Leslie Johnston [00:00:00]:
Welcome back to Am I Doing this Right? We are your hosts, Morgan and Leslie.
Morgan May Treuil [00:00:07]:
And we are gonna do a podcast. I have an unpopular opinion, but it's gonna require some. Some thinking. I forgot to grab a drink before we started this, and now I'm sure mango can't. But I don't like mango. Mango's bad flavor.
Leslie Johnston [00:00:24]:
Are you, like, a germaphobe?
Morgan May Treuil [00:00:26]:
No.
Morgan May Treuil [00:00:27]:
You have a clean mouth. You have a really clean mouth. I think I haven't seen it inside, but I. From what I. From what I can see on the outside, it's very clean.
Leslie Johnston [00:00:35]:
Thank you.
Morgan May Treuil [00:00:36]:
No, I was gonna say my unpopular opinion, not a germaphobe. Just don't like mango. Okay. Unpopular opinion. That's not really an unpopular opinion. It's more so something that you used to think that maybe you don't think anymore. Okay, were. Were there any song lyrics growing up where you thought it said one thing, but actually it said something else? You know what I'm talking about?
Leslie Johnston [00:00:53]:
Yes. Yes.
Morgan May Treuil [00:00:54]:
Okay. So here's. Here was mine.
Leslie Johnston [00:00:56]:
Okay.
Morgan May Treuil [00:00:56]:
But I won't just claim it as mine. I think it was my sister's and also mine.
Leslie Johnston [00:01:01]:
Huh.
Morgan May Treuil [00:01:01]:
But it's whatever you like by whoever.
Leslie Johnston [00:01:06]:
Sings, whatever you can have whatever you like.
Morgan May Treuil [00:01:08]:
And then there's this part where it says, want your body, need your body, which is inappropriate. Sorry. But I always thought it was saying because I was a Christian and didn't. Didn't. Didn't think it was saying something inappropriate. I always thought it said, want Joe Biden, need Joe Biden. Long as you got me, you don't need. No.
Morgan May Treuil [00:01:27]:
And I don't know. I think it was during the time of, like, Barack Obama's first presidential run, and I just was like, oh, this is about Joe Biden. That was my, like, mistake. Eric, that's really funny. I know. But also, I think Amanda also mistook it, so I don't know which one of us did it first. But then now, that song, whenever we listen to it, which is not often because it's old and honestly not that great when you listen to it, it's always, want Joe Biden, need Joe Biden.
Leslie Johnston [00:01:52]:
I have so many of those, it's hard to think off the top of my head. But I just chatgpt because I knew one of them was a Taylor Swift song, and I'm like, what was that one?
Morgan May Treuil [00:02:02]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:02:02]:
So I looked up popular ones at Taylor Swift songs that get messed up. So you know the lyric from Style that says, you've got that James Dean daydream look in your Eyes.
Morgan May Treuil [00:02:12]:
Look in your eyes. Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:02:13]:
People say you've got that James Dean baked bean look in your Ey.
Morgan May Treuil [00:02:21]:
No, I love that.
Leslie Johnston [00:02:23]:
I know. There's more. I got a long list of ex lovers. Got a lot of Starbucks lovers.
Morgan May Treuil [00:02:33]:
Yes. That's what I thought. I always thought was you can long list or. Got a lot of Starbucks lovers that tell you.
Leslie Johnston [00:02:40]:
You really thought it was Starbucks.
Morgan May Treuil [00:02:42]:
Yeah, that's. Sometimes she sings Unclear to me. So then I genuinely think it's up to your interpretation.
Leslie Johnston [00:02:47]:
Yeah, yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:02:48]:
These other ones aren't very funny, but yeah, there's apparently a lot of them. Well, I guess I don't want to keep secrets just to keep you curl Summer. And what's the right lyric? I don't. Oh, no, that's right. That is. They said, I don't want to keep chickens just to keep you.
Morgan May Treuil [00:03:02]:
That's a stretch. They're in like a farming relationship.
Leslie Johnston [00:03:08]:
That's right. Have you watched the Taylor Swift podcast?
Morgan May Treuil [00:03:11]:
No, I have.
Leslie Johnston [00:03:12]:
On new heights.
Morgan May Treuil [00:03:13]:
I have not, but. But I. You have said it's great. Did you finish it?
Leslie Johnston [00:03:16]:
I have not finished. I think I have like 15 minutes left.
Morgan May Treuil [00:03:18]:
I'm excited.
Leslie Johnston [00:03:19]:
Two hours. Oh, wow. So we need to start extending our podcast.
Morgan May Treuil [00:03:22]:
Does she talk about a range of things? Is it an album release interview or what is it?
Leslie Johnston [00:03:29]:
So she talks about a few different things. First of all, I'm very impressed by her.
Morgan May Treuil [00:03:33]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:03:33]:
I was always like a. I love Taylor Swift. Growing up now, I was never like, I didn't have any posters in my room. I was never like obsessed with her. But then when like the ERAS tour came around, to be honest, her past tours, I'd never gone on, but they never seemed like anything that was like, like, to me, a perform like, Justin Bieber's performances were so over the top and grand that I was like, obviously I'm going to that concert. I loved Justin Bieber, but then Taylor Swift. I never felt like, oh, like, is she that good of a performer? Like, she's a great songwriter. But then the ERAS tour came out and I was like, oh, shoot.
Leslie Johnston [00:04:09]:
She's like, actually really legit. This is really good.
Morgan May Treuil [00:04:11]:
One of the most impressive, which I only saw on tv. Yeah, like one of the most impressive concerts.
Leslie Johnston [00:04:17]:
Yes. I feel like we missed like the Michael Jackson.
Morgan May Treuil [00:04:20]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:04:21]:
Era of the.
Leslie Johnston [00:04:23]:
Our era.
Morgan May Treuil [00:04:23]:
Do you think she'll tour again?
Leslie Johnston [00:04:25]:
I think. Oh, yeah, I think so.
Morgan May Treuil [00:04:27]:
Can you imagine? I. I watched a preview of the podcast and they said, how many shows was it? 196 shows or something like that. Can you imagine and with how intense. Oh, yeah, yeah. And with a show like that, you're doing that, like, yeah, for a hundred. And, like, yeah, two years.
Leslie Johnston [00:04:47]:
They asked her if she misses it, and she kind of laughed. And she's like, no. Like, I. She's like, I miss the fans. I miss, like, the actual performing. But she's like, I would have to, like, wrap my feet in bandages every night. And like, she's like, I'm doing. I mean, she had to.
Leslie Johnston [00:05:07]:
I think she ran on a treadmill and performed the whole thing to train for the show. Like, she's in heels for, like, the show was like, what, three hours or something?
Morgan May Treuil [00:05:17]:
I can't imagine.
Leslie Johnston [00:05:18]:
Again, I don't know. Any of these stats are actually really real, but she did do all that stuff, and she was just like. It was so fun, but so exhausting.
Morgan May Treuil [00:05:27]:
How do you not get so worn down that you get. I would feel like I would be sick all the time. Yeah, because you're just. The hours are crazy and you're not sleeping in your own bed. Which, I mean, I'm sure she's got, like, a nice setup, but, I mean, I just like that. That seems exhausting to me. I can't imagine. So.
Morgan May Treuil [00:05:43]:
I am very impressed by her.
Leslie Johnston [00:05:44]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:05:44]:
I'm not like a. I'm not a swifty in the sense that I, like, know all the music and spot all the Easter eggs and stuff.
