Surrendering Control, with Olympic Diver Kimiko Soldati

Kimiko Soldati’s Olympic dreams consumed her. Her whole life was focused on bringing home the gold for her own glory until she learned the beauty of surrender and started living for God’s glory. Kimiko shares her story and the process of giving up control. You’ll be encouraged to make an active choice of surrender to the Lord.

Episode Notes:

Revive Our Hearts Trilogy set

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Introduction: Olympics and Surrender

Erin Davis: What’s something that you think, If I just try a little harder today, I can master this, and then I will experience the thrill of success? Well, we're praying that the Lord is going to help you see whatever that area of your life is in a brand-new light today. 

Welcome to Grounded. This is a podcast and a videocast from Revive Our Hearts. We record it live every Monday morning. I'm Erin Davis. 

Portia Collins: I'm Portia Collins, our co-host Dannah Gresh, had some extra responsibilities with True Girl this week. But we are here, and we were ready to give you a dose of hope and perspective. 

Erin: We're here and ready Freddy. It is that exciting time that only comes around once every four years, or a little longer if there is a global pandemic, and that is the Summer Olympics. You probably already know they kicked off in Tokyo with an opening ceremony on Friday.

Portia: I want you to get ready to hear from an Olympic diver. Our guest this morning is Kimiko Soldati. She is more than a diving champ. She is also a champion for Jesus Christ. She'll be with us in a few minutes. But guess who's back today? Robyn McKelvy is back with us. 

Erin: Our long-lost Grounded friend has returned. I can't wait to hear from Robyn.

Portia: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. You may not be training for the Olympics. You may not be in the same situation that Kimiko was in, but what God has taught Kimiko as she trained will surely inspire you, because we all have things in our lives that we're trying to master. 

Erin: Right. We do. I've been trying to master Spanish. I've talked about that some here on Grounded. And Portia, you know that the Lord is doing something amazing in Latin America. Revival is happening there. I am not content to just sit on the sidelines. I want to be a part of it. So, I've got a Spanish tutor. I've been working on it for a while. I would not say I've mastered it, but I'm trying. What are you trying to master, Portia?

Portia: I love that you're doing it though. I love following this journey with you. Well, for me, I have been trying to master eating right.

Erin: Me too.

Portia: Well, Kimiko’s story is a beautiful invitation for you, if you're trying to master something. This is the invitation for you to give up control and learn to surrender to the Master. 

Erin: The Master. I want to surrender my life to the Master. For sure. 

I may not be an Olympic athlete. Look, no one ever looked at me and thought that girl she has a potential to qualify for the Olympics—not even the shot put. But I am definitely a woman who likes to be in control. I think we all struggle on some level with controlling tendencies. And I wonder if that's true of us as women, especially? We think, Oh, I'm just trying to help or I can fix this. Or I can make things run more smoothly if I am in control of the snacks and the schedule and all of those things. 

But sometimes that can drive us into a ditch that's not healthy. Because this is a topic that impacts all of us, we count on you to help us spread the word. Kimiko is here to help us consider the pitfalls of our attempts to control our lives, and to learn the beauty of surrender, like, free falling off that diving board. So hit the share button, send a text, let people know that Grounded is on and this morning, you got an Olympian in the midst. 

Portia: We also know that many of you listen to the podcast version of Grounded, and that drops each Wednesday. So, guess what? We want you to go and rate and review the podcast on your favorite podcast app. And that just really helps us to get the word out. So, we would love a five-star rating. Okay, I'm just gonna be honest. 

Erin: Yeah, I was gonna say we're not gonna tell you how many stars to use, except we want to use all the stars just fill in all the stars. That's like our Olympic gold, when we hear how Grounded has impacted you.

Portia: I am feeling the Olympic spirit this morning. So, our viewers, many of them are telling us they're big fans of gymnastics. Some are saying swimming. But for this Olympic episode, I hope you have some Olympic-sized good news to share. 

Good News: Christian Olympians

Portia: You know I do. Okay. We always like to share good news here on Grounded this morning. I wanted to take a moment to celebrate American athletes competing in this year's summer games who are followers of Jesus, like Christian Taylor. He already won two gold medals for the triple jump in the 2012 and 2016 games. Christian says he lives by the motto, “Blessed to be a blessing.” Love it, blessed to be a blessing. Meaning, God has blessed him so that he can bless others. 

