Episode 1612: Interview with Kathryn McAdam Author of The Blessed Body

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Scott Maderer: [00:00:00] Thanks for joining us on episode 1,612 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

Kathryn McAdam: I'm Kathryn McAdam, and I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talent, and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to recognize that you are designed for faith is key, and one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this the Inspired Stewardship Podcast by my friend Scott Maderer.

I've heard there's a quote somewhere that says your survival story or your testimony is somebody else's blueprint. And really that's what it is. That's what I use it for today, is to God's glory helping people see that. Uh, you know, my tagline for my podcast is You Too can [00:01:00] have unstoppable joy no matter what life hands you.

Scott Maderer: Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling. In the inspired Stewardship podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself.

Invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

In today's podcast episode, I interview Catherine McAdam. I ask Catherine about her journey from homelessness to restoration. I also asked Catherine about the connection between faith, health and mental wellness. I also asked Catherine about her book, the Blessed Body. I have a great book that's been out for a while now called Inspired Living.

Assemble the puzzle of your calling by [00:02:00] mastering your time, your talent, and your treasures. You can find out more about that book over@inspiredlivingbook.com. It'll take you to a page where there's information and you can sign up to get some mailings about it, as well as purchase a copy there. I'd love to see you get a copy and share with me how it impacted your world.

Catherine McAdam is a functional medicine nurse, practitioner, a speaker, and the Arthur of the Blessed. Her story is one of radical transformation. Once homeless with three children and battling her own health struggles, Catherine rebuilt her life through faith and perseverance. That journey inspired her to dedicate her life to helping others break free from burnout, restore their health, and live fully into the calling that God has placed on their lives.

Through her programs. In speaking, Catherine integrates functional medicine with biblical truth, teaching practical ways to heal the gut balance hormones, reduce stress and [00:03:00] ignite lasting energy. She is also the co-host of the Unstoppable Joy Podcast, where she and her husband Joe share real conversations about faith, health, and living with purpose.

Catherine's work is rooted in her belief that wholeness of body, mind, and spirit is not only possible, but essential for a life of impact and legacy. Welcome to the show, Catherine.

Kathryn McAdam: Thank you. I'm glad to be here.

Scott Maderer: Absolutely. So I shared a lot of great stuff in the intro. Talked a little bit about your book and some of the work you've done, but I always think of intros as like Instagram photos, right?

They just kind of show part of the, part of the story. They never show the whole, the whole picture. So take us back a time a little bit. What has brought you to the point in your journey where this is the message that you're putting out into the world?

Kathryn McAdam: So, um, my story starts, you know, many, many years ago and today [00:04:00] you know, I'm, I'm a mom, I am a grandma, um, but a nurse practitioner, all the things, right?

But years ago I actually found myself homeless with my three kids. My then husband, um, uh. Had a drug problem and became abusive. And for my safety, I ended up leaving, um, our home. And in one day we lost our home, you know, the dad of our, of our household and our dog. We threw dog away and just, you know, for safety reasons, I, you know, fled with my kids and, um, you know, so, so that was really kind of my, my low point.

And that's really. Where God really started to work on me. And my story begins there because that was my wake up call. You know, everyone, you hear a lot of people talk about a wake up call that was mine. And it was at that point where I was really, I was unhealthy body, mind, and spirit, and I needed [00:05:00] to rebuild.

And so. The process that I went through to find health and healing is really what I share with my with my followers and the people that are a part of my, of my programs and that are a part of my practice is that healing is, is body, mind, and spirit. And, um, and being really honest with where you're beginning is the key to, to, uh, to figuring out where you wanna go.

Scott Maderer: So would you. Think about that, you know, you, you mentioned that that was the low point. And, and I guess in, in many ways, obviously it was, but you also then described it as the beginning of your journey to healing. Mm-hmm. So obviously at the time you felt probably felt one way. And now looking back on it, there's different feelings.

How do you see kind of that, that juxtaposition between. What was going on at the moment and now reflecting on it, how you see God was [00:06:00] operating in your life at that moment?

Kathryn McAdam: Oh yeah. I, you know, at the time I remember feeling really, um. Shamed. Like how did I end up at this point, you know, I'm an educated, I was educated, I was college educated.

