247 Stories Series: Exciting Adventures Follow Radical Obedience with Susan Zobrist

*DISCLAIMER* This episode includes one portion with thematic descriptions, so please use discretion.

 

247. Stories Series: Exciting Adventures Follow Radical Obedience with Susan Zobrist

 

**Transcription Below**

 

Isaiah 30:21 (NIV) Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

 

Questions We Discuss:

1. When did you begin following Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

2. How did life change after that point, including the highs and lows as you progressed in your Christian walk?

3. What were some surprising adventures God called you into?

 

Susan Zobrist serves as a Director at the South Side Christian Academy.  She takes care of the daily routine needs at the school, teaches chapel, and oversees the student and family files.  Her husband, Chad, serves as the board president in addition to his full time job.  Chad and Susan have four adult daughters and four wonderful sons-in-law.  They are settling into life with an empty nest and enjoying their grandchildren.

 

South Side Christian Academy

 

Previous Episode featuring Susan Zobrist on The Savvy Sauce:

Following God's Leading with Susan Zobrist, Cassie Meiss, and Lisa Waibel

 

Thank You to Our Sponsor: Midwest Food Bank

 

Connect with The Savvy Sauce through Our Website

 

Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

**Transcription**

 

[00:00:00] <music>

 

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

 

[00:00:18] <music>

 

Laura Dugger: Thank you to an anonymous donor to Midwest Food Bank who paid the sponsorship fee in hopes of spreading awareness. Learn more about this amazing nonprofit organization at MidwestFoodBank.org. 

 

My delightful returning guest for today is Susan Zobrist. You may remember her from Episode 133, which I'll make sure to link in the show notes. But Susan is so wonderful that I wanted to invite her back so that she could elaborate on her testimony and the mighty ways that she's experienced God's gift of grace and timing. 

 

Susan is wife to Chad, mother to four adult married daughters, and grandmother to four grandchildren, who are all three and under. Susan is still the director at Southside Christian Academy, and now she's going to share some of her highs and lows of walking with the Lord over the past few decades, along with some incredible adventures that happened along the way. [00:01:31] 

 

I learn so much from Susan every time I'm in her presence, and I believe you're going to also end this time more inspired to obey God in whatever call He's putting on your life currently. 

 

Here's our chat. 

 

Welcome back to The Savvy Sauce, Susan.

 

Susan Zobrist: Thank you for having me back. 

 

Laura Dugger: Well, last time you were on the podcast you were sharing more about your current work with Southside Christian Academy. But today I want to go back a little bit further. So will you begin by telling us about your upbringing?

 

Susan Zobrist: Sure. I grew up in a home where I had a mom and a dad, a brother and a sister who were both older than me. We did attend church. My mom played the organ. My dad was involved. I don't ever recall hearing a clear message of God's love for me and that He was pursuing me and wanted a relationship with me. And combine that with the confusing message and messed up example of love I was seeing in my home. I was pretty confused about what God thought of me. [00:02:38] 

 

My mom loved me deeply. She cared very well for me. My dad came and went for many years of my life. My parents ultimately divorced when I was 16. I can look back and see ways in that season that God was pursuing me through different people and through different situations. He provided a really sweet glimpse of a wonderful example of what a family should look like by a neighbor family that really took me in. 

 

Even when my parents were getting their divorce, they had moved overseas, and they actually invited me over there for two weeks while my parents worked through the details of that. So that family just kind of did begin to show me what a Christian family looked like and how siblings should live and how parents love their children and were an example of that. 

 

He also gave me a snapshot of several students around me as I was growing up who seemed to live a lot differently than I did. [00:03:39] They lived with joy and peace. I knew it was something that was attractive, but I wasn't ready to give up control of my life at that point.

 

The Lord was truly pursuing me, and really He could have filled every void that I was feeling, but I didn't care to get to know Him at that time. So I pursued every option the world would have to offer—popularity, boys, drinking, toxic relationships, allowing mental and physical damage to my body. And all these things have left scars in my life, and they never satisfied what I was truly seeking. It wasn't until about 19 years old when I began to see signs of the Lord really starting to pursue me.

 

Laura Dugger: There was one thing that you said that I wanted to go back to. You said in your family how love was distorted. Will you elaborate on that? Did you mean between your parents or other relationships? [00:04:41] 

 

Susan Zobrist: The view of love that was displayed in my home, my parents... actually, my dad—had several affairs while I was growing up. There were times when my dad would move out for a little bit, but then come back, and it looked like everything was going to be great again. And my dad, he was the type of person who gave me everything I wanted, so I kind of sided with him generally. And there my mom was, steady and hurting and sad. 

 

But then my dad would come back in and recommit, and things looked like they were going to be just fine again. So this cycle continued probably from when I was 3 years old to 16 years old. So that was what the view of family, to me, looked like.

 

Laura Dugger: Thank you so much for sharing and clarifying. That makes more sense in those pivotal years developing as a daughter and seeing this as your dad, which a lot of times we hear our dad is the first picture of what we imagine our Heavenly Father to be, even when that's not true. [00:05:49] At this point, did you put your faith in Christ first, or did you meet your now-husband, Chad, first?

