From Heartache to Healing with Francine Brown

Feeling weighed down by life's challenges and looking for a bit of hope? Tune in to this episode of the Imagine Yourself Podcast, where we discuss "From Heartache to Healing" with the inspiring Francine Brown. Francine has faced more than her fair share of tough times. Just in the last few years it included dealing with breast cancer while caring for her husband who ultimately lost his battle with cancer.

In our chat, Francine opens up about how her experiences with profound grief and loss taught her to put her trust in God and find peace in the little things—like time spent with animals and embracing the beauty of the natural world. She's struggled, she's questioned, but she's also found strength and inspiration in the most unexpected places. If you're looking for a story that blends real talk about life's challenges with a powerful message of faith and hope, this one's for you. So, grab your favorite beverage, get comfy, and join us for a truly uplifting conversation.

_______

ABOUT FRANCINE

Francine Brown – currently lives on a small ranch east of Grand Junction, Colorado (near the Utah border).  Francine raised and showed horses in western equine events for almost a decade with several major accomplishments including National Championship wins.  She and her husband also built a premier registered cattle operation and had show cattle that also had National and prestigious wins. 

 Francine is now in the process of recreating her life after just over 2 years of widowhood.    Her small business, with her late husband’s encouragement, serves both equine & bovine competitors (as well as extreme athlete competitors without animals) with holistic health and wellness modalities and services all over the US and Canada. 

 Francine’s hope is by sharing her story, others are encouraged and press on with their dreams regardless of what their circumstances appear to be and to never give up.

FRANCINE ON FACEBOOK

For more info on IMAGINE YOURSELF, visit imagineyourselfpodcast.com. You'll find blogs, inspirational quotes and of course our podcasts!

Join the conversation on our FACEBOOK, or INSTAGRAM pages. Email at imagineyourselfpodcast@gmail.com

Thanks for being part of the Imagine Yourself Family! Follow or subscribe so you don't miss an episode!

Imagine Yourself is hosted by Lanée Blaise and Sandy Kovach. Lanée is a TV writer and producer, motivational speaker and podcaster. Sandy is a radio personality, voiceover artist and podcaster. They come to you from the Detroit Metro area and invite guests from all over the world to help encourage you in your health, career, faith journey and more!

Transcript

Sandy Kovach  [00:00:00]:
This truly is a story of heartache to healing. Our guest today has faced some of life's most daunting challenges. She is a breast cancer survivor. She has endured a brain injury. Some of the personal loss she's experienced in the past few years includes a husband and a mom. And there are more challenges. She's even compared her story with Job in the bible. But like Job, she's kept her faith in God.

Sandy Kovach  [00:00:31]:
She also has an spirit and a mission to help others find healing and hope. So get ready. She does not sugarcoat things as she's talking about her testimony and what she's been through, but she has come out very nicely on the other side and has some valuable lessons lessons and practical advice. This is imagine yourself podcast where we help you imagine the next chapter of life with grace, gratitude, courage, and faith.

Lanée Blaise [00:00:58]:
I'm Lanee here with Sandy, and we wanted this episode to be one of those things where you get just what you need just when you need it. We want it to be a blessing and a beautiful testimony to everyone who listens so that you realize there's ways that sometimes you may have to move and shift and shape your lives in this world as things change, sometimes things you didn't want to Lanee. But in this case, we have a wonderful guest, and I wanted to kind of set the stage. Our guest today is Francine Brown, and she currently lives on a small ranch, east of Grand Junction, Colorado. Francine raised and showed horses in equine events for almost a decade and had many major accomplishments, even national championship wins. And she and her husband built a premier registered cattle operation and had show cattle that also had national and prestigious wins. But right now, Francine is in the process of recreating her life after just over 2 years of widowhood. So we just wanted to kind of introduce you to Francine, her story, her life, and her message.

Lanée Blaise [00:02:18]:
We wanna just welcome you to Imagine Yourself podcast. Thank you for being here with us today.

Francine Brown [00:02:24]:
Well, thank you. What a privilege to be here with both of you this morning and get to share and talk and encourage each other.