I, you know, I was very successful. Um, you know, top of my class, all the things I was, uh, leading worship for our church. You know, I was part of the ministry training for our women's ministry. And, um, I just felt like, Lord, did I miss it somehow? Did I miss you? And, and feeling very shameful and, and um, also feeling defeated and, and like questioning whether God.

Whether I heard from God and whether he had anything good for me. And, and looking back now, it was like God nudging me. To leave a, a situation that was abusive, that was negatively impacting my health and the health of my kids. And I see it as, as a lifeline, you know, I see this low point, you know, and, and for me it [00:07:00] felt like failure.

Um, it felt like cause I didn't wanna get divorced and, you know, I truly believe that marriage should be for life. And I felt like I had failed that I wasn't enough and. I know now, looking back, I was believing a lot of lies. I was believing all of the negative you know thoughts in my head.

I was just believing 'em. I wasn't even questioning them. But I knew I had to go on and I was just in survival mode and I was just like the next step I had to take to, um survive with my kids and to move forward. Um. Looking back now, I, I see somebody who was completely broken.

But I also see a savior who was bigger than my doubts bigger than my failures, bigger than my situation. And he really met me in my [00:08:00] need. Um, he brought people around me to help me to, to heal. And he gave me the steps to start to, to walk out of that pit that I was in.

Scott Maderer: You know, one of the things I like to highlight is how, how our, our life journey and, and our faith journey intersect and, and feed back into each other.

And I think a lot of times when people go through a low point, like you're talking about, you know, it's easy to. To be angry at ourselves, to be angry at God, to be angry at the world. You know, the, why didn't anyone in the church see it? Why didn't anyone help me? All of those things did you feel any of that as you were going through it?

And, and how did it shape your faith as you moved through that and into today?

Kathryn McAdam: Yeah, I really, I struggled for quite some time with feeling like, um, I was. A disappointment to God or he was, um, disappointed in me, um, that, that he wasn't big enough to heal my family, to [00:09:00] restore my husband to health.

I prayed and prayed and prayed and, you know, believed God that he was gonna intervene in this situation. And at the end of the day we have free will and, you know, my, my then husband he decided we had a kind of a, everything kind of came to a head and we were meeting with our pastor and, and I remember my husband saying, you know, there's nothing wrong with what I'm doing.

I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna change. I'm not gonna stop using drugs. And um, and my pastor point blank said to him, so you're choosing drugs over your wife and kids? And he said, yeah, I am. He had no, there was no emotion, there was no like, you know, aha moment for him either. Like, it was just like, this is the way it is and take it or leave it.

Scott Maderer: Mm-hmm.

Kathryn McAdam: And then, you know, it escalated from there and he became abusive and, and I was like, okay. I, I. I was praying and believing that, um, that God [00:10:00] was gonna, um intervene. And when it didn't happen, I really struggled. Like I said, it, it took me, um, it took me quite some time to, um, unpack all of that.

It took me, um, time with a really good Christian counselor to take me back to that moment and let me see that it was actually God's protective hand. Um, that led me out. Because still to this day this, my ex-husband is still still using drugs. He really was true. He was honest. He wasn't gonna change.

Um, and I knew that I couldn't stay on that path of destruction with him and I, and you know, today, I, I'm so grateful that the Lord led me out that I didn't stay in that, in that pit in that destructive behavior of his 'cause. You know, when, when it's your life partner. You get sucked into the drama and the trauma and all the things, right?

And my, I was seeing it to start to impact my kids [00:11:00] and now praise the Lord. All my kids are healthy adults and you know, they're all serving the Lord. And they each are on their own path of, of victory and and God moving in their life. And I have an amazing relationship with each one of them, which to me is like.

It's the icing on the cake. Like, even though we went through such horrible times, it really solidified us as a family and we have this bond that, that that we wouldn't have otherwise. Um, that we have this knowing that, you know, no matter what that we are gonna stick together and, and the Lord is gonna get us through this.

Scott Maderer: You know, it's interesting. I think sometimes with, one of the things that I've seen working with clients and, and friends and family and then my wife and, and I, through our own personal journey is, you know, a lot of times we focus so much on the what. You know, the goal. Mm-hmm. The, the thing when really a lot of times what makes the [00:12:00] change is when we finally grasp a why that's big enough.

