Kariss Farris on Inviting Jesus into Your Everyday

Hey y'all, this is Chrystal Hurst here with Karris. If you don't already know who Karris is, you should follow her. Her name is Karris Farris. Yes, that is correct. It's not a mistake and it's not a joke. Her, um, she started out as Karris Evans, then, um, against her will, she became Karris Hurst. And then she got married and she became Karris Farris. So that is really her name. I literally remember how to spell Ferris because I remember how to spell your name and it's the opposite. So your name has one R and two S's and then your last name has two R's and one S. I have to do that every single time. Um, this is my 32-year-old daughter. You know, when people, I say I have a 32-year-old, they don't believe me, who has four children and is currently very pregnant with number five. She's holding out for coming on or after her due date, even though she looks like she's about to pop. You are shooting a wedding, Karras. Is that this coming weekend?

Friday.

Are you the solo shooter or are you going along with Josh?

No, no, no. Well, Josh is my chauffeur, but he's not shooting. He's just there to make sure nothing happens.

Yeah. And that he doesn't miss.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Missed the birth.

Josh and I have both missed a birth. That's probably why we feel so close to Josie. It's like we weren't there at the beginning. How did, how did that happen? I was gone, y'all, for 18 hours. 18 hours. I was like, Charis, it's a, it's a speaking engagement. It's 18 hours. Do not have the baby. She had that baby.

I tried to tell you.

Josh was out of town, same thing. I'll be back in the morning.

I said, you should not come back in the morning, you should come back tonight. All right, it'll be fine.

Okay, so we missed the baby, so we're really struggling. But, but, um, but you— she's very pregnant, holding out.

And I'm—

and y'all, when she shoots a wedding, she doesn't stand there in a fixed position with her camera. She's moving around. She's squatting down. She's getting on— she's doing all this. And everybody at the wedding is nervous.

Everybody's nervous because they're like, what is happening here? No, I found the perfect pregnancy working outfit that just camouflages. And so people don't— can't tell that I'm as pregnant as I actually am.

Well, here's the deal. I need you to wear Depends. I need you to wear Depends. The worst thing that could happen to you is that you squat down to get a shot and your water breaks at the wedding.

You need to have— Yeah, you can't—

you can't—

I need you to be able to realize your water broke and to have a minute before you make everybody else nervous to get to the back. I have some. I have some.

Just come.

Just get mine.

I have a list of things I need to get from the store because I'm unprepared.

Here's the question I have for you. What is your backup plan if you happen to be in Houston and you go into labor?

I don't have a backup plan because I'm not going into labor in Houston. OK.

This is your mother, the same mother who has told you a million times—

No, my backup plan is to call Natalie.

OK. Does she know this? No.

Can you—

so Natalie was her Houston midwife. Can you call Natalie this week? This is your mother, whom not every time, but many times you'll just say, I should have listened. You were right. You were right.

I'm not going into labor.

I'm not saying you're going into labor. I'm saying that it's wise to be prepared.

You're correct.

I will—

I will email Natalie.

Okay. Thank you so much. Okay. So let's talk about— let's talk about this book. This— this pregnant. I mean, this is how this happens though. You decide to write a book, you don't plan on getting pregnant, and then within a month of your book launching, you have a baby. So all the things that people are like, you gotta market, you gotta do this, you gotta get on social media, you have to write emails, you have to do a YouVersion. And then you're like, actually, no.

You have to record the audiobook.

You had to record the audiobook, which— how was that for you, by the way?

It was fun.

It was fun. It was fun. By the end of it, of the days, I think it was like 2 days, over 2 days, I just didn't want to talk to anybody because I'm an introvert. So that much talking, I was like, oh my God.

Oh my God.

By the end of the day, I was done. I was like, don't talk to me. I don't want to use my voice for anything. Just everybody leave me alone. But it was good.

It was good that you read your own book because people will appreciate hearing your voice.

Yeah.

So what is this book about? Give us the title again. Show us the book cover again. My daughter wrote a book. How did this happen? Jesus Everywhere. I love how large your name is on— what's the subtitle?

