Who’s on Your Branch?

Claire Black: Welcome to True Girl, a podcast for girls and their moms. I’m Claire Black. Together we’ll explore God’s truth for us—one drive at a time. Buckle up! You’re about to grow closer to each other and closer to Jesus.

Song:

I am a true girl.
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
I am, I am, I am a true girl!

Last time, Dannah Gresh and Suzy Weibel were sitting in the woods listening for owls, and they explained that wisdom is knowing what God says and choosing to do it. They said that wise people perch before they fly. In other words, they slow down, listen to God, and then make wise choices.

Today, Dannah and Suzy are back in the woods, in the daylight this time, looking for clues that owls leave behind. Those will show you something really important about the people you spend time with—because your friends shape the person you’re becoming.

This episode is called “Who’s on Your Branch?” Here’s Suzy.

Suzy Weibel: Okay, I just want to say that I am much happier being in the woods during the daytime than I was last time when we were here in the dark.

Dannah Gresh: You did get a little nervous when it started getting dark. (laughter) 

Suzy: I did not get nervous. I just became very aware that we were in the woods, far from the car, surrounded by creatures that can see in the dark.

Dannah: You mean the owls?

Suzy: Yes, the owls . . . and probably other things with eyes that glow.

Dannah: You have quite an imagination.

Suzy: All I’m saying is, daytime woods feel friendly. Nighttime woods feel like a completely different place.

Dannah: That’s true. Everything looks different in the dark.

Suzy: Yes. In the daytime I feel like we’re on a peaceful nature walk. At night I feel like we’re in a documentary about survival.

Dannah: Well, today we are definitely in the peaceful nature walk category.

Suzy: Good, because I prefer peaceful nature walks to survival reality shows.

(Suzy’s announcer voice) 

By day, it’s a peaceful nature walk—birds chirping, breeze blowing, very Psalm 23.

But by night . . .

Every snapping twig is a bear.

Every rustling leaf has glowing eyes.

And that owl? Clearly narrating our final moments.

Will Dannah Gresh and Suzy Wiebel walk on in courage? Or casually power-walk backwards to the car?

Which woman can outrun the other?  Find out tonight on Nature Walk: Survivor Edition—After Dark.

Dannah: You’re silly! (giggles) I love it when you do that.

Well, today we’re actually on a bit of a mission.

Suzy: Uh oh. Last time your “mission” involved sitting on a log in the dark waiting for owls . . . for a very long time, I might add.

Dannah: This mission is different. Today we are looking for owl pellets.

Suzy: For what!?

Dannah: Owl pellets.

Suzy: So you said. Frankly, Dannah, that is something I do not want to find.

Dannah: It’s actually quite interesting.

Suzy: I feel like whenever someone says something is “quite interesting,” it usually means it’s at least a little gross.

Dannah: Well, owl pellets are basically the parts of the owl’s food that it can’t digest, like bones and fur, and then the owl coughs them back up.

Suzy: Yep. And . . . that is exactly my definition of gross.

Dannah: But here’s the interesting part: if you find an owl pellet, you know an owl has been there.

Suzy: And . . . you can tell where the owl has been by what it leaves behind.

Dannah: Exactly. You can learn a lot about an animal by the tracks it leaves, the feathers it drops, or the pellets it leaves behind. Those are all clues. They show where the animal has been and sometimes even where it’s going.

Suzy: So basically, the owl leaves clues.

Dannah: Yes. And we don’t seem to be finding any so far. I thought since this is where we were the other night when we heard it . . . Oh, well. Let’s take a water break.

Hmm, that’s refreshing! Here, have some!

Suzy: Want something from my pocket? I can’t be sure, but I think I have . . . Oopp, sorry, just a guitar pick. I must have dropped those beef sticks a while back. Oh well.

Dannah: A guitar pick isn’t much of a snack. But like owls, people leave clues too.

Suzy: Wait! I can’t think of a time when I left a Suzy-sized pellet laying around like our owl friends.

Dannah: (laughter) Well, maybe not feathers and pellets, but other kinds of clues, like guitar picks! It’s a clue that you’re a musician. And beef sticks, which some coyote or racoon is probably gonna thank you for tonight.

Other clues? Our words, choices, and attitudes. They are all clues. 

Suzy: And our friends are big clues into who we are! You can tell a lot about someone by the friends they spend time with.