Yeah. You know? And, and for you, it sounds like part of that was when you began to see it impacting your kids in a way that you couldn't prevent. Um. Mm-hmm. You know, it's like, okay, I, this is it. You know, it, it ends. How have you seen that play out? You know, moving forward for you and, and for others around you that you've worked with that dynamic between when we, we want it to be the what, but it's really more about the why, if that makes sense.

Kathryn McAdam: Yeah. You know, um, I'm always reminded a, a few, uh, characters that we see in the Bible and we see Joseph of the Old Testament and all the things that he went through and how you know, he seemed to, to, it almost appears like he had missed it, you know, like. Here's this kid that has all these dreams and he is, you know, um, kind of bragging about the dreams and visions that he's having for his life.

And like he's gonna lord over [00:13:00] his, not only his, his brothers, but his mom and his dad. And, you know, he, he's kind of like. I don't know. I, I'm interpreting it as he is kind of like this arrogant kid, you know, he's daddy's favorite and he's kind of rubbing it in everybody's face. And as a result, like it caused conflict between him and his siblings to the point that they hated him and they actually sold him into slavery.

You know, so, so you could see that like, okay, that's a failure on Joseph's part. He wasn't building bridges, he was basically creating enemies within his own family. You know, right or wrong, maybe I'm misinterpreting it, maybe I am, don't have the story right. But at the end of the day, you know, he ends up sold into slavery and then he's put over the household of, of Potiphar the, um, his slave master and.

The slave master's wife is really after him. And you know, here he is this, you know, young kid and, um, this, this woman accuses him of, of rape and then get, he gets sent to prison even though he didn't do it. But you could see that as a [00:14:00] failure. Like, gee, I should have been more careful. He could be beating, he could have been beating himself up.

Gosh, I really blew it there again. But every step of the way, the Lord is leading him closer to his destiny and everything that seems like it's against him is actually used in the end to position him perfectly, to become second in command of the entire known world at the time. And I would always remind my kids in myself that.

No matter what we face in life, God can use everything that we even things that seem like it's a failure in our life, he can use those for his glory. And even today, like as I share my story through my podcast, my, you know, speaking and my book and everything, it's, it's a testimony of God's goodness.

That things that seem like they should have destroyed me or seem like they should have destroyed my family God used those in a mighty way to bring about restoration, to bring [00:15:00] about healing, to bring about hope. I've heard there's a quote somewhere that says, your your survival story or your testimony is somebody else's blueprint.

And really that's what it is. That's what I, that's what I use it for today is, is to God's glory helping people see that, uh, you know, my tagline for my podcast is, you too can have unstoppable joy no matter what life hands you. And it is true. When you root yourself in Christ, the devil can't stop you unless you give up and let him.

Scott Maderer: So what brought you to write the book? The Blessed Buddy.

Kathryn McAdam: So blessed body is my story of how I found functional medicine. So I was trained in the conventional medicine world. I've been a nurse for, gosh, over almost 20 years now. And I went back to school to become a nurse practitioner. All the while I was, um, a single mom working in the [00:16:00] ICU long hours.

And I had, um. Started having some stomach pain and I was really worried about it because my mom had cancer that started in her stomach. And I was having this debilitating fatigue and I was also had all this brain fog and I was having full conversations with my teenagers and not remembering it, which is really dangerous if you can think about it.

If you have teenagers out there, you know, uh, how crucial it is to remember your conversations with them. But, um, at the time I was just why they would

Scott Maderer: never take advantage of that.

Kathryn McAdam: No, never. Never. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And having three of 'em at once was quite a challenge. So anyway, um, yeah. So it might. All my symptoms, I was really worried.

So I like it. Sent me to the emergency room, not once, but twice.

And they did all the scans and they said, we can't find anything. You're fine. There's nothing wrong. And I knew there's gotta be something wrong. And you know, in my medical mind, [00:17:00] I'm like searching through my, you know, my thought, my, my learning and, and what my training.

And maybe I, maybe they missed this or maybe we should test that. Um, you know, they sent me to the lady doctor thinking maybe it was something there more painful procedures. Again, no answers. Still all these symptoms. And then mounting, um, medical debt. And I had come across at that time, I came across a lady who was talking about making some lifestyle changes and, and altering my diet in certain ways.

