#163: Alexandra Hoover: Eyes Up
Alexandra Hoover wants to help you remember the goodness of God.
In our conversation, we talk about what it means to get to know God personally, how to see God's goodness, and how the presence of pain doesn't mean the absence of God.
Links:
https://www.alexandravhoover.com/
EP. 163
Tony: [00:00:00] Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Reclamation Podcast, where our goal is to help you reclaim good practices for faith and life. I'm Tony. And today is episode 163 of the podcast where I sit down with author, speaker and theologian. Alexandra Hoover. She's got a brand new resource out all about how God brought you this far and he won't stop.
Now. I think you're absolutely going to love this conversation. She's got an incredible heart and a great story. She also has love for the local church that really just absolutely speaks to. And if you do love this conversation, do me a favor, hit that subscribe button, wherever you listen to podcasts, leave a rating or review on iTunes or Spotify.
And Hey, the biggest compliment you can give us, share this episode with a friend. I know that there are so many things that you could be doing with your time. So I always feel super humbled that you decided to [00:01:00] spend a little time with us. So I hope you enjoyed this conversation and it breeds a little life into you today because we believe that through intentional conscience.
You will move closer to Jesus now without any further ado. Here's my conversation with Alexandra Hoover. Hey everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm excited today to have Alexandra Hoover with us author, speaker theologian. Thank you so much for taking the time to be here today. Yeah.
Alexandra: Oh my gosh. Thank you so much for having me, Tony.
I'm so excited to be with you and spend some good time diving into all that God has for us. It's gonna be.
Tony: So as I was diving into your story a little bit, I it's, it's very it's, it's different, right? Even in the, just kind of the, the beginning of this new book, you talk about how you wrote in the margins of life.
And I'm curious, how would you describe your calling, the calling that God has placed on your life from a macro perspective?
Alexandra: Oh my God. I've never been asked that. I love that [00:02:00] question. I, you know, my Colleen, I really believe I was just actually talking to a gal who I'm in the middle of writing a Bible study for Lifeway.
So y'all just get some fresh new news. I've not even said that out loud before, and that was just breaking news. And I was meeting with my editor just a few hours ago. And I, we're kind of talking through these themes in my life and kind of asked me the same question. Like, well, what do you, what do you really think like your calling is?
And I really believe that God has given me an assignment to, to bridge the gap from people, just hearing of God, to really getting to know God through my experiences. Through through the ways in which I've been met by Jesus. And it looks like me using my words for the glory of God in all sorts of different spaces.
I, I think that because of how I grew up and, and the things that I've experiences, both in my trauma and in my pain, and even now as the Lord is, is redeeming so much of my story. What I think the [00:03:00] Lord has given me to do is really invite people in, to know him in a fresh new way. In, in the midst of their mundane in the margins and they're suffering because I've had to learn about how God coexists in all of our life and the everyday-ness of life in hope and in pain which is a lot of what our faith needs is somebody to really bring us in and say, Hey, the presence of pain does not mean the absence of God.
And I want to help people see that.
Tony: Do you have any thoughts on why we struggle so much? With acknowledging that God can be in the really hard moments of our lives.
Alexandra: Yeah. I think that, you know, when we look at, from the very beginning, Tony, I think even from Genesis, what we see is humans. You know, all of us Adams, we have this like natural bent and tendency towards unbelief.
And it [00:04:00] goes deeper than unbelief. I really think that it goes, it, the core of it is that Satan in Genesis three whispers a lie that says that there is something better out there than God has already given. At which is Jesus. And so I believe that a lot of what we're missing and why it's hard to believe that God is who he says he is, that God is in the midst, even in the midst of our pain, bringing comfort is because we doubt that God is actually good and.
When we're looking at the character of God, we're not seeing God, the father we're looking at either. And I say this not flippantly because I've had to wrestle with it myself. So hear me. I often thought maybe God was a narcissist. Maybe, maybe God's maybe, maybe we, you know, I would hear things like you were here, you were placed here to worship him.
And I couldn't reconcile all of the suffering with a good God. And so throughout the book, Isaac, what we do is we ask hard questions like, God, where were [00:05:00] you when and why? And it's, it's brought me to this very simple truth. And in my, from my friends that are listening, that, that wrestle and struggle with unbelief.
This is what I think that is our Achilles heel is that we do not know. God for who he says he is. We know God by proxy, through our experiences and we, and we allow our circumstances to dictate the character of God. And so instead of allowing the character of God, instead of allowing the character to inform our life, we allow our life to inform the character of God.
