2 Peter 3:18 (NKJV) "but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen."

**Transcription Below**

Questions and Topics We Cover:

What positive impact do you see private school making in the lives of students and the community?
What systems have you put into place in your own classroom that have been most beneficial?
From your perspective, what are a few benefits of children attending private elementary school?

Other Episode Mentioned from The Savvy Sauce:

Miracles of God with Founder of Midwest Food Bank, David Kieser

Brianna Haworth is an Elementary School Teacher after graduating from Olivet Nazarene University in 2020. She taught in a public school for 2 years, and has now switched to teaching at Solid Rock Christian Academy, which she loves! She has been married for 2 years and she and her husband enjoy walking together, going on ice cream dates, and serving in the junior high ministry at their church. She was raised in a big Christian family and has been blessed to know the Lord since she was young. Brianna also loves music, nature, and working with kids!

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Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”

Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”

Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession- to the praise of his glory.”

Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“

Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“

Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

**Transcription**

[00:00:00] <music>

Laura Dugger: Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.

[00:00:17] <music>

Laura Dugger: Leman Property Management Company has the apartment you will be able to call home, with over 1,700 apartment units available in Central Illinois. Visit them today at Lemanproperties.com or connect with them on Facebook.

We are launching a series I've always dreamed of hosting. A series to challenge and equip us as parents to ponder which schooling option may be best for our children at this time. This month, we're going to learn from teachers in various schooling options, including private, public, and homeschool.

Today, my guest is private elementary school teacher, Brianna Haworth. Brianna is going to share lessons and ideas that apply both to the classroom and to our homes.

Here's our chat.

Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Brianna.

Brianna Haworth: Good morning, thanks for having me. [00:01:18]

Laura Dugger: Well, I'd love to just start by having you share your personal testimony with us.

Brianna Haworth: Yeah. So I was raised in a loving Christian home in a really big family. We had nine people total. So my parents, and then I had six brothers and was the only girl. So we were definitely very active and stayed busy with all of the sports and activities.

We were part of the Apostolic Christian Church until I was about 8 years old. Then my parents actually helped launch Summit Point Church in East Peoria. And so that's where we still go now.

But it was such a blessing to be raised by strong believers in a home where we prayed together and prioritized church events and talked about God in so many different ways. And so because of that environment, I really have held a Christian worldview for as long as I can remember.

I first gave my life to Christ, though, when I was five years old and have been following Him ever since. But because of my large family size and some unkind friends in middle school, I often felt invisible growing up. [00:02:24] And my older brothers, I love them so much and they have such bright personalities that fill a room. But because of that, I never felt like I could quite measure up.

At school, I felt like I was always fighting for attention from others and not always invited into groups and friendships. So as a young person, that was just a very hard thing to experience often on every day. I really wanted to be seen as valuable, but I felt like no one really wanted me around.

Since I had a relationship with the Lord, I would come to Him with my hurt and my insecurities. And the beautiful thing was that He did see me. And even though I could never deserve His love, He freely gave it just so much of it.

Over time, he spoke to me more and more through scripture and worship songs and sermons and even people around me. He showed me how He loved and cared for me and taught me how to listen to His spirit and follow Him. God's love really changed my life and gave me the identity and belonging and purpose that I had been searching for in school. [00:03:26]

So for a young girl with a lot of hurt inside, questioning my worth and place in the world, it really made all the difference. Even into adulthood, God really continues to blow me away with His love and forgiveness and goodness. So, yeah, that's a big summary of my testimony.

A lot of that plays into my decision to become a teacher, too. In my hurting, God had really given me a gift for seeing people that were often unseen in a room. The way He deeply loves and cares for each person really fills me with passion to share that love. So much of my testimony was forged through my years in school, and that's where I felt called to go and spread love.

So I went to public school growing up. And the impact that school has on kids is really just crazy, whether it's through the teachers or the other students, academics, or even just the social pressure of being at school in general. There's always just such a huge impact on kids, especially in younger grades. [00:04:27] And so much of your view of yourself is formed in elementary school. I saw this a lot in my life as well as the lives of my younger brothers, too.