 

Susan Zobrist: I met Chad first. I praised God that I started to realize that God was pursuing me in very small ways. I would get a little bit more of a glimpse of a relationship that looked attractive to me, or people who were, like I said, living with joy and peace in their lives, and I was starting to become curious. After a hard relationship, I made a declaration that the next person I dated I was going to marry. Mind you, I was still not following the Lord at this time. 

 

So about a year and a half before I was saved, I met a guy. Actually, I had known this guy for quite some time because I was really good friends with his cousin. Mind you, he was six years older than me. So up till this point, there was no... you know, it wouldn't have been appropriate for us to have been together. [00:06:53] So when I first saw him and saw that he was interested in me, I thought, "Wow, this is the guy I'm going to marry because I declared this is who I'm going to marry." 

 

So our relationship became serious pretty quickly. We met at a party. We spent a lot of time together and quickly became very comfortable with each other. I was still seeking ways to fill the emptiness and heal pain that I was carrying, and our relationship was not one that was moral, but we enjoyed each other. He was kind. It felt good. 

 

Interestingly enough, Chad had been attending a church, and a little bit into our relationship, he invited me to join him. And so we went to church very faithfully. Our lives weren't changing at this point, but we were hearing the truth, and it was apparently penetrating our hearts. 

 

One day, about a year and a half into our relationship, there was a clear message of God's love spoken. There was an invitation at the end to put your hope and faith in Jesus Christ. [00:07:58] And while the pastor prayed, we both squeezed each other's hands on notes to the other, indicating that today was the day that we would be saved. 

 

If you've come to know the Lord, you know that there is an immediate just presence of the Lord that comes, and there's a lot of work to do after that, throwing off the old and putting on new. And it's not an easy process, but it's one that He promises to do with us. So like I said, I knew I was going to marry Chad right away, and I'm so thankful that we did. We got married.

 

Laura Dugger: I love hearing the origins and knowing both of you now. When did you find out that he knew that you were also the one he was going to marry? Because you knew right away, so when was it clear to him?

 

Susan Zobrist: Actually, that month that we were both saved and became followers of Jesus, that month he decided that he was going to ask me to marry him. [00:09:00] So that was in October of 1994, and that was a really exciting time for both of us. We were engaged and planned a date to be married in 10 months.

 

We were diligently planning. We were nervous, and we were eager and seeking immediate and drastic changes in our lives, and especially in our physical relationship. That was something that we were like, okay, we know we had not made good choices, so we had committed to stopping the things that we were doing that were dishonoring to the Lord, and we're going to pursue to have a godly relationship until we got married.

 

We were engaged that same month, planned our wedding. We committed to these really major changes in our lives and seeking out Christian friends. We were studying the Bible, and we were doing the things that we felt the Lord leading us to do. And those changes that He wanted us to make were so clear at that time.

 

We had hope. We were excited, and we just really felt like forgiven people, and it was such a blessing. [00:10:04] We took very seriously the verses in 2 Peter 1:5-8, to make every effort to add to our faith goodness, and to goodness knowledge, and to knowledge self-control, and to self-control perseverance, and to perseverance godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. That if we possess these qualities in increasing measure, they would keep us from being ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That was something we were serious about growing in. 

 

For the most part, those months were so sweet and so good. It felt like we were doing a lot of just reorganizing in our lives. We had a tricky situation come up that we had stepped away from a lot of our friendships that were difficult for us to maintain. But someone in our life that was from that season was getting married in Chicago, and so we decided to go and knew that it would be quite challenging. [00:11:11] 

 

I think we thought we could do anything at this point and put ourselves in situations that were challenging because we were so on fire for the Lord, but unfortunately, we went to the wedding, we made one mistake physically, and we got tripped up and I ended up pregnant during our engagement.

 

Six weeks after that intimate moment we found out we were pregnant. We were already engaged to be married in August, and this was in May when I found out I was pregnant. I'd never been so crushed, so embarrassed, and so ashamed in all my life. And remember, I'd done a lot of horrible things, but I'd never cared.

 

I was a Christian. I was staring at a life-changing, sinful situation that was going to have many consequences. I really didn't know God well enough at this point to understand that I was still loved and could be forgiven. [00:12:13] And so we were going to have a baby, and we were going to have to tell our new Christian community, which felt devastating.

 

I do praise God, though, that instead of staying in a place of shame and guilt, we learned what it meant to be truly forgiven by God and by people who followed Him closely and understood the message of forgiveness. 

 

I'll never forget telling some of the dearest people who wept with us and then committed to really walking with us in discipleship. And so we entered that new phase, and we dealt with the shame and humiliation that it brought, but understood truly what grace looked like and realized we weren't going to be perfect.

 

Laura Dugger: Thank you so much for sharing that piece. I wonder how many people can relate. And yet it's so crazy to get to sit here and know Hannah today and her amazing life and your relationship and the way things are decades later. [00:13:21] You've said the word "grace". Just grace upon grace. 

 

So life is changing a lot at this point, because even the timeline from connecting with Chad initially, that time when you thought, okay, well, I guess this will be my husband, how much time had passed before you were married and Hannah was born?

 

Susan Zobrist: We met in May of 1993, and we were married in August of 1995. And then Hannah was born in December of 1995.

