 Welcome to Hope Today. It is a bright, bright, bright, sunshiney day here in our neighborhood. We're so glad that you are with us. I'm Tom, I'm here with Amy and Sydney. I always have to look. We have rotating people in here. I gotta look. It's Amy and Sydney today. And we're so glad that you are with us. And Sid, we have a great guest coming up. Great subject. Yes, and you know we're looking forward to our upcoming conversation today because we're gonna be focused on shifting your perspective and making sure your Hope Tank is full. In a moment, Hollywood producer and host Raquel Stevens is going to share her journey and provide you with practical tips on how you can leave worry and stress behind. You know, we all need that and begin a life of joy and peace. There she is. You just saw her moment. She's gonna talk about the sunshine mind, what it is and how you can get it to. And you know, Amy, I just love this because I think it's so important the way our thoughts, the way our minds operate. There's things that we can do every day and really looking forward to what Raquel's gonna share. Oh my gosh. Just the title alone, the sunshine mind. Not only the S-U-N, but also the S-O-N. Just having that mind of Christ. And you know guys, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. And a lot of times what we're thinking about gets into our heart and it ends up being the life that we live. So what if today we just take a break, we shake things up and we think about what we're thinking about. Did you try to match the book cover with your outfit today? No, but I nailed it. If there was a prize for matching the book cover, today I would win. I understand that we missed us a very important day. Tell us what happened a couple of days ago. Oh, I haven't been here for the past like several days because I've been on vacation. I've just been celebrating my birthday. I turned 35 on March 7th and my grandmother. Yeah, it's like, I don't know if Gigi, if you're watching, she turned 94 years old. And so I just, one thing I just wanna say about talking about shifting your perspective is, you know, sometimes I think when you hit the mid 30s, there's a lot of things you think about. I think all of us when it comes to age of, well, should I be here? Should I be there? I just really started speaking to me of like, this is a time of victory, shifting my perspective. And I just feel like the best is yet to come in my life. And I declare a decree that over your life. And one thing he said to me is, start making your own milestones. A lot of times in life, it's like the world says you need to be here or there's like, no, he's writing our stories and our journey. So I just wanna say, yeah, it was a wonderful birthday. I'm grateful for another year of life. And thank you for all like you who wished me a happy birthday, but yeah, glad, glad to be back. And the best is yet to come. There's no question. Yeah, the 30s are awesome. The 40s are incredible. So just wait, truly is the best is yet to come. And despite what you've heard, the 60s are great. Okay. That's a good job. And even the 90s too, like with my grandmother. So no matter what age you are, we're just so thankful that you are joining us today. You know, our guest for today is a modern working woman in Hollywood who loves God, loves people and desires to see them set free. Raquel Steven is a producer and a host who works on projects that make a difference and gives back. She also stars alongside Selena Gomez and the HBO Max hit series, Selena and Chef. Raquel and her dear friend, Tanya Red, co-authored the book, The Sunshine Mind, a hundred days to finding the hope and joy you want. Raquel, it is such a joy for you to be joining us today. Well, good morning. It's such a joy to be here and Amy, I just have to say you matched the book cover perfectly. I kind of want to get a photo of you with the book after someone sent it to me because it's amazing. And I also wanted to send love from Tanya, my co-author. She's actually recording her radio show this morning, but she sends her love and wishes that she could be here. Well, we appreciate her and your love. And we were so thankful for what you poured into with The Sunshine Mind. And you know, before we get into that, can you just tell us a little bit, Raquel, about you and your journey with God? Yeah, so I grew up between England and Chicago and my parents were actually pastors. And you know, you couldn't grow up in church and learning and believing, but there's a difference between your parents taking you to something and you really finding faith for yourself. So I would say I really, you know, had a powerful experience with the spirit, with God in my teen years. And then when I was 18 and the opportunity came to move to Los Angeles, everyone said, you know, don't move to LA, you're gonna lose your soul and whatever. And I found that actually moving to LA pushed me further into my faith. And God has just been able to use me in such an amazing way through staying solid in my faith, you know, and I've found people to be so open to the spirit. And yeah, and that's my background. I work in entertainment industry, I'm a producer and a host. And yeah, so that's like a little bit of my background. Yeah, it's so beautiful, Raquel, because you can just see the spirit of God all over you. And it's just such a beautiful thing that you know, a lot of people say like, oh, if you go to LA or move out there, it's like you're gonna move away from God. But it's so beautiful what you said that you've actually been able to draw closer to him. And let's talk for a moment about the Sunshine