We also have Cat Osterman who will be competing in her third Olympic Games. As a softball player. I love it. I love the variety that you see at the Olympics. By the way, Cat said, “When I wake up, there's something way more important than anything on my to-do list. Anything that's going to happen on the softball field, anything, period, I'm here for a purpose. It's His purpose, and I'm going to fulfill it.” 

Then there's Allyson Felix, I am let me just say a huge fan of her! I follow her. I love her.

Allyson has won . . . get this . . . six Olympic gold medals and three silvers. This year, she is looking to become the oldest 400-meter sprinter in history. This will be her first Olympic games since she became a mom. I encourage you to check out a little bit of her story. She has a very interesting story behind an import of other mothers who are also athletes. Allyson set up a fund to help with child care.

Specifically, for athletes, they will receive a $10,000 grant to help them care for their children while training or competing. Love it. Allyson and her sponsor say that this is just the beginning. They are actively looking for ways to support women who are moms and athletes in celebration of motherhood. Allyson says, “For me, my faith is the reason I run. I definitely feel like I have this amazing gift that God has blessed me with, and it's all about using it to the best of my ability.” So, Allyson, you got a fan over here. I'm gonna be cheering for you.

You know, these are always the stories that make the headlines. But these brothers and sisters in Christ are using their gifts for God's glory. So, I encourage you to pray for them this week. The world is watching. They have opportunities to use the spotlight to point to Jesus and that my friends, is good news.

Erin: That is good news. Kathy says God gets all the credit for the abilities of the athletes. He's so awesome in the creation of the human body, and all He's created so awesome to watch. You know that I love that perspective. And watching the Olympics, we're watching God's creation on full display. So, I love that good news. 

Interview on Surrender: Kimiko Soldati Olympic Champian

Erin: Hey, Kimiko Soldati is with us this morning. She spent years training as a gymnast, and then a diver. She was named Athlete of the Year by USA Diving two years in a row. And she competed in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Kimiko, welcome to Grounded.

Kimiko Soldati: Hi ladies, it's so great to be here with you. Thanks for having me. 

Erin: You're our first Olympian, so we kind of are starstruck by having you here.

Portia: Very much so.

Erin: Kimiko, tell us a little bit about your experience as an athlete, how did you get into competitive diving?

Kimiko: I think a lot of athletes, probably that clearly make it to that level of the Olympic games, they had a dream when they were little. They saw the Olympics on TV. My whole childhood, I thought I was gonna go to the Olympics in gymnastics. God clearly had different plans for me, because I injured myself in gymnastics. That led me into the sport of diving, and eventually clearly made the Olympic Games. But I was just a very intense child. I still am intense, but I was a very intense child. I was driven, driven, driven. And that drivenness, really, is what athletes do to make the Olympic Games. I mean, this is why there's not many Olympians out there, because it's just really intense. 

There is a lot of training and a lot of focus, a lot of discipline, a lot of pushing through pain and things like that. That is a such an asset to being an Olympian. But you flip that over, and you got a liability, too, because you’ve got a potential for a lot of obsession and compulsion and thoughts and behaviors that are really not helpful. 

So how did I get into diving? I injured myself in gymnastics, but the Lord did it. I didn't know Him at the time. But He allowed the injury in gymnastics, which got me into diving, which took me down to Texas, which is where I came to know Jesus. And so, it's really a story of how I see God using sports to lead me to Himself and ultimately to the hope of the gospel. 

Erin: Oh, that is so precious, and I so celebrate His work in your life. I want to press down a little bit on the liabilities of everything it takes to be a successful athlete. You know, this week there at the Olympics, we all are in awe. We do celebrate the level of discipline required to master a sport, but I want to hear what it was like for you personally, as that's where I imagine was your whole world, as that was your singular goal to achieve success. What were those liabilities? What did it cost you personally? 