Dannah: You really can. The Bible actually talks about this in Proverbs 13:20. It says:

Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.

That verse tells us something very simple but extremely important. Who you choose to spend time with impacts who you will become. 

Suzy: So if you spend time with kind people, you are likely to be more kind.

Dannah: If you spend time with people who love God, you’re encouraged to love God.

Suzy: But if you spend time with people who gossip, it becomes much easier to talk about people in unkind ways.

If you spend time with friends who cheat, they may teach you their ways and tell you, “Everybody does it.”

Dannah: True confession: in sixth grade, I had a friend who stole money in a really unusual way. She had yard sales to raise money for famous charities only . . . she never sent the money in. And ya know what, I think the stuff she sold may have been stolen. To this day, I feel really bad that I helped her have one of those yard sales. I didn’t know until it was over what she was up to, but . . . 

Anyways, walk with the wise and grow wise, but associate with fools and you’ll get into trouble. I still send money to that charity I helped her have a yard sale for. I don’t think I’ve ever said that out loud to anybody!

Suzy: Friend, you are forgiven! But you just proved it. Just like the owl pellets, our friends are clues about where we’ve been and the direction we’re heading in. 

Dannah: Exactly. That’s why one of the most important decisions you will ever make is who you spend time with.

Suzy: This whole idea about wise friends and foolish friends actually reminds me of a story in the Bible about a king who had to decide whether to listen to wise people or foolish people.

It’s about King Rehoboam, who was King Solomon’s son. When Rehoboam became king, the people came to him with a request.

I’m going to read what happened from my little pocket Bible. (Glad it’s not back there with the beef sticks!)

(Pages flipping)

Suzy: Let’s see, I’m going to read from 1 Kings 12:3–14.

The leaders of Israel summoned him [that’s King Rehoboam], and Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel went to speak with Rehoboam. “Your father was a hard master,” they said. “Lighten the harsh labor demands and heavy taxes that your father imposed on us. Then we will be your loyal subjects.”

Dannah: So the people were basically saying, “Your dad made us work really hard. If you make things easier for us, we will follow you and be loyal to you.” 

Suzy: Exactly.

Rehoboam replied, “Give me three days to think this over. Then come back for my answer.” So the people went away.

Dannah: That was actually a very wise first step. He didn’t answer right away. He took time to “perch” and think. So, maybe this story will go well?

Suzy: Umm, keep listening!

Then King Rehoboam discussed the matter with the older men who had counseled his father, Solomon. “What is your advice?” he asked. “How should I answer these people?”

The older counselors replied, “If you are willing to be a servant to these people today and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your loyal subjects.”

Dannah: That was very wise advice. They were telling him to be kind, be humble, and serve the people, and they will follow you.

Suzy:

But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the older men and instead asked the opinion of the young men who had grown up with him and were now his advisers. “What is your advice?” he asked them. “How should I answer these people who want me to lighten the burdens imposed by my father?” (emphasis added)

Dannah: May day, may day, bad plan!

So now he’s asking his friends, the guys he grew up with, what he should do. 

Suzy: Uh huh.

The young men replied, “This is what you should tell those complainers who want a lighter burden: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! [Smack talk!] Yes, my father laid heavy burdens on you, but I’m going to make them even heavier! My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions!’”

Dannah: Wow! This is sounding more and more foolish as we go.

Suzy: Oh, just wait! 

Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to hear Rehoboam’s decision, just as the king had ordered. But Rehoboam spoke harshly to the people, for he rejected the advice of the older counselors and followed the counsel of his younger advisers.

Dannah: He followed what his friends told him to do instead of the wise counselors. Why did he do that? And because of that decision, ten of the twelve tribes stopped following him, and the kingdom split into two parts.

The very kingdom that his father Solomon, and David before him, ruled over with wisdom actually split into two different kingdoms.

Suzy: Yeah . .  wow! King Rehoboam did perch. He listened, but to the wrong people. And following some foolish advice cost him—and actually all of Israel— a lot! 

Dannah: Yes! One bad decision, influenced by the wrong people, changed the direction of his whole life and the lives of everyone in his whole kingdom.

Suzy: You know, I think this story still happens all the time today — just in smaller ways.

Dannah: I think you’re right. Most of us won’t be kings making decisions that might lead to us losing a kingdom, but we make decisions every day based on the people we listen to, ones that could even lead to us losing something, like Rehoboam’s decision did. 

