Text ©Stephanie Stovall 2019

Have you seen Breakthrough yet?
It’s the miraculous story of a boy that fell through an icy lake, was pronounced dead and is now alive and has a major motion picture based on this event.
All because his adoptive mom, Joyce Smith (played by Chrissy Metz, This Is Us) prayed boldly.
Joyce received the call all parents dread and some strong, faithful prayers and wailing cries later, the Smith family’s life was forever changed. Joyce cried out to the Holy Spirit and the Spirit responded through a pulse in John and a newly beeping monitor.
Today, John Smith is 18 years old with a dream to become a pastor someday.
This wasn’t the dream he had before he fell into the icy waters. John was a young boy with a struggling faith and carried a hurt heart from feeling unwanted by his birth mom.
I sat down with “The Real” John Smith and was privileged to hear him share his heart on the journey he has taken to not only heal but prosper in his faith life through forgiveness.
To say that I was inspired by his words would be an understatement. As I sat and listened to this 18 yr. old going on 40, I was taught a lesson I didn’t expect to hear that day.

Watch my interview below.

Text © Stephanie Stovall 2019

​ 
Within a matter of weeks I had the ginormous privilege of attending events where the speakers were Fr. Michael Gaitley, Chris Stefanick, and Scott Hahn.
Stick a fork in me, I’m done.
I’m still living off the graces from that month of mini-retreats.
Seeing these three Catholic powerhouses, all totally different from each other, a thought really took hold of me.
I was in total awe of God’s creativity in each human being he makes.
These three men had speaking, preaching, and teaching styles completely different from each other — and they all left you with that same burning in your heart desire to commit yourself deeper to the Lord.
Fr. Gaitley’s conversational style and honesty was like a breath of fresh air.
Chris Stefanick’s enthusiasm and spunk had you wanting to jump on top of your seat shouting “Amen!”
And Scott Hahn, well, was he Scott Hahn-ing — and that deserves its own verb.
I reflected on how incredible it was to have the opportunity to share in the faith of these guys. I reflected on how amazing it was that their jobs were to bring people closer to God.
Then I thought, man, I want to bring people closer to God so badly, but I’m just not good enough.

Text © Stephanie Stovall 2019

​Have you seen the movie posters of a boy fighting for his life under water?
Breakthrough hits theatres Wednesday, April 17, just in time for Easter. I had the opportunity to see the film and interview some of the movie’s key players. Here’s the inside scoop and glam red-carpet pics!
 
Catching up on his news feed on a flight from Dallas to Sacramento, Rev. Dr. Samuel Rodriguez began his journey as Executive Producer for Breakthrough; a story about a boy- John Smith- who fell through a not-so frozen lake, was dead for one hour and through the bold prayers of his mom, was miraculously brought back to life.
John is now 18 years old and sharing the story God gifted him, through the big screen. Evangelization at its’ sparkliest.
Dr. Sam read John’s story, used it in his Sunday sermon and then received a message from a woman telling him he hadn’t done the story justice. Turned out the woman was Joyce Smith, John’s adoptive mother.
The two then began a conversation that would bring them to where they are now, less than a month away from Breakthrough’s opening day. 

​Through a string of God moments, Producer DeVon Franklin (Miracles from Heaven) came on board the project.
“I just feel like this space really requires authenticity… I think its hard to make movies in this space if you’re not living it.  I don’t know that I could produce these types of films and have an ear towards this type of content if I wasn’t out there preaching and speaking in churches regularly…I know it, ‘cause I live it. It’s not something I do for money, it’s who I am.”
Franklin preached his first sermon at 15 years old.

Roxann Dawson is the Director of Breakthrough, as well as a fellow Catholic mom.
Dawson shared that her top reasons for being a part of this movie were here beliefs and her adopted daughter.
“This was one of the first times that I could actually do a film that reflected my personal beliefs…I also have an adopted daughter and that brought me very close to how Joyce feels. I felt that I understood her and not only that, but I felt I understood John better.”
There is a scene in the movie where John reveals his challenges of being adopted through a school project and that very same project was one Dawson’s daughter had to do and happened to experience the same emotions as John. That coincidence between the film and real life spoke to Dawson’s heart. ​

​John’s real- life Pastor Jason Noble, who stayed closely at the family’s side while John was in the hospital, gave us the dish on his rocky relationship with Joyce Smith.
In the movie their new, hip pastor vs. traditional church member drama wasn’t how it played it out in real life, but it was meant to show real world conflict that does exist inside church walls.
Noble also shared why community is so important to Christian life, as greatly showed in the film.

