LifeTalk Podcast
LifeTalk is the official podcast of LifeHouse Church MOT. Our heart for this podcast is to help our church grow and to go deeper here at LifeHouse. We’ll be interviewing staff members & hearing their testimonies. We’ll be discussing various topics such as parenting, marriage, day-to-day functions of the ministry and so much more from a biblical perspective. Our goal is to help equip our church to glorify JESUS in every area of life.
LifeTalk Podcast
We Came For A Dishwasher, Stayed For Discipleship
A broken dishwasher led to a breakthrough. When an appliance repairman asked, “What church do you go to?” Jeremy and Cathy realized their biggest barrier wasn’t the lack of options—it was a lack of surrender. From that honest moment, their marriage and family took a different path: rooting in a Bible-preaching church, serving with their hands, and reframing parenting as their first ministry.
We share how expository teaching lit a fire for Scripture, why serving in AV and children’s ministry became a joy rather than a chore, and how daily habits like prayer and open conversations changed the tone of their home. Jeremy talks about discovering his role as a family shepherd and redefining work as provision, not identity. Cathy explains how a sticky-note Bible, small acts of presence, and steady discipleship formed trust—especially during the teen years.
You’ll hear practical, hard-won lessons on raising kids who face the world with conviction and grace: modeling before mandating, building foundations before the storms arrive, and keeping the home anchored in God’s Word. We unpack how to align your calendar with your calling, use everyday service to train your loves, and cultivate a family culture where “we get to” beats “we have to.” Whether you’re weary, drifting, or eager to go deeper, this conversation offers a clear map for turning work and home into worship.
If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave a review to help more families find practical, hope-filled guidance. Your next faithful step might be simpler than you think.
New episodes every Monday
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Join us Sundays at 9 & 11 AM
Intro music by Joey Blair
What's up, Life Talk family? Welcome back to the Life Talk podcast. Always great to have everybody back with us for another whatever day you're listening, but we launch on Monday, so we'll just say Monday for the sake of the audience. But we are here journeying through the month of November and the WeWork theme. And I am joined by two of my very favorite people here at Lifehouse Church. I have Jeremy and Kathy Alrich today. So, Jeremy, how are you doing?
SPEAKER_01:Hey, Nate. Happy to be here. Thanks for having us.
SPEAKER_03:Way to bring the energy today. I love it. And Kathy, how's Kathy today? After a long school day, right?
SPEAKER_00:Very excited to be here.
SPEAKER_03:Awesome. Well, good to have you guys. And for the Life Talk family, it is we work. And so this month we've been having guests who we know are just amazing servants, people who really do a lot of work, a lot of work here at Life House. We know we have careers as well. So it's a big sacrifice when we are working unto the Lord. So we like to hear from them and be encouraged and just how that really helps us transform. But uh, as always, we want to get to know our guests. So, Jeremy, we flipped the coin, right? And Jeremy's going first. So just tell us about Jeremy, a little bit about who you are growing up, coming to know the Lord and just your walk.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, absolutely. Um my name is Jeremy Alrich. Many of you probably may know me as the guy who moves the podium sometimes. Yeah, that's right. So that sounds like yeah, I I um we've been Kathy and I have been coming to Lifehouse since 2016, I think. Yeah. So it's been a while. Um, we've seen the church grow and a lot. Um, but a little bit about me. Um I grew up in a Christian home and from the early from the earliest years, my memories are of being in church. Um my dad was a deacon at two different churches. We we we attended um one uh early on in my childhood, and then we then we moved from a little bit closer to home. Um, but he was a deacon in both. We were Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday evening. We were we were that family. Um and uh so I I I saw a lot of serving and and working with my dad. And even even with my grandfather before him, I I was blessed to have a good legacy of um honoring the Lord through through work. My grandfather was a um a deacon at his church, the head the head deacon at his church, and also took on the janitorial duties there. So I re I can I have uh early memories of going and helping him clean the you know, replace the toilet paper or make sure that the the halls were vacuumed in in the church that um that he that he served at and attended.
SPEAKER_03:Um that was Indiana or Illinois, right? Illinois, Illinois. I grew up in Illinois.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, right in the middle of the cornfields. Yeah, that's right. So um actually more soybean now than corn, but but that's neither here nor there. Um so I uh you know had that heritage, that that Christian heritage. Um and from there, like there was always there was a point in my life where I very distinctly remember acknowledging my need. It was in sixth grade, I probably was around 11 years old, um where I acknowledged that my need for for Jesus repented of my sins and and and and you know asked him to be the Lord in my life. Um and then from then on, um it was I well, I'd I'd love to say it was like this uphill like it wasn't all smooth sailing. No, it didn't. It it I the there was a period like for like I didn't really know I uh what it was to be a Christian and having that like uh having that discipleship like relationship with someone. Um and and I'm not gonna say that I'm not you know gonna say anything that anybody did anything wrong, but that was uh an area I think in my life that was missing. Um and to the but you know, so I continued on in my in my high school and in college, went to a Christian high school, went to a Christian college, um, but didn't but even though I was saved, I didn't have that like foundation of discipleship. What does it mean to be a true disciple? And for me, that turned into um a little bit a lot of like, well, how far can I step my toe over the line before before I become before I've crossed the line? And if and as anybody who's done that knows, is the moment you turn around and look at the line, you're already in the wrong direction. And um, so we there was a lot of things that like that I played with fire and I got burned. And then then and as I played with more fire, like I became shackled into certain sins that that were uh that I brought into our marriage, um, and and you know, overtly and also covertly into our marriage. Um and I'm gonna stop for a minute because I'm gonna let Kathy bring us up to speed on her on her testimony.
