Real Stories of Life with God
Real Stories of Life with God
Ep 30 | A Creative Professional Talks About Suffering and Our Infinite God
Cameron Hoover is a videographer, creative business owner, husband and dog dad. We've been friends since high school and have kept in touch over the years. This conversation is one of my favorites so far and you can easily tell by how easy it was for me to share my heart as well. Cameron and his wife are coming out of a challenging season and he honestly shares what he is learning about God. We talk habits, suffering, the noise of culture, God's infinite nature and so much more. One line: "Just to know him more is a win. And like, the best thing that can happen to us." I may have jotted down a few notes as I edited this episode; I hope you find it just as encouraging!
Hey friends, welcome to Real stories of life with God, a podcast with a pretty explanatory title, because that's what we're here for a conversation with real people about their unique life with God. I'm your host Chelsea Eubank. And I'm so glad you're here. Let's jump into today's episode.
Cameron Hoover:Yeah, glad to be here. I'm a creative business owner. I've been working for myself for like, almost 10 years now, which has been definitely up and down, and the journey. But you know, here we are, and I enjoy most of the time. Second thing, we got me and my wife got a puppy during COVID. Because seems like everybody either had a baby or got a puppy. And we got, we went with the puppy route. But he is a German Shepherd, his name is Odin. And he is like, a year and a half now. And I love teaching him new tricks. Something that I've learned, kind of somewhat how to do during quarantine. So that's been awesome. And then third thing, oh, yeah, as I just mentioned, before we I guess, officially started going was that me and my wife, we're kind of coming out of a bit of a down season. Now we'll get into a little bit more as we go. And things. We've been learning stuff like that. But yeah, those are three things about me.
Chelsea Eubank:And we know each other, just give some context. We went to, I guess, I guess it was, my initial thing is we went to high school together, but we, I mean, we're different classes. But we might have been in elementary middle school. I mean, how long were you at Augusta? Christian?
Cameron Hoover:Yeah. There? No, no, I started in middle school. So I would have probably been 12. Yeah. I think we probably were there at the same time. earlier. And like we're around in middle school, but yeah, definitely, like, became friends in high school. And probably when we actually like, you know, started the relationship there. I would probably say,
Chelsea Eubank:like, we've kept up with each other because we're both creative people. I mean, how many times have I called you with a video question?
Cameron Hoover:Yeah, maybe a couple. I think you're just probably good at like keeping up with people too. Yeah, definitely better than me. So all credit to you on that one. Being in Atlanta now, for anyone like listening, who obviously probably hasn't kept up with me, as well as you have been living in Atlanta for like four years now. And it's great. It has helped me be more intentional with like friendships back home. Because I'm like, well, there's no way that we're gonna just like, accidentally stay in each other's lives. So yeah.
Chelsea Eubank:I'm gonna jump in. I like to read a couple of the verses that kind of inspired to these questions. It comes from Matthew 22, Jesus is asked which commandment and the law is the greatest and he says, Love Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your minds in the second love your neighbor as yourself. My first question for you is what currently stirs your love for God?
