Farewell 05: Motherhood and The Internet—Our Predictions Transcript
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Emily Jensen: Welcome back to the Risen Motherhood podcast. I'm Emily Jensen, and my co-host, Laura Wifler, will be joining me in just a minute to have a really fun discussion today. We thought it would be interesting to not only talk about the state of digital media and the internet as it relates to motherhood content but to make some predictions about the future.
As Risen Motherhood is ending its time of creating new content, we just wanted to talk a little bit about what might be filling in those gaps—what we see happening and changing online. Then, we are going to end today's show with some very special predictions for one another—just talking about our friendship and what we hope to see for each other going forward.
Before we jump into that, I wanted to remind you to mark your calendar for Saturday, April 5, 2025. Because before Risen Motherhood sunsets, we are going out with a huge party. We are streaming it all live from Fort Worth, Texas, and we'd love it if you'd grab your mom pals—anyone you've enjoyed Risen Motherhood with—and join us via simulcast for a time of reflection on all that God has done through the ministry of Risen Motherhood. Tickets are free, so you just need to register at risenmotherhood.com/celebrationparty or head to the link in our show notes.
Finally, if you haven't heard, our book A Million Tiny Moments: Reflections to Refresh a Mom's Spirit is officially here. This is a really exciting moment because Laura and I have been working on establishing what we're calling a Legacy Collection of books for Risen Motherhood, where we've really tried to capture all the things that we've talked about and shared over the years.
This particular book is the final piece of that puzzle. It is filled with short, gospel-centered writings. It's a great reference book to have on hand when you need a quick reminder that what you're doing in the everyday moments matters. There are definitely a lot of categories in there—a lot of phrases that you can relate to. There are a ton of writings and one that you can find for just about any situation you are facing.
You can find A Million Tiny Moments anywhere books are sold. If you already have it in hand, we hope it's an encouragement to you, and we'd love it if you would leave a rating and review through the link in our show notes. Let's jump into today's show.
Let's jump into the content of today's show and the Farewell Series. As we mentioned, there are a lot of things—little last things we want to say before we wrap up and before we go. Today, we wanted to spend a little bit of time talking shop about the internet and motherhood and where we think things are headed. I think one question we've had—which this question blows my mind and I laugh at it—but it's, "What's the internet going to be like without Risen Motherhood?"
We're sure it's going to be fine, but I still think that's a question, right? It's like, "With the sunset, who am I supposed to follow, and how am I supposed to discern and think through some of the other options that are available?" Laura and I just wanted to spend some time thinking through what we think is next for motherhood content online.
Laura Wifler: There's a lot of things that could be said here, but I think one of the things that is really exciting, but also does have a danger, is how niche the content is and how you can find something for literally any problem you're facing.
Emily: I know. I don't know if I ever shared this with you, Laura, but at one point after you told me about one of your kiddos’ diagnoses for something, I had Googled it, and then the next day—a whole bunch of Instagram reels about this specific thing.
Laura: It's listening.
Emily: I was like, "Wow, there's someone out there who is talking about this specific niche thing." In some ways, that's so helpful that we no longer have to weed through all the different resources that are out there. The algorithm is like, "You searched it one time. Here we go." There is a creator for everything now. There is a mom who specializes in helping you walk through postpartum depression. There is a mom who specializes in strategies for your boy under the age of five with ADHD. There's something for everyone. In some ways, that's so helpful.
Laura: Yes, it is. It's really awesome. But also, that danger, or the difficulty with it, is that, number one, I think it causes a lot of overwhelm or exhaustion to get it all perfectly. You and I were talking recently, again, about one of my kids' many diagnoses. I was like, "I have tried it all." I have tried all the things all these experts say. Then I just find another expert who's like, "But you haven't tried this." They come in, and you're like, "Oh, yes," and it gives you hope for a moment, and you try it, and it doesn't work. It can just feel like the depth of information is so deep, and it's very overwhelming to try to absorb it all—to execute it all. You start to feel like, “I've got to do so many things to be a good mom.”
