Sarah Shust: A Mother's Faith and Overcoming the Impossible

[Music] Faith requires unconditional trust. It means embracing that all things work together for the good of those who love God. Our Get to know a segment continues with an incredible lifelong story of surrendering to the Will of God and how that journey has blessed more than we can ever be. Hosted by Dr. Brad Schultz and Amanda Price, yes, is Mustangs Unbridled. As I practice this first line, two songs came to mind, see if they come to yours. God walks with us on our earthly journey and his fingertips are evident to those whose faith is strong. Lamentations 3.23 reminds us God's blessings are new every morning. Any remains steadfast in His love for us. But I didn't hear you sing them. I did earlier. With beautiful vibrato. With that. Sarah Schultz, assistant manager of the Mustang Marketplace, has worked at Lipson Academy for two years. She radiates joy with all those who interact with her and has forged a special bond with the students who find themselves sitting on the couch to the marketplace. Her story is one of love and perseverance. Welcome, Sarah. Thank you. I'm glad to be here. So I think all of us are around the same age generation X. And we had a very different childhood from generation Y and Alpha and millennials and all that. And so I want to ask you what were your job as a teenager? Like what did you do? What did you do? Well, I was a Lachke kid. Were you a Lachke kid? Yes. And I think Brad, you said you also were one. I mean a band of men. So Brad, I just want to. Yes. It means, you know what? What it means is that you held a whole lot of responsibility from a very young age, which just you don't find that as much today. I don't think. But you went. What it actually means is that you. You opened your own door. You got home from school and you had a key and you unlocked that house and you were there. And you had to defend for yourself a little bit. And it wasn't a result of bad parenting. It was just what the culture dictated. Everybody did it. It seemed. But as far as jobs go boy, I was born a worker bee. And I started working at a very young age, like a mom helper by the time I was 10 and by the time I was 12 or 13, I was a ranch hand. And I lived out in the Boondocks in Florida about an hour south of Tampa, Sarasota, beautiful beaches for sure. But also the vast farmlands out towards, you know, east of the interstate and many miles. And there are a lot of horse ranches out there. And I was a ranch hand. Well, what did you do? Oh my goodness. I did everything from cleaning stalls to setting out horses in the morning. I would get up before school. And because we live so far out. Our bus didn't come. Like it came at 10 to 6 in the morning. And so I had to, and it's dark in the middle of nowhere. I had to get up. I had to get on my bike. And I had to get to the ranch to let the horses out turn the horses out, get them fed. I was just a very normal part of my morning. It was just what I did. And I would come home all of the things that you're responsible for on a ranch. I feel like I did. And it was wonderful. It was a beautiful part of my childhood. I loved it. Did you have a banana seat bike with a basket that you of course I did. And did you put a like a flashlight in your basket or did you have a headlamp? No, there was no headlamp. There was when I first started doing it, I had a flashlight that I held. Then I lost the flashlight. I don't know what happened to it. But I just, I made my way. You would just ride in the dark. I would just ride in the dark. Yeah, your eyes adjust. I just wrote in the dark. So Brad, when you're held, were you? Oh, 1213. When you were 12 year old Brad. At 4 a.m. would he have gone on his banana seat bike with no light and traveled? How many miles? It wasn't far, but it was, it was far enough that I had the right of bike and not walk a mile. Let's say a mile. Sure. Would 12 year old Brad have done that? Not at that time of the day. We did ride bikes everywhere. But it's what I'm saying when it's dark outside. And evening, not incoming home lit. And you're supposed to. Yes. But not in the morning. No, that's great. Now I was a rant hand. Were you really a horse? Yes. No way. Or a whole summer. So I don't want to exaggerate. Like you're, this was your life. This was like a summer gig for me. But it was great for me because I would get there like at 4 30. Yeah. And then I was done by 10 30 or 11. I had the rest of the summer day to myself. It's hard work. It was hard work. Okay. For both of y'all then, did you all learn how to ride horses? Oh, yeah. Are y'all good at it? I would say. That's been a long time ago. I mean, it's been a minute. But I mean, it's if I had, if I had to sound like falling off a bike. Yeah, it's no no. Oh, no. It's like getting back on a bike. It's not, it's not as it's probably worse than falling off a bike. It's worse. Okay. So when you get close to retirement, when you and your husband are close to retirement, do you see yourself going back to being a ranch and owning a farm or ranch with horses? Oh, we dream about it all the time. Seriously? Yeah, Aaron, actually, he's like, we need, we need to get you some horses. One day we'll have a ranch again. I think he knows it's just. I just love it. I just, I love, ready for this. I love the smell of a bar. Like it just feels, it feels like home to me in some ways. I know it sounds crazy. And people are like, that's the same thing. - I'm gonna bring some mildew straw and just - I don't know, I'm gonna be the one to splint. - I'm not saying the foul parts of it. - But like, you open the door to a saddle room and it is, that's leather, that's a different smell. - I know, but it's all kind of mixed in. - It's probably the hay, it's probably the hay. - It's the feed, it's the hay, it's the leather, it's all of it. I will take math and bodywork, smell. (laughing) They probably know. - I'm gonna be wearing a little bit of leather. - I'm gonna be wearing a little bit of leather, but I'm gonna be wearing a little bit of leather, I'm gonna be wearing a little bit of leather, they probably know. - They probably know. - You say that, but. - No way. - I will say, I went to math and bodywork a few years ago and there was one called like a smoke, like a campfire. - And it smelled like that. - It smelled like smoke and that's what my dad smelled like a lot of the job because he likes to go out and do like, he'd have little fires outside. - He was just staring. - He wasn't an arsonist, anything, but he would have little fires and stuff outside. - Brush fire. - Yeah, yeah, well he would just burn little brush, yeah, exactly, and we live in the country too, but he always smell like, so I sit my mom or those. She didn't like to smell of it. - Smells like needing a smile. - Smells like dad. - Smells like dad. - No, I don't like that. - No, I don't like that one. - That's funny. - All right, Amanda, you did start off saying, we're all the same age and I don't feel like this is true. - Sorry. - No, we are all about the same age. - Well, Amanda, then there's probably maybe. - You know, we always say that, we were born