Cameron Hoover:Yeah, love those verses, they're pretty much on all your questions answered twice. So I'm going to try to keep it short. So I guess we can get Yeah, just like, a lot of stuff has been on my mind on my heart lately. So first off, experiencing God in different ways, has been like a big thing lately. So we just went through like a kind of just checkup counseling type deal. We hadn't done counseling since like our premarital counseling, been married for a couple years now. And we're just like, hey, the believers in counseling and think it does a lot of good. So we should go. And one of the things we talked about was like, spiritual life. And we're like, we're both obviously believers in this marriage. Know what it looks like to walk with Jesus as individuals, but don't really know how to do that best as a couple. And putting a lot of pressure and expectations on ourselves too, I think of just like, doing it exactly. Right. And then, like, just the differences between Jess and myself, of her being very type A like morning person likes to have structure and like, do things a certain way. I'm about the opposite as you can get from that. Like very creative all over the place, night owl. So interacting at all, it can be difficult, but especially like on a spiritual level. So anyway, the thing that our counselor said was to try out different things. Don't just expect to like sit down and have, you know, an hour long Bible study and discussion with each other every morning because That's just not practical. And so we've actually done two things recently that have helped a ton. And something that I've like, really enjoyed. First, we started watching the chosen. I don't know if you've seen it, we had it. Yeah, we're like, are pretty early on in it. But we're like, holy cow, this is so good. You know, instead of sitting down and watching some, like, mindless show, we like watch that, again, very intentional about it, and then talk about it for a little bit after and it's like, wow, this is amazing. Second thing is we. So there's this the like, Discovery Bible study sort of thing called Alpha. It was started in the UK several years ago, for basically just people who are like searching and have questions about Christianity, to have a safe space to come and, like, learn about things like from a logical, like, educational standpoint. And she has actually brought it to our small church up here in Atlanta, and helped another guy, get it off the ground, because they both did a similar course, at Georgia Tech, where they went to school. And so he recently moved, and I stepped in for the first time helping her with it, like kind of collegiate this season. And that has been awesome. Because as the saying goes, like, if you want to know how good you are at something, like try to teach somebody else what your role Yeah. So yeah, it's been, like very educational. But also like, really stirred my affections for the Lord in a way that I was not expecting. As I was going in and being like, Alright, how am I gonna teach this? It's very, like logical. Very, you know, apologetics almost. Yeah, it was more so just like, No, no, you're gonna not only am I gonna do something through you, but I'm gonna do something in you. And so that has been? Yeah, that's been. That's how I felt right? So yeah, I was like, Okay, Lord, I got you. You're trying to do something over here in everybody. So that's just been really cool. So that was actually point 1.2 has been the kind of like hardship, like I said, that we're coming out of the year has just been not the start that we thought, but also trying to, like, roll with the punches, had some like sickness, death in the family. Some, like business difficulties on my end, that I won't get like, too into because that, in itself could be a whole conversation, but just kind of had the wind taken out of our sails for a while. And a lot of like, questions, and not many answers, which we have both kind of discovered, is something that we do share in common is that we like to be in control. So yeah, that in a way has helped stirred my affections for God to just be like, Okay, I don't know what the heck is going on right now. You do? Like what is you know, what's up? What are we? What are we doing here? And then just like being able to draw back to him and that, so? Yeah,
Chelsea Eubank:man, I like so many things that you said.
Cameron Hoover:But give much time for like feedback there. Oh, no. So great. Just kind of went yeah. When was it?
Chelsea Eubank:I love it. But isn't it something in the like freefall of not knowing and that out of control feeling? He's still the same. So it's like challenges sharpen us or change us in a way that ease just can never do? Yeah, it's almost like a place of maturity, to say, I will not hate this. Because I know that it's doing something for me with you.
Cameron Hoover:Yeah, I actually, that's so crazy that you would like phrase it that way, because I had a friend in college. Or maybe it was like a speaker I heard, I don't know. But somebody in college one time, they talked about, like the hardships and difficulties of life. And they described it as a refining fire. And that if you ever have like, a precious metal or something, you know, when it's first on earth, when it's first pulled out of the ground, it's in a very rough raw state. And for that thing to have value, it has to go through a refining fire, it has to go through a very intense hot period, so that it can come out more pure on the other end. And that's something that stuck with me for a long time. And I'm like, that sounds so cool until you're actually in the fire and oh, yes, yeah. And you're like, oh, yeah, so that's something that, you know, the Lord kept bringing back to me recently. It's just like a Yeah, it hurts it's supposed to, but like, on the other end, like, better and like more pure. So
Chelsea Eubank:there's something to you know, I feel like we, as believers, or just as Americans can tend to, like, I'm gonna go with believers. I'm not gonna blanket statement of America, I'm gonna just gonna die well, Christians, but we kind of fall can easily fall into the temptation that our default setting is happiness and comfort, when actually, you know, if you look at Christians in the past, or just what he says in the Bible, our default setting might be more struggle than ease. Yes, for sure. Like not great to think about. But I think it shifts me a little bit if I say, the goal is not perfection, maybe there's a different way, not that you go into the day or the season of life thinking asking for trouble or thinking about trouble. But when it comes, you're like, Okay, here's this thing. But me and God are separate over here looking at that thing. You know, I'm not alone, or I'm not. Like he's not surprised. And maybe I shouldn't be surprised.
