#167: Anna Lind Thomas: I'm Not Ready For This
Anna Lind Thomas and I have a conversation that helps us realize none of us are ready for anything.
Links:
https://www.instagram.com/anna.lind.thomas/
https://www.facebook.com/hahasforhoohas
EP. 167
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Hey everybody. Welcome back to the reclamation podcast, where our goal is to help you reclaim good practice. For faith in life, I'm Tony and I'm journeying along with you. As we through intentional conversation, do our very best to move closer to Jesus. Today is episode 1 67, where I sit down with author and.
Blogger. That's a term we don't use very often anymore. And satire is Anna Lynn, Thomas she's whole Arius guys. I loved this conversation. She got a brand new book out. I'm not ready for this. And it's all about this idea about what it means to be patient, to trust God and how eventually everything is funny.
She kind of has this [00:01:00] great sense of humor when it comes to using stories and to sharing kind of that what I call sneaky Jesus' reality. So this is both entertaining and life giving conversation. I know you're going to enjoy it. If you do enjoy. Share this episode with a friend, let someone know that you are listening to the reclamation podcasts.
It absolutely goes a long way to help spread the word about what God is doing thankful for you. And for the time you give us in your ears each and every week, whether you're on the treadmill, mow in the grass, the elliptical, or just driving to work. I'm glad to be in community with you. Thank you guys so much.
And now that any further ado, here's my conversation. With Anna Lynn Thomas. Hey everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm excited today to have a speaker, author and humorist, Anna Lynn, Thomas, Anna. Thank you so much for being here today. Thank
Anna: you, Tony. I am so excited to be here.
Tony: So I. You've got a brand new book out [00:02:00] and we're going to jump into that a little bit, but I always like to kind of get kind of that macro viewpoint when I talked to somebody for the first time.
And I like to start by asking this question, how would you describe your calling?
Anna: Oh boy, that's really funny. That's an, that's a really interestingly worded questions. I can tell you how I, how I came about to this place. I was in the sixth grade and I was in a really tiny little school house next to a nuclear power plant, which I think is hilarious.
It was so it was like the Simpsons and I judged my mom so hard about it. I'm like you, my mom is so healthy and holistic and I'm like, you hit me next to a nuclear power. At school, what is this? She's like, it only be toxic if it blew up, but so we I remember the teacher, her name was Mrs. . She asked us to write a short story.
And it was the first time I came alive. I was just like, oh my gosh, what am I going to write about? It was just, there was [00:03:00] something in me that just couldn't wait to tell a story. And I wrote this story. It was called all alone. And it was about a little girl with a drug addiction who lost all of her friends and family, which I think.
Hilarious because I don't, I grew up in a really solid family home. Where did I even get that as a topic? The only thing I can think of is that I was the baby of the family and my parents would like would let me watch TV with them. So I was watching Dallas, I think Sue Ellen had an alcohol addiction.
I don't know where I got the premise, but I remember I wrote this really dramatic story. And my S my teacher called me up to her desk and she said, Anna, this is very, very good. So I went home that day and I kicked the door open and I said, family, listen up. I'm going to be a published author. When I grow up, I remember my mom was in the kitchen and she showed up the snake and she goes, you are.
And I [00:04:00] go, yeah, I, yeah, I am. Then the more I thought about it, I was like, well, okay. I, I bet everybody feels that way. Like I bet everybody thinks that they're, that they're going to do this huge epic thing. Right. And my mom goes, no, honey, I don't think hardly anybody feels that way. And so that was it. I just knew that I was going to be a writer since I was a little girl.
And I life kind of goes on. And I remember instead of like, I did a lot of writing in high school, and then when college hit, I took a different turn. I went into advertising. I was afraid I wouldn't make a lot of money if I went into writing. So I thought I'd be rich. If I went into advertising, found myself, working at CSU Chico in Chico, California loving that.
And I started to get a master's. I got my master's degree and was going to get my PhD in counseling. And I remember the director. Pulled me aside. And he said have you ever just thought about being a [00:05:00] comedian? And I was so offended. I was like, I just, I haven't slept in three weeks writing my thesis.
And now you want me to go down to like, Joe's, you know, open mic night, the career, you know, and I, but I went home and I just had this stirring of, you know, I don't want to be. A humor writer. I mean, I don't want to be a comedian, but I've always wanted to be a writer. And it was this pinnacle moment of this is, this is something I want to pivot and I want to try and I want to go for it.
And the reason why I know that it's a calling and not something that is fun or because I want it for any sort of prestige or anything like that is because it doesn't leave me alone. It just doesn't leave me alone. And there is no option for me to quit. Even if I don't have worldly success, it's just not an option.