the exact same year. - But like at the, - Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I think I'm six months older than you and that is it. We are the same age. - Yeah, so there's Amanda, and then there's, there's me, and then you've got to be much younger than that. - Not much, but thank you for saying that. - Different. - I don't know, she's an ex. - I won't let her go before that. - No, I am. - Okay, okay. - It is the best generation. - Why is after ex? Well, when does why start? - No, isn't it? - Isn't it more? - She's probably the one who needs it. - Is it millennial next? - No, it is because. - Okay, so what year is millennial? - Well, okay. So technically, - Oh, you're a millennial. - Okay, but hold on. - She's a exennial. - I feel like you're an old soul. - Thank you for that. - In a positive way. - In a positive way. - So technically, I'm on the cutoff. So I'm, I was, I made him one. - And Amanda's on the cutoff too, but. - For the boomers. (laughing) - Other way. - No, it feels, it feels, it feels like I'm, okay, we'll adopt you. - Thank you. - So each of us has a different faith walk and experience and your husband, Aaron is a contemporary Christian recording artist and he knew from a very early age what he wanted to do. - He did. - Your faith, your path, your faith was slightly different than Aaron. So when did you realize that Jesus was with you? - Oh man. I, I feel like I, I don't have the answer that most people are like, I know on this day, this is the day that I surrendered my life to Jesus and I don't have that story. I have more of the story of feeling like I've always known. Even though I, you know, I couldn't have pointed to a particular doctrine or theology or like I didn't have all the jargon of Christianity, but what I knew, that I knew, that I knew, that there was a God who saw me and loved me. And I, I learned about his son, Jesus, and I learned more about his work on the cross, but it was, it was kind of like a building for me. It was, it was one, one layout of time and I had a grandmother that took me to church. I begged her to go to church and she went to this old, old Methodist church that was one of those maybe on the best Sunday of everyone squeezed in, there could be a hundred people, maybe, but that never happened. She and I would drive out to this tiny little church and we would go to church and I sat in Sunday school desperate to learn, desperate to know who Jesus was and it's where my faith really blossomed. I was a very little girl. And I fell in love with Jesus. A man I really didn't know. But I knew he knew he knew me and that was enough. It was enough. So. Okay. So you and Aaron have been together for 25 years? Oh, yes. So yeah, August will be 25 years. So Brad loves a meet cute story. Oh, man. So can you share with us your meet cute? Why is it meet cute? Oh, you know, that's what I call it nowadays. What's it they call it? Oh, it's cute meeting. Oh, it's like a hallmark movie. Oh, you drop your coffee, you spill your coffee on the table and here comes your forever after it. Oh, sweet. That's that's darling. I'm not sure. Oh, here's this. Is it? Is it? Okay. Well, man, he went to a college in North East Georgia called to co-false college and he went at the same time my sister did and we were traveling as a family up to the college to see my sister. And there was a band on campus. I was 14. Ish. Ish. And there was a band and I saw him in the band and I was desperate to meet him because he was so cute. Not because of anything other than everyone had talked about this guy and Aaron Schoes, who is this guy and I wanted to meet the guy that everyone talked about. And so I tried to meet him and it did not work. I mean, you were 14. I was 14. I was 14. Oh, older. He's six years older than I am. So it wasn't. It just wasn't the right time. And so then fast forward, my sister was marrying one of Aaron's very good friends and Aaron was asked to be in the wedding. And he showed up at our house fast forward to me being a senior in high school. I'm 17 years old and he knocked on the front door and I answer it and I'm like, here he is. Well, hello. And he comes in. We spend the weekend, the bridal party, everyone's there the night before the wedding. So like I wake up the morning of the wedding, morning of my sister's wedding and I wake up having had a dream that I married him. And I'm like, oh my goodness. This is wild. And also I love this idea. So wedding happens. The bridal party goes bowling and I said to him on the way home and it's like two o'clock in the morning and he was leaving the very next morning because he had a concert somewhere. I said, hey, when we get back home, back to my parent house, can we just talk for a minute and he's like, yeah, sure. And we did. If we sat down on the floor, nobody else was there. And I just said, hey, I had a dream that we got married. I think we should keep in touch. And he just kind of stared at me and blanked and was like, okay, and it wasn't weird. We exchanged information. I look at that now and I'm like, I cannot believe that I did that. I told you this is a hallmark story. And we exchanged information and we kept in touch. We a couple of days later, I called him. He lived north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I called him and his mom answered the phone. I asked for him. We talked for like 45 minutes. We actually prayed together. It was a really sweet conversation. And he gets off the phone and his mom's like, who was that? And he said, my wife and that and that's the mate cute. And that's. It's getting a 16 candles vibe. You know, there's a scene in there where Molly ring. Oh, no. There's a scene in there where Molly ring was trying to figure out how to talk to him. And in one of her things, she goes, I had a dream about you. And she even does like that right there. And so that was going to be her opening line to him to go have this conversation. Who knew? Who knew? That's funny. He's a senior and she's a freshman. That's what made this. He had graduated from college already. And I was a senior in high school. There's a little bit of an age gap. So the first time Brad's home on a car, he did the exact same thing. What? You were googly eyes and I had a dream about you. No, I was googly eyes, but that was not my line. We were in a vent and I told her it was $5. Did you make her pay? Not with money. I made her go on a date with me. She's like, she's having money. You said, you have any money as a girl. You know, you bartered for a date. A bartered for a date. Wow, smooth. Sorry, you used destiny for your date. I did. That's true. That's true. So you've got three boys. Three boys. Daniel. Daniel, we know. I know. Daniel is a senior here at Lipscomb and then I have Nikki. Nick. You guys, he changed his name from Nikki to Nick about a year and a half ago and it hurts my feelings. I'm not going to lie. And I'm like, I've got maternal rights here, buddy. I can call you Nikki. For the sake of the podcast, we can call him Nick. It's fine. So there's Nick. He is 16 years old and he was at Lipscomb and loved it and it was a very tearful departure. He's over at Ravenwood