Do you ever feel stuck in the same battles—facing fears, lies, temptations, and doubts—and wonder if you’ll ever overcome them? Do you feel like you’re in the fight alone? If so, you will not want to miss this week’s episode of The Love Offering podcast.
I’m joined by Judy Dunagan, author of The Loudest Roar: Living in the Unshakable Victory of Christ. Judy knows what it’s like to wrestle with the enemy’s lies, but she’s discovered how to stand firm in the victory Jesus has already won. Her insights are powerful, practical, and full of hope!
In this episode, Judy shares how you can:
- Discern God’s voice over the lies of the enemy
- Stand firm in faith rather than give way to fear
- Dwell under the protection of God’s armor for you and your loved ones
- Keep your thoughts captive to God’s truth
- Find victory over recurring struggles and sin
Judy reminds us of this truth: the enemy’s roar is but a whisper in the presence of our mighty God. When you stand in Christ’s unshakable victory, His roar over you becomes your roar, silencing the enemy’s lies and filling you with boldness and strength.
I can’t wait for you to hear this conversation. I believe it will encourage you to live in freedom and walk in the victory Jesus has already won for you.
🎧 Tune in to the episode here: The Love Offering – Rachael Adams – Christian Podcast
If this resonates with you, check out Judy’s book, The Loudest Roar. It includes questions for each chapter to help you apply these biblical truths to your life.
Take heart, friend—victory is yours in Christ!
Summary
In this episode of the Love Offering Podcast, Rachael Adams interviews Judy Dunagan, an acquisitions editor at Moody Publishers and author of ‘The Loudest Roar.’ Judy shares her journey in the publishing industry, her struggles with the enemy’s lies, and the importance of living in the victory of Christ. The conversation delves into spiritual warfare, the power of prayer, the significance of community, and the unconditional love of Jesus. Judy emphasizes practical ways to combat spiritual battles and encourages listeners to find their identity in Christ.
Takeaways
Judy Dunagan has been with Moody Publishers for 10 years, focusing on women’s literature.
The concept of ‘The Loudest Roar’ emphasizes living in the victory of Christ.
The enemy’s lies often target our identity and value in Christ.
Spiritual armor is rooted in who Jesus is, not just our actions.
Prayer is a crucial part of spiritual warfare and protection.
Community plays a vital role in overcoming the enemy’s isolation tactics.
We must recognize the balance in understanding spiritual warfare.
Victory over sin cycles requires dependence on Jesus and honesty about our struggles.
Judy encourages using scripture in prayer as a powerful tool.
The unconditional love of Christ is central to our victory and protection.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Judy Dunagan and Her Journey
05:54 Struggles with the Enemy’s Lies
11:54 The Power of Prayer in Spiritual Warfare
18:05 Finding Victory Over Sin Cycles
23:56 Encouragement for the Defeated
29:49 Closing Thoughts and Prayer
Rachael Adams (00:01.046)
Transcript
Well, hello, Judy, and welcome to the Love Offering podcast. I’m so happy to have you.
Judy Dunagan (00:06.03)
Thank you, Rachel. I’m so happy to be here.
Rachael Adams (00:09.304)
So, I got to attend the Speak Up Conference this year in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for the very first time and had the opportunity to serve as faculty; you were one of the main speakers at that event, and after hearing your message and getting a copy of your book I just knew I needed to have you on the podcast. It was such an impactful message, but how you delivered it impacted me even more. So, I’m excited to get to know you better and introduce the audience to you if they can’t tell you yet. But you are right now as we’re recording your work for Moody Publishers. Tell us a little about you in general, your journey as a writer, and the publishing industry.
Judy Dunagan (00:57.732)
Well, Rachel, I’m so grateful to be here. I love your heart and thank you for reaching out after Speak Up. Getting to know you and seeing how God’s using you is fun. I’ve been with Moody Publishers for 10 years. I’m an acquisitions editor there. So, I review proposals for books written by women geared toward women readers. We also launched a Bible study line back in 2016. And those are wonderful in-depth studies. Then, I acquire Christian living books on marriage, family, and discipleship. And I’ve loved it, but the Lord has been nudging me to retire. So, I’m retiring at the end of this year to travel more with my beloved husband, Rick. We have six grandchildren now under the age of seven. The youngest is just five months old, a baby girl. And so I want more time to travel and see them. They don’t live near us. So we’ll be able to travel more. Then, I plan to do more writing, speaking, and teaching this new season. So I’m grateful for that. Rick and I have been married for 40 years. We just celebrated that this summer. We live in Colorado Springs and have been in that community for about 20 years. So, love Jesus profoundly and have a heart for discipling women.