Mind. You co-wrote it with your best dear friend, Tonya Redd. And there's a really powerful way that the two of you met. It's a God story. Can you share that with us? Yeah, so again, when I first moved to LA, I didn't know anyone. And a friend of mine, Jordan Wagner at the time, was living with a guy named Jason Kennedy. And he started a Bible study at his home with Judah Smith. And they were so kind and invited me to the Bible study. And Jason Kennedy at the time was a host for E-News and Tonya was working in the same building for Ryan Seacrest. And she had gone through a breakup and she was crying. And Jason saw her in the hallway and he said, why don't you come to this Bible study at my home this week? So she came to Bible study. Her and I hit it off instantly and we've been friends ever since and have just been such a great support to each other over the years. And so when it came time to write this book, we both thought what, you know, it couldn't be a better partnership, especially with the journey that we've done together. Yeah, I love it so much as those moments when God brings our sisters and Christ together, where you just know it's totally God. And it's so beautiful that you two have partnered together and created the Sunshine Mind. So tell us, what is the Sunshine Mind? How do you define it? What is it? So I always say the Sunshine Mind is Sunshine Mind set. It's not a quick fix or a formula, but rather it's the way you go about your day-to-day life. So for example, it's choosing to forgive instead of retaliating. It's choosing to take disappointment as lessons learned. It's choosing to take the high road. So it's a daily mindset. And the more we practice those things, which take the inner work, the more that we truly live a life of freedom. And just living that life of freedom is what God desires for all of us to truly have. And Raquel, I just wanna ask you, because a lot of us, we have these stories as like we wanna have positive outlooks and that optimism every day, but there are some times that life knocks us down. And so can you share a story with us or just a moment in your life, in your spiritual journey where you felt like knocked down and you just didn't really have the Sunshine Mind set, but how God like shifted things so that you can have a positive outlook every day? Yeah, so I'll go back to when I moved to LA. It's a very difficult city to get integrated into and to be honest, for the first two years, I had a hard time meeting people. You make plans with people, they don't show up, they cancel. And it had me really kind of go inward and spend a lot of time in prayer and just asking God, like God, if this is where you want me to be, I pray that I would make the best friends I've made in my life that you would make it so clear. I would go on walks on the beach and here in California. So I would go on walks on the beach. I would listen to my worship music. And I really, really, really would pray for clarity. And I think that through doing that, it helped me develop the inner strength to be able to handle that rejection, right, of someone not showing up to a dinner or not being able to make friends. And then as I stuck it out and time went on, it just became abundantly clear that this was the place that I was meant to be. And so there are always, I mean, I think going through hard times, I always say, I don't think we're taught enough when we're younger that yes, life is great and amazing, but it's also really hard. And what I found is that prioritizing our inner life is the number one priority because when that's strong, when the good times happen, it humbles you and fills you with gratitude. But when the bad times happen, the spirit is what sustains you. And so we have to be prioritizing that. And kind of when you have Jesus as your anchor, it's just you're just not, you're able to go through anything. You really are. And I know that I'm not saying that in a way where it lacks empathy for hard times I've been there, but it's the truth. It is the truth that He is truly our anchor. And I love something you just said and you touched on about how important is to prioritize our inner life, our inner thoughts. And one thing that even in the sunshine mind that you talk about is watching our words. It's important the mindset is, we have to watch what we speak. Tell us about that. Yeah, I mean, words are so powerful, right? And so I think that you can say something to someone and be kind of nonchalant about it. And it's like, it can hurt deeply, right? If you don't really think about your thoughts, to think about that coworker, maybe for someone listening at work that's been bothering you, maybe it can be easy to snap or say something that would be hurtful. But instead, let's replace those thoughts and those words with saying something kind, saying something helpful. And a lot of times when we do that, you'll watch the other person's demeanor change. So maybe that person that's been bothering you a little bit, you start treating them with kindness and watch the sometimes even the behavior shift. Let's talk about the sunshine mind and friendships. My early 20 year old daughter called yesterday mom, there's a toxic friendship. And here my daughter sunshine and this girl's bringing like a darkness and a heaviness. So how does the sunshine mind deal with that? Yeah, I mean, first that's so hard. And I think especially with social media, technology, it's, you know, it makes it even more difficult. There's a lot of online bullying, a lot of darkness. But I think that light, the sunshine, always overpowers dark, right? So kind of to go