SPEAKER_03:We got the couple's testimony here. We gotta we gotta share the mics. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So mine is a little bit opposite. I did not grow up in a Christian family. My mom did grow up in a Christian family, but then she was your typical um 1960s hippie. So she went the complete different direction. Um my a little background is my parents divorced when I was one month old, so my dad was not involved in my life at all. And um we went to we lived in uh Ohio, and then my mom, being the hippie that she was, fell in love with the Native American culture and moved us practically in the middle of the night to Arizona. And um, so we moved there when I was four, and she was a working mom but and a single mom. And I did have an older sister. I still do have a single sister, but she was seven years older than me. So it was she was an older sister, but she was almost like a second mom. It wasn't like a sibling that I could, you know, play with or anything like that. Um there was a lot of a lot of moments when I was alone. I remember being alone a lot because my mom was a working mom and then she also had some alcohol issues. So she was after work to go to the bar. And so I was a very, very typical 80s kid who had a key around her neck and the latchkey kid, and came home and let myself in and ate my bowl of cereal in front of the TV and until somebody came home, which was, you know, around eight or nine, and then no responsibilities, no one telling me what to do. Um just a lot of time alone. I just remember being alone a lot. And um then my mom, unbeknownst to us before, had developed um hepatitis, and the story behind it is a lot, it's very complicated. But she basically got blood transfusion and when my sister was born, and back in 1970, something, they didn't test the blood, and it had hepatitis in it, but they didn't know that. And so she had it in her system for 19 years. So by the time they did find it, she had already had a ruined liver, and um, it was kind of like hepatitis of the early 90s was like the age of the 80s, like people were just discovering, oh my goodness, it's in the blood, and we need to start screening for it. And um, so she actually passed away like a week before her liver transplant, and that she was supposed to like be up for. And um, she passed away when I was 13, um, a week before my eighth grade year. So I went from being alone a lot, uh, having no responsibilities, no one checking in, no one telling me what to do. Um I was very I look back now and I'm like, wow, uh God's hand was on me then because I didn't get in trouble, but I just could have very easily because no one was watching me or taking care or guiding or anything. And um, and it was no fault of my mom. Like I look back now and I'm like, she just she was doing what she could. And uh so anyway, she passed away a week before my eighth grade year was supposed to start. And because my father wasn't involved in my life more than just sending an occasional check once in a while, um, I mean, I would go visit him once in a blue moon, but there wasn't a relationship, and so it was in my mom's will not to live with my father, but to live with her parents, which were my grandparents, and I did know them. Like, um, we met, I mean, we would see them at Christmas time, and it was a very grandparent y holiday relationship, and they lived in Florida, and so um my mom passed away on the August 13th. Um, her funeral was on like the 15th or 16th, and I moved to Florida on the 17th. So it wasn't even a week. And then I started eighth grade like the 19th or 20th or something like that. So, like before a week had passed, I lost my mom, I lost my sister, I lost my home, I lost m where I lived for almost 10 years, and um you were in the middle of a hurricane. In the middle of a hurricane, yeah. Hurricane um Andrew, which was like a category five huge hurricane, like hit like the day I landed. It was just like, what is happening? Um I, you know, went from Arizona where we had dry storm, do you have wind storm to like Florida where it's like wet. And it's I I was I didn't my whole world was upside down. I didn't know what was going on. And at that point, it was also both my grandparents were alive, and it was my grandmother and my grandfather who were raising me, and they put me in a private Christian home or in a private Christian school as well. And I went from having no supervision to having all supervision. Um getting myself up and dressed and wearing whatever I wanted to, now you're wearing a uniform. I mean, it was like the pleated skirt and the button. It was like the whole nine-year-old Christian school. And um being able to do whatever I want to. Oh no, we sit at the table to eat. Like I would eat, you know, in front of the TV and on a TV stand or whatever. And she's like, no, we eat home meals, homemade meals at the table and we say prayers and we don't like it was a whole big thing for me, a big change. And um I I fought it, but I didn't being the people pleaser that I am, I didn't externally rebel, but inside I was just like, what is happening? Like what I mean, I don't even know what which way is up, let alone, you know, what's going on here. Um, but I see it now that that was just like the I hate it's hard to say, but it was the best thing that ever happened to me. And um God just plucked me out of a horrible situation and put me in a beautiful place that I can see now, his his hand. Um unfortunately, my grandfather passed away two years after that. And so it for the majority of my high school time, it was just my grandmother and I. And I loved my grandfather, he was a wonderful man. He was a he was a um Navy man, World War II Navy soldier, and so he ran his household like he ran his ship. Like, I mean, you could bounce a quarter off the bed, like that was just the way he raised his his family back in the 50s and 60s, and it didn't matter that it was the 90s, he was gonna raise them that way. So I was always uh joking around that I was like their fifth child because they have four kids and then me. And so um it was honestly like one of a life it was definitely a life changing. I was put into a a church and um put into a Christian uh school where I got involved with Christian friends and um that were like normal, you know, and it wasn't just like I wasn't looking at Christianity from the outside saying, oh, those weird kids that, you know, have to be watched all the time, or they can't do this, or they can't listen to that, or they can't listen to that music, or whatever. Um, I actually saw what it was like to be a Christian teenager and to still be cool. Um and became friends with people that I'm still friends with to this day. And uh it was a what wonderful experience. And I saw what could happen if I had not embraced it. My cousin lost her mom, my aunt, a year before my mom. So my grandmother lost her two of her daughters within like two years of each other. And my cousin was 13 at the time when her mom passed away, and she went the opposite way. And there was just something in me, and I know it was the Holy Spirit that was drawing me to the Lord that I didn't want to be untethered all my life. And so um, that was where I was introduced to Jesus, and that was where um in my early high school, I was you know, 15, I accepted the Lord. And again, I kind of just did all the things that it I saw my friends doing. I wore the shirt and and um I listened to that music and not that music, and I went to that concert and not that one, and um that radio station and not that radio station, you know, I did all the things that I was supposed to do. Then I went to college in West Palm Beach and um I continued doing checking all the boxes and doing all the things I was supposed to do. And then lo and behold, I met this boy from the middle of Illinois that decided to come down to West Palm Beach. And then um it was just it that was that was where Jamie and I met was in college, and he was on his way out and he met me and he decided to stay down there so that we could push through a relationship.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, she was actually dating someone else when we met, and so I had to like, you know, be patient and woo her to show her that I was the right choice, but woo me.