now. They have a ROTC program. He is also a military bound. I say also because Daniel's headed towards the Air Force and Nikki wants to be a Marine. Nick. You guys, it's so hard. So he joined the ROTC program over at Ravenwood and is doing well there. And then we have Michael, sweet Michael who is categorically the family favorite. He is a doll, baby. He is 13 years old and at Edminson Elementary, he's in fifth grade over there. Maybe it's a family's always the sweetest. He is, he and, and listen, I didn't make the deciding, the deciding point that he's the family favorite. He's actually the boys, Daniel and Nikki did and Daniel came to me. This is years ago but he came to me and he was like, I think he felt like he needed to confess it. I think he felt like he needed to say it and I could tell he had something on his heart and I'm like, what is it, buddy? And he said, I just, I feel like I just want to say, like you know that I love you. And I said, yes, of course I do. And he said, but Michael and I just knew it. Like I just felt like he needed to say that he loved Michael more. Like there was some measure or something and I said, buddy, I get it. It's okay. Like I know that you love Michael a lot and it's okay. I think he just feels a sense of both of his brothers, a sense of protection for him. He's a special boy. So Daniel is going to, or is he is going to the Air Force? Well, his, that's the hope. We should hear hopefully in the next six weeks. He's got his sights set on the Air Force Academy. That's way to be wonderful. Oh, he, it's, it's been a long, it's been a long on ramp. It's been a journey to get there. So having three boys is going to be a little bit of a challenge. So tell us some, how's that gone? Interesting stories of becoming challenges, having those. What's the journey been like? You know what? I will start by telling you that Aaron and I actually, he, he jumped on the road not long after we got married. We signed a record deal and was going to hit the road and we, I was doing road management and business management and just artist management is, it's a lot. And I'm not saying that because he's my husband and managing him as a lot. It's just there's a lot to the road life and I wanted to travel with him. And so we had decided not to have children. And just to love our nieces and nephews and really just, you know, let that, let that be for us. And I was actually expecting during that conversation and didn't know it. And along came Daniel. We traveled with Daniel for a little while and he actually took his first steps on a bus, on a tour bus and walked a little bit more in Central Park in New York. And it was just, it was a really, it's a beautiful memory. It was just, it was a lot on the road though. And so Daniel and I went home and Aaron continued to travel and it wasn't long before we thought he needs a brother. And so we, two years later, along came Nikki and and he, born typical in every way, but born not breathing. And the fight for him in the minutes following his birth was very, very real. And Aaron here, here he would tell you there were, there were many minutes where they were working really hard on Nikki to bring him back. And Aaron said, I, in that moment, I just thought it was going to be a family of three again. We were just, we were really fine for this boy. And then he let out the loudest cry. And there was some concern, neurologically and he was fine. He really came through that. And in the first 14 months of his life were perfect. Just having two boys in the air and was traveling all the time and it just felt really sweet. And then he was 14 months old and things changed. It felt like everything changed and he got sick. And it wasn't like, it wasn't anything more than what you would think a cold would be or a fluid. He was just coughing and then he would cough and he would gag and he would throw up, he would vomit. And it was going on for a week and then I'd call the doctor and they're like, oh, he's got this. You could put him on this med and then he just didn't get better. And I went back to the doctor. We saw a specialist. Nobody could identify what was going on with him. And then I had a doctor say, I want you to go see this particular doctor. We went to Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh and this doctor said, I think this could be what's called eosinophilicosophiditis. And at the time I had never heard of that before. I'm like, I'm going to need you to write that down. And he said, I want you to go home or running some tests. Nick, he was getting sicker every day. He couldn't keep anything down. He was, it was a terrible thing to behold. And then the morning came that he couldn't keep down water. I mean, there was nothing and he'd been vomiting now for six weeks or more. And I took Daniel to a dear friend and I said, I'm taking Nicky to the hospital and I'm not leaving. And they said, they're in a problem with that. And I said, I know, but I can't leave the hospital if I can't care for my child at home. Like we're to the point where this baby is so sick. And so we went to the hospital and that's exactly what happened. They said, this is a stomach bug. I said, this is not a stomach bug. Something else is going on. And they called the doctor who said, I think this is the eosinophilicosophiditis, called that doctor and that doctor at home. It was like crazy a clock at night by this point. And that doctor said, you need to admit that little boy. We don't know what's going on, but he's really sick. And it turns out this chronic and incurable disease, which they now call EOE is what Nicky had. And he was the first in the country to have this kind of diagnosis. What it is, it's an abundance of white cells in the esophagus. But he had it down his esophagus into his stomach through his small intestines. His body was rejecting everything. He couldn't consume water without vomiting. And he was fighting for his life. And it was awful. And there was nothing we could do. And at that time, there was no literature on it. Doctors just didn't know what to do other than to hook him up to an IV and try to hydrate him as much as possible. There's a nutrient called TPN that they can do just through the IV, which is essentially nutrients for the individual, even a feeding tube wouldn't help, because it was just-- he would vomit everything. And that's what they did. We just lived in the hospital for months and months. And one procedure after the other just taxed his body. It taxed his body. And he ended up with-- he turned septic. And we didn't know it. We begged to be discharged from the hospital to go say goodbye to Aaron's grandmother, and who was dying in Georgia. And on our way, while we were there, Nicky got really sick. And the doctor said, if he gets a fever, you need to come home. And if he hits 104, you have to find the closest hospital. And he started to get a fever. I called his doctor in Pittsburgh, while we were in Georgia. And the doctor said, get home immediately. Pack everything up and come home. And we started driving. And I was just praying over the spoil. The his fever would not hit 104. And it was climbing 