Thomas Rhett and Lauren Akins in the Studio! Plus, our First Ever LIVE Audience! | Sadie Robertson Huff

I'm saying, you can say that you're a hero.

“You're a hero, right? But you don't understand.”

Exactly. It's just a challenge. You're just a hero. You're just a hero. And if you work, you'll be able to do it. - That's right. - Save. You're just a hero. - You're just a hero. - Now you're a hero. So special, and I have been gatekeeping this for a long time.

So I don't know if you know how reality TV works, but you film it a little bit in advance. And so when we filmed this episode, I was pregnant with Kit, and on this day it was actually, we were back in the green room when Lauren told me that she was pregnant. They didn't know whether they were having at the time, but now we know he's a little boy, named Brave, and he's in the world. So we have Kit and Brave, two kids have been added.

And so a lot has happened since we filmed this episode, but I love this episode.

“It was the first time we ever had a live audience here in the studio.”

It was so much fun, and I just love Thomas Rhett and Lauren so much.

Their story is so incredibly powerful, and I know you're going to learn from this episode.

So I'm excited for you to watch this. And then also this Saturday on A&E, you can actually watch the full episode on Doug Gynosy the Revival. And if you don't have A&E, you could also wait the next day and buy it on Prime. And so we hope you love it. And without further ado, let's get into the episode. What's up? What that's good fam? Happy Wednesday, everybody.

I hope you're having a great week with per usual. It is about to get literally so much about it, because today is a very special day in the studio. Not only do we have two special guests. I'm excited to tell you all about, but we have our first ever live audience. Let's hear it from the back. So for those of you who have been following well, that's good for a long time.

Y'all heard me say this a million times. One day would be so cool to have a live audience.

Because I always say one day I'd love to have a talk show, and that's just like the next step.

And we finally have been able to make it happen. And we're so excited and so grateful for people being in the room today to listen into this awesome conversation. And of course for everyone, listening, we're so excited for y'all to join in because, like I said, we have a special two very special guests that y'all are going to be excited about. We have a Thomas Rett and Lauren Ackens here in Louisiana. So welcome guys. Yes. This is awesome. And I didn't know that

you were such a huge duck hunter. So yeah, for sure. I was like, you might should have done the duck cover and pie cast because my duck hunting knowledge is very, very good. But you're going to go this year. You said you're going to go this year. This is my year. Yes, it's been shocking to everyone that have never been. And that is really pitiful because obviously, for all of you's reasons. But this is my year. I'm really excited to carry on my grandpa's

legacy. My husband got to go with Pebbleville many times. So he's going to help me in the girls learn. So it's amazing. Maybe a great little adventure. Yes. Lauren hadn't been yet either. So maybe we should. Well, I've been just not with you. I went with my uncle and my cousin's

grown. Oh, that's right. You did. He never been with me. We should give it a show. We need to kind

back to Louisiana. We will all go. Yeah, definitely will. We can bring the girls with me. We're so fun. Really entertaining because honey duck hunting would be the experience for everyone. Well, I asked the same question to everyone who comes on the piecast. And typically it's what's the best piece of advice you've ever been given. But when we have two people on, it can be a little harder. And so I'm going to ask you a more specific question. What's the best piece of marriage advice that

the two of you were ever given? Yeah. Oh, I feel like a lot. I feel like the ones that are helping most days now, just with our life in total chaos publicly, but also just to come with four little girls is they don't take it too seriously. Learn the laugh a lot through a lot of things. One of my

“best friends is like, I just left keep from crying. I do think that helped a lot of times. But I think”

just in marriage, I think staying in best friends and what would you say? It's good. I feel like it changes from every year a bit of advice because they're definitely it's different in your first couple of years of marriage and it is when you get past a 10 year mark and we're going to celebrate 13 years this year. Oh, that's awesome. It's crazy. But I think it's so cliche because I've heard this for so long, but I think learning for me, how to how to continually learn how to date your wife,

even when you're, you know, five years, 10 years in. Because I do think it's really easy, especially once kids start coming in the picture to become roommates or just like joint parenting partners. You know what I'm saying? Like if you're not intentional with like her biggest thing for me this year, I've done a lot of therapy this year and her biggest thing for me is like, what do you need for me in this season of life? And you're like, I just want

you to get up at six o'clock in the morning so that we can read our bottles together and we can have

thing on the planet. It's like the one thing he's like, why? Yeah, I've got to paint the whole house.

“You know what I'm saying? But just I think just continuing to ask each other like in seasons of life.”

Like, hey, what are you lacking for me and how and how can I do better in that area? But I think just learning how to be intentional because it is so easy, you know, after you've for us, after you put four kids to bed, eight, forty, five, three are waxing. Not a clock. You're either waxed and you don't really want to get into the conversation. You started earlier in the day that ended in argument or whatever. It's so much easier

to turn on that flick show and just numb out the world, go to bed and then kind of forget the conversation ever happened. But I think the more intentional you can be about just digging deeper, even if it's just 10 or 15 minutes before you go to sleep is like my new version of continuing, yes, like go to dinner and hold the door like, even just opening out in her card door last night.

But the first time in a minute, which is so sad, but it just made me feel like, oh, usually we're

shoveling everybody. Like you've had that, and I had this sad. It's so, yeah, just continuing to

“learn how to date each other. I think it's sort of been the best piece of advice I've gotten.”

