The inspiration behind this famous writer's new book, The Little Liar, draws from history the current culture has brazenly questioned: did the Holocaust exist? Plus, he shares the life-changing impact the children of his Haitian orphanage have had on his personal life.

She’s the world’s fastest 400 Meter hurdler and a two-time Olympic gold-medalist. In 2016, at only sixteen-years old, Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone became the youngest person in nearly 40 years, to make the women’s Olympic track team.

Will Dawson: "When did you know that you were, not just good, but maybe even great?"

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone: "I started running when I was six, and I think it's kind of hard to tell when you're that young. You know, you're just running for the fun of wanting to run. But I think it wasn't until I got to high school coming into now freshman year, my first race was an indoor 300. And I actually won the race against some seniors. And I think that's when it kind of hit me that, “Wow! Maybe I can actually, you know, hang with these girls!”

She did more than hang with them. Sydney quickly became the best hurdler in the country, qualifying for the 2016 Olympic games in Rio. In spite of all the accolades and success, Sydney was struggling.

Dawson: "From an early age as a runner, anxiety and fear plagued you. Where did that come from?"

McLaughlin-Levrone: "I think anxiety and fear, for me, it kind of just came from my desire to want to be perfect in all things. And the reality is that nobody can do that. And I think for me, that was a constant battle internally of, 'how do I get as close to perfect as possible in a world where you can't control your circumstances or what happens to you all the time?' For me, it constantly left me in a state of fear. And especially on the track, racing against other people who are as good, if not better. That was a constant battle of, 'am I enough? Will I ever be enough, or will I ever measure up to the standard that I have for myself and that other people have for me?'”

Sydney did not medal at the Olympic games in Rio and returned home for her senior year of high school. The reception wasn’t what she expected.

“I remember receiving messages on Instagram and people saying stuff like, ‘You made it all the way to the Olympics not to get a medal,’ but I just knew from that point on I was like, ‘I need to figure out how to deal with this fear because I can't keep living like this.'"

Her next big hurdle was qualifying for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. In 2019, she competed in the world championships in Doha, Qatar. For Sydney, anything short of 1st place would be unacceptable. As a perfectionist, her 2nd place finish, was heartbreaking.

“Being able to make it all the way there on the world stage and still come up short, I think was just devastating for me. I still couldn't understand what all the fear was, all the anxiety, how to handle it . . .”

Sydney grew up in a Christian home, though she never fully trusted God. The loss and growing anxiety forced her to cry out to him. “'God, I need you. There’s no way I'm going to heal from all of this unless it's with you.’ And so during COVID, that was when I truly started seeking Him. He was very gracious during that time to reveal Himself to me. And it was reading Colossians 3 that flipped a switch for me in terms of my thinking and just kind of how I saw everything. It just made the whole gospel make sense and I can't tell you what it was about it, but the lens in which I viewed life had truly switched and understanding like that in and of myself. I have nothing to offer God, but it is just the righteousness of Jesus covering my life based upon my faith that is presentable before Him.”

Though Sydney had come up short in the world championships, she had still qualified for the 2020 games in Tokyo. While there, with a new focus on God, she set a new world record, taking home gold in the 4 x 400 relay and the 400 meter hurdles.

Dawson: "When you crossed the finish line, what were the emotions?"

McLaughlin-Levrone: "Relief, praise, thankfulness, excitement, disbelief, all those different things at once. But truly, just like, 'Thank you God, for hearing my prayers and answering them and just being being kind to me.' I think that's the number one thing. Every time I cross the line is like, 'God, you have not failed me. Even when I lose, I still win because I learn and You still prune me and guide me and sustain me.' And yeah, the girl who once used to cross the line and still feel empty inside, I now have joy, even in the midst of any circumstance."

Today Sydney is training for this year’s Olympic games in Paris. Win or lose, she has a new purpose. In her new book, Far Beyond Gold, Sydney discusses her battle with anxiety, fear, and letting go of her striving for perfection, and simply running the race set before her.

“Just knowing that I'm running with that purpose of achieving the goal and the goal is not gold medals like the book says, it's 'far beyond gold.’ It's achieving salvation, which is already mine in Jesus, but obviously running the race of the Christian life well."

And even on the track before races, that's what I'm reminding myself of, is setting my mind on the things above, knowing that the Lord is looking down on my life right now and me wanting to honor Him, and He is glorified in that. And so, it just became a joyful way of experiencing life and living life and it was way better than I was thinking before.”
 

Shortly after Yiyan was born, his grandmother threw him a traditional blessing ceremony and announced that his ancestral nickname would be Tutu. "It meant he would be surrounded by blessings,” explained Mrs. Ma.

Yet, the next day, Yiyan got sick. “His face turned blue, and his stomach swelled like a ball. He couldn’t keep anything down,” recalled his mother. “And he got worse and worse.”

Yiyan had a severe intestinal obstruction. “Doctors said an operation was risky but needed to be done as soon as possible to open up his intestines,” Mrs. Ma expounded. “Without surgery, the doctor said he wouldn't last 72 hours. His intestines would rot, and he’d die from sepsis.”

Surgery costs had to be paid upfront, but Mrs. Ma is poor. She called her husband, who was working out of town, and the two contacted everyone they knew to borrow money.

