A Foretaste of Heaven with Rose Folsom
“I radiate the hope of the Holy Spirit, instead of the fear of condemnation.”
Rose Folsom, a lay Dominican, was raised in a home affected by alcoholism. She later dated a young man addicted to drugs and alcohol.
Rose wrote in her journal that she felt like a “shattered mirror.” She experienced intense anxiety and looked for others’ approval to find a sense of identity.
Rose went to Al-Anon. “Al-Anon is a mutual support program for people whose lives have been affected by someone else's drinking.”
This began a journey of healing and new life for Rose.
Listen and learn how you, too, can grow in greater trust and surrender so that you—by God’s grace—radiate love as well!
Learn more about Rose and how to reclaim your peace when you’re tempted to be overwhelmed by anxiety at www.rosefolsom.com.
Lindy Wynne (00:01.132)
Welcome to Mama's in Spirit, a podcast pointing you towards God in everything you are and everything you do. I'm Lindy Nguyen and it's a blessing to be with you. Hello everyone and welcome to this mini retreat in a podcast. And I am so excited for this mini retreat and this time together because sometimes there's like the tiniest things that draw me to someone like I might read the smallest smallest thing, but it, holds profound meaning.
for me and my heart and someone happened to, I think, reach out over social media or follow Mamas in Spirit on social media and it was Rose Folsom and I went in and looked at Rose's webpage and her website and it said something about being a lay Dominican and many of you may know that I live near the Nashville Dominicans and I...
love them and I have been so spiritually fed going on their retreats and things of the sort. We've had a Dominican sister on Mamas in Spirit and I feel like one of my spiritual mentors is a Dominican. So when I saw that and then also someone who's been very involved with Al-Anon and I have been involved in the Al-Anon program which is for loved ones of alcoholics. so Rose, thank you so much for joining us today.
Rose Folsom (01:26.129)
Oh, I'm so excited to be here. know, when we've talked before, I realize we really are, our hearts are on the same page. So this would just be so much fun.
Lindy Wynne (01:35.105)
Yes, it's just such a joy and Rose has the seminar and another one's coming up. Banish anxiety, five simple steps to lasting peace and purpose. And I already know Rose that you have been blessed to go through and to experience by the grace of God, so much healing yourself. And we've already chatted, I've had the blessing of chatting with you and I can see how God has transformed you and been at work in your own heart and life. And that's where...
your peace and your joy and your passion comes to love and serve the Lord by loving all of us. And we all want peace. We all want to banish anxiety. Actually, one of my favorite lines, I don't think we have this in the current mass, but was relieve us from all anxiety. And that's what the good Lord wants to do for us. So in that spirit and in the Holy Spirit, can you open us in prayer?
Rose Folsom (02:29.509)
I'd be happy to in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen. Holy Spirit, we invoke you into our rooms, into our hearts, into our minds, into our ears, that we will experience and hear what you have to say to us during this time together, in this precious time together. We pray that you will be with us always.
Guide us, guide us to Jesus, guide us to our true selves in freedom from anxiety. And we ask our lady to pray with us. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. In the name of the Father, amen. Son and Holy Spirit, amen.
Lindy Wynne (03:20.832)
Rose, thank you for that beautiful prayer. And I loved how you talked about our precious time together because this is precious time. This is time for us to take pause and hopefully grow more deeply, move more deeply by God's grace into the sacred heart of Christ and also to be with one another as sisters and brothers for those men who are joining us in Christ. And so in that spirit, and I know that you have such a beautiful offering for us today, Rose, I would love for you to start at the beginning of your story.
Rose Folsom (03:50.834)
Well, they say that you teach what you need to learn. And that is certainly true with me. I started out, grew up in a, I would say a happy alcoholic family. It was funny because my dad was the alcoholic. was just very, very sweet. And as us Al-Anon folks know, people who have been affected by other people's alcoholism, sometimes we're the crazy one.
Maybe always. And so my mother, who at the time was not an alcoholic, was off the rails emotionally. And I think that's what got, you know, that's what really affected us, a sort of a boomerang, boomerang effect, because she was so controlling about my dad and stuff. OK, so that's in the past. But it affected me greatly because what happens when you grow up in an alcoholic family, you, you
you're always on the lookout for when something bad is going to happen. Somebody's going to blow up, somebody's going to get mad, something very unpredictable is going to happen. And so it kind of keeps you anxious all the time. And it keeps you looking to other people for your identity, for who you are, for your worth.