Sandy Kovach  [00:02:30]:
We're just so happy to have you. Somebody who's been through so much, the widowhood is a huge issue, but there have been many others that I know you're gonna be telling us about. You've really been through it. And I gotta ask, now that you're rebuilding your dreams and kinda turning things around, of course, it's a process. It's not done yet. But going back to when all this first started happening, I'm guessing it wasn't building your dreams. You were thinking about it. It was just getting from day to day.

Francine Brown [00:03:04]:
Absolutely. You know, it takes a lot to get out of survival mode into thriving again. And one of the things that's really hit me lately is there are 2 things that pierce the human heart. 1 is beauty and 1 is affliction. And I've personally been abundantly blessed with both.

Sandy Kovach  [00:03:24]:
Yeah. You, compared your story when we chatted before with Job, the book of Job, if people are familiar with that. Tell us a little bit about all the things that you've been through and in just the past couple years.

Francine Brown [00:03:36]:
Yeah. Just the last couple years, I went through breast cancer in 2016, and I didn't even totally recuperate. And then my husband got diagnosed with cancer and, you know, COVID hit, and there was just so many things, life changing things, and I had to sell my cattle. I downsized my horses, all this stuff. So many life changes. And then those tests, they start rolling in, and you're on this emotional roller coaster going, oh my gosh. What's this test gonna be? And when life is so uncertain, you go into survival mode, and then I went into caretaking mode. And there were just so many dynamics because we didn't have just businesses.

Francine Brown [00:04:22]:
We had animals to take care of. So whether you feel like it or not, you have to get up in the morning because they're depending on you. And so that puts a different you know, it's just like having children or your pets or anything like that. There's a level of responsibility that you need to show up no matter what's going on. And juggling that and making smart okay. How do we downsize? How do we make this simpler? How do we, you know, make ends meet? We had a pretty good financial security, and cancer is expensive and inconvenient and can't be scheduled. And so, anyway, just the last few years have been really intense, and what a ride. And on top of that, we live in the Colorado Rockies.

Francine Brown [00:05:09]:
The seasons determine everything. So snowstorms, blizzards, stuff like that. When he was here doing it together was fabulous. When everything was up to me, and we had the snowstorm of the century, really, January, February of 2022, I was snowed in all but 7 days in February or January February.

Lanée Blaise [00:05:33]:
Oh.

Francine Brown [00:05:34]:
That was traumatic. It was dangerous up there. There there was just a lot of different dynamics that came into that. I got to a point, and I was sick. And I got to a point where I was drinking peppermint tea and in the tractor and about turned it over several times. And I stopped the tractor, and I said, please, god, I am not doing you any good up here, and I'm not doing me any good. And I said, if it's my time, take me. Either that or heal me because I don't see a way out of this.

Francine Brown [00:06:05]:
And I finished my tea and turned on the tractor and went and plowed again. And that was a pivot point actually for things to kinda, I guess, get me where I am today, because I'll never forget that day on top of the hill and being blown in 14 foot drifts, and it was ridiculous. But sometimes you have to be so broken to get to the point where your body would give it up.

Lanée Blaise [00:06:30]:
So surrendered over. Are you so the you asked for the healing component. Did things start to open up and get more clarity at least?

Francine Brown [00:06:41]:
You know, I think within a week that weather broke enough where I could go seek medical attention like I needed to, and then the answers started coming. And it has not been a quick fix, but I didn't die on the mountain that day or the next week. And I almost had to laugh to myself going, alright. Here's my answer. We're in for a little bit of a journey here, and it's turned into a lot of a journey. But sometimes, at least for me, I'm so hard headed. Let's never quit and take the bull by the horns. You know, that's a way I grow up the grit.

Francine Brown [00:07:20]:
And I finally like, my stomach hurt everything. Just the storm. You know, we talk about the storms in our life. I mean, it was a literally storm for months. And then, yes, things started turning away. Even though the snow didn't totally melt till May, I could still start getting out. I could start getting my medical test. We could figure out what was wrong.

Francine Brown [00:07:44]:
And, I actually had an infection from the water from the well. Who'd have thought it?

Lanée Blaise [00:07:50]:
Everything else is something. Yeah. Because that's the part oh my gosh. That's the part where people are just like, I can't do it anymore myself. I can't do it anymore in my own strength. In this case, you've got such hard hitting things. Oh my gosh. And then the water the water.

