have a conversation again.

And so most of your life, in essence, has been spent waiting on something, waiting on follow up, waiting on the next surgery, waiting on, you know, I mean, I look at my own life. I've had one major surgery, one when I was a kid, but I don't even remember because I was very, very young.

but only one that I can recall. And I only had, you know, a couple of weeks to get over that. So I, you know, being an impatient person myself, I haven't had to wait that much. I mean, what's that like to spend most of your life waiting? So I feel like, I feel like that's kind of funny because I feel like I'm not a patient person.

But I feel like when it comes to, like, serious things, like, I've gotten to be very okay with, like, waiting for things. Yeah. But, yeah, I think, I don't know if I have to have another surgery. They've always said, oh, you're done, and then I'll come back and I have to have another one. But I know I don't have to have any major surgeries, which is really nice. So these are just kind of cosmetic surgeries now. Yeah. Because, like, scar tissue and things like that. Yeah. Yeah.

So that's where I get angry because, you know, I'm like, how can you be off in your diagnosis six weeks, you know? Yeah. So that's part of the reason, too, that. Especially when a cheeseburger's involved. That's what I'm saying. But I will say, wasn't it whenever I was born, they told you I was going to have four surgeries? Yeah, that was the first meeting we had. They looked at her and said, okay, she'll probably have four surgeries, you know, before she quits growing.

And so, I mean, was it 16? 16. They were off by 12. And that's not counting just all the little procedures that she's not calling surgeries. But when I mean little procedures, very uncomfortable. Yeah. That we would kind of probably deem as surgeries if we were involved. But, you know, I was thinking about one of our theme verses for Miamou is this Romans 5 verse.

And just to show how it's such a long process, and you know, here the context is suffering for Jesus, but it's kind of the same principle. When he says we've been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into his grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings

Because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit He has given us. And I've just seen that process in her life, you know, number one, in your faith. Because it was bumpy when you were in your later teen years just dealing with

all the differences in your appearance and have another teenager and teenagers can be mean just like little kids, but it doesn't really matter when you're a little kid, you're more resilient, you know? And, uh, so she, in my opinion, really got grounded in your faith somewhere in that process. And, uh, I think it's turned, you know, who you are today. I mean, that, that process as bumpy as it was, uh,

I think your connection with your maker through Jesus, you know, has really given you a piece. Well, I think I got like to practice this when I studied abroad. And I was in Costa Rica and Guatemala and Panama, which are not the safest countries. But a lot of things happened where our power would go out for four days and we don't have any AC, we don't have any hot water. And I couldn't contact my family. We were just waiting.

for these people to like fix whatever was wrong. And then I was thinking like, why would I be stressed about this when there's literally nothing I can do? Like, yes, our food would go bad and we lost money from that. But I was like,

I mean, it's okay. Like, it's not the end of the world. And I think all these years of, like, practicing doing that, like, has made me who I am today where, like, the girls I was with were freaking out about their salmon going bad or freaking out. I'm like, we just... This is a perfect opportunity for us to be unplugged. And we get to stay in our room and we just... And we just...

made the most of it. And I feel like that was the Lord equipping me with those virtues to help other people. Because some of the people I was abroad with, they didn't really have those virtues. They never had to wait for anything in their life. And so when you're thrown into a country where

Like, not everything's about you. Like, you don't get what you get. Like, they just sometimes we'd show up for a trip and the bus driver didn't show up for work that day. And so we were like, all right. So we're just calling people or hitchhiking. And it's kind of what you have to do. And I think that even though it's kind of a sketchy time, like it really taught me and like was able I was able to practice everything that the Lord has taught me growing up.

So I just feel like like leaning in, it just really takes practice. Yeah. Like it's not something you can just do the first time. But I feel like it's made me like I have a chill personality. Yeah. Because you can't predict everything. Yeah. So Mia, you were talking about...

that the idea of is not a major surgery, you know, and that's easy to say when it's somebody else. It reminds me, Zach, when you and I met for the first time, we met Dr. Ben Carson and we were in a setting and he was telling a story about how that the first time he was going in to be the HUD secretary, someone said, well, Dr. Carson, I mean, aren't you intimidated by this huge responsibility? And you've got millions of employees and HUD and all this stuff. And he said,

And he looked at us and he winked, got in. He said, well, it's not brain surgery. And it was such a good lie because it was like, are you kidding me? I mean, having to go through this. And Mia, that's what makes me think of with you. When somebody says, well, it's not something major. And you're just like, yeah, well, you know, neither is waiting six weeks on a cheeseburger. But, you know, at the same time, it's what you learn to go through.