SPEAKER_00:It was all before it's funny though, because our kids are now at that dating stage, and I'm like, we didn't have phone, like he physically had to call me up.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, how did we do this, you know, before he was swiping and all this stuff?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's so foreign to them, but um, so yeah, Jeremy and I got married in 2001, and we're coming up on 25 years, 25 years together. Um, and we just honestly it's really kind of sad that I don't remember a whole lot of the first seven years of marriage. And the reason why is like Ethan wasn't born until like seven our seventh year of marriage and seventh or eighth or something. And uh I just I don't remember what we did with our time. I really don't like we joke around. We're like, did we like watch TV all those years? I don't know. But anyway, we kind of just like we did the cushion thing, but um, I'll let Jamie take over for the Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So um we were we we talked a little bit about how we met um in after we were married, uh, you know, we kind of just stayed status quo. Um we you know we knew that and this was in Florida. Yeah, still we were in Florida, yeah. And so we um as far as our as far as our uh our our our life, we went to work, we um we had friends, we we engaged with people, um, you know, but there was always this like, oh, we can't find a church. Like, and like I was, you know, like I mentioned earlier, like I wasn't leading our family well due to um you know, not understanding what shepherding was, but also being also being locked down with with some sins that I was that I was struggling with. And um so we just had a period of time where it was like, oh, we can't find a church, we can't find a good church. And um, and it that that that turned into a you know a long time of we can't find a church. Like we love the Lord, but we can't find a church. But do we, you know? Um and we it was this there was this pivotal moment, and if I could uh and I could uh if I could title the story of our testimony of our marriage, one thing it would be like, thank God for appliance repair, man. So uh our dishwasher had broken down one day, and we had we called somebody, I don't even know how we ended up calling this this person, but the Lord worked it out that we were both in the house, Kathy and I, when this guy came over um to fix our dishwasher, and he started talking to us. He's like, Oh, you know, he he was starting to share his testimony because he was a Christian, and you know, I was like, Oh, yeah, we're Christians too. And and and you know, we believe in the Lord, and uh we accepted Jesus and he goes, Well, what church do you go to? And and then he said, Well, we we you know, the standard line, well, we haven't been able to really find a good church. Like, and he was like, Well, how long have you lived up here? Because it like the the area we lived in was I've been it was a lot like Middletown a couple years ago where it was like like people were moving in. So we moved in at like the boom, like right or right before the the boom in that area. And so we had been there for uh probably two to three years, and and he he just and I told him that and he just looks at me like what this like just he was just I mean at this point it was just love and and just speaking the truth. But he looks at us and he goes, You've been here for for two year for two two years, and there are literally uh seven uh Bible preaching churches within two miles of you, and you're and you can't find a church.
SPEAKER_03:And this is a you problem, not a church problem. Yeah, 100%.
SPEAKER_01:That's what he was saying, and like Kathy and I looked at each other and we were like, Oh my goodness, he's totally right. And I and we both can remember this moment crystal clear. It was like a pivotal moment in our in our in our walks, um, where we were like, you know what? We need like something needs to change. Um and so and it didn't change immediately in me, but we I I knew that it needed to change. Kathy uh has always been like a a bit more uh I don't know what the right word is, but she's a she's uh I've been blessed with a uh a wife that um well I think I come from my just my background of not having anything solid to like be tethered to.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, tethered's not the right word, but I was a Latsky kid that was on my own. I was so much on my own. I was always so in because I was on my own so much, and I think I'm drawn to finding the thing that I belong to. You know, my dad didn't really want anything to do with me, my mom passed away early, then my grandfather, and then my my grandmother blessed her heart. I mean, she just did the best she could and everything, but I I was always like wanting to find that place I belong to. Like, you know, I'm I'm not this, I'm not that, that doesn't work. And you know, and so that drew me more so probably than Jeremy did, because Jeremy already had that foundation of being b in a family that he knew where he was, he knew who he was in his family, and he and I didn't have that, so that's why I think I had that little bit more of a like seeking out to find the family that I belonged to so badly.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so she um started uh trying out different churches.
