64 - Happy Thanksgiving & Exciting Announcement!

[00:00:01] Hi everyone, welcome to The Cult I Left Behind podcast. I'm your host, Amanda Briggs, and I'm here to tell you my stories of growing up in the IBLP cult, which you might know from the Duggar family.

[00:00:15] And I'm your other host, Kyle Briggs. I'm Amanda's husband, and I have not heard most of these stories before, so stay tuned and we'll all get traumatized together.

[00:00:25] All right, welcome back to the next episode. It is Thanksgiving week this week. Amanda is up to her neck in finals week, so we're going to keep it a little short, but we did want to check in and we have a special announcement, Amanda.

[00:00:44] Amanda We do. So we are having a very special guest come on the show soon. We've referenced her before. Some of you have commented and messaged in and said how awesome it would be to have her on the show.

[00:01:03] Amanda We are thrilled to announce that Daniela Mestinek-Young, the author of one of my favorite books, Uncultured, will be coming on The Cult I Left Behind podcast to talk with us about the process of leaving a cult and what that looked like for her.

[00:01:20] Amanda And she is so knowledgeable and passionate. She's very knowledgeable about cults. She's very passionate about her message.

[00:01:27] Amanda And we had the best time chatting with her a couple days ago as we got to know each other and planned out the episode. So there's probably going to be like a lot of military references. We're both captains. Danielle was in the Army. I served in the Air Force and Space Force. So she understood my acronyms. It was really lovely. Kyle, I don't think you talked a whole lot during that conversation.

[00:01:56] Amanda I know. But it's going to be fun. It's going to be a great episode. We can't wait to bring that to y'all.

[00:02:03] Amanda And it's, yeah, unfortunate timing for this week. We're giving ourselves some grace. Thanksgiving being so late meant that it coincided with finals for me. So, you know, that's been interesting. But the thing I'm looking forward to most is we're hosting some really special guests for Thanksgiving.

[00:02:25] Amanda And they'll be arriving in a couple days. So we've been prepping for that too. And I guess this is...

[00:02:32] Amanda I'm sure everybody's busy.

[00:02:33] Amanda Yeah, we're all crazy busy. And this is a gentle reminder to give yourself grace, make space for things. Something Kyle and I were talking about earlier is, you know, the concept of like glass balls and rubber balls.

[00:02:47] Amanda And glass balls will break if you drop them and rubber balls will bounce right back to you. And just remember which balls in your life are glass and which ones are rubber and protect the glass balls. So the people close to you, the people, your important relationships, yourself, I would say put yourself in there, you're a glass ball. And give yourself a lot of grace and kindness.

[00:03:12] Amanda So with that being said, just one quick Thanksgiving thing. Was there any special traditions you had?

[00:03:21] Amanda Yes. Yeah, we went to my great aunt and uncle's house in Indiana. And we got a lecture the whole way there about how the rest of the family wasn't Christian. Like the extended family. So we had to be very careful and watchful, but also be a witness for Christ and stand our ground.

[00:03:39] Amanda So that was always a fun balance of like being really excited to see everyone and like loving everyone, but also like, they're on the devil's side, not the side of Christ.

[00:03:54] Amanda So that was always fun to juggle. But we would, it was, I mean, it's Irish, Italian family, great food. So loud, so loud. I don't know if I came into the world as an introvert, but that family and those family gatherings turned me into an introvert. I would hide in closets with a book.

[00:04:13] Amanda I'm surprised you didn't turn out being an extrovert.

[00:04:15] Amanda No, no, it was too loud. It was so much. It was so much, but it was fun. Those are, those are good memories. How about you? What would you do?

[00:04:23] Amanda And did you get a lecture about how everyone else in your family was, you know, not Christ-like enough?

[00:04:30] Amanda No, I don't think I got those conversations. I don't think I had any major like unique experiences with Thanksgiving growing up. Eventually my mom did remarry and he's Native American. And we just kind of threw the whole Thanksgiving thing kind of out the window. And we make Indian tacos for Thanksgiving instead of like,

[00:04:53] traditional, you know, traditional, you know, turkey stuffing, all that, you know, the whole usual spread. And we do Indian tacos for Thanksgiving, which I think are delicious. And yeah, that was just kind of a unique Thanksgiving that we kind of do now in my family. And I enjoy it. I like it. It's, it's different. I love tacos anyways. So Indian tacos is right up my alley.

[00:05:21] Amanda What? It's fry bread?

[00:05:23] Amanda Yeah. I mean, it's essentially all the taco stuff like ground beef and lettuce and cheese and, you know, sour cream salsa, blah, whatever you put on your tacos. But yeah, instead of like taco shells or tortillas, like you, you put it on fry bread.

[00:05:39] Amanda You've been talking about this since I met you.

[00:05:41] Amanda It's so good.

[00:05:42] Amanda And we hosted Thanksgiving with your family the first year we dated, but your mom's husband was unable to make it that year. And I know everyone was sad, like, Oh no, Indian tacos. And your mom, your mom made a valiant effort, but I couldn't eat it because I couldn't have gluten at that time. So everyone else ate the deliciousness.

[00:06:03] Amanda Oh yeah. You haven't.

[00:06:04] Amanda I haven't experienced this.