Rachael Adams (02:11.182)
That’s evident in the way that you are living your life. The book we are referring to that we will discuss today, which you shared at Speak Up, is called The Loudest Roar. And on this book, I wish everybody could see it right now; it’s got the picture of a lion on the cover, and you showed that as well at Speak Up, and it’s such a strong image. So, where did this idea of the loudest roar stem from?
Judy Dunagan (02:36.836)
A part of us as believers in Christ is to live in the victory that Jesus has already won for us. You know, we can live such defeated lives. We have enemies. We’ve got our temptations and tendency to sin. We’ve got the pull of the world. And then we’ve got the enemy. God’s word tells us that the enemy is like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
And a few years ago, my head was just kind of down in defeat about the enemy and how he was coming at many friends of mine. I was heading up a ministry at a church at that time, a women’s ministry, and I had counseled a woman who had one of the hardest stories I’ve ever heard. And most of it was the enemy coming at her and her family. And after I said goodbye to her, I cried out to the Lord. I said, your word says the enemy is like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Why does he have so much power?
Why is his roar so loud over us as believers? And I’ll never forget it. It was like the Lord reminded me that he’s the bigger lion. He’s the lion of Judah. He’s seated on the throne, and our Lord Jesus has the loudest roar. That’s why we titled the book The Loudest Roar, Living in the Unshakeable Victory of Christ. I will also give a lot of practical ways to understand what it means to live in that victory. I teach on the armor. I teach the power of prayer in God’s word, the sword of the spirit, when we want to fight those enemies that come at us every day.
Rachael Adams (04:05.618)
I imagine every woman listening right now is feeling that truth today. In your book, you address feeling stuck battling the same fears, temptations, lies, and doubts and wondering if we can ever overcome them. So, if I’m asking you to be vulnerable right now, I imagine you’ve battled some of these emotions in your own life. So, what have been some of your biggest struggles with some of the enemy’s lies?
Judy Dunagan (04:33.892)
Well, I’ve struggled with the enemy’s lies in terms of my identity in Christ and my values. You know, that’s so easy, especially for women. For some reason, we’re very hard on ourselves. And the enemy, the way he comes at us, lies about who we are in Christ, our identity, but also who God is. And we’re seeing many people deconstruct their faith because they don’t believe God’s faithful or he’s weak and doesn’t have the power to transform their lives.
I haven’t struggled with that as much. But one area I’ve always struggled with is anxiety. Ever since I was a little girl, I have even joked that I think it goes back so far that right after I was born, I probably worried if I did that right. And some of it is my tendency, my wiring. Often, I think with things like if someone struggles with depression or anxiety, it can be spiritualized, like it’s all a spiritual problem, or it’s sin, and or it’s the enemy. And so, for me, I’ve learned through decades of struggling with anxiety I’ve come a long way because Jesus is helping me in many ways. But I’ve surrendered it to him as well. But there was a time in my life when our family lived overseas. From my husband’s job, we lived in Beijing, China; our little girl was three years old. She’s now in her 30s, but we thought we might lose her. She was not getting well; she had strep throat, and nothing was working. And I felt like I was on the edge of a breakdown in the middle of the night, with her just worrying about her; she had fallen asleep. And that night, I just felt like I could lose it spiritually and in my sanity. And I knew the enemy was afoot; he was escalating where I was most vulnerable. It’s just like a lion who preys on their prey, and they know when their enemy or their prey is vulnerable. And I sensed that that night. And so I had to use the tools I had learned, even as a middle grader, because of my father’s teaching on warfare and our protection. I knew that night I had to be in the Word. I had to have people praying over me. And the Lord rescued me. Kelly did turn a quarter two days later because I demanded antibiotics for her that the clinic in Beijing what weren’t going to give her, and I knew she needed them. After all, it was strep throat. So there’s a practical side to it, but there was a spiritual battle. And I know the enemy knows where you’re most vulnerable, where he likes to attack us.