 

Laura Dugger: Okay, and then she wasn't the last child that you had. You were on a trajectory with a lot of life change every year. And so even as you look back at that season, how did life change after that point, including your highs and your lows as you and Chad progressed together in your Christian walk?

 

Susan Zobrist: Life changed a lot. I think our perspective changed so much. Just coming up against hard things wasn't quite so hard when we had the Lord in our lives. [00:14:27] 

 

Some of the things that we faced in those years, we experienced three different times... We had three miscarriages. And God just brought several women who had experienced the same loss and pointed me to Christ during that time. 

 

My husband had a bout with depression that was really hard to support. I didn't understand that struggle and what he was battling, but God did. And through counseling and the proper tools, we've experienced victory in that. And we are certain that God is with us in that.

 

My dad actually returned to my life in 2012 after being absent for many years. He had an expectation that I would take care of him. When he returned, he was homeless. He had nothing and just kind of showed up with this expectation that he would just be welcomed back. 

 

As a believer, I studied the Scriptures and looked at what was my responsibility in caring for him, and I found that it was to honor my father. [00:15:35] And what does that look like when you have pain from that and you are upset and frustrated with him and don't want to enable what has happened in his life? Just the choices he had made had led him to a very dark and ugly place. 

 

So I made the promise that he would have food, shelter, and clothing. So Chad and I prayed through it and we took him actually to the Peoria Rescue Mission where he stayed for 45 days. I visited him there. I kept my end of the promise to care for him in that way. He had a heart attack during that time. And so I got him to a doctor. Ultimately, he ended up in a nursing home nearby. I cared for him until the day he died in 2016. 

 

When he came back into my life, I had to let him know that he was forgiven. And I had to do that to release myself from just the pain and the frustration that I was feeling from him. So that was a very low point. That actually coincided with when Chad was going through depression. So just a very, very low place in our life. [00:16:47] 

 

In that time, we had three children in 37 months, three girls, and then two miscarriages in the middle of that. And then we had our youngest two and a half years later followed by one more miscarriage. So we had a lot of life change in those times. But it was such a joyous time too.

 

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

 

[00:17:12] <music>

 

Sponsor: Midwest Food Bank exists to provide industry-leading food relief to those in need while feeding them spiritually. They are a food charity with a desire to demonstrate God's love by providing help to those in need. 

 

Unlike other parts of the world where there's not enough food, in America, the resources actually do exist. That's why food pantries and food banks like Midwest Food Bank are so important. The goods that they deliver to their agency partners help to supplement the food supply for families and individuals across our country, aiding those whose resources are beyond stretched.

 

Midwest Food Bank also supports people globally through their locations in Haiti and East Africa, which are some of the areas hardest hit by hunger arising from poverty. This ministry reaches millions of people every year, and thanks to the Lord's provision, 99% of every donation goes directly toward providing food to people in need. The remaining 1% of income is used for fundraising, costs of leadership, oversight, and other administrative expenses.

 

Donations, volunteers, and prayers are always appreciated for Midwest Food Bank. To learn more, visit MidwestFoodBank.org or listen to episode 83 of The Savvy Sauce, where the founder, David Kieser, shares miracles of God that he's witnessed through this nonprofit organization. I hope you check them out today.

 

[00:18:41] <music>

 

Laura Dugger: And even pausing to go back into that season when you now have four daughters so close in age, how did you and Chad stay united in that time? And what do you look back... you said it's a joyous season, so if you could put your finger on certain things that helped make it joyful, what would you share?

 

Susan Zobrist: One thing that God brought to us in a very early stage of our parenting was the idea of homeschooling. Our oldest got migraine headaches when she was four, and we ran a bunch of tests on her with the help of neurology and things and realized that she just had a trigger for stress that would give her migraines at four years old, which was just something I'd never heard. 

 

So we were kind of thrown into the idea of homeschooling because the doctor said, "I don't think she could make it through a day of kindergarten." Well, I kind of had a different view of homeschooling that I thought I would never do such a thing, but God is so good in the way that He can change our perspective and call us to something that He'll equip us for. [00:19:49] 

 

Those years were a true gift. We had four girls in a span of six years, and so it was just a joy to spend all our time with them during the days. Chad ran a small business in town, so he would come home for lunch every day, and we would have lunch together as a family and spend just such quality time with each other. Being that we spent so much time with our children because they were home all the time, we did prioritize date nights every week, and we were actually in a small group that met every single week. 

 

So we would get a babysitter every Thursday night, and we would go to our small group where we had some of the best support. We were all pregnant with our first child, at the same time talking about parenting. And as you know, I didn't grow up in a Christian home, so I had no idea what I was doing. So Chad and I both were so committed to learning how to be Christian parents. [00:20:49] 

 

Several of the people in our group were experiencing the same thing, but we were blessed to have a couple people in there who had been raised by wonderful Christian parents. So we were on that journey with different couples, and they are still dear friends of ours today. So we're really grateful for that. 

 

Chad and I also found things that we enjoy doing together, whether it be watching college basketball games, or he's a hunter, so I would go sit in the deer stand with him and try to be quiet. But those are things that we just developed that we found. We enjoy being together, and so we prioritize that time as well.

