God Is the Author of Every Part of Our Stories: Nicholas Sparks & Mattie Jackson Smith
Jesus Calling: Stories of Faith
Jesus Calling
4.6 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 14 November 2024
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today, we are thrilled to be joined by Nicholas Sparks, a renowned author whose novels like The Notebook and A Walk to Remember have touched hearts around the world. While many know him for his captivating love stories, few realize that Nicholas’ journey to writing was born out of personal setbacks and unexpected moments of faith. He’ll let us in on his latest book, Counting Miracles, a powerfully emotional novel about wondering if we can change—or even make our peace with—the path we've taken.
Later in the episode, we’ll hear from Mattie Jackson Smith—author, speaker, and daughter of country music legend Alan Jackson—as she shares about the process of grieving her husband, Ben, and the identity loss that came with it. As Mattie struggled to trust God in the face of unimaginable suffering, she watched as God turned her life story around in a way she never could have imagined.
Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned:
Past interview: Willie Robertson
Upcoming interview: Dr. Sarita Lyons
Jesus Calling commemorative edition
Jesus Calling app - Premium subscriptions 20% off for a limited time!
Other Jesus Calling interviews about forgiveness
Mattie’s first interview on the Jesus Calling Podcast
Other Jesus Calling interviews about making peace with our circumstances
Interview Quotes:
“I’ve learned a couple of things about myself [while becoming a writer]. Number one, that I had it in me to finish a story once I started, and number two, there were parts of telling a story that I really enjoyed.” - Nicholas Sparks
“It's the nature of life for challenges to happen. And I think in the end, what is most important to God is that we choose to still believe.” - Nicholas Sparks
“All of a sudden a widow at twenty-eight, it upends everything about your life. The loss and grief of him and our love, but also our future and everything else we had planned for. There is this devastating emptiness of that person not being in your life. But there is also this emptiness in this really painful and unwanted shift of our identity in relation to that person.” - Mattie Jackson Smith
“God didn't design us to hold the weight of death on our own.” - Mattie Jackson Smith
“He is always faithful not to fix our circumstances, but to meet us in them over and over and over again.” - Mattie Jackson Smith
“What's the balance of really asking God for what I want and surrendering it to Him? He keeps writing our stories into more joy and into more beauty and into a more abundant life.” - Mattie Jackson Smith
“You think back to being a kid and If you're afraid of the dark, it's still dark. But when your parents hold you tightly, what's around you doesn't change, but you feel secure. And I think that's the way that I experience the peace of God. And I think that's one of the most miraculous things that we experience as believers.” - Mattie Jackson Smith
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Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel!
Audio Episodes: https://bit.ly/3zvjbK7
Bonus Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3vfLlGw
Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer: https://bit.ly/3Sd0a6C
Peace for Everyday Life: https://bit.ly/3zzwFoj
Peace in Uncertain Times: https://bit.ly/3cHfB6u
What’s Good? https://bit.ly/3vc2cKj
Enneagram: https://bit.ly/3hzRCCY
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Life Audio. Let every heart prepare him room. Bring Jesus into your home before you hang |
| 0:10.7 | that first ornament, with Jesus listens for Advent and Christmas. This inspirational Christmas |
| 0:16.5 | devotional includes prayers that are perfect for the season, plus scripture verses, alongside |
| 0:21.8 | heartwarming illustrations. And it makes a treasured gift for anyone on your list. Jesus |
| 0:28.4 | listens for Advent and Christmas is available at your favorite retailer. |
| 0:35.2 | I think the nature of life is that there are challenges and sadness and tragedies and pain and suffering, |
| 0:46.0 | and hopefully we'll find a way to love God anyway, because I think that's what it's all about. |
| 0:53.1 | I think God wants you to have to think. That's |
| 0:55.2 | the simplest way I could put it. Welcome to the Jesus Calling podcast. Today, we are thrilled to be |
| 1:01.4 | joined by Nicholas Sparks, the renowned author whose novels like The Notebook and A Walk to Remember |
| 1:06.4 | have touched hearts around the world. While many know him for his captivating love stories, |
| 1:11.4 | few realize that Nicholas's journey to writing was born out of personal setbacks and unexpected |
| 1:16.2 | moments of faith. He'll let us in on his latest book, Counting Miracles, a powerfully emotional |
| 1:22.0 | novel about wondering if we can change, or even make peace with the path we've taken. |
| 1:32.6 | Later in the episode, we'll also hear from Maddie Jackson Smith, author, speaker, and daughter of country music legend Alan Jackson, as she shares about the process of grieving her husband, |
| 1:37.5 | Ben, and the identity loss that came with it. |
| 1:40.1 | As Maddie struggled to trust God in the face of unimaginable suffering, she watched as God |
| 1:45.2 | turned her life story around in a way she could have never imagined. |
| 1:49.1 | Let's begin with Nicholas' story. |
| 1:50.7 | I am Nicholas Sparks. |
| 1:58.7 | I am an author of a bunch of novels, and many of them have been adapted into film. |
| 2:10.8 | Growing up, writing was not my passion. My passion was track and field, and I was good enough to break some records here and there and get a scholarship to Notre Dame. |
... |
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