Tim Gay and his wife have a blended family with seven kids, one an adopted teen girl. Tim has a background in business. He studied accounting, has his MBA, and seventeen of his last twenty plus years in business were spent at Sprint. He left two years ago and founded YOUTHRIVE, a nonprofit focused on supporting young adults aging out of foster care.

Some of my favorite quotes from this episode. Really good stuff here!

• We’re all created in God’s image and have an inherent dignity because of who created us and our relationship with God
• …it’s not about religion, it’s not about morality, it’s about having a relationship with God
• …its not about accomplishments. It’s inherent, everyone has dignity and value because they’re created by God, and not because of their accomplishments
• You start to see people for who they are….regardless of accomplishments, or wealth, or status, or privilege
• If you choose to look for value in other people, and encourage them and care for them and love them, then naturally they will…find value in you
• Through your relationships with God and others, you start to experience joy, peace, contentment

Add a comment or question at www.withlaurajohnson.com/episode-017-you-have-value-with-tim-gay. We would love to hear from you!

Ashley McCauley has been married to her husband Ben for three years, and they have a seventeen month old son that loves to climb. Ashley graduated from the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, with a degree in communications and Biblical studies. Her background is in marketing and editing, in the book publishing and faith based/nonprofit world. Currently, Ashley is a stay at home mom and enjoys reading, writing, hiking and asking why—why people and things work the way they do. Check out Ashley’s blog at https://ashleybmccauley.wordpress.com! 

Some of my favorite quotes from this episode. Some deep stuff!

• I feel like I always need to be working or doing something to retain…value
• It’s all dependent on what God says, not what other people are saying or thinking, or what I’m thinking they’re thinking
• Understanding value better now, allows me to give myself grace
• Value…it’s a gift that’s given. People have value because God’s given it
• People who don’t believe they’re valuable are very fragile
• Someone who believes they have value, you can tell that they live out of their fullness
• Living in the truth just brings freedom

Verses Referenced:

Genesis 1:27

Genesis 16

Add a comment or question at www.withlaurajohnson.com/episode-016-you-have-value-with-ashley-mccauley. We would love to hear from you!

Drew Speicher just turned 40 yesterday! He has been married to his lovely wife for eighteen years, has an eleven year old daughter, and an eight year old son. Drew grew up in upstate New York, went to high school in Nebraska, and college in the Kansas City area. He went to law school at Drake University, and has been a lawyer for about fifteen years. He is also heavily involved in his church.

Some of my favorite quotes from this episode. Only a few of many!

• There’s a difference between having value and being valuable…any individual word can express a different meaning than a word that may seem similar
• I’m willing to serve and to give and to offer love and support, regardless of whether I ever get anything in response or in exchange for that or not
• The way you look somebody in the eye and the way you’re willing to treat them…goes a long way in helping that person understand that they have value
• Dignity…there’s something almost regal about who we are as individuals
• Value becomes dignity, and then dignity becomes all kinds of wonderful things that produce great works and great value in others
• (value) provides a different type of motivation that allows me to do things that I probably wouldn’t otherwise try, for either fear of failure or fear of rejection or fear of inadequacy
• Anyone who grasps that sense of personal value, is now much more likely to be able to accomplish whatever it is they were designed to accomplish

Add a comment or question at www.withlaurajohnson.com/episode-015-you-have-value-with-drew-speicher. We would love to hear from you!

LaKresha Graham grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, a middle child with two brothers. According to her this equated to having issues all around: middle child, only girl. She has been involved in BSF leadership, and is an assistant professor at Rockhurst University.

Some of my favorite quotes from this episode. We covered great material!

• …the world has lots of ways of making you feel inadequate, insignificant, value-less or less valued than others
• I can’t rely on other people to tell me that I’m worth something. It’s something that I have to affirm first through God and then also with myself
• You can establish…healthy boundaries with other people, because you’re worth those boundaries
• When you say yes to something…you’re saying no to something else. What do you want to say yes to?
• God has me here, being who I am, doing what I do, for a reason, and that’s where my value comes from
• I shouldn’t really pursue perfection, I really should pursue awesomeness
• If everyone could live life with the value that they have, this world could be such a great place

Add a comment or question at www.withlaurajohnson.com/episode-014-you-have-value-with-lakresha-graham. We would love to hear from you!

Jeff Rindom has been married for 25 years to his lovely wife Carol, and they have two college-aged daughters. He is an IT guy. And, he enjoys fitness, reading, photography, and working out.

Some of my favorite quotes from this episode. Love Jeff’s examples!

