4:13 Podcast: This Year’s Thankful Moments Captured on Audio [Episode 278]

Jennifer Rothschild: Hey! This is Jennifer and you are at the 4:13, and I have got to start with 30 seconds of celebration because -- thanks to you -- the 4:13 has hit three million downloads. That is three million messages of faith that are put into three million hearts to make much more than 3 million differences in this world. So way to go you! Congratulations for giving the 4:13 three million downloads

[Crowd cheering "three million downloads]

Jennifer Rothschild: Well, hey 413ers. This is Jennifer Rothschild and Happy New Year. 2023 is a wrap, and here we are ready to start 2024.

So I've been looking back, or I guess I should say I've been listening back through my audio pictures from this past year, and I found so many moments that I am super thankful for. So if you don't know what audio pictures are, they are like the audio equivalent of what you do with your iPhone. You know -- when you snap pictures of special moments, extraordinary or ordinary. I do the same thing. I just turn on my phone and I record little snippets of life. So that's what I've been listening back through, and it just reminded me of so many things that I'm thankful for this year.

So I went to Italy, as you may know, at the beginning of the year, I told you I was going to do that. And I did get to do that this summer with my friends Angela and Christie. And this summer had a new baby girl -- grandbaby born. And of course, those were extraordinary moments, but there are tons of ordinary moments that have brought me joy too. So I'm going to share with you just a few ordinary audio picture moments that I captured in real time. So they're not fancy, but I'll start in the beginning of the year when I was anticipating Italy.

[Audio picture of making espresso in my little Italian percolator]

Jennifer Rothschild: By the way, I have three episodes of Italy audio pictures that you can listen to if your ears want to experience Italy with me. We are going to have some links to those episodes on the show notes. Okay. But back to the new year. So January is very cold where we live, so we decided we would go to Florida to visit family, which meant we also got to visit Treasure Island, Florida. I don't know if you've ever been there. It's right near Clearwater, Florida, where I happen to have been born. So I will start with this moment with getting to be with my mom. And my mom gave me one of my dad's -- who has passed away -- Bibles.

[Audio picture of Mom describing Dad's Korean Bible]

[Audio picture of sitting outside early morning drinking coffee and listening to the birds]

[Audio picture of the ocean at the shoreline in Treasure Island]

[Audio picture of the humidity messing with my hair]

Jennifer Rothschild: Then, believe it or not, in February, I got to go back to South Florida. So I was asked to speak at a resort -- this fancy resort in South Florida. And it was just a really neat event. And believe me, I love the people at the event, but I sure did love the resort, too. And then Phil and I got to drive up the coast of Florida to our Alma Mater, which is Palm Beach Atlantic University.

[Audio picture at Palm Beach Resort and Spa, sitting at a restaurant next to the ocean]

[Audio picture at Palm Beach Atlantic University]

Jennifer Rothschild: Well, this spring was full of ministry travel, and I am just super grateful for my ministry team because they help me do what I do. So you might think that it's all fun and fancy, and it's not. So I thought I would give you a behind the scenes audio picture of one of our ministry events.

[Audio picture of leaving Lexington, South Carolina before the sun is up]

Jennifer Rothschild: Summer was full with just time at the lake and time with Grandkids. Our son Connor came home, and he brought his girlfriend, Chloe. And I got to try a new coffee shop with my stud husband.

[Audio picture at the lake in early June]

[Audio picture of Gigi and little John Robert eating breakfast]

[Audio picture from Caroline talking to Lawson about crafts]

[Audio picture of sipping cappuccino with Phil at Funky Twig]

[Audio picture at the nature center with Phil, Lawson, Connor, and Chloe]

Jennifer Rothschild: In July, we had a big family event, so you may hear some very grateful grandmas shedding a few tears when it happens. Welcome to the world, baby Charlotte.

[Audio picture at the hospital for the birth of Charlotte]

Jennifer Rothschild: Oh, there is nothing like hearing the first cry of a newborn baby. I am just beyond thankful. Well, then, summer did come to an end, and we ended it with some dear friends coming to Table Rock Lake, which is near where we live for Labor Day weekend.

[Audio picture of playing the record player on my bedroom floor]

[Audio picture about spending time with Lori and Todd over Labor Day weekend]

Jennifer Rothschild: Well, we had so much fun with Todd and Lori, our friends at the lake, that we just decided, and it was a very spontaneous plan. Well, I don't even know if you can have spontaneous plans, but anyway, we decided that we were going to go to see Lionel Richie in concert in Las Vegas in October.

[Audio picture at the Encore Theater at the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas]

[Audio picture of Lionel's concert during "Just to be close to you"]

Jennifer Rothschild: Well, that was just a little taste of Lionel Richie with a little bit of me and my friend Lori in the background. And I won't subject you to listening to the whole concert because Lori and I were singing loudly.

But if you want to laugh out loud, you need to check out the audio pictures from the first time I went to a Lionel Richie concert. I had my phone in my lap, and I sang really loudly and recorded the whole thing and didn't realize how that voice would pick up my phone -- I mean, I'm sorry, how my phone would pick up my voice! So, oh my gosh, if you want to hear it, I'll have a link to that also. Me singing with Lionel Richie -- It's a Good Life episode. You'll see that link on the show notes, too.

Anyway, in the fall, I went back to Table Rock Lake again, and this time it was with my friend Kenzie and we made candles. Have you ever done that? Oh, it is so relaxing.

[Audio picture after making woodwick sabbath candles]

Jennifer Rothschild: I could have definitely used some of that Sabbath because, for Thanksgiving, we loaded into an RV with four grandkids who are all, by the way, under the age of six, and their parents, and we drove all the way to Florida. And so on the way, we stopped off on the way to Stone Mountain, Georgia. So here's a few audio pics of Thanksgiving travels.

[Audio picture in the camper making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches]

[Audio picture about Scooby snacks]

[Audio picture before climbing Stone Mountain]

[Audio picture of climbing Stone Mountain]

[Audio picture at top of Stone Mountain]

Jennifer Rothschild: We left Stone Mountain, got back in the RV, and headed south to Florida. But of course, we had to stop on the way for some lunch at Chick-fil-A, and guess what happened?

[Audio picture at Chick-fil-A with the grandkids]

[Audio picture of meeting Cindy, a 4:13er]

Jennifer Rothschild: That was fun, right? I love you, my 413ers. Well, we enjoyed Thanksgiving in Florida with all of our family, and the weather was delightful and it was just such a huge blessing. So I'll let you hear a little bit of the walk in the garden with my mom.

[Audio picture in Florida walking in the garden with Tripp and my mom]

Jennifer Rothschild: Well, that brings me to December and the end of this audio picture review.

December was just so full, probably like yours has been. We celebrated a big 60 year birthday bash because Phil and I both turned 60 this year. And we celebrated it by decorating with the 70s garb. And we dressed up like Sonny and Cher and we sang 70s songs under the Disco Strobe. It was very groovy, trust me.

But we also loved being with family at Christmas, and that included our daughter-in-law Caroline's big happy family for Christmas, also. It was just a beautiful gift from God. And these are just a few highlights of my year, capturing what I'm thankful for. And there are millions of more things that I am thankful for.

So as we enter this new year, I hope you know how grateful I am for you, how grateful KC and I both are for you. So thanks for growing our 4:13 Podcast family and being part of our family. We love you and we appreciate you. So let me leave you as this new year ends and the new year begins with a scriptural blessing...

May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. That was 1 Thessalonians 5:20.

All right. Happy New Year!