[00:00:00] Shelby: All right. So I am so excited to bring to you today, Candice. She is going to share with you guys just some amazing backstory on her life, where she came from and her relationship with God, but then also she has a beautiful. To share with all of us today about a wonderful book that I think is really going to help you guys to get closer to God, which is what this is all about.

[00:00:27] First off, I just wanted to introduce you and thank you so much for being here. Candace.

[00:00:31] Candice: Thank you, Shelby, for having me. I’m so excited to be here with you guys.

[00:00:34] Shelby: Absolutely. So to start with, I’d like for you to just tell us in your own words, who are you and what.

[00:00:41] Candice: I am a well, first off I’m Candice Reyes and I am a speaker, a podcast host in an, author.

[00:00:49] I’m a mom, a wife, and I just love the Lord and I want others to learn how to dive into his word because that’s where the transformation begins is when we start seeing [00:01:00] for ourself, that God loves us. That’s when we start going, okay, I can do this. You really does love me. And so that’s my goal.

[00:01:08] That’s my passion. And I’m so excited to be here with you.

[00:01:13] Shelby: Yes. Awesome. All right. So to start with, our women that we’re talking to here on finding faith above or people who are trying to find faith they’re at that place where they are searching for God and not quite sure exactly where to turn right now.

[00:01:25] And they’re looking to us to help point them in the right direction. So I wanted to first start off with your faith journey. How did you grow up and what did that look like when you were young?

[00:01:37] Candice: That’s a great question. So I was raised in the church. I, at a young age, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and savior.

[00:01:44] I was six and I always knew that Jesus loved me, but I never truly knew how much he loved me until now. My mom recently, she retired. From the children’s ministry. And she’s been working as a children’s minister for about 20 years. And so the majority of my life, my parent [00:02:00] was in ministry serving. And so it was really hard as a young kid to watch your parents always be gone and serving.

[00:02:08] And my immature little brain found it really hard to see all the good things that my mom was doing. And it kinda. It started to change my perspective on the church. I saw that the church was taking my mom’s time away from us. And I began to grow very bitter about that towards the church. In my youth, I acted out very with some poor choices.

[00:02:32] I was extremely angry and hurt. And when I turned 16, I became even more reckless. And. Later on down the road. I was sexually assaulted and nine months after that assault happened, my beautiful son was born. And I’d love to tell you that I was a great mom, but I was 16, 17 years old and I did not have [00:03:00] a healthy mindset.

[00:03:00] And so to take care of myself, let alone a precious child. It wasn’t good. And. The church? I felt like they abandoned me. And I noticed a notice that I said the church. I didn’t say God. Because I knew God never left me. I knew he was with me the whole time. And, but it was my perception of the church being his hands and his feet, which at that time in my life, I felt like they pushed me away.

[00:03:27] Fast forward a couple of years. And I meet my husband who adopted our two, adopted our son and loves me for who I am in spite of my flaws and my imperfections. And God used my husband to show me that he loved me. And I think about the story between Ruth and Boaz. It’s such a great romantic story because Ruth who sh she comes in and she’s a foreigner she’s treated very poorly by, the Israel.

[00:03:57] And because she’s a foreigner [00:04:00] and Boaz who is an Israelite, sees her and takes care of her. He allows her to, glean the. Food for her and her mother-in-law and he then takes care of her and protects her. And later on in their story becomes her husband and chooses to not only take care of her and redeem her, but also her mother-in-law.

[00:04:23] And that’s exactly what God was doing for me. When he introduced me to my husband, see other people saw me as broken and useless where God saw me with beauty and purpose. And it took time for me to see that for myself. But even though looking back, I can now see God’s hand has protected me. I can see that God was with me in the fire.

[00:04:47] I can see that God was with me, even when I doubt and I allow my emotions to run away with my choices and I even see him as I share my story with you now. [00:05:00] I know he’s with me and it’s because of that and his love, I can’t help but share.