Cameron Hoover:Yeah. I think like, kind of the distinction there between believers and Americans. Like, is kind of a fine line of like, yeah, culture tells us, you should be happy, you should be comfortable. You should seek your own, like, personal satisfaction above everything else. Just get in there and grind and do.
Chelsea Eubank:And Jesus is kind of not that way.
Cameron Hoover:Yeah, not at all. He's like, man, come and surrender. And
Chelsea Eubank:yeah, that was just thinking that word. Okay. Let's move on. But let's move on a little bit. Is there anything that currently stifles your love for God?
Cameron Hoover:Yeah, um, when I first read this, I was like, what? I was like, no, nothing, whatever, you know, extinguish my love for God. But then actually, the more I thought about the more I ponder on it, I was like, actually, it really likes question. So yeah, like kind of going back to what we're just talking about, like the world and culture and like, everything happening in society today. Kind of distracts me, I think, probably more so than, like, actually pulls away from it. But it's just so loud. So much advice that it distracts from, like the goodness of the Lord, and the fact that he actually is still in control, he still is on the throne, because there's just so much going on around us. And it's easy to get caught up in it. So that's like, definitely the first thing that I thought of, you know, because, like I said, it's just so, so noisy. And then second thing is, again, like my own selfish desire for control. And instead of leaning on him, instead of seeking Him for guidance, just being like, I got this, I can figure it out. Some of the stuff that we've been like struggling with as family as a couple. I've been like, okay, like, how am I gonna fix this amazingly, just like, I think as as guys, and then probably as husbands as well, you just go into, like, fix it mode. So that has been, like, a struggle for me to be like, okay, like, what are we doing? Got a got a problem, I'm gonna solve it. Like, here we go. And then just to be like, No, not only can you not do that, but that's like, not what you're called to in this time. Like, you're called to, again, surrender and like, come to Lord and say, like, hey, again, I don't even know what's going on here. But you do. I don't know, like, what this refining fire period is going to look like how long it's going to be how hot it's gonna get, just like trusting and knowing that like, it's where I'm meant to be at this time. And not trying to fight it and not trying to like rush the process of being like, okay, but like, let's just go ahead and figure it out and get on the other side. But just kind of sitting in it and being present.
Chelsea Eubank:Okay, I want to connect those two because I am totally with you and all that, like the noisiness of kind of our day and time and habits and technology and access to all the things and then the being present to God. Like have you have you found in the past couple of months Have you found any, as he helped you see any habits or rhythms or practices that help you do that? A little better. Anatomy.