SPEAKER_00:And I think Ethan was like a year old, so I was still kind of using that as an excuse before this point. Um, you know, couldn't find a church. Ethan, who is almost 19 now, so was like a year. So I was using the whole like, you know, I want to look for a nursery that's blah, blah, blah. And I was kind of making excuses myself.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and so we um she she comes home one day and she's like, I found this really this this church I want us to try. And so when we went to uh it was a Calvary Chapel church in Florida, um, and we so we went there and they one of the things that they talk about in their in that in that church is they do a lot, they do expository preaching, like we do here. Um and I and um when we got under that type of a teaching, and when we got under like looking at the love letter of God from the beginning to end, and when we when we got the foundation of the word right in our lives, some of those shackles, it didn't take it wasn't immediate, but some of those shackles like they started to fall away. Um, and and as they did, like things in our marriage changed, things in our our lives changed. We wanted to become more connected with the church. We wanted to um connect, serve, grow, um, to give. Um all of those things changed when we got the foundation right.
SPEAKER_00:Like, it was like the light just turned on of like, oh, this is a personal relationship. This is not just a box we checked because our parents told us to check it, or you know, it was it it was for both of us, it was like a light came off and it came on, and it was like, oh my goodness, this is what God planned for us is to be for me involved and loved and surrounded in all the things I wanted so badly growing up. And yeah, it's the one of my favorite things that I remember uh the pastor saying was the Bible is a love letter. And if you got a love letter from the love of your life, wouldn't you read every single word of it all the time? And it was, I mean, I can almost physically feel the light going off of my head, like of course I would. You know, so that was right then when I started my well, when God just planted that seed of of the love of the word. I cannot get enough of it. And um I just all the different ways to study it, and I just I love it. And then people joke around and they call me the sticky note lady because I have sticky notes all over my Bible and everything.
SPEAKER_03:I mean it's literally double the size.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it is literally so big because I just love to dig into it so much. And I think that was one of the things that when he when the Lord led me to understand what it means to be loved by him, even though I didn't feel that love from anyone else, not my husband. I I felt love from Jeremy, but from my dad, from you know, my sisters, she went off to college before my mom passed, so she was gone. And I just felt abandoned in so many ways. And then to find someone who accepted me and did not ever abandon me was just a a complete life change for me.
SPEAKER_03:When you really understand that love, it kind of leads into that. Love is an action. You know, we get too caught up, and we've talked about this a little bit on the podcast previous episodes. We'll talk more in December on the love topic, so we won't spoil that. But the real important thing I think that you're bringing out is love leads to action, which is you know, not a works to earn, but truly when you experience that unconditional love of God. Well, how can you not respond? How can we not, you know, be moved to work to do the things that, like you say, it's not checking boxes, but to respond in that love and and walk in that, I think is exactly.
SPEAKER_00:And I was so desperate for it, and he filled it up. And I just I kind of like I can't bel I I still I still get flabbergasted and think, oh my goodness, he loves me so much. He picked me out as a like I wasn't an orphan, but basically felt like it and just filled all the areas of love I didn't even know I had missing, and what else can I do but to love him back, and that's in serving. So that's where it really started to grow for us.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, something that you just that you touched on, Nate. Um, I was reminded of the in in Ephesians one where we've we've we've been blessed with every spiritual blessing, right? So, like, how can we based on that, like and how we have this greater blessing in the new covenant than even what the old covenant was, like how much more should we serve and love and and connect and be part of the body um just because of the greatness of that the Lord has poured out on us? Like we get to do these things. Honestly, we don't have to do these things, we get to do these things because of the the great mercies of of the Lord, like the the grace and mercy of the Lord. Yep. Um so but you know, just to finish off our story, like from you know, once we got under the word and we really un we really it became like that moment where Kathy said where it was like that light bulb. Um it's just it's been a uh a steady progression. I wouldn't say everything got perfect all of a sudden, but it's been a steady progression of just a desire for the word, like wanting to be connected with uh with with the Lord and you know with the body of Christ and and then and then you know uh just serving in in in ways that we can. I started off um down in Florida, um I did um a a couple of things down there, but mainly in the A V ministry. I'd also um helped facilitate um the Financial Peace University, I did and uh did a lot of small group facilitation down there as well with the um the small group pastor. Um but a lot of like my bread and butter was in the uh was in the A V ministry, which is which I'm carrying forward to today. Yes, I haven't stopped.
SPEAKER_03:So your old story reminds me too, Ash and I had a similar yeah, I can't remember the exact sermon, but you know, several years and it was in the lead up to us getting into ministry, but we got in the car after a sermon one day and she just looked at me and she said Do you think we're lazy for God? And I just without hesitation said, Yes. Like the Holy Spirit like convicts you. It's just like, yeah, you know, like we're not walking that out responding, you know, if you're just kind of filling, you're really missing out, like you said. And so it's God will get a hold of you just in a good way. You know, it's not a like, hey, I'm demanding something, I want more for you in in the relationship and the walk. So yeah, absolutely. So Florida, you started to go deeper. What's the story about getting to Delaware? How did that be?
