4:13 Podcast: Blue Flower Moments - Audio Pictures [BONUS]

KC Wright: Welcome to a bonus episode, a beautiful bonus episode of the 4:13 Podcast, where practical encouragement and biblical wisdom set you up to live the "I Can" life, because you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength. Now, settle in for a special episode about Blue Flower Moments.

Here's your host and my soul sister, Jennifer Rothschild.

Jennifer Rothschild: Oh, my goodness, my people, you're about to love this. So we've been talking about the Heaven Bible study around here, and a blue flower is very significant. And so you're about to learn why. So if we're new friends, I'm Jennifer, and I really do want to share with you some Blue Flower Moments.

Okay. So as I mentioned, in my new Heaven Bible study, I try to depict, like, the longing for heaven, the ache for our forever home using the motif of a blue flower. And here's why. I first learned about it from none other than -- you're going to be so surprised, KC -- C.S. Lewis.

KC Wright: What?

Jennifer Rothschild: If we've been friends for long, you know I love C.S. Lewis. And so in his book "Surprised By Joy," he called himself a votary of the blue flower. Well, that was so unique to me. So first of all, a votary, it's just an old-fashioned way of saying a devote, like someone who's devoted to. So I was like, okay, C.S. Lewis is devoted to the blue flower, and I am devoted to C.S. Lewis.

Okay. So what in the world does that mean? All right. Well, in German romantic literature, the blue flower was used to represent or to capture longing, transcendence, beauty, the ache for the eternal. Like, it's almost this longing that is unmet, yet the not being met is still very satisfying. It's just this beautiful ache that is satisfying in and of itself. Well, that's how I feel about heaven. I do have this ache for the eternal.

So for me, when I created what I call these Blue Flower Moments, they're just moments that awaken my longing for heaven. They, like, stir my spiritual senses and they make me cast my gaze toward heaven. So I just thought I would take you into my Blue Flower Moments through these audio pictures, and maybe you can open your spiritual eyes, open your heart, and see with me these Blue Flower Moments.

[AUDIO PICTURE #1]

Jennifer Rothschild: So here I am out on the deck. Spring morning. The rain is still just drizzling. And the birds. Like, where I'm standing, it's like surround sound, like all creation is saying, "It's almost time, it's almost time, our redemption." I wonder if this is what it was like that weekend when Jesus was crucified. I know it was so very dark and sad for the followers who were confused, but I just think creation knew the Master was about to bust through and reverse the curse and redeem this whole earth and all creation and all created beings from the curse of death. This must have been what it sounded like.

So now I stand here right now and I literally am turning my head to follow the whole width and distance of where I'm hearing all the sound. And I know my eyes right now cannot see one single thing except dark, but I can see it in my imagination. I can see the blue flowers blooming. I can see the rain droplets glistening on the leaves of that Japanese maple. I can see how the drops of water are pooling and puddling on the wood of the deck. In my imagination, I can see every feather on those mourning doves and cardinals. And I just know if this captures my imagination and I think this is like exhaling into a beauty I've never known, then what in the world will it be like? I cannot even imagine. It's beyond what I can imagine.

This right here is the blue flower. It's the ache. I'm just going to call this moment, this morning, one of the seeds of the blue flower. That longing, that ache, the joy that comes from being and wanting, the joy that comes from possessing and wanting more, that's the blue flower. So let these seeds grow and grow and grow and continue to awaken in me and grow in me this longing and desire for my true home, my true country, the true beauty. This right here, it's not the point; it's one of the pointers.

[AUDIO PICTURE #2]

Jennifer Rothschild: This is an audio picture at -- almost 9:00 p.m., right, honey?

Dr. Phil: Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: Like May 25th. We're sitting out in a cove in the boat. You can hear the water lapping up against the boat. We had music playing, but we decided the birds were more beautiful. And there were some crickets, but it just got quiet. Phil said a little mama duck and her line of baby ducks just passed us.

[AUDIO PICTURE #3]

Jennifer Rothschild: (The song "Thank You Jesus for the Blood" playing.) Listen to that. A little taste of heaven when every tribe, every tongue, and every nation will be basking in the glory of the Lamb. We'll all sing the same song that Jesus redeemed us. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, for Women of Joy gathering all these women. Yeah. That glorious light is going to be in a place also where there is no more night. We get to live it now and look forward to it then.