[00:05:07] Shelby: Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you so much for sharing that. I know that all of our journeys are aligning road and how we end up where we are is just always, so

[00:05:17] I mean,

[00:05:18] all of those pieces, the bad, the good, everything, it goes into making up who we are.

[00:05:23] And to know that he is. He’s there through all of that, which is just so beautiful. So share with me, you had said that maybe you weren’t always, there, you weren’t always being the best mom. You weren’t always on the right track and all of us have those moments and then meeting your husband.

[00:05:42] Was that really the big change that allowed you to say, okay, I am going to follow God the way that he wants me to, or was there something else that kind of moved to this.

[00:05:52] Candice: well,

[00:05:53] It was more of understanding that I could come to him. I could rely on him because [00:06:00] when he introduced me to my husband I, I was told nobody would love me.

[00:06:07] I was told that.

[00:06:15] Nobody would want someone like me.

[00:06:17] So when God brought him into my life, I saw

[00:06:25] then not only a man, like my husband could love me, but so could my God. And did I completely surrender at that moment? No, I still, I still struggle with my own blush. I still have those moments, where I choose my way my will and he has to redirect me back. And so I think that the biggest key element for me.

[00:06:56] Completely surrendering was when I started diving into [00:07:00] his word for myself, because yes, he showed me with his actions, but I also needed to hear it with his words. And for me to hear it, with his words, a Bible study in a devotional, they just didn’t do it for me. I needed to see from scripture that God.

[00:07:19] Really did say he loves me really did say he came for me, really did say that I was beautifully and wonderfully made. I needed to see those words for myself so that I could start owning it and embracing it for myself. I also needed to see for myself that his character never did change, that he was the same God as he was in Genesis, as he is in revelation.

[00:07:42] There, there is no difference with God and to know that he doesn’t change. Helped me grow more confident, not in myself, but in him and who he’s called me to be, because I know the holy spirit is within me to give me that confidence. And so that, I think that was really [00:08:00] my biggest change was when I started diving into his word for myself and seeing that all these things that everybody’s told me, they really were true.

[00:08:08] And now I could own it from.

[00:08:11] Shelby: Oh, that’s just so good. It’s so good. I think that a lot of times too, even people who have been in the Christian faith for forever and, were told, yeah, sure. There’s this verse. There’s that verse. We think we read the Bible, but until you spend that time really getting to know him through his word, It does not resonate.

[00:08:32] It doesn’t mean the same thing. So I love that. And that actually brings us right into your book because that’s what the basis of the whole thing really is. So tell us a little bit about us.

[00:08:45] Candice: Yes. As exactly what it is. When I knew God was knocking on my door to meet with him, one-on-one it really was intimidating.

[00:08:51] I didn’t know how to do this. Where you really talking to me. Are you really going to talk to me? Am I really going to understand this. And I had a lot of [00:09:00] questions. And so that I hesitated for quite some time before I actually chose to just open my Bible. And, but once I did, God started taking me on this journey where I had a prayer journal.

[00:09:14] So I’d write down my prayers and then we would go through scripture together and he started showing me, verse after verse. How it was coming alive for me. It was almost as if I’d never read it before. Again, I’ve been in the, I’ve been in church. I have been raised in the word I’ve been raised to know this book.

[00:09:34] I’ve all, I have so many copies of the Bible for myself, but the first time for me to actually open it up and allow him to speak to me, it was incredible. And as I kept reading, I didn’t want to stop, but I. I knew that, had to do some other stuff throughout my day. I couldn’t just sit there and just read as much as I wanted to.

[00:09:55] And one of the things that God showed me was that there were more people out there [00:10:00] that hesitate just like I did to open up their Bible and they needed something that was practical because I was looking for something practical, I’ve always been told, okay, now that you’re a Christian, now you need to start developing your faith and you need to read your Bible.

[00:10:14] Okay. But what does that mean? Gimme, gimme something tangible and I wasn’t finding those tangible things. So that’s why I created the book. I wake my soul three ways to ignite your relationship with God, because I wanted to offer something tangible for people to use so they can learn how to build their own relationship with him personally.