102, 102, 300. You just climbed and climbed and hit 103. And I'm giving him Tylenol. I'm trying to rotate Motrin. I'm doing everything I need to do. Cold compresses. And he was miserable. And at one point, it hit 104. And I was like, baby, we got to find a hospital. And he-- I said, just find it. Find it. At this point, it was like, we were using the garment still. And he said, I'll find a hospital. And I said, just give me a few minutes to pray over him. And I started praying. And I pushed another round of meds. And just pleading that the Lord would cool his body off. And it dropped. It was 1 at 3.5. And I'm like, keep driving. Don't stop it. We wanted to get home to his doctors and his hospital. We drove all night through the worst snow storm imaginable on my ward. We made it. And when we got to the hospital, they knew we were coming. They rushed him right back. And he was septic. And they took him immediately to the pediatric ICU. And it was very soon that they moved him to the bereavement wing of the ICU. And this baby was dying. And there was nothing they could do. Nothing-- his body was just shutting down. And I remember so clearly the night that was like, if he makes it through the night, Aaron was home with Daniel. And I was at Nikki's bedside. And his chest was just going up and down right at my eye level. And I just prayed. I just prayed and declared life over my baby, declared breath in his lungs in the name of Jesus all night long. And rounds came at 6 a.m. and doctors came in and he was still alive. And I will tell you, it felt like I had battled all night. And it was a glorious morning. We weren't out of the woods, but he was alive. And I just said, we're going to keep praying. And the doctor just said, I don't know, but you made it to the morning. So keep doing what you're doing. I'm like, I'm praying. It's all I had. There wasn't anything to be done at that point. Other than, let's see if his body does what it's created to do. Can it heal? And it did. So we eventually made it down to floor 7a. It was a long time, but he made it down there in the nurses who knew him by name and nicknamed him the million dollar baby because we lived there and had a wing. Practically 7a was our wing. We always we always went to 7a. We loved those nurses. And they took really good care of him. And he made it. And he has battled EOE a long time. He's stable and strong and doing well. And if you saw him today, you would never know it. He had a feeding tube for years and years and years. He's doing really well. It was just a long journey. So that's Nikki. He came out of that season. And I'll be out we we were able to support him and get him stabilized with meds, a feeding tube and very particular foods. And when all of those things aligned and we rebuilt his gut and we were able to he was on steroids, like trying to just get the white cells down, it felt like some normalcy had returned. Like we had this typical boy again, brothers would play and they'd wrestle and they would get into mischief as they do. And everything seemed right as rain again. Like that season that was really hard had passed. Even though we were managing all the things, it seemed like it was done. And we we just felt like we wanted another baby. We just felt like we wanted to add to our family and it's crazy how you can sum up a couple years in a couple sentences, right? And you find yourself you find yourself listening to something like this and you're like, why on earth would you have another baby because because time had passed in healing had happened and joy had returned in a new way. And we just saw the Lord show up again and again and again. And we had an amazing community and we were really happy. So we had another baby. And it was completely, it was completely perfect. Everything was perfect about this pregnancy. I remember going to the doctor for that big 20 week ultrasound and them doing all the measurements and them saying, your baby is perfect and you know they do everything from measuring the cranium and measuring the abdomen and looking at the heart. And they're like one, two, three, four, all four chambers are there and you just celebrate these little things that you expect, right? And these ultrasounds and then and then I went into labor. I just, I felt like something wasn't right. And it was full-term about, I just, I got this very real sense, like the Lord is saying, "I'm here. I'm here. I'm here." And it was just on repeat. "I'm here. I'm here." And I said to Aaron, "I think we need to go to the hospital." And we got the boys situated with a friend and we went, we got there and they said, "Is everything, is everything okay?" And I'm like, you know, they say everything's fine, but, you know, I'm in labor and I need to be seen. And so they take us up to a room and I still am getting this echo that just won't stop. I just felt like I'm here. I'm here. It felt like the Spirit of God was just echoing in my chest. There was no audible voice. It was just, I'm here. I'm here. And at one point, it has, it had happened so many times I said out loud, "Lord, I know. I know that you're here. Why are you making yourself so evident to me?" It just, it was, it was all I could do. It was, it felt like the only prayer I could offer at that point. Like, I know, I'm certain, I'm confident that you're here. And then I labored all night and I had, I had this beautiful delivery and I had felt early on that I wasn't supposed to have meds and errands like, "Are you crazy?" And I'm, I said, "I don't know why. I just, I feel like I'm not supposed to." And so I didn't. And it's a good thing that I didn't. The doctor told me later, this would have been a very different story as you, had you been medicated. Michael was born with Down syndrome and half of a heart and his heart would have never tolerated meds. And sometimes we get those feelings like, "Why do I, why do I have this, why do I have this gut about this thing?" And I think we need to lean into that sometimes. You just don't know how the Lord informs things. That's the most beautiful baby you've ever seen. He was just, he was perfect in every way. And I remember, I remember the doctor coming to one side and another doctor coming to the other and I'm holding Michael and I'm looking at these beautiful, almond-shaped eyes and the doctor saying, "He has Down syndrome." And I said, "Why, why do you think that?" He said, "Well, there are some things and she talked through the things and she said that you have options and I'm holding him. He's in my arms and I was confused by the statement." So I just said, "I'm not interested in any options but boy, I am so curious what my options are at this point." And she said, "You could leave him here." I said to the hospital, "She said, "Yep, you can surrender him." I said, "Oh, we're not going to do that." He's my, and he has two brothers that love him. We are his family, we're going to keep him. She said, "People do it all the time." Not us, he's a sheist. She said, "But he's very sick." And he took him and love him. Her likelihood that he would survive wasn't good and we knew it. And so I just held him. And that