Meet Heidi and Lauren: regular listeners and supporters who have found clarity and connection through 1517 podcasts.
For Heidi and Lauren, the search for the right Bible study supplement wasn’t just about filling time. For this mother-daughter duo, it was about finding something that could feed their faith in an engaging way. And in 30 Minutes in the New Testament, they found that perfect companion.
It wasn’t their first attempt. They had been through other Bible podcasts before. “We appreciated it for what it was,” Heidi says of a prior program. “But basically, [they] read through the Old and New Testaments, and there was very little time to say anything at the end. We were sad when it ended, but I told Lauren, ‘We gotta find something else.’”
Lauren took up the search. She scrolled, she sampled, and she hoped for something new. Then she stumbled on 30 Minutes. “Mom, I think this might be really good,” she said after listening to the first episode. Heidi agreed. “Even by the very first one, we were like taken. You had us from the very beginning,” she told us with a smile.
Now that they had found their fit, Lauren and Heidi saw the opportunity to add the podcast to their daily rhythm. Heidi, ever the organizer, created a detailed schedule: five episodes a week, with weekends off to catch their breath or make up for a missed episode. “She’s the PMO—the project manager,” Lauren laughs. “She’ll check in: ‘Did you listen to that one?’ And I’m like, ‘No, hold on. Call you in 20.’”
Lauren’s life is full. With a demanding job, two young children, and a constant stream of client meetings and birthday parties, her days could easily crowd out quiet time. But 30 Minutes fit right into the gaps. “I’m wrapping presents for my son’s birthday, listening to it. Driving to client meetings, listening. If I had to sit down and read it, I couldn’t do that. But I can listen.”
What started with convenience turned into so much more. The podcast opened up Scripture in ways that felt fresh and personal to each of them. “You two have totally been the key for us,” Lauren told Daniel Emery Price and Erick Sorensen, the co-hosts of 30 Minutes in the New Testament.
Heidi explained what she meant with an analogy our friend and Scholar-in-Residence, Chad Bird, often uses too: seeing scripture as a house with many rooms. She said, “You helped us unlock every room, and when we go inside each one, we find they’re connected in such exciting ways.” She continued, “At the end, it blows our mind to see that the first room is connected to the very last room.” Day by day, both Heidi and Lauren have found that in every book of the New Testament, and for that matter, the entire Bible, Christ is the cord that runs through it all – He is the key.
This journey has also brought unexpected joy and humor into their spiritual walk. The duo often jokes about their favorite inside phrase—“We are worms!”—a reminder of their shared humility before God.
The phrase started during one of their studies and stuck. Lauren gifted her mom a tiny glass worm for Mother’s Day. “And then she gives me this makeup pouch with pain and panic on it,” Lauren says, laughing. “It says, ‘We are worms’ right there on the front. We both waited to see the other open their gift. We were on the same wavelength.”
Their joy was overflowing in our conversation. They don’t relish in the fact that, as they say, “We are Worms!” but in knowing that Christ has covered their sin and given them his righteousness.
Their connection to 30 Minutes goes deeper than the jokes though. The podcast became a valuable tool for fostering real, vulnerable conversations with each other. As they said to us, these kinds of conversations as a mother and daughter might not have happened otherwise. “It facilitates dialogue,” Lauren explains. “How many kids and parents are really open and transparent about what’s going on in their life? But this gives us space. Like, ‘When they mentioned this today, it made me think about that friend relationship I’m struggling with.’ Or, ‘Maybe I should be doing this differently.’ It’s probably something I would have never shared with my mom on my own. But now our relationship is even deeper because we’re sharing in a biblical context.”
For Lauren, it’s a source of grace in motherhood. “When I was a new mom, looking at all the moms on social media, they seemed like they had it all together. I felt isolated—like maybe I wasn’t doing a good job. But this reminds me: none of us has it all together. We’re all dependent on grace. I can’t point my kids to a perfect mother, but I can point them to a perfect Father. And that takes the pressure off.”
That’s the good news of the gospel. It’s not that we get it all right, but that we have a good Father who does. We are all beggars (or worms!) showing another beggar (or worm!) where to find bread…
Their enthusiasm for 30 Minutes in the New Testament and the 1517 Podcast network shined in our conversation together. They attended one of the 1517 conferences and left feeling spiritually fed. She recalled how grateful they were for the combination of great music, teaching, and sense of Christian community.
And they’re not shy about sharing their love for the podcast with others. “It’s an easy way for me to bring up the subject,” Heidi says. “I can say, ‘I’ve learned so much from this podcast. Why don’t you join me? We can learn together.’”
They have also chosen to support this podcast financially. For them, giving is a way to ensure others can access the same gospel-centered teaching that’s become such a meaningful part of their lives. “It’s something we’re grateful for and glad to help others discover.”
Lauren agrees: “You guys are easy to introduce to friends, Christian or not. There’s no anxiety about it. You’re clear in your stance, but you’re so humble and warm. You remind me of how I picture Jesus. He is firm, but loving.”
What started as a search for “the right supplement” became a defining part of their daily walk in the faith. 30 Minutes isn’t just a podcast for Heidi and Lauren. It’s a weekly rhythm. A daily dialogue. A shared key that continues to unlock the wonders of Scripture and the treasures of a relationship rooted in grace.
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A Donor Story from 1517
This story was written and photographed by members of the 1517 team
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