Kimiko: That's a great question. I think so much of my story, and many stories and across the board of people who come to know Christ, but especially for athletes, you're just so focused on the prize. I mean, even Paul talks about this. Anyone can win the prize. And being so focused on that just really elevates the level of idolatry of what you're doing. You begin to forget about everything else. You don't want to compromise the prize. And ultimately, though, the sad thing about that, for me was that it was just completely focused on me. It was just all about me, it was all about my goals, my dreams, my ambitions, how I was going to prove it, how was going to do it. 

And really, we all long for glory, right? I mean, these two weeks of the Olympic Games, the people love them, because we're drawn to glory. We love the opening ceremonies, the craziness, the theatrical, and all of this stuff, because we love glory. We were designed by God to love glory. And so we love to gather and behold something that's glorious and majestic and bigger than ourselves. That's because we were made for Jesus. 

And so, the Olympics are just a shadow of the substance of what God designed us for. And as the world watches the Olympics, they're kind of tapping into that without knowing we're watching the nations come together, right? Just you know, Portia even said that, just like all the different shapes and sizes and variety of sports and things like that. We need love that we're drawn to. As human beings we were made for heaven, like we were made for the nations to come together and worship Jesus forever. And the Olympics just kind of taps into that a little bit. 

But I didn't know that I didn't know. That's what I was chasing after. I was after my own self glory. 

Erin: And yeah, I assume it’s your whole identity. I mean, if someone asks you, who are you? Or what makes you you, it was your sport, right? 

Kimiko: Yeah, you're right. Diving becomes who I am, not just what I do. And that could be across the board of anything. It can be a mom, it can be an artist, it can be a musician, it can be anything. These things that we do can become who we are. And that's not our identity. Jesus says I am in Christ, and Christ is in me. 

And so, you're right, diving became completely obsessive. For me, my whole identity was in whether I was going to be successful in diving or not. And then God just ripped that away from me. He allowed me to suffer injury after injury after injury. I didn't understand why. Thinking this would be such a great platform to stand up on the podium and point to Jesus, but He was teaching me such a deeper lesson. You know, He loves me. His perfection covers me. And so, I'm free. I don't have to be perfect. I don't have to when He was perfect. He's perfect for all of us. So I'm free not to be. Hallelujah, right?

Erin: Amen. In the midst of that, as you were training, a friend invited you to church. I love that part of your story. I've been a Christian for a long time. I can feel like, what good does even inviting anybody to church do? Everyone surely has been invited to church; everybody surely would go if they wanted to. But someone invited you to church, and it had a pretty dramatic impact. What was your initial response when you got that invitation to go to church? 

Kimiko: Well, I really saw Christianity as a crutch, as a weakness. It was for all you weak people who need that kind of thing. But my life was really a mess. But looking at me from the outside, Erin, you would have thought I was really successful. I was in amazing shape. I was at the top of my sport; I was at the top of the world. I had a great husband. I had sponsorships. I had all of these things that you think I would have been satisfied with. But I wasn't. I had a super noisy soul. I had an eating disorder. I had other addictions. I was a mess. I knew there was something missing. And I knew that I didn't have the peace that my soul was longing for. 

And so, when a family had invited us, the family actually we were living with when I was training for the Olympic Games, invited us to church. I was like, “Okay, I'll just go, and kind of explore the spiritual side of things. What God did ultimately was He got me in His Word. I wanted to figure out what this whole Christianity thing was about. So I got in the Word, and I began to read and digest in question, and wonder. I did not like what I read, because I wanted to run my life. And it was not just God that I was reading about in Scripture. He came right at me, and He chased me, and He won. You know, when you wrestle God, you lose. 

Erin: That's right. 

Kimiko: He got me. It took a while, though. I was a tough case. Like you were saying earlier, we just want to hold on to the illusion of control, the pride that says I run my life better than anybody else. Even though when I look at my life, I'm like, really? How's it going for you?

Erin: Yeah, I would say to the crutch argument. I would say it absolutely is a crutch. I can't get through the day without Jesus. I lean heavy on to Him. So, you were right, in that sense, but I think we all know that experience of having a noisy soul, and trying all kinds of things to quiet it. And Jesus is the only one who can do that. 