Rachael Adams (07:03.403)
Absolutely. He’s using the same tactics he’s always used throughout scripture, although it is still hard for us to battle. And often, we start to believe that we’re fighting alone. We get that sense. And so, how would you assure us that we always have God by our side?
Judy Dunagan (07:20.398)
Ephesians 6, verses 10 through 18, are the best passages about our protection. If you read through that, our armor is spelled ou,t, and this armor is really who Jesus is. For many years, I thought it was up to us to be protected. But if you go through those armor pieces, it’s who Jesus is. So we’ve got the breastplate of his righteousness. We’re righteous as believers in Christ only because Jesus is righteous.
And so his righteousness covers us like a breastplate, an armor of protection. We’re told we have sandals of peace that we can walk in daily. They’re called the readiness of the gospel of peace. And Jesus is the Prince of Peace. We’re told that in scripture. And we can cast our anxiety onto him so we can walk in peace as part of our armor because of Jesus. And then we’ve got the helmet of salvation. I don’t know about you, Rachel, but one way is in my thought life, especially with anxiety. It can escalate things to the point of not trusting the Lord or questioning that he is strong, faithful, and good. And that’s a battle of our minds. And so we can keep our thoughts captive, pray for a sound mind, and have that picture that she that helmet of his salvation covering our minds. And then you’ve got the sort of spirit which we’re told in Ephesians 6:17 is the Word of God. And that’s how we fight the enemy: by knowing God’s Word, reading it, dwelling in it, and memorizing it. We have the shield of his faithfulness that covers us from all sides. And it’s just so powerful to think of that; that’s what protects us as our Lord Jesus. But we need to abide by that and live in it and stand in it. So it’s I don’t believe it’s conditional, but we can come out from that protective shield or covering through our sinful choices or like I was doing with my fear escalating to the point of losing my mind almost. So we do have to stand firm, and it’s also called the shield of faith, and it’s our faith that we can stand in knowing God protects us.
Rachael Adams (09:28.59)
I’ve heard before that the sword and all the other parts of our armor are defensive, but the sword is an offensive weapon. We see Jesus exemplifying that and embodying it when he fights the enemy with God’s Word in the wilderness. So there is such a value and importance in knowing scripture and knowing the truth because the enemy is going to skew that, and he’s going to use and twist God’s words. Have you found that in your own life as well?
Judy Dunagan (09:36.162)
Right? Right.
Judy Dunagan (09:58.53)
Yeah, he can do that for sure. What’s interesting is that scene where Jesus was being tempted; he had been, you know, fasting for 40 days. So he was vulnerable, probably exhausted and hungry. So the enemy is like, I can make the Son of God fall. And so he comes at our Lord Jesus with three fierce temptations. But each time you read it in the Gospels, he throws a temptation at him, and Jesus would say it is written and quoted truth from scripture.
Then Satan did it again. And the second time he did it, he quoted from scripture. The enemy did. He talks about how the angels will lift you so you don’t strike your foot against the stone. That’s taken from Psalm 91, which is a powerful warfare song. But Satan tried to twist that to make them our Lord Jesus’ sin. And then the third time he did it again, he came at our Lord Jesus, and Jesus said, it is written. And then he told the enemy to flee, and he had to leave.
That is such a beautiful picture. It’s like they each had a sword. Satan’s sword was filled with twisted scripture, lies, and temptations. Our Lord Jesus’ sword was the sword of the Spirit, God’s word. What a great model to follow as we walk this groaning earth and face temptation.
Rachael Adams (11:14.86)
You know scripture. And so, what does that look like for you daily? What is your quiet time or your time with the Lord? What does that look like?
Judy Dunagan (11:25.976)
I’m committed to spending time in the Word early in the morning. You know, I’m an empty nester. I work full-time, but I don’t sleep very well at my age. So I’m wide awake in the morning. So I light a candle. I play worship music. I usually start with prayer and worshiping Him. And then I often do Bible study. I just did one on different prayers in the Bible because I’m focusing on prayer more.