[00:06:00] And it's a different, it's just this feeling with, with God of, of that. This is what I'm meant to do. I don't think in any way, shape or form, I meant to have high status and fame and all of that. Like I don't, I don't think God cares. About that as much, he cares about my relationship with him and my reliance on him.
But at the same time, I, 100% believe in the vision that he put into my heart and the fact that he won't let it go. There are times I've wanted to quit and it's just, it's just not an option. So that's how I would describe my calling.
Tony: I think that's beautifully stated. I think there are probably a lot of people who were like I feel that.
How would you recommend like someone getting started on a journey that maybe doesn't feel so conventional, obviously you, you left advertising to get into writing full-time and that had to been super scary. What was that process like for you to kind of take that first leap of [00:07:00] faith? And, and if somebody is like, I feel like God's calling me to something big, how do I take that?
How do I take that first?
Anna: I hate to give this advice because it's bad advice, but I can only tell you what happened with us. My husband and I, we were living in California. We moved home to where I met now in Omaha, Nebraska, to be closer to my family. And I was working on getting my PhD. I was applying to get into local schools here to get my PhD.
And because it seems you should go. I left advertising to go work on campus with. So then I was in the education system there, and then that's where I got my master's degree. And so I blogs at the time were just getting really huge. We had some savings. Rob was going into school to be a nurse. And I said, I just feel like I need to give writing a try.
Can I just take this time right now and just try and see what happens and. You know, like a total idiot, he said, yes. I mean, he just [00:08:00] was cool with it. We were broke or broke, but that's what I love about him because he's always really believed in me. And he's like, if that's what you feel like you're called to do, let's go, let's do it.
And I started this website. I needed to build a platform for my writing. I knew I needed to do that. And about three months later, I went viral and I went mega viral with this essay. I wrote about fighting on the first date with my husband. I had no followers at the time and it was a shock. My computer, my website was shut down for almost a week.
It was one of these crazy experiences. And I remember thinking at the time like, wow, I'm better than I thought I was. I just can't. I mean, I knew I was going to be good at this, but I didn't know I was going to be this good at it three months. And I, I joke about this because I do some speaking now and I do a talk about being in the liminal space, which is that transitional period between a [00:09:00] dream and a dream being realized and how uncertain and terrible it is and how we always usually run back to our comfort zone.
And at that time I thought that that was it. And really what it was was breadcrumb. It. And it was God's way of saying, keep walking this way, don't quit. Don't get distracted, but you've got a lot of work to do if you even think I'm going to be elevating you. Right. And so I, there was a, I essentially feel like God was thinking, if you want me to answer your prayer, Then we've got some work to do on your character.
We've got some work to do on your faith. We've got some work to do on your talent. We've got some work to do on all of these character areas of my life. And then I was, I, I, it took about a decade. It took about a decade after that story of just writing and getting better and doing everything I could to, to get this book published.
Tony: I'm curious about the going viral process. I've heard a lot of different stories about [00:10:00] how kind of overwhelming and kind of weird. That is what, what did you learn about yourself in this like really fast, viral moment and then. You know, since then, you've, you've obviously written more and you've continued to grind it out.
But what was that initial like? I mean, obviously there's a little bit of confidence building there, but what else about the, all of a sudden everyone's looking at you in a different way kind of moment?
Anna: Well, it has scary aspects to it, but if we want to talk about spiritually Thank God that wasn't.
Thank God. He saved me from that moment being the it moment because I was not ready for that attention. I wasn't ready spiritually or emotionally for fame. My husband and I were freshly married. If that would have like taken me off to a book deal and lots of money and lots of [00:11:00] influence, there is no way I really don't think, I think I would have pulled away from.
I would have had one of those superficial oh, I'm a Christian, but I would have been so in the world and because that's kind of my personality, like my personality is like ambitious and loves it and let's have a good time. And I, I. It can take you away from God's so fast because it whips you up into culture and it whips you up into the praise and adoration of other people, and it causes you to believe a lot of the things that they're saying, and your identity starts to get rooted in your ability to make people laugh or this story, or this character cer that going viral makes you.
Rather than making sure that your identity is in Christ. And so I would say that it's a tough spot and I wouldn't wish it on yourself until you're ready.
Tony: How was the work process [00:12:00] in that, in that kind of in-between right. Like, so you know, that it wasn't the end, but then you, you've kind of committed to doing a lot of self work and, and obviously marriage work comes by, by being married and just spending more time there.
W what were some of the, like, key moments in your story that were like, man, that has really shaped me as I've become a writer or a. Blogger humorist, you know, how were, how was that work kind of done? If, if somebody is thinking like, oh man, I need to do some internal work too. Where should they start?