So I've read everything I can find on you in the past few days. I've been really fascinated by your story, and inspired by Christ's transformation in your life. What I've heard really is kind of the theme of so much of what I read. You found peace; you found a soul quiet in giving up control. 

What did that process of learning to surrender look like? I say all the time that I obey God kicking and screaming, it's still obedience. I don't surrender gracefully, but I do surrender because He's good. But what does that process of learning a surrendered life look like when you've had so much control before? What was that like?

Kimiko: Great question. The first thing that pops in my mind is that it is not a passive surrender. It's not like a let go. Because first of all with control freaks,we're like, “What do I do?” 

Erin: Right. 

Kimiko: You know, it is an active surrender. It's an active choice of faith, to believe the Scripture, to believe the gospel to fight in your heart and in your mind, to believe the truth that you're sinful to the core, to believe you are loved to the core by this Christ who died in your place, and that he's given you His perfection. And so now I don't need to try to attain it. I don't have to earn my own righteousness anymore. It's been gifted to me, and I can rest in that, but that resting again, it's not a passive, like, I'll just lolly. It doesn't look like that. It's an active faith. I mean, Paul talks about the race, and he talks about walking. It's one foot in front of the other to fight, to believe the Word of God, to believe the Word of God. You’ve got to be in the Word of God. 

And so, being in the Word every day, being in a covenant community around you to hold you accountable for fellowship in worship on Sunday, sitting, hearing the Word preached to you . . . These are active steps where you are surrendering. When I pray, what am I saying? “I am not God. You are God, I am not.” And so, that act of prayer is such a chief act of faith. That is more what surrender looks like. I think a lot of women, when we struggle with control, and we have issues, and we’ve got junk in our life, we just want it to all kind of go away. “Jesus, take it all away.” I'm not saying He can't do that. 

But for me, He didn't do that. For me, He sort of dragged me in through the mud. It's a fight, a battle. I mean, He calls it war. Maybe this is where my athletic mindset was helpful, of being not afraid of getting messy, getting dirty, getting into the grime, and the dirt of the fight of faith, and to hold on to Jesus when I don't feel like it when my emotions and my thoughts and my minds, and everything around me looks like this doesn't make sense. But to fight by faith and say, “I'm going to trust the Word; I'm going to walk in obedience; I'm going to believe this gospel and preach it to myself. I must say it out loud. None of that stuff is passive. So, surrender is not a passive event. It's a choice, to hold on to Jesus and say, “I will, by faith, believe this gospel for my heart and my soul.” I know that God is good. I know His format and looked across and they know the empty tomb. I know the power that He has. And I'm going to trust that by faith.

Erin: I love that picture of crawling through the mud of surrender. I mean, that is my experience of the Christian life. And I think that’s most people's experience of the Christian life. Well, Kimiko, there is a woman listening or watching this morning, and she's trying. She's white knuckling her way through something, maybe it's her marriage, maybe it's a relationship with one child, maybe it's her health, maybe it's her plan for her life. She's got a plan, and she's got a white knuckle her way through it. She's probably even a follower of Christ.

I've been a follower of Christ for 20 years, and I still find myself trying to just control the situation. So, what would you say to that woman this morning about the beauty of surrendering her ability to control which as you said, is an illusion anyway. She can't do it anyway? But just speak some hope and to her about the beauty of trusting God with whatever that thing is?

Kimiko: I think that's every woman's story. Right? We all are there at some level in degree, but there are definitely some women who, who white knuckle it, as you say, and grab that illusion of control. I think one of the first places is to admit the pride behind that and to admit I am not wise enough to know how to run my life.

If Jesus is allowing this situation—it may be suffering, and maybe a family and maybe a child, or all those things that you just said, to bow the knee to God's sovereignty, but not just to do that just in white knuckle that but to look to His goodness. The place that you look for that is in the gospel, right? You look at God. When I hated God, He sent Jesus for me. He is for me. He is for my good; He is for His glory. That is what my heart longs for. I know for me, it's a fight to really believe what I say. When I say, I want to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, do I really believe that? So fighting to believe that whatever the God is allowing in the situation. God can use it for His glory, and for my good. He's revealing the idols that I'm putting my hope in—the idol of control or comfort or peace. 