That is what I know Genesis three has for us. When Satan whispered to Eve and said, I believe that God is not giving you everything that you need. I think he immediately, she said, God's holding out on me. There's something better out there that God's not giving me. And she began to allow her outward circumstances to inform who God had already told her he was because he already given her everything.
So those are that. That is my cliff notes version of, of why I think we we have that tendency. [00:06:00]
Tony: I love the way that you talk about the Lord. And it's clear that you've got some intimacy with him. I always love to ask people, what are some of the things that you do on a regular basis to stay connected?
What are your, like, what are your go-to disciplines? That thing that, you know, you know, that in order to be the best version of you you have to do
Alexandra: so I I could give you like a very blanket, very like Christianese answer. I'm good at those things. I could tell you that reading my Bible and journaling is a go-to.
But what I really want to tell you, if I'm being honest, if I'm, if I'm sitting down with you and our friends are listening over a cup of coffee, here's what I would say to you. I think that. A few years ago in counseling, I learned that the practice of the daily office it's super liturgical and essentially the daily office is a practice and invitation to three times a day.
Sit still and be with the Lord wherever you are. And so I was in a season of I was just going through a lot of suffering and healing and. [00:07:00] If you know anything about counseling or going back to therapy? It was actually my, it was like my second, second attempt at going to counseling. My oldest or my young, my youngest is six.
She'll be seven. And so she was two around this time. So I wasn't in therapy. And I was telling my counselor like, Hey, I'm having a really hard time, like being with the Lord. And she was like, why don't you try the daily office? And so here's what it means. Three times a day. You're going to dedicate just a few minutes to be with the Lord, whether you're in your car, whether you're in your, at your desk, whether you're walking your kids to school, I don't care where you are three times a day.
You're going to dedicate just a few minutes to be with the Lord. And so what began to happen out of that spiritual discipline is I began to commune with God and the everyday-ness of life. So what it taught me was communion with the Lord and oneness with God. And so it taught me that. Conversations with Jesus as the shepherd, as my friend, as my comforter.
And so I brought him my supplications and I brought him, [00:08:00] I think, giving throughout the day. And so apart from, or aside from my Bible reading and my journaling and my devotional time, I think that my oneness with God, my intimacy with the Lord throughout the day is what carries me most aside from the word.
And it's been the most powerful and transformational spiritual discipline is to talk with God, which is to pray what to pray. And it's, it's been transformational.
Tony: I love that. And it's not, it doesn't seem like you're giving up your whole day. Right? Just a couple of minutes, three times a day. It's just super intentional.
We always talk about it needs to be intentional and relational and it feels like those kind of hits those things. How do you know in your prayer time when it's God's voice and not just you doing what you want?
Alexandra: Hmm. So. And Bible Bible terms and Chris Christianese again, that, that would be called discernment.
Right? So I think from the scriptures, a [00:09:00] lot of what we see from the very, you know, from the old Testament, all the way to the new Testament is that God will reveals himself through the word. Yeah. A prophetic word would always be traced back to that word because it would be a prophetic pointing to the scripture of God.
And so a lot of my, my discernment as I'm praying, or as I'm, as I'm talking to God, as I'm simply just coming before the Lord and saying, God, I'm even as simple as like, God, good morning. Like I give this day to you and I'm praying over my kids as I'm driving. I can, I can easily sense. It's the holy spirit.
When I, when I feel. And nudge. And I think when I say nudge, we all know what that nudges, because we all have it. It's a nudge and it's not something that we could even like bifurcate if we wanted to, or, or fabricate, like it just doesn't work that way. And the spiritual nudge is the holy. Guidance into something.
For example, I [00:10:00] could be listening to a song and something lands more heavily on my heart. I'm like, Ugh, God is saying something vice versa. I could be praying. And I. I'm either. Here's how I'm going to lean the other direction. I could be praying about something and I could feel the holy spirit rebuke me in the midst of it and how I know it.
Totally. The holy spirit is because I don't want to engage in the conversation. Right. Like, I don't want to talk about it. Like I don't want to engage. I don't want to talk. I don't want to listen. You know, more often than not when we are, when we are trying to quote unquote, like hear from God, what we're really trying to do is gather an answer.