So here's a question for you. What is the gospel? The way you answer that question has a lot of significance in how you live your life out. And we would argue, based on the teaching of Jesus in the book of Mark, that that definition of the gospel should not be separate from the coming of the kingdom based on Jesus' words in Mark.

We're talking about this on my new podcast called Not Yet Now. Would love to invite you guys to join. We're going to go through the series, the series on the book of Mark. We launch every Tuesday and would love to have you guys be a part of it. So go check us out. Not Yet Now podcast with Zach Dasher. You can find us anywhere podcast or heard the title again is Not Yet Now with Zach Dasher. Or you can check us out on YouTube as well at Dasher Zach, Z-A-C-H, at Dasher Zach. Hope to see you guys there.

Well, every time she comes home, it's so funny. When you walk in, you probably don't realize you do this. It's like when you walk in, it's like somebody pushes a button, and it's an hour of one story after another. But you do that, too. I do the same thing. It's not hard for me to understand who the top storyteller is in that house. I mean, Unashamed Nation can speak to this. Mia, there's no doubt your dad has this –

unique we always says because he's named after Cy but he's got this ability to tell any story and to tell it you know in an elongated fashion where it's the worst possible thing that happened and trust me Mia you are a chip off the old block you know you're you're the continuation of the Jay stories that have no end but that we love especially if I have other people

If there's someone else coming to the house. Well, I picked the strays off because I'm thinking they're there for a reason. That's why I'm doing that. And Dad's talking to them for an hour and a half. But what am I doing? Tell them what I'm talking to them about. You're talking to them about what y'all talk on the podcast. You're talking to them about Jesus. Exactly. But I think sometimes I think you're nervous that maybe they don't know about Jesus. Yeah.

But everyone I'm bringing, the people that were there the other day, I mean, she works for Sadie. And she's like, she's strong. So, I mean, she was good because she was talking. He's just making sure of that. He's making sure, which is good. Checking those conversions. I've just, Mia, ever since you've been a teenager in that bumpy time, I made a vow. And I said, okay, here is the condition by which I'm going to

share with your friends when they come over, I'm like, if they walk through the door, if they walk through that door, I'm going to view them as set by God. So I just have a conversation. But now I will tell you, most of your friends,

ask me like a biblical question because they so they they they're like what do you think so and prerequisite that was the word yeah yeah it's but I will say one thing that's kind of funny is my friends taught like my college friends are awesome and like it's me and Layla's friends and they will say like Mia you're so much like your dad like we didn't think that you were like a yapper and

until we met your dad. Oh! Man, I liked your friends, by the way. Then they were like, y'all are just alike. And I'm not picking on you because they love coming over and they always talk about, like, your dad is awesome and, like, they love you so much. But they're like, like, the fourth or fifth time we've been to the house, they're like, sometimes, like, I know that it's okay if I, like, want to go upstairs and, like, take a shower or something and come back down. They're not going to hurt my feelings. No, but, like, the first two times they, like, didn't know. And so they just sit there and I'm like...

We'll talk for four hours. Yeah. Like, you gotta, like, just be like, okay, good night. Here's my sign. As long as you're standing there or sitting there, I'm gonna keep, I'm gonna keep pouring it in until I hit a nerve. Yeah, but most people don't talk as much as we do. And so I do that, too. And I don't realize that, like, oh, they just are trying not to make me feel bad. Like, they're so tired. Yeah.

But I'll do it too. So I got that from you and I'm not mad about it. I like that. So Mia, I got a question for you. You know that your dad, that Zach, that myself, we all have spent different points in our lives doing full-time ministry, working for the church in some fashion. Of course, I was the one that hung in there the longest because I'm the most patient out of us three. But

Uh, so we all had to have a background work for the church and ministry. And you, you now have also had that experience and you, did you intern? Was it last summer or when was it? No, I'm still working there right now. Oh, so you still are. Yeah, I got it. I got it. I got it. So tell me what that's like. What do you, what do you do for the church? I mean, what's, what's your interaction? What's, what's your job consist of? Um,

So I found this church. It's honestly like just like White's Ferry Road, which I think is kind of funny because I don't think I saw myself at a church like that, like going to college.

especially at Church of Christ. I like had gone to the super big church in Franklin, Tennessee, which I really loved. But I would go in there and I would sit in the service and no one would talk to me, which is totally fine. I just like needed that as a college student going to church by myself. Sermons were awesome. Worship was awesome. But I would leave and I had no friends from that church. And so I really prayed about it. And this was the entire freshman year of college. And I was like, I really need a church that like

Kind of just feels like home and feels like a family. Even if it's not the best sermon I've ever heard every single Sunday, like, it's okay. Like, I just need this community. And so I get on Instagram and the first Instagram story I see is this guy from my school. And he posted, he said, come to Harpeth Hills tonight.