SPEAKER_00:Um, well, the good news is that um in that whole process when my mom passed, my dad did come to the funeral and he did say, I want a relationship with you. And so I knew I didn't want to live with him. Um, I didn't know him, and I knew I didn't want to live with him, but I did make a promise that I would come up and visit him every summer. And so from 13 until goodness, I think even after we were married, 22 or something like that, I came up to visit him. He lived in Delaware, and then um I came up to visit him every single summer. Now our relationship was very surface. Um, the good news is that I got a relationship with my dad. The bad news is that my dad hated my faith. I mean, just abhorred it, just couldn't stand it. Every time I walked, I came up, it was like, oh no. Well, they called me Katie and they were like, Oh no, Katie's here. We have to be good, we have to pray, we gotta bless our food. Like it was all very sarcastic. So there's zero support when it came to that. Um and but as a young daughter, uh young girl who zurned for a relationship with her father, um I still was wanted a relationship, even if it was a bad one. I still wanted something, especially with my mom gone and my grandfather was gone, and my grandmother was not doing well at all, and so I just learned for it. Um he I mean he got cancer. Um well he had his cancer to get I mean he did get cancer, he got prostate cancer, but it was um it kind of gave him this moment of clarity of like, oh, I um I want to do better with my life. So he um worked for um a portion of DuPont. So he was a very wealthy man. And he had a very hefty um in inheritance and he wanted to give it to us, um, but he also wanted to share it with us. And one of his he wanted to be there to watch us use it instead of wait till he passed on. So one of his things was that he wanted to um move us up to Delaware. And at that point, just to be closer to us, and it was kind of that clarity of like, I want to be with you, I want to in and watch you enjoy the inheritance, and I want you to be part of my life. And of course, for me, I was like, that's the best blessing in the world. My grand my father actually wants me. He wants he I've been, you know, wanting this forever. And um, God was already playing in our heart for like a year before that. We just we we really hated, we really didn't like it. I mean, it was year after year of hurricane just beaten down. We were on of the tropical part, you know, where the hurricane came every single year, and it was like, is this the year that our roof is gonna fall off? Like it it got really rough. At that point, we had two little ones, and it was just like we just didn't have the heart for it. Um, we loved the church and we loved our family that of friends that we had there, but we just could not deal with the weather anymore. Um, so and Jeremy being from Illinois and that mid. Midwest, I think he part of him wanted to like have that actually experience season.
SPEAKER_01:Experience season not just humidity. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_00:And I went from Delaware where there was no season to Florida, there was no season. So for me, I was like, I just want something different, you know. Um, so anyway, that opportunity came up when my dad's like, I want you to come up here. And so the inheritance was that he was going to move us up to Delaware. And so he and for us, we were like sign-sealed, delivered, we'll do it. Just tell us when we were ready. We didn't care like anything. We were like, we're gonna do it. So that's actually how we came up to Delaware. Is um that was what he wanted, and unfortunately that lasted like a year or something like that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I mean, we really saw it, uh thinking looking back on that time, we really saw um you know that the door was opening, maybe he was becoming more receptive to you know, a relationship with you, but maybe that was gonna lead into you know being able to.
SPEAKER_00:Would he be able to listen? Would he wanna would, you know, he be willing to listen? Um short answer, no. Um in 2019, he drank himself pretty much to death. Uh he passed away. And um we in in hindsight, we look back and we go, oh my goodness, he was probably didn't know what was going on for like many, many, many years. Um my kids were like, What pop up, they don't even remember my my dad at all. Um my old Ethan does. Ethan remembers my dad more so because he was much he was the oldest. But um unfortunately he just he lost his battle to alcoholism and it it was really hard to watch. Um but there was a point where it was like when he passed, it was it was kind of like okay, I don't have to I hate to say it, keep trying to save him. And um he I couldn't do it anymore, and it it was kind of like God bless, I'm saying, I got this. You don't have to anymore. So um that's how we actually ended up in you know, was trying to get closer to my father. But it was really neat to see that God had his hand on it the whole time. You know, I love looking back and going like we couldn't have put that together if we tried. Like it had to be God the whole time. Just like different places, like we came up and we didn't have a job. We didn't have anything, and and Jeremy, you know, got a job and I got a job, and the kids got plugged in, and um, we found Life House and uh we knew when the minute we walked in, we knew the second we walked in that this was was this was our church.
SPEAKER_03:And um didn't take the two to three years in an appliance repair man this time, right?
SPEAKER_01:So but we did we did attend another church in the area for a little bit and then but and it just wasn't clicking for whatever reason.
SPEAKER_00:Um but we did seek it for a while. We were like, we're not just gonna hop around.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, but we definitely were we're like seeking out that connection and um and we uh you know when we came into Life House like back in 2016, like it was just like this is home. It was like almost, I mean, if the Lord could have opened up the heavens and shown down, like it was for like I was like, this is it, like this is and and then we you know we've been here ever since, but um, I don't know where I'm not not sure I not sure where you know that's basically it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that's how we um we've been here. We've raised three boys here, you know. Um Caden was actually like six months old when we came here because we did. We went to another church when we first came here. I mean, I think we moved up here, we actually moved up here on your birthday in June, and I think it was all of like the second weekend we were here. We were like, we're getting a church, we're gonna find a church, we're not gonna let this happen again.
SPEAKER_01:And I had already done my research before we even moved up here because we were not going to have the repair man situation. Yeah, so I had a list of churches that were, you know, we were gonna go try all these churches out.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and we did, I mean, we did God even blessed us in that other church because it's a Bible-believing church, it's a nice church, it's a wonderful people that go there. We're still friends with people that go there. Um, nothing bad to say about the church at all. It was really nice, and it gave us a foundation for what we needed when we were first coming up to Delaware, not knowing anything about it. Um, but we did feel the there they have a little bit of different views on baptism, and that kind of was one of our biggest things, especially having young children who we wanted to baptize, um, or have them believe in believers' baptism, and they didn't. And so that was kind of our big deciding factor. But um, yeah, Caden was six months old, and I still remember the first time, the very first time we came to Life House and Rob Light sat behind us, and he was making faces at Caden the whole time. And Steph was like, I'm so sorry. Like in the middle of a starting.
SPEAKER_03:Rob makes faces at everybody.