Anna: So you have to make a commitment. To being good. One thing about the internet right now is that you can really get famous for nothing and you can get famous or popular for no talent whatsoever. And I knew I didn't want to be a 15 minutes of fame writer. I wanted to bring integrity and excellence into my craft.
And so instead of chasing the likes and the follows and all [00:13:00] of that, which will really make you. Pull yourself away from yourself instead of being like, what is this thing that God wants me to write and put out in the world, you start to be like, what's going to make the people like this the most and share it.
And there's a real trap that you can get into. And so writing and being committed to writing was, was what I had to focus on. I just had to continue to focus on, I have a good friend who said you've got to protect a good friend and mentor said, you've always got to protect. The goose that lays the golden egg, because I was constantly chasing Facebook and Instagram.
And how do I do this? And how do I do that to build up my platform while abandoning the one most precious thing that God wanted me to do, which is to serve people and make them less. Through my writing. So that is something that I have to remind myself all the time. Right now we're marketing the book and I'm thinking about marketing and numbers and business and all of these things that are stressful that suck the creativity right out of me.
And [00:14:00] I have to remind myself to protect the goose that lays the golden egg, protect my writing, set aside that writing time and get better. Another thing, if I would have sold a book when the fart story went viral or gotten a book deal because a lot of agents and publishers will just jump on someone who's gone viral for videos or whatever else.
And they'll just get I'm a ghost writer. If I would've gotten a book deal at that point, it would have been. I just wasn't that good of a writer yet. I really needed to practice and get good at it. And I think that when God gives you a calling, we have an obligation to bring that calling integrity and an excellent, the best excellence, the best we can not perfection at all, but to show up and just do the very best we can and give honor to it because it's important.
Tony: How do you do you have any daily disciplines as it, when it comes to writing? Are you like okay. Every day, because you're still putting out good content into the internet. Writing wise, you have a sub stack newsletter and some of that [00:15:00] content you're still putting out on a regular basis, which by the way, is, is very rare, right?
Like blogs feel like they're fewer and fewer far between, and I know you're podcasting too, but how do you stay sharp writing wise?
Anna: I'm so into sub-sect right now. And I just started because it's bringing me back to my roots of writing and it's rallying people, instead of people rallying around some like little joke that I say about like the other day, I got pinged on Facebook for this.
I said, I'm I have to, I. I said that I was going to the bathroom and right when I looked down, a spider came up from under the seat and got on top of the seat. So I was just about to sit on him. And I was like, now I have to burn the whole house down and start over. And then they, like, they got flagged for that.
I was like, But my point is, is that sometimes people are really into the flash quick joke, right. And not so much the writing. And [00:16:00] so sub sec brings me back to the base of writing and telling a story. I'd love to tell you that I spend time every day writing at a particular time. That is my goal. I don't always meet it, but if I sit down and I just write.
Content seems to just flow. I can take a piece from this and build off of it to give to the audience. But that's always the hardest part, especially when I'm in book writing mode. I'm like, what do people want from me? I've just, I mean, I've just written a book. I don't have anything more to say to you, leave me alone, go read something else.
Meanwhile, nobody even cares or was paying attention. They don't know what I'm doing, but I feel that pressure, like they're just all on their phones. Like, what's it going to say next it better make me laugh, you know? And so but. The, the goal is to at least do one to two, one to three hours a day. If you were to do three hours a day, I could write it.
I could have a finished book probably every four months, which is an amazing to [00:17:00] think about if we would just do it.
Tony: Yeah, it, do you find pressure to be funny? Is that, is that a real, like, I've never been a I mean, I think I'm funny. I'm the only one that thinks I'm funny. And when I preach, sometimes I, I love good dad jokes or bad dad jokes, actually.
But do you find pressure to be funny, I'm curious about this mantle is like a humorous or comedian writer kind of storyteller, like what's that what's, what's that.
Anna: There, there is a pressure. Yes. My audience is used to me. My books have serious themes in them. I'm not, it's not just like an SNL skit all the way through.
I do get pretty real and raw, so they're, they're fairly used to that from me. But you do feel like. You do. There is a pressure to entertain people all the time and entertain them in the way they want to be entertained. [00:18:00] And especially when you see other people or platforms succeeding by scratching that itch for people online, there is a pressure for me to do it and to do that in.
And so one of the things that I always have to just test my, just, just bring myself back is just who I am in Christ, who he made me to be. And what is something on my heart that I can share today? And my own personality will always get the joke. It's it's how I communicate and it's who I am so that part's not hard, but that is something that I had to let go of.
And when I first started to reveal myself as a more serious writer I think I lost a lot of fans. I mean, I came out as a believer. A lot of people were like, when did this website become religious? You know, it's like the more you expose yourself, you're going to get rid of people who were just there for the laugh.