 

Laura Dugger: I think that's so evident, even when our paths initially crossed, and you two would be doing your walk or your workouts at the same time. And I think also we see such a piece of humor playing in the relationship, in your whole family. But going back to the homeschooling, just one quick story. I don't know if I've shared this with you, but I was in town just at the local grocery store, and... I think it was a Sunday afternoon. [00:21:54] We had forgotten something and ran in, and it happened to be a day where all four of our daughters were dressed alike. 

 

And this woman stopped me, and she said, "Oh, four girls so close together. You remind me of this woman that I saw a few years back, and she was dressed the same as her four daughters." I said, "Is that Susan Zobrist?" And sure enough. 

 

Susan Zobrist: Oh, that's so funny. 

 

Laura Dugger: So I counted it one of the highest compliments in parenting to be compared to you. But then there were other surprising adventures that God called you into. So will you take us further into your story?

 

Susan Zobrist: Yeah. I feel like as soon as we were all in for God, it was like there were just so many opportunities that God used to just navigate our lives, and we were very open to just obedience and what that looked like. Whatever God called us to do, we thought we had the courage to take the step of obedience and just thought that's what we do now that we follow the Lord. [00:22:57] 

 

So the blessing of having four children, that was huge. I mean, it just took us on a wild ride. That was such a blessing. Also at church, there was a class that said "how to start a neighborhood Bible study". Well, I thought that was just so exciting because I thought... we had moved into a newer neighborhood in town. Actually, when we moved in, it had a dirt road. And so we were one of the first houses there. It was a spec house that we just took the dive and moved into. So we got to see all the houses be built. We got to see the road be paved.

 

And I was pretty anxious about starting this neighborhood Bible study. There was another neighbor down the street that went to our church as well. And I said, "Would you be willing to help with this?" And she's like, "Sure." I said, "Well, when do you want to start?" And she had the idea, "Why don't we start when the sidewalk gets paved?" And I thought, "Okay, I'll be patient until then." 

 

I had my girls one day go out, put an invitation in every single mailbox. There were probably 65 mailboxes at the time to an invitation. [00:23:59] Come and find out about a neighborhood Bible study for women. Well, I probably had 25 women show up at my house that night for just an informational meeting. And probably over the course of four years, I think it was like 47 of the women came at some point to this Bible study. And it was so amazing to watch God work through me. And all I had to do was say yes and open my home. So that was a really exciting adventure that God had called me to.

 

Laura Dugger: You really do model this so well about loving your neighbor. It seems neighbors have always been so important to you. And even that's how our relationship began. And I'm so grateful. But the power that God speaks in the Bible about loving our neighbor, there was so much transformation that you witnessed. Are there any stories that come to mind even from that Bible study? [00:25:00] 

 

Susan Zobrist: Yeah. I have one that's really hard, and it was very life-changing for me. One of the houses around the corner in our neighborhood... We live in a circle neighborhood. So it's just one circle with an inside circle as well. But there was an older woman living down the street and her daughter was living with her who was probably a little younger than me. And the mom and daughter started coming to the Bible study. They attended the Catholic Church and just really got into the Bible study. 

 

Ultimately the daughter started coming to church with me. Well, she had a daughter who was autistic and who wasn't living with her at the time. She was at a school somewhere else with the dad. And they were living kind of apart. Eventually, the daughter and the husband came back home. And so the daughter moved from her mom's house back to her house but continued to attend the Bible study. [00:26:00] 

 

Well, anyway, on a Sunday, it was Mother's Day, actually, I saw on the TV it said that the daughter of this woman was found dead. I saw it on the news and I thought, "I have to go. This woman has been in my living room, in my Bible study, I need to go find her." And it was the autistic daughter had been found dead. 

 

So I drove to her house immediately and her mom was in the driveway and I said, "Where is she?" And she said, "She's at the hospital. She's tried to kill herself now since her daughter died." And she said, "How do you know about this?" And I said, "It was on the news." And she said, "You need to leave." So something in me just knew that something was really wrong.

 

The next day, I arranged for two of my pastors to take me to the hospital where she was, only because I had built this relationship with her through the neighborhood Bible study and we had become pretty close. [00:27:08] This gal really struggled with trusting the Lord because she thought she was being punished for some reason that's why she had this autistic daughter. And she was a doctor herself, so she thought she should be able to fix her. 

 

Anyway, I went into the hospital and pastor on each side of me. I turned back around and said, "I don't know if I can do this." And they said, "Do you believe that she can be forgiven if she's done something wrong?" Because in my mind, I thought maybe she had killed her. 

 

So we turned around, went back to the waiting room and they prayed with me and asked me again, "Do you believe she can be forgiven if she did something horrific?" And at that moment, I believed God can forgive anything. And they said, "Then you need to go in and tell her that."

 

So they walked me in and she looked at me and she said... I mean, she hadn't said to anybody what had happened. And she looked at me and she said, "I snapped. I killed her." [00:28:09] And I looked her in the eyes and I said, "You can be forgiven for this." And I prayed with her. That moment changed my life and what I truly believed. 