[AUDIO PICTURE #4]

Jennifer Rothschild: Well, it is the Saturday night before Labor Day 2023 and I'm sitting out here on the deck for just a few minutes by myself. Close to 9:00 p.m. And Lori and Todd have been here all weekend, and we've had such a blessing of a time. It's been so much fun. Lori and I have sung '70s music at the top of our lungs, we've been out on the boat, we've been to dinner. We've just talked about everything and nothing. And I've known Lori Cooley for 32 years, and for 32 years she's been one of my dearest friends and richest treasures. And it's a blessing to have her husband, Todd, who's also my brother and such a dear friend of Phil, as part of this beautiful time together.

So just taking a moment to pause and think and thank the Lord for my friends and for his kindness in giving me my friends and this time to just experience the joy of it all. Maybe this is part of the ache, the longing, the recognition that how good this is is just a foretaste of what it's going to be like forever and ever, because I don't like the thought of it ending tomorrow. But maybe that's because there's going to be a forever beginning when it's never going to end. Pure fellowship forever and ever in heaven.

[AUDIO PICTURE #5]

Jennifer Rothschild: I can't really see, of course, the light very well, but I can always tell when it's soft, because it doesn't hurt my eyes. And so it's really soft right now. The light is very soft. So I just know that it must be that grayish blue beautiful soft light. I don't know. If heaven has a soundtrack, I think this must be on the playlist. All creatures of our God and King.

[AUDIO PICTURE #6]

Jennifer Rothschild: Sitting outside here at The Cove, the Billy Graham Training Center. There's a creek babbling beneath us. Listen to how -- when I came out here, I thought of the line from the song, "The Hills are Alive With the Sound of Music," and then I thought -- after studying heaven, all I could think when I heard all this beauty surrounding me is as beautiful as this is, what will it be when it's been redeemed and fully restored? Because this right here is still groaning. Wait till the glory. What is the New Earth going to be like? No wonder we have to have glorified bodies. These earthbound flesh ones just can't take it in. It's so beautiful. It is such a beautiful morning.

[AUDIO PICTURE #7]

Jennifer Rothschild: Early October, sitting out on the deck. Low '70s, warm afternoon with a cool breeze. Got me a cappuccino from Seven Brew, which is the new coffee shop near our house. Taking off the lid so that I can enjoy all the foam. Oh, yeah. It's the small things. It's the small things. Got to pause and notice the small things, because they represent -- they're like little glimpses, little shadows of all the good things to come.

[AUDIO PICTURE #8]

Jennifer Rothschild: Speaking of blue, can I ask you a question?

Jennifer's Grandson: What?

Jennifer Rothschild: So -- just because I want to hear what you just said about this. Did you think these blue flowers -- do you remember where these blue flowers were from?

Jennifer's Grandson: No.

Jennifer's Grandson: No.

Jennifer Rothschild: Do you remember that Gigi had --

Jennifer's Grandson: When you graduated?

Jennifer Rothschild: Oh, like graduation? Yeah. It's when Gigi was teaching about heaven. But are they pretty still, or are they about to fade?

Jennifer's Grandson: They're still pretty.

Jennifer Rothschild: They are pretty.

Jennifer's Grandson: They're mostly blue and white.

Jennifer Rothschild: Oh, that's pretty, yeah.

Jennifer's Grandson: Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: Do you know what these flowers are called?

Jennifer's Grandson: What?

Jennifer Rothschild: Hydrangea.

Jennifer's Grandson: I might have actually heard of that.

Jennifer Rothschild: It's a hard word to say.

Jennifer's Grandson: Is that like flowers of God?

Jennifer Rothschild: They are like flowers of God. I like to think of them as flowers of God, because this flower reminds me of heaven because it's so beautiful.

Jennifer's Grandson: And I know that God is --

Jennifer's Grandson: And also [indecipherable] name?

Jennifer Rothschild: Well --

Jennifer's Grandson: And I also know that heaven is paradise.

Jennifer Rothschild: Heaven is paradise. That's right. How'd you learn that?

Jennifer's Grandson: Well, Mommy just told me that.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah, Mommy's right, heaven is paradise.

Jennifer's Grandson: I think I knew that.

Jennifer Rothschild: You probably did. You know what?

Jennifer's Grandson: Because paradise means great.

Jennifer Rothschild: It sure does. It's going to be beautiful. Gigi just likes to imagine that there's blue flowers in heaven.

Jennifer's Grandson: Um, Gigi?

Jennifer Rothschild: What?