So as a teacher, I wanted to allow the Lord to shine a positive light through me during those really important years. And so it's my prayer each morning before school that He would give me eyes to see students that are hurting and that His spirit would just guide me in my responses.

So I'm about to enter my fourth year of teaching. It's been really a blessing to be in this field, even though it is sometimes challenging. I taught in public school for my first two years, and then I switched to teaching kindergarten at Solid Rock in Moreton this past year. So, yeah.

Laura Dugger: Thank you so much for giving us the background. Now you've grown up in public school, but we're going to focus on private school education because that's where you're a teacher now. So what kind of positive impact are you seeing private school making in the lives of your students and the community? [00:05:29]

Brianna Haworth: One of my favorite things I would say about teaching in Christian school is just how each subject is taught with a biblical worldview woven into it, whether that's science or reading, math. All of it really is tied together. This really has helped students just to be learning more about God's character during all parts of the day and not just during Bible lessons.

So my students last year really learned so much about God's creation and how He provides for us in so many ways. It was just really awesome to see their view of God just developing and seeing them learn more about Him throughout the day.

One of my other favorite things about teaching in Christian school is just the spiritual influence that happens throughout the day. There's just so many opportunities to teach students practical ways to lean on God while they're at school. So like when there's behavior issues, we're able to pray about it together and look in scripture and see what God has to say. [00:06:27]

When students are frustrated about a challenging academic task, I can ask them to listen to the Holy Spirit and see what He says about working hard and we can pray together in that too. So it's just been so beautiful to watch the spirit move in the classroom, especially coming from public school where that wasn't something that could really be talked about. And it's really just helped the students to look to God as their first response during challenges, which has been really just amazing to see.

Our school also does monthly service projects to help grow servant hearts in our students. This has been a great way to reach out to the community as well. We volunteer over at the Midwest Food Bank. We did that a couple of times last year, and also we wrote some cards on Valentine's Day for a nursing home. We even raked somebody's yard in the fall.

It really has just led to good discussion with the kids about living like Jesus and how He chose to serve and trying to follow those footsteps. [00:07:28] So that has been a really awesome part of the private school that I've been at.

Another positive impact is just the smaller class size too. At Solid Rock, there's a cap of 15 students per class where when I was teaching, my student teaching was in a public school and I had 28 students in one class. So just like that size makes such a difference where teachers are really able to differentiate their teaching and their instruction.

So if a student is moving faster, you can really give them one-on-one challenges and work with them so they're still working and growing. And then also if a student is struggling, you can have more time to work with them to help them master a skill. So it just leads to greater academic growth too throughout the year, which wouldn't always be possible with such a large class size.

Laura Dugger: I love how you're talking about these service opportunities, really getting hands-on experience. I love that so much. Even the organizations that you said you're involved with, Midwest Food Bank, comes to mind. [00:08:31]

Previously, I had interviewed the founder of Midwest Food Bank, and he just shared miracle after miracle. I'm going to add a link in the show notes if anybody wants to go back and hear that message. It was fascinating to get to hear from him. So thank you for leading the children in that way.

Are there any other systems that you've put in place in your own classroom that you've seen maybe to prove most beneficial?

Brianna Haworth: Yeah. One thing I really love is we do start every day with prayer. Once the kids come into the classroom, it's sweet because we kind of take turns praying too. So I get to hear each of the students share their own prayers and hear their hearts in that.

But it really just helps to set the tone for the day and center us on the Lord each morning before we start all that's ahead of us. That's been something really simple but beneficial that just couldn't happen in a public school setting.

Another thing we do that I really love is we study the fruits of the spirit a lot, especially with kindergarten. [00:09:31] And they've been a really big help in the classroom. At the start of the year, we actually start by learning about the Trinity and the roles of God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. And then as we learn about the role of the spirit, we look into Galatians 5 to identify the different fruits of the spirit. I actually have them displayed on a little tree in my classroom.

Then we introduce something I use called the fruit of the spirit jar. It's a system that's been really helpful. Basically, I just bought 100 small plastic little apples and then a really large clear jar. I made three marks that go up the jar. And each mark has a prize on it labeled. Like pajama day or extra recess, etc.