And that's good.
Tony: They were all Christians anyway. It's fine.
Anna: Yeah, exactly.
Tony: I was going to say, so in this latest resource, I'm not ready for this. It's what I [00:19:00] kind of call sneaky. Jesus. Yeah, it's not like overtly, like, Hey, I'm going to beat you to death with a Bible verses. Although, you know, sometimes those books are needed too.
How do you intertwine your faith and your platform? I mean, how, how do you know the right balance?
Anna: It's so you're asking such really good questions that I just really got off the phone with my agent today. And we were talking a lot about this. I'm really dreaming of book three and I consider myself to be a bridge.
And the thing is, is that I have pressure on the Christian side to be overtly, deeply Christian, funny Christian, but it's Christian. And then I feel pressure on this other side to be like, please don't. I mean, it's good. You liked Jesus, but let's not talk about it. Just entertain me and make me laugh. The middle ground there is that.
I just be who I am. And my faith is a huge part of who I am, [00:20:00] but I'm not called to at least right now be a spiritual teacher, a pastor. I'm not the next Christine Kane that isn't my calling sometimes. Looks amazing, but that isn't my calling. And so I think God uses is using me at least right now, as more of a bridge of someone who is working out their faith, who's telling the truth.
Who's making people laugh. Who's saying things that are real and raw that might make some of them more deeply conservative Christians, a little nervous, but that also leads other people who may be agnostic or struggling in their faith to be like, oh, I can just be a person. I can just be a human being.
And if she is, if she's, if this person who is making me laugh, but also going through these things and overcoming and struggling and doing all of this, if, if her faith is what's getting her through, I wonder if there's something to this. And so I think that that's where I'm at right now, but you know, if God tells me in [00:21:00] a year or two, that he wants me to write a devotional.
I'll just follow the, follow the breadcrumbs.
Tony: Hey guys, just pause this conversation with Anna to remind you, to get into the spirit and truth. Living the faith Facebook group. That's right. We got a Facebook group with church leaders, people who are trying to follow Jesus, just some really great people. You can find it by going to spirit and.
On Facebook look underneath the group section. You'll be there. We love to have you come be a part of the conversation and all that God is doing there for more information about spirit and truth. You can check out our website spirit in truth.life reminder that this podcast is a ministry of spirit and truth.
And we're so thankful to be partnered with them as we do our very best to awaken and equip the church. Now let's finish up this conversation with. I love the title of this. I'm not ready for this. Because I, I think it, it kinda matches what a lot of us feel. How did you decide that this is what, this [00:22:00] is the project that God was calling you next, you mentioned a minute ago that you were talking to your agent.
W what's that discernment process like, yes, I should absolutely start writing a book about about not being prepared and pushing through and those kinds of things, or I should write a devotional or like, how do you, how do you kind of discern what God's leading you to next.
Anna: It's so usually I write down a list of stories that I really want to tell.
And then I try to see if there's a theme. And I found that through a big theme of what I was going through at the time. Is not being ready. So I was telling you earlier, I got cast for this TV show. I can't talk a whole bunch about it until it airs. If it even airs, which don't even get me started. That makes me so sad.
I don't know. I think I'm on season deal. Oh my God. I haven't used it. You know, we'll see. But I just, this, this not being ready for that. Who's ready. And I made the joke. Actually the original title that I wanted was I'm not ready to go sleep. Because with [00:23:00] women in general, like when spring hits, we're like, oh, great.
I've got to expose these bat wings. I'm not ready for summer. I mean, I'm not ready for, I'm still wearing a card again. The sun can't be out yet. We were never ready for summer. For the summer clothes were never ready for any of that stuff. And so that was initially my first joke. And then I wasn't ready for the show because I bought these like really cute blazers, but they were too tight, but I, I was positive.
I was going to lose, like, I dunno, 80 pounds before the show. Obviously I didn't lose any. I was like stress eating all the way up. So I had a tight blazer on. Just never ready. And it was one of those things that this I wasn't ready for my kid to start kindergarten. I mean, I didn't have any emails. I didn't know where I even register her.
I mean, I'm always in this position of not being ready for something. I think it's a common human experience. So we were talking about book three. And I'm thinking imposter syndrome, this market, this, this I've have two books. One came out in [00:24:00] September and then one just came out now and I am in this, just
Tony: cranking them out
Anna: by the way, seriously.
And it was really important to me that I improve too. I didn't want to be one of those writers that just pumps them out and it just gets crap because they're under pressure. And I do book two is so much better than book one. So thing. Thank God for that. And book one's amazing too. I don't want to discount book one, but that was my biggest fear is that I was going to get rushed into being just a book factory.