[00:10:35] So we break it down into three sections and I continue to do this. It’s pray, read and praise. It’s very simple. I think so many times we complicate it. We’re like, there’s gotta be more, but God doesn’t complicate it. He makes it very simple and it’s pray, read, and pray.

[00:10:52] So PRP and each section only should take about a minimum of five minutes a piece. [00:11:00] That’s doable. God knows that we’re busy. God knows that we have things to do. In fact, in Genesis, when Adam was created, he was created to work the ground, to work the garden, to take care of it. And so work is a blessing and I realized that God was, he just wanted time with me.

[00:11:19] And my son he’s now 23 and he lives in another state or not a state, another city. And because he lives in another city. I don’t see him very often. And when he calls, I get really excited. I love to hear from my boy and what he’s doing and Cod, let me know, Hey, if you get this excited, when your son calls, even if it’s birth 15 minutes, how excited do you think I get when I get to talk to you?

[00:11:45] My daughter, and I’m like, oh, Yeah. Okay. So I’m, over-complicating it thinking I need to dive into, your word for hours upon end. That’s not what you’re asking for. What you’re asking for is for me [00:12:00] just to spend time with you. And even if it’s for 15 minutes, that is sufficient. I think that’s the whole point of the book is to help others understand that God wants to have that one-on-one with you.

[00:12:12] And that all it has to take is just minimum of 15 hours. It’s going to change your life, just spending that time.

[00:12:19] Shelby: Yes, it will, if for sure.

[00:12:20] Well,

[00:12:21] Shelby: It definitely will. So a big thing that I noticed about your book, which I love is that it is not structured like your normal Bible study. So does it actually pick out the scripture for you?

[00:12:35] How does that work?

[00:12:37] Candice: No, it does not. One of my things, or this book was that I wanted it to be utilized for any book of the Bible that you want. I took the majority of myself out because I wanted you to put yourself in and have that one-on-one time with him. And so I formatted it to where you choose any book of the Bible.

[00:12:56] You have prayer is structured from the Lord’s prayer. And so I make, [00:13:00] instead of going through the reg,

[00:13:01] you know,

[00:13:02] Candice: our father, how it. And going through it like that, I actually took the Lord’s prayer and made it to where it’s personalized. Helping you see the element that’s behind what Jesus is asking you, which there are seven key components that he’s asking you to pray through when you do your.

[00:13:20] And so those are the key. Those are the seven points that we actually cover and make it very tangible and personal for you. And you get to fill in the blanks. You get to tell God what it is that you’re wanting him to know. And then when you read, it’s just like a few verses , started chapter one and it’s verses one through three or one.

[00:13:41] Small little nuggets, because I think when we have small little nuggets, we can actually chew on them easier versus having something that, read a whole chapter all at once where it’s kinda like drinking from a fire hydrant and you go, you get overwhelmed where the small little nuggets, it allows you to chew on them and then there’s questions in [00:14:00] the book, but just helping.

[00:14:01] Start chewing on them. And then at the end we do praise and I give you a artist that you get to choose. So there’s a list of different artists and you get to choose one song. It’s just one song. A lot of times when I’m in my bathroom is when I’m doing, finishing up my time with him and I’m putting on my makeup, but I’m praising and worshiping and singing to the Lord.

[00:14:19] It’s very practical and it’s going to help you put your armor on each and every day. And I think that’s.

[00:14:28] Shelby: Oh, my goodness. It’s so good.

[00:14:29] So,

[00:14:29] Shelby: Okay. So a couple of things with that a few episodes back for you guys that are listening, we did a whole thing on prayer and the Lord’s prayer and how we’re not, he’s not instructing us to say that like that he’s giving us directions on what should be in your prayer so that you can make it personal.

[00:14:46] So that’s so good. Yes, that is fantastic. The next thing, we’ve just had an episode this last week on worship on music, because I think that so often when we are coming from a certain [00:15:00] religious modality that maybe didn’t do all of that,

[00:15:02] you know,

[00:15:02] Shelby: we’re used to, praying with our heads down reverently with her hands, folded and hymns.