Francine Brown [00:08:08]:
The water of all things. But, you know, getting back to Job and you know the story. We all know the story because there's times where we go through all of this. And then, you know, some I learned in grief counseling that kinda came to fruition is at the end of Job, and I wrote it down because I think this is really important because I have to rebind myself. He didn't know why he was going through so many struggles. I certainly didn't know why it kept piling up on me. It was between God and Satan. At what point Job ever found out, we don't know.

Francine Brown [00:08:40]:
But he never denied God. But he was questioning everything. But at the end, he was not restored until after he prayed for his friends. That is such a huge revelation to me because I felt I've been abandoned by my family, all my friends, the people my husband worked with. I mean, they know I'm up on this mountain. It used to take way more equipment and men to help do this. And where were my people? Yeah. Every day, I'd pray about this to get through the day, and I did.

Francine Brown [00:09:17]:
But finally, I got to that breaking point where I'm like, okay. If this tractor is gonna tip over or I'm gonna get hung up in a piece of equipment, which was truly one of my fears, just protect me today. And he did. He is faithful. I mean, that few months Lanee, but now as things are starting to unravel and stuff, we talked about the ups and downs in life. I wanna normalize the ups and downs and remember this because we will have trouble. And the thing is, I'm realizing that just because you get over a big hurdle in your life, doesn't mean you won't have time to rest, and then you'll probably have another big hurdle.

Lanée Blaise [00:10:01]:
So you're you're managing your expectations, and you know still that you will still hold on to God. You still won't deny God, but you won't be so blindsided when things, you know, things things really pop up into life. Because you mentioned something else too. There's a friend of mine who the other day was saying it's always been strange to her when someone said talks about God's faithfulness. She says, you know, I'm thinking that we're supposed to be faithful to God. We're supposed to be displaying faithfulness. But she's like, it's just an interesting concept when you're talking about God's faithfulness. And you just mentioned that in the midst of that day and that anything could have happened.

Lanée Blaise [00:10:43]:
But how do you answer when someone says, you know, even in the midst of everything, there's still God's faithfulness?

Francine Brown [00:10:50]:
You know, and I've struggled with this so much. And I since have a friend and it's going back. You know, I had to relearn. God loves me. His promises to us because it's easy to get caught up in. There's a certain sense of adrenaline when you're accomplishing stuff, and then there's a certain sense of weary, I'm tired, this isn't worth it, and hopelessness. And when that sets in, yeah, we're supposed to be faithful, but I have never been so tested on giving up. I've been a Pollyanna my whole life, and literally, this took the wind out of my sails all the way around.

Francine Brown [00:11:35]:
And, you know, I kinda skipping up to the time I met you guys and found your podcast. What a godsend. I was on an airplane from Rapid City, South Dakota coming back from Christmas. My mother had just died. All these family things start coming up when you have death in your family, and, thankfully, I found you guys. I started on this spiritual journey just shortly before. That has been absolutely wild. Now I can look back and it's a divinely Lanee because if this all hadn't happened, and I guess Lanee last year's preparation for it, I wouldn't be where I am.

Francine Brown [00:12:13]:
But God does show his faithfulness, and sometimes it's through desolation so we have nowhere else to turn. And that's what I felt.

Sandy Kovach  [00:12:23]:
And we would never choose that for ourselves. Yet when god brings the circumstances and I think you might have said this too before in our prior conversation, you wouldn't have done it any other way?

Francine Brown [00:12:35]:
Absolutely. I mean, that's kind of when you go back and have time to reflect and pull out the goodies. You go, would I have changed anything? No. Because I'm so much stronger in so many ways, and I'd never choose any of this. Who would? Right?

Lanée Blaise [00:12:53]:
Right. Right. So I wish everybody could see your face right now. I'm looking at your face and you are glowing and you're talking about the good parts and the affliction parts and you gave that beautiful quote as well, but it's hard for me to wrap my mind around like you have still a smile on your face. You still your eyes are bright. Your your spirit is coming through the screen. I just how you doing it, Francine?

Francine Brown [00:13:20]:
It's not me. It's just not me. I mean, you know what? I I show up with a willingness, and I let God take over. I wake up in the day, and I I'm 60 now. I've worked hard my whole life. I worked in coal mine. It's hard, hard labor stuff. I hurt in the morning, and I'm like, okay.