And guess what? The gospel gives us an answer for every single one of those things. Jesus has brought us peace. He is our peace in, as Paul says. The comfort that we have in knowing that God's presence will be with us. He will be our God. We will be His people; that's a covenant. That's a promise that God has made. So going back to the Word is going to be a huge place for that woman who is struggling to white knuckle it. Go into the Word, believe His promises, and then being around his people. Being in worship, and putting in ourselves around other people that will preach the gospel to ourselves and lift our hands and say, “Look at Jesus. Keep your eyes on Jesus, off of yourself off of your life, even off of your own sin, and off of your own Christian life. 

I think as a Christian woman, we tend to want to do Christian life really, really good. And we can white knuckle that. We’ve got to get to Jesus. He is perfect, we are not. 

Erin: I love that you keep pointing us back to God's Word, the gospel and God's people. I mean, that is our training ground as followers of Jesus. We stay in that training ground until we're with Him in glory. So, I'm amening all the way. I think I know the answer this question, but you may surprise me. Your husband is heading over to the Olympics soon to do some coaching. So what event is your favorite event to watch in the Summer Olympics?

Kimiko: Oh, wow. That's a funny question. Because you would think I would probably say diving. 

Erin: That's what I think you’re going to say. 

Kimiko: Yeah, right. This year, my favorite event is going to be my husband's event. He's coaching the men's 10 meter and individual diving. So I'll go with that answer. But I love it all.

Erin: Thank you, Kimiko. They're all so fun, aren’t they? You really are a champion for Jesus. And, I spoke wrong at the opening. We had Jojo Starbuck on before, she is an Olympic skater. So, I now have two favorite Olympians JoJo, and you Kimiko thanks for being on Grounded.

Kimiko: Thank you, Erin.

Video with Nancy: Grace Ambulance

Erin: Well, what is making you feel out of control today? What have you already written to us and said this was your first day at home with six kiddos alone and husband went to work? I bet that's making you feel out of control. We're with you, sister. So maybe I may need to ask that question a little differently, not what is making you feel out of control. But who is making you feel out of control today?

And whatever or whoever came to mind when I asked those questions is a gift. Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth says that they might be a grace ambulance. I want you to watch this short clip from a message Nancy gave at True Woman ’16. And while you watch, I want you to grab something you can wave. It could be a Kleenex; it could be a sock, this is a dirty old towel out of my bathroom could be a hanky. Because I hope you are going to want to wave the white flag of surrender as Nancy is talking. Let's watch this short clip.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: I know what's in my notes. I know what I'm planning to say, and praying that the Lord will direct me as I speak. But what I don't know is how the Holy Spirit will apply what I'm about to say to your heart, to your situation. One of the things I pray going into conferences like this—I've been praying it over this past week or so—is, Lord, would you create circumstances in women's lives who are coming to this conference that will make them realize how much they need You? Will You make us desperate for you by circumstances that you create in our week? How many of you would say now that God answered that prayer in your life this week?

No, don't blame me.

But God loves us enough that He knows if we walk into a place like this and we're fine, we think we have no need. Why are we gonna cry out to Him? You don't call an ambulance unless you have a need.

When you call and say 911, it's desperate, with somebody who's had a heart attack or somebody who's fallen down or there's an injury. The ambulance comes racing to the scene of need. I envision God's grace as being a little bit like that ambulance; you might call it a grace ambulance that comes racing to the scene of our need. When we call out and say, “Lord, I need you.” I think there are hardly sweeter words that God could hear us say.

And so, God creates circumstances. You thought that it was your two-year-old who was the problem? You say, “I wouldn't have been so reactionary. I wouldn't have been so angry if my two-year-old hadn't painted the living room furniture with butter.”

But God knew you were an angry woman. He used that little two-year-old in those circumstances to squeeze you, and what was inside of you came out. You thought, I'm this sweet, loving, gracious, kind, godly Proverbs 31 mother . . . until my two-year-old filled the dryer with water.