60 Days of Encountering God in Unexpected Places.

Okay, so how did this come about that my creative artsy-craftsy quilt-making, photography, interior design-making, pregnant with number 5 child, Why? How did it end up that you wrote a book? Why did this happen in your life?

I don't think that I set out to write a book in the first place. I was just posting devos from my everyday life or things. I was posting illustrations from my everyday life and turning them kind of into these short bite-sized devos on Instagram. And so I was just doing that out of an overflow. And then was reached out to by a publisher. And frankly, like, not working. Like, I remember Dr. Hurst was like, "You have to work. Like, you can't just do this." Because, you know, I was just posting it. And then I got an email from a publisher to think about writing a book with them. And so that's where it came from, was just me writing devotionals. Illustration that were coming from illustrations of everyday life. And then, yeah, it just stemmed out of that. They were like, "Do you want to write a book?" And I was like, "I would, yeah, I would love to write a book." So how many devotionals had you done out of overflow before you had to write out of agreement? I don't know how many, but I think I was probably writing them for about a year and just posting maybe at least once a week, sometimes more.

Okay.

Okay.

Yeah. So were you like, you were more than 50% done?

Um, yes, but I did write, I had to write a lot of new ones for the book too. So, um, I think I had written a lot, but, you know, for the book's sake, there was a lot of new ones in there. But yeah, it was, it was, yeah, it was a very, I was very grateful for the outreach because I don't think I ever would have— I was going to say be proactive enough, but it's not proactive, probably bold enough to think that I could do— write a book if somebody hadn't asked me. So yeah, I was very, very, very, very excited and very grateful for the opportunity.

There's so many things that you're saying, so many things that you're saying that are amazing. Okay. So who is this book for?

I think this book is for women. I think it's for moms. I think it's for working moms specifically. I think it's for stay-at-home moms. I think it's for just women in general, because it was written out of my experiences as all of those things and finding illustrations from just everyday life, doing all of those things. Everyday life working, everyday life being a mom, everyday life being a wife, everyday life just being a woman. Like, I talk about weight and things like that in there. And so I think it is just for women who are experiencing life and who need a rejuvenated way of looking at the mundane things that are happening in their everyday life and really seeing Jesus in every single part of it, in every single aspect of your day.

How do you feel like, apart from writing a devotional, that you personally experience Jesus everywhere? What does that look like for you?

Really, it starts— For me, just in the morning, I think it started with— because I've never had time to do quiet time in the morning. I'm not a morning person. So usually because I don't have quiet time in the mornings, or at least like I get kids off to school and then I do that, it starts with me just saying like, Jesus, like, help me to see you. Like, help, like, show me you throughout the course of my day. Like, show me things that I might not usually see that you are in, or open my eyes to that. So that's how it started for me is just because I was like, I don't have time to sit here, but I want to invite you into my day. I don't want to start it without you. So just allow me to experience you and see you throughout it. And so that's— I think that's how it started. And he really did just open my eyes to like, just how he is in everything. So everything from The way that I relate to my kids, they would say something and we'd have a back and forth conversation. And then at the end of it, I'd be like, "You know, that's so Raven." Like that show, That's So Raven, where she sees into the future. That's what it felt like. I would just see like, oh my gosh, this is exactly how God talks to me as His child. And this is exactly how I answer Him in this situation. And so it was that, but just in all different areas, just with Josh, with kids, with work. I would just see like, oh my goodness, like illustrations would just become very clear and very vivid and very real. And then so I'd just write about it because it was like, I have to write about this so I can remember what I just learned in this moment.

So what is one of the ways, like you just kind of talked overarching about it, like how you would have that, that So Raven moment and you're like, oh my gosh, What is something that you have learned that God has shown you, taught you, told you because of an everyday moment? So basically, like, share either maybe one of the devotionals, the concept or the direction, or even something recently that's not in the book.