Francine Brown [00:13:41]:
If you didn't take me last night, you must have something good for me to do. And I'm starting to get my funny back for one thing. It's kinda been hidden. When you're by yourself, it's kinda hard for the dogs and horses to laugh at you. But, you know, now it's starting to get spring, and I'm around other people. And you just you have to look at the good things. And there are a lot of heavy, heavy things. A lot of things that and I'll just back up a little bit.

Francine Brown [00:14:11]:
Back in 1997, I had a brain injury, and I've lost a lot of my memory. And for whatever reason, it has started coming back in January. There's a lot of trauma and stuff that has come up. And one of the things I was like, I need to embrace this and work through this because why God spared me, I have no idea. Because he should have taken me and not my husband. I was way sicker than he was, and it doesn't make sense in the natural. But he was he was a very funny man, and he was very almost innocent like. And he goes, you have a lot more to do than I do, and I get the ticket out of here quicker.

Francine Brown [00:14:52]:
And I was like, please, 2 for 1, 2 for 1, and it didn't happen. But you know what? I've had so many things happen in life that I know that it'll come around. It's just this has been the hardest season I have ever been through. But all those other ones helped bring me to this point. There's very few people that can inspire me. I can tell you that right now. I just have a hard time with they're little pieces, but overall in life, there are 2 people that really inspire me. And shall I share that with you? Sure.

Francine Brown [00:15:25]:
Absolutely. Amberly Snyder, who is a paraplegic barrel racer. In the natural, she should not be able to ride a horse, and she has never given up. We've become pretty good friends, and she and I think along the same lines. And the thing is, yeah, you have bad days, but the good days are coming. Another one is Morris Goodman and he's an older man. I met him when I was back in my twenties, and he was in a plane crash and a paraplegic. And he talks about and you can YouTube both of these people.

Francine Brown [00:15:59]:
But he talks about all he had was his mind. All he could do is blink his eyes, and he wound up walking out of the hospital. And now all these years, he's talked about his journey. Had I not had, you know, especially him and others like him back in my twenties? Because I go back to that when things get tough. Wow.

Lanée Blaise [00:16:21]:
And now people are gonna go back to you when things get tough because you have already stole you stole you stole Sandy's heart. Back when she first told me about Francine. And so we've got to have her share her story and her message and her spirit with other people. And now you're over here stealing my heart, and everybody else is listening because you're just magical or supernatural, supernatural blessing, showing strength in the midst of all the stuff.

Francine Brown [00:16:56]:
Well, thank you. You know, one thing I have to say that I feel so blessed to have lived it. Even though I grew up on a ranch, it was very, very difficult. It was a hard life. You know, we didn't do sports. We didn't do a lot of stuff. Our whole life revolved around work, but I was born in the middle of God's creation and beauty and with animals. And the animals I do think that God speaks.

Francine Brown [00:17:24]:
I know what he does. He speaks to me through the hay meadows and the beautiful mountains and our animals. And we see these animals. We're their caretakers and stewards and the struggles they go through just to live. And it's our blessing and job and calling to take care of these animals. And I realized through the years, you know, the horses, the cows, the sheep. I mean, we put up hay. We didn't farm.

Francine Brown [00:17:53]:
I'd love to till the soil that's on my bucket list, but haven't done that yet. But these animals being in nature, god speaks to us every day, and we realize we don't have control over everything. I did go on and live in, you know, Phoenix for 4 years, and I lived in Chicago chasing my career because I was in human resources then. But I realized that the lessons I learned the way I was brought up, that's the way I wanted my kids to learn that you can't control everything. And what color of Easter basket you get really makes no difference when on Easter in our part of the world, you have the miracle of birth all day long because it's spring. Everything's having babies that day. It brings Easter to life. There's just so many things.

Francine Brown [00:18:39]:
And you go through these storms, and you go through sometimes tragic losses. But I've gotten to experience the miracle of birth literally thousands and thousands and thousands of times. And I've assisted with thousands and thousands and thousands of births. And as a vet tech, I also assisted with giving the animals dignity and letting them go. And that sounds tragic, but we're here for a season. We're here for a time, everybody. And sometimes when our time, you know, is up, being there and helping that animal go to the other side in a peaceful way and calming your emotions actually has prepared me for life. And I I met my husband, later in life.