And there was just going to start to decline in its quality and that wasn't the case, but or we're talking about imposter syndrome and all of these doubts that start to come in and looking at how your sales are doing and the pressure you get from the publishing industry. And. There's there's there's fears around every corner.
And there are times where you just feel like you're faking it, I'm just faking it. And so there are so many funny things that. I know everybody really experiences. And there's so many [00:25:00] stories I can tell even through this process of writing books and, you know, people, people think that I wrote this book and that it's huge and that I've got like tons and tons of money.
And then my husband and I were in this difficult, like patch and I could barely buy her like a bridal shower gift. And I was like, I'm supposed to be this famous rich,
you know, I'm crying about it. You know? I mean, there's stuff like that, that I think it's human stuff. And so that's kind of why we were thinking that would be a really great angle to take is just that imposter syndrome of am I faking it? I mean, sometimes you almost feel like you're faking it as a Christian.
Like, well, who am I to be writing this? You know, I've written little devotionals before for other little smaller publications and it's just, this, it's just this constant. Thing where you just gotta go back to not who you are as a writer, but who you are in, in God and in Christ and what your identity is with him and how [00:26:00] easy it is with God.
When we just get to walk with him and identify ourselves with him rather than the culture or success or our ambitions. And it's just a constant little learning lesson that I have to recalibrate myself to quite often, I'm embarrassed to say. Maybe every day.
Tony: I mean, I, I dunno. I think, I think daily surrender is probably a good thing.
Right.
How do you know when a story's fully baked for, for public consumption? Right. Like one of the things they tell us in seminary is like preach through scars, not through wounds kind of thing. And like how do you know when it's like, okay, I, I can, I can joke about this kind of Per, I mean, most of your stories are personal, they're all personal, right?
Like, you know, like how do you know when they're ready to be poked fun at
Anna: you've touched on something that I think is very dysfunctional about our current social media culture is that people are talking through their wounds [00:27:00] and not their scars and their, and so it's almost like people who are really suffering and.
Bleeding are leading people who were suffering and bleeding. And then, and then, and then a weird kind of codependency sort of happens. I've just started to figure this out and it's burdened my heart a little bit because they w we want that dopamine hit of I'm suffering right now. Well, if I just tell everybody my suffering, then they're all going to rally and I'm going to get all these likes and these comments and the support, and I'm going to get that dopamine hit that'll help me rather than this is maybe a time that we should write.
Privately spending with God right now and really just healing with him. That's, that's the marker for me is when I'm ready to laugh about it. And when I'm, when I feel like I'm on the other side in the sense that it's, it's healed in a particular way, I don't really tend to, I like to write about while it's happening, but I don't put it out for public consumption [00:28:00] necessarily.
'cause I do test a lot of my chapters with my audience, just to see if they like certain topics or if certain things are really funny to them. But that's a really, that's a really great point. And I think David Sedaris, he's a, he's not a Christian writer by any stretch, but he's one of my favorite writers in terms of his talent and the way he writes.
And he says that everything is funny eventually. And I think it is so true. And it's one thing where. I w that's a big aspect of my writing. And my first book we'll laugh about this someday is learning to keep a sense of humor to not take life so seriously, and to vet out. Where the humor is even something that my husband and I will do is like, sometimes we'll go back and laugh at the way we acted in a fight, like the stuff we said, like, like one time I got real mad at my husband.
I was like, don't get it twisted because he's like, who are you PD? You know, just being [00:29:00] able to go back and that don't get it twisted. Who knows what I was even mad about. Being able to go back and poke fun at ourselves and have a sense of humor about ourselves, I think is a tremendous gift for you to have and to not let go.
I think if you lose your peace and you lose your sense of humor, you're giving away the top two things that God gives us to get through. So. That's a long way of answering that question, but I will say that w once I start feeling like I can laugh at something, again, I'm ready to write about it.
Tony: That's good.
I don't know if you've ever seen the memes where it's like if you live in the preacher's household, everything can and will be used for a sermon. How do you, how do you manage? Cause I wouldn't, I would imagine in the, in in the world that you live in, you're such a great storyteller. Everything is probably you see everything through the lens of man.
That could be a great story. If not now, maybe eventually. Right. How does that play out in your marriage? And I know your kids are still little bit young, but like, if you think about your families[00:30:00] your family dynamic, how do you know, how, how do you and Rob kind of navigate that together on like what, what goes out and what stays in.
Anna: As I grow as a writer, I look at everything like a story, which is not very fun for my family, because they're like, oh no, is this going in something right? Rob is chill. He's like, Go F he doesn't take it seriously. I know the line of when I'm sharing too much, that's precious to him that I would never violate that trust of his, but he's game.