Yeah, I would say the one devo that sticks out in my mind because I reread it on the audiobook recording, it was like, oh my gosh, yes, was me walking into Ellie having chopped off her hair. She, when she was 3, chopped off like this much of her hair. Like to the— I mean, it was like a fade. It was like a bald fade. It was so bad. It was so bad. And I just walked into it and was just floored. I think I started crying. But I was like, Ellie, what did— like, where are the scissors? Where's the hair? Like, she had hidden the scissors and the hair that she had cut off at 3. And I was like, why? Like, where is it? And she was like, I didn't cut my hair. I don't know what you're talking about. I mean, she was committed to the bit. And I just was so shocked that not only did she cut off her hair, but that she had the thought at 3 to hide everything. And even when we were confronted, like, there's clearly hair missing from your head. Where's the hair? She was like, I have no clue what you're saying. What are you saying? I didn't cut my hair. She was like, I don't know what you're talking about. So from that, itself, I mean, after I came down off of the, oh my God, I've been diddying to my child's natural hair for 3 years and she cut it off. After I got over that, I was like, wow, how often do I also do something outrageous in my life and then just to God pretend like it didn't happen? Let's just move on. Let's just keep on in this relationship. And he's like, Karris, clearly you've done something that we need to address. And I'm like, mm-mm.

Nope, we can just—

we can just speak up. So that is one that sticks out in my mind. And obviously, like in the book, there's questions and scripture references to guide you through what it should look like in a quiet time as you read that and go through identifying in your life the things that you've tried to hide away from God and move on from. But that's one that sticks out in my head as a— experience that's in the book that also—

I mean, that sounds like God with the Garden of Eden. He's looking for us like, I know what you did. And we're like, what are you talking about, figs? I don't know what you're talking about. Yeah.

Woo-hoo! Trying to cover up.

So I think that whether you're a writer or not, I think the art of writing down what we learn is a lost art because then we don't— one, we don't remember the lessons we've learned. We just kind of keep growing. And what you've done is captured for yourself, for other people, for your children, here are the lessons that I want you to know. And I think that that's so, so important. What has changed in you from being a person who wasn't planning on being a writer to now being a writer who has a whole book that's going public next week?

I think I was always a writer. I think I just didn't identify to the world as one. So I don't think anything has really changed for me. I don't know if that— I don't know if that's a bad way to answer your question.

No.

Yeah, I don't think anything has changed. For me because I feel like I always wrote. I always kept journals. I always— I always wrote. So now it's just people get to see it. And how does that make you feel?

How does it make you feel? People are going to now see your words because you said, I don't think I would have been bold enough before.

Yeah.

So now that you were not bold enough to get it started, but you are the person who's releasing it.

I would say then accomplished. It makes me feel like I've accomplished something, and not necessarily something that I was— that I had always set out to accomplish. But I think just the action of having written the book, like just having gone through all the edits, and like now that it's just done, and that I can hold a book in my hand.— it just makes me feel like, oh, like finishing something is really nice. So I would just say just an overall sense of accomplishment that I just— that I did it, that it is done. Like, I don't know, probably the same feeling as giving birth, where it's like, woof, did it. Like, it's done. And obviously, there may be more— well, there's more afterwards. There's a baby you got to take care of, whatever. The feeling of—

Yeah, there's marketing after. You got to take care of the baby.

Uh, I was telling Angie Still, I was like, I wish I could just write a book. Like, it's not— you got to do all the marketing. You got to talk to people. Like, there's all these other things. Like, I wish I could just have the baby.

I know. And I'm sitting over here like, what are we doing? Where are the graphics? Or you want a podcast? Do you have a podcast plan? Do you need me to float some letters for you? And you're just like, I don't know. I don't know. I'm like, what is happening?

I'm terrible. I'm so bad.

Well, I think finishing and accomplishing something is important, and it is a good feeling to, to bring something to, to an end. I think that the feeling of accomplishment goes a long way. And I was writing down as you were talking, finishing well, that there are so many things that I've started in my life that I haven't finished. And some things you leave. That was that season. It's done. You don't go back to it. But some things we just get busy and we don't come back to it or we don't take it to its end. And so I was literally making a list of things that would make me feel accomplished if I'm able to finish them because I left them and need to come back to them. Is there anything else in your life that you feel like is unfinished or is underdeveloped that you need to apply commitment to?