Francine Brown [00:19:32]:
I was in my forties. He was in his fifties, and he fell in love with me and from day 1, and I was a hard sell. Okay. I put him through a lot. But, you know, we got married, had the best 15 years of both of our lives. It was awesome. But, you know, as he was getting sicker, even though he did really, really well, he had one bad day. Who can say that with metastasized cancer? Nobody.

Francine Brown [00:19:59]:
But when we had to take him down to hospice, I prayed driving down there behind the ambulance. Please give me the strength cuts to show up like he needs. I had no idea what I was getting into. If somebody is out there with fresh grief, I apologize if this gets your heart because it is a big deal. He had terminal restlessness, which a lot of cancer patients do. It was not a peaceful passing, but I wasn't about not to show up. And so I don't know which hospice worker I, like, basically Lanee back or the out of the way. I jumped up, and I was over him, and I don't know how long.

Francine Brown [00:20:43]:
But the chaplain that was looking at this, he said he wasn't in pain. It was just a process. I've seen it in the animals. And just talking to him and stuff, and I finally said, it's okay. I'm gonna be okay. That that was his biggest thing thinking I wasn't gonna be okay. So I said it, and he passed away. And I kissed his forehead, and I turned around to the chaplain, and I said thank you to all the animals that taught me how to do this and to show up for this man like he did me.

Francine Brown [00:21:16]:
Because I could not ever achieve my show and heartstrings if it weren't for this man believing in me and wanting me to be so happy, and he did. And you know what? I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Sandy Kovach  [00:21:31]:
Wow. That is quite a story. God prepared you in so many ways. I mean, that is one of the most intense moments in life that anyone could possibly ever face. And it's hard it's hard to talk after that story.

Francine Brown [00:21:48]:
Well, you know what? We don't wanna park in our pain. It was a painful moment, but you know what? He didn't suffer. And I felt so blessed and relieved at what could have happened and didn't. And I I knew that strength for being there for him was not me. And, you know, when we recognize those moments in our life, that is gold. That is the absolute gold of life is showing up when we don't think we can. And so many of us have pets, and I know not everybody has, you know, the experience with the animals.

Francine Brown [00:22:23]:
But grief counseling, I'll tell you something that was interesting to me because one of the things I lost a parakeet, like, 15 years ago. For whatever reason, out of all these things in life, my parakeet became the whole subject of a session. We don't understand until we go through grief, grieve those small losses when they come up. I mean, Maxwell sang with his heart. He was a big he wasn't a big bird. He was a parakeet. Out of all the things I've ever lost, why did I need an hour of talking about my bird? I don't know. Although, I'd never grieved that.

Francine Brown [00:23:01]:
And so we never wanna discount the loss of our health, the loss of our job. Maybe we didn't get the promotion that we needed. And we can't discount the small ones because when the bigger ones come, it's okay to feel down. They're not just a dog. They're not just a job. I'll find another one. There's nothing just. We're having these challenges to help prepare us for the bigger ones.

Lanée Blaise [00:23:28]:
I believe that is healthy, what you are just making sure that we know right now. That those seemingly small grievances, things that we're grieving over are important to go ahead and process all the way through also.

Francine Brown [00:23:43]:
And it's true the good things too. Oh the first flower of spring, woo hoo, Picture Facebook. And everybody's going, oh, yeah. That's a pretty flower, and others are scrolling through going, no big deal. Are you kidding me? If that's what we can celebrate for the day, that's what we celebrate.

Sandy Kovach  [00:24:02]:
That's a good point too. You have to have the lows and the highs. And, we get into these, what do I want to say, like a funk, whether it's a big thing that we're grieving or whether it's just a small thing that's happening in our life. And we want to just numb ourselves, we don't want to feel. People use substances for that or shopping or gambling. I mean, there's a million things that people do to fill that hole, but we need to have the experience of feeling that and that we also need God to fill that hole as well.

