[Amy]

Welcome to How Leaders Replenish. I have Priscilla Pruitt with us today. Priscilla, welcome to the show.

[Priscilla]

Thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited to be on here. 

[Amy]

Well, we are excited to visit with you today!

If you could, please let everyone listening know just a little bit about your life.

[Priscilla]

Well, I’m a mom of seven. My youngest is about to be two in August, and then my oldest is almost 26. So it is a wide range of ages, but I love it. I’ve been married for almost 20 years. That doesn’t equate to the ages of the kids because the two oldest were adopted. And then the third from the top is my husband’s from his first marriage. So we have a big Brady bunch, you know? Combined with love and just gifts from God. It’s amazing.

I also co-host a Christian TV show called God’s View with three other lovely women, sometimes four. I work for Safe Haven Baby Boxes. I’ve been on their board of directors for about seven years, I’ve been their liaison for eight years, I believe, and I do all their international affairs, international baby boxes, preventing the abandonments of newborns. And then I homeschool.

I have a long list of things that I do. So I have a very busy life, but I love it.

[Amy]

You definitely have a busy life. And one other fun fact about Priscilla, for everyone listening, is your history of pageants. Priscilla has an amazing pageant history that’s kind of fun to hear about.

[Priscilla]

Yes. So I actually started in Christian pageantry when I was almost 13. I was the youngest. They let me slip in there just because my birthday was coming up. It was a pageant called Miss Christian Teen Texas. I then went on to Miss Christian Teen USA. They were based on inner beauty 

That was my first taste of pageantry, and I hadn’t done it for a long time, but in 2014, when my husband and I were youth pastors, God told me to do Mrs. Wyoming. And I was like, “Lord, there’s no way this is it. You wouldn’t ask me to do this.” We were trying to build a rec center and the city wasn’t listening to us because we were outsiders. We weren’t from Wyoming. But sure enough, I entered Mrs. Wyoming 30 days before, won it, and then had to go to Mrs. America. I just had been out of the game so long. I didn’t think about that. I didn’t realize that that was the next step, and so I wasn’t prepared for that. But sure enough, I went and got First Runner Up, which was a first for Wyoming.

And then I was asked to go to Mrs. International at large, which means you get gifted per se, the crown to enter into Mrs. International as Mrs. Wyoming, and so I entered and I ended up winning. That was in 2016 through 2017. I have since retired as a beauty queen and moved on to bigger and better things.

[Amy]

That is exciting! And I love how you mentioned that in the first pageant that you entered when you were young, that it was about inner beauty. You know, that reminds me something my mom said about me when I was young, and I think this is so important for parents. When I was a little girl and had the little blonde pigtails and everything, and someone would say, oh, your little girl is so cute. My mom would always respond and say, “yes, and what’s most important is that she’s pretty on the inside. She has a kind heart.” Isn’t that wonderful? I always tell parents it’s great to compliment your kids, but to compliment their inner beauty and gifts of the spirit and traits like that that you see in them is the most important thing.

[Priscilla]

I agree! That’s 100% the greatest gift to see your child really truly love the Lord and have a heart for God.

[Amy]

So true. So true. So tell us a little bit about everything that you have going on as a TV show host and mom of seven. That must keep you very busy. And I did not know that you homeschool with all of that too. What are some of the challenges you face just with your basic scheduling and getting connect time and everything? How do you handle those things?

[Priscilla]

It’s prioritizing. Honestly, you have to prioritize and you know, you really have to have God first, your marriage second, your family next, and then everything else. So as long as you keep the priorities straight, then you can conquer anything. And you have to do it as a family. You have to vote on things. You have to make sure that they’re okay with things. For instance, when I’m doing God’s View, I have to make sure that if I’m going to tell a story about my family that they know, and they’re okay with it. And so I have to make sure that their hearts are most importantly being guarded and protected above all else.

So every evening we have time together as a family. We’ll study the Bible, watch something Christian, or just pray together—we have to make sure we do one of those things at the least—and then in the morning I always start with the Word of God and coffee, just putting those things first and prioritizing God.