[00:15:08] So having that transition into worship, it can be very. Abrasive even going into a church where people are praising with their hands up

[00:15:16] and,

[00:15:16] Shelby: and understanding that, this is a good thing, God all around us, that love is a good thing. And so that’s so cool that you include worship music, because that was my instruction to you guys in this last episode is go listen to some great worship music because you will be amazed at how it moves you and how so much of the worship music is.

[00:15:38] Words from Psalms and words from the Bible. So you’re getting the Bible even just with the music, which is so cool. I love it. So other big things How long do you, does it really take for you to do this? I know you said a minimum five minutes. Can we take, as long as we want with each of these, what does that look?

[00:15:56] Candice: Absolutely. Absolutely. So if you choose [00:16:00] to, you’ve got a lot more that you want to pray for there’s space in the book for you to do that too. There’s a free space for you. And if it takes you longer than five minutes to do prayer, that’s okay. God wants to be with you and whatever that looks like.

[00:16:14] Again, this is just, this was built to give you just a blueprint of what it can look like so that you can start building your own foundation yourself. I like to talk about, this is your armor for the day. And when you think about armor was actually designed to fit. The soldier, it was meant to protect it was formed and shaped to fit that specific soldier.

[00:16:41] And so my armor is not going to fit you. Your armor is not going to fit me. And so that’s the reason why it’s just a blueprint that way you can choose. How long you stay,

[00:16:53] you know,

[00:16:53] Candice: your schedule, you know what you can do, you know what God is prompting from you. And so just let him lead you [00:17:00] through that.

[00:17:00] But this is just again, the blueprint. So five minutes for each section is a minimum. That’s why I say minimum. But then if you want to go hour, you want to go longer. That’s between you and God and girl, if that’s what you’re doing, praise the Lord.

[00:17:15] Shelby: That’s great. When you’re talking about armor, we’re talking about the armor of God, which is biblical.

[00:17:19] Which I tell my daughter that every day, go put on your armor. As we’re going out into this world, we got to put on our armor of God. So from here, what does it look like? Are you going to be having more books or what can we expect from you? This is, I love this book. So are you planning on doing anything else similar to this again?

[00:17:35] Candice: Thank you for asking. So there is totally think definitely more things on the docket. But right now for this particular book, I really feel like the Lord is asking me to just dive into this a little bit deeper. So right now we are in the, so we have a non-profit organization called hooks to cook ministries.

[00:17:56] And what we do with this [00:18:00] ministry is all the proceeds. it’s a package deal. Here you go. You’ve got a Bible and you’ve got a book. And that way they can start the learning, how to dive into God’s word for themselves as well. I’m excited, Dave, now that our Spanish translation will be out and that next week.

[00:18:18] So I’m excited. It should be published by next week. And Every purchase of a buyer of one of these books, it goes back into the ministry, goes back into this book because what we do is we translate this book into multiple languages and. We are hoping to get this book into the many missionaries and even organizations, other nonprofits into their hands so that they can also walk others through this process.

[00:18:46] We’re also in the process of purchasing Bibles in these languages as well. So that missionaries can have

[00:18:53] like,

[00:18:53] Candice: It’s a package deal. that’s exciting for me to just see God continue to move and want to utilize [00:19:00] this to grow his kingdom and to strengthen his kingdom. And so that’s, as far as the author stuff that we’re doing and. I’m excited. We’ll see. We’ll see what he does.

[00:19:10] Shelby: That’s so cool. Okay. So I had a question then too, with this because I get this question all the time from people coming into faith growing up, we just use the King James version. What would you suggest, is there something that or one of the translations that you feel like works best with this?

[00:19:27] Or does it matter?

[00:19:29] Candice: Again, this. Whatever you’re comfortable with whatever version you’re comfortable with reading. It doesn’t matter. I use Nivea, but I’m still looking at the ESB every so often, or I’m looking at the message, there’s just different.