And that's what has to be undone. I think one of the main things that has to be undone in Al-Anon. But you don't have to have grown up in an alcoholic family to have that issue, to be kind of codependent and be looking at other people's approval for your worth and identity. So that's what I had to detach from. And I tried to, I don't even know what I was doing in my 20s, you know? It was like,
how many boys could I get to think that I was cute, you know, and to like me and stuff. And boy, boy, I'll tell you what happened. I actually got hooked up with an alcoholic drug addict boyfriend, lived with him for several years of my 20s. After we broke up, I was living alone for the first time in my life. And...
Rose Folsom (06:01.817)
I tried to dance club my way to happiness. And I do love to dance. It was fun and everything, but it didn't make me happy. When I look back at a journal I had at that time, I drew a self-portrait of me as a cracked mirror. So that just says it all. I was confused. I was rudderless. I was directionless. I was moment to moment gratification and
Shatter.
I started going to Elanon around that time. And that is when I, know, one of the steps in Elanon is to what I call dismantle your personality. I mean, this is what I did. It's like I took my whole personality, all my behaviors, my attitudes, my expectations. And it's like taking an engine apart. I strewn all the parts, you know, like on the floor in front of me. And
rebuilt that engine in a healthier way. It was the most radical change I have ever made. And it has served me well and it's helped me help other people through the years because I know what it's like to face those things and I continue to try to face those things that God wants to do surgery on me. I just really try to let them do it.
because I know it's always gonna lead to more freedom. Ironically, the freedom and the independence equals more dependence on God. And the reason we can afford to be more dependent on God is because we learn to trust him more. And trust can be a real issue for some people. So to learn to trust God and to trust his guidance,
Rose Folsom (08:00.803)
trust that we he wants us in heaven forever with him. I that's like the main the main thing to know about life really if we believe that if we keep reinforcing it in our prayer life and in what we read and people we hang around with we will be those people of hope that are going to radiate the love of Christ to everybody we meet and that's that's really the goal and that's the change in me I would say.
that I radiate the hope of the Holy Spirit now instead of the fear of condemnation.
Lindy Wynne (08:40.105)
That's major. I feel like.
radiating the hope of the Holy Spirit instead of the fear of condemnation. mean, my goodness, Rose, like that is in some ways like at the heart of life, like the hope of life. And like you talked about like that full dependency on God and that cracked mirror. My goodness, that was that visual is just heart wrenching. And yet there could be many people gathered that may be able to even identify with that right now. And also looking for identity.
Outside of oneself or looking to other people to to somehow tell us who we are to validate who we are Rather than the Lord Rose. Can you dig more into that and can you dig in to more like? Concretely, how did that change your choices? Because that's another thing I know from Alan on is like we have choices. And so how did that change?
your choices in your life. Like for one example you used was the people you spent your time with. Well, you talked about that breakup with that boyfriend who had been addicted to alcohol and drugs. And I'm imagining that you didn't hang out with him anymore after that. And you were choosing people that could help you to surrender more fully and abide more fully in the Lord and make healthier and holier choices in your life to live in this peace and freedom.
Rose Folsom (10:07.665)
Yes, and I would say that it wasn't necessarily an intentional thing on my part because I didn't have the strength even after I was in Elanon. My God incident that really pointed me in the right direction. What happened at an Elanon meeting, I saw a woman across the room. She was wearing a very large crucifix, know, that really sat, especially sad looking John Paul the second crucifix or the
crossbar of the cross is actually drooping, weighted down by our sins. She's wearing this thing, it's this big. And I thought, she's not wearing that as jewelry, you know, she's not wearing this to win friends and influence people. She really believes this. I had never been against Jesus. But when I was baptized, when I was when I was confirmed as a Presbyterian, I knew that I didn't get the Jesus thing.
And I still hadn't, even when I was in Al-Anon, when I saw her. So I went up and introduced myself to her. I just thought she was attractive. She was very, very sprightly. She was an artist. she said, I said, let's get together for lunch. And she said, yeah, OK, that's great. will. Let's meet at the shrine. And I said, the shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC? And she said, yeah.