Then you realize, “I am, I'm crazy. I mean, I am an angry woman.” God created circumstances to make you realize you didn't just need the gospel when you got saved 15 or 20, or in my case, 54 years ago. I need the gospel today. You need the gospel today. In those circumstances, help us realize how much we need God. By the way, did you bring your hanky with you? Because you might be needing it. If not for tears, (we ought to sell waterproof mascara at these events) but tears are a good thing. Maybe it's just some surrender that's needed through this morning. You have that handy. I don't want to just see white hankies. I want to see Him, but God wants to see hearts that are saying, “Yes, Lord.”

Studying Surrender with Robyn McKelvy—Col. 3:17

Robyn McKelvy: Amen. Amen. Hi, everybody. I'm back. And I'm waving the white flag of paper, because, boy, I'm getting ready to share a Scripture with you that God has really put on my heart. It's changed my life. You would think this is a Scripture I've never heard or seen before, but I know it by heart. But it was one day, and I believe it was January this year, that this Scripture was stepping all over my toes, as I was teaching a little bit about what this Scripture meant. It was like I read it for the first time.

And this is the Scripture, Colossians 3:17. And it says, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

That’s kind of amazing. I love that every day as a believer, I get to represent Christ.

Now, we just talked to Kimiko, the diver, but we got to talk to her about what she does to get ready, what every one of those Olympic athletes have to do to get ready. We get an opportunity every day, every day to represent Christ. 

Now, when the Olympians are in Tokyo, they each get the opportunity to represent their respective countries, each individual athlete are the best at the trials. And so, they get to go and represent their country in that event. Just like them, we get the privilege to represent Christ, but not in one specific event. And this is what's amazing. The Lord allows us to represent Him with our whole being. That's what this Scripture is saying to us. With every word that we say, with every deed that we do, we get to show off our Savior. He's the only one that can transform your life. 

And this shiny transformation of how we respond, how we serve, of how we live, makes other people as they see us, as they watch us, want to know who we're serving, who we represent, who we live for. Whatever you do, and this means everything that you do. It doesn't just mean on Sunday or Wednesday night when we see the saints of our local church. It means that we get to show off the Lord Jesus in everything that we do. We get to give things to God by doing what we do, and in word. Whatever you do in word, the Scripture says, not just what you say, but what you type.

What you post, what you write, should bring glory to God. Your word should be a breath of fresh air to everyone who hears them. Do those in your home hear words that make them want to follow you as you follow Christ? Are you a grumbler? Are you a complainer? Are you not content with what you have?

What you post, and I need to tell you all, what you post on Tik Tok on Instagram on Facebook, or any other social media, should be refreshment to those that read your words. 2 Thessalonians 5 also tells us that we get to encourage one another and build another up. That's what we get the privilege of doing to Christ every day. And then it says not just in words, it says, in deed. What do your deeds say about you? Are you representing Christ with the things that you do? Does your spouse and your children see you representing Christ around your home? 

And this is one that really hit me, because I have a son that just had gotten into some disrespectful things. And I went there with him. I realized that my words were not building him up. I have become a 12-year-old too, with my 12-year-old son. But this is the thing, I need to make sure that everything that I do, and everything that I say, represents and shows glory to God, the Father. With each smile that I smile as I'm walking down the street, as I see someone at the grocery store, I represent Christ, that's a deed that you do. That's how simple this is. 

With each meal that you take to someone, you know, you sign up for these meal trains with these meals that we take, are you being the hands and the feet of Christ? With each prayer that you pray, to lift up a downcast soul, you bring hope to the soul, and glory to the one that can only redeem every word. And every day that you speak, you should make Christ known. That's the bottom line for us. 

Grounded family, I want you to do a little homework. I want you to read all of Colossians 3. And I want you to put away your old self with the things, that's the things that Paul's telling us to do here. We are not the old person that we used to be, but we're a new person. And so, we need to become this new person by setting our minds on the things that are above. You may not do it perfectly. Let me raise my hand, I don't do it perfectly. But every day, I get an opportunity to do it again. And again. So once again, the first for us for today is “whatever we do in word or indeed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Portia: Amen, amen, amen. Thank you so much, Robyn. 

Erin: Our girl, Robyn.

Portia: I'm telling you, we missed you, Robyn. I just want you to know we missed you. 