Francine Brown [00:24:36]:
Absolutely. And, you know, the retail shopping thing is a big deal, which is if you don't go broke over it. But sometimes I'll tell you what I did. I needed to do that. I was selling horses, and what did I do? I went and bought a new show saddle. I still have not ridden in it. But it was a good deal, and I got it, and I felt better. Numbing ourselves kind of, but sometimes we don't wanna get hooked on whiskey.

Francine Brown [00:25:01]:
Let's put it that way. That is not a healthy way to do it. But having that glass of wine at night might be what you need for the day and not to beat ourselves up for the little things that it takes to feel just a little bit better.

Sandy Kovach  [00:25:20]:
That's a good advice. Yeah.

Francine Brown [00:25:21]:
It's the little things. It's not the great big things. It's the little things as long as they're healthy or you can control it or all that. And that's where so a lot of times we need help to figure out what is healthy.

Lanée Blaise [00:25:35]:
Because like you said, you don't wanna stay parked in that pain or in even that distraction, whatever the distraction may be. You want to still be moving, you know, having that dynamic movement forward or upward or over or something.

Francine Brown [00:25:53]:
Absolutely. So Francine, one of

Sandy Kovach  [00:25:56]:
the things that you're doing, and I know, Lanee mentioned it in the beginning, you're taking on the whole health aspect. And I know it's partially with animals, but you're working with humans too, right? As far as being, you know, learning more about health and regenerating and glowing like you do.

Francine Brown [00:26:14]:
I am. One of the things is living in a rural area, we don't always have access to a lot of different things. And so I did hire a health coach after I got diagnosed and all that, which is straightening my digestion and stuff out. So I hired a health coach, and I had this business anyway, this product that actually helps your circulation, which helps everything. And, you know, I needed to add on to that, so I hired this health coach. And then, you know, widowhood, you have to restructure your finances, and I'm trying to recreate myself because I can't horse show every weekend anymore. So, anyway, I had this wild idea because as I get into this and start understanding it and I'm a science nerd, so I love delving into this. I'm like, well, I need to be able to get access to this, and I need a practitioner.

Francine Brown [00:27:03]:
Well, our time was up. So I was like, well, you know what? I'm gonna become a certified health coach so I can be a practitioner. And who do I know that needs to know what I know? I wanna help other people. I didn't go through all of this for nothing. We should not get caught up in shame for what we've been through. I've had a head injury. Like, I couldn't think my way out of a paper bag. This was years ago.

Francine Brown [00:27:27]:
I lost my job. I've never been able to reenter the corporate world because I don't think like that anymore. And yet I wouldn't trade that experience for anything because it opened up this whole right brain crazy thing that I have gone now. And I do a lot of different things, and none of it makes sense. But now I'm at a point that I'm starting to put it all together, the health stuff, the horses, the people that I love. I started a horse show announcing horse shows again. So I'm back with my people in a different place. I used to do it just for fun.

Francine Brown [00:28:03]:
Now I'm like, why don't I just do this?

Lanée Blaise [00:28:06]:
Yeah. This is the part that people need to hear, especially that part where if they're thinking about all these different things in their life circumstances, previous jobs, skill sets, gifts and talents, and like make it make sense. And that's what you're doing. You're making it make sense for your life and for the ways that you are able to help people and the ways that you're able to, like, be fulfilled doing it too.

Francine Brown [00:28:30]:
Absolutely. Because I love that part. I have this maternal thing. I love to help the animals, but now I'm to a point where, gosh, I can help competitors. I can help people, like, overcoming accidents. I have my brain injury. I couldn't ride for 7 years. I was told I would never ride again.

Francine Brown [00:28:47]:
Okay? It took me 15 years to get in the show pen. I've never shown a horse before, and it took a long time. I was trying to match my saddle pad to my shirt when I started. Now I have championship trophies, but you know what? Now it's time for me to give back and help other people who struggle that don't have that Pollyanna. I don't know why I even thought I could do it. Where did that come from? I have no idea. And my husband didn't know enough to say, oh, that won't work. He's like, here.

Francine Brown [00:29:18]:
Here's a horse. Go far away. Because he was used to being a bachelor for 30 years. He needed his space. He goes, find the furthest trailer. Here's a horse trailer. Here's your horse. Go have fun.