• I had value from the very beginning, I just didn’t know how much value I had until I came to know Him
• I really see a relationship between value and love
• When you feel loved, your sense of confidence and your self image tend to grow
• It’s emboldened me to become more vulnerable, and share my past, and share who I really am
• People can achieve great success, or just greatness in general
• A person simply cannot grow to the extent that they are capable of without a solid sense of personal worth

Add a comment or question at www.withlaurajohnson.com/episode-013-you-have-value-with-jeff-rindom. We would love to hear from you!

Tori is a creative who loves to write, sing and dance. She loves spending time with her family, is best friends with her sister, is a student and loves learning about God.

Some of my favorite quotes from this episode. Such great stories!

• I love you forever no matter what, you can never do anything to change my love for you
• Apart from anything I can do, anything I could even say, or…how well I think, how well I articulate my words, I’m still valuable
• It doesn’t even matter if you have people around you, because the fact remains, you still are valuable, no matter what
• If I didn’t have Christ, if I didn’t have my family, where would I be? I don’t know if I’d still be here
• If you know how much you’re loved, you’re not afraid of what other people think
• Life is more fun…when you know how much you’re loved

Please share any comments or questions at www.withlaurajohnson.com/episode-012-you-have-value-with-tori. Would love to hear your thoughts!

Nate Medhurst works in the HR department at an advertising company. He is involved in BSF leadership and helps with his church youth group. Nate loves people. He also loves sports, including Sporting Kansas City and the Jayhawks.

Some of my favorite quotes from this episode. And this was a good one!

• Your motivations are often directly tied to that…if you don’t feel like you have value, then you  might not try as hard at something…
• You do have value, you’re loved by God, you’ve been designed a specific way, you’ve been given specific gifts to do great things in this world
• Your heart beats a little faster and…it’s easier to get up in the morning if you’re really excited about what you’re doing and you feel like you’re doing a good thing
• We are all given different gifts…and that enables us to really serve in a way that makes the most sense
• Just the fact that someone spends time with someone else means that they think that they have value
• Someone who believes that they have value can really do just about whatever they set their mind to
• If they believe that they have value, they would take the effort to try something daring or to try something unusual

Add a comment or question at www.withlaurajohnson.com/episode-011-you-have-value-with-nate-medhurst. We would love to hear from you!

Charme Fletcher is a pastor’s wife. They have three adult children, six grandchildren, and greatly enjoy spending time with family. Charme was raised by her grandparents, and one of her passions is creating a legacy focused on Christ.

Some of my favorite quotes from this episode. And there were many!

• I knew that God loved me and I had value, but now Jesus fulfilled that in me
• Every morning I protect my time with Christ…that sets my whole day apart
• Even though I didn’t have an earthly father, I knew I had a heavenly father
• I had a fear of loss…I didn’t carry that fear of loss in me anymore
• It allows me to develop friendships and relationships on a deeper level
• As we are valued, and we recognize that value comes from Christ, we are able to extend grace and forgiveness towards others
• It’s okay, you’re not there yet, but keep on trying

Verses Referenced:

John 3:16

Philippians 4:6-7

Ephesians 3:16-19

Add a comment or question at www.withlaurajohnson.com/episode-010-you-have-value-with-charme-fletcher. We would love to hear from you!

Jeff Fletcher pastors a church, has pastored for 15+ years, and is a production supervisor at our national records center for our country. He is happily married to Charme, and is enjoying the experience of being a grandparent to six grandchildren.

Some of my favorite quotes from this episode. What a great episode!

• God loved me no matter what I did, and he will not love me any more or any less, according to what I do
• My value was from my significance to God, even more than my importance to him
• Relationships are the most important thing that I have, but I have to start with the most important relationship
• Even those who make wrong choices, that are sitting incarcerated right now, those people have a sense of value to God
• I can’t supersede the value that I have, above or beyond the value of someone else
• Comfort the disturbed, disturb the comforted

Add a comment or question at www.withlaurajohnson.com/episode-009-you-have-value-with-jeff-fletcher. We would love to hear your thoughts!

Amy Boesen is the facilities coordinator at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, and was involved in BSF leadership. Amy was born, raised, and went to school in the state of Kansas.

Some of my favorite quotes from this episode. Such a great conversation!

• You are happy, pretty, smart, good, and loved
• I still needed to believe it myself
• I always believed in Jesus, I always believed in God, I always knew that Jesus died on the cross for my sins, but I didn’t know that it was a personal choice…that I had to make
• God…has a purpose for everyone, and it may not look pretty, it may look ugly, it may look hard, but he wants to be part of it
• I feel found
• There’s only one race, it’s the human race
• If I say, no I don’t have value, and I’m worthless, then I’m saying that God’s creation is worthless and God’s creation doesn’t have value, and that’s a lie

Add a comment or question at www.withlaurajohnson.com/episode-008-you-have-value-with-amy-bosen. We would love to hear from you!