He doesn't even care. If he looks bad. One time I wrote a joke and people started to like trash on him and I felt so bad. I was like, you want me to take it down? He's like, what do I care? What those weirdos think? I mean, he doesn't. So I don't, we, he pretty much trusts me, but Everything. Everything is game.
I'll start to realize, like, this is a really funny story. There was a in, in I'm not ready for this. The chapter come on over. My brother was serving us all this [00:31:00] spaghetti dinner were silly and he wanted to make our family, saw us and have us over for dinner. And he was like an hour late and we had the church hang greys, 1130 in church service.
I don't know if it's the devil or. But all I can think about is food. You know, I just think about hamburger fries. I bet we were starving. And he did, my mom wanted to put up this like veggie tray for us to snack on all the sauce was getting ready. And my brother was like, do not get stuffed. He's like, I don't want you guys to eat too much.
The sauce is coming. Please like, save your appetites. I was like, please is a cracker and cheese. I ate so many crackers and cheese. I was bloated before it was done. And I remember like panicking that I was stuffed and I was like,
and I had a real tear and she was, she was legitimately disappointed in me. She's like, you know, oh, how much, how hard your brother's been working? How could you do this? You know, And immediately, I was like, oh my God, this is the chapter in a [00:32:00] story. I mean, so I look at all of these little things as easily.
Something that I can let Rob went grocery shopping with me yesterday. Huge mistake. I go grocery shopping on my own. It's my, I get a coffee. I make it an experience. Okay. I go for foods. I go, I want ambience. I want it to look like the garden of Eden when I, okay.
Tony: It's really just a retreat. It's not grocery shopping.
It's a half day.
Anna: That's it. You get it. And so here I brought Rob, I knew it was going to be a mistake the whole time. I can tell he's like, how long is she going to look at this zucchini? Like pick one and let's roll. I mean, he had no patience for how long I was observing the lettuce. And anyway, I started to really pressure me at the end.
So it was like, is that it? Can we check out, can we check out? I was like, excuse me. I haven't even gotten to aisle 11 yet, hold your jets. And because, you know, the woman checked us out and she goes, well, how did you find everything? [00:33:00] Okay. And I was like, well, I brought my husband and it was pure hell, you know?
And I was just like, I'm going to write about that. It's hilarious. And everybody related so many women related to bringing their husbands or even kids. And it's just a mistake, you know, kids will just start throwing stuff into the cart. Yeah, exactly. Can we have this, can we have this. So there's, there's so much humor in just day-to-day life.
Tony: So I, I think you should write a marriage book next, just so you know, I that's my gut feeling. I think you should have Rob put, Rob's take at the end of every chapter. I would love, I would love to hear Rob's take like his version of this, even if it's not funny. I think it would be so funny because I feel like the contrast between you two is so broad, it would be.
Anna: That's really good. That's really good. I'm going to write that down. You're right. Cause if he was just like apps, actually, that's not at all how it happened. He [00:34:00] did, he did pop in one time on a post. I had, he's not on Facebook anymore, but there was one time he popped in and he's like, it did not happen this way.
And the, the people loved it. I mean, they were laughing so hard. So that's a really good idea. I
Tony: love that you guys, you guys write a marriage book and you could go around and do marriage retreats. This would be amazing. Be amazing at it.
Anna: Yeah. They'd be like, is this helping me? Sounds like you guys are really dysfunctional and weird and I feel like we're still married.
What do you want from us?
Tony: It's called empathy people. We're here together.
This one is strictly for me. I don't know if anyone's going to find any value in it, but as somebody who tells a lot of stories, how do you remember? How do you remember them? I can't like. For me when I'm writing. So there was a season of my life where I was preaching every weekend. I was a pastor of a local church.
And so I'm cranking out six pages every week for 50 weeks a year. Right. So like eventually, like how [00:35:00] many times can I tell the story about my daughter and you know, how crazy she is? Like, how do you remember. How do you remember the stories? How do you keep track of them? How do you categorize? I, this is a little like a insider baseball, so to speak, but I'm dying to know how somebody who tells as many stories as you do remember.
Anna: I forget a lot of them, a lot of writers will keep they'll talk in their notes on their phone, or they keep like Anne Lamont will keep cards in her back pocket with a pen for me, whenever I like sit down to write a book. I just go through things that I remember and some stories or snippets are so small that I can't make it into chapter, but my chapters go all over the place.
I mean, I don't just stick, like, I'm going to tell you the story, the end, I weave it into a bigger, you know, sometimes I weave the past into future stories. But it's really, what do I remember? Because when we were a member, something, it matters. There's and that's why there's parts about I'm not ready [00:36:00] for this, like the Lama lady growing up in that school house and the snippets that I have, like when my teacher she said everybody be quiet and the next person to talk or raise their hand, has to put their name on the board.