“One of my relatives said the operation was too expensive, and I should take the baby home to die. It was just his fate,” Mrs. Ma shared. “I was angry and hung up on him. I don't understand why people treat life with such indifference.”

Meanwhile, Yiyan’s time was running out. “He laid in the hospital bed with his eyes closed. When I touched him, there was no warmth,” his mother remembered. “I was so scared. This was my only son. I didn’t want to lose him.”

Doctors told Mrs. Ma that Operation Blessing might be able to help. “When Operation Blessing heard how serious Yiyan’s condition was, they agreed to fund my baby's surgery, on the same day!” Mrs. Ma proclaimed.

Soon, Yiyan was on the road to full recovery.  

“When he opened his eyes and looked at me and smiled, I couldn’t hold back the tears,” expressed Mrs. Ma. “Now, he digests food well. His stomach isn’t swollen, and he’s gained weight.” She continued, “During this time, a woman from Operation Blessing visited me and told me everyone was praying for my baby. She shared God’s love and said not to be afraid, just to trust God. She said God loves my baby and me. It was the first time I knew there was a God who would bless us. And in honor of God's blessing, I changed Yiyan’s nickname name to Tianyou, which means Grace. I thank the Operation Blessing donors. Because of you, my baby is alive.”

FINDING GOD

Debra Giles grew up in a loving home, but her parents were not Christians. Her mother was forced to go to church all the time when she was growing up and resented it. Consequently, she vowed when she was an adult to no longer attend. On the contrary, Debra always had a fascination with God. She recalls gazing at the stars as a child and talking to the Lord. She wanted to know more about the creator of the universe. 

At 14, Debra gave her heart to the Lord at home and soon found a spirit-filled church. Debra decided to start going to a Spirit-filled church. Her sister soon followed in Debra’s footsteps and got saved too. Their mother wasn’t happy about it and often prohibited them from going. Debra admits that those years were very challenging. 

Eventually, her parents began attending a Baptist Church where Debra’s cousin was the pastor. Her mom told both girls they had to participate in two monthly services at the Baptist Church. Then, they could attend two services a month at the nondenominational Spirit-filled church. When Debra and her sister visited the non-denominational service, they began learning about the gifts of the Spirit, generational curses, and generational blessings, and how to communicate with God. 

When she was a child, God began speaking to Debra with prophetic dreams. When she tried to share her experiences with her parents, they didn’t understand or pay much attention to what she had to say. On the contrary, her grandmother loved hearing about what the Lord was sharing with Debra. She explains, “Since someone I looked up to was willing to take the time to listen to what I had to say and, I felt, validate my experiences, I was okay.”

TRAINING KIDS TO HEAR FROM GOD

Determined to do things differently than her mother, Debra promised herself and God, to raise her children in a home where they could freely love the Lord and learn about the giftings and callings He had for their lives. Debra has raised four sons who all love the Lord and serve in ministry. She shares how you too can raise children with a heart after God in her book, Raising Prophetic Kids.
She provides practical exercises to help you nurture and develop prophetic gifts in your children. For example, you can:

• Encourage times of "soaking" - putting on Christian/reflective music and being quiet before God, asking Him to show, tell, or give something during that time.
• Have children draw prophetic pictures for people - give them a blank paper with someone's name and date and ask them to draw the first thought that comes to mind from God for that person.
• Encourage children to try different prophetic expressions like prophetic art, dance, worship, speaking, Lego building, cupcake art, jewelry making, etc.
• Practice prophesying over people by having children draw pictures and write sentences describing the pictures as words for others.
• Teach children to spend time outside to connect with God and His creation.
• Guide children in recognizing spiritual atmospheres and what to do when sensing negative spiritual influences.

THINGS TO AVOID

Debra also shares some common mistakes to avoid when practicing prophetic exercises, such as:

• Profiling or judging others based on outward appearance rather than discerning from the heart. Giving prophetic words based solely on how someone looks or dresses can lead to inaccurate prophecies.
• Having the mindset that it's okay to make mistakes when prophesying. While some grace is needed when learning, there should still be a reverence for accurately representing God's voice.
• Getting caught up in emotionalism, hype, or seeking an adrenaline rush rather than ministering from a place of peace. Prophecy should not be driven by emotions or what people want to hear.
• Giving "horoscope" style prophecies that simply tell people what they want to hear about themselves rather than what they need to hear from God. Prophecies should challenge and edify, not merely flatter.
• Not allowing God to change and purify you. Many times, it’s the hardships in life that develop character and cause us to listen to God. Debra refers to those times as “wilderness” training (like when the Jews wandered in the wilderness for 40 years because they didn’t surrender to God and allow Him to change them). Prophetic gifting requires brokenness, humility, and purity of heart.

Instead, some wise practices include:

• Exercising humility and being open to making mistakes is a learning process.
• Checking prophecies against Scripture to ensure biblical accuracy.
• Allowing time for God to develop Christlike character alongside the prophetic gifting.
• Seeking to edify, encourage, and comfort others rather than draw attention to oneself.

To learn more about Debra Giles and her prophetic ministry, please visit her website: www.DebraGiles.com. To purchase her book, Raising Prophetic Kids, please click the link: Raising Prophetic Kids.