What are you building your life on?

In this episode of Hope for the Everyday, we turn to one of the stories Jesus told about two builders. One built his house on rock. The other built on sand. When the storm came, only one house stood.

Both builders heard the words. The difference was what they did with them.

As I reflect on raising a family, the foundations we try to lay in life, and an unexpected moment at a family wedding, I’m reminded that faith isn’t just about hearing God’s Word. It’s about putting it into practice in the ordinary moments of our lives.

We can’t control every outcome. We can’t make decisions for the people we love. But every day, through our words, our choices, and the way we treat others, we’re building something.

And all of us influence someone.

You don’t have to be a pastor or a Bible scholar to wrestle with these questions. We’re simply taking a closer look at the stories Jesus told and asking what they mean for everyday life.

This week’s question: What is one thing Jesus has already said that I have not yet put into practice?

This episode closes our first Season Two section, What We Hear, with an original song inspired by the stories of the Sower and the Wise and Foolish Builders.

📖 Scripture: Matthew 7:24–27

🎙️ Hope for the Everyday with Troy Tweedy

Stories That Find Us.

Sometimes it’s not enough to hear the words. We have to live them, too.

What kind of soil is your heart right now?

Jesus told the Parable of the Sower to a crowd so large that He stepped into a boat and taught from the water. The story is familiar: seed falls on the path, among the rocks, among the thorns, and finally on good soil.

But Jesus wasn’t simply telling a farming story.

He was asking us to hear.

In this first episode of Season Two of Hope for the Everyday, we look at the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13 and what it means to really hear and receive the Word of God in everyday life.

Because we all have ears. But hearing something and letting it take root are two different things.

Troy shares memories of his grandmother Rosie, the roots planted during his childhood at Trinity Lutheran School, a memorable school play featuring Wolfman Jack, and the ways faith, family, music, and Scripture have shaped the person he is today.

And he takes an honest look at his own heart, because none of us are perfectly good soil all the time.

Life gets noisy. Distractions grow. Sometimes the Word takes root. Sometimes it doesn’t.

So the question for this week is simple:

What kind of soil is your heart right now?

You don’t need a profound moment.
You may just need a little quiet to hear.

Hope for the Everyday is a Christian devotional podcast for ordinary people trying to live out their faith in the middle of ordinary life.

Season Two: Stories That Find Us.

Jesus didn’t tell these stories so we could simply admire them. He told them so they would find us.

🌱 Hope for the Everyday with Troy Tweedy

Scripture: Matthew 13:1–24

#HopeForTheEveryday #TheSower #ParableOfTheSower #Jesus #ChristianPodcast #ChristianDevotional #Faith #Hope #Matthew13

Season One concludes with a deeply personal and powerful conversation.

In this finale, Troy sits down with Rev. James Hoke — the pastor who confirmed him in 1981, married him and Kris in 1986, and who recently returned to Troy’s life in a moment of profound need to give last rites to his mother.

After nearly 40 years apart, this reunion brings stories of ministry, military chaplaincy, faith under pressure, rural Nebraska life in the 1980s, the farm crisis, absolution, baptism, the Sacrament of the Altar, and the everyday calling of loving one another. Pastor Hoke shares wisdom from decades of service, humor from the pulpit, and reflections from his time as a U.S. Army Reserve chaplain — including where he was on 9/11.

This heartfelt conversation closes Season One with hope, gratitude, and the reminder that God meets us in the everyday through His Word, His people, and His promises.

Thank you for joining us through Season One.

Season Two begins soon.