SPEAKER_00:Making faces, and it was like kind of getting Caden going, like laughing. And and I was like, no, it's this this the kind of family that we have, is that they're okay with the baby making funny noises. Because that was like the first time, so I wasn't putting him in the nursery yet. I mean, we I think we did the next weekend, but um that was uh I still remember, and and now he's 10, you know, he's almost 11 years old. And and but Rob was the first one that was that that stuck out to me that I was like, okay, if he's okay, and he was a you know the worship pastor. So if he's okay with it, then this is a family. This is not a a place where you have to be prim and proper. Like this is it's okay to be here and be loved and be family and laugh and let babies gurgle and make noise, and it's okay.
SPEAKER_03:So since then, like we say, using those A V gifts, check in Kathy, if you checked in at VBS or extravaganza or like any event here, Kathy does check in. So you've seen Kathy, I'm sure.
SPEAKER_00:If there's anything you have to check in, it's probably with me. Um, I'm a teacher, is my trade. And so um I think teachers tend to be uh they want to reach out, they they they like being around people. And so yeah, that's how I actually got first plugged in was children's ministry. I mean, I was a mom and then I was also a teacher, so it was natural for me to slip right into it. Yeah. And then as soon as Tish found out that I was a teacher, she's like, I have a place for you. And I've never left. Like I've always been involved in children's ministry, and now do the admin side where you know I kind of help like with the technology, you know, the technical part of it. And Jeremy had brought me over to the A V, which I actually did A V in Florida too. I he brought me to the booth then too. I was um I'm pro-presenter a couple of times, uh, probably for like a year or two. Um, it was a lot less complicated than it was up here. It's like PowerPoint. It was really, very simple.
SPEAKER_01:But it's funny because I was just talking to someone yesterday about how the pro presenter today is less complicated than it was. Like I think the opposite.
SPEAKER_00:I was like, but um, so yeah, so we he got me into the A V, and I think that was more just I wanted to spend time with out of my real house. I I love being around children, but that kind of gave me a break from being around children. I could be around adults, that was kind of nice. And then um, yeah, as I've gotten older, now I'm 25 years veteran teacher, I'm kind of looking at like helping others get the love for being in the children's ministries. So that's kind of where I've been. A little where a little everywhere, wherever I can kind of get in.
SPEAKER_03:I know you guys deacon team, many things, but I do want to, as we were talking before we jumped on the mics, you all have, and especially the We Work theme, a very big heart for parenting. Yeah, you mentioned having three kids. So I'd like to just looking at next year, you know, lifehouse family, they'll be, you know, leading, um, you know, trying to help parents because we were talking, like it was kind of that parenting is work. It's not just all fun and games and all that stuff. So maybe just talk a little bit, you know, especially, you know, just the heart for serving, and that ties in, you know, to your parenting and having your kids, you know, know the Lord as well. That's your prayer, but how being in church, your serving, and and just the work of parenting, uh, you've seen that in your lives, and your your heart for people to know how you work to the Lord as as parents as well.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so I'll jump in first on this. Like um, something that the Lord uh opened up for me uh several years ago, um, was that my first ministry and most important ministry is to my wife and my and and my children. Um and that takes precedent over aside from my relationship with the Lord of everything else. I I go to my job, not because it's that my identity, but because it supports my family and that and that I can do those, I can have that ministry with my family. Um I you know, I love serving at church, but it but it my my my first ministry and the first work, the first job that I have, sometimes I'll joke about like when I get off work that I need to go do my second job, but it's actually my first job like is to tr is to be a shepherd in my family and to guide and protect and and you know steer my children towards the Lord and to to to love my wife as Christ loved the church. Um but yeah, did you have any thoughts?
SPEAKER_00:No, I just think that was like um, you know, such a that was a big moment when you went through with the book. Oh, it's a book.
SPEAKER_01:So there's a so the the great book that I would recommend to any dad who um or any husband is called Family Shepherds.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, that's what it was.
SPEAKER_03:And that was go debuck him if if anybody's looking to jump on that book as a recommendation.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, so and that was um, you know, he's like, okay, I'm gonna do this small group, or maybe it was fours, I can't remember, but you did this book and it was I I fit I could watch your eyes being opened to your role as a shepherd through that time, and it was really it was such a blessing for me because I remember praying back in Florida that I kept hearing that the man is is in char is, you know, the leader of in spiritual matters and everything. And me not having that personally, I was just I just kept praying, God just just put that desire in Jeremy. And he did. He and it to watch that prayer come, even though it was several years later, to watch it come through is just I mean, uh it's amazing. It's an amazing experience to watch that happen. And so he then, you know, started realizing his role as a shepherd, and um that just really became the foundation for us. And it came, of course, at the most perfect time. Ethan was starting his teenage years, and we were like, what are we doing? Like we have three boys, and Ethan's our oldest, and we were just like, What is teenagers? What are we gonna do? So uh he and I have to say, Ethan is an amazing teenager. Like, we don't really have a lot to complain about, but you know, they're just normal, you know, just changes in how you have to change your parenting styles, and and uh we that that was kind of like a pivotal point for us to like, okay, we could continue parenting the way that you know the world tells us we should parent our our teenagers, but the result is that they're not close to the Lord. And our goal is that Ethan would know the savior for himself. And so that was always the foundation of how we were going to discipline him, support him, love him, pray for him was that he would know Jesus as his own savior. And we're very, very blessed that all three of our boys on their own timetable have come to know the Lord as their savior and very different ways, all three of them very different ways. And um, I think a lot of it is God has just put that desire of like we want to walk alongside other families and help them. Not that we have all the answers because we don't, but we want to help be alongside. We want to be in community with other parents that are like wanting to do biblical parenting and just support and community of teenagers. And now we have an adult, you know what it's like to be a parent of an adult at the same time as a parent of a 10-year-old. Like there's very wide log differences in ages, but and they you have to parent them all so differently just for where they are, but be how to be filled with the spirit in your parenting. And we we want to walk alongside other parents and help them with that and just be part of the community with that and support them as we continue to you know bring up our children. And Jeremy's been leading small groups with for fathers, and um we will be supporting other parents as we start the Biblical Parenting Initiative in 2026. And so we're excited to see where God puts it and what he does with it and what um families will he'll bring, you know, together and maybe some healing that might happen. Um it's not all gonna be rainbows and sunshine, believe me, it's not, but well, I think what Jeroby said, you know, too often look at parenting as it should just be this fun thing.