So I'm going, my gosh, that's Catholic, my gosh. So I met her there and she, we were standing in front of a bronze statue of St. Therese of Lisieux. She said, you know, if you pray to St. Therese, you'll get roses. And I went, like, I didn't know anything about Presbyterian theology. I didn't know anything about Catholic theology. All I knew was I didn't like Catholics.
Rose Folsom (12:02.497)
And I said, so I'm thinking to myself, like some really, you know, devout Presbyterian, I'm going get struck by lightning right now because we're praying to a saint. it started to feel really uncomfortable. Which I did during our entire like year of friendship, because she, by the way, I did get the roses. I called her, I said, my gosh.
You know, she told me to buy the story of a soul, which is St. Therese's autobiography, sort of. So I did. said, I'm going to buy, I'm going to get that so I can show her, you know, I can prove it was like all this Catholic stuff is nonsense. Well, I read the book and two weeks later, I knew who Jesus was. Thank you, St. Therese. But I, the day that the book arrived, there were a dozen red roses on my desk from my husband. And so I called Lori and I said,
I got the roses. I got the roses. She goes, I know you would because I asked for it. I asked for it.
So anyway, so we continued to meet. I continued to get ticked off at her and annoyed and irritated. It's this Catholic stuff, but I kept coming back for more. Like I'd have to take these two week breaks from her, but I can't stand it anymore. It was like being converted by having somebody poke you in the ribs with an umbrella.
You know, two years later I was a Catholic and she was my godmother.
Rose Folsom (13:38.47)
What else can I say? So I did not like God put her there with that crucifix in that meeting. He made me attracted to the crucifix. He made me really like Lori as a person. He did all that. And then when she, this is another crucial piece. She said they're having a Rosary Congress at the shrine and which is now a Basilica in DC.
And I said, well, you I love to pray from Al-Anon. I already learned how to like to pray. So I said, I'd to pray. I'll meet you there. And she was sick, so she couldn't come. So I went by myself and I kneeled down in that chapel and they were praying the rosary. And someone tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a finger rosary.
And so I learned the prayers, Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Over and over and over I felt such a peace. And I went home and I prayed the rosary every night after that. So this is just another example of how God led me, not against my will, but I could never have done this. This was not intentional on my part. I just followed.
I just felt this gravitational field I couldn't resist.
Lindy Wynne (15:03.297)
Yes, yeah, you were drawn. mean, there's scripture about how God draws us to Christ by his grace, and that's what I'm hearing from you. And there's two other things that I'd love. One I just wanna mention is that, Rose, you're really showing why, like I've interviewed.
quite a number of people who have been in AA, Alcoholics Anonymous, and then another person, season one, I believe, a dear friend, Anna, who's been in Al-Anon, and there is such an authenticity and freedom to be oneself, and that's one of the biggest things that drew me to Al-Anon, was witnessing this in other people, and now I know other people who've gone through the co-dependence 12-step groups and whatnot, and.
for anybody who may feel hesitant or or wonder if it's you know centered or or whatnot the the act of surrender that can come from Being in one of these programs and truly going through the steps which one could I think from my perspective? even their spiritual exercises in a sense the self-awareness and
the surrender and the integration and the relationships like that communion, that beautiful friendship that was developed with Lori. Like when she said, of course you got roses because I prayed for them for you. I found that so touching. I teared up by that. That was deeply moving. And then she became your godmother when you were baptized. I mean, that is so beautiful. And I haven't heard a story like that before. So it's just so, so deeply moving. And so
I just love how your personality and how you've been molded and shaped and you said that like you you essentially with the Lord and I'm sure sponsored through Alan on put yourself your very personality out on the table almost like an offering in front of you for to sift through and and to really continue to discover what was real and what was true and how God has.
Lindy Wynne (17:14.637)
truly molded and shaped and created you because what a beautiful freedom to be oneself in the Lord like as we're as we're created. So I just want to mention that because I find it very charming listening to you and I see that because you're so fully yourself and that's very very touching and that's from healing work which is just so beautiful. And then the second thing is I think from a podcast a mini retreat in a podcast I can't remember who it was
But someone said something about like showing others who Jesus is to you. Like how we move throughout our day, just how we engage with one another in the world, like how we do ministry, like who is Jesus to me? Show them who Jesus is to you. And I love that because that's intimate. Like that comes from that deep, intimate communion in my experience. And Rose, I love how you said,
you didn't understand or know who Jesus was, because if I'm gonna be totally transparent, didn't either when I was even, like I had some experience before I was baptized, but the coming to know Christ, and that's really a continual experience, happened after, like in a way that I could really talk about it, like I can now. And so for you, Rose, when you looked at Laurie's crucifix and you're like, okay, that's like a really large crucifix and I don't know Christ.