Jennifer's Grandson: So, like, in heaven, people just think, like, it's -- like the ground is made of water, but actually not. It's actually the whole town.

Jennifer Rothschild: The whole town is? Wow.

Jennifer's Grandson: Actually, the streets are made of gold, diamonds, and things like that.

Jennifer Rothschild: Really?

Jennifer's Grandson: And rubies.

Jennifer Rothschild: Wow. That's going to be beautiful.

Jennifer's Grandson: Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: Who gets to go to heaven?

Jennifer's Grandson: Grandpa Jolly.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah, Grandpa Jolly went to heaven, that's for sure.

Jennifer's Grandson: Well, if you believe in him, then you will get to go to heaven.

Jennifer Rothschild: That's right, if you believe in Jesus, we go to heaven, yeah.

Jennifer's Grandson: But I must be nice?

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah. Well, when we believe in Jesus, we are nice.

Jennifer's Grandson: Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: But just being nice doesn't help us go to heaven. Only believing in Jesus lets us go to heaven.

[END OF AUDIO PICTURES]

Jennifer Rothschild: It is Christ who draws our hearts to beauty. He is the one who gives us capacity to even long for a deep joy that he alone can satisfy. So the Blue Flower Moments, they are pointers. They point to Jesus, who can satisfy every single longing.

So slow down. Notice your Blue Flower Moments. They are everywhere. And let each of those Blue Flower Moments draw you closer to heaven, and even more importantly, to the Treasure of Heaven, Jesus.

KC Wright: You can get a copy of the Heaven Bible study at 413podcast.com/Heaven or jenniferrothschild.com/Heaven. And there you can find Jennifer's heaven playlist, her favorite seven books about heaven, and even watch the first video teaching and read the very first chapter for free. Okay, enjoy your Blue Flower Moments.

4:13 Podcast: Behind the Scenes of Heaven - Audio Pictures [Episode 331]

KC Wright: Hey, welcome to the 4:13 Podcast. Do you like the new music? The whole month we're using this song called "Ascending" by Michael O'Brien on the podcast. Do you know why? Because this song is part of our girl Jennifer's latest video-based Bible study titled "Heaven: When Faith Becomes Sight." And we're celebrating around here for the whole month. So welcome to the 4:13 Podcast, where practical encouragement and biblical wisdom set you up to live the "I Can" life, because you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength.

Now here's your host, Jennifer Rothschild.

Jennifer Rothschild: Hey, friends. And that was my friend KC Wright, my Seeing Eye Guy. He's right, we are celebrating all month, because finally my "Heaven: When Faith Becomes Sight" Bible study releases today. I'm so grateful. It was a long time coming, and I am so thankful it is out in the world.

So I was with a friend of mine -- KC, you know her and love her -- Ann Voskamp --

KC Wright: Yes.

Jennifer Rothschild: -- and we were talking about my Bible study and when it was releasing. You know, I said, "January 2nd." She said, "Oh my goodness. Then you should promote it as beginning with the end in mind."

KC Wright: Oh, wow.

Jennifer Rothschild: Isn't that true? You want to begin 2025 with the ultimate end in mind, heaven.

KC Wright: I love that.

Jennifer Rothschild: I think that is just a great way to think about heaven. It really is. When our faith becomes sight, is our glorious unending. So this year let's do that, let's begin with the end in mind.

But since we're family, I thought it would be fun for you to hear some of the behind the scenes of me writing "Heaven." Okay. So before we begin with the end in mind, we're going to begin at the beginning. Now, what you're about to hear is a bunch of audio pictures. And if you've never heard any of my audio picture episodes, this is literally just like what you would do with your camera where you would take a picture of something and then look at it later. Well, because I can't see, I record things, and they're little audio snapshots of moments in my world. So I thought I would take you behind the scenes writing, or attempting to write, "Heaven." So we'll start with me in Florida. Because that's a very inspiring place to write about heaven, right? Well, not so much. I had high hopes, but very low output.

[AUDIO PICTURE #1]

Jennifer Rothschild: This is the sound outside my window here in Treasure Island as I'm working. I have a standing desk right under the window. And it's a cool morning, so the windows are open. Again writing on heaven. Trying, actually. Did I say writing? That's a very strong word. I'm reading about heaven and thinking about heaven and feeling writer's block about heaven.

[END OF AUDIO PICTURE #1]

Jennifer Rothschild: So I got home and then I was thinking, you know, I can write better at home. Right? But before I could write, I had to rearrange my office --

KC Wright: Of course.