But praying is not about getting something it's about becoming and it's becoming more like Jesus. And so like in the midst of my conversation with the Lord, what I'm discerning most of the time is that God is asking me to lean into certain spaces that just need his life and his touch and his breath.[00:11:00]
Tony: That's beautiful. How do you know when the right time to act is after you've fed those nudges? I don't know about you, but sometimes I have a tendency to hear from God and I'm like, I'm going to put that in my back pocket until it's comfortable. And I'm not always as courageous as I think God wants me to be when you know, and how, how do you know when it's like, okay, I got to do something with this.
Alexandra: You know, I, so. I took this test a long time for the friends who do the Enneagram. And if you don't do it, I promise I'm not like some progressive, like .
Tony: Yeah, I do them. I do them too, right? Like I'm an eight on the Enneagram. I'm
Alexandra: also an eight, which is where I was going. I'm in on the Enneagram, super high profit.
So in the gifting area. And so a lot of the time. I am trying to run ahead of the holy spirit in general, in my life. Like I God, most more often than not, God will show me that something is on fire because [00:12:00] I will see. And others will be like, there's not a fire. I'm like, I know, but I see smoke. Like I'm telling you there's a fire because I see the smoke and that has gotten me in trouble before.
Because I will run ahead of the holy Spirit's timing. And so here's what I've learned. And I don't know if this is a, it is a spiritual discipline, I guess. And now that I'm saying it out loud, I'm, I'll resolve myself in that, which is great. I have learned not to act right away. Even, even with like responding to like work emails or responding to the text message that like through me or even my husband or my kids, I think the spiritual discipline.
Of meekness and humility and patience and long suffering is found in just taking every request before the Lord. And so whether I feel a nudge from God whether I feel in touch from him, you know, right now on a Friday afternoon at 4:00 PM. I'm going to sit in it for a little bit and I'm going to pray about it.
And I'm going to ask God for guidance and more often than not honestly, the more that I wait for [00:13:00] for this piece to be able to move forward. More of, than that, I see God either bless that situation because it's in his time more than more than anything. Cause then if I go ahead of him, he'll most often than not, he'll have to come back and like clean up the mess that I've created.
So.
Tony: That's awesome. Yeah. And that, that resonates also as an eight on the Enneagram that sometimes being intentional and being slow is the key to all of it. And waiting as an act of worship as something that God's been pounded in my heart lately, and I just don't do it well, just don't do it well.
Now in this latest resource eyes up I want to ask you about the the subtitle, how to trust God's heart by tracing his hand. Tell me, tell me about that. How did, how did that, first of all, I love the imagery. How did that come? How did that come to your mind and heart? How did what's it mean?
Give us, give us all the deeds.
Alexandra: Man, [00:14:00] this message has been like permeating ruminating, marinating all the eighties for several years in my life. And so a little bit earlier on in this conversation, I kind of mentioned that some of the felt need in the, in the PR the readers' promise. So. I want to help, you know, men and women really understand and know God for who he is.
And so, but before we get there, we have to really ask these hard questions. And I think most of the time I have not encountered one person. So if you are this person, if you have the gift of faith and you're like Alexander Hoover, I've never once thought. I am. I love you and I, there you're, you're a phenomenal human being, but most of the time, everyone that I've encountered in my life at one point and another has had to deal with this resounding and maybe not resigning, but like this undercurrent of doubt, we'll call it.
So whether you're a seasoned Christian or a new believer, there is an undercurrent of doubt. You're either doubting God's character or you're doubting God's hand in your [00:15:00] life. And so. So in the midst of a lot of my own, just wrestling with the Lord, I was very much Jacob. I wrestled with the Lord and I took my contentions to God.
And I said, I want to believe that you are who you say you are, but I cannot seem to reconcile the difficulties of life with with with a God who says he is kind and good and gracious. And so. What he did is he took me on a journey to trusting his heart before I went ahead and tried to trace his hand that to Charles Spurgeon quote.
And he goes on to say a few other things, but the heart of that quote is, and we, we massage it and took some of the, of the meat from it and kind of created our own. The idea is this right? That God gives us all these very specific divine appointments in our life where he does. Oftentimes, we just don't have the ability to see God's hand because we don't know what we're looking for in that same breath, Tony, in that same breath, God wants us to [00:16:00] trust his character, character over our circumstances so that when we don't have eyes to see.
His hand, we know that we can trust this character. There's this incredible overarching story in scripture about stones, right? They're called Ebenezer stones. And they're thought they're, they're found all throughout scripture. And they're also going to be found all throughout this book. Here's why Ebenezers matter.