back to what I just said, you know, your daughter being this bright sunshine, nothing can dim that light. So I always, Tanya and I talk about this a lot, but when she was early on in her career in her 20s, everybody said, you're too positive, you're too this, you're too that, like you're never gonna make it in this business, you're not tough enough. And she again, through that inner strength and staying true to who she was, she stayed bubbly, she stayed positive, she stayed, you know, with that sunshine mind and her career has just grown and grown. So my advice to your daughter would be just keep being that sunshine. And it's like we talk about in the book, it's almost like having a cocoon of when that darkness comes, you just go back into that cocoon of sunshine, of being filled up, and then whatever anyone says, you know what, that's actually says more about them than you. And maybe they're going through a dark time, maybe there's some darkness in them and let's just shower them with love. And even if they don't change, nothing happens, you're still good and solid in who you are. So as you've written the book and found, you know, your voice as far as sharing your faith, what's that like in Hollywood? What's that like in LA? What's it like, you know, in middle America here, we tend to think of, well, that's like when you went out there that that's like this godless place, but it seems like there's a hunger there. Oh, there's such a hunger. I mean, I think people are, I've found people to be so open to the things of God out here. And I think part of that is you do, you have a lot of creatives. So I think people are open to, to hearing about things, but also Tom, I think a huge part of it is the state of our world today, right? There's so much unrest. There's so much anxiety there. So you turn on the news, it just feels like one bad thing after another. Well, the flip side of that is people are open to God because they're desperate, right? They're desperate for peace. They're desperate for the spirit. And so I think we're in a very exciting, amazing time and LA is the heart of entertainment, of culture that people look to all around the world. And I think that there is a real sort of revival happening. Amen. I believe it too, Raquel, that revival, that God is moving all around and especially in arts and entertainment in the industry. And one thing that you touch upon, you know, just being in that industry, there's so much like the pinnacle of success, but there's a lot of people that are, you know, feeling empty and devastated. And one thing that you talk about is that you learn about the power of serving others. Talk to us about that. So something that I learned the last 10 years, specifically working alongside a lot of people in the entertainment industry that have achieved the height of success is that there's a huge lack of peace. So a lot of times people get into the industry because they love music, they love film, and then they make it and then life becomes all about them. It's not even necessarily their fault. It's just the nature of the business and they can't figure out why they're so unhappy. Well, they're so unhappy because life was meant to be about service, right? And when we can get out of side of ourselves and when we can start serving, so it's like if you are in film, using that film to help others, to bring a powerful message or whatever you do in your day-to-day life, living a life of service is the only way to live a happy life. And so we felt it was very important to touch on that topic because if you're not, nothing will ever be fulfilling. Yeah, living a life of service is so important. The other thing I really like that you talk about praying big, can you talk about the strategy that you use every day when it comes to prayer? Yeah, I love big prayers because I think we serve a God that is big, right? So for me, what that looks like is, I'm not super regimented, Tanya is a lot more routine than I am, but I all throughout the day, if I'm in my car, I'm going to meetings, I'm running errands, there is always worship music on in the car. I am constantly in prayer, even if it's just I'm walking into something, kind of saying under my breath, like God, help this meeting be a success, help me have a connection with this person if it's meant to be. So I see prayer and praying big as a continual sort of 24 seven conversation with God. That's so beautiful. And I also like to that you say you pray for like five people a day. That was a challenge that you said for the sunshine minus. So just encouraging our viewers, pray for five people a day on your prayer list. And you know, Raquel, can you just take a moment and speak to somebody who's watching out there that they're hearing your words and that where you're speaking, and they may be in a down place, you know, a lot of anxiety or fear and stress. So can you just take a moment to speak to the heart of that person today that needs their hope tank just filled up just a little bit today? So I just wanna say, you know, first of all, to that that's when God shows up most. So when I look back on my darkest worst of moments, that is when I felt the presence of God in the strongest way. And he is the ultimate comforter, the ultimate healer. And he sees you and loves you exactly where you're at. So I just encourage you today to surrender it all to him, ask for peace, ask for comfort, and watch how you're met in that moment. And I promise you that you'll look back on this time and remember it as a time of comfort and a time that you really, really knew the presence of God in a more intimate