Jennifer Rothschild: -- because that's what I do. Right? That's what I literally do with every new writing project. I redecorate, I rearrange. And so here you go.

[AUDIO PICTURE #2]

Jennifer Rothschild: This one here.

Kenzie Harkrider: Yes, ma'am.

Jennifer Rothschild: And then the only -- the other lamp I had on my desk --

Kenzie Harkrider: Yeah, you had one on your desk, one on the middle table, and then the one in the corner.

Jennifer Rothschild: So you prefer this one over here than the one with the white shade?

Kenzie Harkrider: The tall one? Is that what you're talking about?

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah, mm-hmm.

Kenzie Harkrider: I think so. I think it would block the windows too much.

Jennifer Rothschild: Okay, gotcha. That's all I need here. Okay. All right. So then I have that extra lamp that I could put somewhere?

Kenzie Harkrider: Yes.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yes. Okay.

Kenzie Harkrider: It's a pretty lamp.

Jennifer Rothschild: It is a pretty lamp. All right. Where is it right now, just so I know for later?

Kenzie Harkrider: It is -- where do you want me to put it? It's in here. So --

Jennifer Rothschild: What else do I have left? I have the --

Kenzie Harkrider: We just need to put your chair behind your desk and on the big metal trunk.

Jennifer Rothschild: Mm-hmm. With the silver service on it?

Kenzie Harkrider: Yes, ma'am.

Jennifer Rothschild: And then I have that other lamp?

Kenzie Harkrider: Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: I think this is gonna look good.

Kenzie Harkrider: I think so.

Jennifer Rothschild: It's a different look, but I like it.

Kenzie Harkrider: Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: Does it look bigger?

Kenzie Harkrider: No.

Jennifer Rothschild: Okay. It's an odd shaped office [indecipherable] furniture in it. Okay. Let's just move my trunk into the dining room.

Kenzie Harkrider: Okay. I'm gonna leave the lamp in here with all the other stuff.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah, on that trunk?

Kenzie Harkrider: By the trunk, yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah. Thank you.

Kenzie Harkrider: So we know where it's at. Let me put your chair back.

Jennifer Rothschild: Thank you.

Kenzie Harkrider: New Bible study, new office.

Jennifer Rothschild: Well, that's usually what I do.

Kenzie Harkrider: Late night office renovations.

[END OF AUDIO PICTURE #2]

Jennifer Rothschild: Well, I'm not really sure that it helped, because here's another example of my attempt to write.

[AUDIO PICTURE #3]

Jennifer Rothschild: Okay. So now I decided to come sit at the kitchen table. And I am dressed and working with a second cup of coffee, and it is in a mug that says, "It Is Well With My Soul." I'm running the dishwasher. I've got my sun lamp at the table here for me and my prayer plant. So, like, here we go. Here. We. Go. Yes. It's only like 5:55. Yes.

[END OF AUDIO PICTURE #3]

Jennifer Rothschild: Well, then we went to Nashville, Tennessee, for a writers' conference. Now, let me explain what that is. A writers' conference is when all these different representatives from the publishing house gather and I, as the author, get to kind of share what the vision is. If I have a proposal written -- which I did -- I share the proposal. And then as a team we get to go through it and, like, see if there's any gaps or if they have any better ideas.

And so what's really cool, KC, is they include, like, someone from marketing, someone from art, someone from video, someone from content. So you get this -- you really do get a holistic from the very beginning experience. And it's super supportive to me as the author.

Well, you're about to hear a little bit of that. And at one point, the actual president of Lifeway Publishing House, Ben Mandrell, even popped in --

KC Wright: Wow.

Jennifer Rothschild: -- to be an encouragement, which was so sweet. So here's a bit of the writers' conference.

[AUDIO PICTURE #4]

Mike Wakefield: I'm very excited. That's what it kind of sounded like after I said that. We lost a few people, so -- you know. But great discussion this morning, guys, really great discussion. I appreciate it. I want you to continue to feel that openness to -- everybody to share, because we're going to need that as we talk about titles, that kind of thing, how we title the study. So that's what we're going to move into. We'll talk about titling and then we'll talk about cover. But I'm going to turn the titling portion of this over to Tina. Tina, I'm going to let you drive this a little bit.

Tina Boesch: I just told Jennifer I had one idea of what we might do. But in this case, I actually think she's brought some incredible possibilities to the table, so I'm not sure our Post-It Note method is going to be as helpful in this case. But in addition -- so first of all, Jennifer, I want you to tell us the titles you've been thinking through, the subtitles, and also the conversations you've already had with women and their reactions to these.

