Discovering Light When Our Hearts Are Breaking:
Linsey Davis & Grace Anna Rodgers
Linsey: I think, when things are going well,
you might be like, Oh, thank you, God, I know
you're there.
But you're not down on your knees necessarily
pleading and asking, so I think that sometimes
it's those most dire moments that figuratively
bring you to your knees and literally bring
you to your knees that really strengthen that
relationship with God.
Narrator: Welcome to the Jesus Calling Podcast.
Today’s guests share that despite the challenges
we face, we can choose to bring joy and light
to the dark corners: Emmy Award-winning journalist
and author Linsey Davis, and inspirational
mother and daughter Angela and Grace Anna
Rodgers.
Linsey is a correspondent for ABC News, and
has filed stories for World News, Good Morning
America, and Nightline.
Falling in love with storytelling at an early
age, Linsey tried her hand at public speaking
for the first time in church.
Her faith in God has been key to her compassionate
style of reporting and her desire to spread
a message of hope to a world where the news
isn’t always good.
Linsey: My name is Lindsey Davis.
I'm a correspondent for ABC News, a mom, a
wife, and a book author.
Both of my parents started out, actually,
as school teachers.
My dad taught math and my mom taught English.
My dad went on to open his own construction
company, but my mom has subsequently retired
as an English teacher.
She's the person that made sure that I knew
her common phrases, like, “Turkeys get done
and people get finished.”
[She’s] the person that was always making
sure that I got lay versus lie right.
I would say that [my mom was] also very much
responsible for my falling in love with storytelling
and with writing and with the English language.
[a]My mom has always been a big writer, and
she spent a lot of time in our house writing
and modeling that for me.
And certainly, she loves to tell the story—when
she’s introducing me—that I got mad at
her.
She says when I was a certain age, I said,
“Why didn’t you tell me that these letters
made words?”
I was so anxious to be able to read and write,
and that was something that I think that she
very much cultivated.
Growing up, I can remember being a toddler,
getting a few quarters and putting them in
a little dolly purse that I had, and going
off to Sunday school and giving my donation
and being very involved in the children's
choir.
[Those are] all the same things that I'm trying
to impart on my son now, who's five.
They called it the YPD—it was the Young
People's Division at church.
On the fourth Sunday, that was Children's
Sunday.
We did everything on Sunday except for preach[ing].
We did the affirmation of faith and welcoming
visitors and passed the plates for the offering.
When I look back now, I think [my time in
church as a child] was so important to who
I am today.
[b]My first time ever doing any kind of public
speaking was in church.
I think that confidence building is what I'm
looking at as far as what I feel is part of
the building blocks of success, if you will.
I found the foundation in the church.
And again, now I'm looking at making sure
I get that foundation for my son.
I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew
up.
I ended up majoring in psychology in undergrad,
and I really I think that that still is very
much the base of what I do now.
I have an interest in people and hearing their
stories and talking to them about it in a
way that's still kind of relevant to what
I do as a journalist.
I studied abroad for a semester in London,
and it was the first time—I'd already fulfilled
my core curriculum classes—in my college
career that I was able to take any class that
I wanted to, so I took a lot of writing and
British literature.
I happened to be in Spain with my Spanish
exchange student from high school, and I was
watching the news in her house in Spanish,
and my Spanish was not very good, so I can't
say that I understood anything that they were
saying.
But in that moment, I'd said, “That's what
I want to do.”
And I will say—I guess it's a blessing or
a curse—I'm the kind of person who really
focuses in on something and really doesn't
let it go.
So for whatever reason, I decided in their
living room in Seville, Spain that day, that
that's what I want to do.
Then I just started looking at like, What
do I need?
What are the steps that I need to take in
order to do that?
I didn't know anybody who was in the business.
Well, I knew someone indirectly, a family
friend who owned some TV stations.
And that's how I ended up getting my first
job, I basically was like a glorified intern,
and I really didn't know quite what I was
getting myself into.
I didn't know the longevity I might have.
At that point, I had a master's degree in
broadcast journalism, mass communication,
and I figured I ought to try pursuing a job
in what I had majored in.
But I really didn't know what the trajectory
would be or where I was going to end up, but
it just felt like, This might be a good fit
for me, we’ll see.
The hardest story ever to report—and I've
been a journalist now for more than twenty
years— was the earthquake in Haiti.
It was the first time that I had actually
smelled death.
It sounds like a cliché I would read about
in a novel, but there is definitely a smell
to death, especially when you have corpses
that are still exposed in a street, and nobody
is tending to those bodies for several days
at a time.
I remember, in particular, doing one interview
with a lady who only spoke French, and we
had a translator, but the words actually needed
no translation, her feeling and sentiment
[conveyed her meaning].