Now granted, I was, I was working out, even though I was working these long hours, I was still working out every day. I was eating what I thought was healthy, but I was still having all these issues. And so I thought, well, it couldn't be that simple, but I was like, what do I got to lose? So. I started on her protocol and within a week my symptoms were gone and I lost eight pounds.

I was like, hallelujah, I'm feeling so much better. But then I was like really frustrated 'cause I was in the midst of working [00:18:00] on my master's and, you know, spending all this money and this time investing in, you know my career, my future career. It, this what I learned, this protocol wasn't even on the syllabus.

It wasn't even part of the training. And I, and it was so mading to me, and I thought, well, maybe, you know, maybe some, I've missed it. Maybe there's more training along the way. I ended up finishing my degree and started practicing and, and again, I was just like, n. I kept, I was working in, um, in urgent care and I had patient upon patient come in and they had all these symptoms of, you know, stomach issues and they and their doctor had put them on all this medication or diagnosed them with like, like ulcerative clo colitis and uro bowel disease and, and all these things.

But not once had they been talked to about their diet and making any kind of change. And I just. It really [00:19:00] grieved me because I'm like, this is a path forward for so many people. A simple path forward that's not even being addressed. And so that really led me to go and, and get extra training in functional medicine.

So my book is my, um, empowered method, which is a combination of both faith and functional medicine. As I've learned about functional medicine. It basically, I have to laugh every time they, you know, I would learn a new concept and I would be like this is interesting. This is just what the Bible says that we should do.

Things as simple as like, you know, to increase your vagal tone and get into the rust and digest mode before you eat. You should bow your head and pray or hum or sing a song. And it's like, well that's exactly what the Lord teaches us to do. Let's. And so every step along the way that I've learned more and more, um, through functional medicine, it's like, it like the sciences [00:20:00] then like basically.

Science is caught up to what the Bible says and what, and what the practices of, of the believer are. And so, um, my book and my method are, um just kinda laying out the empowered method, which is a six step method, which that I use my clients, that I've used my families use to find health and healing and not only lose weight, but deal with anxiety and improve sleep and energy, all the things that I was experiencing.

It's a very, um. Very clear path forward. And it's, I love it because it has all these tools in the book itself where you can just scan a QR code and upload those and, and use 'em right away.

Scott Maderer: So with thinking about that, you know, taking a step back, 'cause I, I think you just shared something that, that I wanna draw more on, you know, a lot of times I think I [00:21:00] see.

Where we'll focus on one part of things and say, okay this is it. You know? So it could be the, the science path of I'm gonna just pay attention to that. Other times it's the, the spiritual side. I'm gonna, you know, try to get my faith right. And, you know, and other times it's, it's mental or, or self-development or self, you know, we, we put things into these boxes and think, okay, we're gonna fix, I'm just gonna work on my mental health now.

I'm gonna ignore everything else. I'm not gonna exercise, I'm not gonna eat right. I'm not gonna take good care of myself. I'm not gonna but I'm gonna get my mental, and yet they're all connected.

Kathryn McAdam: Oh, they're all connected,

Scott Maderer: you know?

Kathryn McAdam: Yeah, absolutely.

Scott Maderer: So how have you found that connection between physical health, mental health, spiritual health, you know, diet, medicine, all of those things and help people see that it is the integral whole.

Any one of them that, that we're really usually [00:22:00] needing to pay attention to.

Kathryn McAdam: Yeah. You know and that's, thanks for that question. That's so good. Um, so many times, like you said, we compartmentalize things, then we think, oh, it's, it's just I've got this sickness, so I'm just gonna go to the doctor.

But what we've learned through studies is that, um. Even something is is, um, I say it's simple, but it's not simple of anxiety and depression. Studies show that 90% of our serotonin is actually produced in our gut.

And so. You're not, if your gut is off, then you are basically at a disadvantage.

Your body's not gonna be able to produce those good neurotransmitters that help you feel happy, that help you feel peace. And so it will set you up for anxiety and depression. And, and a lot of times in the the, um, in the church. Anxiety and depression is looked down on [00:23:00] seeking help or getting on a medication or, or going to counseling is seen as, you know, faux pot and it used to be much more than it is today, and it's more acceptable today.

So it, it's just the fact that once we start to realize, okay, this isn't just a mental issue, this isn't just a spiritual issue. This is actually a, a physical issue and it's all connected. Jesus or, or God didn't create us in pieces, he didn't say, okay, well your vascular system is over here and then we'll put your skin over here.