Leslie Johnston [00:05:50]:
Yeah, the Easter egg things are. Yeah, Easter eggs. But, yeah, I don't keep up with the Easter egg thing. That's. I don't. Honestly, I can't do, like, escape rooms. So to me, I'm like, these. These Easter eggs, I don't.
Leslie Johnston [00:06:00]:
I can't find this.
Morgan May Treuil [00:06:01]:
Wait, what?
Leslie Johnston [00:06:02]:
Like, good at Easter eggs are good at escape rooms.
Morgan May Treuil [00:06:07]:
That's so funny. I was like.
Leslie Johnston [00:06:08]:
Like, I'm not. I'm like, I'm not a Riddler. Like, people are like, oh, give me a riddle, Riddler.
Morgan May Treuil [00:06:13]:
I'm not the riddler. No, I get that.
Leslie Johnston [00:06:16]:
I can appreciate it after I see it.
Morgan May Treuil [00:06:18]:
A more straightforward, information kind of girl.
Leslie Johnston [00:06:21]:
Like, just tell me when the album comes out. And they're all like, the orange door links with the key and links with this. That she posted a photo, like, way back before the ERAS tour started. And she's, like, standing, and there's just a sign that says a 12, but it's just like a seat sign, like, in a stadium. And she posted that, like, literally. I think it was before the ERAS tour. I could be wrong on that, but it was sometime during the Eras. Tour.
Leslie Johnston [00:06:48]:
And now like a two year, two, two and a half, maybe three years later. It's August 12th, and that's when she released the podcast.
Morgan May Treuil [00:06:56]:
So she's just always thinking.
Leslie Johnston [00:06:57]:
She's always thinking ahead, like, years ahead. What is that?
Morgan May Treuil [00:07:01]:
And that's so much patience. That's. That's so much patience.
Leslie Johnston [00:07:05]:
Yeah, I can't even think ahead. Like, what I'm gonna.
Morgan May Treuil [00:07:08]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:07:09]:
Got no plan.
Leslie Johnston [00:07:09]:
Eat tonight. Like, meanwhile, Taylor Swift's like, I've got a 15 year plan.
Morgan May Treuil [00:07:14]:
She must have a 15 year plan.
Leslie Johnston [00:07:16]:
Yeah. Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:07:17]:
Gosh, that's such productivity.
Leslie Johnston [00:07:19]:
One last thing on it.
Morgan May Treuil [00:07:20]:
Accomplish that much.
Leslie Johnston [00:07:21]:
No, no. But one last thing on it. I'm like, she. I'm always impressed with people who are like really good performers or they're really good songwriters or whatever. So then you kind of think, like, she can't be good with people. Like, she can't be good on like a podcast or an interview, because that's another skill. Like, to me, it's like, people can only have so many skills. But on the podcast, I was like, dang it, she's got it all.
Leslie Johnston [00:07:49]:
She was like, I want her to come on our podcast because she was so easy to talk to.
Morgan May Treuil [00:07:54]:
Sorry, Taylor, if you're listening to this.
Leslie Johnston [00:07:56]:
Not for me, but I was like, man, she really has it all.
Morgan May Treuil [00:08:00]:
That is cool too, for somebody to be at the tops of fame, which she is. Right. She's up there. About as up there as you can get. And to still be so down to earth and like, love people and love her fans and stuff like that, I feel like that's a. That's a cool heart thing.
Leslie Johnston [00:08:18]:
Exactly.
Leslie Johnston [00:08:19]:
Yeah. Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:08:20]:
So we had kind of a. We have a kind of a collaborative idea today for POD Episode. We want to do a little. We like doing some Q A sometimes just because it helps us bounce around a variety of topics.
Leslie Johnston [00:08:35]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:08:36]:
But typically we go all in on one subject. This time we'll bounce around a little bit.
Leslie Johnston [00:08:40]:
Yes.
Morgan May Treuil [00:08:40]:
And we have some fun kind of back and forth questions, but then we also have kind of some. What the thought was, what if we asked ChatGPT the 10 greatest questions or greatest issues that women in their 20s are struggling through right now? And then if we were to give like knee jerk response answers to those. Those questions or those things, what would we say?
Leslie Johnston [00:09:01]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:09:01]:
So we have not prepared for this. So these are just like.
Morgan May Treuil [00:09:04]:
This will be off the cuff entirely.
Leslie Johnston [00:09:06]:
Yeah, exactly.
Morgan May Treuil [00:09:07]:
Which I think sometimes good stuff comes out of that and then sometimes bad stuff comes out of that that we edit later.
Leslie Johnston [00:09:13]:
We'll cut it out. You'll never hear it. Okay, first question. These ones are fun. Okay, if you had to replace your hands with something else, what would you pick and why? Gosh.
Morgan May Treuil [00:09:24]:
Tongs.
Leslie Johnston [00:09:26]:
Tongs?
Morgan May Treuil [00:09:26]:
I think so.
Leslie Johnston [00:09:27]:
Why?
Morgan May Treuil [00:09:29]:
Well, because the big. My biggest loss, my guess would be picking things up. So if I could do tongs, then I could kind of like cry, kind of crab pincher. Wait, what would you do?
Leslie Johnston [00:09:41]:
Well, now that you. I honestly, I thought I was just gonna ask you these questions, but now. So I'm not prepared with an answer. But now when you say tongs, like, for me cooking, I want a rubber spatula. Rubber spatula with one hand, I think you can do almost anything.
Morgan May Treuil [00:09:55]:
You're splitting your hands. This hand's a rubber spatula, and this one's. What? That's genius.
Leslie Johnston [00:10:03]:
You know what? This would not work in all. All of the day, but in the morning times, I make a shake every morning. So a little hand blender, a little mixer, a little hand blender.
Morgan May Treuil [00:10:13]:
I like that. So you're. You're thinking.
Leslie Johnston [00:10:15]:
I'm not. Yeah, I'm not really thinking practically.
Morgan May Treuil [00:10:17]:
What about wiping? You're screwed.
Leslie Johnston [00:10:21]:
Rubber spatula. Rubber spatula.
Morgan May Treuil [00:10:23]:
That's honestly a better choice. Rubber spatula. Just get it all off. Tongs.
Leslie Johnston [00:10:27]:
Tongs is definitely the best for wiping. Oh, sorry. Sorry. I thought you meant, like daily life.
Morgan May Treuil [00:10:35]:
Super clean situation, which it's not always that.
Leslie Johnston [00:10:39]:
That is the situation.
Morgan May Treuil [00:10:40]:
That was great. Okay, I like that.
Leslie Johnston [00:10:43]:
Have you ever butchered a situation with a boyfriend's family and what happened or like embarrassed yourself in front of like, a significant other's family?
Morgan May Treuil [00:10:58]:
I don't think, like, butchered or maybe even embarrassed. But I do have two very vivid memories of going to ex boyfriend's houses for dinner and their mom's making dinner for me with chicken in it and having two different instances where I was like, oh, shoot, because I can see that this is pink. Or one time it. I think it was like enchiladas or something. And the chicken was inside of the tortilla, and I. I was. It was like a massacre of chicken where I'm just like shredding it and inspecting every piece and like, not really eating it. And then they're.
Morgan May Treuil [00:11:39]:
I feel like that's offensive to the. You know, it wasn't like catastrophic or embarrassing, but it's one of those moments where you're like, I just. I have no way around being super high maintenance.