Whenever the class or student was displaying a fruit of the spirit, they would get to go put one of the plastic apples in the jar and then they could kind of accumulate over time. And when they reached a mark, they got that prize. [00:10:29]

So when students were waiting really patiently in line before lunch, I could have them put in a fruit of the spirit for patience. Or when a student was going out of their way to do something kind, they could earn a fruit of the spirit, too, and I would write a note home to tell their parents how they had shown the fruit of the spirit that day. So it's been a really practical way to reward students for making good choices and also tying God into all the different parts of our day.

We also do something called calm time after lunch and recess each day. It's another pretty short and simple thing that has been really helpful. So when the students come in from recess, I have these twinkle lights on and the rest of the lights in the room are off. So it's a very calm setting when they come in.

They come in and find a spot to lie down right away. And then once they're spread out, I play just like an acoustic worship song over my speaker. During this time, I encourage the kids to pray and take deep breaths, set goals and just prepare themselves to have a successful afternoon. [00:11:28] It only takes about four minutes each day, so it's really quick, but it's been a great way to help the kids transition from playtime to focusing in on school.

And then after the song ends, we all take a deep breath together and get started with our afternoon. So that's been another little helpful thing that we've done.

Laura Dugger: Wow, these are such great ideas. I'm even thinking now I would love to implement some of these into our home. So even with that calm time, you said you notice a big difference. Can you elaborate a little bit more on that? What do you see in the kids after that playtime as they transition?

Brianna Haworth: Yeah, for sure. Well, when kids are outside, like at recess or PE, that's usually just... it's the most unstructured part of the day, which is super necessary for kids so that they can focus as we get back into the learning for the day. But the transition can be really hard where if you just have them come in from running around and just go straight to their desks and start a lesson. They're really just not going to be focused or listening. [00:12:31] Just like physically, they're moving around a lot and they just start talking and not really able to focus.

So usually when we do calm time, as soon as it's done, you can just tell like we have them calmly walk to their carpet spots and we like all just kind of ease into learning Bible time. And they just are really ready to focus even after just such a short amount of time. It's just like a reset button almost. It's really helpful.

Laura Dugger: Let's take a quick break to hear a message from our sponsor.

[00:13:03] <music>

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[00:14:57] <music>

Laura Dugger: Nowadays there are so many options for schooling. What would you say is something that you get to teach that's unique due to your private school setting?

Brianna Haworth: We spend time practicing Bible memory verses each day, which has been something obviously you couldn't do in a public school. And the kids learn a new verse every month and then we practice it daily. We also have a Bible curriculum that we do every day. These lessons focus a lot on just God's character and ways that He calls us to live. So it helps to just bring that conversation into the classroom.

Another thing I really notice is that in private school, we devote a lot more time to things like science and social studies. With public schools, they spend the vast majority of their time and their resources on teaching reading and math because those are the subjects covered in the state standardized testing.

So science and social studies often get thrown in very few times a week. Many elementary schools don't even provide their teachers with curriculum for those subjects. They kind of just do what they can, read a book, and say that that counted as their social studies time for the day. [00:16:06] Where at Solid Rock, we have a science and social studies curriculum that we consistently spend time on throughout the week.

And the kids just really love those subjects and it really just helps them to have a more rounded out academic experience. And also tying in learning about God through those subjects, too, has been really great.

We also have a Spanish curriculum that we do so that kids can be learning a different language, which I've never really seen much in public school. So that's been another really helpful thing.

Laura Dugger: Oh, I can absolutely see this being beneficial because children at that age can just soak up foreign language so much faster and adapt to that. And all of these things that you're putting in about the Bible verse memorization and even like going back to you talking about the fruit of the spirit, these are things that will benefit them for their entire lives. So I love hearing the impact you're making.

Brianna, what do you see as the most important thing for elementary students to learn or master? [00:17:09]

Brianna Haworth: Honestly, I'm a strong believer that teaching character matters more than the content that you're teaching, because while it's important to keep up with academic standards, really the most important thing is for students to master character skills and helping them become good decision makers.

It reminds me of the old saying about if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day; teach him to fish, you feed him a lifetime. Most adults probably couldn't tell you all the facts that they learned in elementary school, but many of them probably learned how to persevere when they first did a challenging school project.