[00:06:05] Amanda You haven't had real Indian tacos yet.

[00:06:07] Amanda No. So I can have gluten again, but now I can't have dairy.

[00:06:10] Amanda There's no dairy.

[00:06:11] Amanda There's no dairy in it.

[00:06:12] Amanda But like the sour cream and cheese and like, you know, all that kind of stuff, but that's okay. I can, I can.

[00:06:16] Amanda It's all right. The fry bread is like the most important part.

[00:06:19] Amanda Well, now we just need him to make that.

[00:06:22] Amanda Yeah. I'm looking for. Yeah. Yeah. It's, uh, it's good stuff. And then like where I'm from in Oklahoma, like there's so many, you know, the Cherokee nation is in that area. Like there's just a lot of huge Native American population.

[00:06:37] Amanda Mm-hmm.

[00:06:38] Amanda Fry bread or like Indian taco fundraisers is like a huge thing.

[00:06:42] Amanda I bet that's fun.

[00:06:43] Amanda I did. Yeah. I mean, you know, you go somewhere in 10 bucks, you donate to whatever charity event or whatever and get a fry bread or Indian taco, uh, dinner. So it's a big, big thing from where I'm from.

[00:06:57] Amanda Your face is all lit up right now.

[00:06:59] Amanda It's so good. My mouth is watering right now. Hopefully people can't hear that. It's so good. But so, yeah, I mean, that's kind of a,

[00:07:07] a Thanksgiving tradition that kind of came up later in life for me, but one that I thoroughly enjoy.

[00:07:12] Amanda Did you guys have like a movie or anything that was associated with the holiday?

[00:07:16] Amanda No, I don't think so.

[00:07:18] Amanda We watched, um, for the longest time growing up, it was The Wizard of Oz the day after Thanksgiving or that night at my great aunt and uncle's. And, um, and then as we got older, it turned into The Princess Bride was the movie.

[00:07:34] Amanda And I think, Kyle, weren't you surprised when you found out I had seen The Wizard of Oz?

[00:07:39] Amanda Because it's all like witches and wizards and all of that. Um, but what's important to note is that if it's classic wizardry and witchcraft, that's okay because it's from the 1940s. However, comma, if it's Harry Potter in the 1990s and early 2000s, then it is evil.

[00:07:56] Amanda Yeah.

[00:07:57] Amanda So, you know, cause that makes a lot of sense.

[00:08:01] Amanda So.

[00:08:01] Amanda If I learned anything, it's like you were allowed to watch some movies just depending on if your, your biological parents liked them because there was always an exception to the rule.

[00:08:12] Amanda Yes.

[00:08:12] Amanda Even though how strict it was, there was always an exception.

[00:08:16] Amanda Well.

[00:08:17] Amanda Like, that's one of them.

[00:08:18] Amanda There were no eyes down scenes in it.

[00:08:21] Amanda That's true.

[00:08:21] Amanda Because there was no kissing.

[00:08:24] Amanda There was no sex.

[00:08:25] Amanda You know, everyone had necklines up to their collarbones appropriate for Jesus.

[00:08:30] Amanda And, you know, it was made in the, I think the forties.

[00:08:35] Amanda I don't know.

[00:08:37] Amanda Early fifties at the absolute latest, I think.

[00:08:39] Amanda I don't know.

[00:08:40] Amanda It was a big deal cause technicolor became a thing.

[00:08:43] Amanda The first part of it is in black and white.

[00:08:45] Amanda And then when she gets to Oz, it's all in color.

[00:08:47] Amanda So that was like a huge cinematic deal.

[00:08:51] Amanda It feels very weird, like educating anyone on anything from pop culture, but it's classic pop culture.

[00:08:57] Amanda So I know more about it.

[00:09:00] Amanda It just makes me feel old thinking about that.

[00:09:02] Amanda Like, oh yeah, I remember like black and white TV.

[00:09:05] Amanda Oh geez.

[00:09:07] Amanda But.

[00:09:08] Amanda So anyways, yeah, we just wanted to say thanks to everybody who listens and supports us and shares episodes and messages us.

[00:09:19] Amanda And we get lots of kind words.

[00:09:23] Amanda That's really sweet.

[00:09:24] Amanda Yeah, I appreciate that.

[00:09:26] Amanda And yeah, we're just thankful for you guys listening to the show and we hope you have a happy Thanksgiving and we'll be back next week.

[00:09:34] Amanda And if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, then just have a good week in general.

[00:09:38] Amanda Yes, enjoy your time with whoever's close by and that you choose to spend time with.

[00:09:44] Amanda All right.

[00:09:44] Amanda All right, we'll be back with a regular episode.

[00:09:47] Amanda Yeah, we'll be back next week with a regular episode.

[00:09:49] Amanda Sounds good.

[00:09:50] Amanda All right.

[00:09:50] Amanda Happy Thanksgiving.

[00:09:51] Amanda Happy Thanksgiving.

[00:09:52] Amanda Thanks for listening to another episode of The Cult I Left Behind.

[00:09:56] Amanda Until next time, don't join a cult.

[00:09:59] Amanda If you enjoyed this podcast, please like, share and subscribe and we will catch you on the next episode.

[00:10:05] And we'll be back next week.