Leslie Johnston [00:11:48]:
Do you think they noticed?
Morgan May Treuil [00:11:50]:
Yeah, I don't think I'm. I don't think I'm good at powering through actually. This is, this kind of. This is, this is funny. I was on Tick Tock this morning and there's this little AI video that popped up that said you get invited to your boyfriend or girlfriend's house for dinner. You have to finish one of these entrees. Which one are you picking? And it was disgusting stuff. Like it was like full plate of raw chicken.
Leslie Johnston [00:12:14]:
Oh no.
Morgan May Treuil [00:12:15]:
Full plate of raw fish pieces, expired yogurt or whatever. And it was like, I was like so stressed about it. Just thinking through like which thing I would choose for like an in laws dinner where I'd have to get through it and not offend people. I went to the comments and some girl was like, why am I so stressed? I can just keep scrolling. Like I don't, I don't have to subject myself to this video. And I was like, oh yeah, I don't have to subject myself either. But it was so gross. So I think it was like, I feel the pressure to eat whatever they make.
Morgan May Treuil [00:12:43]:
And they were like, she's ungrateful. That's how I felt.
Leslie Johnston [00:12:46]:
But. Well, that leads into my next thing. It doesn't necessarily have to be food related, but what's an irrational fear that you have?
Morgan May Treuil [00:12:52]:
Wait, have you ever butchered something with your, with an ex boyfriend's family?
Leslie Johnston [00:12:56]:
So my, my very first boyfriend, we. And we were like in the very early stages. Like very, very. We weren't even dating yet.
Morgan May Treuil [00:13:04]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:13:04]:
But as a joke we wanted to go. Me and my friends wanted to go wake up him at his house because he had a sleepover with the other guys. And so I'd never met his parents before and we like went into their house like at like 5 or 6am and we went to wake them up to go do something. And I remember everybody being like, like, we'll wake them up. We'll be really quiet because the whole family's still sleeping. And I don't. I think it was the rush of excitement because I had a crush on this guy. I screamed to wake them up.
Morgan May Treuil [00:13:40]:
Oh my God.
Leslie Johnston [00:13:40]:
And I'm pretty sure I woke up the entire house. And that was their first, first, first impression of me. And it was like. And everyone's like, no, that was.
Morgan May Treuil [00:13:46]:
No, you shouldn't have done that. I was like, oh no, I hate that. I hate embarrassing yourself in front of people you don't know very well. I know nothing's worse than that.
Leslie Johnston [00:13:56]:
That's so tough.
Morgan May Treuil [00:13:56]:
There's probably things that are worse than that.
Leslie Johnston [00:13:58]:
But okay, what is the what's the most. What do you think, like, out of all your irrational fears? Because I know there's a lot of them.
Morgan May Treuil [00:14:04]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:14:05]:
What do you think is the most outrageous one that you have recently?
Morgan May Treuil [00:14:08]:
I. I feel confident that I've been poisoned more so than is rational. And it's everything from, like, you know this because we've had this conversation. It's everything from, like, gifts people give to handshakes to pumping gas. It's like, what do you.
Leslie Johnston [00:14:26]:
I mean, like, someone's.
Morgan May Treuil [00:14:27]:
Like someone's put some sort of a. Like a chemical that will kill me on the gas pump, and then I go to touch it. Which, by the way, there was a story at one point that I remember hearing about on the news where there was, like, a pin prick, like a little needle that had something on it that was deadly. And people were putting it on the inside of gas station handles.
Leslie Johnston [00:14:49]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:14:49]:
And so then you would go to open the thing or, like, you know, whatever, and then you would poison yourself. So I just had this fear right now that everyone's trying to poison me and everything has been tampered with.
Leslie Johnston [00:15:00]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:15:01]:
So it's like everything. I'm drinking seals. It's horrible. I'm exhausted.
Leslie Johnston [00:15:05]:
Oh. Even a drink, like, someone's like, if.
Morgan May Treuil [00:15:07]:
It'S something like this where, like, I just popped the tab open and I can see it, then. Yes. But do you know that water bottles. Sometimes you can't really feel. Hear the plastic breaking. So then I had this. This thought in my mind of, like, did it. Did I actually hear the plastic break? Did I not hear the plastic break? Was it just screwed on really tight? So someone could have put a dropper of some stuff in there and then screwed it on.
Morgan May Treuil [00:15:30]:
So that's the most directive.
Leslie Johnston [00:15:31]:
This is the same level of anxiety as Hallie, who's sitting in the studio with us, about her hair ties. That is leaving a hair tie.
Morgan May Treuil [00:15:39]:
My very favorite thing.
Leslie Johnston [00:15:40]:
My very favorite. She's always afraid that if she loses a hair tie, that it was left somewhere, like, on the ground during a walk, and that sometime there's gonna be a crime scene that happens there and they're gonna trace her DNA 100% the crime scene.
Morgan May Treuil [00:15:56]:
It's the best fear. That's my favorite harassment, because I totally get it. And I would never have thought of that. Like, it's so creative.
Leslie Johnston [00:16:04]:
That's so.
Morgan May Treuil [00:16:05]:
I love it so much.
Leslie Johnston [00:16:06]:
It's so funny.
Morgan May Treuil [00:16:07]:
What's your rational fear?
Leslie Johnston [00:16:09]:
I.
Morgan May Treuil [00:16:10]:
Can I guess what yours is? Sure. My guess is your current irrational fear is there's some sort of new medical condition or psychosis that you think that you will randomly develop and start, like, struggling with?
Leslie Johnston [00:16:26]:
Close.
Leslie Johnston [00:16:26]:
No, but I was afraid last week, which actually I have been pretty good about my irrational fears. Actually, I've been, I did a lot of counseling last year, which really helped.
Morgan May Treuil [00:16:38]:
You got them under control.
Leslie Johnston [00:16:39]:
But I did get them somewhat under control for now.
Morgan May Treuil [00:16:42]:
Yes.
Leslie Johnston [00:16:42]:
But I did wake up in Canada and I was sleeping in a room that was really dark and I woke up convinced I had gone blind.
Morgan May Treuil [00:16:51]:
Oh, my God.
Leslie Johnston [00:16:52]:
Like, I am in my early 30s and I still think that I'm going to go blind. Like, if I sleep in pitch black dark and I wake up, it, it's a panic. I literally like throw my hand in front of my face. I'm like, freaking out. And I, I, I even out, I think I out loud was like, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. And I have to go find my phone. But the sheer panic before I tap my phone, thinking, if this screen doesn't light up, oh my gosh, like, if my phone had been dead, I would have thought I'd gone blind.
Morgan May Treuil [00:17:20]:
That is, that is.
Leslie Johnston [00:17:21]:
I can feel the panic still.
Morgan May Treuil [00:17:22]:
Yes, I get that.
Leslie Johnston [00:17:23]:
So I woke up multiple times in the night knowing I'm not blind, but I wake up in an instant panic that I'm blind. So then I have to go find my phone and turn. So eventually I just turned the flashlight on and I slept with the flashlight.
Morgan May Treuil [00:17:35]:
Just to make sure you hadn't gone blind. That is, ever since I was little.
Leslie Johnston [00:17:41]:
I was at a camp one time and it was, I didn't have a phone. I was probably in like third or fourth grade and I really thought I went blind. And so I was freaking out and I had to like, go outside to try to find like a moon or something so I could see. So, yeah. Which I'm like, I don't, I mean, I'm not sure how people go blind. I'm not going to look into it.