It's great. I love that so much. It's such a good advice so much in that. I was thinking, so someone gave a marriage advice one time on the show and it was pretty recently and they were saying, ask your spouse how their heart is before you go to bed. It was really cool to hear that because probably six months ago, Christian, I were talking about that same thing. What do we need from each other now in this stage that we didn't necessarily a couple years ago? I was like, I just

want you like, check in on my heart because I don't feel as natural to just bring that up, you know? And sometimes you want your spouse to ask you like, how you're doing, based off maybe you're in a bad mood and like you're waiting on them to ask instead of just saying it, which totally I should be mature enough to just say it, but it helps when they're like, how is your heart? And then it kind of gives you the door and it was just funny because she said

that so then that night, I thought about it and I was tired, you know, again, so much easier to just turn on a show. So I like turn on my show, I was watching it and Christian was going to bed and I was like, I'm going to ask him how his heart is. So like I stopped the show and I looked at it and then I just kind of smiled because I was like, this is not what I'm doing all of a sudden. And he was like, what are you doing? I was like, how about that? It's not your heart is, and I just can't do it naturally right now because I know you're

going to be like, why are you asking me that? And so anyways, it gave us a good laugh and that was like,

“but how is your heart? And it led us into such a great conversation then he's like, how is your heart?”

And it is kind of funny because sometimes in those new stages of life, it does feel awkward to transition into maybe asking more intentional questions or getting up early or going on a date, but it's worth the little awkward beginning and it actually is even kind of cute and fun. It's like, makes you feel like you're dating again where you feel awkward to ask something or nervous, you know, I love that advice. So good. And it's cool that you all have been friends for a really long time.

I think you all are friends before you even started dating. Can you all tell us a little bit about how you're on then when the relationship started? Yeah, we have actually been friends really,

I felt like middle school is when we got close, but we've been in school together since first grade.

Wow, so we've known each other, our families have been close forever. And then we decided, it would be a good idea to try to date at 15 and 16. And it was not a great idea. Thank you, great. We were much better off friends in that stage of life. And we figured it out quickly. Well, I'd really-- She figured it out quicker than he did. I was like, I don't think this is going to work. How long did Joe date for? Like, not even a year. Not even a year. Which at that,

I feel like at 15 years old. It's pretty solid. That's not like it's a good link at all. It feels long, yeah. But they me just stayed really close. Like double dated when he would in college, he would come stay with me in Knoxville or stay at my boyfriend's apartment, actually. Yeah, and we both spent the weekend together. And we both had really serious relationships. Like after being 16, like, I dated a girl for a really long time. She dated a guy for a really long time.

And I think both of us thought we were going to potentially marry these other people. Wow. And that's like a whole other long story. It's a different podcast. It's a different podcast. Part two. But we kind of, you know, we remain really, really close friends. Like she said, we double dated. And I went to college for a few years. And then I dropped out my junior year because I was starting to write and really wanted to sing. And I just found myself in this

one moment. And we were like 21, I think when I was single. And she was like freshly single. And I remember totally heartbroken by the way. Totally heartbroken. I remember calling her dad

because even through like dating other people, like she always had this place in my heart on my

was ending, there was this part of me that was like, oh, but then I was like, just like, you know, it's my time now. And I remember calling her dad being like, listen, like, you know how much I love

your daughter. And he was like, I know her dad is an amazing human. And it was her sister's graduation

party. And I called her dad said, I think I told Lauren how I feel better tonight. And he was like,

“well, if you don't, I'm going to. That's what her dad said to me. And I was like, well, that would be”

really awkward. And so I remember, you know, that night after the whole crowd had left, it was like maybe midnight. I went to clock in the morning and went on the front porch at her parents house. And I was like, you know, just kind of confessed my love and like, like, I just signed a record deal. And I was like, I think you would hate my life, like being on the road and all that's going to suck. And you probably don't even like me anyway, but you should know that I love you. And you

actually said, we can't be friends anymore. Yeah. I was at that point. I was like ready to like not be

friends anymore. Like we got to walk away from this friendship or we're going to like send it.

And I was like, we're not sending it. Yeah. Wow. So I stole, I stole a line from the note, but which is arguably the greatest film of all time. Yeah. That was a good move. And I literally literally said, well, why don't we just kiss and see what happens. You want to mean? I was like, I died. I love this. And like, and Lauren is not one to turn down a dare. Like, she will do anything. And I was like, I dare you to kiss me. I knew that that was going to see me. You actually blocked me from going off.

I was like, this is, we can't do this. You ruined our friendship. I'm going to go to bed. I've got to get up. We're doing a graduation ceremony. We're right in early. And I was like, we're going to, we're not doing this. And he stood up in front of me and he was like, no, one, please, just one kiss. Like, what are you doing? Absolutely not. He goes, I dare you. And I was like, right, fun. Oh, my, guys. And then we dated for six months. I got engaged.

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dare her? I had nothing else at it and I mean, you can lose. I knew that I was about to be on the road for 300 days. I was like, I'm just going to see what happens. That is a full sin. It is full so you went from like, you ruined our friendship and then you kissed and it was like magic. Yeah, kind of a fight. Well, because we truly knew just about every detail about each other. You know, it really was like a best friendship for so many years and I felt like I knew every part of

him except for that part because even though he dated a 15-year-old not the same thing and we had lived so much life in those however many years in between and I just didn't think that the Romantic fart could exist. That just gave a lot of people hope. There's a lot of people in the

“friends zone thinking like, you just don't know. You don't know. I do remember after he kissed and”

remember thinking, well, it didn't feel like I was kissing my brother. I was just like, well,

I can't promise you. This isn't just a rebound. Yeah. And so he was like, you played it so cool.