But it is very powerful, especially when facing fear again or temptation or just really going through a hard time reading scripture out loud. It helps you concentrate. It allows you to wield that sword. And I’ve done that for years. And a lot of the Psalms are so beautiful to do that. We read Psalm 91. My husband and I were in China so much because we felt like we were under attack there. Our marriage, just our health, our little girl I mentioned, and we read it so much that we memorized it without even trying. And that’s my go-to a lot if I said to battle raging. And then, you know, that’s the offensive weapon, but what I also love in Ephesians 6 verse 18 focuses on prayer. And many people don’t see that as part of the armor. I think prayer is one of the most strategic parts of the armor. One way to combine the sword of the spirit, God’s word, and prayer is to read God’s word and to pray it. So, I often journal different prayers from the Bible or turn a Psalm into my own prayer. God has used that in my prayer walk to cement the truths of scripture, especially when I’m under attack.
Rachael Adams (13:07.674)
Often, spiritual warfare seems elusive, and maybe for some listening, does that even exist? But we are fighting a battle and must be aware of that. It reminds me of Scripture, which talks about opening my eyes to see the armies surrounding me right now. And so, do you have anything to say on just this idea of spiritual warfare and that people are, the Lord is battling on our behalf and to get an awareness of what’s going on outside of our temporary realm, that there’s an eternity at stake.
Judy Dunagan (13:50.114)
It’s a great question because balance is key to being biblical and balanced. After all, you know, some people blame the enemy for everything. Years ago, I had an acquaintance who had an affair. She was in ministry leadership at a church, and she blamed it on the enemy and didn’t own her own choices in her sin. And that can happen. It can get even silly when people blame the enemy because they can’t find a parking space or blame all illness on the enemy, which isn’t biblical. You know, we live in a fallen world, and we get ill, and there’s a lot of people battling severe illness. So, balance is key. Others on the other side of the spectrum think the enemy is a fictional character, which is silly in horror movies. And then I even had a pastor once tell me I don’t want to know.
Anything about standing firm against the enemy because I’m worried if I do that, he’ll target me and my family more. And that’s fear. And that is dangerous as well. You know, we see the enemy from Genesis when he made Eve and Adam fall, and we see him throughout scripture as Jesus walked this groaning earth. Many were troubled by the enemy. And then we see him in Revelation. There’s a battle raging, but thankfully, we know he’s defeated in Revelation. Ultimately, he will be sent to the lake of fire forever, but our God will let him roam now. Some verses say he’s the father of lies. He’s the accuser of the brethren, meaning he accuses us as believers. And we are a target of the enemy because we’re a threat to him. Like he wants to keep us from praying, he wants to keep us from the word. The key is not to fear him and to live in the victory like I’ve my subtitle, in the unshakable victory of Jesus, and know that that victory has been won. And we have our Lord Jesus, shelter, rampart, and protective covering. And we can hide in all of that and abide in that and live in the victory that he has won. And so my book has a lot of practical ways to do that because my burden is that people are not afraid of the enemy, but almost like, I’m a target of the enemy because I’m a threat to him. I don’t know if you’ve seen a meme. I’ve occasionally seen it on social media, but I don’t know who started it. It’s poignant and a little bit funny, but it’s something like I want to be the kind of person who, as soon as my feet hit the ground, when I get up in the morning, the enemy is like, she’s awake. And we want him t,o I don’t know if the word is fear us, but to know we’re mighty warriors only because of our Lord Jesus, who surrounds us. Our Lord Jesus protects us. We don’t need to be afraid but stand in victory and have a formidable foe in the enemy.
Rachael Adams (16:45.068)
Yeah, and it’s so important as believers to realize we have the Holy Spirit working inside of us. He’s going to equip us and empower us and give us what we need to find victory over some of the sin cycles that we have in our life and over the enemy to be able to live faithfully as Christians while we are here and live out the purpose that he has called us to do. So, do you have anything to say about finding victory over these cycles of sin in our lives? Because so many times, we get stuck in this cycle, and it’s hard to get out.