 

I walked back out and an hour later, there was a guard at her door and she was never to be seen again. She has continued to spend the rest of her life in prison. She was convicted of murder of her daughter. I kept in touch with her for a long time. I'd go visit her in jail and we'd talk about how God can love her and forgive her. And she has come to know the Lord. She is doing Bible studies for other prisoners.

 

Even in our neighborhood, I don't know how our neighborhood would have handled such a thing had we not had the bond of that Bible study. And we knew we could come together and we could pray and we could wrestle with what had happened in our neighborhood together. [00:29:11] So I don't know why God did that with that perfect timing, but I'm so thankful he did. You know, and it was life-changing for many of us in hard ways, but also some pretty amazing ways in our lives.

 

Laura Dugger: Wow. There are no words adequate after that, but I think you draw out His timing. Such a gift. And even going back to how you started this, your obedience, simple obedience, He let you be a part of life change and getting to offer her that, that timing is just incredible and really because it's supernatural. 

 

Have you checked out our library of articles available at thesavvysauce.com? New posts are added multiple times a month related to parenting, intimacy and marriage, personal development, habits, and other topics connected to what we discuss here on The Savvy Sauce. [00:30:13] 

 

If you sign up to join our email list, you're also going to enjoy little extras delivered straight to your inbox. Our hope is to encourage you to have your own practical chats for intentional living. So these freebies will include things like questions that you can ask on your next date night, safe resources to read, to promote enjoyment in your intimacy and marriage, or questions to ask your kids to connect at a more relational level.

 

We hope you check out all the available reads at thesavvysauce.com under the articles tab. Okay. So that was a powerful story about what you got to experience through saying yes to God. Were there any other stories that come to mind from really radical obedience, but just simple obedience?

 

Susan Zobrist: I think that experience kind of set the stage for what God can do through any of us when we're willing to say yes. He'll give us the courage. He'll give us the strength. [00:31:14] 

 

So it was something that was just normal for Chad and I was just to take that next step. I really felt the call to pursue overseas missions. And so we would always just kind of take the next step and see where God would take us. And so often God would lead us down a path. It was almost like He was saying, just checking to see if you'd be obedient, and then He would clearly close the door.

 

For example, stepping into a ministry here in the United States, we said yes to that. God took us down a path, closed the door clearly. We were going to go do overseas missions in Germany as house parents. We took our children over there to experience that. And really we got to the point of starting to raise funds and God closed the door on that and said, "I'm not ready for you to go." Those were types of things. 

 

And that was a little bit frustrating because we had seen how God could use us when we would say yes. [00:32:16] But then we began to trust His timing more and more and understand that His plan is best and that we shouldn't push through doors that were closing.

 

Ultimately, I just continued to have a stirring in my heart for ministry. I was a stay-at-home mom full time. But it was starting to get to the point where my kids were... some of them had gone to school at that point. So I wasn't homeschooling everybody anymore. And I had some extra time on my hands. So I looked for ways to volunteer.

 

I ended up doing that in the south side of Peoria through delivering groceries to elderly people. That was something really scary at first for me. But building relationships with these older women who just needed their physical needs met, that was really satisfying. And God just blessed me to be able to do that. 

 

And then ultimately, God laid on my heart to start a school on the south side of Peoria. And that was something that God had stirred in me earlier on. [00:33:16] I thought about starting a school for homeschool students where we could kind of do a collective school together when I felt like, you know, we were meeting together anyway. Why don't we do a school where we could collaborate in that way? 

 

I had a heart to do this, but then I shared it with a friend and she said, well, why would you do that where people have access to a Christian school? Why wouldn't you do that on the south end of Peoria? And I thought, Wow, God had just placed me on the south end of Peoria. And it started to make a lot of sense. 

 

So He opened the doors for us to start a Christian school on the south side of Peoria for parents who desired a Christian education or some alternative education who couldn't afford what was offered in Peoria. So that led to that.

 

Laura Dugger: Which is incredible to hear these little seeds. Was that Cassie Meiss?

 

Susan Zobrist: Yes.

 

Laura Dugger: We'll, again, link to that episode where you and Lisa and Cassie shared the full story of Southside Christian Academy. [00:34:16] But I love, even looking back in your story, how God would test you and give you something, and then if He closed the door... I remember Him even speaking to "thank you so much for your obedience, but this is not what I have for you."

 

It even makes me think of Joseph in the Bible where you were given this vision of the school I think when your kids were really little. And you started a binder for it. 

 

Susan Zobrist: Ten steps to start a school. 

 

Laura Dugger: But then just like Joseph, that dream, He still had a plan for it, but the timing was probably a lot longer than you initially anticipated. Will you just catch us up, though, on SSCA? Where are you at presently?

 

Susan Zobrist: Sure. We are currently in our ninth year of school. We have over 100 students that we are serving on the Southside of Peoria. We are fully staffed in a K-8 school with several volunteers and wonderful people who are supporting. [00:35:17] Our finances are great. We're so thankful for donors who have just poured into the school that that's something that we don't have to worry about. But God is surely blessing the ministry.

 

Laura Dugger: Yes, indeed. It's apparent to see. And even one more piece, that zip code where the school is located, that's unique, too.