Then for marriage, I always say we have to have a date night once a week. That is a must. And we do that. It’s been great. We sometimes aren’t on the greatest terms when we go on a date night, but even if we’re arguing or having a little moment, we still go, and by the time we’re there and we’re alone and we’re finally prioritizing one another, like everything just goes away. We needed time alone. That was all. So, you know, it’s just making time for one another and then having dates with your kids.

I have a one-on-one date with my kids every month, at least one child gets a date with mom and daddy gets a date with one of the girls and vice versa, you know? So it’s just prioritizing God, your spouse, and then your family and then work, ministry, all that comes after.

[Amy]

You mentioned having dates with the kids. I love that. Do you have a calendar of whose date is when, or how do you keep track of all of that?

[Priscilla]

Honestly? No, I don’t. I ask the Holy Spirit because sometimes one child needs it and it’s not their turn. It’s not even a scheduled day every month. It’s just, I can feel when a child, something’s going on. “Okay. They need that alone time.” And it might be more than once a month. It’s just on that mom’s intuition that God has given us feeling that or the father’s intuition, knowing that, “Hey, my daughter is acting different. She’s needing a little one-on-one. Let me take her out.” So it’s kind of listening to the cues and listening to the Holy Spirit, which is key and everything.

[Amy]

What do some of those dates look like with the kids? Can you give us some examples?

[Priscilla]

Definitely. So when I go to Colorado, which is every other month, I get to visit my son because he is in Colorado. He is 19. He graduated and he’s out there going to school and working, and he has a young lady that he’s been courting and he wants to propose to. So I get to see him when I go record God’s View, and when I take him out, which is really cool, he comes around the car and opens my door for me. We use it like a normal day, like he would treat me how he would treat a girl that he is trying to court because he wants to make sure that he honors me. And I want to make sure that I honor him, so I treat him with respect and he treats me with respect and honor. Normally we’ll go out to dinner and then we’ll talk, we’ll go get some coffee and talk some more. The last time we went out, we stayed talking to like two in the morning, just catching up on everything, because we don’t get to see each other as often. His love language is quality time, so just really spending that quality time and filling up his love tank is great. 

With my daughter, it’s a little different. She likes gifts. She wants to go shopping. She wants to go get ice cream. So it’s a little different for her, taking her shopping, getting her some ice cream and talking to her. Sitting down and like, “Hey, what’s going on?” while we eat ice cream. That will fill her love tank. It varies from child to child.

[Amy]

And what about with your husband, Sean? You said you have a priority of a date once a week. Is that on a set date each week or do you just make it work in the schedule, and what do your dates look like there?

[Priscilla]

It used to be Thursdays every week for like the last 20 years, but this year Adenai’s dance schedule kind of took over Thursday nights. So it’s been Friday, maybe Saturday because her dance schedule is so crazy. So either Friday or Saturday night. Last night we went on a date. We went out to dinner and then afterwards we went to the coffee shop and we talked. We just sat there and we talked. Sometimes we’ll go out to a movie. Sometimes we’ll go make pottery. We’ve had like crazy dates. We do picnics. We do walks. We do a lot of different stuff. We try to keep it unique. So we do kayaking sometimes, paddle boarding, or whatever we can do to just hang out and spend time together and reconnect.

And I heard this idea before and we’ve kind of embraced the idea of this, but every seven months doing one week-long vacation, just you two without the children, every seven days doing one date alone without the kids, and every seven weeks doing one overnight date.

That’s really just how to make that marriage work, to make that marriage reconnect, and ignite that fire once again. To fall in love all over again. It’s really important to kind of obey those promptings. And sometimes it’s not even seven weeks. God’s like, “you need it now.” So we’re like, “hey, let’s go have an overnight somewhere and just really reconnect.” It’s important to really listen to the Holy Spirit and kind of read your marriage. “What’s going on? Is he acting like he needs more time? Does his love tank need to be filled? Does he need more attention?” 

[Amy]

I love what you said about how, when you go on dates, sometimes you may go into it with some friction and then things get better as you have time together. That is so true because sometimes you don’t realize how much you haven’t been connecting during the week on some weeks when it’s really busy. That’s funny how you say you can go into it like that and you might be butting heads on some issue or something, but the more you have time together you both soften and it’s like, “oh! We love each other! We’re here for a purpose because we’re doing life together!”