Ebenezer is the word translated in Hebrew is stone of help. And. The first in first, Samuel, there is the story where you see the Israelites are in the midst of, of war. But although also in the midst of revival and what happens is that God essentially comes in. And rescues the Israel lights from from from from death, essentially.
He does it again. He comes in and he rescues them and he tells Samuel, I need you to put up an Ebeneezer. I need you to put up a Memorial stone because my people are going to forget what I've done for them. And so Samuel puts up a stone [00:17:00] in the name of Yahweh because the Israel lights one day, we're going to look back and he needed them to see what God had done for them, because they were a forgetful people.
Now. Fast-forward several, several thousands of years. We, you know, w we see Jesus, we see ourselves in the story of God. And now what we see is we see that through Hannah's obedience, through Samuel's obedience, through Jesus and his life, death, and resurrection. We now have. Ebenezer's through throughout our story all the way, tracing back to Abraham, where we see God in our life.
So we can trust and a faithful God, because we've seen him move. And he gives us, Ebenezers both, both personally and in our covenant family to be able to look at that. And that's where, how to trust God's heart by tracing his hand came from.
Tony: How do we find Ebenezer stones in our own life? Like when you're, I mean, you're obviously a mom and you're, you're working all the time and like, things are [00:18:00] busy and all the things.
How do we know that that's an Ebeneezer and we should be holding on to that? Or can we just how do we be intentional? You know, marking those God moments.
Alexandra: Yeah. That's a great question, Tony. So, so before I get into the practical ammunition, a really quick story one of my greatest Ebenezers traces all the way back to second grade.
And as I wrote this book guide gently forced me. I like to say, to look back at my past, God gently invited me in for. To reconcile really difficult parts of my story to his grace. And I was, I had to look at the things like if I was going to write to men and women about the sovereignty of God and the Goodwill of God, I had to be able to say that I believed it for myself.
And so second grade, my mom and I are, are experiencing homelessness and poverty and, and all sorts of different things. And. Essentially what I, what I write is a story of my second grade [00:19:00] teacher. Her name is Alice Carpenter and. I don't know if you know, or my listener or our listeners know other friends are listening.
I learned English as a second language. I grew up, I was born in DC. Moved back to Venezuela and came back to the states, not knowing any English. And so English is my second language. I wasn't ESL up until second grade. And Ms. Alice Carpenter devoted her life, it feels like to helping me learn English and.
The woman got me tested out of ESL in second grade because she knew that if I learned English early on and tested out of ESL, I had a higher percentage rate of succeeding in America with English as a second language. And so the woman devoted her life called me up, give me a voice, gave me courage, gave me.
Resilience that I didn't know, lived in me. She like, let me borrow her faith, right. Without knowing with me, not with me, not knowing that this woman would be an Ebeneezer, she did this in my life. And so as I'm looking back and trying to see God's hand, [00:20:00] God was like, Alex, that, that, that moment where you look back in second grade and you see a glimmer of hope, that is me.
And so I began to notice the way in which God moves. I think. I think that because we are so prone to wander that we do not understand that God, everything, everything good. And this is something that I, I love going back and forth with, with pastors and theologians and not, and all the people, because I think there is, it's hard to swallow this and I'm going to say, so here, here are my heart.
And if we can go back and forth or whoever wants to, but. We all carry the image of God. Right? And that that's like a non-negotiable we see that in scripture, Genesis gives an invitation. We all care the image of God. So then I would, I would then based off of that, based off of that fact would then say that everyone who carries the image of God, everything good in them, bears witness to the image of God and Ms.
Carpenter. Bears witness to the image of God. I don't know if she's a Christian. I [00:21:00] don't know if she's a Jesus follower. I have no idea, but I know that God, because of his image in her bared witness to me in second grade, every good thing that that woman gave me was an Ebeneezer that God used. So as I see and trace that that is God's hand in my life, that is provision.
That is his sovereignty and that is his grace. God will use whatever it takes to come after us. We just have to have eyes to see it.
Tony: Hey guys, just pause this conversation with Alexandra to remind you about the spirit and truth podcast network. We're a group of like-minded podcasts. On a mission to help you move closer to Jesus in areas of work, play, and faith, for more information, and to support the podcast network, go to spirit and truth.life.