I think too, it's really easy to get sucked in and making—as you have these like really niche, helpful things—suddenly, I think I find myself spending more time with an influencer or with their train of thought or the way that they're thinking than with the Lord. I think that danger comes in—and just using discernment and saying like, “I can read until the ends of the age about this topic because the well of influencers and the depth of information they provide is so helpful and good.”
There's a positive, but also like—at what point am I placing my hope in what they're offering? I just think that can be really challenging.
But it's also been such a gift to you and I, because, like you said—oh my word, my kid gets a diagnosis, and I'm like, “There's someone out there.” This really bizarre, rare thing that my kid gets—I'm like, "Oh, okay. They're going to tell me what medicine to give."
Emily: Exactly. What I think is so interesting is this works contrary to biblical wisdom and even like the way that we've tried to set up Risen Motherhood, which has been very principle-focused. I think with biblical wisdom, it's about knowing the Word of God, knowing who God is, knowing his commands and the things that shape who we should be in the world that we live in as we walk with Christ. All of that trickles down to these situations that we're facing—these questions that we have.
I think what you find on Instagram or on TikTok or whatever is—you get really focused in on the issue. Then you're starting to try to claw your way back up to biblical wisdom or get your head out of this one siloed issue. I also think, with our friends and neighbors, as we get deeper and deeper and deeper into whatever the algorithm is feeding us, that becomes our reality and everything we know about motherhood.
Guess what? Another mom is living in her own algorithm-driven reality in terms of the information she's getting—the way motherhood is being framed. And our views don't get challenged very often. I think it's just really important, as we are in this increasingly niche internet culture, that we continue to stay rooted in local communities—that we're broadening our view sometimes beyond our very specific concern.
Laura: I think another blessing that we see is just how many visuals we have of motherhood, whether that's videos or pictures, vlogs or stories, whatever. There is a really great thing that we can see how someone is mothering. I know I've talked to a lot of first-time Christians who have said, "Those have been a lifeline for me because I've learned how to discipline. I've learned how to structure my day. I see the marker board that she uses to make sure she's productive during the day."
I know that that is a huge blessing—that we can see other types of motherhood. Or, maybe, you have a child with a special diagnosis, and you can learn how to do a feeding tube on the internet visually—how this mother who loves her child is executing those things. Maybe you don't have a neighbor who's doing that, but you can see another mom doing these things, and it is genuinely helpful for you.
But on the flip side, that danger is just that, suddenly, we're set up for “this is what good motherhood looks like.” We have even more of a reason to say that this is the “right” way.
Emily: I think, too, it can be very aesthetic. I know that there's some people who are anti-aesthetic and like, "This is my real gritty life." Then, there are also these presentations of this idyllic version of motherhood that isn't realistic for every mom where they're at. I think too, one of the things we wanted to come back to was the idea of half-truths. I think we have to be careful when we're watching all these mom vlogs, and we're watching moms living out their daily lives, that we're being critical thinkers—that we're being discerning. Because a lot of times someone may show themselves reading their Bible in the morning, or “Christian” may be on their bio, but the actual lifestyle they're touting and the thing that they're functionally putting their hope in and the truth they're functionally giving you—this is the message: this is the means of salvation—living life this certain way. It can start to distort and add to the gospel. That's real tricky. It's real subtle, but it's out there, and it's becoming really prevalent.
Laura: It's like we were studying in Revelation. We were using Jen Wilkin’s study—the Revelation study. I feel like I'm being redundant. She shares that Satan uses three different ways to harm the church—and we are not saying that mom bloggers out there are satanic or anything, so don't hear that.
Emily: Not the takeaway.