Well, only because my dad and my stepdad said they were like, you can't keep pressing in. Like, you got to play it cool. And I'm not a play it cool kind of person. If I'm like in relationship, I'm like, what are you doing? You're going to mean like, all right, the night,

“love you. No, I love you more like that. That's kind of how I was. And so like, I remember just like,”

you know, I think she said something like, I'm just trying to figure out if this is just like a rebound. And I was like, is cool. Yeah. We actually, we are like, let's just roll with it and see what happens. I was like, really? Yeah. You were like, yeah, totally. It was like sweet. That is so awesome. So data for about six months and got married at the time, y'all were pursuing different things career wise, though. I mean, you were finishing up nursing school, finishing up nursing school, which is

no joke, no joke. And he was touring. He was gone quite a bit. I remember when we did start dating, he would come off the road and fly in the Knoxville, which is a little airport. But he would reroute his flights just to come see me for even just a few hours, sometimes or a day. And I cried when he left. And I didn't, I didn't want to be without him. And it was wild how my world just flipped upside down. I was like, I actually just don't ever want to spend another day without you.

“And so that's why we were like, well, how fast can we make this happen? Wow. And so a lot of”

people were like, don't rush into it. Y'all are young, um, which I felt like 21 compared to a lot of our friends was young. Very young. And we were just like, we know that this is what we want. And why, why would we wait if, like, we've waited on so many things. And we're, we're done. We're done waiting. And so we got married fairly quick. Our, our families were had our backs from the beginning

through and through. And that Virginia, his manager, um, always felt like was, like, big support to.

And it was so much fun. It was so fun. And I do feel like we, we lived a lot of life. And we were really young. So we still learned so much about ourselves, and each other, and life, and beginning tour. But it was really cool to get to do it together. So cool. And it's all that together. And, um, and now I feel like when we do hit those valleys or the hard seasons, it's like, okay, we've walked through so much. And our support system is just such a gift. And I felt like the Lord just knew exactly

what we were going to need before he sent him on his career. And the family that we have, the friends that we have, the community, it's just been, I mean, it's been hard. Don't come here on like lots of ups and downs, lots of counseling, lots of tears. But for the most part, I like back on our life. I truly see the hand of God. And I'm just so cool. Like, so grateful that he has allowed us to like partner with him on this giant adventure of this life that we're like, wow,

we didn't see that turn coming. Wow. And it's, it's fun. It's amazing. It's so cool. It reminds you of Christian and I, because we were 21, 22 when we got married. And, um, his parents really wanted him to wait till he graduated college for us to get married. But we were like, we don't want to wait because we want to, you know, we want to experience it together. I wanted to move to Auburn to be with him so I can meet all his college friends. And like, we didn't want to miss that time being

together. And, um, so one day, him and his mom were having another conversation about, you know, then wanting us to wait. And he said, Mom, love can't wait. And that has become like,

that has become like a thing in the whole family that they always love to bring up. That love can't

wait. And, um, I'm really glad he said that he was not a play at cool person either. He was the love me more texture and so I appreciate that. And I'm so thankful because, yeah, it's a crazy ride, but you're so thankful you have all those memories together from such a young age. Um, and so it's cool because you said that was kind of before your career really took off. You were touring and stuff, but, but was it, you know, as big as, I mean, surely wasn't as big as it is now,

but where were you kind of at with your career? I mean, Lauren will tell you that she, I don't think she thought I was going to make it. Um, well, okay, just in her defense, because I've heard

“her say something similar. And I was like, I think that's so funny. She's like, no, but let me clarify,”

I think he's the best of the best. It's not because he wasn't talented enough, but there's so much talent in Asheville. And it's, sometimes not random. It's died given whenever it does kind of explode. But it's rare. Yeah. So much a lot of people believed in you. But I also didn't, I also didn't think I was going to make it either. Like honestly, like my plan was like, oh, I just signed a record deal. And, and when you're, when you're 21, so my dangles $50,000 in front of your face,

you're like, I'm rich. You know what I mean? Um, and I was like, I'll do this for a year and I'll probably fizzle out. And then I'll guess I'll go back to college and finish what's left of my

in her and we'll have some kids and we'll do the thing. And so I genuinely had no plan beyond that year of touring. Wow. Um, and was very fortunate to, I mean, to kind of go back to while we even shared a bunk in the first place. I mean, she was dead set on being a nurse and in our pre-marital

“counseling, our counselor said, I think that y'all need to spend this whole first year of marriage”

fully together. And so like, looking back at it now, like, I don't think I realized how much of a detour I was to the plan that she had. Does it make sense? Yeah. Yeah. Um, that's detour ever. The best detour ever for sure. But like looking back at it, like I remember going to Knoxville and she means she's stay away to four o'clock in the morning study and for in-clicks or, you know, whatever exam it is, you got to take to finish her school and how hard was people to do.

Um, and so that whole first, we wanted a lot about each other that first year of marriage because I think I played 230 shows that year. And so like, and you're still in nursing school. No, no, no, I was just wondering that. She was doing it at this point. You would finish at this point when I like got on that tour tour. When we got married, I'd finished school. I was studying for the in-clicks. Wow. When we got married. Yeah. So I was studying, yeah, and then on the road.