You know, we're not this segmented being, we are one being and the Lord breathes life into us. And so we have everything works together. Every piece of it works together. It's like it's like a garden. It's like, you know, you think about the Amazon rainforest, right? And you think about all the diversity of the plants and the animals and the insects and, and every piece of it, even [00:24:00] the amount of water that hits the soil and, and the light and the air circulation.

Every piece of that. Plays an integral role and allows other organisms to live in, in harmony. The same thing is true about our health. Like it's not just one piece. It's not just your skin. It's not just your hair. It's not just the food you eat, the air you breathe, it's all together. It's everything. And so as we.

As I've practiced and learned myself and, you know, seen from my patients, and studies show that it doesn't matter how good your diet is, it doesn't matter how much you sleep. It doesn't matter how good you exercise. If your nervous system, which you know is your spirit is not at rest, if it's not at peace, then health is gonna elude you.

So you have to not only address the physical [00:25:00] issues, but also the spiritual, the emotional, the mental, you know, a lot of programs out there. They all address the food or you know, the movement. Like they say, you gotta, you gotta, you gotta work out like this, or you gotta eat like this. So few address the spiritual aspects.

Some, some now like this Noom or some of these other programs are addressing the mental issues. But what about the spiritual side of that? What are you really hungry for?

Scott Maderer: Mm-hmm.

Kathryn McAdam: What are you trying to fill yourself up with? And, um, many times we, we miss we miss it and we get frustrated and we give up.

We think, and this is just the way I am. Um, because we are missing that piece. We, we think, oh, well, I'll only go to God about my health when it's an emergency situation. You know, God doesn't wanna just be an emergency room doctor.

He wants to be intricately involved in your health [00:26:00] and your life all pieces of it.

Scott Maderer: When you think about that what do you see as kind of the biggest reframe or rethinking that people need to make to begin moving towards more whole health?

Kathryn McAdam: I think there is a little bit of people hold back a bit.

When it comes to the spiritual aspect of things. They think, oh no, now I'm gonna feel guilty about eating. Right. We don't need any more guilt in our lives, right? We don't need any more condemnation. Um, but, you know, one of the things that I use as a tool to begin with because, I'll back up here a minute, but 80% of Christians feel trapped in their circumstances and powerless to change, even though they know it's, it goes counter [00:27:00] to the blessings that God promises.

And, and the reason for that, I believe, is we don't truly believe what God says about us. We don't truly believe in our hearts what the word says. And so. A way that I help my patients to get over that hurdle is start to look differently. At your life. I have something called, um, a Hearts on Fire Assessment Tool.

It's kinda like the building blocks of what we do and. The world will look from the outside and say, oh, how successful are you? What kind of car do you drive? Where do you live? What's your income? What's your, you know, what neighborhood do you live in? That sort of thing. How successful is your business?

But what really matters is how well you're reflecting the light of Christ. And when you start to then reframe, like how you're thinking about what really matters, it's called Measure what Matters, right? [00:28:00] Measuring, how well am I reflecting the light of Christ in all these areas of my life? And when you realize, hey, like in the area of my health or my finances, or am I resting that those different areas of your life then you start to realize, gosh, I'm believing a lie about myself or God's goodness.

That's. Available to me in this area. And once we realize those areas, then we can start to reframe. It's different for everybody. Um, not everyone has the same makeup, the same experiences in life that would cause them to have what I call a heart stop. And an ability to receive all from Christ.

But, you know, as far as the, as far as the physical aspect and health aspect, a lot of people start to believe these lies of. It's the way my parents had it. My mom had this and my dad had this, [00:29:00] so I guess I'm gonna have this too. Or we believe the lie that that aging and aging and getting older means that I'm gonna slow down.

My joints are gonna wear out. I'm not gonna be as, um, mentally clear. I'm gonna be tired. I'm not gonna be strong. But that, that's a actually a lie. And you know what? What, uh, research is showing is your longevity is a direct relation to how physically fit you are and, and specifically your muscle mass.

When you have more muscle mass, not only can you do things like walk around and have good balance and be able to care for yourself, which is huge, right? You, you all, we all think about the, the person that falls and breaks a hip and then they just go downhill from there, right? Because they're not mobile, they're not able to get up and take care of themselves.