 

Susan Zobrist: Can you share why? Sure. The 61605 zip code in Peoria is one of the 100 poorest zip codes in the country. So the support that families have in the schools, they're a poor school system that does their best with what they have. But it's kind of a broken area that I do feel. That there is hope that maybe these students who are being educated and who are hopefully going to be drawn to the Lord at some point in their lives would come back into that area and pour back into it and make it a place that will thrive someday.

 

Laura Dugger: And have you seen any life change? Are there any students that have put their faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior? [00:36:20] 

 

Susan Zobrist: We definitely believe there are some. What that looks like looks a little different than when I saw it in my own children. But, yeah, we are nurturing them, we are discipling them, and we are walking alongside in however way we can do that to be sure that they are discipled in the truth.

 

Laura Dugger: Incredible what you're consistently doing. And just a good reminder for us to be praiseful as well. But, Susan, I've always admired the way that you parented your four now adult and married daughters. But when you reflect back over the years, what would you say were some things that worked best for raising them?

 

Susan Zobrist: I would say number one, we always prioritized church together. So we took our kids to church. We had them sit in the pews with us.  We took them to Sunday school. We took them to Wednesday night activities. That became their community and their family. [00:37:25] 

 

I feel like that was something that we allowed other people to speak into our children at a very young age. And they were used to that where there was accountability with other families. And that was huge, especially at the beginning of when we were raising our children.

 

I do think, too, having a consistent routine was so helpful in our home. Kids really do best when they know what to expect. I would just encourage people to be thoughtful about that plan. Because whether it's what to serve for dinner, what the plan is for the week, if it's can we order soda tonight at the restaurant, let those things be known prior because it just takes the anxiety and the questioning out of your kids when they know what to expect.

 

It makes far less arguments. And having to deal with real difficult moments and setting the tone proactive instead of reactive, that was so good for us. [00:38:26] We didn't do that perfectly ever but we got better at it as our parenting grew. 

 

I would say consistency and discipline. Same kind of thing. This was kind of ridiculous. But remember, too, we were coming out of a life of chaos and no discipline in our lives to a very structured way. When we threw off the things that didn't please the Lord and were trying to put on the things that did, we had a really hard time not becoming legalistic. That was really challenging for us because we had to say hard no's to things that were temptations in our lives. 

 

We wanted to see our kids not have those temptations around them, so we had some hard, fast no's that probably looked legalistic and probably were. And we were, thankfully... like we grew out of those as we grew stronger in the Lord. And we had his strength to say no to things so we could be around things. [00:39:34] 

 

But the discipline, the consistent discipline, our kids knew if you did this, this is what you have chosen as discipline, as correction. Because we're going to make that very clear to you that it is your choice how you're going to live. So if you choose this, then this. We actually had a chart up that said, if... then; if... then. And... I don't know. I mean, we learned to be more flexible. But in the very early years, I think it was really good for our kids to know what to expect.

 

Laura Dugger: I think that's so helpful. Even Mark is reading a book right now by Craig Groeschel and it's a lot about making pre-decisions wherever possible and kind of what you're speaking to. But then, can you just give one example of an "if... then" for a parent to grab onto? If my child talks back or if they blatantly disrespect us, what was a consequence that helped? [00:40:36] 

 

Susan Zobrist: Consequences were different for every child. That's for sure, too. Because it's not a one-size-fits-all. We got to know the hearts of each one of our children. Something that worked for Hannah, our firstborn, certainly didn't work for Natalie, our second born. Their personalities were way too different.

 

For example, we didn't do disrespect. So, good example. But if you speak disrespectfully, you would get your mouth washed out. And it was rare. I mean, we had to do that very few times because they knew what that was going to be like if it happened. By the time they were old enough to really make the choice, they weren't going to choose that. And I do believe the "if... then", but our kids also did, I feel like, made a commitment to the Lord at early ages. And I saw conviction in their hearts pretty young, which was just a gift from the Lord, honestly. [00:41:40] 

 

I feel like training was very, very firm for probably the first five years. And then moving forward from there, it was... you know, they just knew what to expect.

 

Laura Dugger: And then even fast forwarding to present day, they all seem to be best friends with each other and with you and Chad. Still a very close family. Would you agree?

 

Susan Zobrist: I would. I would. It's really neat to see our four girls live in different places. I have been so blessed to watch them prioritize visiting each other one-on-one. I get a little jealous. I'm like, I wish I was there. But it's such a gift to watch them, you know, have relationships with each other from the youngest to the oldest to the middle two. You know, it's really sweet.

 

Laura Dugger: I think that's always a helpful vision to know what's true in our present reality, if we are in a season of really heavy discipline, to know, fast forward a few years and it will look very different. [00:42:42] That was super helpful because it was talking about parenting those little years. But do you have any other things upon reflection that you would recommend for those middle and bigger and even adult stages of parenting?