little boy kept living. His half of a heart kept beating and we consulted a surgeon and the surgeon said he would never survive heart surgery at this point. We need to get him as big as possible if we do this and as old as possible in order for him to increase the chances, in order to increase chances of survival. We essentially had to wait for his heart to fail to do surgery. And so after a long time in the ICU, we took him home and waited for his heart to fail. And it did. And there are signs of those things. I didn't know how you navigate. What do you do when you have a baby who needs open heart surgery? And you wait because you want him to be as big as possible. And so we did. And they said he's not likely to survive open heart surgery. And then he did. And they said, well, he's not likely to survive recovery. And then he did. And that boy is such a fighter. Oh my goodness. He's such a fighter. They rebuilt his heart. He has. Do you remember I told you that they counted his chambers? One, two, three, four. I was going to ask that question. There were only two. He only had two chambers. They miscounted. They rebuilt two chambers. And with Gore-Tex, did you know they could do this? I think you have Gore-Tex on your jacket. So the thing that's like umbrellas and rain jackets and tents also hearts. And they made these quadrants in his heart. And his heart is doing so well. We went to the cardiologist recently. And she's like, I have great news. And listen, great news with the cardiologist really could be anything. And I said, what? And she said, his decline is holding, which means his heart is failing. But it's holding. It's not declining more than the last time we checked. And so that is worth celebrating. He should absolutely have outgrown this repair. That he had when he was a baby. He said two repairs. He said two open heart surgeries. And he was supposed to outgrow it. By the time he was 10, but you guys, he's so little. If you saw him, you would think maybe he's four or five. And he has no grown it because he doesn't grow, which the doctors cannot understand. They cannot wrap their minds around it. So he still has his original repaired heart. He's doing well. He has a feeding tube in his belly. He came to the basketball game last night with us. And he loves basketball. But it's been a long road. It's been a journey of surrender and trusting the Lord, and saying, walking down hallways of hospitals into unknown waiting rooms, God, you're good. And I trust you. I don't know what's on the other side of the store, but God, you're good. And I trust you. I don't know if he's going to live until morning, but God, you're good. And I trust you. I don't know if I'm going to see my baby after this surgery, but God, you're good. And I trust you. And it's just this declaration that even in the uncertainty, even in the moments that I'm like, I have no idea how this is going to go. I have to declare what I know is true, even if my feelings, which are not reliable, because my feelings will say, oh no, this is going to be a disaster. This is terrible. This is-- God, you're good. And I trust you. In the unknown and the uncertainty, we can say it. And we can declare it. And that's what I did. And that's what I've done for many years. And I said it today. You said they're both fighters. Strong. It's obvious where they get that from. Oh, well, I think-- I don't think you're born strong. I think it's learned. I think in my case, I lean into a God of strength. And if I didn't lean, I wouldn't be strong. I know that I wouldn't. There's nothing I don't feel strong, but I know the one who is. And so when I lean into that, boy, I feel super strong. I know what's true. And the truth is immutable. It is, it is, by definition, strength. He's our pillar and our safe place. So I lean into that and sit there and-- and so do my boys. So do my boys. Daniel said, I don't know if I'm going to get into you, Salva, the Air Force Academy. I don't know. But God, you're good. And I trust you. It was like this immediate prayer. He had this moment of like, I don't know. And I trust you. It was just like, you have to keep yourself in check with truth. Because like I said, your feelings, boy, your feelings, you have to watch out for those feelings. They're deceptive. Well, you've lived in Florida, Georgia, in Pennsylvania. Yes. Georgia for 10 years, Pennsylvania for 6.5, 7. And then here. Eight. So what brought you here? [laughs] Oh, I said when I was little girl, I always wanted to live in Tennessee. But we never were going to. We lived in Pennsylvania. Those were our people, and with Aaron on the road, the shoveling of winery mix is harder than you might think. But I had. I had this picture come in my mind. A dream. And it was, I can't even. Nothing prompted it. There was no conversation. "You know how you watch movies in the new dream about them." This is not what happened. I got. I was walking up in the middle of the night, and I had this picture in my mind of this roundabout. And I'm like, "What is that?" And I had it. I could see it. Like it was a real place. And I just went back to sleep. And it was soon after that. I was in the middle of a conversation with a friend in that picture that I had forgotten about, pop back in my mind. I'm like, "What is that?" And then it occurred to me. That is the roundabout of Franklin, Tennessee. Aaron and I had visited years and years earlier when we were first married, and we were living in Atlanta. We drove up to this place called Franklin that he wanted to show me. And we stood on that roundabout. And so that was tucked back in my memory bank. And all these years later had come forward. And I was picturing it again. And I. I just kept getting interrupted with this picture. And I finally realized. I think the Lord has this for us. I think we're supposed to move, which was not in the plans. We were going to raise our babies in Pittsburgh. I mean, you can imagine a two children who were both considered special needs at this point. All of their doctors, I had 18 specialists that we worked with between the two of them. And I was not interested in moving. We had a wonderful church home, an amazing community. And the Lord just kept pressing on my heart and I sat down with Aaron and I was like, "Hey, I've got to tell you something." And I just. I need to say it. I don't want you to interrupt. I just want to say it. And he is not rude in the interrupting type. It was just for me. Like, I feel like I need to say it. Just give me a minute. It's going to take a second. I said, "I think. I think we need to move to Franklin Tennessee." And he said, "Okay." I said, "Not okay. Not okay. I don't want to move. You don't want to move. I think we need to pray about this. And fast about this. And the Lord will reveal that we are not to move. That we are to stay in Pittsburgh. And he said, "Babe." I was like, "No, but I don't want to leave." But I want to be obedient to my Lord more than I don't want to leave. And so we did be fasted and we prayed. And for three weeks, that was the plan. And before those three weeks were up. We knew. And it was within a very short time. Within a couple