So the bonus of teaching at a Christian school is that the character skills we practice can come from a biblical standpoint, too. So, as I mentioned before, I really use the fruit of the spirit as a starting point. And I think that's a really great place to start.

We also focus a lot on the concept of growth and the importance of noticing and celebrating growth, even if you're not quite as far along as someone else. [00:18:06] God's really given each of us unique gifting, and so some students may excel faster than others in a certain subject or learning area.

Students tend to really notice this and they might want to quit if they realize they aren't grasping something as quickly as someone else. But often, the kids who grasp the concept quickly will then kind of stop pushing themselves and coast, and so then they're not growing either.

So, as a teacher, I really focus on the concept of growth and that if you learn something quickly but stop challenging yourself, then you stop growing. Also, if you're slow to pick something up and you give up, then you also stop growing.

So, in both scenarios, you have students that are missing the character skill of perseverance. And so, if you can push both of those students to continue growing, then they're both more successful and can have built a habit of working hard to help them for the rest of their lifetime. This can really do wonders for a student's confidence, too, as you really help to highlight and celebrate how much they've grown instead of just comparing them to how fast they're learning it. [00:19:09]

Laura Dugger: I love that. And I love how you chose to boil it down to character. It is escaping me right now. I can't remember which book I was reading recently. It may have been Habits of the Household, but where they gave this word picture that we are hoping and praying for fruit of the spirit in our children, but the soil that it grows in, that we cultivate, is character. So that really partners with what you're saying.

Brianna Haworth: I love that.

Laura Dugger: If this is your first time with us, I want to say welcome. We are so honored to have you join us and we would love to hear how you first heard about The Savvy Sauce. And if you've been here for a while, would you consider becoming a patron?

By joining our group of patrons, you gain exclusive access to many bonus episodes. And the new episodes and downloadable scripture cards just keep coming with your monthly patronage. You can join today by visiting thesavvysauce.com and clicking on our Patreon tab, then click "Join Patreon Here". [00:20:13] We are able to keep producing content due to the generosity of our patrons, so we want to sincerely say thank you.

What would you also say are some helpful ways parents can partner with you for the benefit of their children?

Brianna Haworth: I would say that kids really thrive on consistency. So, it's really helpful when parents can do anything to be connecting school and home for the kids. For example, if our learning target for Bible time in the week is that God is good, and then parents talk about that at the dinner table, it really helps students to just further grasp the concept.

Another thing is just to check in daily with your child about how their behavior was at school and have discussions about things that they're doing well at and maybe things they could be working on. It just kind of helps to connect where it's not do whatever you want at school and then come home and there's no consequences or conversation about it. It really helps when you can have those discussions. [00:21:14]

And even academically, it helps when you can be connecting school and home and reading with kids at home and practicing skills that they're learning, like counting or whatever it is we're learning in math or science. The students really, when they consistently practice these things, they learn more and they're more successful in what we're learning. So, it applies to academics and behavior, too.

And at the heart of it, you know, we really want kids to just be learning how to center their lives on Christ. So, if we talk about and practice that all day at school, but it doesn't continue at home, that can really be confusing for a child. So, keeping things consistent is really the most helpful thing in whatever way you're doing that, whether that's academics or behaviors or just how you are talking about God at home, too.

Laura Dugger: Well, from your perspective, what are a few benefits of children attending private elementary school?

Brianna Haworth: I think having a biblical perspective on behavior is really beneficial. [00:22:13] When I was teaching in public school and a student would do something unkind, for example, and I would try to talk to them about it, they sometimes wouldn't really understand why it was a problem. The furthest moral conclusion you could really get to was the golden rule of treating others the way you want to be treated. And that if you wouldn't like it, then you shouldn't do it to someone else. And it basically taught students to respect others because it's what they would want.

So, in many ways, it was actually building a world centered around self for students, where they measured their morals with themselves at the center to determine if something was right or wrong.

But then I would have some students say something unkind to another student and claim, well, I wouldn't mind if someone else said that to me, so it's fine. So, it just really doesn't work to try to teach morals without God as the unchanging center. It's really difficult for kids because otherwise you just don't have any clear measure.