Erin: Yeah, we have. She's gonna be back more often. She’s had a busy summer, but we're gonna be hearing and seeing more from Robyn. 

The Good Stuff: Surrender

Portia: Absolutely. Every episode of Grounded, we want to send you home with the good stuff—the tools to help you stay grounded after this videocast or if you're listening podcast is over. This morning, we recommend a book by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. It's called Surrender the Heart God Controls. Mine is actually the trilogy here: Brokenness, Surrender and Holiness. And we want you to check it out. Okay?

Erin: Yeah, we do Nancy's teachings on these big ideas of brokenness, which is admitting our desperate need for Jesus, and surrender, which is giving our lives over to Him. Those two, her teachings on those ideas have been so formative in my own life. I am a controlling person in my flesh, and Nancy has helped me learn the beauty of surrender. And like I've said before, I'm not an Olympic athlete, but there are plenty of people and circumstances that I would try to control on my own. And if that's true of you, I actually do think it's probably true of all of us to some degree, regardless of our personality type.

I'm type A, so it might be exaggerated in my personality, but I think it's true of all of us on some level. I would encourage you to grab this book, like Portia said, it's part of a trilogy of books, Brokenness, Holiness, and Surrender. That's because those are things that God can produce in us, holiness, when live out the path of surrender. We're going to drop a link. We always want to make it easy for you to find the good stuff that we're recommending. But we have a phrase we use often here at Revive Our Hearts. You heard Nancy say it at the end of that clip. And it's just two words: “Yes, Lord.”

I mean, if you went into your Monday with those two words on your lips, “Yes, Lord,” it would make a tremendous difference. If you've ever been to Revive Our Hearts Conference, then you know what it's like to see. You know what it's like to see a roomful of women waving their white hankies. Like I said, mine’s a dirty old bath towel. But at a conference, we get white hankies, and we wave them, because it's symbolic of surrendering our illusion of control. We aren't really in control, but our illusion of control for Christ's control in our lives. 

I told you to grab something to wave. One of you told us you were waving the burp cloth of surrender. I just love that. I can picture you waving that burp cloth of your baby’s in surrender. And that's because today's episode, we really boil it down. It's an invitation to wave the white flag of surrender in your own life.

Portia: I'm waving and slinging all kinds of lint over here too. But I'm waving.

Erin: That’s okay. 

Portia: I want to take us back to the question you asked at the top of the broadcast, Erin. And it's what is that thing that I think if I just try harder, but just do more, I can master and experience the thrill of sweet success? For me, honestly, as I think about, it's probably a lot of things. Because I will control girl I know. The number one thing would probably be my health. I hate that feeling of, I can't control this. There's nothing that I could do to change this right now. And so this episode has put a lot on my mind and my heart today.

Erin: Yeah, and you're not the only one. Some of you are saying you felt that Kimiko was talking exactly to you. I think a lot of us feel that way. Elizabeth said she was waving the white burp cloth of surrender. Margarita shared, she liked the big picture perspective of the search for glory. We knew that this would be powerful episode; we were eager to share it with you. I really don't want to race past that thought. 

What is the thing you're trying to white knuckle your way through today? And what would it look like for you to surrender that to Jesus? You don't have to keep trying harder and harder. You can feel that weight lifted off your shoulders from realizing you don't have to do it all. You can wave the white flag, because God is in control. And no matter what happens with that area of your life you're trying to manage . . . That's the word I use a lot. I'm just trying to manage this thing. And whether you manage it or not today, Jesus is on His throne.

If I close my eyes, I can picture the Grounded sisterhood. It really is a sisterhood, a global sisterhood. I can picture the Grounded sisterhood waving white flags all over the world, surrendering our illusion of control this morning for God's control in our lives. And that makes my heart so happy.

Portia: I'm just taking that in, really taking it in. That is really a dose of hope and perspective. And you know, I love, love, love seeing all the flags from the different countries at the Olympics. But when I take a moment to picture women all around the world waving white flags of surrender to Christ, it's like breathtaking for me. That is breathtaking for me. So y'all keep surrendering. I'm right there with you. Let's surrender to His plan for our lives today.

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