Now let's finish up this conversation with Alexandra. Now, you've obviously been doing this for a while. You've, you've lived in this Ebeneezer world for awhile. Talk to somebody who maybe doesn't see them in their life. Yeah. [00:22:00] And struggles to see the Ebeneezer. What's that? I mean, what's like the first step that they can take to be like, oh, Hey, that goodness is God, how do we see it?
Alexandra: That's good. So I would start out by saying this friend. I know that the circumstances of life have shown you something totally different than the kindness and the grace of God. And I know that it's hard to reconcile. You're either coming out of a season of suffering or we're all going into one at some point or the other.
Right. And so when we're in the midst of trying to find God's hand, here's what I would say. I would say. From the very beginning of time, God set out on a rescue mission to love his family. Like he loves us. He sees us he's for us. He truly is. They're not just like spiffy Christian statements. God loves us so much that he sent his only son to die for us.
And that is the gospel and good news. And because of that, because we know that God is good and God is good to you to us. When we can't seem to [00:23:00] trace moments in our life, that point back to specific times where God met us, we look to the MTT. And here's why, because the cornerstone became the foundation to be our, our greatest Ebeneezer when I can't seem to reconcile abuse or hardship or difficult things and, and, and deaths in my life.
And those around me when I can't seem to reconcile it because the evil is just so big and too strong and too painful. I look at the empty tomb and that has to be enough for the believer. That has to be enough when we look at the empty tomb, the stone that, that God gave us to build our faith upon that is the Ebeneezer stone.
So in the midst of your life right now, and you're like, Alex, I can't seem to find any hope. I need you to look back 2000 years ago to the life death and the resurrection of Jesus. And I need you to understand that that stone is your stone, that the empty tomb, the cornerstone became your stone. And then now.
You became a living stone. Like you are a walking Testament to God's grace and goodness, and someone's life. You are [00:24:00] the Ebeneezer that you're looking for. And God sent Jesus to be that stone for us when we can't seem to find anything else.
Tony: Whew. Amen. Let's go. Where are we going? Have you ever thought about being a football coach?
Because I'm ready. Let's be in the gospel gets me fired up, but when you present it like that, it really gets me fired up. Let's let's run through some walls
and you know, that is the vibe. Of this book, right. It's kind of a, like, it's a hope book. And I, that kind of the, I guess irony is not lost on me, that you wrote a book about hope and and stones and Ebeneezer stones in the middle of a pandemic. What did you learn about yourself and about God in the midst of that paradox?
Alexandra: This is something that I have thought about obviously so many different times, because I, it still blows my mind that it was a paradox I'm in the [00:25:00] midst of quite literally the entire world being flipped upside down. And I'm writing, I'm writing to people, giving them this hope. And I am in the midst of, I mean, unprecedented is like, Not even right.
Like there, it was just the amount of suffering that we experience was, was unbeknown to so many and a lot of what anchored me that, which is, it is an irony. A lot of what anchored me in the midst of writing was the fact that I'd learned to look back, to see. And so as I was writing these words and I will get so emotional as I was writing these words and I dedicate the book to my kids and I wrote to them, and, and as, I mean, tears streaming down my face, we're in worse, you know, six months into the pandemic, their homeschool, their e-learning, my husband and I work very full-time jobs.
And. Family is sick. People we know are passing away. And we're just, th the collective trauma is like wild. [00:26:00] And so I write this dedication to them. And I, and I essentially say, when you can't seem to trace God's hand, I pray and hope that these words be Ebenezers to you. And the words that I wrote in this book became an anchor to me in the midst of that season.
Like I, I had. I had to look around, I had to look up and a lot of what I heard as I wrote the different chapters. And I, as I thought about you and I, and the folks would be reading this as I want to tell them that I want to tell you all that God is good, but more than anything, I want you to experience.
God's goodness for yourself and God in this chair, in this very spot is where I wrote it. Where most of the time or in my car, I needed to, I needed to give you all practical, like tangible. Examples of that. And the irony was found in the fact that I wrote it and we're in a moment where I had to believe for myself that God is actually still good in the midst of so much pain.
And it was wild. [00:27:00] It was a wild time. It was a little model.
Tony: That's good. I like that. And it's super, I mean you're, you're a great storyteller. Obviously that's a gift that God's given you. But also at the end of every chapter, this eyes up section in the book snooper yeah. Practical, it's kind of I mean, true confession.