Laura: Right. The context is interesting because basically, he's using these three different ways. It all boils down to three tricks up his sleeve of how he pulls us away from looking at the gospel and focusing on Christ, and the first is deception. Just distorting the truth. Like you said, Emily, those half-truths—we see a lot of those online. Seduction—this is very American. Making the way of the world look promising or appealing or “this style of motherhood is the best style.” Then lastly, persecution. This is something that we don't face a ton of in the West, but really, persecution is any time that you face ill-treatment or harm for your faith.
I think a lot of times, we go all the way of feeling, “This is martyrs” and things like that, which it absolutely is. Also, as we share our faith online, there can be some difficulties and some persecution that we face. Satan's going to use all of those to stop you from being effective as a Christian. It's good to be aware, as we engage with these different types of motherhood platforms of like, "Are any of these tactics being used to pull my eyes from Christ?" And to recognize that Satan's not all that smart—he's not all that new—but it's very effective on us as humans.
Emily: I think finally, just thinking through the micro-mom influencer culture and, again, we've already said this—there's this blessing in being able to find a mom who has a smaller platform—who is probably able to be more personal, more intimate. She's able to take you along in her day through stories or through reels and things like that. She can be relatively open because her following isn't as massive. I think that that's a change from the internet or from social media ten years ago or eight years ago or five years ago. We see what we're calling, again, micro-influencers.
Laura: This is like a few thousand or 10,000 followers. 20,000 followers.
Emily: Yes. 10,000 or less. It can start to feel like, “This person is my friend.” This is someone who can probably be pretty responsive to messages. This is somebody who can share a lot of their purchases and all of those different things. In some ways, it's really helpful to get this up close and personal look—and it's almost like virtual discipleship in some ways.
Laura: I think that this feels really good because you feel like you have access to someone. Like Emily said, they're very responsive, but sometimes, I think that, again, we're getting this information, and we're feeling like we have this kindred or this friendship with a person who actually doesn't know our real lives and doesn't know what we're really going through.
I'm always challenged by this thought on something like Instagram stories, which are, I don't know, fifteen seconds each. If you watched ten of their stories that they post every single day, suddenly you're spending minutes every day with that person, which adds up to hours every year. That may be more time than you spend with anyone else, really, outside your general family. So just trying to look at: how much time am I spending with this micro-influencer, and how am I modeling her, and does that follow Christ? It could be a “follow me as I follow Christ” situation. But a lot of times, these micro-influencers are becoming popular because they're maybe using a little more black-and-white language. They're maybe a little more divisive. They lean hard on one area or another.
Also, that caution of just making sure that you're getting that balanced viewpoint on motherhood. Like we talked about earlier, you're starting at the point of wisdom, and you're starting with Scripture and trickling down instead of reversing that and trying to crawl your way back up, because that's a lot harder to do.
Emily: It's interesting too because I think, sometimes, someone who's starting out, and they're more of a micro-influencer—you and I have experienced this—there's a lot of sharing that happens. Then, all of a sudden, you hit a point—either because of time and the quantity of content you've had to make or because the amount of followers and things gets overwhelming—and then, that person undergoes a shift, or they get off the internet. There's a lot of burnout that happens. There's a lot of struggling to keep up. There's a lot of, along the way, having to pivot and change course.
I think if we've put someone on a pedestal and felt like, “This is my friend, and I'm watching them,” and now they're having to make wise changes because they've grown too much, or they're realizing that certain types of content help them grow. Now, they've shifted their tune a little bit. Again, just being aware of it. That's how it works.
Laura: Let's move on from that. Let's talk about some of our predictions. As we exit the internet, at least in the way that we are currently on Risen Motherhood, what are some of our predictions for what motherhood will look like online in the future? Emily?
Emily: Okay. I think—big shocker here. I think there's still going to be a remnant of Christian moms who are reasonable and wise—
Laura: Oh, thank goodness.
Emily: —who are looking for solid biblical content on motherhood. The reality is the remnant is never loud. Yet they are faithful and influential in their churches, in their communities, in their families. I'm just really grateful for those of you who are already doing this.