SPEAKER_03:But you said it's not only a job, but your first job. And it is it is work, you know, too. There is a lot of fun and joy in raising the kids, but I'm sure you guys can testify. And yeah, I mean, we'd love to cover it all in a podcast, but I think this is a good preview of, like you said, too, surrounding yourself with other parents, walking together, you know, the old adage takes a village. It it really does, you know, you can't do it on your own. You need that encouragement and you need that help. And it's just like you're not really running a company solo, you know, you gotta have a team. And so, same thing with parenting. That don't look at it as like the career, but I think, like you said, Jeremy, too, like you'll work harder in your job to provide for your first job, you know, for your family. Like, that's why we should be faithful in our work because hey, that's providing for our family as well. We're being derelict, you know, but you don't get it out of order. Don't don't make that the priority in your identity, like I think you said.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you can't make it's a different different priority, different ideas, different, it's a fundamental, it's a shift in your mind of identity, of you know, oh I like when if I oftentimes when somebody comes up to you and is like, well, what do you do? Like, and this is and I'm borrowing this from probably the fan the family shepherds book. Um, but it it's actually really, really true. Like, what do you do? And like half for guys, what we we oftentimes go, oh well, I you know, this is what I do for work, like you know, um, but and that's that's an important thing, but it's not who I am, it's not my identity. Like I'm a follower of Christ, and I'm I am a father to these three boys, and uh I I'm a husband to to Kathy, and then I go to work to do to support all of those things. And I work hard at my work to to uh because the Lord tells us to um you know, whatever we do, do it as to the Lord. Um but it's not my primary motivation, it's not where I draw my value from. Like I've draw I've drawn my value from Christ, and then I pour into my family and support support my family through the thing I do vocationally, which is supporting your family, like you said.
SPEAKER_03:It's it's a tied to it, but not in front of it or above it in any way. 100%. Yeah. So maybe talk a little bit too. You know, you you talked about having three boys, different personalities, different ages, you know, how do you approach that job of parenting, you know, really biblically, maybe give us a preview, you know, give us the readers dive just a lot of prayer.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I think one of the big things is that um Jeremy and I we we are on the same page. How we approach the the child or the problem or the situation is that we're on this on the same page. And the way we get on the same page is through prayer. We spend you know time in prayer with them and with the kids and with each other and on our own. And it's a lot, uh the whole thing is covered in prayer because it's it's God. God has to move with those children. Um, God has to work in their heart to we can tell them all day long, don't sin, don't sin, or don't lie, or don't, whatever. But God's the one that has to work in their heart. And so our ultimate job is that they are their hearts are open to listen to the Lord in a situation. And so a lot of prayer. Oh a lot of prayer.
SPEAKER_01:So I think that an important thing too, I agree with you, um, is uh so much is is caught rather than taught, right? So like if and it really goes back to like when Paul said, follow me as I follow Christ, imitate me as I imitate Christ. So if I don't have it, I need to make sure that I'm following the Lord. And then out of that, out of that that love, we talked about, we talked about love a little bit, out of that love that it that is being poured into me through the from the Lord, then I then I can pour that out to my family. And then they can see that, they can see me following the Lord, and they want to uh, you know, boys and children, they want to follow their parents, they want to, they want in that healthy relationship, they want um they're they want to be like their dad. Boys will want to be like their dad, or you know, um and if I'm imitating Christ, then then they're imitating then then that's a good example. That's the best example they could they're then they're imitating Christ.
SPEAKER_03:And I think too often job and work create negative connotations, but it shouldn't in parenting, you know. We should be truly looking at it as a job and work and a responsibility, but a joyous one. And like you say, it's one where you can imitate Christ and be. It was uh I think it's in our marriage study that you guys were Martin Luther quote that you learn more about Christ through marriage and parenting than you do spending like a century in a monastery. 100%. I've that will draw you closer to the Lord, like you guys are saying, if you're not leaning into the Lord, there's gonna be many moments where you're gonna feel lost and you're not gonna, but the more you lean into him, pour that out into your family, then that is what will create that home environment and the job goes well, the work is is blessed rather than drudgery and like oh, I don't want to go home. I want to go probably like why a lot of guys go in their work because they're not taking joy in their job as family, I would say.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And another thing that like like I don't want everybody's gonna struggle with like they and my kids are gonna have to have their own relationship with the Lord, um, but I want to set them up for success. Um, and I want and and the way I can do that is to help disciple them, to to get them, to walk with them in the word, to do, you know, we can have family devotions, spending one-on-one time with them, talking, talking with you know with them about what's going on in their in their lives, uh, you know, what's going on in their walks, um, diving in, opening up the word with them um on a daily basis, um, and just having them build that foundation so that they they know the truth because when they go out in the world, um there the world's gonna come at them hard. And you know, it no matter if you go to a Christian school or if you go to a public school or if you're homeschooled, eventually you're gonna be out in the world. And the world's gonna come at you, and you need to have that foundation of biblical truth, knowing who you are, you know, um in Christ, uh, so that you can stand up to that, to that, uh, to that battle that's coming on you.