of months, we had bit farewell to our family, our church family, and moved everything down here. Why people are like, "Are you moving for Aaron's job?" No. No. Why are you moving? We don't even know outside of what we feel the Lord has put on our hearts. We knew nothing. I came not having a single friend and the Lord just kept showing up for us. And it's been a really incredible eight years. Plugged the boys into school. Is it easier to live here with Aaron's job? Oh, yeah. For sure it is. Way easier. But it's not why we moved. And people, when people ask, he actually, I heard him say recently, "Maybe we moved for me. Maybe we moved for Daniel. Maybe we moved for Nikki." His Michael's doctors are incredible here. Like, who knows why we moved here? It could be for a million reasons or one reason. It's not for us to have the answers. It's for us to be obedient. And we felt like we were. When you were in Atlanta, what part of Atlanta were you in? Alfreda, John's Creek. And it's there a long time. So at the end of this month, Michael's going to have another major procedure? Oh my goodness. At the end of next week, yes. For all of you praying, friends. Please pray. This is a big surgery. His doctor, his surgeon, I met with her a couple of weeks ago. And she, I just, she is a phenomenal surgeon. But I could see just the look on her face as she's talking through what we need to do for Michael. And she said this, this is a big one. This is a big one. This is, you need to settle in for this one. This is going to be a longer recovery. You're going to be staying at the hospital. It's going to be hard. It's anytime you do throat surgery, if you've had your seponsels out, it's a painful recovery. And this is a reconstruction of, of air of his airway. So this is multiple, multiple procedures in one. They're, they're kind of reshaping the back part of his tongue, his, his airway, doing some ear things and some nose things. And just opening that area up, he's souped the Down syndrome, creates a lower tone and it's, it's floppy. And so he, you know, he struggles with sleep apnea and insomnia, which can make for some interesting nights. But he wakes up gasping and we've got to fix that. We need, we need to keep breathing through the night. So we have a surgery coming up on the 28th. I'm going to take some time off work and help him through recovery. But I am, I'm confident that this surgery will go well. It's just going to take some time. He's a strong boy. Right, this has been real heavy. So I kind of feel bad about what I'm about to ask. No, no, let's have some levity. I'm here for it. Let's start this next part. Oh, dear. All right. So I purposely did not give you these last questions because these are just answer them. First thing that pops in the mind. Dear. Okay. I'm about you, so they're not hard. You're just your preferences, but you like to do stuff like that. Okay. Brad, you want to start? Sure. So your favorite trail? Trail. Trail. To go hiking or walking on. Oh, we just went to Old Stone Fork. Old Stone Park. I think that's what it's called. It was amazing. It was amazing. Daniel and I just went over break. So may. It was like five miles of trails. Some of them as beautiful waterfalls have ever seen. Incredible. Oh, my goodness. Is that Murphy's bro? Yes. Old Stone River, right? Is it river? I think that's the name of the river. Oh, okay. I don't know. I don't know. The trail makes sense. You get their old stone river and then they only say trail. I highly recommend it. We maybe crossed in some. We made some of our own trails. We had a lot of fun. It was great. It was a lot of fun. So that might be my new favorite one just because I was recently there. Do you have any pets? Oh, my goodness. Yes. I have. I have a couple of cats. I love cats. I know people have feelings about cats. I love cats. I also have a dog. His name is Gideon. And he is trouble through and through. He is my trouble, but he is trouble. And my love for him can be conditional. And I thought it feels like a confession. But it is you guys. It is work for me. Daniel has been a hobbyist. So he has, you may not know this about him, but he has a lot of animals. Oh, really? So yes. Yes. He has the variety that people don't love so much. He has a couple of snakes and a couple of tarantulas. I mean, they are all in locked enclosures. A chameleon named Landry. That is fine. They are fun. He has a lot of fun. And they all have to eat. So he has. Well, we actually do be a roaches. So he breeds those in order to be able to feed. Listen. He breeds them and we are going to feed them. He is an interesting one that boy. He is deep well. Yes. So we have lots of animals. So how many times have you been to Jerusalem? I have been once. And my husband has been a number of times. We love it. I don't know how anyone could walk where Jesus walked and not be changed by it. It is an incredible land with incredible people. I would live there. I love it. And so does he. Actually, he is going to start touring doing tours in Israel. Starting. Well, in the fall, he was supposed to have done several. But because of just the conditions over there, that has been put on hold. But the one coming up in the fall, we are. we are really hopeful will happen. So you get to go with them. That is still, we're still in the fence with that. So I've, I went with him before and the plan is that when we were planning on going the first time, it was going to be a family, the very first tour was going to be a family tour. And then the war happened. And I think this next first, Daniel will be a college already. I think I may stay home with the boys and I earned the first one. And then, and then I'll probably go. I need, I, any excuse I can go, the flight, you got to settle in for the flight. It's a long flight. But it's worth it. It's worth it. What's your favorite song that Aaron has recorded? Oh wow. Oh, that's not fair. Okay. So a hidden gem, he knows what the hidden gem is because sometimes one of my favorite things at home is when I'm in the kitchen, maybe I'm making dinner or I'm cleaning up and he'll sit down at the piano. And he's like, okay, whatever you want to hear, what do you want to hear? And so I'll just name something and he'll start playing. The home definitely sounds like the piano to me. He plays a lot. And he knows one of my most requested songs. It stars will fall. And it's a hidden gem in there. But it's this song about the name of Jesus, at the mention of the name of Jesus, the power that could happen in stars will fall when you mention the name of Jesus. Like it's just this, it's this epic song about the power of proclamation and the freedom. And I just love it. I love it so much. But I love, I mean, my Savior, my God, I love my Savior, my God. His new ones, Jerusalem is beautiful. But that's just been an ache for us, a prayer that the captives be set free. So I think probably stars will fall, will go down as my favorite song. But he has a lot of them that I really love, that I have worship to and that I made my prayers. He's an incredible artist. I love my husband. I love what he does. I also see him on an off stage, like both. And