Morgan May Treuil [00:18:04]:
Because, yeah, some things don't need to be. That's, that is a good, that's a good. It's similar to what I thought. Just it was taken one step further. Yeah, let's do this. Let's go, let's go back and forth. So we'll take on these 10, these 10 questions that Chad GPT says based off of research, informed kind of lists and psychology and ministry conversations for this age group. What are the top 10 more serious questions that girls in their 20s or early 30s are asking? And all you have to do, we'll go back and forth.
Leslie Johnston [00:18:35]:
Okay.
Morgan May Treuil [00:18:36]:
And will you take. Take a question and just give, like, what you would say would be your. If you were to start some advice or some. A conversation. Don't have to. Don't have to go, like, super deep, because, again, we haven't researched these things. Yes, but what would you say to a person that's struggling with this question or asking this question? So the first one being. And this one's, I think, a really good one, but also kind of broad and vague, is who I am.
Morgan May Treuil [00:19:02]:
Who am I? Actually getting to the bottom of? Like, yeah, who am I? And what. What am I here for? Wrestling with identity, apart from parents, early life roles, stuff like that? Like, what defines me?
Leslie Johnston [00:19:17]:
It's a great question. I remember coming out of college, maybe even during college. I think that's when you start going, who am I? Like, especially in college, like, those eight. That age range, for some reason is very much. And I think it's because you are, like, leaving your house. You have to start making all these decisions for your life. And you're like, how do I make these decisions for my life? Like, where I'm gonna go to school or if I'm gonna go to school, what job am I gonna do? And I think a lot of times we grow up with people telling us, like, who we are and what we're gonna do. And so I think at that age is, like, it's normal to feel like, oh, I'm overthinking the question of who am I? Yeah, but I think you get to.
Leslie Johnston [00:20:04]:
At least I got to an age where I started to go. That does not matter that much. Like, what? I mean, there's obviously the obvious answer of, like, you are made by God. You are like, he has a plan for you. All of those things. But to me, it was like, I think I spent too much time trying to dissect, like, what. What am I gonna do with my life? And to me, some of it was, like, a lack of faith because I was like, I actually don't think I can trust God with my life. So I have to decide everything right now, and I have to figure out, like, who I'm gonna marry, what job am I gonna have, where am I gonna live? And so sometimes I think it's not a bad question of, like, who am I? But sometimes I think we need to go, am I searching so hard for this? Because I'm either feeling insecure or I'm not sure that God has, like, a great future for me, or I can't trust Him.
Leslie Johnston [00:21:08]:
And to me, I'm like, I think what matters is, like, right now, what's happening in your life? Like, what are you doing with what God has given you right now? And am I aligning to look more like Jesus every single day? And if you're trying your best to have a relationship with God, acting and doing what you feel like Jesus would do, you don't have to worry about some of these things of, like, who am I? I think God reveals those things.
Morgan May Treuil [00:21:36]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:21:36]:
And you just have to trust him in the process. I guess that would be my first gut.
Morgan May Treuil [00:21:41]:
No, I think that's great. We probably spent a lot of time thinking about who we are, but a lot of figuring that out is actually done in living. Like, when you're faced with different situations or life seasons, like, that's when who you are kind of comes out. Because God's refining it in that stuff. I think that's right. That's a great. That's a great.
Leslie Johnston [00:21:59]:
And what you do right after college typically is not what you're doing five or ten years from then.
Morgan May Treuil [00:22:06]:
Yeah, I think. I think the. The funny part about that question is that you're trying to nail down something that might change. And, yeah, I think that's. It's important to distinguish, like, you don't want to be a person who's always changing who you are, because to an extent, who you are doesn't change. There are things about you that won't change. There's also things about you that will change. And so spending a lot of time spinning your wheels, trying to, like, create a definition for who you are, which in this day and age is a huge pursuit everyone wants to do.
Morgan May Treuil [00:22:37]:
I need to define clearly who I am and what I am, because the definition of myself leads to happiness. But there's only one chain. There's only one unchanging force in. In the world, and that's God. So we are changing beings.
Leslie Johnston [00:22:52]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:22:53]:
I don't know that we'll find happiness or fulfillment in, like, the correct definition of ourselves. I think that changes with time and with experience and with roles changing.
Leslie Johnston [00:23:03]:
I think, too, we let two different things affect us on, like, who we are. First is the people that we surround ourselves with.
Morgan May Treuil [00:23:12]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:23:12]:
I think a lot of times we can be like, this is who I am. And I'm like, no, that's just who you're hanging out with.
Morgan May Treuil [00:23:17]:
Yes.
Leslie Johnston [00:23:18]:
That's not actually who you are. And then the second thing is we let our feelings dictate who we are. Like, oh, well, right now I feel Like, I'm super outgoing and whatever, and that's my personality. That's who I am. But then there might be a season where you're like, oh, I struggled with, like, a loss of somebody or something, and you're not that person, and then you have an identity crisis or, oh, I feel this way right now. But your feelings can change at the drop of a hat. So to me, I'm like, when we start basing our whole life and decisions off how we're feeling, that's very unsteady ground.
Morgan May Treuil [00:23:55]:
Yes.
Morgan May Treuil [00:23:56]:
So the best place to start, probably, is to go get with the one who created you and whose opinion of you doesn't change.
Leslie Johnston [00:24:06]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:24:07]:
And then figure out, yeah, okay, what. What doesn't change. Let me go discover that. And then in that, I think God reveals to you a lot of, like, the unique gifts and talents and personality things that he's wired you for. But I think that's really smart. People look to emotions, into people to define things that are way too permanent for that. Yeah, that's good. It's really good.
Morgan May Treuil [00:24:31]:
This is in similar vein, but a little different. Am I on the right path? And I think the ordering of these is really nice, but because a. The first question everyone's asking is, who am I? That's the thing that they. They think will unlock their happiness or their fulfillment. And I understand why. The second question is now that I've discovered that, am I on the right path? And going back to the kind of one of the answers we just talked about, I do think that you figure out if you're on the right path by living. So the answer to am I on the right path? Does not come when you, like, take yourself off of paths altogether. Right.
Morgan May Treuil [00:25:11]:
Like, there are some things that can be figured out while you're driving the car. You don't necessarily have to park the car. So the answer to am I on the right path? Is not doing nothing. I will say there are times where I feel like retreating away from a decision. Being with God, meditating and really asking the good hard questions and leaving space for God to speak into your life is a great practice. Like, Jesus retreated from his life and from his path and his decisions to go be with God. But he didn't spend all 33 years just in solitude asking God what his will was.
Leslie Johnston [00:25:48]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:25:49]:
Now he was God too. So he knew the will of God. But. But it was like a practice of, I'm gonna go be with God, and then I'm gonna come back to my life and I'm gonna Live it. And so I think a, am I on the right path? Do you have a discipline set up of meeting with God and asking for God's input and direction in your life?
Leslie Johnston [00:26:07]:
It's good.
Morgan May Treuil [00:26:08]:
Have that to make sure that you're. You're getting your directions from the right source.