Jennifer Rothschild: Okay.

Tina Boesch: And you guys also know if as we've been talking other possibilities have presented themselves to you, like, let's just make this a conversation around titling and subtitling. If you've had other thoughts, if there were things that Jennifer said that sparked an idea, feel free to bring those. We don't want to shut down any ideas and limit ourselves. But Jennifer also has some really good ideas.

Mike Wakefield: Come on in and interrupt. Come on. You can come interrupt.

Ben Mandrell: What's up?

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Hey, hey.

Jennifer Rothschild: (Humming "Hail To The Chief.")

Ben Mandrell: Hi.

Jennifer Rothschild: It's Mr. President.

Ben Mandrell: How are you guys?

Jennifer Rothschild: Glad to see you, Ben.

Ben Mandrell: Well, how are you? Are you being onery?

Jennifer Rothschild: He is.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Oh, man.

Jennifer Rothschild: He is.

Ben Mandrell: Always.

Jennifer Rothschild: No, I'm just here to make these people behave.

Ben Mandrell: What are we working on?

Jennifer Rothschild: Heaven.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: We've had such great discussion on the topic of heaven.

Ben Mandrell: Oh, this is the heaven thing.

Jennifer Rothschild: This is the heaven thing, yes.

Ben Mandrell: Awesome.

Jennifer Rothschild: And we've had a great morning so far. We just went through content. Now we're about to do media, video. And great team.

Ben Mandrell: Awesome.

Jennifer Rothschild: Great input, great insights.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Yeah, yeah.

[END OF AUDIO PICTURE #4]

Jennifer Rothschild: Wasn't that awesome? I just really wanted you to hear that. Because my name may be on the cover of the Heaven Bible study, but there are so many names that make a project like this happen, and I am super thankful for each one of them.

So after all that collaboration and inspiration, I went back home and I got to writing. Now, buckle up, because you are about to ride along with me on my ten-month emotional and spiritual roller coaster. It was early mornings, it was late nights. It was dinner with Phil where I talked about it. You'll hear me very peaceful, you'll hear me procrastinating. And even panicking a little bit, but always persevering.

[AUDIO PICTURE #5]

Jennifer Rothschild: So I'm sitting here at the lake by myself. We made candles all day yesterday. And listen to this one. (Sound of a candle burning.) That is a good wood wick right there. And it smells like coffee. I decided to name this one Coffee Break, because it's got a coffee fragrance with a little bit of vanilla cream, like a French vanilla cream. So I've got my coffee candle next to my cup of Starbucks Verona.

And I also yesterday made blue flower candles to try to create something to go with my Heaven Bible study, which is what I need to work on today. Which is why I'm doing the voice memo, because I'm procrastinating, because this is probably the hardest day of study, because I gotta get everybody to the New Earth. In 1,500 words or less, I need to figure out how to get them there.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: So what was the breakthrough, then, for you?

Jennifer Rothschild: Oh, it's not really a breakthrough as much as it's been a -- I don't know how to describe it. I think it helped me that I didn't read N.T. Wright's book until this week.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Oh.

Jennifer Rothschild: And then when I did, I was like, dang, the Lord's already showed me all this stuff.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: That's good.

Jennifer Rothschild: Like, that was my goal, is to learn it hard knocks, study Scripture, try to figure it out myself --

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: -- instead of just be influenced by a scholar and be influenced by a book. But I've been nervous that I'm missing something. So thankfully when I read his book, I was like, oh, yes. I mean I feel good about it.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: That's awesome.

[END OF AUDIO PICTURE #5]

[AUDIO PICTURE #6]

Jennifer Rothschild: It's just now about 7 a.m. and I'm sitting in my office. It's quiet in the house. And I lit a candle, my blue flower candle with the wood wick. Let me -- there, you can hear it. (Sound of a candle burning.) And I thought I would just capture how I start writing days. I'm getting near the end. And I had emailed Mike, my editor and friend, a few weeks ago because I was still dealing with the after-effects of COVID, and I had pleurisy, and Phil was in a car accident. Just so many things that were making it very difficult to persevere.

And Mike in an email sent me just some encouragement, but then at the very end you can tell he spontaneously prayed this. And he put it in writing. So literally ever since he sent the prayer, I have started my writing with this prayer. So I thought I would let you hear it. And you'll hear it the way I hear it, because I have to listen to it on my computer. But then I literally pray it as I hear it. So this could be a little cluttery, audio clutter, but this is -- welcome to my world. This is how I begin with prayer.