So, being able to use Jesus as a role model really gives so much clarity to students when they're learning about right and wrong. [00:23:17] And with a biblical perspective, you can identify that God loves everyone and you can look to Jesus as an example of how to show that love. So, this allows you to really get to the heart issues when behavior problems come up in a way that you can't really do in a public school.

Another big benefit of sending your kids to private school is just that they have a lot less negative exposure impacting their lives in quite a few different ways. Elementary ages are just so impactful in a student's development.

Public schools in America are really coming to a place of crisis from what most teachers would agree on. Ever since the COVID pandemic especially, the bad student behaviors have really just been at an all-time high. Public schools have their hands tied where they can't really do much to discipline poor behavior. And parents at home enable the behaviors to continue, so then these negative behaviors just escalate over time. [00:24:17]

So, if you multiply this by five to eight students in every class, it really just leads to an immensely stressful environment for the kids and the teachers. And because of this, public school teachers are stretched very thin and are forced to take away lots of the privileges and fun things that would be in a classroom.

In my public school, teachers were actually being told that we needed to be mean to the students because they responded more to fear than love. Which really forces teachers to tuck away so much of the love and passion that they had when they began teaching because behaviors are really just out of control and there's such a lack of support in the public school system.

That was actually the main reason I stopped teaching in public school a few years ago. God just really clearly calls us in the Bible to be kind and tender-hearted and slow to anger. And I felt that in public school, I, as a teacher, was being asked to sin and act against how God was calling me to. [00:25:18]

Of course, students need firm boundaries, but I believe you can do that without being mean and you can do that in a way that still shows the character of Christ.

So, in public schools, teachers are just in oversized classrooms with countless bad behaviors to manage all day and little to no support from families or administration. So, even the teachers with the best of hearts are really being driven to negativity. And so many great teachers are actually leaving the profession because these impossible situations that they're being thrown into.

Then the students, of course, are in the classroom, too. And they're left with teachers at the end of their ropes and they're being exposed to so many bad examples of behavior from other students. And at such an impactful stage of a kid's life, these bad examples are just a really bad impact and can have really damaging consequences.

Not to mention, there's also all the progressive standards that are being pushed into the young ages of public schools. [00:26:19] And it's just a lot of negative impacts on your kids from lots of different ways to look at it with the public school system right now.

So, with private Christian schools, students are spending their day with teachers that are believers and students who come from supportive Christian homes. So, they're learning content that is centered around biblical teachings. It's really just a night-and-day difference between the public and private school setting.

In private school, instead of all of those negative impacts on your children, they're really just being poured into and supported. And they have godly role models to look up to and friends who share their beliefs. And in such an important time of life, those positive influences really make a big difference.

Laura Dugger: You're really making me think of a scripture as you explain this about them, the children being in the presence of a believing teacher. I'm just going to read Luke 6:40 here in the New King James Version. It says, "A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher." [00:27:24]

I do think when we're spending so much time with our teacher, inevitably we will become more like them. And so, you're just giving a lot of interesting points to think about. In this series, that's what we're hoping to do is to present a variety of options for school choices that's going to hopefully benefit both parents and students so that they can make informed decisions for what's wisest for their own family situation. So, Brianna, what are a few of your favorite reasons to recommend that they choose private elementary school?

Brianna Haworth: I would say the main thing really just comes down to trust. When you have a solid Christian school, it really provides a space where you feel safe to leave your children for the day and you trust the people in charge. I mean, I've heard that multiple times this year from the parents at my school that they just feel so safe leaving their kids with me for the day.

And you also just see more consistency in what you're teaching your kids at home and what they're being told at school, whether that's academics or behavior. [00:28:28] So much of the lifelong development and worldview has grown in these years, so it's important to just know who you're allowing to influence. And with private school, I think you can just have a lot more trust and you also have a lot more of a relationship with the teacher because of the smaller class sizes.

I feel I got so close to all of the parents of my class this past year and really just felt like I got to know them and their families really closely in a way that I truly just couldn't have in a public school setting.

Laura Dugger: Well, with your unique perspective as a teacher then, what kind of encouragement do you want to share with the parents and the students who are listening right now?