The translation in English—and I don't even
remember my question to her—she said, “I
am my family now.”
And that was it.
Everybody that she knew had died, all of her
friends and all of her family, and she didn't
have a house.
She didn't have anything.
Her church had been destroyed.
And it was the first time that I actually
covered a story.
Normally, I cover a lot of disasters, death,
and mayhem, and I just go back to my regular
life and don't skip a beat, because I think
there is that separation of putting my reporter
hat on and then going home and being a mom.
Often, it's an easy transition between the
two, and this one was not.
I mean, with this one, I got back home and
thought about all the things that we take
for granted.
This woman, and many others like her—hundreds,
if not thousands, like her—were now in the
same predicament of starting from scratch.
And not even starting from scratch in the
way of physical buildings and our material
comforts, but she didn't have any family,
or any friends, or a job.
So that was a really hard story, and I was
there for, I think, maybe ten days.
So it was a lot.
You know, there are a lot of times that I
can't explain—and our [place], I think,
is not to really understand God's plan, it's
beyond our understanding.
So when I'm thinking about, in particular,
that woman in Haiti who's lost it all, and
I cannot explain that, right?
I can only talk about what God has done in
my life, and who He is in my life, and my
family.
And as I'm teaching my son about who God is,
it's really personal.
I mean, I can see God's hand in other people's
lives, for sure.
But when truly catastrophic things happen,
I don't know how to explain it.
But I have to believe that God has a plan.
[c]
Leading up to moderating the presidential
debate, I was feeling nervous, like, Oh, my
goodness, I’m gonna be on this world stage
and asking questions of politicians, just
knowing that there was a lot at stake.
[I was] feeling a lot of anxiety about that.
I've had a Jesus Calling on my nightstand
for several years, and I have read it.
But I was making sure now, during that time,
that I was looking for some Word, I was looking
for that confidence, and I was regularly,
every day, making sure I did not miss it.
I was starting out my day with whatever the
devotional was for that day.
And so when I was then going to Houston to
do the debate, I had taken pictures of the
days that I would be away so that I wouldn't
actually have to bring the book, and now that
I’m thinking about it, I should've just
downloaded the app, right?
What was I thinking?
I’m a little old school in that way.
But my husband didn't realize I had taken
those pictures, so each day that I was in
Houston, he would take a picture and forward
it to me.
I never told him that I already had the pictures,
and I'd already read.
There was no way that I was going to go [to
the debate] without being prepared and reading
from Jesus Calling every day.[d]
Narrator: Along with enjoying a successful
career in journalism, Linsey is committed
to spreading a message of love and acceptance,
laying a foundation for the upcoming generation.
She talks about the two children’s books
she has written and how her parents inspired
her by the way they lived their own lives.
Linsey: For both books, I have to say that
these were messages that my mom was trying
to impart on me and [my] older sister.
The first book is a celebration of everyday
blessings, so being thankful and honoring
God, I mean, that definitely was both of my
parents, really paying attention to the small
things and God's hand and fingerprint all
over that.
In the second book, I think it was the same
thing that I'm trying to do with my son.
You know, back when I was growing up in the
eighties, I don't think that the climate was
quite the same as what it is now.
I mean, it's not like racism is new by any
stretch, but I think the rhetoric has gotten
kind of heightened, so it's different.
Maybe racism then was a little more subtle
than it can be at times today, so I don't
know that [my mom] had to be as deliberate.
I don't know that it was something that she
had to make sure that she was telling us,
because, again, I think that she believes,
like I do, that innately, children just love.
They're not thinking about all the different
divisions that we are quite often as adults.
There's just been more deliberate discussion
about race lately that children listen to
and ask about.
So I think that I would be doing my son a
disservice, I think we would be doing the
children of his generation a disservice, by
trying to say, “You're not old enough to
talk about this,” or, “We don't need to
talk about this,” or whatever and try and
sweep it under the rug.
I think that we really need to meet it head
on and talk about, “Yes, there are people
who think this, but guess what?
We love them.”
The first commandment is to love God with
all your heart and soul, and the second is
likened to it, to love your neighbor as yourself.
For the second book, One Big Heart, it’s
a celebration of being more alike than different.
I felt like with the current climate in our
country and world, I wanted to reinforce that
that's important cause.
It's not a new lesson for children, I think
that children already get it, they're not
first focusing on our differences.
You know, my son's five, and when he comes
home and he's met a new friend, he doesn't
tell me about their race or their background
or religion or culture.
He just says what they have in common.[e]
They both like LEGOs, or drawing pictures,
or whatever it is.
So I wanted to reinforce that notion for him
and other children and parents who I think
find that same value important to put in place
for their children.