"Lord, hear our prayer as we commit all of this and ourselves to your keeping. We are trusting you to establish the work of our hands for your glory and for Kingdom work." Yes and Amen. "We are trusting the work of your Holy Spirit in each of us to help us say what needs to be said" -- yes and Amen -- "and not say what does not need to be said. Help us know truth from error. Help us be able to clearly communicate the message that you have given." And then he prays this for me specifically. "Hold tight my precious friend Jennifer close as she finishes her writing. Protect her, heal her, comfort her, encourage her, and strengthen her. May your favor rest on her." And I agree with that prayer, Lord. I need it. "Both of us" -- and I agree with that, Lord -- "and all who surround and contribute to this project are yours and are surrendered to you." And that means all my team, all the publishing team that will touch this. "It is for your purpose and for your glory. Amen."

[END OF AUDIO PICTURE #6]

[AUDIO PICTURE #7]

Jennifer Rothschild: I have no confidence.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: You feel rushed.

Jennifer Rothschild: I feel rushed, I feel pressured. I have no confidence in what I'm doing. I literally have no confidence. Because I'm trying to write emphatically about things that are highly contested and somewhat uncertain. So I have no confidence. Besides the fact I don't have a seminary degree.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Uh-huh.

Jennifer Rothschild: I'm not that smart. I am very aware I don't know what I don't know, so I'm trying to handle it very judiciously.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: So I don't -- I'm not enjoying it. You want to know the honest truth? I'm ready to kick the football out of the stadium and run off the field. I am done. But I can't. So I literally have asked me all day today, I've asked meself, "Self, what else do you need to know about this?" Because I can't do it. And that's what I finally said.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: We can't cover it all. So I just went to -- okay, Peter, he wrote a letter when he was about to die.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Right.

Jennifer Rothschild: He was like, okay, people, in light of heaven and Christ's return, here's what you need to do.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Good. Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: So that's what I'm doing on one of the days. And then I've got -- that's my second to the last day.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: That's good. That's smart.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah. And just let it go. (Singing) Let it go.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Yeah. And what would Jill do with it?

Jennifer Rothschild: Oh, she'll just clean it up.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: She just cleans it up so that it's not so awful for Mike to try to read through.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Yeah, yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: Isn't that awful -- I mean, awesome?

Dr. Phil Rothschild: It is very awesome. Way to send it off.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yes.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: That was Week 5?

Jennifer Rothschild: Yes.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: So you only have Week 6 to go?

Jennifer Rothschild: Yes. And I'm out -- I mean, I've got the outline kind of. It's all dynamic.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: So I'm now setting up documents.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: And is it four days each week?

Jennifer Rothschild: Well, yeah, and then a Dash Living.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Right, right, right. Have you worked on the Dash Living yet?

Jennifer Rothschild: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Oh, yeah, you feel good --

Jennifer Rothschild: I'm doing them as I go.

[END OF AUDIO PICTURE #7]

[AUDIO PICTURE #8]

Jennifer Rothschild: All right, I'm in the house by myself. Phil's coming back today. And I finally got up at 4:15 this morning because I could not sleep. Because here I am near the end of the Bible study, and once again I still am getting all tripped up over the rapture and the Second Coming and communicating it clearly and how much and little to communicate and -- anyway, I just had a 26-minute conversation with ChatGPT, and he was very helpful. And if he's correct, he was very helpful. If he's not correct, then I will end up being even more unclear in what I'm trying to write. But I have only got three more days of study to write, and I'm having so much trouble landing this plane.

[END OF AUDIO PICTURE #8]

[AUDIO PICTURE #9]

Jennifer Rothschild: So the first day of Week 6 is "The Already and the Not Yet." Yes, Day 2, which I'm working on right now -- I'm almost done with, I think -- is this concept of sojourning well. And can you believe I'm congested again? Who am I talking to? Myself, I guess. I don't think I have Long Covid, but I surely am not 100% yet, and I wish I could get well and feel better.

[END OF AUDIO PICTURE #9]

[AUDIO PICTURE #10]

Jennifer Rothschild: How has your morning been?

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Good -- busy, but good.

Jennifer Rothschild: Good thing you had a day off?

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Yes. I'm grateful for that. So you're almost done 90%, huh?