I didn't answer all the questions, but I read most of them and I'm like, oh, there's, there's some pucker factor on some of these that are like, they're going to get into your heart, getting into your step on your toes a little bit. Yes. Help, help, help us see the motivation behind, not just, I mean, you did more than just tell great stories, although you did tell great stories, but you're like, Hey, this, the next step matters.
Right? Like what was kind of, what's your thought process?
Alexandra: Yeah. So I think a lot of what we're missing in our faith today is our faith lived out. And I'm, I'm incredibly passionate about discipleship. I'm passionate about us growing in our faith. [00:28:00] Spiritual formation is everything that God's called us to as believers.
And like you said, there's, it's great to tell a really good story, but I want to disciple. I want them to know God for themselves so that they can go out and then do the exact same thing with others. And so at the end of each chapter, we're inviting the reader to ask these questions and to resolve for themselves what they believe about God.
Like I, with you, what to talk about. The ways in which you doubt God, but also the ways in which you're seeing God in a fresh, new way. And I want you to read scripture and I want you to wrestle with it. Like each chapter has an invitation for you to do two things to, to ask really good questions, but also they're a soft place to land because I think that when we see scripture and when we see grace.
Which is I think, and I might be wrong, but I think that sometimes people miss out the grace that is in scripture. I think that scripture feels more like law. And what they miss is that scripture is a grace that God has given us to know him. And so at the end of the chapter, we've got scripture, we've [00:29:00] got invitations, we've got call-ups for all of us to know God and then know who we are in him.
And there's a lot of reflection in that. There's a lot of asking hard questions, right? Like. And, you know, in chapter eight, we talk about this idea of God not holding out on us. And I think that every single person, again, at some point or the other things that God has favorites. And when you think that God has favorites, man, you got to ask the question, like where did then what do you think about.
And when you're looking at scripture, you've got to be able to reconcile what you believe about that. And what scripture says about you as a living stone. So again, there, there is an invitation and also there's a lot of hope in these words, right? Because they're scriptural and I, and I point us back to Jesus every time.
Tony: The favors part resonates pretty deep. Right? Cause sometimes I work with a lot of super talented people and I'm like, well, why can't I have their spiritual gifts? You know what I mean?
Alexandra: Like [00:30:00] literally yes, like, but why, and this is something that maybe one day, and I wrote about it a little bit in the book, but and I'd love to do like a study on it one day, Lord willing you know, Peter and first John Peter gets real sassy with the Lord about.
And essentially says like, Hey, you know, you're, you're, you're telling me that I'm going to deny you three times. It's going to be an entire situation. But then what about John? And then Jesus is like, what about. I'm talking to you. And then Peter was like, what do you mean? Like mad, disrespected? Because he could not believe that Jesus was just like rebuked him.
Peter was like unwell that Jesus had not talked about John. And I was like, oh my God, we're all Peter. We're all literally like, but what about this? Are there not going to have to suffer like me and Jesus was like, what about him, Peter? What do you know? And then he tells him this, and this is so important.
Then he says, [00:31:00] what is it to you? Follow me? What is it to you? Follow me. And a lot of what is in chapter eight is this concept of living us, becoming living stones. As the people of God, we become a chip off the old. Yeah. That's what I'd love to say. Like we become a chip off the old block, like God is the corner.
Our greatest Livingstone that he calls us Livingstone's we become the dwelling place of God is the temple of God. And we become a chip off the old block. We've been given every spiritual gift we've been given everything that we need. And when we settle ourselves in that identity, that's when we find freedom in that.
Right. And so that's a lot of the teaching and the theology behind chapter eight, but it's super practical because we're all like. Where is God and why do they get it better than us so well.
Tony: And you can't get to eight chapter eight without going through chapter seven, which is all about surrendering, which is my least favorite thing in the world.
Alexandra: Quite literally in the world. I know it's so bad. I, [00:32:00] yeah, writing, writing, I mean, every chapter honestly has its own. Like it's, it's going to strike a nerve with all that. Anyone honestly, I think because whether you are, again, whether you're, whether you're coming out of a season of stuffing or going into one, this book is, is teaching all of us, how to resolve ourselves and who God is.
And it makes us ask questions. And I, and I love that for us and it, and it's like an invitation to wrestle with God and come out in revival. Like that's how I see it. Like chapter nine, like we're being sent off and commissioned. With a fresh perspective and with a new identity in Jesus name.
Tony: So, you know, you've written some things prior to this.