I was like, all right, I just prayed about it. I'm just going to show up. Maybe that's the answer. Maybe that's the answer. And so I show up thinking there's going to be like, you know, 50 people in the college group. There is like six people there. And they're all friends. So I'm like, oh, hey, y'all. Like, I'm Mia. I don't know anyone here. And they're all friends. And we just, we played like a game. I was like, okay, this was really fun. And yeah.

The pastor, like the college pastor, his wife, she came and talked to me and we talked for like an hour. And I left that place. I was like, we just played a game because no one showed up tonight. But that was the most I've gotten out of church in like a year, even though we didn't even like really talk about like anything. And so I kept coming back and then.

There was still about 10 people there, maybe every single Wednesday night. And it was so good. Like, I just fell in love with this place. Started going on Sundays and I was sitting in there in the acapella service. And you cannot fit another person in there. There was hundreds of people in there and they're all just singing acapella songs. And it brought me back. I was like, I really, really love it here.

And then when I went and studied abroad, they sent me mail, which it never made it to me because they don't have addresses in Costa Rica. But I was like, they really care about me. And so they asked me to work for them and be the college intern for my junior year.

And I didn't really know what that looked like. I thought, oh, I guess I'm leading worship. I don't really know what my job is. And so, and the guy that offered me the job, he didn't even know I did worship or didn't know I played the piano or anything. He was like, we wanted you to just be, oh, now they need interns because now there's 80 people coming to our college group. Wow.

And I invited my friends and now they all come and now there's like underclassmen coming. And basically there's so many new people coming every week that they need people to like be a friend of them. And I got that from dad. I can talk with anybody, which is why I love that. I got that from you because that's really what got me this job. Cause I can talk to somebody that I've never met and they're my best friend. We're chatting it up and yeah.

Then my boss figured out I actually sing and play piano. So he was like, oh, okay, well, you can be in charge of that. So now we got 20 people on the worship team that are in college, and I scheduled that. And that got started because Max Dasher was like, you need to come lead worship with me. Zach's son. Yeah. And we started doing that for like weeks in a row, and we planned not a single song. And we would sit up there and sing.

do music for like 30 minutes. And it was spontaneous worship, literally from the Holy Spirit. Like we were singing songs from like the 90s that I like didn't even know I knew the words to, but the Lord put it on my heart.

And so I just fell in love with it, and now there's so many people there. That's awesome. So it's not like a hard job, but I'm just being a light and just trying to connect people with the right people and make our church a home, and I love it. I love that. You know what hit me when she was talking like that? It's like when you—I mean, we're starting in the book of John, and we always look at Jesus did all these miracles to show that he was the Son of God.

But when you look at it from the people's perspective, I mean, I thought about even Nicodemus being a religious leader, and then the next thing you get a woman who's been married multiple times and is alone and...

And Jesus had a conversation, and then you think John 5, there was an invalid who had been born that way for 38 years, it says. And then John 8, remember the woman caught in adultery? And John 9, the man born blind. Well, from their perspective, what Jesus did was really change their identity. Because for years, you were known as the girl with the cleft eye.

Lip and palate, craniofacial. And so I thought about all that. You know, that's a big transition where something, you know, wrong with you physically or spiritually from the book of John, but where that is your identity. I mean, that all of a sudden gets changed in Jesus. Yeah. Where...

it's hard to put into words, but really that's why God used you. I mean, he changed your identity. Like I said, it was bumpy and you shared that when you were a teenager, but you found your identity in Christ. And now look at what you're doing. You're being a representative to him. I just think there's a powerful message in there somewhere for everybody. And when you think about it, really, I mean, Mia mentioned this earlier, every time she had a surgery, um,

in a sense, from a physical perspective, her identity changed because she looked differently. And that would matter to anybody, but in my opinion, it matters more to young girls and young women. And so the fact that not only did that not derail you, but also helped you to understand, to help other people, shows me that your identity in Christ changed.

is really the main thing. And so Mia, you seem to have learned that over the course of a lifetime and now you're able to help other people find that identity. So what a blessing and what a blessing for us.

that we got to hear these stories today. Zach, once again, you've outdone yourself bringing on such an amazing guest. And Mia, I just want you to know that anytime you're in town for spring break, for summer breaks, for whatever, you have a warm chair that is open to you on the Unashamed podcast. We sure are glad to have you on. Thank you. Thanks for having me on. Awesome. Well, you're welcome back anytime.

That wraps it up for us. We'll see you next time on Unashamed. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube. And be sure to click the little bell and choose all notifications to watch every episode.