But [00:30:00] when your muscle mass how much you have of that, when you get sick. What happens is your body will steal from your muscles to repair itself, and so as we age, we have less and less muscle mass normally. If we don't do anything to counteract that. And so that's another thing that we help people with is, hey, like what do we need to do?

Not just, this isn't just for vanity's sake, this is so I can show up and be present and be have a great impact on my family's life long term and not be a burden, not be end up in the nursing home, not be, you know, sick and feel, you know, I, I tell the story about my two grandmas I had. What I said, I had a sick grandma and I had a fun grandma and my sick grandma, I loved her to death, but she was sick and I visited her in the hospital and I visited her at, you know, when she was laying down in, in bed or, you know, she didn't get up and she couldn't get on the floor and play with me.

And then I had my fun grandma who was fit [00:31:00] and you know, she was active and she. Played tennis with us and she took us very picking and, you know, she spent time with us and, and I had a better relationship with her, a deeper relationship with her because I was able to, to spend that time with her and do those various activities.

And so as I'm looking forward, as now I'm a grandma, I'm looking forward to like, I wanna be that fun grandma. I wanna be that fit grandma, that one that can. Play ball and be around and, and go for hikes and do the things that I want to share with my, um, my grandkids.

Scott Maderer: Absolutely. So I've got a few questions that I like to ask all of my guests, but before I go there, is there anything else about the work you do or your podcast or the book that you'd like to share?

Kathryn McAdam: Yeah. So, um, you know, I really have a heart to see people. Well, I, I, I feel like there's so much that we can do in the natural to improve our health. So many people [00:32:00] are apt to go and ask for prayer for healing, but they just don't know what they don't know. Right? They don't know what is a healthy eating?

Life, you know, what is healthy eating? What is healthy sleep habits and why is it so important to, to prioritize that? Uh, and if you know, if you've gotten off course, how do you get back into exercising again and eating right? And. How those things are basically being a good steward of the body, the, our temple of the Holy Spirit.

It's being a good steward of that. And so I, I really wanna get the word out, you know, and, and so, you know, I. I'm always looking for opportunities to speak and to share my story and, and to encourage people and teach them that, um, you know, this narrative that we have been kind of handed for so many generations that, oh, we, it's just, I'm gonna slow down when I get older and I'm not gonna be able to do the things I used to.

[00:33:00] And sickness and, and, um, being feeble is just part of, uh, being, being older. I. I know that the Lord has blessing on health for those who, um, prioritize it and do things his way.

Scott Maderer: So you brought up stewardship. You know, that's the first question that I like to ask all of my guests is that word I've, I've learned over the time has come to mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

So for you, what does the word stewardship mean and what does the impact of that had on your life?

Kathryn McAdam: Yeah. We can be a good steward of a lot of things or a poor, poor, you know and re the consequences. But as far as when, first, for me, stewardship means being mindful and living on purpose and taking responsibility for [00:34:00] our health.

Is key. You know, when I was struggling as a single mom in the working in the ICU with all that brain fog and stomach aches and fatigue, I wasn't able to show up well for my family, but I just didn't know what I didn't know. And so educating myself was part of my stewardship journey and learning how to take care of my body and in, in such a way that's glorifying to God.

The other thing too that I, I love about you know, what I do is I get to share about what I call theo stacking. And, and it's basically all the practices that, that we have as believers that are actually part of God's design to bring health and healing to our body. Like anything, uh, things such as prayer.

So spending as, as little as 12 minutes in prayer every day, it helps to. To improve your gray matter. It, it, it causes your thought, your, um, [00:35:00] your to have clearer thoughts, to have a more focused thinking. It also causes you to be more compassionate and, you know, so it's something as simple as that.

But you know, like things like, like I talked about before, praying before your meals, but also meditating on God's word. It reframes your brain. It causes you to be more, um, compassionate and, and also, it also improves your cognition. Uh, things like fasting has been shown over and over again through so many studies to improve your longevity and to actually help your body to do all the repairing that it needs to do.

Um, and then Sabbath the arrest. Like all these things that we take for granted as believers are basically things that are proven now through science to be part of your healing process. These [00:36:00] rhythms that God puts in our lives that actually cause us to be healthier and, and improves our longevity, improves our vitality.