That reminder every week is really vital because I think if someone goes on without a date weekly, that friction will just grow and grow. That weekly time is there to curb that and make sure that you come together united, remembering that you love each other and that this is this really is a great relationship, you know? It’s not just roommates. And so I love how you emphasize that. That’s that’s so important.

I have never heard that before. I’ve heard of, of course, doing a date weekly, but I’ve never heard every seven weeks do an overnight or every seven months do a little bit longer trip. So that’s something that you guys have followed for a while then?

[Priscilla]

Oh, no, not for a long time. But I don’t know how long. Just a little while. I think that it’s just really worked for us. I’d heard that that was someone’s little recipe to a healthy marriage, and I was like, “Ok. They’ve been married for a long time. That’s some wisdom that I’m feeling I need to listen to.” So we kind of just adapted that, and I don’t remember how long it’s been, but just long enough to say that so far it’s worked.

[Amy]

I love it. I love it. I’ve never heard that before, like I said, so that’s a fun one. What about you personally? With everything you have going on with your career, marriage, kids, how do you stay replenished and filled up yourself?

[Priscilla]

Honestly, it’s just listening to the Holy Spirit when you react to something and you have a little short temper or your trigger is just, you know, it’s just a little too quick, you have to ask yourself, “what’s going on?”

It’s really looking inward constantly and listening to yourself. I am not always the best at this, but my husband will be like, “um, that is not how we talk to each other.” 

I’m like, “Oh, sorry. I see. I am being, um, a little, little mean. Let me calm myself down and ask the Holy Spirit what’s going on.” You just kind of have to look inward sometimes. I ask the Holy Spirit what’s going on and He’ll normally let me know, like we need some one-on-one. “Hey, come sit down by the pool. Let’s talk.” And so sometimes I just sit by the pool and just listen and let Him talk. And then I’ll be like, “okay. I see that.” 

He’s like, “you need more rest. You need more sleep. You need to prioritize yourself. Take a bath, put some Epsom salt, and relax. Talk to Me, and put some worship music on.

So I just listen to what He tells me to do. And I can’t emphasize this enough. If you don’t take anything else away from what I’m saying, take this away: Let the Holy Spirit guide you in everything, every single day, every moment in your marriage, in your own life, for you, for your sake, for your sanity, for your children’s sanity, for everything in life. We always say ask the Holy Spirit. So if you’re trigger-happy and immediately responding like you don’t normally respond, ask the Holy Spirit what is going on and wait.

Don’t just say, “okay. I didn’t hear anything.” Sit and wait and wait on the Holy Spirit. He will say something. He’ll show you. He’ll give you instructions on what to do. 

And it’s always different. Sometimes it could be similar with a little difference here or there, but it’s always the perfect answer.

[Amy]

And it always gets you through! I can totally identify with this. For those listeners that maybe hearing the Holy Spirit’s voice is a new concept to them, He always knows what we need better than we know what we do ourselves.

At what point in your journey, did you really feel like you started hearing the Holy Spirit’s voice and how have you discerned his voice?

[Priscilla]

You know, I’ve always heard the Holy Spirit’s voice in different ways, but I didn’t know it. And I feel like everyone listening is the same way. So as a little girl, I might’ve had dreams and they were dreams that were prophetic. Then the things will happen. That’s the Holy Spirit speaking to you. That’s God speaking to you.

Or it could be that you see a vision or you just see something in your mind and God was showing you that this is going to happen, or what you should do. Maybe He’s showing you a situation or you’ll hear something like you left the stove on and you’re, you’re thinking, “oh, it’s just mother’s intuition. Let me go check.” The sure enough, you left the stove on. That’s not just your mother’s intuition and that’s not just you thinking it. It could be the Holy Spirit prompting you. 

I feel like we, as human mortals, complicate everything and we complicate the voice of God. We complicate how He speaks to us. It could be a flash of an idea or something that you see. It could be a dream. God speaks to me in dreams big time. I have the most amazing dreams and God speaks to me in those. That’s one of the ways He likes to speak to me, but it could also be something I hear. I could hear a Bible scripture, like Matthew 6:33, and I’m like, “God, who’s that? Oh! Seek first the kingdom! God’s telling me He wants me to seek Him first.” Whatever it is that God could be telling you, honor that, honor those promptings. Sometimes it’s numbers.