I just know, like no matter where the internet goes or where social media goes, there are still going to be Christian moms who are doing humble, quiet, good work in their mothering, and they're radically impacting their families for the gospel for generations. We're not going to hear these women's stories on this side of heaven. These women might not make obvious, overt cultural waves or be the ones with all the blue check marks by their names, but there are absolutely going to be moms that are still making major waves for the gospel.
Laura: I love that. Ditto. One of my predictions would just be that I think it is going to be easier than ever to grow big online, and big is relative. We just got done talking about all the micro-influencers, but I actually think that the internet is going to be more fractured, and there's going to be popular people on Substack, on X, on Instagram, on TikTok, on whatever platform. I think more and more platforms are going to rise up, and there's going to be this famous Instagrammer—and this is already happening to us, right? Somone's like, "Oh, that's a famous TikToker." I'm like, "No clue who that is," but a lot of people know who that is.
It's just like we've seen the deconstruction of Hollywood over the years, where it has less and less power. I think that there's going to be less and less power given to big social media influencers. Yet, you can grow really big because I think people are figuring out how to trick the algorithm. I've read several things that they're like, “This is exactly how to beat the algorithm.” Then I'm watching them do it. There are people that—it's called “build in public.”
What that means is that you're going to build whatever—it might be a business, a type of business that's tangible in your community, or it might be like an online business—but you're building in public. They're showing you, “Here's how I beat the algorithm, and I'm telling you exactly how I did it.” They indeed are. It's so interesting. I just think it'll be easier to get big, but it'll also be big in your little bubble.
Emily: Interesting. Another prediction that I have is that we're going to see a pendulum swing at some point. I don't necessarily have any evidence for this other than I think whatever parents do, their kids tend to come in and go the other way. Our generation, millennials, paved the way with social media and children, right? We've shown a lot of photos and videos of our kids on social media. I'm just wondering if like, as our children grow up, there will be not only more legislation around children and what you can show online, and even legislation around if you're someone who is making an income off of social media—how your kids are participating in that.
I wonder if there'll be more legislation on minimum age for children being able to be on social media—not just their faces, but then also as users. Then also, if our children will grow up and feel like, "Absolutely not. I'm not putting my kids online because I had my face online, and I don't want that for my kids."
Laura: And/or I think you'll see more people just choosing to not be on social media.
Emily: I heard—I read somewhere—have you ever heard the word “cheugy”?
Laura: I've heard it. I couldn't tell you what it means.
Emily: You look that up later. Cheugy is like a tacky old person thing.
Laura: Oh, okay. I was going to say fancy.
Emily: We're probably cheugy.
Laura: Oh no.
Emily: Bougie is like fancy.
Laura: Bougie. Yes, I've heard that word.
Emily: I may not even be pronouncing it right. This is how out of touch I am.
Laura: Oh, please.
Emily: I read somewhere that younger people are starting to say it's cheugy when moms put pictures of their kids online.
Laura: Really?
Emily: It's just like “ick.” I don't know if that's true. I read that in one place but—
Laura: That's funny. I don't love like anything I do being called cheugy, apparently, but okay. I think I totally agree with you. I think we're going to see big changes with kids in the next ten to fifteen years on social media. In every way, shape, and form, we're going to see a lot of big changes, and they're going to be good ones. I'm actually really happy about them. I think we're going to see a return from publishers towards good, solid, true writers rather than just grabbing the next big shot on social media. We saw about ten, maybe twelve, years of most big social media people getting book deals. It was super common. It was like, “You have 100,000 followers—when's your book coming out?”