Yeah. That's wild. Um, but none of us ever really saw, I never saw me go in-class,

past playing bars and so what was the song? What was it like, or I guess, yeah, take us back to whenever it all exploded. Did you see it coming? So I remember, I remember I put a single out when I was 22 that did fine and then I put another single out that did fine and in music,

“in the music world, countries a bit more forgiving, I think than the pop world. But still,”

there's kind of like a limit, like a record label looks at you and goes, all right, man, that's kind of like two misses. So there was this massive pressure, right, to be like, all right, well, whatever the third single is, like if the third one doesn't work, I don't know, I don't know if we're going to keep going. And I remember my dad, as a songwriter, was the artist in the 90s and he sent me a song that I loved and I played it for her and she loved it and we recorded it. And that's,

it was a song called it goes like this and it became my very first number one and then he sent me another song and then that became number one song and then the song that you, that you saying, that was my, that was my, the first song I ever wrote that became number one song and so like out of the gate having kind of two misses but then three hits in a row, which led me to my second record and I put out the song called "Crash and Burn" that everybody in my immediate circle was like,

this is a career destroyer because it, it was not like, looking back at it, I can't believe that country idea played that song. Why was it so, it was just like a 50s do-up country song,

like I, I never heard anything like it in my life. Chris Stapleton actually wrote that song,

which as well. And um, but I knew that right after "Crash and Burn" I had this song coming out called "Dai Happy Man" and everyone in my circle was like, we think this is a career-changing song for you and I'm just sitting there going, that's just a love song. You know what I mean? And so when that song came out, things started to really shift and change and you know, she was in the music video

“for that and I think that's when the whole couple goals, relationship goals, hashtag, things were”

going around and we're just sitting here trying to like understand how do we even navigate this. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Um, because it went from literally like, I was just opening for people and playing clubs. All of a sudden we're talking about my first arena, you know, headline and tour and you know, we're out of ward shows and I'm winning these awards and giving speech in all the stuff and it just like it felt like overnight, even though it was like a five-year

transition, it felt like all of a sudden no one knows. No one knows who you are to all of a sudden like you're up there. Well, even though his name was on the radio, I felt like we could still go out and do things. Yeah. And then all of a sudden it was like, oh, every restaurant we go in, yeah, he's getting stopped and we're not able to just walk down the street anymore. And it was I remember when I happy man came out and I was totally in that era because I was in high school

with like the relationship goals and I was telling warm before this. I've such a vivid memory of my cousin. Well, she's my cousin now. She married into our family of a bright and she was like my best friend in high school and Mary Kate. I don't know, Mary Kate would remember this if you were there that day and brightened was like, oh my gosh, have you seen this music video, you know, die happy man? And she was like, uh, his wife Lauren, it's just so beautiful.

And she's like, never wears makeup. And she wears her hair in a bun all the time. And like,

she just thought she, you were like the coolest person. So I were following Lauren and being like, oh, she is so cool. We really were so inspired by our relationship. And it reminded us so much of our life because like I said, you would go talk about going on like dates to Sonic and his live such a normal, like small town lifestyle, which is really similar to how we live. And we thought

seem to really care about that. Like you didn't you didn't change at all, you know, you didn't start dressing different or looking different. You were just like super authentic and so stunning.

And a really great person to follow. And y'all's faith was always like, you know, known that y'all

“are Christians and stuff. So I think that's like so cool. But take me back because like you said,”

it was a detour to your life. What was that like whenever, you know, not only did he become so famous, but I had me and you did too. Okay. I know I'm not the only one. You know that stressful feeling when it's five o'clock. Everyone suddenly starving and you're trying to figure out what to have for dinner. That's one reason why I love having good ranchers in our freezer. Having high quality beef and chicken from good ranchers, stalking our freezer, it makes life so much easier. If I

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really had to get talked into that video. It was actually, we shot two on that trip. That in vacation.

Yeah. One of our friends used to work on the North Shore of a Wahoo tough life. He was like, you can use our house and one of our good friends who's in the industry, shooting videos and stuff. He was like, I'll do the videos because I was like, absolutely not. I told you before this. I just hate the spot. If it's a room full of people that I know that know my heart and I know or for me, I'm like, "Put me on a stage, tell me to do something crazy, I'll do anything." But it's

not like a safe place for me. It is like totally out of my comfort zone, which, in for him, we couldn't be more opposite. He's been in every single talent show that's ever existed since we were little kids and the lead in all the musicals and it's just we're so opposite. And so when he's like, come on, it'll be fine. I'm like, no, it won't. It's like, you don't think it's fine. This is like, not what I want to do. Did you think they're doing it that it was going to be like the success

it wasn't it was going to make you so no. No, I remember after it came out, I remember texts in my girlfriend. So I was like, I'm so mortified. I was like, how many people do you think you're going to see this? They're like, "Uh, well, everybody who follows country music is going to see it." I was like, "Oh, what do I do?" And about the same time, I'm looking at him going like, trying like really battling the like resentment because I'm like, "You've drugged me into this.

I know that I agreed to marry you. I didn't agree to like also join in on the shows."

“And people are like, "Well, will she come on stage and do this? Will she present this for you?”