And I wasn't listening. So I raised my hand and I put my name, my work. Crushed. I was devastated and she had to bring me into the back room and I was crying. And then I tried to get out of it as like, can I erase my name now? She's like, no. And then she also would have her give her back massage.
Tony: That would definitely get canceled today.
That's no, that's no good.
Anna: I say this in the book. I'm like she would be arrested today. Truly it was the eighties and it really wasn't a scent. Like we were just like grandkids, who she just was given a quarter and a rubber back. It was that innocent. But can you imagine if that happened today and we ate it up?
I think it's because we got like a Werther's original at the end. She'd be like grading papers. And we were in line [00:37:00] to do it like weirdos. And I remember I was just like, I wanted her to feel refreshed. I wanted to be teacher's pet these things. Like why did I remember that? Why did that stick out? To me?
There's a reason why we remember a lot of things most of the time, because there's an emotion that got evoked that was maybe new. And so like being. Being getting in trouble with my teacher when I really thought I was like her favorite all time, how could she possibly betray me? Like that was the first time I experienced that.
Right. And so those always stick out to me and I write that down. I want to put that into a story somewhere and I wait until I'm writing about something where that would fit and The thing that happens that like, because of Facebook and stuff like that, I'll just write about it that day. So when Rob and I got back from the grocery store, I was laughing about it.
And as I got, I just went home and I just wrote it and put it on Facebook. It's not in a book or anything. It was just something that I wrote on Facebook. So sometimes I just write about it right away and then get it off my plate. [00:38:00]
Tony: That's super helpful for someone who's always looking for a way to, I have Evernote and I have so many folders in Evernote that I use that sometimes I can't find the folder that I'm looking for.
I was like, man, I feel like I wrote that somewhere. And I never know it's got great search ability, but if you speak in generalities or you like, you just put down something so that you would remember it. And then I forget why I wrote it that way. So that's. So it's just, I just think I could be better.
Anna: I'm like that with jokes, like I'll think of a joke.
That I want to maybe make into a meme or something. Those, I forget all the time. I mean, they're just gone before I can even route, you know, especially if they're like late at night, I'll think of something, but when it comes to the stories yet, I just make a list of like a, it's not a word document. I actually use Scrivener and Scribner lets you have all of these folders.
And so I'll just put all of these folders that have those stories in them. And there's still tons that I want to tell. That's why I feel like I've got tons of books. I mean. I've got a chapter called the baptism that didn't make it into [00:39:00] this book where me and my brother and my sister, my sister's 10 years older, my brother's five years older and we got baptized and it's the way it's just hilarious.
And I didn't get that into this book. So I just write it down like this, the baptism, that's a hilarious story to tell people, you know, stuff like that. And so let's just have it.
Tony: I love it. I love that your whole vibe with it. And I just think it's, it's really a lot of fun. And it's, it's sneaky. Jesus. I love the term that you used the bridge.
I think that that's the world probably could use some more bridges and definitely less walls. So thank you. Thank you for that. My. My podcast, family loves to pray. And so as this book kind of gets into the wild, how can we be praying for it? Like what's the prayer, the, the rally cry prayer, as we think about Anil and Thomas, and I'm not ready for this.
And as it goes out there into the world.
Anna: Thank you so much for thank you so much for that. That really means a lot to me. And to [00:40:00] know that you guys are praying for me is just absolutely huge. I feel like right now, And I've been feeling like this with women of my generation. You know, we're having there, there's a little bit of a mental health crisis.
Women are experiencing anxiety, everybody's experiencing anxiety or kids are women are experiencing an anxiety and loneliness that is pretty unprecedented. And it really breaks my heart. And everybody's going to the wrong place for it, right. I suppose I just want, so my vision is I just want people to join me in laughing, join me and not taking life so seriously.
Join me and finding hope through when you laugh really, really hard at something you feel hopeful afterwards. That's why they tell people who have cancer patients to watch. While they're in chemo. And while they're recovering, there is a healing [00:41:00] to laughing and it is such a thing on my heart where I I'm going to be trying to donate a lot of my books to chemo centers, where they're actively getting chemo to have like a book that they can read while they're getting chemo to new mothers while they're in the hospital.
I just want to share this laughter and this hope So badly that I could just cry if I thought about it. So if you could just pray for. That God blesses the work of my hands in this respect that he elevates that message. I am praying hard for a revival and I want to be a part of it so bad. And I'm just so just be praying that this book is into as many hands as, as, as God allows and that it, it, it just, it spreads and that laughter and hope spreads in a time that feels kind of hopeless.