that man's heart is genuine. I don't know any, I don't know anyone who pursues holiness the way that my husband does. It's a beautiful pursuit. It's a beautiful example to me. What's the last book you've read or your podcast you've listened to? Oh, man. So it would probably be my husband's podcast was the last one. Okay, I want you to write ours with your husband. Which one's better? This episode. No, seriously, how? Go back to the book. You guys, so I live so much life and secret. Social media is so hard for me. It is a task. I don't know the last time it was probably the last picture you did with Daniel was maybe what I put on my Instagram. Maybe. It's I just don't, I'm not on there very often. I think I'm pretty private. So I just don't post a lot about my life. So I'm going to say a thing. Ready? Give it to me. My last book that I read was a school book because I have been in school and I read so much because of school. And I have been, I just I just finished my Christianity. I love, love, love. But it was it was part of it was school. So what are you getting your degree in? Biblical studies and theology. And do you graduate in May? In May. Me too. With a desire to do what with that? You know, people have asked me that. Like, so, so you're going to take this degree and you're going to do it. I'm like, I am going to celebrate that I finished. I was married so young. I was married when I was 18 years old. And I, I never finished college. I did dual enrollment in high school and I did some college right before we got married. And then I did some college after we were married and somebody said, when did you start college? And I'm like, in August of 1999. It's just been a long time coming. And I'm finally, I'm finally finishing it. And this is Brad's going to celebrate us when we're done. You, and that right? But you when you're done with your degrees. Yeah. Sure. Thanks. Thanks. Oh my goodness. I've always said this when you're when you've done, you're going to have a moment for about a week or two, maybe a month. We are like, I feel guilty that I'm just sitting here. Right. I know. I should be doing something. And it's just in the back of your mind like, I should be doing something. I am sure that's true because if I have a spare moment right now when I'm not working full time or schooling full time or mothering full time or wifeing full time, like there's when I'm not like it is that moment just I was literally sitting in bed with the lights off and sleeping Michael next to me because Aaron's out of town. So you know, he gets he has to take over. And in the dark last night with my computer on my lap at crazy o'clock. And I'm literally falling asleep as I'm trying to write about doctrine. You probably write some crazy stuff in the middle of the night. Listen, I have thought that I have gone back and I read some of my work and I'm like, oh my goodness, Sarah, that was, but you know what happens is you it's almost you're a little less guarded. And so you actually end up writing with a little more, I don't want to say snark, but a little more freedom if you will. Truth, truth like, and I'm just like going going for it and saying the things are like, oh, Sarah, that was bold. Yeah, you could soften that a little bit and I didn't. It's amazing what exhaustion can can berthin you. Yes. Okay, well, tell us tell us one thing about you that will surprise us. I don't know. I'm an introvert through and through. I, you know what? This really does surprise people that I can, I mean, I have some social anxiety. People are like, you're great with people and you interact. So it is, it is work. I am, I am an introvert through and through. And I, well, and I would say I can be a social introvert for sure, but I love, I love quiet and and solitude and yeah, maybe that surprises you. Maybe, maybe you're like, that's actually exactly what I thought about you. I think that was me. I can go put myself in the corner for an hour. Oh, me too. Me too. All the four. What's the last picture you took on your phone? You didn't have to post it or anything. Does it count if somebody else took the picture? Last night, shenanigans took place in my kitchen and Daniel got a hold of my phone and he said as he's doing this, one of my favorite things to do is take a picture of you. Like, and he's trying to get a picture of me. I'm like, don't, because I don't, I don't like my picture taken either. Oh, don't like it at all. And so he's chasing me with my camera. And so he's trying to do a selfie of the two of us. And that's the last picture on my phone is the shenanigans of me hiding behind him and him desperate to take a picture. Since we talked about you in school, if there's a topic or subject that you could teach, what would it be? Bible. I love it. I will. Old Testament New Testament. Oh, dear, I do have to choose. I want to tie it together. The minute narrative of scripture is great. I just love it so much. It's the, it's the fulfillment. The New Testament is a fulfillment of the Old Testament. And I just could not and would not depart to you. That'd be like somebody asking you to tell them about you, but not tell about the first 40 years. Right. Right. How could I? It would be are you saying? No, he was being starchy towards me. Oh, that's what that was. I could tell by, and I was like, yes, you're right. Five-one-year-old Testament. Yes. And then your face, giving me the sada. Yes. That equals 80. She's not that old. But you're right. You can't do one without the other. You can't. You can't. But I don't know if I could choose. I don't know. I love all of it. Do you have a favorite book in the Bible? The boring one is like Proverbs, right? That's a boring. No, I don't mean boring. Let me say that. That's boring. That's boring. That's the one people will, no, that's not the boring book. I like my favorite to read. But that's like the answer. I think people say a lot, right? Well, you know, it's structured. You could read what Proverb every day. Like it's well structured for that. I enjoy reading the Old Testament just as much as the New Testament. I was like, oh, I don't want to get in the begats and all that stuff. But like I think that's so interesting when you find you're like reading this list, you're like, I don't know where that is. I don't know where that is. I don't know. Hey, I know that. What's you doing there? Yeah. - Wow, that's how it connects. Yes. - I didn't know he was, my thosel was grand, daddy. (laughing) - That's right, that's right. That's the beauty of Scripture is that it's alive and active and it can inform circumstances now, but it also informed circumstances a thousand years ago and it's incredible. I just love the Bible so much. - Do you have an answer for that question as well? - John, because John actually tells you who the person of Jesus is, not the stories of Jesus but who he is. It's always been my favorite. Oh, John's a beautiful book. I love John. - Do you have a favorite restaurant? - My kitchen. (laughing) - That would not be mine. (laughing) - That would not be Brad Beener. - That's because no, but listen. - The kitchen, I've never been there. (laughing) - But