Suzy: Like a friend. 

Dannah: Exactly, like a friend. 

Imagine you have a really good friend. She’s kind. She includes people. She tells the truth. She encourages you. She helps you make good choices.

But then you start hanging out with a different group of girls who care a lot about being popular and cool. They start saying things like:

“Why do you hang out with her?”

“She’s kind of weird.”

“She’s not cool.”

“You should sit with us instead.”

And little by little, you start sitting with the new group instead of your old, wiser friend. You laugh when the new group makes fun of her because you don’t want them to make fun of you.

Suzy: And eventually, that good friend probably feels really hurt.

Dannah: Yes. After a while she might stop trying to be your friend because she feels like you don’t want to be her friend anymore.

Suzy: So, you didn’t lose a kingdom, but you lost a really good friend.

Dannah: Exactly. And sometimes the wrong friends don’t just add problems, they actually take good things away.

Suzy: That’s really sad.

Dannah: It is sad. That’s why choosing friends is such an important wisdom decision.

Because wise friends don’t pull you away from good friendships. Wise friends don’t make you choose between being kind and being popular. Wise friends don’t make you feel like you have to be mean to fit in.

Suzy: Wise friends help you become a better person.

Dannah: Exactly. Wise friends help you become more kind, more honest, more brave, and most importantly, they help us become more like Jesus, because that's what it is all about. He was and is the wisest person who ever lived, and we want to become more and more like Him.

At the same time, foolish friends often do the opposite. They help us to become less like Jesus.

Suzy: So maybe a really good question to ask is not just, “Are my friends fun?” But also, “Are my friends helping me become wise?”

You know, I feel like we covered a lot today. Owls, wisdom, friends, beef sticks, Rehoboam, wise advice, foolish advice . . .

Dannah: Yes, and thinking about the whole idea of perch before you fly, I guess we should be asking an important question when we’re perched, because King Rehoboam did perch, it seems.

Suzy: What question should we ask when we perch, Dannah?

Dannah: Who’s on your branch?

Suzy: Ah, excellent! Who’s on your branch? Dannah, I’m glad you’re on my branch.

Dannah: Likewise, friend. Thanks for extending sweet forgiveness to my heart for one day not having the right friend up here with me in my sixth grade life.

Oh, wait a minute. Suzy, come here. Look at this. I found an owl pellet! 

Suzy: You sound way too excited about that.

Dannah: This is a very good one! You can even see little bits of fur in it.

Suzy: I am going to choose to look at that from a respectful distance.

Dannah: Isn’t this amazing? This means an owl has definitely been here.

Suzy: So . . . should we bring this owl pellet home?

Dannah: I feel like that might not be a wise decision.

Suzy: Yes, I would like to continue being invited into my own house, so I will not be bringing home an owl pellet.

Dannah: I don’t think Farmer Bob would appreciate it either! (laughter)

Claire: I think I’ll pass on the owl pellet, too!

But just like owl pellets give clues about where owls have been and what they’ve been eating, our lives leave clues too. Our words, our choices, and especially our friends show the direction our lives are going.

The Bible tells us in Proverbs 13:20,“Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.”

That means the people you spend time with can affect who you become. And often, spending time with fools can lead to losing something important, like what happened with King Rehoboam.

Maybe you already have friends who aren’t the best influence on you. Don’t worry; it’s not too late! Just because you haven’t made the best choices in the past doesn’t mean you have to keep making them! If you’re there, talk to your mom or dad. You may need to make some hard decisions, and they can help you with that. And ask God to help you, too.

So, True Girl, who’s on your branch?

One person we want up there with you is your mom! That’s why the True Girl Subscription Box is meant for both of you. When you subscribe to it, you’ll get a box at your door every sixty days. It has things for you to do and read together—plus other fun trinkets and activities. If that sounds like something that you’d enjoy, ask your mom to check it out at MyTrueGirl.com.

If you ever get in trouble, be sure to come back next time! I think that’s most of us. Dannah and Suzy are gonna talk about that, and they’ll go to God’s Word to show how wisdom helps you avoid it. See you then!

Song:

Oh, oh, oh, oh.
I am a true girl.
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
I am, I am, I am a true girl!

The True Girl podcast is a production of Revive Our Hearts, calling women of all ages to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

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