The Olasky Interview preview: Ann Voskamp

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Next up on The World and Everything in It: a preview of The Olasky Interview.

NICK EICHER, HOST: But, before we get to that, a quick word about the importance of listener ratings and reviews.

Now, the Apple Podcast store just changed around its categories. I have to be honest with you and say I was alarmed a few weeks ago when categories disappeared. It was mysterious to me—until I looked into it.

Apple decided to change things, and I can see now with good reason.

You know, there are more than half-a-million podcasts in the store and our humble program ranked within the top 200 of all news and politics podcasts available. It’s a nice accomplishment, considering we’re going toe-to-toe with huge news organizations: ABC, NBC, CBS. BBC, NPR, PBS. New York Times, The Economist. And before they made the change we were in the 150 to 160 range. Sometimes higher, sometimes lower, but that was a rough average range.

REICHARD: But now they’ve tightened up the categories. So instead of news and politics, it’s just the news category. And as it turns out, that’s good for us, because now our ranking is higher up even than it was before. 

Now, they don’t publicize what drives up your ranking in the store, but we suspect it’s some mix of downloads and ratings and reviews. So we just want to encourage ratings and reviews. 

If you would visit the store, locate our program, and rate it and leave a review, let’s do a little real-time experiment in whether that’ll drive us up further.

That’s really going to help, we think, spread the word about this program, and bolster the cause of biblically objective journalism.

EICHER: So we’d be grateful if you’d leave a rating and review in the podcast store. Well, Mary you mentioned the Olasky Interview so let’s get to it. 

In this week’s edition, WORLD Editor-in-Chief Marvin Olasky talks with Ann Voskamp. She’s author of four New York Times best-selling books—including “One Thousand Gifts.” 

As we’ll hear in this excerpt, this homeschooling mom doesn’t seek the limelight, but quietly serves her own children first, then others as she can.

MARVIN OLASKY, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Then, the making of One Thousand Gifts comes not through your impulse, but from, from the agent calling you?

VOSKAMP: Yes. That was an agent who came alongside, who was another homeschooling dad who understood what my life looked like. Very sensitive and respectful to my first calling is to serve my family and to serve my husband. And in the words have to come off the fringe of that. 

OLASKY: Okay. And then, um, it, it takes off in a sense of readership. And is this a surprise to you?

VOSKAMP: It’s very uncomfortable for me. Yes. 

OLASKY:People send you letters asking for advice?

VOSKAMP: Yes. A lot of those emails I’d love to answer. Every time I say yes to that person, I say no to my children and my own home. So I feel the burden and the weight of not responding to people. But if I respond to those people, at the end of my life, where the souls of my six children? So you don’t want to see what my inbox looks like. There are times and places where the Lord lays one person, and I really will make an effort to respond to that person. But I could spend all day emailing and I wouldn’t be doing what I’m really supposed to be doing.

OLASKY: Yeah. The um, is there an example of one letter that really did touch you so much that you had to respond?

VOSKAMP: I’m very intentional about responding to women who have lost children, and women who have come out of horrific family of origin or life story or they’re really struggling with “all is grace.” How can all be grace? What is this ugly situation? To come alongside that kind of heart howl and acknowledge it. God wants us to lament. 

That’s very different from complaint. Complaint doesn’t see the goodness of the character of God. Lament is honest and authentic about the feelings, but knows the goodness and the benevolence of God. 

So to be authentic about the lament, but then come back to what does scripture say about the sovereignty of God and how God allows these things to happen to conform us more into the image of his son and to ultimately bring glory to himself. So those are the kinds of letters that I will try to take the time and um, and to serve and to wash the feet of someone in pain.

(Photo/Ann Voskamp)

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