Leslie Johnston [00:26:12]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:26:13]:
And then you have to kind of just start living your life and trusting and asking for the Holy Spirit to help guide you on what's a yes, what's a no, what's a later. And then also, like, the, the calming encouragement that I have for people that are stressed because they're in a job they don't like, or they're in a season of parenting that just feels really heavy or they're bored with life or whatever that that thing may be. There is no season. That's forever. And also, if every road you ever took was all excitement or like perfection, beauty or hills or on the edge of a steep cliff, that wouldn't be much of a journey. That would just be like chaos the whole time.
Leslie Johnston [00:27:01]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:27:01]:
So if your path has ebbs and flows to it, that's actually a really good, I believe, God ordained way of living in which you're. You're meant to have highs and lows and mediums to life. Right. And you learn things about yourself and about God and about your future along the way as you do that.
Leslie Johnston [00:27:20]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:27:20]:
So I think the question of, like, am I on the right path? I understand why people ask it. I don't know that the right path needs to be the question that we're asking God. I think we need to come to God and be like, hey, help me to make the right decisions in my life.
Leslie Johnston [00:27:37]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:27:37]:
Guide me in the direction you want me to go. And then help me to do the very best that I can with what I have as I'm honoring you and trying to live this life.
Leslie Johnston [00:27:45]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:27:46]:
I just think that we can paralyze ourselves with the, whole, like, right path versus wrong path thing. I think there, there's an art to just, like, living the path and then trying your best to follow God. And then we've said this before on many podcasts, but the boat never stops coming. So if you feel like you took a wrong turn somewhere, I think the redemptive power of God is that there will be an opportunity coming up for a detour that gets you back to where you wanted to be or where God wanted you to be. Or there's beauty in some, like, unknown terrain too, as long as it's not sin. So, yeah, that was like A first.
Leslie Johnston [00:28:17]:
Draft that I think I like that a lot. I think when you take certain paths that you're really unsure about. I remember being in college and not sure, like, which path to take after college. And I really struggled. Cause I just grew up feeling like every. I almost like over spiritualized every tiny decision in my life. Like, oh, do I go left or right here? Because one way is God's way and the other way is not. And I think there's some decisions in life where you don't have to overthink it.
Leslie Johnston [00:28:48]:
And God actually might be okay with either path. But then I think that's when you need to rely on your relationship with God and the Holy Spirit to go. But please alert me when there is something that is special for me. I think certain people, there's certain decisions in their life that God is like, I'm asking you to do this. And it doesn't feel normal, it doesn't feel right, it doesn't feel natural. This is like a faith decision. And then I think for some people, that's a totally like, whatever. Like, not that it doesn't matter for that person, but it's like, I just wonder, like in your life there might be decisions that feel like, oh, you know what? You could probably do either of those and it's great.
Leslie Johnston [00:29:37]:
And then there's decisions where God's like, I actually do have something more, or I do have a different path. Whether that's a job path or where you're gonna live or who you're gonna marry, all of those things. He might have certain times in your life where you need to be aware of the fact that God might be asking you to do something because it's very important.
Morgan May Treuil [00:29:57]:
Yeah, that's great.
Leslie Johnston [00:29:58]:
So it's like, don't miss those moments. But to me, I wouldn't overthink those. If you don't feel like God's saying anything.
Morgan May Treuil [00:30:06]:
Yeah, I think that's a great way of putting it. It's kind of like, have you been in the car with somebody where the GPS is pulled up and they had the destination in the gps, but they have forgotten to look so they miss the turn? I think that's sort of like the, the, the cautionary tale of it is if you're going to drive in a way where your eyes are not like fixed on the GPS where you're going, there's a chance of missing a turn. That doesn't mean that it won't reroute you and recorrect it, but there is still a chance of missing it. So can we become people that are. Have our eyes trained and fixed on the one who's setting the direction?
Leslie Johnston [00:30:45]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:30:45]:
So that way, when these bigger decisions come up. Because I agree there are bigger decisions. Right. Like, I think about my move from Texas to California.
Leslie Johnston [00:30:55]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:30:55]:
That was like a. That was a very large decision. And I think back on it, and I'm like, okay, so I know that God would have made good on whichever way I decided, but the thing that God brought about because I decided to come to California is something I can't imagine missing out on.
Leslie Johnston [00:31:10]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:31:10]:
So. So to your point, there are decisions like that where there's a future God has that's really, really good, and you couldn't imagine missing out on it. But it's. It's one of those big decisions that you have to consult God with. So I think that you could take the pressure off of yourself by always having a relationship with God where you are asking, like, don't get out of the practice of asking questions or being with God for the big decisions in your life, because if you're out of prayer practice, you might miss the thing that he's saying.
Leslie Johnston [00:31:40]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:31:42]:
But I mean, it's interesting because, like, if you had never come to California, if you knew God was saying to do that, but then you decide to stay, that doesn't mean, like, you would have had a no godless, unfulfilling life. Like, but I will say, because you did that, I think there's so much, like, fruit that came from that that you would have missed out on. And so it's like, that's such a cool testament to, like, taking a faith step and being like, oh, man, if I had never done that, yeah. I probably would have had, like, great things happen in my life. And I'm sure it would have been a full, great life. Like, maybe you would have met someone in Texas, got married, all of that. It would have been awesome. But I think, you know, oh, there's things that God wanted me to do, and I'm glad I took that step, which is really cool and should be an inspiration for people who are like, oh, I'm scared.
Leslie Johnston [00:32:33]:
Like, God might be asking me to move somewhere.
Morgan May Treuil [00:32:35]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:32:35]:
Or God might be asking me to stay somewhere or stay in a relationship or leave a relationship or whatever it might be.
Morgan May Treuil [00:32:41]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:32:42]:
To do something hard, maybe.
Leslie Johnston [00:32:44]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:32:44]:
So it's. It's both, right? It's. It's the. Pay attention and ask God. Because there are ways to miss turns and have to circle back around. But at the same Time. It's not like life's. Don't put so much pressure on yourself that if you make the wrong call in something.
Leslie Johnston [00:33:00]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:33:01]:
You've ruined your life. Unless it's, you know, obviously there's. We're talking about, like, good and good decisions. Not, like, good or, like, sin and not sin decisions, because that's a different story.
Leslie Johnston [00:33:11]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:33:12]:
I love it. Okay, number three, we're not actually trying to get through all ten of these. We could stop at five. What do I actually want out of life? Distinguishing between expectations from family and society and then personal dreams.
Leslie Johnston [00:33:29]:
Does it mean, like, society as a different thing than our dreams, or is it all wrapped into one? Kind of like, I feel like it.
Morgan May Treuil [00:33:35]:
I feel like it's two different questions. I feel like it's like, what do I actually want out of life? Meaning, like, the. Finding the difference between what. Like, what dreams have been put on me versus the ones that I actually have.
Leslie Johnston [00:33:47]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:33:48]:
And then also I think it's the, what do I actually want out of life? Like, do I want to get married? Do I want to have kids? Do I want to work? Like, that kind of stuff.
Leslie Johnston [00:33:58]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:33:58]:
The stuff you're expected to do versus the stuff that you actually like. I'm thinking right now about the. The. The people that are like, yeah, society puts the expectation on me that I should be a wife and a mom, but what if I actually have no desire for marriage and I want to.
Leslie Johnston [00:34:12]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:34:13]:
Like, work. I don't know. Like, maybe the difference between.
Leslie Johnston [00:34:17]:
Well, you look at lots of people in the Bible did not get married or have kids, and they're like, heroes of the faith.