 

Susan Zobrist: Back to middles kind of and maybe into bigs, I see a lot of parents fearing like rebellious children and if I have too many rules, they're going to rebel. I guess something that we really worked through was when we're expecting our children to live counterculturally, we have to be willing to do it too. You know, I've seen parents who don't do that, but want their children to live that way. So we made a choice as a family to do that. And it was difficult. It's a lonely place at times. But being committed to that, I think, and holding fast to that, but also having each other was really helpful. [00:43:44] 

 

One example. So our second daughter, Natalie, she had a group of friends who really liked movies, like watching movies at the time. And that was when you had to go to the movie store and like rent movies. And she was just like, "What movies can I even watch?" And she would ask that. So every time they'd go to the video store, I'd go to the plugged-in movie reviews, write down a bunch of movies. She would have them in her pocket and she would pull them out and say, "How about this movie?" And then they would be like, "What about this movie?" And she's like, "Well, it's not on my list." She got braver and braver to do that. But it was hard. But eventually she was respected for her opinions and her thoughts.

 

Ultimately they did become her own. They weren't hers at first, but she was steadfast in obeying. And then her heart grew to, okay, I get why they're doing this. 

 

So being consistent and sticking with your idea that you need to live according to a certain way, even when it's really hard. [00:44:51] But not expecting only your kids to do it if you're not willing to do it as well, because they see it. 

 

A couple other things. Just home management in those times. I feel like that was something that was really important to us. So having a calendar on the wall that showed what was going on. Again, it's just expectations that they can see what's going on. 

 

Chores and lists and cleaning schedules, having toilets on Tuesdays, whatever. And having everyone have a little bit of responsibility in that. We didn't make our kids do terribly amounts of chores, but it was good. They still remember. "Remember when we used to clean our baseboards every week?" And I'm like, "Yeah, hasn't been done for a long time."

 

Meal planning.  Like getting a grip on that from the beginning and getting them involved in that. And now I'm watching them all cook. And they love cooking. They do a really good job of meal planning and going to the grocery store and having a plan while they're having little kids too. [00:45:55] 

 

Intentional play dates. Being the house where people want to be. It's hard to allow your child to go to somebody's house these days. And so being the house that's always okay to say, "Sure, let them come. Sure, have them over" because that's going to be important in how they develop. 

 

One other thing just as they got older. Trust your children. Really believe them. When they say something, truly believe them until they prove you wrong. Don't think they're going to do something wrong. That was something we always just tried to really trust them and give them the freedom that was appropriate. 

 

We were taught very early on, probably beforehand, our oldest was even born, about a funnel. And just to start the funnel so small, and then as they go, you'll just see what you can trust them with. [00:46:55] And don't give that trust to them until they're trustworthy in it. But you'll know, and you'll be able to just open that funnel more and more and more as they get older and as your relationship develops with them. But just give them opportunity to be trusted was a big deal for us too.

 

Laura Dugger: Okay, Susan, so we've covered a lot of phases, but you're also in this unique time where now your daughters are married. They're having kids of their own. So I'm sure your relationship with them has gone through waves and different changes. What wisdom would you share for how you're relating to them now?

 

Susan Zobrist: So, initially, when our children have gotten married, and they don't live in town, because the ones that we don't see as often, we would have a weekly FaceTime. We would sit on the couch, they would sit on their couch, and we would catch up on the week. We'd, of course, talk little bits here and there during the week as well. But we made that a priority. And it was a great way for Chad and I to catch up with the couples. [00:47:59] 

 

Well, then grandkids started coming. And so I would talk with my daughter and her children during the week, and then Chad would do the same. So we kind of lost that one-on-one time with the adults, and it became more about the grandchildren. That was really fun, of course, but we never got great conversation with the adults who were not living in our town. 

 

One day, my oldest daughter, Hannah, actually called me and said, "Can we talk?" And I said, "Sure." And she said, "I really miss you, and I really miss us talking. I feel like we never get time to just talk about things that are important to us. It's always about the grandkids." Wow, that was really convicting to me, but it was also such a blessing. I thought, Thank you so much for saying it, and thank you that that's how you feel and conveying that message to me.

 

So we have made it a priority now to every other week for sure to have a phone call that's during their naps, and it's just me and her. [00:49:01] And we catch up on the things that need to be caught up on between mom and daughter and friend to friend. 

 

So I would just encourage, of course, love the grandkids and value the time when you're all together but take moments to connect with your children one-on-one. Even dads, you have a really special relationship with your daughters. Moms, special relationships with sons. I've seen that in a lot of my friends. Keep those connections because they're just valuable. 

 

Also, we've made it a point, which I got this from a dear friend of mine, I said, "How do you see grandkids who are living in different states, or how do you connect with your children who aren't living in the same town?" And she said, "Our goal was to see them once a month somehow." And so we've made that our goal. It doesn't always happen, but we're pretty close and pretty consistent at this point in our lives. 

 

So whether they come here, whether we go there, whether we meet somewhere, it's such a priority. [00:50:04] And I think it speaks to our children and their children of the importance that they are in our lives. So that's been a really special thing that we've adopted, too.

 

Laura Dugger: Wow. You articulate that so well. And I'm even thinking of our own story. We never outgrow that desire to be one-on-one with our parents and to have that special time together, that attention. And as Mark and I moved around the country, I'm so grateful that both sets of our parents invested in that as well. And sometimes even living far apart, we would have such quality time together that was deep and connecting. And so whether it's the adult child or the adult parent, I think either one can initiate that. But that is such a good word of wisdom. 