“ I think community is so important because we’re stronger together than we are apart…and it’s something we’ve actually lost, I think, in the church world today. People are so separated with social media…they’re more lonely than ever…Who do you have when you walk through a difficult time with? You have to do it by yourself, it’s difficult, compared to having a whole church around you walking through it.” 

​John Smith, 18 going on a mature 30, feels “It is a huge blessing, what else can you say, to have your story, something that God did so amazingly to my family be brought to the big screen. It’s just a huge blessing to see how this has all been God-ordained since the time I was born.”

“Breakthrough is so unique, because everyone wants to look at these God-based films and go, Oh- that’s…all cheesy Jesus… it’s another one of these stereotypical easy to predict films. This is yes, a God- based film, but you also have to realize we have science to back it up…God is the source of this whole story, but then we also have this little character behind it going-  I have science, I have 300 plus medical documents to verify why I’m alive. And that helps because when I’m talking to an unbeliever… they hear that there is a… number one in his expertise of hypothermia and drowning saying that this is a bonafede miracle from God, what can you say to that? What can anyone say to that? They want to say it was the cold weather, well we have evidence to backfire that…This is such a remarkable film because we have more than just fiction, we have the truth. We have evidence. We have back up.”

​Then, my fan moment with This Is Us star, Chrissy Metz who plays Joyce Smith.
Sitting down to talk with her is like sharing a cup of coffee with an old friend.
She shared an incredible story, how three months before Metz knew this movie was going to be made, her mom had a major stroke.
 
“They were not sure that she was going to make it through the night. There was a lot of swelling in her brain…and I just said to my sisters - We’re going to pray for healing, for the swelling to go down and we’re going to be very specific about what it is that we want and we’re going to visualize it… and only think positive thoughts about it.
I had someone come in and pray and we just sort of held a vigil… and the doctors couldn’t believe that the swelling had gone down and that she had made it through the night and she wasn’t going to have to have surgery. And they said okay, now that she’s done all this, we don’t know that she’s going to be able to walk again. And I said okay, well, you also don’t know my mom, and you also didn’t think she would make it through the night…She now walks over 10,000 steps a day… She’s now the healthiest she’s ever been.”

Don’t forget to save the date for Jesus and Breakthrough, April 17! 
​

​Copyright Stephanie Stovall 2019

​Remember how at the end of Titanic no one left the theatre? The audience sat in silence through the credits, processing the tragedy they had just watched.
​This night was no different, except this time the tragedy being processed was the reality of abortion.

The story was told so well, and the characters… man, their emotions became your own.
Unplanned is based on Abby Johnson’s life, as she shares through her memoir.
The transparency that Abby has given to this story is truly remarkable. Abby’s humility is one to be admired by all.
During the film my heart filled with gratitude for Abby’s openness with decisions she made in her life, but also with gratitude for the movie creators and actors that had no problem putting their careers on the line to bring Abby’s raw story to the big screen. That takes courage only the Spirit can provide. These people are warriors.
The movie left you physically and emotionally aching by the end.

After the movie there was a Q&A with producers and the actors who portrayed Abby (Ashley Bratcher) and Doug Johnson (Brooks Ryan). They were received with a standing ovation.

Bratcher shared she was offered the part and then had to be on a plane to Oklahoma five hours later.
She immediately called her husband and said, “Hey, I got the role! Um, by the way I’m leaving before you get home from work.”
She then went on through tears to tell her powerful personal testimony.
On the fourth day of being on set, Bratcher’s mom called. She decided to share with her mom where she was and the project she was working on. Bratcher wanted to be sensitive while telling her mom details about the movie, knowing her mom had an abortion as a teenager.
Bratcher’s mom broke down and went on to tell her about the day she almost aborted Bratcher.
Her mom had been sitting on the clinic bed, waiting for the procedure to begin when a very pregnant nurse walked in to examine her. Overwhelmed by seeing the nurse’s belly, her mom walked out and chose to keep her baby.
Speaking about God she says, “He plans our steps from conception.”

You could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in the room.