People often say that, “Oh, children don't
see color.”
And I totally disagree with that, I think
that they do see color, they just don't assign
a value to it.
Quite often, it's adults who do that, and
I think that when you look at the hate crimes
that are rising the last three years—they've
ticked up year over year—I think that a
lot of that is a fear of the unknown.
When people have not been exposed to people
who look different, from people who have different
beliefs, who act differently, perhaps, there
becomes this we versus they, this us versus
them attitude.
And I think that that becomes so divisive,
especially when people are playing and preying
upon dividing and making our differences the
first thing that we notice.
What I believe is really imperative for parents
is to expose their children to kids who are
different.
Maybe you live in an area that's not very
diverse, so they're not seeing that diversity
in school or church or synagogue or on the
playground.
I think then you have to look at what other
tools you have: their dolls, their toys, their
books.
Those are ways that I think it's very easy
for children to be exposed and experience
people who may look differently from them.
The premise of One Big Heart is, “Let's
deal with it.
Let's talk about it, what people call the
elephant in the room.”
I believe that children do notice difference.
Let's say, “Hey, we have different color
skin and hair and features and likes and dislikes.
But guess what?
God gave us all this one unique gift.
He gave us all one big heart and that's the
most important part, because that's where
love starts.”
[f]
Narrator: You can find Linsey’s book, One
Big Heart, at your favorite bookseller today.
Stay tuned to hear Angela and Grace Anna Rodgers’
story after a brief message about a special
edition of Jesus Calling just for families.
There’s a special version of Jesus Calling
available just for adults and children to
do their devotions together called the Jesus
Calling Family Devotional.[g] Each day offers
an adult devotion from Jesus Calling® and
a children’s devotional excerpted from Jesus
Calling®: 365 Devotions for Kids.
With the devotions side by side for children,
parents and children can read their own devotion
and then read, talk, and pray together.
These beloved devotions are based on Scripture
and include enriching questions designed to
bring your family closer to each other and
to God.
To learn more about the Jesus Calling Family
Devotional, please visit JesusCalling.com
today!
Narrator: On the heels of several heartbreaking
miscarriages, Angela Rodgers found out she
was pregnant again.
After a visit to the doctor for testing during
her third trimester, she received some sobering
news: the baby had numerous issues and would
likely be born with severe health problems.
At that same time, Angela found out she was
having a girl, and the moment she saw her
heartbeat, she knew she loved her and would
fight for her life.
After Grace Anna was born, the baby’s problems
were so severe, Angela couldn’t even hold
her in her arms.
Instead, Angela would sing to the baby, and
through the ensuing years, as Grace Anna withstood
countless surgeries, she became a bubbly toddler
who loved to sing.
Her performance of the national anthem at
a sporting event when she was only four years
old captured the hearts of Facebook fans everywhere—to
the tune of over four million views.
Now nine years old, Grace Anna is still singing
and bringing joy to those who hear her—and
she and her mom want to spread the message
that every person has a purpose from God,
no matter what they struggle with.
Anna Grace: My name is Anna Grace.
I am nine years old, and I have a rare form
of dwarfism called Conradi Hunermann Syndrome.
It makes my back curl up, and it won't let
me grow all the way, and that's part of the
reason why I'm in a wheelchair.
I just had a hip surgery not too long ago.
Angela: My name is Angela Rodgers.
I am an author of Grace Anna Sings and our
new children's book, Who Do You See When You
Look At Me?
I'm a former middle school science teacher,
and I'm also an advocate for people with disabilities
and for recreational equipment, for people
of all abilities to be able to play together
and grow.
I’m Grace Anna’s and Isaiah’s mom.
Angela: When I became pregnant with Grace
Anna, in the back of my head, I always worried
that something else might happen with her.
I didn’t, until the third month, gain a
whole lot of hope because with most pregnancies
in the first trimester, you try not to get
overexcited, because that's when most miscarriages
happen.
But at the third month into my pregnancy,
we went to doctors in Lexington, Kentucky,
and they told us that something was wrong.
They didn't know exactly what was wrong.
Her thighs were measuring not the correct
age for how long I was pregnant, and they
thought there was some malformation at her
brain stem.
They kind of suggested that I had options
about the pregnancy, and we made it very clear
to the doctor at the time that our option
was to have this baby—that we loved her
and it didn’t make any difference to us
what they told us.
We wanted this little girl, and they told
us at that appointment at three months that
she was going to be a girl.
I thought that was pretty cool.
I didn't expect that.
From the very beginning, we wanted Grace Anna,
even when the doctors didn't give us a whole
lot of hope.[h] It was never a thought in
our head to terminate the pregnancy.