 

Is there any other encouragement that you want to make sure you leave us with?

 

Susan Zobrist: I want to talk just a little bit about the new phase that we're in, being an empty nester and being a grandma. [00:51:03] Honestly, this has been a little more difficult than I had anticipated. And, you know, I'd been a full-time mom for so long, I didn't realize that once they were all gone, how much I depended on my relationship with them and them being present in my home. 

 

I'm so grateful for the ways the Lord prepared my heart for letting go, but it's really hard. But just like every other season, this one takes some real intentionality. For example, I remember looking at Chad on the day that we knew for sure that they're not coming back. So I'm so thankful God gave us in those moments to say, now what, together. Because it's so easy to just go separate ways and live your lives because you're like, oh, it's the same person at the dinner table again tonight. You know, what are we going to talk about and what are we going to do? 

 

Talk about the plan. [00:52:04] Talk about what are we going to do. Remember the things you loved doing together as a family, remember the things you loved to do together just the two of you, and formulate the things that you're going to do together now. Because it's really quiet and it's really kind of lonely once everybody's gone. 

 

Find new ways to connect. Surround yourselves with community of people who are also in the Empty Nest stage, but also who aren't. I mean, Chad, he sticks around kids all the time because that gives him life. And I just have been able to form deep friendships with people who are in my stage. But he has to keep the younger families be connected to them. He'll be like, Hey, I'll watch your kids because he just enjoys that, you know. He knows what he needs to do to stay from getting depressed again or lonely and those types of things. [00:53:05] 

 

Do whatever it takes to get yourselves right physically, mentally, emotionally. Exercise. It's so big because you can just become kind of slumped, you know, in a slump and not feel active like you used to be when you were running kids here and there and going to their events and things like that. It's like you can sit on the couch whenever you want and that's not going to make you feel good physically, mentally, and emotionally. 

 

Go to a counselor together and say, now what? Can you help us? Because this is a really big life change. Be proactive and not reactive when some of those really hard moments come. Go get your well checkup from your doctor. Figure out your hormones because you change. I mean, we're getting older and our bodies are changing. And we want to be good physically to play with our grandkids and emotionally and mentally to take on the cares and the burdens that they have, too. [00:54:05] We're watching our kids go through hard things now as adults and their families and we want to be well to walk alongside with them.

 

So, it's not a time to just fall apart and deteriorate and sit and be lonely and sad. We want to be the best we can be for these next years, too. So, that's something that's been... it's new and it's hard. It's really hard.

 

Laura Dugger: But I think it even circles back to that first scripture that you were teaching us about continuing to add to this thing. And you said, God will be with us every step of the way with progressive sanctification. But I think that's a really good practical example of it.

 

Well, this time has been amazing, but you know that there's still one more question coming because we are called The Savvy Sauce because "savvy" is synonymous with practical knowledge. And so, as my final question for you today, Susan, what is your savvy sauce? [00:55:06] 

 

Susan Zobrist: My savvy sauce currently is to be rooted and stay rooted in God's word and in community with His people. That's based on Psalm 1:3. Just, you know, a tree planted by streams of water yields fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. I feel like we were kind of starting to wither. And it's because we didn't care for ourselves. And so, it's like, okay, replant, you know, get rooted even deeper and stay in His word and in community and fellowship with His people.

 

Laura Dugger: I think that is so encouraging as well. Because even if we've gotten a little off track or fallen off somewhere, we can course correct with the Lord and it can be reinvigorating. 

 

Susan Zobrist: Absolutely.

 

Laura Dugger: But truly, in every season, you have been such a gift. I remember the first time that my sister-in-law, Amanda, introduced us when we were just first moving into our first home and you were instantly a friend. [00:56:08] You were someone I could turn to for parenting advice. Chad would give us a hard time when we would get pregnant with number three and four. And he'd say, "Congrats on the girl." And we're like, "Well, we don't know yet."

 

Susan Zobrist: Oh, we know.

 

Laura Dugger: He said, "Oh, we know how this goes. It's a girl." Which he was right every time. But you have been such a blessing and a mentor and a friend. And now it's fun to be friends with your daughters as well. We just love your family so, so much. You're very dear. And thank you for being willing to share your story today.

 

Susan Zobrist: Thank you for the opportunity. And thank you for your ministry. It's such a blessing to so many. And I just pray that it continues to do that.

 

Laura Dugger: Thank you.

 

One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term "gospel" before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news. Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. [00:57:08] 

 

This means there is absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved. We need a Savior.

 

But God loved us so much, He made a way for His only Son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with Him. That is good news.

 

Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus. We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us.

 

Romans 10:9 says that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. [00:58:12] 

 

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

 

If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring Him for me, so me for Him. You get the opportunity to live your life for Him. And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So you ready to get started? 

 

First, tell someone. Say it out loud. Get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes & Noble and let me choose my own Bible. I selected the Quest NIV Bible, and I love it. You can start by reading the Book of John. 

 

Also, get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. [00:59:18] I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps, such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you. 

 

We want to celebrate with you too, so feel free to leave a comment for us here if you did make a decision to follow Christ. We also have show notes included where you can read Scripture that describes this process. 

 

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

 

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