How do you know when God is calling you to tackle? I mean, cause this isn't like this, isn't like a, just a Sunday afternoon, I'm going to sit down. Right? Cause this is like a multiple year pour out your entire life, like deep theological dive into first [00:33:00] Samuel. Like how do you know what God's calling you?
Alexandra: Oh, man. I think I probably knew, like to let him know, three years ago I was at, I, I get to serve and work at transformation church. I've been there for a few years. I'm a local church person. And I was sitting in the lobby talking to like some younger folks that are on staff. And I remember reading through second Chronicles for, for fun to be clear.
It was like for fun. And I'm reading through second Chronicles for fun. And I'm like enamored by like the juxtaposition of something. And like, I was like, you guys. Look at God's grace in his hand, in second Chronicles and how he delivered them in a place of war. And they were like, what? And I was like, doesn't that?
Doesn't that move you like, that showed up for them in the midst of their, in the war. Like he delivered them in second Chronicles. And I remember those, it was two younger folks on staff looked at me and they were like, no, we're not connecting with it. We don't see it at all. And I think that's one of the moments where I was like, wow, I don't think we've been taught to see God.
And obviously this is a story [00:34:00] that's been. Again, the Lord's been like ruminating. Like this is something that's like boiled over. It's really one of the themes in my life. But I think, again, this conversation of like themes, I think God gives us all themes and assignments. I really do believe that. And I think these themes are based off of our experiences, our stories and what God's restored in us.
And I'm going to talk to the friends who Grew up in the church, I'm going to lean in for a second and talk to them because I think that they often feel left out. Like they don't have a story to tell about how God has met them and that, that maybe their faith is boring. And so I, for a minute, want to just like give them some expectation and like call them up.
So one of the most beautiful things that I've experienced with somebody who's grown up in the church and has known God is a steadfastness that I do not have. I've been a believer for, I don't know, maybe 15 years or so. And I feel like I'm tasting, and I'm seeing this, this long suffering faith where like my, somebody like [00:35:00] my husband who really essentially grew up in the church, the man has the gift of faith.
More than anything. What I think my, our friends who have experienced God, and for so long, you guys have been given the gift of faith, of knowing God, if seeing steadfastness and love and an a long suffering kind of way. And so all that to say, I think everyone has a theme. Everyone has an assignment.
Everyone has a story and everyone has, this is so important. Everybody has an experience with God that is absolutely unique to. And that is what God gives us as a theme and call. So for me, I take that and I, I feel a conviction to write it out and use my words for most of us. We live that out in the everyday-ness of life, in your jobs, at your, at your school, like your theme and your assignment is what God's given you as your commissioning to live out the great commission.
That's it. That's your purpose [00:36:00] to tell people about how. And so many different ways. So for me, whenever I see a theme I've got a few different ones, I think maybe four or five things that I consistently see the Lord like showing me. And as I grow in my faith, I think I'll see more. But the more we experience God in different ways, the more I think he gives us to be able to go into that.
Tony: Yeah. And I think that kind of goes hand in hand with what you were talking about earlier about being in scripture, because the same themes that are going to be in our life, we're going to be screened themes that are going to be backed in scripture. Right. And so that foundation of spending time with him and being intimate in the word then builds into your own life.
And. That that'll work out. D do you know what's next for you writing wise? So you already got something in the hopper. I bet you do.
Alexandra: I could, you know what? Yeah, so I, I actually just signed to write a Bible study with lightweight women. That'll be coming out soon and we are in the midst of curating book too.
So.[00:37:00]
Tony: What's the curation process look like, what, how do you know like, like this, this is what God's pushing me
Alexandra: towards. So my editor and my agent have to consistently. Pull back a little bit wet, just wait, hold on. So here's what they make me do. I'm going to tell you what they make me do. And then I'm going to tell you what I do when they're not looking.
So what they make me do is they make me write everything down in like a Google doc. And I kind of just, how's all of like my mad scientist ideas and they live there. I, and it's kind of funny, right? Like for me, I begin to notice a certain like fire and conviction for like certain things where wherever I'm speaking or even with my kids, like, I, I feel like something is kind of ruminating even now as I talk to my kids that the Lord is that the Lord is teaching me or giving me to teach to my kids.
Let me say this to the moms and the parents out there. Y'all listen. If you cannot teach the gospel to your kids [00:38:00] in a way that they understand it, that means that you, we don't understand it. And that has like, when God was like Alexander Hoover, I'm gonna need you to explain the gospel in a way that your kids understand it.