Morgan May Treuil [00:34:24]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:34:24]:
So that's proof right there. Like, if you're a person that's like, I actually don't really have a desire to get married or have kids. I think you have such a cool call on your life to do so much more. You know, not more, but different. And I think that's okay. Like, I don't think you have to feel condemned by that at all. Like, I think that's actually really cool, kind of brave decision to make.
Morgan May Treuil [00:34:50]:
I also think that that's. That's not like, for. For the people in the Bible that were single for their whole lives or the people in the Bible where when you saw them do something, it was them on. It was. It was them in whatever their singleness, seasons was. Maybe later on they got married or whatever. But it's like, yeah, I don't. I think we do a bad job of deciding, hey, this is what it means to arrive in life.
Morgan May Treuil [00:35:14]:
Like, here's what it means to have it all, or this is what it means to. To have success.
Leslie Johnston [00:35:18]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:35:19]:
And I think with. With the kingdom of God, one of the benefits that it gives us is that your success looks very different than what the world decides that success is like.
Leslie Johnston [00:35:28]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:35:28]:
So you can have fulfillment in a variety of seasons.
Leslie Johnston [00:35:32]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:35:32]:
Not just the one that society says is for sure.
Leslie Johnston [00:35:36]:
And that the things that you want in life, I think we always have to, like, recheck ourselves. You can experience a lot of joy and things when things come. Like, we're not idiots. We know when you have money and when you have relationships and friendships. All of those things bring an element of security and stability to your life and joy and fun and all those things. It's blessings. But it doesn't. You'll never get to the point in life where you're like, I made it.
Leslie Johnston [00:36:07]:
I'm always happy. I never have a bad day. I never struggle with anything. You're never gonna get to that here on Earth. So in one way, it's like, we don't want to put the expectation on things. Things that you want out of life, these dreams that you have. Don't put the false expectation that that's going to make you happy, like, ultimately happy. Now, is it more comfortable to cry in a Range Rover than it is to cry on a bike because you can't afford a car? Yes, of course.
Leslie Johnston [00:36:35]:
But it's like, that's not going to ultimately bring you, like, the fulfillment that you want. The only thing that can, obviously, is when we get to heaven and the times where God is meeting you here on Earth. But I think it's funny, I felt like for a couple years I watched people go through some hard things and not get things that they wanted. So part of me started to get a little bit cynical of, like, oh, well, this is just like the American dream. Like, God does not promise that. God doesn't promise. Like. Like, I got in this mindset of, like, God doesn't care about the things that you want and that he only cares about the things that, you know, he talks about in the Bible and whatever.
Leslie Johnston [00:37:22]:
And I had kind of a narrow view on it where I was like, God doesn't care about that, so you shouldn't be disappointed if you don't get anything you want in life like that. He owes you nothing. Which to an extent, yes, he technically doesn't owe you anything. But I started to watch as, like, I felt like God started highlighting some things that happen in people's lives where he really does care about the details. Like he does care about the little things that make people happy and that make people feel fulfilled or the relationship that somebody wants or somebody who was struggling with infertility and eventually got pregnant. And I started to go, oh my gosh. I think not that like everybody gets everything they want in life, but it was cool to go, no, God actually does care about like his children being happy.
Morgan May Treuil [00:38:14]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:38:15]:
I think as Christians we can go like, don't worry about happiness, like happiness doesn't matter. And it's like, yeah, in the grand scheme of things, yes, there's a difference between being fulfilled and being happy. But I was like, it's cool to see like God, if God didn't care about us being happy, he would have never created nature. He would never created like the fun things that we get to do in life and the things that get to happen to us. Yeah. Or like even blessing people financially. Like I'm like, no, God does care about that stuff. So I think it's okay to wrestle with, okay, God, show me the things that are my dreams in life and the things that I want.
Leslie Johnston [00:38:51]:
Help me to be open handed with it. Cause I trust you the most. But, but also to expect like no God, I actually do want you to bless my life. And that's not a selfish thing to pray. Like he cares about that. It's like he wants his kids to ask him for things because it's a joy for him to give it to you like as a gift.
Morgan May Treuil [00:39:10]:
So yeah, there were things on the earth that were created specifically for enjoyment. So it's not the correct theology for us to think that God's only after our, like, our suffering and our laying down in this life. Now there's an aspect to it, right, to where we live in a, in a broken, sin infected world. And there are certain things that we're called to lay down that are still enjoyable because they're not God things.
Leslie Johnston [00:39:35]:
Right.
Morgan May Treuil [00:39:35]:
So it's not like your life is going to be perfect and blessings and laughter and joy the entire time. The, the opposite of, of that would be suffering. And that's also guaranteed as well. Yeah, but I think it does, it does one of two things. A, like what you just said, the first thing is you are only going to have one shot at this life. So with what God has given you, enjoy it in a holy way, in every possible way that you can ask God for your dreams and your desires and believe that he's a God who cares about those things and will give Those things on the, on the. On the same, in the same vein, you know, live, live well and live on purpose. Because you only have one life to live.
Morgan May Treuil [00:40:22]:
Right. So, like, you only get one chance to preach the gospel to people. You only get one chance to raise your kids. You only get one chance to honor your marriage. You only get one chance to preach the gospel in your workplace or like to do really good things for the world. So. So do everything that you can and enjoy everything that you can. And at the same time, remember that when we get back to what was.
Morgan May Treuil [00:40:44]:
What was designed for us in Eden, that's going to be the ultimate experience of satisfaction and enjoyment. So everything you enjoy right now on earth.
Leslie Johnston [00:40:57]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:40:57]:
In heaven, that will reach its full completion and there will be no downsides. It will. It will be with your Creator in perfect peace with no health issues and no suffering and complete and total joy. Unimaginable. So with that in mind, it's this cool balance of, like, do everything that you can to enjoy this. This space, the world, and to steward it well and to, like, run after it with purpose. And also know that when your time on this earth sucks because divorce happens and infertility happens and sickness happens when, when it's not good. And your.
Morgan May Treuil [00:41:36]:
Your. Your thought is like, man, well, that sucks. Like, I'm. I only get one life and it sucks. This actually isn't for the Christian. This is not all that there is. This is like the first waiting room.
Leslie Johnston [00:41:46]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:41:47]:
Before we get to what's actually really good. So I think it's. It's that cool kind of encouragement to do both. Right.
Leslie Johnston [00:41:53]:
I love that.
Morgan May Treuil [00:41:54]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:41:55]:
It's a cool perspective shift because I think, like, both of us struggle, I say, with a lot, with fear. And it's funny, when you really think about it, you're like, now life can feel long. I'm not saying that life is easy. By no means I'm saying that. But it is an interesting perspective to be like, oh, I was only 33 years old, and whatever day yesterday. And it's over. Like, yesterday is done and gone. And I lived it however I lived it.
Leslie Johnston [00:42:25]:
And that's. I never get that day again.
Morgan May Treuil [00:42:26]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:42:27]:
But I only have so many days, so you're right. It's like, why would you not live your life to the most? Like, I'm diving in and I'm. I'm doing all the things that I won't be able to do in heaven. Like, I won't be able to. You're right. Do all those things that you just mentioned. And I think that's a cool perspective to live because we fear so much. It's like we're trying to like, bear through life.
Leslie Johnston [00:42:51]:
Like we're trying to get through it. And I don't think that that's the best way to live. It's probably why the Bible has what's fear written? Fear's written in there, like, how many times? It's like a lot probably. I think it's one of the most like said words in the Bible. And I think it's because we waste our lives in fear. Like we're paralyzed by it. We don't want to try anything, do anything, and we overthink everything. So then it's like at the end of our life, we're like, what? I was just afraid the whole time?