Cameron Hoover:Yeah. rhythms, I think is a good word and a word that we've kind of been bouncing around. I think honestly, it starts with how you start your day. And it does for me, because as a night owl, as I mentioned, I do not like to wake up. I don't care what time it is, I don't care what is currently happening is just the first few moments of the day suck in general, for me, so trying to just like, get going and figure something out. And always wanting to default back to comfort, whether that be hitting the snooze button, or, like just not getting started on anything, and just kind of like, waiting until I wake up or, you know, feel like it. Which is there's a phrase, there's a WHEN DO WE when do we ever feel like it? Right? So? Yeah, so I think honestly, it's just like, having something to go to whether that be a Bible study. A lot of times for me, it's just like prayer, just like kind of taking a moment, being like, Okay, Lord, given you the first moments of my day here, like, I'm gonna like discipline, myself, and my desires and like, just focus on you and say, Hey, these first few moments in the day are yours. And then hopefully, I feel a little bit better wake up some and get rolling here. Yeah, that's kind of that's kind of it. And then like I said, just the other things of saying, like, it doesn't have to be the traditional structured things that we've talked about. They can be a podcast on your way to work, I work from home, so My commute is pretty short. But sometime during the day doing something for like a show, like we're talking about leading a group or anything like that, like I said, to kind of just get yourself out of that comfort zone has probably been one of the biggest things in these last few months that have helped a ton. To just center and refocus on the Lord
Chelsea Eubank:is so good to say that, what I cultivate with God, and my relationship with him and my faith muscle that I'm stretching with him, just in my friendship with him. That is my number one thing, my my number one goal is not to make this thing go away, or to make this thing change. Because I don't really know what he's doing with it. My number one goal is to keep my eyes on him. And to keep my love for him, you know, and to make sure that stays clear of all the clutter. Yeah, because then he maybe he can encourage me and maybe he can tell me what why it's happening. If I'm not if I'm never listening for that, if I'm never looking for him if I'm never making space for him. You know, I think we just get it a little. We think that, you know, strong in our faith means that things are going fine. You know, if you're struggling through something, then you're doing something wrong. Yeah, for sure. I'm like, I have all the methods. I grew up in church, I know what I should be doing. I have the Holy Spirit. I know the Bible like that's my thing. But there was hardly little surrender. Probably. There was hardly little let God be God. And you just be gods. And that's that's your number one thing.
Cameron Hoover:Yeah, no doubt. Totally agree. I think as far as the like rhythms, I just thought about this for a second to getting away and trying to separate from the, again, American culture, today's world type thing. And getting back to that, because you're totally right. And like, if things are going right, then you're probably on the right path. But that's not always the case. Yeah, and to, to like, switch that to make that change can be the most difficult thing a lot of times, right. So that's why I think especially for me, like, like tricking myself, and like shocking the system is like, almost always a key of like, you know, as they say the definition of insanity is to doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. So like, in the same way with our walks, like if we only do the same things that we've always been doing, how are we ever expecting, like real growth and change to come?
Chelsea Eubank:And I think there's something about admitting that you need something new. We have the tried and true, like things in the Bible that God tells us are important. But I think I think we also have kind of gotten away from the freedom of our relationship with Him to say, I need something different right now. Like, can you help me figure out what that is like we need and y'all once again, like your counselor was really helpful for that. I think a lot of people are like, I should know. Like, just ask, you know, like, I really want to get in a better habit of asking God questions.
Cameron Hoover:Yeah, I think that's also one of the to control things, and something that he's been teaching me lately, it's like, man, you think you know, something? You don't know anything? You're really dumb. So
Chelsea Eubank:you definitely don't know all the things that I know. Maybe
Cameron Hoover:you should, maybe you should try getting it from me. Or maybe you should just try just trusting me, you know, not even like, necessarily getting an answer. But just like, even when I don't give you an answer, like you should still trust me. Oh,
Chelsea Eubank:yeah, it's good. Okay, that's a good segue into my fill in the blank. The truth that God is blank means a lot to you. Because blank. Yeah,
Cameron Hoover:so this one was kind of difficult. I gotta like a weird one. But it might take a little explanation. But the truth that God is infinite is what I wrote down. Like, omniscient, omnipresent, all knowing, like all good, all loving, like he is all things. And I think that's important. Like I said, for me, because of right now. It's like, no matter where you are, like he is there, he is like with you, and he has all the answers. So whether you're on the mountaintop, like magical experience, or you're in a valley, really terrible experience, new territory, old territory, it's like, there's nowhere that you can go, like, where you can get away from God. And so, yeah, like, I was like, trying to find something new and profound that I could write down in this blank space. So then I was like, No, he is just, he is everything he is complete. And that he is enough. So that said, he kind of checks all those boxes. And so I was like, Don't worry about it, just, like, tell what you've been feeling. So the fact that he's been able to both comfort us, you know, help us learn and grow, do different things. And this season has been like, wow, God, you really are like that big. And no matter how much I learned about you, no matter how close, I feel like I'm getting to you, like, there's still infinitely more to you. So it's like, pretty overwhelming. Yeah.