I see 333 all the time, all the time. It is the most random thing and I keep seeing it. It could be that I pause a movie and it’s 3:33. To most people that might not be a big deal, but to me to pause it right at 3:33, God’s saying something. And then I’ll see it again somewhere else. I’m like,  “okay, Lord, what are you saying?”

So for me, when I see 333, I’ll look to Jeremiah 33:3. It says, “ask Me and I will show you many things which you do not know.” So there’s great, huge things that we don’t know, and God’s just waiting on us to ask Him, “hey, what is it right now? What are you trying to show me right now at this second?” And so God shows me through the number 333. Ask the Lord. 

Like what if it’s butterfly? You keep seeing butterflies. The Lord always speaks to us in our language. Jesus spoke to the fishermen about fishing. He spoke to the shepherds about their sheep, about their flock. He always speaks to us in our language. What is your language? What is God already using to try to speak to you and you’re not listening? 

He’s already speaking to you. You just have to honor those little promptings, those God winks, and figure out what He’s saying.

[Amy]

That is so true. That is so true. As I look back over life, there are so many things that you don’t realize sometimes in the moment that it is God, and then afterwards it’s one of those, “wow! Was that ever God? I’m glad I paid attention to the thought!” Or if I didn’t pay attention and the thought is, “Oh Lord, help me to pay attention next time and recognize that it’s You.”

When you and I visited, let’s see, it was a number of years ago when we had you actually here at our church speaking at a women’s event. I just remember some conversation we had back then about your journey and growing in confidence, and I would love to have you speak to us about that for a little bit. You are someone who has really grown in confidence over the years. And obviously with everything you’ve done and are continuing to do, the Lord has brought you to just a wonderful place of confidence.

What are some things along the journey that have really helped you and been game changers for your growth in that area?

[Priscilla]

For one thing it’s staying humble. Even if you do gain that confidence and you do feel good about yourself, never forget where you come from. Never toot your own horn. Never believe your own press. Staying humble is very important.

You know, I came from being bullied as a young girl. I was very different. I lived in a neighborhood that did not have  a lot of Latin people, and I was very hairy growing up. I hate to say that, but I was. I guess most girls don’t have a hair on their legs and I did. So they used to call me “Hairy and the Hendersons.” And I really struggled with insecurity, but I really had a good relationship with the Lord at an early age, I’m so grateful for that because by 14, I mean, at such a young age, I was really seeking after God. I would spend time in my room with all the lights off, just worshiping God. I had prayer time with God. I had devotionals every day.

My fun time was worshiping God with my girlfriends. I look back and that’s so rare, but I feel like that’s where I gained my self-confidence. That’s where I really understood my security was in Whose I am, not in who I am, because I belong to Him and I’m a child of the King. That’s why I’m confident, because I know Whose I am. And as I understood that at a young age, confidence really changed in my life.

The older I got and the closer I got to the Lord, the more confident I became. So I really feel like the most important thing is to really find your confidence in Christ and not in you and your own ability. Never believe your own press. Even when you gain that confidence, if you’ve achieved your goals and you’ve achieved all the things you had set up in life that you wanted to accomplish, never ever believe that you’ve arrived.

[Amy]

And speaking of never believing that you’ve arrived, sometimes I’ll hear people say, “I achieved all of my goals and now I have this feeling of emptiness, not knowing what’s next.” And sometimes even Christians will say that. I’ve had both Christians and non-Christians say that. What would you speak to that?

[Priscilla]

I love this question! This is a good one, Amy! I love this because I feel like this is such a necessary thing in life.

So many people are in this situation. So this is constant for us. We’re constantly growing. For instance, we had a homeless ministry just a couple of years ago, and we were doing that for a long time. And God said, “okay, well, I’m going to move you to Texas.” He had all these prophecies and all these things. He moved us to Texas. And I was like, “what about our homeless ministry? Why bring us here now? There’s not much for us to do here.” But we started seeking the Lord and asking Him what’s this next chapter look like? What do we do now for ministry?

He showed us that we’re supposed to do prison ministry out here. We reached out, and our neighbor ended up being the chief of police. Immediately he connected us. It was like God just ordained every step. We met with the prison warden, and he said, “you know, ever since COVID, we have been praying for a new chaplain. We don’t have anybody. We haven’t had anyone since COVID.” 