Judy Dunagan (17:17.496)
I teach that in a chapter called When I Am Tempted and share some of my and our marriage stories. It’s a complete dependence on our Lord Jesus. And you know, we’re told in scripture that he was tempted in every way we are. And, of course, he didn’t fall. He did not sin, but he knew the temptations we were facing.
And we’re also promised a way out. And it’s just a matter of being poured out to the Lord and honest with him. He knows when you’re being tempted, or he knows when you have fallen into sin. And God’s word teaches us that if we confess our sins, he’s faithful and will forgive us our sins. But there’s no time to go through some of the more practical things I have outlined in that chapter that I think are helpful. The first is to be honest and say you’re capable of any sin. There can be spiritual pride where you think I’d never fall into that. And we judge other believers. I’ve just always had an awareness. I’m capable of anything. And then ask the Lord to give you the victory and help you stand against that temptation because he will help with that. He is faithful in that.
But I think it’s also essential to know if you’ve fallen into sin and you feel like there are people who stay in the setting of sins. Let’s use sexual sin as an example. And that’s coming at all of us through the internet and all the access people have. And some will get into that bottomless pit of addiction, and they think they can never get out of it, so why even try? And that is what the enemy wants you to believe, almost like he lures us into temptation into sin through temptation and says like he did to Eve. Well, God didn’t mean that you can do that. And then you fall into it, and he turns it to shame and ridicule, which makes it feel helpless. And our God is all about setting captives free. And he provides the tools through the word. And my book has some of that. My dad has also written a book called Warfare Praying: Biblical Strategies for Overcoming the Adversary. His name is Mark Bubeck. That’s B-U-B-E-C-K. So it’s called Warfare Praying, a powerful book also published by Moody Publishers. He also has terrific practical tools for that, all based on scripture.
Rachael Adams (19:46.582)
I’ll also include that in the show notes. As you said, I started considering the community’s importance in this battle. I forget exactly where I heard this or who to attribute it to, too, but they talked about how the enemy wants to isolate us. And if you think about even a pack of animals, maybe a lamb or something like that, that’s when if it’s alone, it’s more vulnerable. But it will keep the enemy at bay in a group. And so, what would you say about the value of community in fighting this battle against the enemy?
Judy Dunagan (20:23.46)
I’m so glad you brought that up, Rachel. That was so wise and important. I love the picture you gave because that is what lions or tigers, or you know that they go after vulnerable prey when they’re isolated, and the enemy is all about that, too. And often, because of the shame of the sin we’re caught in, we keep it to ourselves. And I have seen, thankfully, in the body of Christ that those walls are coming down. When I was in the ministry of women’s ministry, I was so proud of the women who would meet with me or in small groups in our Bible studies; they’d share about the sinful choices that they’re caught in or ask for prayer, saying, I’m being tempted in this way. And there wasn’t judgment. Years ago, in my mid-60s, I think many adults hid those things when I was younger because they almost felt shame. And I believe the Lord’s pulling those barriers down and telling an enemy to leave my precious ones alone. And there’s more freedom in sharing what you’re struggling with. And if not, seek it out. I tell your listeners they’re at a church; most churches have pastoral care and seek out that community. There are also different ministries churches provide if you’re caught in addiction and how to be set free in the community.
Rachael Adams (21:45.844)
I’m mindful today of the woman listening who is feeling defeated and needs to be reminded that she has victory in Christ. We’ve talked about knowing scripture, being in the community, prayer, and the armor. Is there anything we haven’t talked about that you would encourage her to discuss today?
Judy Dunagan (22:09.966)
Well, I thought I would share a little bit more about prayer because I believe prayer is so elusive for all of us. The Lord has just started to awaken my heart to the lavish gift of prayer that God has given us in the last ten years. We’re told in Hebrews 4 that we can go to our God with anything, and we, the throne room of prayer, will find grace and mercy there.
In the book’s last chapter, I offer practical ways to pray, to keep your thoughts captive so you can concentrate on prayer. I also offer different ways and ideas for praying scripture and going to him with your lamenting and hard questions. I think people often get stuck and start to feel defeated, or, as I said earlier, they begin to leave their faith.