I would just say in my business, I feel like there's been a lot of start and stop because every other year I get pregnant. So So there's always this like, er, you know, mm, er, like just in my business and developing as like in my career or what I've chosen as like my main thing. And so I feel like I would like to, for a time being, really pursue that because I've never—

Name it. Give me one specific thing.

Is this a therapy session? Oh my God. I would just say probably the way that I could round it out is marketing. That's probably the best way because I think I do a lot of work for the business behind the scenes, but I don't show people, tell people, advertise it. I'm not like— I once was. I was out there speaking at photography conferences, speaking to other photographers about wedding photography. Like, we once did that. And then I think I got pregnant a couple of times, so we had to back up from traveling and all that. But I think showing people what I do behind the scenes in order so that with the purpose of doing less and more of what I want to do.

And marketing specifically, have you written down what that means?

That would—

what, what finished would be or what completion would look like when you have? Have you identified that?

To me, it looks like consistency. Consistency. On whatever channels or with whatever ads Josh decides we need to do.

I don't know.

So it just, it just looks like consistency.

Do you feel like consistency, when you talk about Jesus everywhere, is consistency something that you feel like Jesus is asking for you, of you? Like, does in your relationship with the Lord in your everyday, do you feel like he's calling you to that in your life? That you're doing things consistently? Is that a call for your character?

I think that it has been in the past. I think that it was a big— like, a big thing was consistency. And I think that I had to choose which areas of my life I was going to be consistent in and which I was going to say, that's not— I can't be consistent in everything. And, you know, this maybe just— not a priority right now. So I think I had to go through that first of saying, yes, I need to work on consistency, but I can't be consistent in everything. So choosing which things God was calling me to be consistent with. And then I think now, because I've narrowed down a lot of what I'm doing, I would call it probably excellence. Like, because I think before I was putting excellence before consistency and I was driving myself up a wall because I was trying to be excellent at absolutely everything and then also be consistent. But there was way too many things to hold to be excellent at it all and consistent with, with that excellence for it all. And now that I've narrowed down what I'm, what I'm consistent with, now it's like, okay, let's go back and be really good at it.

That's really very good. No, it's very good. And I asked that question because most of the time when there's something that we want to reach in our lives, Jesus is talking to us about that thing in multiple areas because it's usually not about the area that we're focused on. It's about us. And because we bring ourselves into every area, he's usually— when something rises to the top, it's because he is usually calling out that thing for us, not a given area. So I figured that that would be connected to other areas of your life. And they're in the comments, someone, come on, Chrystal Hurst on the couch. Yes, this is the session. But, um, but I love that because I think so So many people are struggling with that. Like, we feel guilty if we're not consistent. We are trying to be consistent in everything. We can't focus on everything at the same time. And so giving ourselves grace to pull back and say, okay, what am I going to focus on? What has to have priority? And so that's helpful. It's super helpful.

Hey, I hope you enjoyed that conversation just as much as I did. I love it when I get to hear my niece, Charis is my niece. I love it when I have an opportunity to just learn from her. And I do from not only what she says in our personal conversations, but how I get— hear her giving insight and wisdom to other people. I've watched her walk through different seasons of life as a single woman, married woman, woman with small children. I mean, so many different things. Entrepreneur. She's done so many things with excellence. She's learned lessons along the way, and I'm glad that she's sharing them with all of us. In her incredible book, Jesus Everywhere. 60 days, it's a journey you get to take with her for 60 days where you're going to see yourself growing. You're going to see the Lord giving you insight, wisdom, supernatural strategies regarding the details of your life from the insights that she shares in this book. So don't let the day pass, certainly don't let the week pass without making sure that you have not gotten your hands on Jesus everywhere because he is everywhere. He deserves to be honored everywhere in every facet of your life. And this resource is going to help you and me to do exactly that. Thanks so much for joining us today. I hope you loved it as much as I did. Have a great one.