I’m like, “are you kidding me? God brought us here for this!” And so, you know, if you just ask the Lord, He’s always going to guide your steps. He’s going to direct it. He’ll open the right doors. He’ll close the ones that are not of Him. But you have to ask Him in every situation like, “God, right now I’m feeling empty. Why?”

 I feel because a lot of us are spiritually obese. We take in, we take in, we go to church, we go to another conference, we go to another women’s event, but we’re not pouring out. We’re not meant to just take in, take in, take in. We’re meant to pour out. The great commission was to go out to all the world to preach the gospel.

We’re not supposed to go on TV and just watch everything and take another TV show, take another movie, take another this. “But because it’s Christian, it’s okay, right?” No. Our great commission, our job here that we have been entrusted in what I truly believe is the most precious time. This is, I truly believe, the last time. This is the last generation. This is the last season. I truly believe God is coming so soon. We are interested in the most precious time to be the hands and feet of Christ and to preach the gospel to those that are lost. I’m just so passionate about this.

I feel like if most of us would take the time to ask the Holy spirit, “Lord, I don’t feel like I’m making a difference. I don’t feel like I’m doing anything new. I don’t know what the next step is. What would you have me do, Lord?” He’ll guide your steps. He’ll tell you. There is a purpose for everybody. There’s a reason you are here living in this time in this day and in this age, because I truly believe that we are living in the end times. Our time here is the most precious time ever. So to everyone listening, I already said that if you take anything away, ask the Holy Spirit, but this is something else that you need to take away from this: you need to use that that wisdom right now and ask the Holy Spirit if you’re feeling like that because you’re probably not being utilized.

There’s so much that God has for you that He really made you for. There’s a purpose that he wants to use you for.

[Amy]

Well, I agree with that 100 percent, because there is so much truth to that. We can get so wrapped up in achieving our goals and even focusing on what we want rather than what the Lord wants, but when we ask, we get the revelation. And saying, “how can I make a difference? How can I be a world changer for you?” makes all the difference in the world. It is really profound when you press into God the answers that you will get. But a lot of those answers, they aren’t going to come unless we press in and really pray and say, “show me what I’m called to do and make a difference.”

[Priscilla]

And I love what you just said. You said we get wrapped up in really what we want. And the thing is, God wants to give you the desires of your heart, but if you would lay them down at His feet and if you would sacrifice your will to His will, God will normally give you those desires as well. So it’s really about when you’re born again, those desires and those wants really are laid at the feet of Christ. But we don’t realize that, you know? My husband asked me one day, “what did you want to be when you’re a little girl?”

I was like, “oh, that’s easy. I would say an ice skater, a movie star and a singer.” That’s what I always said. I want to be a figure skater. I wanted to be a movie star. I wanted to be a singer.

And he’s like, “well, you didn’t achieve any of those.”

I’m like, “no, but everything else I was is so much greater than those,” because when I was a little girl, when I played with my dogs every day, I would pretend to be a mom. I loved it, and my sister reminded me, “Priscilla, you always said that you wanted to like virtually give birth to two boys and two girls.” And what did I have? Two boys and two girls that I gave birth to. And then I got blessed with three extra girls that were my gifts from God. But, you know, God gives you the desires of your heart.

My desire wasn’t really to be a movie star. I didn’t really care about that. It just sounded like fun as a little girl. My true desires, I got. I got the things that I really truly wanted and that really fulfilled me. That’s the truth about God. He knows the best things for us. He knows the plans that He has for you. Plans to prosper you. Plans for hope in the future.

My plans could have taken me to hell. Becoming a movie star could have put me down a path to where my soul would have been sold to Satan or something, or I would have done movies that compromised my own morals. So I’m so grateful that God knows the plans that He has for us and that there are always plans to prosper us because we don’t know what’s right for us.

[Amy]

So true. We don’t. That is a powerful thing to remember, and to stay humble, as you mentioned, I love that. 

Do you have any favorite books that have been game changers for you? 

[Priscilla]

Oh, gosh, there’s so many books.

[Amy]

Maybe one or two?

[Priscilla]

There’s a lot. I can’t even narrow that down. There was one that I read many, many years ago when I first married Sean, that was one of my favorites for a long time. It was Free At Last by Larry Huch.