I love to cook. I love to create, like if I, and I would not say I'm an artist, but my art, if I had art, it would be in the kitchen. - What is your best dish? - Oh dear, you'd have to ask one of my people. But what do I love to eat? Oh my goodness. Like chalancey bass over a bed of my chalancey bass with asparagus. I just, oh, I've never had that in my kitchen. (laughing) But give me a good, you know, like a peanut Thai sauce with like, rice noodle, no? - Be like crunchy peanut butter or mando or creamy? (laughing) - But there's a place for the crunchy too. There is, depending on some cheeses. - You? - Maybe a bangle or two. - I have that in the marketplace for you. (laughing) - Oh, or perhaps, Kim should know, and if you're listening, I forgot about bringing your cheeses over. I'm going to bring them. - Oh, I'm not pretzels too. - Go for this, Ayers. I just told her I was going to bring this in to Jesus. - Kim should know, and she said, "Oh, come see me, I'll give you some cheeses "other marketplace, it's fine." Okay, so since you really have had a full life at a young age, as Brad pointed out, you're younger than me. So, reflecting back, what would you tell your 25 year old self? - Oh, that's a good question. I think I would say, it's going to be hard, and you're going to cry, but you're going to cling to 2 Timothy 417, which is, the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me, so that the message will be fully proclaimed. It's going to be hard, but God is good, and you can trust Him in it. I think I would tell myself my 25 year old, because I was 24 when I had Daniel, and so I didn't really know hard yet. And in that way, I may have had struggles and even suffered to some measure and some capacity in my first 25 years of life, but this new ache, a new kind of grief was coming. And this verse has been such an anchor for me. It's that so that peace for me in that verse, but the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me. Like, I was never alone, and remember I said that your feelings can be unreliable. It's because your feelings can tell you, I'm so lonely, which must mean I'm alone. Like, your feelings just lie to you, and so you can't hold on to how you feel. You have to tell yourself the truth, and the truth that became such an anchor is the Lord is standing by you. You're not alone, you can't be alone. You might be by yourself in a space, and you might be in a really hard moment, but you're not alone in it. God is with you, and He's gonna stay with you, so that, like, oh man, I don't know if I've so that moment in your life, it's powerful. Just take an inventory of it. So that the message will be fully proclaimed, and what's the message that God stood by you, and it's for His glory. There's pain and there's suffering, and there's grief on this side of heaven, but it's for His glory. It's not wasted. It's not wasted. It can't be wasted. So that's what I would tell my 25 year old self. Hold on. - Do you have a favor at season of the year? - Oh my God. - I love a good sauna. - Oh, I love summer. - I love summer. - Love it. - Oh, I do love it. - You know what, I love golf, and I would pick a tee time, you don't wanna play golf? - No. - Oh, we could try. Maybe you'll love it. - I hate it. - Oh, that's bad. But I would pick a tee time. Again, did you see the eye roll? - I saw it, I saw it that time. - I tried to be sure everybody saw it. - They saw it through the microphone. - Through the microphone. (laughing) But I would pick a tee time in the middle of the day because the course is empty out because nobody wants to be out there in the heat of the day and I'm like, me, I do. I will sweat and I will play golf all by myself. It's great. It's great. Do you have a favorite movie or TV show? You know, I don't get to watch a lot of TV these days or watch movies. But I'm, man, you guys, I am a sucker for the epics. Like, I love Pride and Prejudice. I love, I love Lollaland too. Like, it took me a long time to watch it because everyone's like, oh, Lollaland's the best. I just couldn't, and then I watched it. I loved it. Legend of the fall, Braveheart. Like some of those oldies, those old epics. I'm here for those. But probably, I mean, I can watch Pride and Prejudice some of me. Mr. Darcy. What? Do you have a superpower? Well, we talked about that at the beginning. Go do it again, ask her. I don't know that we were on my get that point. Well, but I think we were, we were ask her. Okay. Well, yeah, that was crazy. We were asking about superpower, and then we realized it's a question. So, what superpower would you have if you had one? You know, again, I think it might be learned, 'cause I don't think I was born this way. But we've had some chaotic moments, even medically speaking, and I have found, my mom was this way, actually. And I watched her in crisis, and I probably learned it from her. But there is a strange calm that I feel in a moment of crisis. And it's almost like a clarity that happens where I don't necessarily know that what I'm about to do is the best and right, most perfect thing to do, but I can do it and move forward with confidence. This is what I'm doing. This is how I'm going to do it. And it's methodical and it's done. And I watched my mom, my mom practiced midwifery for 25 years, and I would go with her to the hospital in the middle of the night. She, because I just loved to be in the mix with her. And she would wake me up. I have so many memories of her pulling me out of bed in the middle of the night, because she had a patient go into labor. And I would go with her to the hospital. And sometimes I would wait in the doctor's arms, and there were many times where I would wait outside the room, and I would listen, and I would wait for that baby's cry. And there was one delivery that I'll never forget. And the door, it was the middle of the night, and the door was cracked open. And I could see the reflection in the windows of my mom working and delivering this baby. And it really all I could see was my mom at the end of the bed. And the baby was stuck. And it turned emergent. It was a crisis moment. And I watched my mom methodically deliver that baby when there was chaos and people running, and she got that baby out of there. And it was, it's a moment that seared into my heart. I watched my mom be a hero. She was a heroine in that moment, and she was steadfast and still. And it was beautiful. - I think a little Sarah was sleepy. She had to get up with her mom to go in the middle of the night. And then she was getting up and going, "Go feed the horses." - I've learned to cope with very little sleep. - That's what I was saying. - Wow. Well Sarah, thank you for spending some time sharing with us, very inspiring, and we'll certainly be in prayer for Michael. - Thank you. Thank you for having me. I have so enjoyed it. - Thanks for listening to Mustangs Unbridled, an exploration into the lives of Lipscomb Academy students, alumni, teachers, parents, and interesting folk we made along the way. To learn more about our school, visit www.lipscombacademy.org. Until next time, when the Mustangs run free, this has been Mustangs Unbridled.