Are you ready for your greatest lesson?
When things aren't working out, we believe we can think our way out of the problem. This episode's guest is teaching you how to surrender. Cyntoia Brown-Long shares her UNBELIEVABLE testimony of being convicted of murder, trying to THINK her way out of prison, and then finding a level of spiritual surrender few of us ever reach.
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You were captivated by Cyntoia Brown-Long's story and want to hear more details of her life out of prison
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You love impossible endings to impossible stories
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You have a thirst for social justice that's quenched in conversations like these
We're not settling!
After 15 years behind bars, Cyntoia Brown-Long walked out of prison a free woman in a totally IMPOSSIBLE situation where every door had closed. Her attorneys were baffled, but Cyntoia was not. She always knew she would be set free, despite her sentence of life-in-prison.
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Ready to be inspired?
The episode begins with host Lauren Lowrey describing the psychological cages we imprison ourselves in and juxtaposes that with Cyntoia's actual imprisonment. It allows Cyntoia to share her defiance (from Day 1) around serving a term of life in prison.
- [12:57] Cyntoia describes the 3 total years she spent in solitary confinement and how it 'broke' her mind. She details how she needed to learn to have conversations again.
- [28:38] How Cyntoia met her husband who completely changed her idea of spirituality. He reached out to her through a written letter to say 'you're getting out of prison.'
- [47:10] Cyntoia shares her prophetic dreams leading up to her release, detailing the nighttime release in the rain. It turned out to be exactly how she was let out of prison.
Plus, Cyntoia gushes about her new soap business [1:07:40] that helps teenagers in and out of the juvenile justice system.
🔖 Chapters 🔖
0:30 - Lauren's opening monologue
3:05 - Liberating yourself from a cage and the defiance needed
7:03 - Treating God as a genie in a bottle
9:03 - Cyntoia's last prayer before anger settled in
11:16 - Cyntoia's search for help through other religions
12:57 - She describes her 3 total years in solitary confinement
18:09 - Cyntoia's obsession with case law and desperation to get out of prison
22:49 - A denied appeal and the hope for clemency
25:55 - Cyntoia's devastation with the denied appeal
27:48 - The problem with THINKING your way out of the problem
28:38 - How Cyntoia met her husband and how he uncovered her spirituality
33:33 - The miracles that happened when Cyntoia started to believe
44:39 - The process to forgive Cyntoia's birth mom
47:10 - Cyntoia's prophetic dreams about seeing her prison release
51:36 - The song 'Thy Will' and why it speaks to Cyntoia
54:04 - Her deep respect for former Gov. Haslam
55:58 - Some people are here to cause calamity
57:59 - Cyntoia's prayer these days
1:00:08 - Cyntoia's life lesson (Surrender to God's plan, because it's way better than yours)
1:01:56 - Cyntoia councils teenagers in state custody
1:06:26 - Is a 2nd book on the way?
1:07:40 - Cyntoia and Lauren BOTH make homemade bar soap
1:13:13 - Surprise story! Lauren shares that she was supposed interview Cyntoia in 2019 after her release
Check out all our Instagram videos from Cyntoia's episode!
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