What I think publishers saw was those books don't sell. They have a big opening day, and then they have no legs long-term, and people were tired of not reading great quality books. I think the people have spoken, and publishers are seeing that, hey, we want to have great writers, even if they have a smaller following. We want to cultivate the writer themself. I'm thankful. I think that's a really, really good change—that just because you have a big following doesn't mean you can land a book deal anymore. It gives hope for those people who are really doing the hard work of learning the craft of writing and becoming better and better and really saying—I was reading this Substack article the other day, and she was talking about how basically everybody on Instagram—“writer” is in their bio because they have a Substack. She's like, "Pulling together a bunch of links for people or what you wore that day does not make you a writer." That might hurt someone's feelings—I'm sorry—out there. I thought that was helpful because there is a difference between being a professional writer. That took us years to own, you and I, Emily. We had published books, and we're still like, are we writers? I just think we're going to see a little bit more honor to the craft of writing, and I'm excited about that.
Emily: I think—this is something we've already talked about a little bit—but I think we're going to be a little bit surprised as some of the motherhood content ages and maybe our favorite of-the-moment influencer hits their forties or their kids get older. You and I know firsthand: it's really exhausting to feed the content machine for more than three to five years. Especially after five years, we see a lot of women needing to take big breaks—needing to really shift the way that they create things—or they have to get a team around them. After some period of time, this organic—
Laura: It's fatiguing. It's so fatiguing.
Emily: Yes. This thing that you sort of could do in your spare time becomes really, really unmanageable and difficult. It's hard to keep reinventing yourself, like, "How can I keep myself fresh and relevant and exciting?" I do think whoever's in their mid-twenties now to mid-thirties, and they have young children, and they're keeping up with the trends, and they're doing all the things that are fun and interesting—it'll be really interesting to see in five or ten years who is still in the game and/or if another completely different crop of people comes up. That's what we've seen happen in the past, and it will just be interesting to see that happen again.
Laura: I think that this career is not crazy sustainable. You have to, like you said, bring a team around you, or you have to iterate and innovate on what you're doing.
Emily: It hits different when your kids are middle schoolers versus three-year-olds.
Laura: Absolutely. Just the energy levels that you can feel towards this type of content can really ebb and flow. I even think—even if you're not talking about motherhood—just the internet, like you said—feeding the content machine—it is really, really exhausting. I think we don't necessarily have the science to back this up yet, but taking into account the science for the dopamine hits and the addiction—just the way it makes you feel weary and the constant inputs—I think there's something interesting to that and people's ability to be sustainable on these platforms. I don't know what's there. I feel like, “Oh, it's a game for the youth. It's a game for those who are young.”
Emily: It kind of feels like that!
Laura: Like sports where you got to be young. You hit thirty-five—you're too old. It's not necessarily physical, but there's an element of just that energy and drive.
Emily: Fearlessness.
Laura: Yes, and how fast everything moves. You get older, and you're like, "I just don't want to move so fast."
Emily: I know. [Laughter]
Laura: I want to do good work but slower pace, please. That's where things like blogging or books come into play because—you're also thinking a little more about your legacy, like what we're doing. I think there's an element of—you're starting to think of what's going to last. All this social media content that you are putting so much into is gone within twenty-four hours.
Emily: It just sort of gets buried.
Laura: It does. Unless you're able, like us—we put a lot of our work into A Million Tiny Moments, and I feel like that's very, very rare—that we were able to take out some of this work that we did over the years and years and years. I think your energy starts changing towards what—or your desire starts changing towards what you want to put your energy to.
Emily: What about AI?
Laura: That's one of mine. I don't know what AI is going to do.
Emily: AI is going to be mommy vlogging now.
Laura: We'll learn from AI how to be a mom. Oh man. I am not quite sure what AI—I think that the internet, no matter what, is going to become way more immersive. With augmented virtual reality, I think moms are going to be making purchasing decisions way differently. I think pretty soon you'll feel like you're in a mom's living room. You're like there with her trying on clothes. That tech is there, and it's very close to us being able to access as consumers.
