This episode of Nourished to Bloom is tender and raw. Recording it wasn't easy—but it felt necessary. As floods have devastated parts of the Texas Hill Country, just minutes from my own home, I found myself wrestling with the weight of grief, confusion, and helplessness.
💧 A moment to grieve the heartbreak and devastation in our community 🙏 A powerful prayer for the girls and families of Camp Mystic and all those affected 🕊️ A reflection on the gift of knowledge and how it helps us hold onto God's truth when we can't make sense of the pain 🛐 Encouragement to pray for the first responders, families, and leaders navigating unimaginable loss 🤍 A call to compassion and faith when answers feel far away
While it may seem small in the face of such tragedy, this episode is an offering—an invitation to sit in sorrow, cling to truth, and allow the Holy Spirit to guide our hearts toward hope.
If you feel called, you'll find a donation link in the show notes to support flood relief through the Hill Country Community Foundation.
https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201
Join The Nourished to Bloom Community: www.community.karatrochta.com
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The Nourished to Bloom Podcast Show Notes: www.podcast.karatrochta.com/shownotes
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Hey, there. Welcome to this week's episode of
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the Nourish to Bloom podcast.
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I'm not going to lie, this episode
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has been really difficult to record because
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nothing seems appropriate. I
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guess doesn't seem
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that in the grand scheme of the tragedies that are
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going on right now, that this
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podcast even matters. And
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I say that because I
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live about 30 to 45 minutes away
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from these areas in Texas that have
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been affected by this flooding and this
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tragedy and this devastation.
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Even just a month ago, we
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drove to Ingram for four nights to play an All Star
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baseball tournament. Just that little town. And every time you got to
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the ballpark, you had to go right across the river.
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And it's hard and it's heavy. And while it
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hasn't personally impacted me or my family
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as a mom like you mothers out there,
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just the heartbreak and the emotions that come with
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this are just so heavy.
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So in the
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podcast show Notes, I'm going to post
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a link for the Hill Country Community
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foundation that is accepting donations
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specifically for the flood victims, if you
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feel so inclined to donate financially to the
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cause. But, of course, lifting up
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all of the families that were affected by this in
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your prayers and
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in your thoughts, and just
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knowing that
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while it is so difficult to process
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that our faith in God is what was
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going to keep us moving forward,
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that when we think about the little girls at Camp mystic and that it was
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a Christian summer camp,
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that they loved Jesus with that
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childlike love, with that childlike dependency,
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that they did not let the doubts and the fears creep in,
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but so many of them just had that pure,
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childlike love for Jesus up until the very
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last minutes of their life.
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I apologize if you hear the sniffling. It's
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really hard. I want to share a prayer with you
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that I saw
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on Facebook specifically
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for this community.
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So we'll pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and the
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Holy Spirit. Amen. Lord, we come to
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you with heavy hearts, lifting up the girls and families of Camp
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mystic, wherever they are. Lord, surround them with your divine
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protection. Hold them close in the safety of your arms.
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Calm every fear, quiet every storm, and let them feel
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the warmth of your presence like a guiding light in the dark.
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We ask for strength for their families. Give them peace
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that surpasses understanding and hope that does not fade.
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May they feel you walking beside them through every moment of this unbearable
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uncertainty. Lord, we also pray for the hearts of
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this community, for those searching, waiting, and holding
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onto faith. Unite us in love, in prayer,
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and in action. May the truth come quickly and May it
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bring healing. You are the God of miracles. We believe
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in your power and your mercy and in your unfailing love.
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Amen. In the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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As we've been talking about our summer series,
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Summer with the Holy Spirit, this week's podcast
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is supposed to be focused on the gift of knowledge. And
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I don't. Like I said, it feels
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very insignificant,
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this podcast, in the grand scheme of it all,
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especially in this week. But when I
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think about the gift of knowledge and we think about what it
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means, and it's really the ability to grasp spiritual
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truths and insights that are beyond natural comprehension,
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I can't think of a gift that we would maybe need more in this time,
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right. To be able to hold on to the spiritual truths
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that we know, that we have grown in, that we have grown to trust in
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the spiritual truths about God and who he is and
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his character and what it does, what he does.
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I can't think of something that we need to grasp onto more
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than that in this moment when we can't comprehend why something like this
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would happen. But this gift of
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knowledge can really help us to see things from God's point of view,
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which may differ from our own limited understanding.
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And it's a gift that can help guide our prayer and helping us
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to know what to pray for in difficult times such as
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these. And it allows us, as I
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just read the prayer, to think about some of those spiritual truths
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of who we know God to be,
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that he is our divine protection,
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that he can quiet every storm,
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that He's a guiding light in the darkness,
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that he is strength.
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And when we can grasp onto and hold on to these spiritual
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truths, I think they're the things that we
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need and can rely on and can be infused with
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for times such as these, to allow us to
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remember who God is and what he does,
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his goodness, his love, his mercy and his
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compassion. And when we can do
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that, it allows us to. It
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doesn't take the pain away, it doesn't take the hurt away, it
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doesn't take the ache away. But I think that through the
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Spirit and the gift of knowledge, that it allows
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us to be comforted and it
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allows us to hold on in
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hope and faith
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in God's divine mercy and
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compassion and. And his plan and his will,
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despite the fact that we don't understand
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why tragedies happen, why certain things happen. But
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this. This gift of knowledge allows us to
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hold on to the things that are necessary to help move us
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forward, to give us that, and that strength in. In difficult times.
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So I ask that you continue to pray for the Texas Hill
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Country. Pray for the souls
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of those who died in this tragedy.
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Pray for the families who are impacted by the loss of life.
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Pray for the families who have to rebuild, who have
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lost everything in literally a matter of minutes.
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Pray for the first responders and the difficult job
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that they have.
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Pray for the volunteers who are
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out there giving their time to help with cleanup and search
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efforts. Pray for
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our government leaders that they know how to
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proceed in this
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time that really allows them to
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let God guide them with this gift of knowledge to give
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them the answers that they seek.
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And treating every victim of this with dignity
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and worth and compassion, just as the Lord
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treats us. And like I said,
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if you feel compelled to donate financially,
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I will have the link for the Hill
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Country Community foundation that is collecting money that will go
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directly to the flood victims.
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I pray that you have a beautiful and blessed week going forward.
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And remember, beauty held as a seed, beauty shared as the flower.
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It's your time to bloom. Thank you for joining me. Thank
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you for allowing me to
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process some of the emotion that I, I
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think has been building up,
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leading to speaking about this, speaking about
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all of it, and, and allowing God's truth to infuse us and the
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gift of knowledge to help us
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in beginning to understand and comprehend the events that
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have happened. Please pray for me.
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I'll be praying for you and I will see you back here next week.
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Take care and God bless.