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah. It's just now doing the -- you know, the little exercise I'm having to do on people's last words.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Oh, yeah?

Jennifer Rothschild: Just, you know, making sure all my Scriptures are accurate and my questions are clear --

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Nice.

Jennifer Rothschild: -- [indecipherable] activity. But I think I've got the emotion, and there are thoughts and -- it's -- yeah. Like if I died right now, somebody could finish it easily.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Wow. Let's hope you don't die.

Jennifer Rothschild: Well, I don't want to either, but actually, it wouldn't be a bad alternative after I studied it for six weeks.

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: I'm not sad about that idea.

[END OF AUDIO PICTURE #10]

[AUDIO PICTURE #11]

Jennifer Rothschild: All right. This is the day that the Lord has made, and I will rejoice and be so glad in it because I just turned in my manuscript. Can we all say hallelujah? So I am so relieved. And, you know, sometimes you have to just be done even if you don't feel finished. Trust the process, trust the True Author of all that is good, and trust my editor.

Anyway, I'm playing the song I've played the whole time. It's the Gray Havens. It's called "Far Kingdom." Oh, it just helps me visualize heaven. So I'm super thankful. It's been quite, quite the hard finish. And now I'm going to start working on messages. But I'm just so thankful that I've got the manuscripts done.

And is he good? He is good. Is he God? He is God. And am I grateful? I am grateful. So grateful. But I think I'm going to take a nap before I work some more. I'll finish the song, then I'll take a nap. Then I'll drink some coffee and then I will start to look at what I could possibly teach that I haven't already written.

[END OF AUDIO PICTURE #11]

Jennifer Rothschild: All right, well, you heard it, I turned in the manuscript. And after I turned in the manuscript, I prepared to teach it at my home church, to the women at my home church. And I just love the privilege of teaching the women at my church. And they're kind to let me do this, because I get to work out the kinks and, you know, figure out maybe what I had left out or what doesn't make sense before we publish and before I teach it on video. So that's a super big help. So big shoutout to the homegirls, the women at Second Baptist Church in Springfield, Missouri.

All right. But before I could teach, I want you to hear how we started. It was with Kenzie. She was creating for me a prop to use as an illustration. And then after you hear that, you'll hear us moving into the filming. And so after I've taught it, we are going to film the Bible study. And you'll even get to hear the voice probably of my stud husband. So here are some of the behind the scenes of all that.

[AUDIO PICTURE #12]

Jennifer Rothschild: So Kenzie is trying to make us a box of Neapolitan ice cream for me to use for my Heaven study that I'm going to teach at church before I film it. And she's trying to cut Styrofoam to fit inside an emptied and cleaned-out carton of Neapolitan ice cream.

Kenzie Harkrider: We don't have the fancy heat knife like everything suggests --

Jennifer Rothschild: No. So what'd you do?

Kenzie Harkrider: -- on the Google. I tried to heat up a regular kitchen knife --

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah?

Kenzie Harkrider: -- and cut through it that way. That did not work.

Jennifer Rothschild: Oh.

Kenzie Harkrider: So now I'm just kind of hacking away at it and seeing what happens.

Jennifer Rothschild: Well, I told you it doesn't have to look good because -- in fact, if it looks pitiful when I use it on Wednesday night when I teach, there will be some crafty woman in there going, "I could do better than that," and I will say, "Could you please do that?"

Kenzie Harkrider: Please do that. Have at it.

Jennifer Rothschild: We need you to do that.

[END OF AUDIO PICTURE #12]

[AUDIO PICTURE #13]

Jennifer Rothschild: Lord, I thank you so much for the opportunity. And this is your -- this is your place we're going to be talking about. This is your Word. This is about your Son. So I ask you in the name of Jesus that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart would be acceptable to you, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

I want to begin with a question. 9/11. Do you remember where you were on September 11th, 2001? Yeah, right? None of us will forget that dark day. That was the day that on Flight 93, United Flight 93...

C.S. Lewis has a quote I love. He wrote -- in one of his letters to Malcolm, he was talking about joy on earth and how it helps us glimpse heaven. It's like little shafts of heavenly light. And he said this: "Joy is the serious business of heaven." Joy is a serious business of heaven. And so I have found some things for me that have brought me such joy that have helped me attach to heaven. And one of them is a blue flower. That's why you have blue flowers on your table, that's why there are blue flowers on your book cover.