I think it's going to make it even harder—some of the things that we've been talking about make those pulls and tendencies towards consumerism even harder. I think AI—well definitely like, already—I don't know if you found this, but if I just do a Google search, like “how to cook this,” there's an AI summary. Already, it's affecting my motherhood just in the little ways of—it's teaching me how to cook.
Emily: It gave you the recipes it wanted to give you. I guess if you extrapolate that onto, like looking for a—you're asking a question about a parenting issue.
Laura: Yes.
Emily: AI is—
Laura: It will know your bents—like you're a gentle parent or you're more of an authoritarian parent.
Emily: Again, reinforcing things. Then, also thinking for you in some ways, which could be really helpful in some things and can be very terrifying in other things. I wonder too, if things like products—again, AI giving you something so deeply specific that it can continue to feel like, “Oh, this is exactly what I was looking for. This is going to make my life better.”
Laura: I think I'm concerned about the images—AI images. We've already seen big publishing houses using AI images for motherhood.
Emily: You mean images of moms that look like real moms, but it's not real moms?
Laura: Right. They're virtual. Yet, you think that's a real mom somewhere that a photo was taken of, and actually, that's not at all. You can create anything now. If we thought motherhood was unattainable before, by having real pictures that are posed and photo shoots and all that stuff, imagine now a computer putting together a home and putting together a whole world of a mom that has unlimited imagination and power. It is limited; it's not God—but an element of far more ability than any human could put together. That is concerning to me—what pressure that's going to put on moms. Just knowing how visual we are. I don't know.
Emily: Goodness. It's hard to think about. We went from moms just really being able to see and learn from the neighbors and the women they encountered in their community or in their workplace to social media, where now you're encountering hundreds or maybe thousands of images of moms throughout the week that are doing different things, to AI being able to compile into one image this version of millions—bajillions—of pieces of data that come together. It's a lot and why we’ve got to stay rooted in the gospel and focused on the Lord.
Laura: Let's talk about predictions for us post-Risen Motherhood, as we wrap up here. We just thought this would be fun and interesting to think through—what's in store for Laura or what's in store for Emily. I'm going to do predictions for Emily, and I'm going to do predictions for me. Emily, you can start.
Emily: Oh, okay. I love it. Here's what I think. This is exciting to me. Laura, I think you're going to start another big influential organization.
Laura: Oh, I don't know.
Emily: Sustainable, influential organization. I'm looking at you, KidLit Lab. I think once you don't have R|M to oversee—there's a lot that we're still in the weeds with right now and responsible for—I think you're going to be full steam ahead. You're going to hire a team. You're going to blow that thing up big. Lots of blue sky.
Laura: We'll see.
Emily: If it's not KidLit Lab, I think you will start many, many businesses, and I think you are always brimming over with ideas and seeing gaps in the market and being like, "This is the way to solve that." Even if not every single one of them becomes its own full-fledged business, you pass off those ideas to other people, and then they make them happen. I think we'll see that. I definitely think you're going to emerge as an up-and-coming Christian poet and will publish a poetry book that's going to be industry-shaping.
Laura: I've decided this is completely awkward. [Laughter]
Emily: This is very awkward.
Laura: This is so awkward.
Emily: Sorry.
Laura: Oh, golly.
Emily: I'll feel it in just a second. I just think that your poetry work is going to shape the types of books that women are reading. There you go. I think you're going to publish more children's books.
Laura: Definitely.
Emily: That's going to happen. People may not know this, but I think you're going to continue to be a big behind-the-scenes influence on Christian thought leaders. You've seen Hamilton—like “in the room where it happens.”
Laura: “The room where it happens.”
Emily: I feel like you're often in the room where it happens.
Laura: Oh, my word.
Emily: You're a connector, and I'll hear about something, and it was like—Laura was there. You can give me a first-hand account of what was said and what happened. I think you'll keep making ripples and helping shape what's next in the publishing world and the Christian conference world—Christian organizations. I know over the years, I've heard you talk about a group burden for younger Christian content creators, and I don't know—the Lord hasn't laid that on my heart in the same way. I think that that's a special burden that you have.