Brooks Ryan then shared his own story.
When he was 12 years old he was inspired by the movie Good Will Hunting to become an actor. He walked out of the theatre, “…as a 12-year old, my emotions were so moved and I was impacted in a way that I just looked up to God and to the universe and said, ‘I’m going to do that one day. I’m going to be a part of something that stirs people’s emotions like that.’”
Ryan left that stirring untouched until he was 25-years old. Feeling stuck and isolated while working in his home state of Oklahoma, he regretted not ever moving to New York or Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. Then one day he heard God say, “You’re going to do it from Oklahoma and you’re going to do it when I’m ready for you.”
Ryan then went on to share the story of God bringing him out of that isolation and to finding his wife. “She has saved me in so many ways, but she had a past of her own, including a doctor one day stopping her IVF treatment halfway because the numbers were so bad. He looked at her and he said you’re never going to have children of your own. And if you want your body to have them, you need to consider a donor, otherwise you need to consider other options.”
She shared this with Ryan early on while dating. Once they knew they were meant to be together, “I began praying over her womb every night… And here we are, in less than two years we have a 17-month-old and 5-month-old.”

The audience erupted with applause.

​“ …To hold our children, life means so much to us. As we know it means so much to others. And when you watch this film and you’re a part of it, your emotions are moved unquestionably and all you want to do is reach out and just say anybody that’s impacted negatively, that it doesn’t have to be that way. People will love you, God will love you, and that there’s hope and there is mercy and there’s grace and redemption. And that’s what we want to show with this film, and that’s what Abby’s life shows us.”

​But I have to say, the highlight of the entire night for me was the car ride to the screening.
I had the privilege of having dinner with Ashley, Brooks, the producers and other pro-life champions.
Towards the end of dinner, Ashley, a dear friend of mine and I struck up the beginning of a great conversation about God moments. Those little moments when God reaches down and makes a connection with us through people, circumstances and holy signs. We were so into the conversation we decided to ride together to the screening.

In the car Ashley shared her heart so openly, and what struck me the most was her unwavering faith in God.
She spoke of how she finds none of her value in her projects, but in God alone.
She has no fear of not ever working in Hollywood again after this film, because in 2012 she gave her career over to God and she knows He will take care of her either way.
Then we bonded over our love for Hallmark and I thought dang,  this girl is the real deal.

At the end of the night one of the producers told us of ways we could help the film.
The number one thing that was requested was prayer.
On Facebook you can search for Unplanned Movie Prayer Team and join the cause.
They are also in need of financial help for marketing. You can go to unplannedfilm.com to donate.
Lastly, go see the movie! Get a big group together for a night out.
This movie has the ability to change hearts and save lives.

​How are you going to help?

​As I slowly prepare our house for Christmas and my heart for Christ’s Second Coming, I keep circling back to the words of John 1:14.

​Watching the funeral of George H.W. Bush, I couldn’t help but think of God’s all-encompassing love for us.
 
If you saw any bit of the ceremonies for President Bush, you could see the love.
Every little detail was thought out and lovingly planned by family and the tradition our country holds.
This guy was a big deal, just like all of our presidents. He deserved to be laid to rest respectfully.
And man, did it take a while! I had started watching before taking the kids to school, then continued while at the gym, then ran errands and came home still able to catch the last couple of hours.
This death was a big deal.
 
So will yours be.
 
Most of us will live an ordinary life. To the big world, we will not be seen as a” big deal”.
But, as Christians, we know better.
We are sons and daughters of THE King. We are great because of who God is, we are great because we are His. Not because of anything we do, but because of Him.  
God made each and every one of us simply because He wants to BE with us.
He didn’t have to create humans. He doesn’t need us. He’s God, he’s got this. He just wants us here to love us.
And that makes us a big deal.
 
As Catholics, we have carried our Lord’s body INSIDE of our body.
So, God becomes Man- for us, dies a horrible death- for us, goes up to Heaven and then comes back - for us (so far it’s sounding like we’re a big deal if God’s going through all of this just for us, just sayin’.)
But when the Eucharist is placed on your tongue…you are officially a living Tabernacle of our Lord.
…. Whoa. Baby. That is a big deal.
We went from being one with the Holy Spirit, to being ONE with Jesus.
 
We’ve heard over and over again about how important our bodies are through the gift that is Theology of the Body.
But, are we getting it? Are we truly understanding how important our bodies are?!
I don’t.
I’m learning more and more and I don’t totally get it.
How could we ever comprehend how huge of a deal our bodies are? It’s a crazy thing to comprehend!
 
And how heartbreakingly corrupt have we made our bodies out to be.
Just turn on secular radio and it won’t take long before you hear disgusting sexual lyrics.
I just want to jump inside my radio, take these musicians by the shoulder and shake them! I want to say to them, YOU are SO much more than this! The women you are talking about are SO much more than this! Your bodies have been chosen by God himself to be here right now! You are higher than this! You are holy!
 