That one was a big aha moment. It was just Rhema word for me. And that was the first time I’d heard anything about the seven places that Jesus bled and how He redeemed us from that.

I’ll have like 50 other books, so I’ll stop there, but there’s a lot of great books. You know, God has blessed us and we will make lots of great books there too.

[Amy]

Well, thank you for sharing that. As we begin to wrap up here, if you could go back and talk to the 20 year old Priscilla, what would you say to her now? Things that maybe would save you some frustrations and heartache, or maybe just help to have more joy along the journey? What would you say to her?

[Priscilla]

To listen to the Holy Spirit more. I wish that I had learned that earlier in my marriage and earlier as a mom. Just thinking back, you know, there’s so many moments when you’re a young mo. I had my first baby at 23, you don’t listen to those promptings as much as you do when you’re a more mature, wiser mom. And so now, you know, having a baby at 40 versus having a baby at 23, I am such a more patient mom with my baby. I take so much more time instead of having to have the house perfect, clean, everything done. I take the time with her and I play and I teach her. She’s just a little baby, but she is brilliant. She’s so smart because I’ve taken so much more time, and I wish that I could go back and tell young Priscilla, “hey, take the time with them. Listen to the Holy Spirit. They need you more. The house doesn’t have to be clean. Chores can wait. Laundry can wait. It’ll always be there when you come back. Just take the time to listen to Holy Spirit promptings, to listen to your babies, to listen to your husband and what he needs and put those needs first and put yourself first.” I wish that I had known that earlier instead of learning that later in life.

[Amy]

Thank you so much. Are there any questions that I have not asked you today that you wish I would have asked you?

[Priscilla]

Oh, you asked some good ones! I think you’ve covered some great subjects, but I think that people should always have a vision board. I don’t think we talked about that.

It talks about in The Word to write down your vision, and I think it’s so important to listen to the Holy Spirit like we’ve talked about, but ask the Holy Spirit what He has for you and then write down what your heart’s desires are and have a vision board to write it all down. Don’t necessarily beg the Lord for it every day, but look at it every day and say, “thank you, Lord, that these are my heart’s desires and you give me desires of my heart,” and just believe for them.

It’s not the “name and claim” thing. I’m not saying that. I’m saying that you can desire things and God knows that you want those things for your life. Maybe it is something physical, but God will answer the desires of your heart. He says that when you ask for something, believe that you have received it and it will be yours. I know that “name and claim” has gotten such a bad rep and that’s not what I’m saying, but God does say that when you ask for something, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.

That’s okay. A lot of non-Christian people have taken this because this is a gift God gave us. I truly believe this is the gift that God gave us, that we can believe for something, we can ask for something and the Lord can materialize it for us. They’ve taken this and they’ve came out using the gifts that God gave us in the kingdom and twisting it and perversing it; a counterfeit of God’s kingdom. That’s what the world does and they’re calling it “manifesting,” but I truly believe that God manifests things. We don’t.

God does because of our faith. If you’re believing in faith for something, you’re praying for something, you have a vision board, I truly believe that is the key and God does do the rest. We don’t have to do it. We don’t manifest it. It’s not us.

[Amy]

It’s God. I 100% agree. That is so true.

I love my vision board. I was working on mine this morning, tweaking some things on it. That’s awesome. We also have a prayer board as a family too.

[Priscilla]

We have a prayer board and as we take prayers off that have been answered, we have a little area that we collect it to go back and see what God has done, and that’s been great as well. 

[Amy]

Oh, that’s a beautiful idea! 

[Priscilla]

Yeah, we love it! We go back and we see, “wow, there’s a lot of prayers that we were praying and believing for that got answered!” Sometimes it’s not right when we wanted it and it’s not the way we wanted it, but it’s always the best way.

[Amy]

Ye! Well, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us today, Priscilla. I’ve enjoyed this conversation.

[Priscilla]

Me too. Gosh, you had some great questions! You’re good at this!

[Amy]

Thank you, and thank you so much for being here! Well, for all of you listening online, Proverbs 11:25 says those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed, so I pray and declare God’s grace and favor and peaceful times of refreshing for you this week. Thanks for joining us. Have a great week!