Run to your God with your questions. We see that in the Psalms. David did that. He wrestled with God in prayer. Psalm 13, over and over, says, how long, Lord, must I keep doing this? How long must I deal with this? And he was lamenting. And that changed my life when a Christian counselor told me I needed to understand more about how to do that. We’re also told in Romans 8 that the Holy Spirit groans in prayer when we have no words to pray. Our grief may be so deep.
Our sin choices may just be overwhelming us to know that Jesus is at the right-hand throne of God interceding. That’s Romans eight as well. And when we can’t find words to pray, the spirit groans. And so to know that you’re not in the battle of alone. And honestly, written prayers also really help—prayers written by others. I have a prayer, the Puritan prayer, in my book on the armor.
I have a prayer that my dad wrote based on Psalm 91. I also have a free resource on my website called The Power of Praying Scripture, where I wrote three to five prayers, all based on scripture. Praying scripture is one of the strongest tools to use when feeling under attack, especially in the era of temptation and the enemy coming at you. So those are just some practical things to do as well.
Rachael Adams (24:23.576)
I’ll make sure to include those in the show notes as well. Just speaking of Romans 8, I’m thinking about transforming and renewing our minds and how much of this is circumstantial, situational, and emotional. But there is also so much spirituality that is also mental. Everything is wrapped up all in one, and it is also intertwined. And so, really, continue to soak yourself in God’s presence and His work, and then continue to fill your mind and heart with that because that will then be what comes out in your life.
Judy Dunagan (24:59.406)
I feel for parents listening who have a prodigal because so many parents have young adult children leaving the Lord. I was at an event yesterday that I prayed at, I spoke at a women’s event, and several shared their burdens with me after their protocols. I think being a prayer warrior, mom or grandmother, father or grandfather or aunt and uncle is key, and that’s all you can do, especially if your children or loved ones are in their 20s.
You know, is that you pray, and praying scripture is profound. I’m even praying scripture for my grandchildren, who are all very young. I pray the high priestly prayer of John 17. There are specific things in there: Jesus prayed for his disciples just hours before he was arrested and taken to the cross. And you can pray those same things as a very powerful, beautiful weapon to use again, using God’s word, the sword of the spirit, and prayer and combining those for loved ones as well, not just for your own battles.
Rachael Adams (26:02.302)
I will look up that verse in that chapter as soon as we get off. Is there a biblical concept of love that you think applies to this topic today?
Judy Dunagan (27:20.866)
I think the topic of our protection in Christ is so full of love because it’s because of Jesus choosing to come to this groaning earth, experience everything we do, and then his ultimate sacrifice of dying on the cross for us, all of the pain physically of that, but also taking on all of our sins and then rising again and conquering the grave and ultimately conquering sin and the enemy all for us. And that gift is unconditional. His love for us is unconditional. And I think the cross and his resurrection are everything about the victory in Christ today.
Rachael Adams (28:07.952)
Absolutely. I meant to ask this earlier. You get told a story in your talk at Speak Up, and it was something about your granddaughter at a zoo. Would you tell that story? I thought it was so memorable, and I’d love for you to share it with us.
Judy Dunagan (28:25.41)
Yeah, it was our grandson when he was two. Yeah, that’s okay. It was our first grandchild. He was two, so we didn’t have any yet. We took him to this wonderful zoo in Colorado Springs. It’s built into the mountains, and you almost feel like you’re roaming with the animals, even though they’re contained. But when we came upon the lion’s area, there was a little platform, and our little two-year-old climbed up there and almost had his nose on the protective barrier, with this lion sitting right by him. It was a lioness initially. And he, we had a video of it. He started knocking on it and saying, hey you, hey you. Like he had authority over this massive lion, he had no fear. And it was because of that protective barrier. Soon after that, the male lion came and started roaring, and the adult, kind of in respect, moved back.
But Liam wasn’t even afraid of that. He was just fascinated. I looked it up later when a lion roars. So you can hear it as far as five miles away. And that’s the first time I had been up close, and it rumbles in your chest. And so there’s that protective barrier, keeping that baby boy safe and giving him the courage to say, hey, you, almost like you settled down now. And it’s only because of that barrier. And that is what we have in Jesus. He is our protective barrier.