SPEAKER_00:So we yeah, we see that with Ethan. He's in uh he goes to UD and it's a blessing to watch all those times that we sat there doing family devotions and just conversations and and he loves music, loves music. And so he will several times come up and be like, Mom, listen to this song. And honestly, he loves Christian rap, and I it's not my cup of tea, but I will listen to it and I'll be like, What is the message that you're getting out of it? And then he can relate it to a situation he's had, and it opens up these conversations of like, you know, this is what's happening, and but to watch that foundation being built, watching Jeremy and I, you know, I I'm right beside him, but he's pulling those kids out, you know, and sitting down and having time with the Bible with them and talking to them, and because he's the man. And not that I can't do it, but I don't know what it's like to be a boy growing up and to be a man. So, like he's taking you know precedence of that and doing a wonderful job with it. And it's it's really such a blessing to watch a child who is literally in the world right now, and he is standing firm and he has his struggles and he's open to talking about it and saying, you know, like this was really hard or this was a temptation or whatever. But all that foundation work, all of those those opportunities where he's still coming to us and still talking to us, and we have a teenager in in high school, same situation, and even our you know, fourth grader who's in a Christian school still has their problems and they're still coming to us, and that's because the relationship that they see is that we are open with their each other, but we're also open with the Lord. And again, they are watching us walk through the with the Lord, and they're seeing us, you know, go through the the daily serving of you know being with the Lord and and taking that time and setting that foundation. And they are also they're mimicking us, and it's really it's it's a blessing to watch. I didn't have to tell them to set time away to do their devotion. I I never said, okay, this is on your choice, you're going to do your devotion for for so many minutes. And you know, they took the initiative and they do it themselves because it is important because they have seen us do it. And it's it's really it's it's amazing to watch our children use the foundation that Jeremy has poured into them in the real world. And it's sometimes scary, not gonna lie, it's scary too, but it is and the important part is you put in the work to build the relationship.
SPEAKER_03:You know, again, kind of hitting on that theme of parenting as work is if you don't put in the work and then you wonder why your kids don't trust you, why they're running to the world, why they're rebelling, it's because you probably haven't put in the work to truly build a relationship, like marriage, all these kind of things we're talking about. It takes work, you know, even our relationship with the Lord, it won't grow if we're not serving and putting in some level of effort, not to earn favor or earn our salvation, but if you want to nurture and grow that relationship. So whether it's parenting, marriage, all of those things, I think that's the theme that you guys are hitting on. And and while church is important, you have to do that discipleship at home. It can't be abdicated like, well, we'll just take them to church on Sunday, maybe we'll send them Wednesday night. The rest of the week we won't do any work, you know, at all. Well, and then you wonder why the kids are being discipled by the school system or society or culture or screens, you know, it's too easy these days to just put a screen in front of your kids and and do what you want. You know, you're not working, you want to be easy about it. So I think some themes we're picking up there.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So just a thought I was having as you were speaking, like, is that as I said earlier, like our children ultimately have to make their own choices. And they would when they grow up, they make their own choices and and but the they're not gonna have that foundation if we don't put in the work. Like so they they're not gonna have like if we don't put in that work like that that you're talking about, they they're definitely gonna be, you know, uh at an on a sh at a disadvantage when you when you come when you go out into the world and they are to make those choices and how what am I gonna do? Am I gonna follow Christ? Am I gonna or am I gonna go through this other thing that you know is not following Christ? Um so the work is important. Like the work putting in the work today is important, even if they don't, even if they make a choice down the road that is not that is contrary to what I what what I would believe, the work is still important and it's still relevant and it's still valued, it still has value.
SPEAKER_03:Well, Jeremy and Kathy, it's been awesome time with you guys hearing your story leading into just the work you do here at Lifehouse, but also the work you guys do at Parents. Looking forward to the work you'll be doing leading in 2026, depending on audience when they're listening. But certainly at Lifehouse, we have a big heart to help parents, to walk, to grow. You know, it really is family, you know, like we talked about. So I know you guys will be looking forward to that as well. But any kind of closing thoughts, you know, whether it's the appliance repair man or you know, the shifts of you know, family shepherding.
SPEAKER_01:No, I mean, I was just uh I I when you asked about uh us coming on, I just thought maybe you'd reach the bottom of the list or something. Absolutely not.
SPEAKER_03:I admit it. Two of my favorite people. All of my guests are good people.
SPEAKER_01:But we appreciate you having us on. It's been a great time talking.
SPEAKER_03:So Lifehouse family, certainly look for that next year. And you know, hopefully this episode has brought you maybe that paradigm shift. Maybe if you haven't had that appliance repair man, you need to get into church, be serving, you've been kind of hanging out, or maybe that shift of, hey, parenting, I need to get involved, get more engaged, you know, treat it more as the work that God's meant to be. We hope this episode's helped you, encouraged you, and uh we'll look forward to seeing you all next time. Thanks for tuning in to the Life Talk Podcast. If this episode encouraged you, please be sure to like, comment, subscribe, and leave a review so others can find this content as well. And we'll look forward to seeing you next Monday for another great episode.