Who is Christ to you now? Show us who Christ is to you now.
Rose Folsom (18:47.729)
Well, first of all, I think it's different for everybody because we are unique in His eyes. So it's not, we're not here to imitate someone else's experience of Christ, but I can tell you what it is today ever since I've been going to Adoration every day for the last few months. I mean, I used to go regularly, but now I go every day because otherwise since I teach people to pray, as you know, and if I don't keep my reservoir full and overflowing,
God forbid I should give them myself. I only want to give them Jesus, the Holy Spirit. So that's how I keep filled up. So my experience in Adoration is the most intense in Adoration. Other people, their experience of Jesus is most intense when they are helping someone else. So it varies. But for me, it is being in that room with him, whether it's in the tabernacle or the monstrance, and just having him look at me.
and realizing how simple that is. The words that come to mind of being with him, simple, one, eternal, gentle.
Rose Folsom (20:08.429)
All embracing.
It's an experience deeper than emotion. It is a foretaste of heaven.
Lindy Wynne (20:23.381)
A foretaste of heaven. That is so beautiful, Rose. I'm so touched that I asked you that question by the prompting of the Holy Spirit, because that's not an easy question. To me, that could be a very intimidating question even, but I guess I just kind of felt or sensed that you could handle it. And wow, that's profound. That's so beautiful what you shared, Rose, and what I'm hearing. Correct me if I'm wrong, and I'd love for you to expand on this.
if it's the case. What I'm hearing is before there was so much angst and tumult in like the fear of what was to come and not knowing what would happen in the next moment or the next day or whatnot and all that like you said your experience of crisis deeper than emotion. So like there was a lot of emotional tumult in your home growing up and then that sounds like that really continued dating someone and living with someone who's suffering so
immensely so significantly with addiction, just all the unknowns and all the things. And so not only was was your daily life does it sound like like very tumultuous and and angst ridden and threatening. But also we talked about like identity, like not really knowing who's rose like who's rose and all of this like how is God molded and shaped and formed rose and all your beauty and goodness.
And I'm hearing that your experience of adoration is like being found. It's like being seen by Christ in a fullness that's inexplicable and in a presence that's inexplicable because it's a foretaste of heaven like you talked about and in a peace and a serenity that is beyond understanding. Is that true?
Rose Folsom (22:20.419)
Yes, I love the way you put it. Being seen in the fullness of who I am, which means beyond what I even know about myself. Like doesn't matter what I think. It just it doesn't come into the picture. It's only him looking at me in quotes. But let me make a really start. Let me make this really even starker. Before it was that I was following the devil. I didn't know it.
And if you would ask me, I would have said no and I would have been horrified. But what are the characteristics of the devil? Confusion. Shame. Blame. Finger pointing. That's what I grew up with.
And that's what I carried with me.
The Holy Spirit is the opposite.
gentleness, acceptance, trust.
Rose Folsom (23:25.091)
tolerance in a good way, not tolerant of evil, but tolerance of the way different people are, seeing them as God sees them. That's my current project, by the way. That's my current
thing that I'm asking the Lord is to help me because he showed me really starkly just about a week ago that I was not I said Lord if I were to die right now and I and I were to face you like what would I be most shocked that I didn't take care of when I was alive he told me in my heart he said you're not seeing people as as I see them
And then he gave me a really extreme example of how I had just been judgmental toward some people. And then he showed me how he saw it, and it was night and day. And I thought, wow, was I off. I missed that whole positive thing. I just missed it until he showed it to me. This is all happening in your heart in that wordless way.
But so that's my current thing is trying to, when I find myself to catch myself being judgmental and to see people as God sees them, forgive them Lord, they don't even know what they're doing. That was Jesus's excuse for me. I should be able to do it for other people.
Lindy Wynne (24:51.122)
Yes, I love that so much, Rose. if there's someone that's comfortable for you to talk about like how God changed your perception of another and you could even keep it like somewhat like some anonymity with that. But like, is there a specific person that you were really blessed with like forgiveness and healing and that transformation of mind and heart?