Laura: That's funny. Do you even have a heart? [Laughter]
Emily: I know.
Laura: I'm just kidding. You have other things.
Emily: I think that's something that—usually when God puts something like that on our heart, it becomes a calling that we have. I'm excited to see you mentor and pass the baton and help pay forward what has been given to us—which is just a lot of help and support from people who are ten to twenty years beyond where we're at. I think I'm going to see your influence on Instagram grow. Oh, I already said this: fifty or more business and book ideas.
Laura: Oh, that's funny. That's a specific number. I love it.
Emily: I think I'm just really excited to watch you fly. I know—I think something that's been hard at Risen Motherhood over the years is that it has had real clear boundaries, and we have actively fought off growth. We've fought off expansion. We have said no to a ton. We have really tried to put up real specific guardrails, and like “this is exactly what Risen Motherhood does.”
I know that the way your brain works and the way you're gifted is to think of possibilities and to expand and to dream and to pivot and to make new things and to change. I'm excited for you to be, in a good way, free of that and be able to just go wherever you are led to go. And I'll be cheering you on, and I'll be participating where I'm invited and where I can—
Laura: Where there are clear boundaries. [Laughter]
Emily: Amen.
Laura: Oh, that's funny. Very awkward, but Laura's turn for Emily. Tables are turned.
Emily: Okay.
Laura: I think first off, right away, you're going to shermit.
Emily: Oh, I can't wait to shermit.
Laura: Shermit means “slightly hermit” because you can't take a break completely. You always say, "I'm going to take a break," and then you're like, "And then I wrote this over here. Quietly, I'm doing this behind the scenes," and you're always engaging in something. And you and I both will never stop writing.
Emily: I can't help myself.
Laura: We both tell our husbands if we don't write, we die. That's just the rule. [Laughter] I think you're going to shermit. Then I think you still have things you're going to be doing. I know you're going to be releasing an awesome worship booklet at TGC ‘26.
Emily: I think so.
Laura: TGCW ‘26, I should say. That is incredible. I've read the whole thing—every word—and it is really, really good. Highly recommend you guys grab that book next year. I know that you're going to be a contributor to the new Crossway Women's Bible on the book of Mark. Definitely, when that thing comes out, pick it up, guys. When you read the book of Mark, you'll see Emily's entries. I think that you are going to do really awesome things with YA or middle-grade fiction. I have read most of Emily's draft for her middle-grade fiction book, and I haven't read it all because—
Emily: I have more I haven't shared with you yet.
Laura: I know. I'm dying. Every time, she gives me a little bit, and then it just kills me because I'm on the edge of my seat of what's happening.
What I think is so great about the style of writing that Emily does is—not only is it really well done, it's very insightful. It also says something. I think that you can get a lot of middle-grade or YA that are just fluff. There's no real message behind it. And it’s not an overtly Christian book—let's just make that clear. It's not overtly Christian, but the themes that you are weaving into this book are special, and they're not overt, but they are powerful, and they're going to do something, I think, for both kids and adults who read that book. I can't wait for that to come out, and I hope you write more of them. I hope it's a trilogy. We'll see. Right now, she doesn't have plans, right? It's not a trilogy.
Emily: Noncommittal.
Laura: We're playing with the idea.
Emily: Yes.
Laura: She's playing with it. I'm just here as a spectator. I'm just an encourager. Really, the biggest thing I predict is that you're going to be a big-time Bible teacher.
Emily: Oh my.
Laura: I think that you are going to draw some really incredible connections in the Bible for people. You're going to feel really weird about it.