Will she come on this interview? Can we talk to your wife?" I'm like, no, no, no. I'm not, I'm not the performer here. You're the one who does this. And I don't remember the exact moment but there are so many moments over time, we're off like the Lord was just like slowly like loosening my grip over the control that I thought I had. And especially like out of my comfort zone where he was just like, "This is the last thing you want to do." But I've got so many plans and like you just,

you're just kind of to trust me and I felt like he really had just gone before me and everything that I had done up to that point and and I have just learned to just trust him and if he's going to bring me somewhere, I know he's going to like hold my hand and get me out on the other side.

back over our life. I'm like he really does like you know this in your brain like yeah, especially if you grow up in church you're growing up with a family who knows the Lord and loves Jesus. Like your brain knows the truth. Yeah, but it's one thing to like know truth and to be able to speak truth. Yeah, but to believe and walk in truth are two very different things. Yeah, and that is the gift that I feel like he is giving both of us is pushing us out of our comfort zones

in very different ways and it's not what I wanted to do but yeah, I see his faithfulness through all of it and it truly does I love adrenaline adventure and like here for all of that so it kind of felt like a little bit like a challenger a day or just like yeah well you don't want to do it but you're being asked to do it and so that part has been fun for me just like seeing where he takes it

is cool and he's taken it to places I never dreamed we would be I would be the family that we have

the life that we live now I'm like truly I told him just a few months ago like through tears I'm like every dream I ever dreamed is a little girl like it has already happened come true like I'm there I'm living every bit of it and I feel like so unbelievably grateful even through all the tears in the heart moments like he truly does just like pay attention to our hearts and wants to care for us and wants to love us and show how much he loves us and and so even though I kind of

like kicking and screaming a few times it's just it's been so beautiful and it really has been a fun adventure that's so cool and that's so real like that's life you know you don't ever really get

“somewhere that you're trying to go easy and that easy route and I feel like that's what shapes”

you and mold you and makes you become who are and deepens your faith I feel like it's like actually so relatable to so many people even though what y'all did is that as relatable you know it's not everyone's a country music star and whatnot but so many people get married and then their life ends up not being what they expected because maybe their husband has to move for a job or the wife's job takes off and then he's staying home and it's like doesn't really quite

pan out the way that maybe one of them expected while another one's getting a dream that they

had always dreamed of and that can be like a hard thing to navigate for you as your careers

taking off you're getting everything that you had been pursuing for so long but it was so hard for her how did you kind of just steward that within your marriage and your family you know looking back looking back at that period that I guess this would have been like almost a decade ago and gosh the things I've learned in ten years is pretty wild but I look back like you do journal okay I'm not a good journal I've got like 15 different I'd rather I like getting the

journal you start it and then you move on and I'll write like the day in my name and I'm like yes like yes but I have committed I have this one journal that I that my manager actually bought me on the front of the journalist says the best is yet to come I don't even know what it means but and so I mean but it's so true and and I've committed I mean I've had this journal now for six years and still not completed but I was reading back through it and there are entries in there

from eight years ago seven years ago and and a buddy in our small group looked at me and said

“man you should read back through that journal and see the things that the Lord has answered”

you know I'm saying because you write stuff and you're just kind of like yeah and I feel like

I had battle with the same thing my whole career like I've always been like I was telling

not there because I had to draw out this timeline of my life the earliest memory of your life to now and you had to put an ex beside the moments that you thought were pivotal for your life whether it was for good or for bad right and so the the very first memory I have of my life is being four years old and I'm wearing red cowboy boots a diaper and I've got a guitar on and the photo itself is amazing because it's like it reminds me of like how I grew up but then when

you watch the home video of that photo it's missing in pickup man and I've got my entire family standing around me and the moment I'm done you can hear people clap and you can hear people say and do another one to you or do another one and my therapist stopped me right there he goes let's talk about that moment and I was like okay he was like so you've you've kind of been on the stage since you were like a 19 but you've actually been on a version of a stage since you

“were four years old right and so like I look at my life and I think about all the things that have”

kind of twisted me or made me like not the best person to be around and it has always been either around affirmation or lack of affirmation. Does that make sense? Yeah totally and so like 2015, 2016 was the most affirmation I think I'd ever received in my life and I really liked it you and I'm saying and so I look back at our life during that time and I'm not I don't think I stood it very well to be honest with you. I think I wanted to try some things better just to make

I actually could make my life happy and there are moments I think that I can but if I look at

myself as the pure soul source of our happiness I'm going to always let her down for forever.

You know I'm saying and so it is taking me a decade to truly learn that like both of our sources of happiness comes from here. You know I'm saying like joy comes from the Lord and there are things that we can do for each other that bring each other joy but at the at the true itself of your life of your heart. If you can't learn that that true joy comes from the Lord then you're always going to be searching for something that makes you happy and so for me it was

winning at all costs it was success at all costs you know and then fast 40 years from then that was when we were about to have our first child and or adopt our first child and our first biological and I was the most spiritually unhealthy human being like publicly facing I'm like first Corinthians sheft you know to me all this kind of stuff and but internally I was dying like