Rose Folsom (25:11.557)
Well, I'll tell you the example. answer is yes. But the easier one to talk about because it just happened the other day and it was the actual example that he used to show me how,
Rose Folsom (25:26.385)
how far I had to go, how much I was accepting my judgmental thoughts and not questioning them. So I was walking my usual prayer walk in my local regional park. And one of the places I walk is around one of the baseball fields. And there was some kids, there was a baseball game going on at an adjacent field. Some little four-year-old boys were at the field I was walking around and they were taking
gravel from a place where trucks drive that they had to have the gravel there and taking it by handfuls and putting it somewhere else, you know, that someone else is going to have to clean up. didn't belong there.
So, and then there were some other kids of the same group who had sneaked into another field because they can squish between the gates and they were playing soccer in there. I'm going, they didn't pay for that field. My tax dollars pay for that field and those boys. So I leaned down very nicely actually to the boys and I said, you know, someone else is going to have to clean that up. That's not a very nice thing to do. Well, you know, they're four years old. They got this, you know.
excited look on their face and they go for another handful, you know, and I just left. thought my conscience is clear. I thought I was doing great. And I realized later after I prayed, every single instance in that whole scenario, the kids in the field has sneaked into the field, the kids with the gravel. All of it was 100 % innocent. It was all play.
So why was I taking it personally?
Rose Folsom (27:11.065)
And it's taking things personally that really don't involve us, that plugs into those. It's how our wounds show up.
And so I got a little bit of healing there and I'm working with the Lord to heal that more by being aware when I'm judgmental and flipping it and seeing the positive and making that my story about who I am.
Lindy Wynne (27:39.487)
Thank you for sharing that because we take so many things personal that have nothing to do with us from like very intimate things in our lives to the grocery store to driving just We can become so personally offended Or self-righteous or like all the things very easily Do you have a sense of where and I don't so I'm really asking you Like where in your woundedness that comes from or where you may need healing?
Rose Folsom (28:08.325)
That is such a great question. I'm going to share with you a real bombshell that my spiritual director gave me last time we met. And I'm still chewing it over. So I throw this out there for anyone who needs to hear this. I'm still making sense of it. All I know is that it was incredible to hear. So I was telling him a story similar to that. We were looking for the wounds that would match up with that.
And he said, this is what I want you to pray about. I want you to tell yourself, I'm not in control and I matter.
Rose Folsom (28:51.759)
And I would have never thought to put those two things together.
I'm not in control. means I don't, it's not for me to judge what other people are. I don't really like the word judge. It's not for me to impose justice on people because if they really are doing something wrong, you know, it's a just thought, but it's also none of my business. And it's not for me to do anything. So I'm not in control. And I matter.
And I think I'd always thought, if I'm not in control, then I don't matter. So that's what I've been mulling over for what it's worth.
Lindy Wynne (29:34.098)
That is profound, what you just shared. I am not.
in control and I matter. Rose, I love how you shared something that's so immediate in your past that this is a recent occurrence and also a recent visit with your spiritual director because there is so much vulnerability in that which also speaks to that authenticity that you have that I just treasure. I feel so grateful for that. And I think that there's so much to that.
there's so much wisdom to that because about a year ago I felt very, very hurt about something that unfolded with two of my friends and I had no control over it. And then I would have felt like it had, like it would have impacted my self-esteem per se or my sense of self or my sense of like value. And that is such.
I mean, that's a lie for any and all of us. And like our worth doesn't change by anything external. And we can't change our worth either. Like even the internal things that we think or things that we do, like our worth doesn't change. And so what a profound thing for your spiritual director to say. I think we could all mull over that. I could mull over that.
Rose Folsom (30:47.727)
Isn't that amazing?
Lindy Wynne (31:06.781)
And it sounds like Rose, you stay so engaged like you said, which I love because ministry, everything we do, it's a sacred responsibility. Life is a sacred responsibility. And I think at least I have felt that type of pressure for lack of a better way to put it that like this is a sacred responsibility and.
in a sense, like full dependence on God is a choice because I can choose to try to be self-dependent and not take the time to be in prayer and not to take the time to be in contemplation and not to take the time to get filled in order to pour out. And that is in every area of our lives, like in all of our relationships, whatever work we're doing and whatever work environments because
The tagline of Momma's in Spirit and ooh, this must be providential because Rose, you brought this up when we talked on the phone right in the beginning and I don't think anybody else has ever done that in over 300 mini retreats. You said that the tagline really struck you, pointing you towards God in everything you are and everything you do because it's not like we're called to change based on our environment. mean.
certain socially appropriate things may change but like we are called to be the same and to be in the Lord and I really see that in you.