Morgan May Treuil [00:43:19]:
How much money did I lose to fear?
Leslie Johnston [00:43:21]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:43:21]:
When it's like this life is going to be over.
Morgan May Treuil [00:43:23]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:43:24]:
And it won't actually. Like it matters, but it won't matter when you get to heaven, so. Or if you.
Morgan May Treuil [00:43:29]:
If you can't.
Leslie Johnston [00:43:30]:
It matters, but yes.
Morgan May Treuil [00:43:31]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:43:31]:
Or if you can't always control what you fear, then the better question is how much. How many things did I not do or time did I waste letting fear take me out of something versus feeling fear and powering through? Because I know there's.
Leslie Johnston [00:43:44]:
That's a great. That thought right. There is. I think everybody should hear that. Is like you sometimes can't control that you fear, which is a universal experience. But you can allow yourself not to let it stop you from moving forward in life, moving forward with your day, moving forward with your relationships, whatever it is. You can be afraid. You can do it and be afraid at the same time.
Morgan May Treuil [00:44:09]:
We had a friend who used to say, do it scared. I'm like, oh, yeah, that's good.
Leslie Johnston [00:44:13]:
Yeah, that's great.
Morgan May Treuil [00:44:14]:
Cuz at least. At least you get to the end of the life and fear didn't rob.
Leslie Johnston [00:44:17]:
You of the experience.
Morgan May Treuil [00:44:18]:
You might have had fear in the experience, but it didn't rob you of. Of doing it.
Leslie Johnston [00:44:21]:
Of doing it.
Morgan May Treuil [00:44:22]:
Okay, this is the last question that we'll ask on this and then we can do a part two with the rest of them. Because these are actually really good. And this one I actually want to gear towards our friends listening or our friends on social media who maybe this isn't a podcast they listen to. It's just one that kind of comes up occasionally. These are the friends that haven't really decided where they sit on spirituality and faith and religion, because that is one of the Questions that people in this age range are asking, what's my relationship with spirituality and, like, life beyond this one, and what am I supposed to do with it? Is sort of the question. I think we can both answer this one. But, yeah, like, what do you. And specifically geared towards the person who just hasn't decided what they think about all of that.
Morgan May Treuil [00:45:09]:
They're just trying to decide where it fits into their life.
Leslie Johnston [00:45:11]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:45:12]:
Well, I, obviously, I grew up in, like, a Christian home, but my parents were not Christians. My dad was an atheist when he was younger. My mom didn't grow up in a Christian home. They became Christians, like, in their young adult years. And so then when they had us, they were pastors at a church. But I laugh because I don't. Like, I was. I was a pastor's kid, but in a way, it felt like I sometimes wasn't because my parents were, like, trying to figure it all out.
Leslie Johnston [00:45:41]:
They were great parents, actually. Great Christian parents. But we didn't have, like, oh, we all sit down for family devotions every morning. Like, that was not our life.
Morgan May Treuil [00:45:49]:
Which I love, actually.
Leslie Johnston [00:45:50]:
Me too. And, like, to me, I hated going to church when I was little. I was, like, such a little brat. I was like, I do not want to go. So I feel like I'm thankful that I grew up in it because I. I think I would have been really skeptical of it at first. I feel like I have sympathy for people who are like, I didn't grow up in this. What do you guys believe? That sounds crazy.
Leslie Johnston [00:46:13]:
And sometimes it does sound crazy. But to me, I guess my biggest thing, if I were to talk to somebody who isn't sure about being a Christian and isn't sure about what they think about God and Jesus and all that, I would say surround yourself with people or Christians who are not judgmental, and they're living in a way where you're like, ooh, I'm actually curious about that. Like, I wonder how. How are they so, like, hopeful for the future? Like, how are they able to, like, deal with grief but also still, like, maintain their joy, like things. Surround yourself with people and be interested in why they feel that way and get to the bottom of that. I would also say, stop looking at Christians as a whole.
Morgan May Treuil [00:47:10]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:47:10]:
It's like, these people. I mean, I understand the frustration when you're like, oh, these Christians, they're judgmental. Like, they're supposed to be like, Jesus. And I'm like, yeah, but they're a person. Just like you are, like, all of these people. It's the reason why we need Jesus is because everybody is trying to figure it out. Everybody's messing up. Like that's just the world we live in and that's people.
Leslie Johnston [00:47:31]:
And I would say like discover like who Jesus is to you and allow God to like be open to hearing him if there's a possibility that he exists. And I would say learn who Jesus is is and let that determine then where you want to go faith wise.
Morgan May Treuil [00:47:51]:
That's great.
Leslie Johnston [00:47:52]:
Like don't look, obviously start going to church and that's where you can discover a lot of this stuff and meet great people and learn a lot. But to me it's such an individual decision. Like you don't make it because everybody else is. Figure out who Jesus is and figure out if he's worth it to you, because he is. And that is the real reason like why I'm a Christian. It's like not because of the Christian family I grew up in or the Christians that I know. Because if you do it based off people, you know, when their faith or when they mess up, then your faith can go with it, you know. And I just think figure out who Jesus is and then decide.
Morgan May Treuil [00:48:35]:
So good. I think you live long enough and you realize by driving around or interacting with people at the grocery store that there's no, there's one unifying factor for all of us and that we're all very broken and have like a sin, nature and evil in us. I think that every religion that you find is going to have representatives that don't represent the best possible way. So I love what you said about stop looking at like the Christians to determine a lot of them suck about the creator. Cuz a lot I don't know. I can't control which examples you look at. Like I wish I could, but I can't. So I think that's really, that's really wise.
Morgan May Treuil [00:49:15]:
I think first if you're asking the question like is there something spiritual out there? You, the fact that you're asking that question means there's an awareness in you to know that there is, that there's something more than just this. And you look at nature and, and miracles and food and sex and kids and all these different things. The way that a body or a human body grows inside of another human body. And you can see that there's something divine and spiritual about this life, right? It's not just bricks and sand and stone. There's like something beyond all of this that made all of this happen. And I think if you, if you're asking Sort of that question of is, is there something beyond this or isn't there? There is. So that's the first start, is like, should you have a spiritual journey of some kind? Yes, absolutely. My second thing I would say is it actually isn't enough for all spiritual pathways to be a little bit right.
Morgan May Treuil [00:50:18]:
And I think that's something that I see young people get into trouble with, is they go into their spiritual journey looking for their answers, but they settle for something that's kind of vague and kind of all inclusive.
Leslie Johnston [00:50:29]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:50:29]:
Like I. I could try this and I could dabble in, like, these stones and then this mushroom, and then I could believe this about this God, but I could practice with these people. And it's like sort of like a. Well, if I can't fully figure it out, I'll just take little bits and pieces of everything. And my question to that would be like, what's the goal of that? Is the goal just to live a happy and fulfilled life on this side of heaven, or is the goal to actually know the true Creator? And I would say that none of those things that you're trying or mixing together are going to lead you to what's true. There's only one true thing. And so I would say in your journey towards spirituality, don't settle for just a vague understanding that I'm a spiritual being and I'm looking at the world in a spiritual way.
Leslie Johnston [00:51:17]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:51:17]:
Find out what's true. Because what's true brings both clarity to your life, but it also brings fulfillment to the deep longing in your soul.