“I genuinely I just liked what was happening so much that I think so much of me was being like”

sucked into the world so hard that it just kept pushing me in her like this you know I'm saying

and we have always said from day one like divorce is not an option but the more you actually

think about it anything is actually an option if you let it become that you know I'm saying and so around 25 26 years old I would say that we were living somewhat of a deck I was living a double life you know what I mean especially moving into adopting our first child and spinning a year in Uganda and she's you know five and six months pregnant and I'm traveling I'm playing a show in Arizona and then I'm traveling back to Uganda and then I'm going to New York and I'm going

back to Uganda like I can never actually settle anywhere you know and I'm fast-forwarding a lot it genuinely was not until 2020 that I actually discovered bits and pieces of who I actually was at my core without a microphone without a stage within without affirmation because it was the first time I'd had ever been taken away from me if that makes any sense yep so these last five years of my life I would say Jesus has chiseled on my heart more in these last five years than I can

ever fill it remember I'm not perfect on there would be perfect but I would say like today I was looking at each other and being a married couple I would say this is I'm living my most

true self now she always sort of has been but gosh it is it's just such a peaceful feeling

it's amazing today so yeah amazing truly thank you for sharing that I can really so much show your story and everything you shared with different aspects of my life and it's really cool Louie Giglio always says that he feels like and he was kind of saying this in the sense of

“like preachers and pastors but I think everyone probably has this he was saying I think you know”

you have like a couple just core life messages like you know Louie preachers on like four kind of central themes and all of his sermons kind of go under these four themes that he feels like are like what God kind of burdened his heart for and I think like live original is one of those for me and I can think back to when I'm five years old and I was preaching on the countertop of my dad nicknamed me the original and that's been like a life theme for me but also one of the things

that I've had to you know it's challenged me you know like live original live who you were made to be because often in that be authentic to that like that's a that's come with its own challenges that I've faced with like really living out my message and it's super interesting that what God has been showing you and teaching you revolves around like where your happiness enjoys place and die a happy man was like the song that made you guys so known and then God like from

that song it was almost like you're challenged with that message okay are you actually get a die happy man you get a die happy woman and is it gonna be you know the mansion in Georgia or you know the sports car know it it's actually gonna be when your joists found in the Lord it's like so cool how the Lord does that and he weaves these stories and messages into your life and you spend your life finding him in it you know it's amazing all right moms if you're trying

to keep the focus on Jesus this Easter but also want to make it something your kids truly enjoy then I have the best resource for you menos laughing grow Bible for kids Easter special is such a great way to share the real biblical Easter story with little ones it walks through Jesus's story and a way that's gentle clear and completely made for kids and let's be honest Easter can bring us in tough questions it's not always easy to explain Jesus' death in a way that

makes sense to a child but this special handles those hard parts so thoughtfully helping kids

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year it includes new fun songs at the end to celebrate the joy of Easter I've been so grateful

completely overwhelmed about how to say everything perfectly um every time meno has a laughing

“grow special is something that I run to because it is just the best way to just show your”

kid something for me I feel like my kids learn so much to the shows that they watch they're little sponges they soak it all in so when you show them something like this it is so cool to see

stuff like this come out of their mouth and they're a little evangelist y'all it's amazing

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you went to Uganda for the first time actually went to Haiti right as doll happy man was coming like he was doing the today show and the late night show and he had this whole week of promo doing like the big things that you do when songs are coming out and promoting things and that was the week coincidentally that a nurse had dropped out of this trip to go to Haiti and I'd really been praying I was like I love supporting you, I love being your wife and watching you do what I truly

feel like you're created to do but I also feel like there's more that I'm not stepping into and so we both been praying he's like well let's figure out what that is and a friend of mine on a whim was like hey my aunt has this organization they're going to Haiti in a couple of weeks and they

“just had a nurse drop out and I think that you should go and I was like oh man like that's such a”

tough week because that's like the biggest week of his season and I need to be there for him and

I'll never forget Thomas Dret looking at me and he's like I think you need to go I think you should go

and I think this is exactly what we've been praying for and I think you go and you fulfill that need to go put the work to use that you work so hard for for years and nursing but also that was just a dream of mine was to travel and serve in any kind of way and in missions especially and so I went and I'd say this a lot but I feel like truly when I went to Haiti the first time with Suzanne who is the founder of Love One International I watched Suzanne serve and love on these

kids and we were around these kids and did this clinical that day and the kids that we were caring for just there was even a language barrier I mean only God but I remember being with this little boy and taking care of him and watching Suzanne and my heart just like exploded that

week and I feel like when people talk about meeting someone for the first time or like that love

“at first sight feeling like that's what I had when I was over there serving and I was like oh my gosh”

like this this is it like this is what my heart has been longing for and searching for I feel like this is truly what I want to walk into and so right about that time hit that's when his career really started to skyrocket and and he kind of pulled me into that and so then my platform started growing right as I was getting on board with all things loved one and what Suzanne was doing and Haiti and Uganda and was really cool to watch the Lord provide in a lot of ways for the organization

that we run through his career and what that could point back to and so it was just like such a full circle moment and yeah and now our whole family is really involved and we go to Africa you know a good bit of our life and we took our kids and they love it now and just I think they think it's kind of like going to chat and together like when are you gonna go back and hang out and I'm like oh you're not just driving down chat but it's it's really sweet and it's been

also just one of those like dream fulfilling moments from like wow like he truly just went before us and took care of us and and that's been really cool to partner that where I feel like my passion is and partner it with his and find a way where the two worlds can live together and support each other and it's tough it's tough navigating when both because I thought once his career took off I'm like well I'll just stay home and do things with the girls and and and it's still

is kind of that way like what he does takes precedent because it's a lot more planning that goes and towards stuff like that but that's been hard kind of navigating both of us which I feel like