Rose Folsom (32:32.283)
Praise God. That's all I can say. Praise God. Because you know, I've told you where I came from. And so this is just totally God. And my collaboration with him. This is something I talk about a lot with my peeps. We collaborate with God. It's not like we're totally passive. It's a very exciting dance that we do with him.
that we ask for his inspiration, but then we have to act on it. And we're acting on this simplicity of God in a way that is unique to us. And it's very exciting because it's kind of like, yeah, look what I'm doing now, God. said, yeah, you go, you go. It's just a wonderful collaboration that I have experienced and continue to experience.
Lindy Wynne (33:26.542)
I love that collaboration because really our lives are called to be a collaboration with the Lord. And Rose, you talked earlier about your shift in relationships. How have you collaborated with the Lord in your relationships? Like, how do you spend your time and how do discern who to spend your time with and stay attentive to that?
Rose Folsom (33:47.29)
I think the biggest, I'm basically, I love being alone. I mean, that's just my temperament, know, just the way I'm made. And I'm married to a really beautiful, also semi-hermit. So I love people when I'm with them, but I really love to mull and walk and read and mull some more and...
That's one of that's the main charism other than study. Well, that's the charism of the Dominicans is to contemplate. Well, what do we contemplate? Well, scripture and the spiritual masters basically. But it can be any truth. It can be science, history, whatever. Contemplate the truth and then share the fruits of contemplation. That's what Dominicans do. I was born for that. So I love the mulling part and the thinking part so that then there's something I can share with other people.
That's number one, I'm not a big social person. So the balance that I find, the only thing, the thing came, this came to mind. So clearly somebody needs to hear this.
There's a real discernment in deciding who I should really put myself out for. People maybe who aren't so much fun to be with, who I can really help, who God really wants me to interact with, or people who, and Elanon helped me recognize this a lot, people who are just needy and it'll never be enough.
And they're just kind of, well, if I can use the words, parasites in a way that they, their whole thing is never to take any initiative on their own. They just kind of feed off other people. So making that, and those, those are the people that I would not choose to spend time with. And I don't, not like I meet them all the time, but I actually had one recently. And in my line of work, you know, you run across, you can run across people like that.
Rose Folsom (35:53.39)
So it's like, okay, God, you know, I get to choose unlike before when I didn't know how to discern who to be with. Now I can say, is this really a relationship that feels right in the Holy Spirit? I'm not being depleted.
in a bad way. I guess there's being depleted in a good way, for sure. I think motherhood is probably a really great example of that. So if that makes sense, just discerning what a godly relationship is and what God's really asking me to put myself out there for.
Lindy Wynne (36:37.785)
Yes, that answer is so moving. And what comes to my heart is that I hope for everybody listening that if somebody needs courage to reach out to you because there's so much wisdom in what you're sharing and you're really touching at some of the more like some of the deeper and more difficult dynamics that can unfold yet with clarity. And I guess it was providential that I talked about like how God is clarity earlier.
because that's what I sense in you is that sifting and that clarity and these kinds of dynamics can be very, very confusing. And you talked about coming from a family with a disease of alcoholism. Like these kinds of dynamics can be very active in family life and very difficult to sift through and to discern how to navigate. Yet there always is the goodness of God and there always is hope.
and there always is clarity. Sometimes it just takes wise counsel and help and support and really walking with and journeying with one another to get there.
Rose Folsom (37:42.512)
Yeah, simplicity. Simplicity is like my goal. It's my goal. I'm not even sure I quite even understand it yet. I'm working through it in my own mind, like what that is. But as close as I've come so far, it means keeping our eyes on God, almost like he's a satellite or we're the satellite and he's, you know, receiving the beam, you know, the Holy Spirit beam.
again and again and again during the day and receiving that and being aware that we need that. Keeping our eyes on Jesus, I think, does give us that clarity and simplicity. But again, I'm still kind of even working through the depths of what that means to keep our eyes on Jesus. But if my intention is to do so, I know that he's guiding me in that direction at just the pace I'm supposed to go.