Tony: Yeah, that's so good. Yeah. Amen. Amen. We'll pray for that for sure. Okay. I have one more question for you, but before I ask it[00:42:00] where is the best place to learn all the things about you and where God is working in you and through you, whereas the, kind of the, the, the base for Angela Thomas.
Anna: There's my website, Anna Lynn, thomas.com.
I am right now on sub SAC. Please come subscribe and follow me. You're going to absolutely love it. It is Anna Lynn, Thomas dot dot com. My biggest audience is on Facebook. And if you want to follow me on Instagram, which is also Anil and Thomas just put me in there. You'll find me in all of those places.
Yeah. Give me a pity, like on, on Instagram, I am so bad at it. Okay. So if you just feel sorry for me, even if you don't have an Instagram account, please make one and follow me. Okay. It's bad over there, but yeah. That's where. And I love it.
Tony: It's so good. We'll link to all that in the show notes. 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 the name, the kind of the time in your life [00:43:00] when you get to give it. And I'd like to, I'd like you to sit down in front of and the day before your blog goes viral. So it's the day before your life is getting ready to shift in pretty crazy ways.
And and you realize that there's a a pretty big world out there for, for you and for your writing, the way that God's gonna use you. If you could sit down in front of her and sit knee to knee and hold her hands and look her in the eyes and tell her one thing, what are you going to tell her?
Anna: I would say. I know that you want this so bad, but you've got to be patient. You've got to trust God. And there are going to be times when you're going to want to give up. And there are going to be times where you're going to feel like you failed. And there are going to be times where you think that God's not going to answer your prayers.
And this [00:44:00] is the time girl where you need to just relax. Just relax. God's got you. You're good. Keep writing and have fun. It'll all be okay. And trust me, you're going to laugh about it someday. That sounds like I scripted that I wasn't even prepared.
Tony: That was so good. No, nobody knows that question. Nobody knows that question, right.
I'm just
Anna: saying I got my book in there at the end and I think it runs.
Tony: Yeah, it was really well done. You should go back. That's what you should put on Instagram. You said
Anna: that's what I needed to do. That's what I need to do though. I could cry. I could just weep at this poor girl who just was so working so hard and just so afraid it wasn't going to happen.
I still feel that way now. I worked so hard and I think it isn't going to happen. And. I [00:45:00] wish that I, you know, when, especially when you're really an ambitious person and that's a part of your temperament, just the constant surrender that daily surrender of, I am going to enjoy my life. I'm going to enjoy the work of my hands and I'm going to trust God with the outcome and enjoy my life.
It's the most efficient.
Tony: That's good. It's good. Thank you. Thank you so much for your generosity today. It was so much fun. Love hearing your story, and we're praying with you. And as this book goes out into the
Anna: world. Thank you so much, Tony. You had such thoughtful, wonderful questions. I had a wonderful time.
Invite me back. Will you please? I'm
Tony: available. Come on. Let's know. Oh gosh, we almost forgot to mention, go subscribe to Anna's podcast.
Anna: Yes. Yes. It's not that serious. And I do have one starting very soon with Boomi, Lottie, Taiwan. She's like the voice between behind the honest toddler. She's hysterical.
She's wait. She's huge. You guys probably already know who she is. We're going to start a podcast very soon. So just keep your eye [00:46:00] out for that. Follow me at analysts. thomas.com and you'll see it when it pops up. Man,
Tony: I love her heart. I love her voice in that voice, in the sense of posture, right? Like something who, somebody who just enjoys the funny moments of life and using good stories is such a great way to stay funny because life is funny.
We should laugh at. So, Hey, thankful for you. Thanks for listening today. Do me a favor. Go follow Ana. Let her know you heard her here on the podcast. I always appreciate it. When my family reaches out to somebody else and says, thank you. So, I appreciate you when you do that also if you haven't left a rating or review, we're trying to build some of those up on iTunes, man.
I'm so thankful for some of the people who already have, you know, it's such a an honor to be a part of someone's life in such a way, as a matter of fact, one of the. The reviews that I just got said that this is a very enjoyable [00:47:00] podcast with various speaker. Tony does a fantastic job moderating the discussion that was Susie T 66 or a Sutherland left.
One that says this podcast is a fantastic resource for growing your faith in today's complex. Through Tony's conversations with some truly phenomenal guests. You'll gain practical tips for strengthening your walk with God and keeping him front and center in your life. Hey, we're going to read some more.
As people keep leaving the podcast recommendations, thankful for all the kind words and thankful to be on this community with you guys. As a reminder, guys, if you want to follow Jesus, you must be willing to move.
