In this video Dr. Chuck interviews author Heather Carter and they discuss what it means to be a reflection of God’s light despite our inadequacies.
Being A Reflection of God's Light
Dr. Chuck: I’m Doctor Page, the best guy to see on the worst day of your life, and welcome to the show. I’m here with Heather Carter, heathercarterwrites.com. She’s an author, speaker. Heather, how are you? So good to have you on the show, I want to ask you a couple of things. One of your blog posts that I thought it was very interesting at your website was about Thomas Kinkade. I didn’t know that Thomas Kinkade actually had, you know, some drug and alcohol addictions. It’s interesting that somebody that’s such a great painter of light, like all of us, you know, has his challenges, but I loved your blog. You were talking about being a light and what that means in our lives. You know, what does it mean to let our light shine and kind of continue to plug into God as the source?
Heather Carter: Yeah, well, I think that, you know, in reading Thomas Kinkade. I’ve been reading this book of his for 10 or more years probably, the Advent Book of Thomas Kinkade, and one of the things he talks about is he tries to paint pictures and he’s the painter of light. So, he’s always trying to add light to an otherwise dark canvas and he adds light at the very end of the time. So, I kind of see our lives are like that. You know we’re kind of all dark canvas, messed up, dull colors, but that when God adds his special touch to us, that anybody can shine. And that’s the important piece for me, is that I start to give down on myself, especially as an author and speaker. I think, you know, the voices in my head start saying: “who are you to do any of this? Who do you think-“
Dr. Chuck: “You’re inadequate?”
Heather Carter: Yeah, “you’re just a mess.” And the best thing for me to do is say, is agree and say, “yes I am.”
Dr. Chuck: Well, Heather, it’s good to know that I’m not the only person on the planet that feels that way, but don’t you think it inadequacy is a pretty good place to start? I loved your blog where you’re talking about, you now, how lights can be made just out of almost anything. You know, boots and coffee, coffee makers and all kinds of stuff. So, give us a little bit about your spoonful of courage that you would tell folks about: how do we learn to accept our inadequacy and see the benefits of our inadequacy?
Heather Carter: Well, I think reminding ourselves of what we’ve learned and what, you know, most people, even if they don’t read the Bible regularly, know the story of many of the Bible characters. And they were, they were also a hot mess. You know, David murdered someone, he had an affair with Bathsheba, and then he had her husband killed. I mean, I haven’t done any of those things.
Dr. Chuck: He was a rascal.
Heather Carter: David has, you know, a lot of stuff going on in the Bible, and God still used him and considered him a friend of God. And I think if we just remind ourselves that it’s not us, we are in and of ourselves, we are inadequate, but that God, that’s the thing, but God! And as long as we stay plugged into the source, God will help that light shine through us. Like you said, you can make a lamp out of anything. If it’s wired properly, and that’s what we need to do, is stay wired properly by being plugged into God so that we can shine through his power.
Dr. Chuck: I think that’s such a good spoonful for our audience that, in spite of our inadequate God’s adequacy, often shines through even brighter when we just kind of become ourselves and expose ourselves in a sense. Being vulnerable to ourselves and to others and to God. We’re here with Heather Carter, heathercarterwrites.com, she has a lot of great vlogs. We’re going to have a link to this story on her website. She is the author of “Soul-Selfie” and her second book is “Soul-Selfie: #nofilter” and, once again, Heather has been busy doing book signings and speaking and doing all the things that authors do, and, Heather, it’s just been great for you to take some time-out of this busy Christmas and share with us some of your insights.
Heather Carter: Thanks for having me, have a great Christmas.
Dr. Chuck: Absolutely. Have a merry Christmas to you, and don’t forget to text “spoonful” to 66866. I’m Doctor Page, the best guy to see on the worst day of your life.
To hear Heather's story, check out her interview with Dr. Chuck by clicking the button below.
For more devotionals with Dr. Chuck, register by clicking the button below.
For more Spoonfuls of Courage, check out Dr. Chuck’s show Spoonful of Courage TV or buy the books A Spoonful of Courage for the Sick and Suffering: Transforming Your Greatest Challenges into Your Biggest Blessings and Spoonful of Courage: Equations to Find Grace in Life’s Challenges on Amazon.