And if he's got his eyes on me at all times, which is very reassuring.
Lindy Wynne (38:38.2)
Yes. Yes, amen. That God is omnipresent and always with us. And like you're saying, always has his gaze on us. And we're the ones that change. God does not change. That's in scripture. But we do. We sure do. And that this is a lifelong pilgrimage. This is a lifelong, hopefully, sharpening and transforming and sanctification by
God's grace and so I appreciate that humility so much Rose. So Rose in closing I would just like to ask if there's anything else that just is on your heart to share and I feel compelled to say also like within the sense of like anxiety or like lack of peace but just anything in general that you want to share before we close.
Rose Folsom (39:25.307)
I'm so glad you asked. There is one thing that I want to say, and that is that, well, just to say again, that if you go to rosefalsom.com slash training, you can sign up for my free 60 minute workshop on how to banish anxiety. But this is what I want to say about it.
that banish, it kind of sounds like you're going to do it forever. What it is in reality, just so people don't get expectations, like they don't beat themselves up because they don't think they're doing it right, what happens is in this fallen world is that we feel anxiety, we're tempted by anxiety almost constantly because why? Because our enemy wants to pull us away from the peace of God. Okay.
So we're tempted by anxiety a lot and frequently, and it kind of doesn't matter how often. We do have some control over it, that's what the workshop is about.
The secret to that is to reclaim our peace, to know how to reclaim our peace when we feel we're tempted to lose it or we have lost it. And there's no shame in that. We're in combat and a joyful combat because we know who's already won.
But down here in the trenches, there's my adoration alarm. OK, turn that off. In 15 minutes, I'll be in adoration. Praying for you all, by the way. Anyone who's seeing this, I'm praying for you in 15 minutes in adoration. But that's the thing. We shouldn't beat ourselves up for feeling anxious, like, what am I doing wrong? You're not doing anything wrong. The trick?
Rose Folsom (41:16.017)
The blessing is to know how to reclaim our peace again and again and again. And that's what I teach people to do.
Lindy Wynne (41:24.065)
I love that reclaiming our peace again and again and again and that we are in a joyful battle. Amen. And that's what I see in you. One of the many things is that joy. It's very charming. It's very beautiful, Rose. So thank you so much. Thank you for being with us.
Rose Folsom (41:41.357)
It has been such a pleasure and an honor and a real joy to talk with you, Lindy. God bless you.
Lindy Wynne (41:47.586)
God bless you and would you like to close in prayer? Would you like me to?
Rose Folsom (41:52.185)
why don't you bring up the, bring up the ending here.
Lindy Wynne (41:55.988)
I will bring up the ending and thank you for your patience because I couldn't remember what we decided. I'm an imperfect human being. In the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Amen. Dearest Lord, you are generous and you just pour out time and time again. Thank you for bringing our beloved sister in Christ Rose to us today to share her wisdom. And I just thank you and praise you for her vulnerability and her openness, Lord, because it blesses us. It goes to show how
Rose Folsom (42:00.208)
Thank
Lindy Wynne (42:24.842)
You first give intimately to each one of us, Lord. And then in our yes, then we can share that just as Rose has today. And Lord, just pray for all of us gathered that we really surrender our hearts and lives to you and that we pray that we sit in the silence, that we go to adoration, that we sit in the quiet of our homes, that we sit in the quiet of our churches, wherever you're drawing us in little prayer chairs and our beds at night, wherever you call us.
And really in a sense at all times Lord, to that place and space that is just so sacred inside ourselves, where you abide and where you reside because you are always present to us. In your name we pray, amen. Name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, amen. praise God. And that's also because I've been poured into by God through you, Rose, so thank you.
Rose Folsom (43:09.045)
beautiful. Thank you.
Lindy Wynne (43:17.779)
And thank you everyone for gathering. is always a delight to be here for these many retreats and a podcast. It's so sweet. Rose is gonna go pray for you in adoration and I'm gonna go get my child off the school bus. But I am praying for you too. And just sending you so much love and reach out at any time to get connected with any specific podcast that may be helpful or if you need help getting connected with Rose or anyone else because that's what we're here for by the grace of God.
We have been so loved like all of us have and just hope to be here for you. Can't wait to be together again next time. This is Lindy Nguyen with Mamas in Spirit. May God bless you and yours always.