Emily: I feel real weird just sitting here listening to this right now. [Laughter]
Laura: Right, awkward. I told you! You have to literally listen to all these affirmations. I think that you have always had a way of seeing things that other people don't and drawing connections that are rare and yet special. I think that you're going to bring those into Bible studies, and I think you're going to be a big—I'm going to think you're going to be a main stage speaker. Someday down the road, you are going to do it. You're going to get reps under your belt.
I think the Bible study writing is going to be no problem. It's just going to be gaining that confidence in being an incredible teacher. I think that you have everything in you to do that, and you're going to really change people's thoughts on how they think about God. I think you're going to make some connections and just different ways of studying the Bible and drawing things to light that people are going to be blessed by for their whole lives. I can't wait until I do Emily's Bible study at our church.
Emily: No pressure.
Laura: And there’s like 250 women all doing it together.
Emily: Oh, my goodness.
Laura: It's going to be so fun. I think that you're going to be someone people look to consistently as a steady, Scripture-saturated influence that knows and loves God more than anything. You'll be someone who is known for not being distracted by the lure of fame or of stages. You'll be a woman that people talk about: “That is a woman who loves Jesus, and she is more like Christ every day. She is somebody that I want to be like. I want to follow her because she loves God.”
Those people that you say, “They just drip Jesus”—I think that is you today, and I think it's going to just become more and more evident to the public as time goes on. I think you're going to keep producing a great monthly newsletter, but that is literally about as much as you'll ever let people into your life, and I will still respect that deeply, forever and always.
Emily: Sorry, friends. [Laughter]
Laura: I think you're going to keep writing great nonfiction books. I think one will be about grief at some point or maybe disability or maybe grief with a disability focus. I don't know. I think that you will keep being a publisher's dream client. Somebody who is a wildly good writer that needs very little editing, though always welcomes it, and someone who does exactly what she promises. If you are a publisher listening to this, you should pick Emily up. She really is a dream client—
Emily: After she's done shermiting.
Laura: After she's done shermiting, and you may have to help her with marketing. She has me behind the scenes. I will keep her on the straight and narrow for that. The last few things: I think that you are always going to be someone who keeps a pulse on Christian news and stories, and you will know—you just have a good sniffer, and you're going to still be somebody who's like—you can spot a problem a mile away, and you're going to keep protecting both, I think, your career and our friends’ careers that we're involved in, and mine. I'm so thankful to have you to keep me safe.
And I think you'll return to podcasting. I don't know what topic, but I do think that there is a future of podcasting for you. Those are my predictions. I think we'll be friends forever.
Emily: Of course. Friends forever. I'm excited because we're going to get to hang out. We were talking the other day about how we don't go on walks with each other. We both have other friends that we walk with, and we're going to have to find ways—because this naturally has us talking all the time. Then we talk about personal things, but it'll be fun to figure out what our friendship rhythm is outside of Risen Motherhood.
Laura: Who are we without Risen Motherhood? I hadn't even thought of that.
Emily: I'll take you on a walk and tell you my next podcast idea.
Laura: Good.
Emily: I have one.
Laura: Oh, my word.
Emily: I'm not doing it. Don't worry. I have no time.
Laura: This will be one we pass off.
Emily: Ready? It's called Just Curious with Emily A. Jensen.
Laura: What's it about?
Emily: It's about anything I'm curious about.
Laura: Why wouldn't you do it?
Emily: I don't know. I got to shermit.
Laura: Internet, we need to make her do this because it will be so helpful. Everyone, go for Just Curious.
Emily: Oh, my goodness.
Laura: Tell Emily we want to hear it.
Emily: What? Look at my growth that I just shared that on a podcast.
Laura: I'm actually shocked. You guys, how personal and public she is?
Emily: We're going to delete this. [Laughter]
Laura: We're absolutely not. They don't care if you do it or you don't. They want you to, but there's—
Emily: All in fun.
Laura: Our community is the most supportive ever.
Emily: No promises on any of those predictions coming true, but there's our fun for the day.
Laura: Thanks for listening, friends.