do hard things and be like I love you and you are my priority but also like the Lord has called me to this and he is like the first priority and I know that through him calling us to do things like he isn't like in taking care of us and and giving mommy and daddy these dreams and and us obeying him he's taking care of you even if we're not here or even if that's not what you want to be doing and so that's been called to watch our girls learn that along with us and

like they're they're so inspired by what you like when they saw him saying they're like that's what my dad does or probably getting to go to Uganda was like the coolest thing for all the click you know for them and honey is the same way like she she loves to record her own podcast at home

that's not actually recording but she's always talking and interviewing her Barbie dolls and

uh so great and it like makes you feel like okay you know me going to work and doing this like she sees the like the way that guy made me and what I love to do and all this is and like she wants to imitate it and like that's such a gift to get to see your kids but one time Dr. Aiman was on this podcast and one of his advice to us and I was like this is so good he was like be a confident parent because he said guilty parents raised confuse kids and I was like that is stuck with me. That's

not so good because like sometimes out of guilt for how busy you are what you do you come home and then you parent out of guilt and so you give them more than they need or you you know say so sorry too much for what you're doing that you actually do feel called to or important and he's

“like be confident if that's what you're going to do and you feel God put in your life go home and”

share with her how exciting your day was and what the podcast was like and I really think that changed so much for for me as a mom to feel confident and that's do that and then I've seen how honey's responded like we've talked about whenever people come up and take pictures and we were talking about how our kids have different reactions some like it and some don't honey loves it

she's always like do you listen to my mommy's podcast so one time someone said they watch my

TikTok video she said mom what was that I haven't heard that one before I'm like yeah that's had to let yeah they're watching my guest on TikTok yeah you know I'm like we're not going on TikTok but it was just funny because it's we I think that confidence has changed the way that they responded to what we do and stuff and they're little you know we'll have a journey for sure we all will but I think some of those things are important to learn as you go one thing that is

really cool because I remember I happy man and then shortly after whenever um life changes came out and it was like that song was so cool because it was like what you're going through and you're adopting and you're having a baby and it was so wild and I think it was like such a breath of fresh air for like even country music to have something that was just a real story and then you're watching y'all's lives on social media and a real family like how this plays out and how gods in

“it all like I just remember that thing and that is so cool out there sharing their life with the world”

and it's cool that you have continued to share your life with the world but you also do live a pretty private to normal life um can y'all speak a little bit just to finding that I don't know that I hate the word balance because I feel like balance is such a hard thing to achieve and maybe

not even always um the accurate thing that we should even be striving for but how have y'all

come to the place in your life where y'all are both you know doing what you feel called to do and raising a family and kind of carrying that both and it's like yes Lord causes we're doing this but we're also so planted where we're at there's some advice to people kind of living in that double I remember whenever we started low and I had all the what is what if I fail what if it isn't where I need to be and looking back I can see so clearly at God how does hand in the whole thing

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both things that 100% all the time you're just going to end up at 50% on both ends and I think I try to do it for a long time you and I mean like I would try like if I had to go on the road on the west coast like I remember there was a season where I would do my very best like right off the stage on a Saturday night in Salt Lake City I would try to get on a plane in land and Nashville at three o'clock in the morning and think that I could get up at six get four kids ready for church

and pretend that I was having a great day I was a zombie and I remember doing that just multiple multiple weeks in a row and I'm not saying that it's bad to do that and because I do look like I do love getting home for church but like even just in the past like a couple weeks I feel like I've had more confidence really being able to express the things that I call needs maybe that I think I need and so like I have been in this place in my life where like if I'm at work

it's got to be 100% work like I can face time the kids and all that kind of mess but like the thought of me trying to continue to separate myself and spread myself so thin to make work happy and also make my family happy then I'm just at I'm running at like a 20% version of myself the hardest part for me I think is coming home and really learning how to disconnect from my job right because when you do anything in sort of entertainment it is kind of a

24/7 career you want to mean there's there's always an interview to do there's always

I love my day today manager Harry so much but it's like there's seven days a week where it's like hey buddy you got you got 10 minutes for a few quick questions and as you know 10 minutes turns into an hour and you're trying to make decisions for your life that you just genuinely don't know if you're middle or do them or not and so like my biggest thing is like when I roll for the door the phone has to go somewhere else you want to mean because at my kids we're looking they may be like daddy

you are on your phone too much and if a seven year old is telling you that you're on your phone too much that's always a wake up call it's a very valid thing to to witness and so like I think just being able to be transparent with what you feel like you need with each other it's the hardest thing to do in the world because all we want to do is all I want to is make her happy and so there's so many times in my life for I've sacrificed every bit of I'm exhausted but I'm gonna yeah you

know what I mean I don't have the capacity but yeah let's host a baby shower or which I love you

“but that's how you learn what host any of y'all shall we say you know um and she's working on it um but”

but at some point like you do I think you just have to really get in the weeds with each other and be like hey this is what next week looks like and this is what I think I need for that week and vice versa and so I really don't know that you can do five or six things at a hundred percent I think you're just gonna be the last group of peanut butter in the jar you're just trying to spread it out to be some bread but um I think it's every year we try to get um better and better at that and like I'm so I feel so

blessed to be in a position where because when you're first starting out in any job you kind of don't

get to say no you know I'm saying you say yes to everything because if you don't do it somebody else is going to do it you want to mean um and so I feel very blessed at this point in my career to be able to look at a counter and be like okay I think that is going to work that is not going to work because of X yeah and so I think the the more the more we can plan with each other and the more we can get on the same page with like all right that week is going to be hard