Leslie Johnston [00:51:26]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:51:27]:
To know the person or the being that created you. So that would be my second thing. And then lastly, I would just say, and this was true for me in figuring out, you know, does Christianity actually work for me, or was it just the thing that I was prescribed from a young age? And if you were prescribed a different faith, like you grew up in a Hindu home or a Muslim home or, you know, Mormon or whatever, like, this is the question you should also be asking yourself, does this work for me or was I prescribed this?
Leslie Johnston [00:51:57]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:51:57]:
I think everything comes down to what is it? What is this faith saying about who God is? And what is it saying about how you personally can have a relationship with that God?
Leslie Johnston [00:52:09]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:52:10]:
Because what I found by researching other faith expressions and other spiritual practices and things, is that what I'm hearing about what my relationship with God is like from those other religions and spaces doesn't actually work for me because I'm aware of who I am. I'm aware of my need and my brokenness. And I'm after a God who is. Who is loving at the expense of himself.
Leslie Johnston [00:52:34]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:52:35]:
And if. If that's sort of what you've decided that you're after, I think there can only be one true God, and I think Jesus has to be the one that is God, and what he did on the cross has to be what works for.
Morgan May Treuil [00:52:46]:
For you.
Morgan May Treuil [00:52:47]:
But I also want to encourage anybody that's in that journey. This is a long explanation, but all that to say, like, to resolve is. I think you should be going on a discovery journey right now and that God is thrilled with your discovery journey. God's not scared of your questions or your wrestling.
Leslie Johnston [00:53:07]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:53:07]:
He actually would prefer that you do that.
Leslie Johnston [00:53:09]:
So.
Leslie Johnston [00:53:10]:
And God has the attitude of. There's like, a worship song. I think it's like an SCU worship song where it talks about God, like, being on the front porch and so excited to see you when you come home. And it's like, that's how you should view God if you have never known him before. It's not like he's mad at you or you're the enemy from him.
Morgan May Treuil [00:53:30]:
Why'd it take you so long to get here? All those other things before you got here?
Leslie Johnston [00:53:34]:
No, it's like, the minute you decide that you want a relationship with God, it's like, he's thrilled.
Morgan May Treuil [00:53:40]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:53:41]:
So excited. And I also think that when you think about Jesus, if you don't know him at all, he's extremely countercultural. Like, and I don't say that in, like a. In a way of, like, oh, cancel culture. It's like he just. When he even was on Earth, it was like he was so not what you would. What we, as people would think would be a classic.
Morgan May Treuil [00:54:02]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:54:03]:
It was disruptive King.
Morgan May Treuil [00:54:04]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:54:04]:
It was like he came down as a baby, like, the most humble circumstances, and he did everything. Like, to me, I love that when I think about Jesus, like, he was so countercultural. Like, everything that all the religious people wanted, he was the opposite. Like, all. Even now, when you look at other religions, like, the things that they believe in are all these, like, oh, yeah, classic. Like, you would think that, like, that's what they would. That's what people have made up.
Morgan May Treuil [00:54:30]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:54:31]:
But it's like, you can't make up Jesus. Like, it's so different from everything we would think. But it feels so right when you actually know him. You're like, ooh, that hits home with me. Like nothing else. And so, yeah, I would say, yeah, go on the journey.
Morgan May Treuil [00:54:47]:
Yeah, Go on the journey.
Leslie Johnston [00:54:48]:
It's worth it.
Morgan May Treuil [00:54:48]:
I love it.
Leslie Johnston [00:54:49]:
It's worth it.
Morgan May Treuil [00:54:50]:
Those are some good. I know. We have to do the other five at some point.
Leslie Johnston [00:54:53]:
We'll do. We'll do a second one.
Morgan May Treuil [00:54:54]:
Yay.
Leslie Johnston [00:54:55]:
That was good.
Morgan May Treuil [00:54:56]:
Okay, that's good. Hopefully that brought a little bit of, like. Yeah, I don't know, maybe just some beginning answers to some questions that you're wrestling with. I also like an episode that has a little something for everybody too.
Leslie Johnston [00:55:06]:
I know. I like that. A little dabble. Little something, something.
Morgan May Treuil [00:55:09]:
Yes.
Leslie Johnston [00:55:10]:
I like. Your new shorts are cute.
Morgan May Treuil [00:55:12]:
My strings are very long, so I have to pull.
Leslie Johnston [00:55:14]:
Are they maternity shorts or are they just shorts?
Morgan May Treuil [00:55:16]:
I went to Target and just got a bunch of things that have, like, stretchy waistbands, and then I got them, like, in a couple sizes too big for me, so.
Leslie Johnston [00:55:23]:
Love it.
Morgan May Treuil [00:55:24]:
I'm just doing a thing.
Leslie Johnston [00:55:25]:
I love your Instagram. You're like, I went to Target thinking I get cute maternity clothes, and I came out. What did you say?
Morgan May Treuil [00:55:31]:
Like a dad taking his kids to Six Flags. I feel like I just need a visor and I'll be set.
Leslie Johnston [00:55:36]:
I want to go to Six Flags again soon. But I keep getting on this TikTok algorithm of, like, people dying on roller coasters.
Morgan May Treuil [00:55:42]:
Me too.
Leslie Johnston [00:55:43]:
And I'm like, shoot.
Morgan May Treuil [00:55:44]:
Tik Tok must have a demon in it that knows that we. We have fear problems. Because all I'm getting are, like, salmonella outbreaks and at grocery stores that I attend and people falling out of roller coasters.
Leslie Johnston [00:55:56]:
So funny.
Morgan May Treuil [00:55:57]:
Like, how do people find me? Or like, they're just fine. Hey, the norovirus is at an all time high in this area. I'm just like, I gotta get out of here.
Leslie Johnston [00:56:04]:
That's crazy.
Morgan May Treuil [00:56:04]:
Social media isn't.
Morgan May Treuil [00:56:05]:
Yeah.
Morgan May Treuil [00:56:06]:
It's like, I just.
Leslie Johnston [00:56:06]:
Your algorithm is really different from mine.
Morgan May Treuil [00:56:08]:
I know. And I don't want it to be. I want to change it, so.
Leslie Johnston [00:56:13]:
All right, well, we love you guys. And we also have other podcasts, so if you. If you like podcast. We're a part of the Thrive Media Network, and there's some great podcasts, like Mark Clark Podcast, Change the Odds. All about, like, relationships and marriage and family.
Morgan May Treuil [00:56:31]:
The Bible study with Bible study. Kurt Harlow and Dina Davidson talking about scripture. Yeah, there's lots of good stuff.
Leslie Johnston [00:56:37]:
They're a little more deep than us sometimes.
Morgan May Treuil [00:56:38]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:56:39]:
Not.
Morgan May Treuil [00:56:39]:
This episode was deep.
Leslie Johnston [00:56:40]:
This. We are deep.
Morgan May Treuil [00:56:41]:
Yeah.
Leslie Johnston [00:56:42]:
Never mind. The deepest of them all.
Morgan May Treuil [00:56:44]:
So check out one of our other podcasts.
Leslie Johnston [00:56:46]:
They're awesome.
Morgan May Treuil [00:56:47]:
And we'll see you guys back here next week.
Leslie Johnston [00:56:49]:
Bye.
Morgan May Treuil [00:56:50]:
Bye.