While watching President Bush’s processions, funeral and then more processions, I wondered…at our moment of death, what does the invisible world around us look like?
Are our Guardian Angels holding their heads up to God in joy because their mission is now complete? Are there Angels and Saints all around us celebrating God’s child finally coming home to Him, giving us a beautiful heavenly procession?
Or, are our Guardian Angels weeping, head down low because we have come to the end and never realized how much of a big deal we are because of Our Father chose to create us.
 
Every single body deserves procession after procession, trumpets and glory at the end of life. Not because of anything we did (if that was the case, we wouldn’t deserve anything at all!) but, because of how much God loves us.
 
It’s so simple, it’s incomprehensible.
 
How different would this world be if we all had the teensiest bit of understanding of how big of a deal, how so very precious, we all are to God.
Man, the thought brings me to tears.
 
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Text ©2018 Stephanie Stovall

 
In the summer of 2006, my soon-to-be youth group traveled to a Steubenville youth conference.
In September of 2006, God touched my heart at the exact time I opened it to Him, just the tiniest bit.
A rush of warmth came over and then, an explosion of sparkles and prettiness all around me (more on that some other time).  
​At that moment, I left my atheistic ways and completely gave my life over to God.
 
The next week that soon-to-be youth group became my church family, my best friends.
And all they ever talked about was Zoolander, plans for the upcoming weekend and their amazing experiences at Steubenville.
Their stories were about powerful encounters with Jesus and “the best praise and worship ever.”
Our youth group would be going on a mission trip to Mexico that upcoming summer, so me being a senior, I knew my chances of a Steubenville experience were long gone.
*Sigh*
 
Fast forward 16 years…
 
This summer I spent a weekend at a Steubenville youth conference chaperoning my parish’s youth group.
*Yes, dream come true. Thank you, thank you! Pass the Kleenex *
When I heard the youth group was in need of another female adult for the trip, I jumped at, no, attacked the chance of experiencing this conference.

Do you ever feel the excitement for your Catholic faith fading out a bit? Maybe you’ve noticed you’re beginning to simply go through the motions of your faith life without that zeal you once had. Or, maybe you’re in that dry desert stage of your relationship with God.

If you thought, “Yup, that’s me,” don’t be so sad, you’re just in need of some Catholic Caffeine!
Here are 10 Catholic treasures that are worth “googling” to help a momma out in her time of need, in no particular order.

1) Surprised by Truth by Patrick Madrid

I have an almost 11 month old “tiny” little baby.
He’s crawling and rolling all over the house and has an odd attachment to our Bluetooth speaker, which began one morning we were listening to the rosary (that’s the only thing that keeps me from freaking out about this creepy new obsession).
This little boy will be completely into his new found treasure of the moment, I’ll catch his eye from the kitchen, he’ll drop that treasure out of his mouth, mad dashes over to me, pushes himself up on his knees and stretches his arms out as far as they can go. He breaks out into the biggest, happiest smile you’ve ever seen and begs for a hug.

Ohh, my heart.
 
Starting a couple of years ago, every now and then, I’d ask for the grace to really feel and understand God as my Father, Father.
So many times I get stuck in the motions of faith and who God truly is, that I miss the depth of His love.
I have no problem referring to God as my BFF, that was where my faith began, but the Father side of God is a side of Him I really have desired a deeper connection with.
 
One of the most beautiful things about a relationship with God are the quiet, hidden moments when He reveals Himself to you with a gentle touch to your heart. The subtle, “I am here.”
 
Just the other day my tiny little baby looked up at me with those big eyes, threw his chunky arms up and gave me the cheesiest “I love you!! Hold me!” smile.
I froze. I didn’t grab his tiny little body close.
I just stared at him…but I’m telling you…it was not my tiny little baby.
It was God.
It was God taking that subtle “I am here” moment to another place.
For years now I have been hearing people ask, “Do you know God the Father?”
Because I have never referred to God as my Father in my conversations with Him, I’ve thought, “No, no I don’t know God as my Father.”
 
In that mere second with a tiny little baby, God moved like a tidal wave in my soul.
As I looked at my son, God asked me, “Why does this baby love you?’
And then, the epiphany.
My baby loves me and his Daddy because of who we are to him.
We are the people that feed him.
We are the ones that put snuggly pajamas on his body.  
We hold him tight after a bump of his head.
We give him the baths that refresh him.
We are the ones he trusts.
He loves us because he loves us.
He loves me because I am his Mommy.
He loves his Daddy because he’s his Daddy.

​Text ©Stephanie Stovall 2018