The blue flower I first heard about a book by C.S. Lewis called "Surprised by Joy." He was talking about this ache for eternity and this longing for joy and how just longing for something beyond yourself is even satisfying in and of itself. And so he said, "I am a votary of the blue flower." And I was like, what is a votary? "Alexa, what is the definition of votary?" She didn't know either. Okay, votary is a very old-fashioned word, but it really means devotee, like you are devoted to something. So C.S. Lewis basically said, I am devoted to the blue flower.

So I did some research to find out what in the world he meant and learned that the blue flower is a symbol in German romantic literature representing longing and an ache for the eternal, beauty, transcendence, almost an unattainable desire for something that is so beautiful. That's how the blue flower is used in literature.

So then I became a devotee of the blue flower. And I imagine the blue flower. I imagine that heaven might even be carpeted with the blue flower, because the beauty, it just captured my imagination. That's what gods of heaven are supposed to do, my friends. They're supposed to capture us and make us think beyond today.

[END OF AUDIO PICTURE #13]

[AUDIO PICTURE #14]

Jennifer Rothschild: All right, filming the Heaven Bible study starts tomorrow, and so we came to the lake this weekend. I just finished sending my last outline to myself and correcting it based on the transcript that Kenzie gave me, plus Mike's changes. So I told Phil I was going to come outside and sit on the deck and process everything with the cicadas. The cicadas is one of my favorite sounds. I know to some people it's annoying, but at least my little section of the New Earth, I hope we have cicadas.

[END OF AUDIO PICTURE #14]

[AUDIO PICTURE #15]

Jennifer Rothschild: All right, so now I'm just going to try to discipline myself to not keep all these seven messages in my head all at once, but to try to rest in the Lord and wait patiently on him. Trust him, trust the process, trust how he works in me. And I'll review them all again today, but then I will only look at messages one and two tomorrow. That's it. And then on Wednesday, because I'm teaching three on Wednesday night, I'll look at messages three, four, and five, and that's it. Trust the Lord that he'll help me memorize them. And then on Thursday, I will look at the last two messages and no more. All right. And then Friday morning is the B-roll.

So I think we're going to come back to this lake so I can hear the cicadas in process and be thankful. Praise the Lord with the cicadas. Every creature of our God and King, we're all going to celebrate when I'm done with this project. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[END OF AUDIO PICTURE #15]

[AUDIO PICTURE #16]

Dr. Phil Rothschild: Thank you for what you've been doing this week. Thank you for using this beautiful bride of mine to study Your Word and to prepare and to deliver this important message for all of us so that we can live these days in the dashes in such a way that brings glory and honor to you and gives us a great hunger and thirst for our heavenly home. Thank you for all that you're doing. Thank you for these friends that have come each night to support Jennifer. So very grateful. Thank you for this team, Lord, that is -- all in the production and writing and editing. So grateful for all of these folks. And we're grateful for what you're going to do tonight. Would you please give Jennifer excellent recall. Would you give her peace to know that you are -- you are speaking through her. It's not her; it's you, your Holy Spirit empowering her.

[END OF AUDIO PICTURE #16]

Jennifer Rothschild: All right. That was my stud husband there at the end. He was praying for me on set. And I was so grateful that he did that when we filmed Heaven.

So now we are at the very end of the writing, the teaching, the filming, and so I asked my friend Michael O'Brien for a song that he could write that I could use as the Heaven theme song. And you're hearing it right now. It's called "Ascending," and it's perfect. I love that he had already named it "Ascending" before we chose it to be the Heaven theme song. So that means we're always moving on, moving up, moving forward onward and upward.

Well, my friends, all these audio pictures that you have just heard, I mean, they're just all part of the process behind the scenes. And the fact that there is actually a finished video-enhanced Bible study is just proof that God was in the whole thing.

KC Wright: Amazing. Wow, God.

So you will want to check out the Heaven Bible study for sure. You can go to the Show Notes right now, 413podcast.com/Heaven, or go straight to jenniferrothschild.com/Heaven.

Also, you do not want to miss the bonus episode that posts right after this, because it's all about the blue flower. And when you see the Heaven Bible study, you'll see it has a blue flower on the cover And the blue flower is significant. So keep listening to hear more audio pictures of Blue Flower Moments. They will make you smile and probably inspire you to create your very own.

Well, friends -- I mean, y'all are more than friends, you're --

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah, they're family.

KC Wright: -- 4:13 family. As Ann said, let's begin with the end in mind.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah. Because earth is short and heaven is long.

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!