Because when you do that, that means that it's like, it is so deep and so embedded in who you are, that you can explain it to a five-year-old. So all that to say, when I see myself, like trying to find words and something in the gods, like doing something with my kids, I'm like, ah, he wants me to like, understand this a little bit, a little bit.
A little bit more, a little more, you know, better, more grow, more well-rounded in a sentence. So all that to say, I put my words in a Google doc and they live there and I'm just, I stay really curious. I stay curious about what, what God's like kind of pricking in me. And I think about the women and men who, who in this generation who need to see Jesus and I'm like, God, what do you have for them?
Like, I'm a vessel. What do you have for us in this season? What do you want them to hear? And so I just partner up with the Lord and I can feel that. I can feel [00:39:00] him doing it. Like he's doing something right now. And so I'm just staying curious and writing down all of my.
Tony: That's fun. I think that, that Google doc is probably worth its weight in solid gold in terms of ideas.
That's great. Okay. So I have one more question for you, but before I ask it, I know that my My listeners are gonna want to connect with you all over the interwebs, where is the best place to learn all things you're doing and, and how they can connect?
Alexandra: Yeah, that's a great question. I am on Instagram is Alexandra Vancouver.
I'm pretty much live on Instagram as much as I can talk to my friends on there. Twitter I'm on Alex B. Hoover. I'm less funny on Twitter. But I, I am still fun. So head over to Twitter, if you want to connect, I'm just not as funny. It's I don't have enough word counts and I'm long and I'm, long-winded, I'm like a storyteller.
So it gets complicated from you on the, on the Twitter sphere. My website is Alexandra V Hoover[00:40:00] and you know, if you're ever in town, I'm usually over at transformation church in Indian land, South Carolina, which is where I kind of.
Tony: R any plans for a podcast for you in the future? For some reason, I, I, I had, I had this thought the Ebeneezer stone podcast.
Alexandra: I know, listen, I do not even have time to go to the mall right now, so, or even a grocery store. So let's, you know, make me think honest, honestly. Yeah. I I dunno, not a podcast. I do. I do see. Probably I'll begin to do some more speaking here and there. You know, as the Lord sees fit, but right now, right now, we're, we're going to stick to this for a little bit.
Tony: I love it. I love it. Okay. Last question. I always love to ask people. It's an advice question, and I'm going to ask you to give yourself one piece of advice, except I get to name the kind of the time period of your life. You mentioned 15 years ago, you came to Christ and I want to take you to the day [00:41:00] after you said yes to Jesus the day after you said yes to Jesus.
If you could pull a chair up in front of that young lady and sit knee to knee with her and look her in the eyes and take her by the hands. What's the one piece of advice you're going to give her?
Alexandra: I would say Alexandra Hoover. God has already well-pleased with you. That's what I would say to her. I would sit down with her and I would tell her, Hey, listen.
I am. So I'm elated that you follow Jesus. The heavens are rejoicing. There is a celebration going on, but I need you to know something. I need you to know that you were already left. That you're, that, that now that you've met Jesus, all that he wants you to do is just to be with him. Like he wants to, he wants to love you.
He wants to be with you. There's nothing that you can, or you can't do moving forward. That is going to change his love for you. I think that would have changed a lot of. Even up until now.
Tony: Yeah. Wow. That's beautiful. Thank you. Thank [00:42:00] you so much for your generosity today. Thank you for your heart. Thank you for what you're doing for the kingdom.
I can't wait to see this book out in the wild and see how it touches so many.
Alexandra: I'm excited. Thank you so much for having me, man. I just
Tony: love this conversation with Alexandra. I love the way she talks about eyes up. I love the way she talks about tracing. God's hand such an important idea. I think this is a resource you're going to want to get, do me a favor.
Go follow her on all the socials. So that way she knows that you heard her here on the reclamation podcast. And remember guys, I'm so thankful for you. I'm thankful to be a part of this community. If you want to get more connected, check out our Facebook group, living the faith Facebook group, connected to spirit and truth.
You can find us by going to spirit and truth on Facebook. And I love to connect with you and get your feedback. You can look me up on Instagram at TW Milt on thankful for each and every one of you. And can't wait to connect with you later this week in our monologue [00:43:00] episode. And remember guys, if you want to follow Jesus, you must be willing to move.