[00:19:44] It’s up to you. What you’re more comfortable with, what really speaks to you. That’s what.

[00:19:50] Shelby: ESP has been mine lately. That’s been my kind go-to cause it’s different than even the NIV, which I had read for forever. It gets a little bit more. [00:20:00] I guess nitty-gritty, and I sometimes really like that, but I also loved the Bible app for all you guys listening. I also love the Bible app that you can change the translation. If you don’t understand something, then, have the freedom to change it into a different translation that, that does speak to you because that’s the most important thing God’s trying to speak to you.

[00:20:19] So however you’re able to understand it. That’s what you should be doing.

[00:20:23] Candice: And I love what the Bible translation you can push play, and it reads it to you, which that has been a life-changer for me. A lot of times. It’s funny if I’m in traffic and I haven’t had my time with God yet. Guess what? I’m in my car by myself.

[00:20:40] Guess what? We’re playing scripture so that I can get it. That feeling of what I need to hear from him. And also keeps, gives me a little bit more of a peace. So I’m not yelling at the cars next to me, but then that is something cool about the Bible app is that you can have it read to you.

[00:20:54] Shelby: Yeah. All right. So one last big question for you. So our readers [00:21:00] here, they are at a place in their lives where they are trying to find faith. And they’re trying to figure out where to go from here. What is the one step that they are gonna,

[00:21:07] you know,

[00:21:08] Shelby: make the difference in bringing them to that relationship with God?

[00:21:11] What would be your recommendation for them? What would be your advice on trying to find that faith

[00:21:19] Candice: ultimately spending time. It’s learning how to just be still with him and in his presence. Is having that one-on-one time with God, because that’s, what’s going to develop your relationship with him. And I will say at the very beginning, I get it. It’s going to be uncomfortable. It’s going to be awkward.

[00:21:39] You may have some doubts that are going through your head going, is this really going to work for me? And I just want to encourage you to say, yeah, Yes, it will because our God is faithful. He doesn’t change. And if he does it for one, that’s what he’s do it for another two. And you can count on that if he’ll be there and speak with me and [00:22:00] speak with Shelby, and I know he’s going to do that for you as well.

[00:22:04] And so I would just encourage you carve out 15 minutes, 15 minutes on your calendar to spend with him, put it on your calendar, put it on your calendar for seven days. I’m going to do a seven day challenge, seven days, put it on your calendar. I’m going to spend 15 minutes with him. And it, even if you don’t get the book, if you just choose to do pray, read, and price, then sweet friend, that alone is going to change your life.

[00:22:31] And I think, choose a book, choose any book of the Bible. If you don’t know where to choose, I do have a questionnaire. I have a quiz that if you are interested in finding, okay, Lord, where do I need to go? This quiz may help guide you there and lead you to your first book. To start reading you, dive into chapter one and take just a couple of verses one through three, one through five and then kinda meditate on it for yourself.

[00:22:58] Again, you don’t need [00:23:00] this book. It’s just a resource. God already equipped you with everything that you need and that’s through the holy spirit. So trust him to lead and guide you. And he’s going to point it out for you.

[00:23:13] Shelby: I love it. If people are trying to find you or your book or all the wonderful, amazing things that you are doing, where can they find you?

[00:23:22] Candice: They can find me on hooks to kirk.com. That’s hooks with the number two crook.com or on Facebook at huckster Crick com or even Instagram huckster crook. I have a speaking one now on Instagram called Candice RAs. So they can find me on any of those or the podcast at the red river podcast. Perfect.

[00:23:46] Shelby: Thank you so much for being with us today. I love how God is just able to speak through you in reaching all of these people.

[00:23:54] I mean,

[00:23:55] Shelby: I think that this book is just going to change lives and thank you. Thank you for coming and talking to us.

[00:23:59] Candice: Thank you for [00:24:00] having me, Shelby. It’s been an honor to be here with you.