Brianna Haworth: I would just say it's really all about growth and progress and that that looks different for different people and it occurs at different paces and that's really just okay. In 2 Peter 3:18, God calls us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to Him be the glory. [00:29:27]

God doesn't call us to be perfect. He calls us to grow one degree at a time. So whether that be in academics or social interactions or just knowledge of our Savior, what really matters most is that students are listening to the Lord and following Him as they grow. It doesn't really matter where everyone else is at and it's not very helpful to spend your life comparing yourself to where other people are at. What really matters is to focus on growth.

Laura Dugger: Love it. You already know that we're called The Savvy Sauce because "savvy" is synonymous with practical knowledge or insight. And so as my final question for you today, what is your savvy sauce?

Brianna Haworth: Well, this isn't really teaching related, but it is something that has been really impactful that the Lord's been teaching me, especially these past few years of life. But being raised in a Christian environment, I often heard from church and my family that our life's purpose was to have an impact on others for God's glory. [00:30:28]

For me, this really led to extreme pressure on myself, especially when I was younger, and perfectionism. And so especially then as I became a teenager, I felt so much pressure to successfully impact others and bring God glory. And I would spread myself so thin trying to do things for God, and then I wouldn't see an impact. I felt like such a failure. And it led to a lot of heartache and even some distance from God as I felt like I just kept on failing Him.

But then the Lord really spoke to my heart when I was reading 2 Timothy. In chapter two, we're told to be a good soldier for Christ and that a soldier's aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

So thinking of my life's purpose being to please Christ rather than to impact others provided a lot of freedom as it really hands the weight of the outcome to the Lord. So each morning it's been my prayer that I would please God in the day ahead and please Him in my obedience to Him and in how I serve and show love to others and how I prioritize time with Him even. [00:31:32] And none of those things hinge on an outcome that's beyond my control.

So I've learned to leave the outcomes in God's hands, and it's really allowed me to just live into who God is calling me to be without all of the pressure slowing me down. That simple mind shift has really greatly impacted my faith, especially these past few years. I find it really helpful to share with others, too.

So it really frees you from living in the weight that was always meant to be left in God's hand and it allows you to celebrate what God is doing, even if the outcome might not be what you had hoped or expected.

Laura Dugger: I love that so much. Thank you for sharing. I can just tell through this conversation how much your students mean to you. You have just given us such valuable information and wisdom shared that we can just now hopefully discuss as we make these schooling choices. So thanks for sharing your time with us, Brianna.

Brianna Haworth: Thank you. Thanks for having me. [00:32:32]

Laura Dugger: One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term "gospel" before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news. Every single one of us were born sinners and God is perfect and holy, so He cannot be in the presence of sin. Therefore, we're separated from Him.

This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So for you and for me, it means we deserve death and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved. We need a savior. But God loved us so much, He made a way for His only Son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute.

This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with Him. That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. [00:33:32] This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus.

We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us. Romans 10:9 says that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

So would you pray with me now? Heavenly, Father, thank You for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to You. Will You clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare You as Lord of their life? We trust You to work and change their lives now for eternity. In Jesus name, we pray, amen.

If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring Him for me, so me for Him, you get the opportunity to live your life for Him. [00:34:31]

At this podcast, we are called Savvy for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So you're ready to get started?

First, tell someone. Say it out loud. Get a Bible. The first day I made this decision my parents took me to Barnes and Noble to get the Quest NIV Bible and I love it. Start by reading the book of John.

Get connected locally, which basically means just tell someone who is part of the church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.

We want to celebrate with you too. So feel free to leave a comment for us if you made a decision for Christ. We also have show notes included where you can read Scripture that describes this process.

Finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." [00:35:35] The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.

If you've already received this good news, I pray that you have someone else to share it with today. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

Welcome to The Savvy Sauce

Practical chats for intentional living

A faith-based podcast and resources to help you grow closer to Jesus and others. Expect encouragement, surprises, and hope here. Each episode offers lively interviews with fascinating guests such as therapists, authors, non-profit founders, and business leaders.

They share their best practices and savvy tips we can replicate to make our daily life and relationships more enjoyable!