Francine Brown [00:29:30]:
I need my downtime, and it worked for us. But it started this whole positive thing, and it actually gave me time to heal, like, my heart and stuff like that and figure out what being fulfilled felt like. And that is the magic that I wanna or the magic, the super net, or just the offering to go, you're not out there alone if you're just trying to ride your horse again. If you're going through breast cancer, don't go sell your horses. There is an end to that or can be most of the time is you're gonna be able to get back on that horse again. Maybe you change your disciplines, maybe you do whatever. You figure out your true north, what speaks to your heart. You're not done yet.

Francine Brown [00:30:18]:
It's not over till it's over.

Sandy Kovach  [00:30:20]:
You literally got back on your horse. That's the I love that expression, and you literally did it. But whatever somebody is going through, they may have nothing to do with horses, but there is a horse metaphorically that they maybe need to get back on or maybe they need to help somebody else get back on a horse is kind of what you're saying as well, passing along all of the things that you've learned. So while you're making your dreams come true, you're helping other people as well. And by sharing your story, you're encouraging people. And it has become a big spiritual journey for you as well.

Lanée Blaise [00:30:53]:
Absolutely. So now is there a way that if someone wants to hear more about your thoughts or follow you on social media, is that something that you are open to?

Francine Brown [00:31:07]:
Absolutely. So I you can find me on Facebook, Francine Brown. There's a lot of Francine Browns. I change my profile picture a lot. However, I'll always probably be on a horse. Yes. In the profile picture. And I'm gonna change some things up a little bit.

Francine Brown [00:31:23]:
And then I also have a website that has, like I say, the the beamer on it for people and horses. And then as this health coaching thing becomes more, as it grows and stuff, my website will be the same. One nine one, the digits, horse.com. So one nine one horse dot com.

Sandy Kovach  [00:31:45]:
And this beamer that you speak of, that's the product that helps with circulation?

Francine Brown [00:31:49]:
Yeah. For both people and horses, and that's up and running right now.

Sandy Kovach  [00:31:52]:
Okay. So that's interesting. I hadn't heard of this before. So

Francine Brown [00:31:56]:
Yeah. A lot of people haven't. And it's the most scientifically researched technology that's out there right now. So if that's something that interests you or tons of questions, feel free. You can jump on there. There's ways to contact me. And or if you wanna talk about something else, that's fine too. And I do have a lot of followers on Facebook that just like to take in the pictures.

Francine Brown [00:32:16]:
I live in a beautiful place. And

Sandy Kovach  [00:32:19]:
Oh, yeah.

Francine Brown [00:32:19]:
I play with photography a lot, and I'm gonna start making more of that public because, again, beauty pierces the heart. You get on Facebook in the morning and there's a gorgeous picture. I do that. I follow tons of photographers because I like to see what's all over the world.

Lanée Blaise [00:32:36]:
Yeah. You are looking for lovely every that is and you're making sure we try to remind ourselves to not just stop and smell the roses, but look for the lovely in all the different places. And even if it's on social media, even like even if you live in a, you know, a bricked in wall house, you know, but you can still you can still see it in places like Colorado.

Sandy Kovach  [00:33:03]:
So, before we wrap up, is there anything that you wanted to mention that we haven't talked about?

Francine Brown [00:33:09]:
The biggest thing is really listen to yourself. Listen to your body. There's so much noise out there talking about social media and all these things. We get hit all around. Takes a time to really know what your own true north is, whether it's for your family, for yourself, your next move, or you just need to take time and rest. We all need to take time and rest. We're tired, and we don't make good decisions when we're tired. That is the one thing that we need reminded of.

Francine Brown [00:33:37]:
I need reminded of. Kick back and relax and turn everything off and tune in. Pray. That's how we connect our union with God.

Lanée Blaise [00:33:46]:
I love it. I need it. I truly believe what you're saying too about looking all the different ways that God can speak to you and the part about rest. I truly believe that God was putting the message in my head just 2 days ago saying, Lanee, please take a moment to be still and enjoy because how sad would you be if you were told you squandered the day or you squandered the the time that you could have had with the family members or with God or looking at beauty because of all the hustle and bustle that we do in this world try to get quote unquote ahead, sometimes it's better to be still and enjoy what we already have right there at the center. You are making me remember

Francine Brown [00:34:36]:
that. God

Sandy Kovach  [00:34:36]:
gave us the Sabbath. Right?