way. Well, that is a good word, Raquel. Let me ask you just something, I think it's very practical that you mentioned in the book about decluttering. It's kind of a favorite subject of mine. But we tend to gather things every once in a while. My wife will say, hey, how about this garage here? Could you maybe move some things out, you know? But I tend to try to declutter. What has that practical thing meant in your life to help you maintain this kind of mindset? Yeah, well, Tanya and I always say it's like how you live your life in one way is kind of the way you live your life in all ways, right? So if you're living in clutter, you're living in a mess, how are you gonna go out and feel free? You'd feel organized. And so I actually use Tanya and I are opposite. I used to be really messy. She's always been really clean, really organized. But as life has grown, as life's gotten busier, I can't be messy and living in clutter anymore or I start to feel cluttered as a person. So it's like if my stuff's cluttered, I'm gonna feel cluttered. So, yeah, we gotta get rid of the clutter to allow space for the new or even to just feel sane and normal. You know, Raquel, my mom would be sick, like, amen, sister. She's like, speak to Sydney because that's something like my mom and my husband, they're like, I'm a little like messy, like I still leave tornadoes. But I have changed, God has done a new thing in me. But thank you so much for Raquel, for just all your wisdom and the light that you are being and we just send our love to Tanya as well. The book is called The Sunshine Mind, 100 Days of Finding the Hope and Joy You Wanted. Raquel, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you so much for having me. It was truly a joy and so we are just so grateful that you've been with us on Hope Today and we hope that through this conversation that you have your faith tank filled a little bit and you'll take the practical steps so that you can walk out and be all that God has called you to be. Well, don't go away, we'll be right back because we're gonna take a moment to speak right to your spirit, to uplift and encourage you with this important scripture, we'll be right back. When Laura called our 24-7 prayer line, she had so much fear that she didn't want to leave her house. She had lost her husband of 54 years, just six months earlier. Laura was flipping through TV stations when she came across Cornerstone Television. She felt compelled to call. One of our prayer partners talked, listened and prayed with her for 45 minutes. At the end, Laura said how much the ministry had helped relieve her fear. Praise God for how he's using CTVN. When you give, you become part of what he's doing. This month, when you give, we'll send wild expectants as our way of saying thank you. This book will inspire you to live your life as God intended to give and request your copy. Visit us online at ctvn.org slash donate or call us at 888-665-4483. Hope happens here. Don't you just love that discussion and the idea even of having a sunshine mind? And I know that we're believing that not only for ourselves, but for you also. That today, I believe something's going to break and something is going to shift in your life. Let's go to the scripture and see what the Word of God has to say about this. In Romans 15-13, it says this, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Can you just shout wherever you're at? Overflow, with hope, overflowing with hope. I love what it says in the amplified Bible. Listen to this, this is crazy that you may abound, that you may be overflowing and bubbling over with hope. Like bubbling Sydney, like bubble, like happy bubble, like lift up something that's buoyant, something that's going to lift you up. And that comes by what you're thinking about, what you're meditating on, what you're chewing on, either feeds that hope and overflows or not. I like what it's like, it's just like bubbling over. It's just like, you know, we have to change our thoughts. We have to set our mind on him. And I love the scripture so much. I mean, it's like the hopes, like the total hope scripture. And it's through the power of the Holy Spirit. And just wanna ask you today that, you know, where are you at? I think it's really important that we take personal inventories within ourselves and say, okay, I need to check in. I need to process. I need to figure out, okay, what I walk through if I'm being triggered or whatever it may be, but what can I do today to get my mind, to set my thoughts on him, to put me back on that path. And it's just like sitting in his presence, surrendering all and just taking those moments little by little to just be in his presence. That's something that I'm just even trying to incorporate in my life because I know sometimes my thoughts can become toxic. I can get triggered by certain things. And in this season, I am just really trying to take a moment to pause, to sit, to listen, and to hear what God has to say. And in the meantime, when I'm able to hear, when I'm able to receive those revelations and those downloads, I know that I can be a better me. I can be more loving. And then go out and be the love and the light to other people that are around me. Tom, what are your thoughts? Well, you know, I think of personal application. I tend to be a pretty, I hope positive person, but I know that I can, I don't know, guys, I think we're all pretty positive, but you just said it, Sidney. And it happens to me too, Amy, is that I can go negative right away. I can see the bad side of things real easily or why something won't work or why something isn't working. But