Um, I love this one because so many of us love to worship and when we sing it's breath work, it's also increasing our vagal tone. And then as you raise your hands on worship, that act right there raising your hands, it lowers your cortisol level and it decreases inflammation. Just think about that as a superpower that we as believers have that if we tap into that, how amazing is that?

We were literally created. Designed to worship our father and I, I think being a good steward of, of those practices as a believer and really incorporating them into your everyday life is part of your stewardship of, of being and doing all that God has designed for you to do and, and to live a healthy life.

There's a, there's promises when we are good stewards. [00:37:00]

Scott Maderer: So imagine for a moment that I invented this magic machine, and with this machine I was able to take you from where you are today and transport you into the future, maybe 150, maybe 250 years. And through the power of this machine, you were able to look back and see your entire life, see all of the connections, all of the ripples, all of the impacts you've left.

What impact do you hope you've left in the world?

Kathryn McAdam: Great question. Yeah. My impact I wanna leave my, the impact that I want to leave is, um, one of health. And one of love. I really want my kids to know that I love them unconditionally, you know, and, and that there was nothing that was gonna keep me from, from loving them.

And I want them to then know the love of the father. You know, my, my biggest thing is I want to shine the light of Christ. I wanna have my heart on fire and make the the biggest impact that I can, um, long term. And [00:38:00] I need a healthy body to do so. I wanna empower the church and believers. To live a life that is healthy, the way that God designed for us to live.

And, um, when we do that I want it, my ripple effect. I want it to be in the ripple effect of people and their lives and their impact growing because they have learned how to take care of their bodies in such a way that their lives are not cut short, that they are able to make a deep lasting impact because they're clear-minded.

That they can be present in the, in their family's lives, in their community, in their business. And that really is what I, I hope and I pray is, is my impact.

Scott Maderer: So what's on the roadmap? What's coming next as you kick off this year and get things going?

Kathryn McAdam: Oh gosh. I'm so excited because my husband and I are, um, working on AI develop AI agent [00:39:00] development.

Um, so we are working to help other businesses with really their front end, with, you know, uh, appointment setting and phone call, like answering the phones and all that stuff. Just to help them to alleviate some of the, um. The burden. A lot of us entrepreneurs, we, um, struggle to leave our, our other job to, um, embrace, uh, becoming an entrepreneur full-time.

And, and I believe that having these AI agents will help people to be able to make that transition a little bit easier. As well as I'm working on an AI agent for my own business, where it will help me to, um, basically be a health coach in your pocket that will be constantly there for you, um, encouraging you answering questions in real time.

And these agents that we're creating are, it's not like, you know, a [00:40:00] chat bot that just answers a question at the bottom of your screen, you know, when you, when you call into someplace. But it will actually talk to you and have a knowledge base that it can help you intelligently an answer your questions and give you feedback in real time.

So I'm excited about that. 'cause I, a big piece of what people struggle with is the accountability and and then a lot of people have questions. A, a lot of what I do is educating people and, and a big part of it is education and the other part of it is encouragement. Like you can do it. So the agents that I'm creating will, will help people to be able to stick to the plan and, and have the encouragement that they need and, and the know-how.

My program right in your pocket.

Scott Maderer: So you can find out more about Catherine over@catherinemcadam.com. Of course. I'll have a link to that over in the show notes as well. Catherine, anything else you'd like to share with the listener?

Kathryn McAdam: [00:41:00] I guess my biggest, the biggest thing I'd like to share is not to give up.

And a lot of times, especially with health issues you know, especially as a woman who struggled with her weight over the years, I know how discouraging it can be. And it can be, and it can feel like helpless and like, why should I even try and, you know, um. Sometimes we get negative reports from our doctors too.

Like I did. Like, there's nothing wrong, there's nothing more that we can do. But I just want you to press in and, you know, don't give up hope. Keep find, keep searching for answers and if I can help you in any way, please reach out to me. I would love, um, to help you get to the root cause of what's ailing you and give you some steps forward.[00:42:00]

Scott Maderer: Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode. Please do us a favor. Go over to inspired stewardship.com/itunes.

Rate all one word iTunes rate. It'll take you through how to leave a rating and review and how to make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so that you can get every episode as it comes out in your feed. Until next time, invest your time, your talent, and your treasures. Develop your influence and [00:43:00] impact the world.