He is our armor. He is why we can be bold, brave, and biblical as we wield our sword of the spirit, God’s word, and as we pray for protection over us and our families, we can live in victory, and even in that peace that goes beyond our human understanding. Philippians 4 that we’re promised because of Jesus. That’s that story. Yeah.
Rachael Adams (30:11.965)
I love that story, the imagery, and the example. It’s a great way to conclude. So tell us something that you are loving right now.
Judy Dunagan (30:23.878)
I love being a grandma. Growing up, you always saw these grandmas, and you liked the joy they had. You didn’t understand it. I don’t even think I understood it as a young mom. But it’s almost like you get to see your children little again. And you get to see your children and parents; they are our life’s joys. My husband is the best Papa Rick. They call him Papa Rick. They adore him. And so there’s great joy in that. We’ve been married 40 years, and seeing him have so much fun with these grandkids is something I love so much. It’s such a gift. We’re so grateful.
Rachael Adams (31:01.39)
What do they call you?
Judy Dunagan (31:03.204)
Well, baby boomer grandmas, many of us don’t want to be called grandma; it’s silly. I don’t know why. So we came up with these names, and I was going to be Mia, but Liam couldn’t say it. It was that same trip when he came for Christmas to Colorado, and he started calling me Momo. So that’s what that family calls me. But my other daughter wants her kids to call me Mia. So I joke that when all my grandkids are older, they’re probably going just to combine them, and they’re going to call me Momo Mia. I’ll take whatever they want to call me. That’s fun. Yeah.
Rachael Adams (31:34.414)
That’s right. So we, my kids, call my mom Mia. That’s what she wanted to be called. I think the same. And then, growing up, we couldn’t say grandmother. And so one, I think my brother’s older than me. And so I think he called her Munder. That’s all he could say. And so she is who she is. She’s Munder. She’s not a grandmother. So it’s just sweet. It’s like you are what they call you.
Judy Dunagan (31:54.98)
That’s so fun. Yeah, it’s so much fun. I had a friend tell me I was on an interview like this. I told her that story. And she said that her mother wanted to be called Grandmama. Her first child couldn’t know so, so she deemed her la la la, which is fun if your grandkids say hey, la la la. Anyway, yeah, we can talk all day about this. It’d be fun to survey what you want to be called and what you are being called.
Rachael Adams (32:17.71)
Yeah. What are you called? Well, I’m sure they know they’re called, and it’s so fortunate to have you in their lives as well. I am lucky that I had this conversation with you today. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for encouraging us in this area and reminding us of who we are in Christ and who He is so that we can win whatever battle we face. So, would you do us the honor of praying for us?
Judy Dunagan (32:53.648)
I’d love to. Lord Jesus, we worship you today in the beauty of your holiness. We worship you as the God who was and is and is to come. You are seated high. You’re sitting at the right hand of the throne of God interceding for us, but you’re also Emmanuel, your God with us. We thank You for indwelling us through Your Holy Spirit and giving us victory because of what you suffered on the cross and through your resurrection and ascension. You are our mighty King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And I pray for all those who are listening. Thank you that you know right where they’re at in terms of their own battles they’re facing. We thank you for coming to set captives free. And we pray that any chains on us will fall off because of the victory you give us and the freedom you give us to walk in you in your victory. We love you, Jesus. Thank you for Rachel. Bless her ministry. Thank you for this time together in your holy yet very personal name, we pray. Amen.
Rachael Adams (33:59.476)
Amen. Thank you, Judy. I know I want to stay connected with you, and I’m sure listeners will, too. They’ll want to purchase your or your dad’s book, keep in touch with you, and maybe even have you coach them in writing. So let us know how we can stay connected with you.
Judy Dunagan (34:10.276)
That’d be fun. The best way to do this is probably through my website. I’m sure you’ll have it in the notes, and that’s where they can get that free download. They can also contact me if they want to. It’ll come to my email. I always try to email back, so I’d love to hear from them.
Rachael Adams (34:34.638)
Thank you, and we pray for victory over everyone listening today. God bless everyone.
Judy Dunagan (34:34.67)
Yeah.
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