“I think just the transparency with what you need I think is the best way that I know how to describe”

the balance I totally agree I think it's a day-to-day thing and uh week to week thing you know and then it kind of goes back to like the house your heart how are you doing are you good what do you need to say no to yeah I think we also in that same vein I think you you want to say yes to all things and so I can only read this or somebody said it but saying yes to whatever your yes is is saying no yeah everything else yeah and so in our life that's his yes is no to family time for a bit

and that's okay because that's how jobs work like you don't bring your family to work but being able to separate the two is a challenge I think for both of us and just what we do but even just saying no and not film like it's the end of the world if you can't do something it's like this is the phase of life we're in the stage of life especially with four littles

“and and I remember like I can remember years ago I think we only had three at the time but we were”

in worship and I'm like okay Lord like I think my platform had like kind of hit its peak

and people were asking us to do all these things and I'm like I will never forget John Eldridge

and work decisions and he's like you pray about it and you start to learn the Lord say yes do it

or you know don't and so I'm like okay we're gonna start praying about all this I'm like Lord I'm ready I'm ready for the next yes the next thing you got for me like you've got me on this platform we've I've got podcasts and going on I've done a book like I can't wait for the next thing you have for me and he so clearly was like the things I have for you are under your roof right now and like that is where I have you next and it was just like this moment of like total deflation of my private

I was like I know that we're gonna do something crazy because we had been on this wilder

“odd and he was like actually that's not where I'm calling you and I think just to be okay with”

even the world being like why wouldn't you take this deal why wouldn't you start this thing it's like well the Lord hasn't like released me to do that like he very clearly was like your girls your priority period and if this doesn't fit into the life of you and your girls and you kind of holding the fort down at home while he has to go do some of this stuff that that's where

that's where I've got you and you're just gonna have to say no but having that piece I'll never

forget growing up my mom would always say if we if I was at a party in high school or something and she was like if you feel uncomfortable or you know you're gonna get in trouble or you know it's not a good idea throw me under the bus like make me and dad the enemies like don't you can blame us say hey I don't want to be grounded or hey my mom oh she's so lame she's gonna pick me up it's in 30 and I can't get away from it but I always love that because

it did take the pressure off me I knew I had a choice to make the right choice but not feel like it was social suicide and and I feel the same about the Lord I'm like and even people that aren't walking with Jesus I'm so confident now to be like I know you may not understand this but the Lord is so clearly told me like this is not what he has from me right now and I'm at peace knowing

that it doesn't make sense to anybody but if he said it I know that it's for the best for me

“and my girls and for our marriage and so that I think that has brought so much peace to both of us.”

Even like with you I remember you turning down some insane show deal and he was like I can't believe I just said no to that story and he was like but I felt like he told me not to do it I'm like great he will honor that yeah like even if you don't see it this side of heaven I believe that he will honor that and he did a couple weeks later was very clear about why he did that and Thomas chart was like whoa can you imagine if I said yes and miss out on this opportunity or

blessing or gift that the Lord is giving us and so I think that's helped us balance a lot and truly take the pressure off our shoulders to have to make every decision and like is this good is it bad is this going to tank his career is it going to yeah and we just don't think about it like that in our freeing place to be and when you lay your head on a night and you just have peace about what your tomorrow is going to look like I stop at what you said yes or no to and there's one of

my favorite passages Psalms 127 it says unless the Lord builds the house the labor is labor in vain and says eating the bread of anxious toil it just but it gives us beloved sleep and I think that that is like such an accurate picture of what it looks like whenever you try to build the house

“and you're saying yes everything you feel like you have to strive to you know just do it because”

it'll be a win or a bit of hit and then you're anxious like you don't there's no peace in that but like when you let the Lord build the house you say yes to the things you feel like say yes see say no to things you feel no to say let you you let success be measured by your yes to the Lord and then you have peace he gives us beloved rest and it's so true and so accurate so cool to hear you say that and I think it's cool to go and back to you earlier saying I hate this palette

I don't want to be in this palette and then you actually the Lord did something hard to go I'm ready let's go I cast time you up and then you're like Lord's like hold on now that's actually not it but you're willing to okay yeah like you're just riding the wave you know you're you're following the spirits prompting and leading and I think when the world sees people like y'all have confidence to say no to things that maybe would make sense but you're gonna be with your family they go

hmm it's kind of like an axe when they the people are looking at them and they don't really understand why they're doing what they're doing but they go they must have been with Jesus because they're so different you know and that's certainly I'm working on your life you know you said this at the beginning of the podcast we talked about revo you're talking about what a giftedist to meet your heroes and them be the same you too are that and more like to meet you guys get to know you guys

and know your heart and who you are it such a gift and so refreshing to hear that you are the real deal you know that you're honest to say I'm not perfect not whatever but like I'm pursuing the Laura wholeheartedly we're doing we're doing because God called us we're raising our family to another Lord and so it's been such a gift to get to know y'all more thank you to the live audience for listening in this has been so much fun and such a joy and I can't wait for people to hear it thank you so

much thanks for having us I feel the same about y'all's family even just getting to be here and doing this and being all of y'all's people and friends and family is very much the same it's very much the same