you know, it says in 1 Corinthians, love hopes all things, believes all things. Does that make everything perfectly true? No, but it says, have this mindset, have this mindset. We're hoping all things. We're believing for all things. Why not take that? It's much more, I think, much more fun to believe that things are going to turn out well. We have our eyes wide open. We don't fake it here. We're not trying to build something up that isn't there. But in God, we shall do valiantly. In God, things can change. In God, things that seem negative can be positive. Why not err on that sunshine side of life? Why not? Yeah, well, I agree. Why not? But I just went through a season recently where I just had all of these thoughts swirling in my mind and in my head over and over and over. They're situations. It's leadership things. It's church things. It's house things. It's property. It was just, they would not stop swirling. And I listened to the Bible audibly. I listened to worship music. I just thought, I need to shake it up. I just need a shift. I need something to change. So guys, I just created a good morning music playlist for me to shake things up. And I'm going to give it to you. Listen, because I went old school. I went like musical theater four decades ago, old school. And I started with, oh, what a beautiful morning. We're from Oklahoma. Oh, Oklahoma. Oh, what a beautiful. I've got a wonderful feeling. Everything's going my way. So, OK, oh, what a beautiful morning. My favorite things, sound of music, singing in the rain. OK, I will pay you money if you listen to singing in the rain and you don't get happy. Just the music, it is just so happy and upbeat. And the sound of music. And then make them laugh, make them laugh, da, da, da. And it's amazing, Sydney, how it has gotten me out of some swirly, twirly, gumdrop thoughts and just jerked me into really a sunshine mind. If she starts saying a story with a fringe on top here, I'm going to start dancing up here. This is about to turn into a sunshine musical show. But I love that so much because what I think is this, like, sometimes we have to speak, I know like there's this like term buzzwords like these affirmations, but declaring things or changing things because you do have to set your mind. There's so many things that are bombarding. I can totally relate. Like I went through a season where I was like, oh my gosh, these thoughts won't just stop and won't shut up for me. I go to the gym. That's like my happy place. And I put on my worship and I have to like crank it out because I know that if I don't go to the gym, I feel a little depleted and fat flat. But I just, we just want to encourage you today, like seek God of like, what do you need to do today to change that mindset that you can change your life with just one thought, with one action. Seek God in that. And you know, one thing that has been on my heart and I just want to talk about this for a moment because I know it was like a big thing that was happening is on, you know, I love the Hebrew calendar and celebrating but Purim. And it's a celebration with Esther and talking about, you know, when they were the Jews and overcoming and for such a time as this and taking down Haman. And if you read the Bible, so if you go back, it's a really, really powerful time that it's just like, they didn't just take out Haman, but they took out his family, all this stuff, but they were overcomers and they had victory. But there was a mindset shift with them that they even saw the persecution and the peril that they were going through. But they came together as one. They had a mindset shift. They fasted, they prayed and they believed in the Lord. And then they had victory. And we just believe today that this is where you're at, that no matter what strongholds, no matter what is coming against you, what, no matter what you're facing and your adversity, can I tell you, we serve a good, good God. We serve a God of victory. We serve a God of triumph. We serve a God that fights our battles for us. And you know what the greatest battle he could fight right now is in your mind. So right now, wherever you are, if you're in your living room, your bedroom, wherever you're watching from Pittsburgh or beyond or wherever around the world, take this moment to invite the Holy Spirit into your mind. One scripture that I have been meditating that it talks about, I can't remember exactly where right now, but it says about setting your mind on the Holy Spirit because there is life and peace. That is a promise from God. So take your mind and put it on the Holy Spirit and experience the life and the peace that he has for you today. You are dwelling in the light of God's love today. He's there, he's showering, he's pouring that out. We just need to recognize it. We need to open up, open up our heart, open up our mind, receive that love, receive that joy, receive that peace. God has those things for you today. He wants us to dwell there. Will we have difficulty? Yes, he promised it. He said, in this world you have tribulation, but take courage. I have overcome the world. So believe that today. Whatever you're going through, God has got it. And he's got joy for you coming out the other side. Have a great day. On Tomorrow's Hope Today, experience the freedom and fullness that God desires for your life. Dr. Gregory L. Jantz shares how you can overcome the toxic emotion of shame and find healing through Jesus. Don't miss Tomorrow's Hope Today. Cornerstone Television wishes to thank all our faithful viewers, whose consistent prayers and financial support have made this program possible.