Chelsea Eubank:But something that what you said at the end about as much as I'm understanding about you now, I will never, it will never grow old, and it will never, I will never arrive and it will never end. You know, there's always more to know about God, there's always more to love about God. And so maybe that's also can be connected to the suffering seasons. Because even even if the only thing that they okay, this is probably going to be weird, but I'm just gonna go for it. Even if the only thing that's good, remotely good about a painful hard season, is the fact that I saw a new side of God, or that he changed me in this way, or that I learned something about him or saw something new or experienced something new of him. That would be enough, like it's a good channeling, it's a good stepping stone, you know, like he's worthy or worth it for that to be the conduit. Does that make sense? Yeah.
Cameron Hoover:No, that's not weird thing to say. That's a great thing to say.
Chelsea Eubank:I think that helps me a little bit. Yeah, no doubt.
Cameron Hoover:I think that again, like we always are in like, fix it mode or like, grow, become better become more. You know, whatever that is, then, instead of just being like, no, just to know him more is a win. And like, the best thing that can happen to us.
Chelsea Eubank:I love it. And I think I love it because it's outside of me. You know, like, He is God, regardless of me, regardless of my circumstances, he is the same. And so I think I love it so much, because he his beauty, his goodness is power cannot be touched by anything. And it can't even you know, what is the Romans eight, like? Can anything separate me from the love of the Lord? Like any anything about the Lord, nothing can separate me from him. Right? Whether I'm in a day where I'm doubting or life is really hard. He does not waver in any of that. And so I don't have to worry about him not being himself.
Cameron Hoover:Yeah, he is always himself. I heard. I wasn't planning on sharing like all this. But I heard an example one time talking about like, Jesus's temptation. And when he's taken out into the wilderness, and saying how, in his temptation, not only does he like, not succumb to it, not fall to any of this temptation, but also like he goes to the end of it. Like he completes the temptation. So therefore, no matter like where you are, even in something like your own temptation, he has already walked that path. And wow, like, how to get to the end of the end has already defeated the sin at the end of it. So he will literally always be with you. And it's, you know, I think this individual whoever this was, it was I heard this Ron was saying, no one else is In the world can say yes, I've walked that same path like I've gone to the end of this road already. And I know what's there, except Jesus. Man, we've got to have church up to here today, seriously.
Chelsea Eubank:Okay, so my last question is, what is something you're looking forward to?
Cameron Hoover:Yeah, well, it's a just stick on the spiritual topic, I guess is just New Seasons and walking deeper with the Lord. Again, just going through someone who has been brought up in the church grown up in, you know, phenomenal family, Christian school, the whole ordeal, been in church worked for churches, that sort of thing. Like, it can seem redundant and stale at times. But I think this this latest season of hardship of this refining fire that we've had, has brought me closer to the Lord and again, kind of just like, started up and said, like, hey, like, it won't, it should never be stale. It should never be repetitive, because, like you said, there's always something new to discover to the board. So that's like, probably the biggest thing that's been a focus. And kind of like, other, you know, smaller areas of life, I guess. Work stuff has been like improving since you know, the beginning of the year, and actually brought someone on. It's like a business coach kind of helped me. Oh, cool. Yeah, some things that I'm excited about. And like loving the direction of like, new direction of business stuff that I'm currently on. And then we're actually just about to go to Italy. We're like two days.
Chelsea Eubank:Two days. Oh, wow. That is so cool. how long you're gonna be there.
Cameron Hoover:We'll be there for like 12 days. If you're gonna go to Italy, you might as well spend some time there and enjoy that. Anyway.
Chelsea Eubank:I'm very thankful for you. Thank you again. It was great. Listening friends, it means a lot that you added us to your day to day. Thank you so much. Wherever you find yourself on your journey with Jesus. I hope you finished this episode with your faith cheered refreshed or strengthened. Until next time