We wanted Grace Anna from the very beginning,
from that very first ultrasound when I saw
her little heart beating.
You know, I fell in love.
Honestly, since she was born, she's always
had this spirit about her.
She's a fighter.
She's full of life, full of love, and anything
is possible.
She was perfect to me, no matter what they
said from the beginning.
Angela: When Grace Anna's video of her singing
the national anthem went viral, it was kind
of crazy at first.
We got a phone call from [country music artist]
Sammy Kershaw.
His manager said they had played it at his
concert that night, and then we started getting
a lot of emails from people.
The vast majority of the first ones were veterans
and active military, and that really touched
our hearts because we have a lot of veterans
in our family.
And anything that we can do as a family to
lighten the load of our men and women in service,
our veterans, is something we absolutely want
to be part of.
But what would touch my heart so deeply is
you would see these colonels and these generals
with all these medals be brought to tears
when Grace Anna would sing the national anthem.[i]
When we’d travel to Topeka, Kansas to sing
for the military veteran project for their
gala, Colonel Garcia, who that had worked
with President Reagan and President Bush,
asked to have a selfie with our daughter.
And it just blew my mind that this man that
had served our country in many different ways
in which I admired was asking to take a selfie
with our four-year-old daughter.
She's always had this gift to touch others
through her music and her story, and that
video was the beginning of what has been an
incredible journey for our family, especially
for Grace Anna, to touch the lives of so many
people with her story and her voice.
Grace Anna: Singing makes my heart happy.
I really like the way people smile when they
hear me sing, especially friends and family.
I like the way people cheer and jump up and
down.
Angela: We had the honor of meeting Bobby
Henline at that gala also, and we had talked
to Grace Anna about how God makes each one
of us different and, you know, sometimes you
go through things that change who we become[j].
And we discussed with her how Mr. Henline
had been serving our country, and he had gotten
burnt and injured serving our country, and
that he might look a little different, but
he's still the same person on the inside.
And that's what we should really be concerned
about, who somebody is on the inside.
And when she met Bobby, she went right into
his arms that evening at the gala and gave
him a hug.
She really looks at the inside of somebody,
and who they are, instead of just looking
at somebody’s shell and judging them by
what they look like.
Grace Anna: I think God made each of us with
unique gifts.
We’re all different in some way.
So we can show love by being kind and trying
to learn from each other[k].
Everybody was made by God, so He wants us
to love each other.
Angela: God has a plan for Grace Anna.
He had a plan for her before she was even
born.
And we quote the scripture to her quite often,
that God knew her before He made her in my
little belly, before He created her.
He knew her.
He knew her heart.
He knew what she would become.
And He had plans for her.
Grace Anna is no different than anybody else.
She might be a little bit smaller and she
has health issues and she can't walk just
like everybody else, but she can walk some.
He can use her for His glory in the way that
He wants to use her, and she can have joy
and happiness and fulfillment through God
in her daily walk in life.
Narrator: To find out more about Grace Anna,
her music, and the books Grace Anna Sings
and Who Do You See When You Look at Me?, please
visit the Grace Anna Sings Facebook page.
[[insert horizontal line]]
Narrator: Next time on the Jesus Calling Podcast,
we speak with Contemporary Christian Music
artist Austin French.
A competitor on ABC’s Rising Star and NBC’s
The Voice, Austin’s first album debuted
at #2 on the iTunes Christian album chart.
But Austin’s journey to finding his voice
of worship didn’t come easy.
He shares about the early heartbreak he experienced
when he was rejected by the very people he
thought were supposed to stand by him.
Austin French: My parents got a divorce when
I was eight, and it was a really big thing
for a small town in Georgia.
We were the biggest church in the area.
I remember the pastor coming to our house
and sitting down with my two sisters and I,
and my mom, saying, “Hey, we love you, we're
hurting for you, but please never come back.”
And then I decided at that point that, Well,
now my church is embarrassed of me.
I must have something wrong with me that the
church can't handle.
So I kind of decided at that moment in my
life that I was just done with the church
forever.
I needed healing.
I was hurting.
I had an unforgiveness in my heart, scars
that I needed someone to heal, to step in.
And that night I met Jesus, and everything
changed.
Narrator: Do you love hearing these stories
of faith weekly from people like you whose
lives have been changed by a closer walk with
God?
Then be sure to subscribe to the Jesus Calling:
Stories of Faith Podcast on Apple Podcasts,
Stitcher, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
If you like what you’re hearing, leave us
a review so that we can reach others with
these inspirational stories.
And, you can also see these interviews on
video as part of our original web series with
a new interview premiering every other Sunday
on Facebook Live.
Find previously broadcasted interviews on
our Youtube channel, on IGTV, or on jesuscalling.com/media/video.