Francine Brown [00:34:38]:
Yeah? Yes. Yes. And the affliction. We have plenty of affliction. We need to take the time for the beauty, however that comes to us. There's 2 things that pierces our heart. What does God seek? Our hearts. Right there.

Sandy Kovach  [00:34:52]:
Nice. Beautiful.

Lanée Blaise [00:34:54]:
Do you know who had that quote?

Francine Brown [00:34:56]:
Actually, I got it out of John Eldridge's book. Now I don't know if he quoted that out of somebody else, but I am telling you, I I love his sacred romance book, and that book is what started me on this wild journey. And I it just has started this whole thing in me just going, that's so true. I miss Bob's heart, but I also understand that Jesus has a bigger heart and bigger plans. And he's seeking my heart and calling me. And whatever it is I'm supposed to do, I couldn't do it while Bob was here, and he told me that. Bob told me that. How did he even know that? You know, that's a whole nother story for a different day.

Lanée Blaise [00:35:40]:
Wow. Sounds like we will be inviting you back for that different day because I think that you like a magic of podcast and we love Francine. I think it's very mutual love we've got going.

Francine Brown [00:35:52]:
Well, thank you. I just feel so grateful for this opportunity to share because there was a lot of shame for so many years around all of this. And now I'm seeing where everything happens for the good of those who love him. And now it's sharing afflictions, but, you know, just kind of in my weird funny way. If I can help one person, then they're gonna be led to the next person to the next person. I'm just one voice out here, but it starts this snowball effect. And then all of a sudden, it the tide turns.

Lanée Blaise [00:36:24]:
I love that too. And just real quick, I know I'm gonna we're gonna wrap up. But John Eldridge, he has a an app and I it's a free app, the 1 minute pause. It's not the pause app that's different, but the 1 minute pause where he just literally speaks this beautiful, peaceful, centering message over anyone who listens, along with his books, which you do have to pay for the books. But I just I like that you got that quote from his book. I even imagine I imagine people even taking this episode and just listening to it to just calm them down from a hard frustrating day or in the middle of the day or the end of the day to just seek that peace and that beauty and to know that there's people out here trying to spread that.

Francine Brown [00:37:13]:
Absolutely. And I'm on my 5th month of the PAWS app. I do do it twice a day. Yeah. And I'm gonna probably continue because everything that's in there is so fundamental, but we all need reminded of everything all the time.

Lanée Blaise [00:37:26]:
Yep. To just get back to God and get back to peace. Yep. Well as you can tell we could sit here and talk all day long. We do plan at least I've asked Sandy but I plan to ask

Francine Brown [00:37:38]:
to come back again.

Sandy Kovach  [00:37:40]:
Yeah. Because, you know, the sheep, I I know we were gonna talk about that. And what was that again?

Francine Brown [00:37:46]:
Well, I know why they use the sheep analogy in the Bible, and most people think sheep are dumb, and they're absolutely not. They're misunderstood. So are we. And they need a shepherd, and so do we. And I have a great analogy for that firsthand because I've lived with the sheep, and I'm excited. My neighbor has sheep. I haven't been around them. And I got reminded of that the other day, helping these little lambs, and I just get excited about all of that kind of stuff.

Francine Brown [00:38:13]:
So, yeah, I'd love to share that. Sure. Yes, please. Okay. So so a lot of people use the analogy that sheep are dumb. They are not dumb. When you are around sheep, you have to think like a sheep. So here's the deal.

Francine Brown [00:38:28]:
They can't see well. So they use the safety of the herd to stay together. And in the Bible, there's so many analogies of the sheep and all of that, and there always is a shepherd there. David starts shepherding. I, in my own mind, believe he had to do that to prepare him so he could think like he needed to for his calling in life. And Jesus runs after the one sheep and leaves at 99. There's a reason because there's pray after them, and he's trying to keep them safe. That's us.

Francine Brown [00:39:05]:
We are the sheep, and we're calling ourselves dumb. We shouldn't do that. We are at times distracted and so are they. But because of their vision thing and they need things, and they don't have a constitution to try very hard, that, you know, kinda goes into what I call the settler or pioneer spirit. You know, there's 2 different things there. And so, we need to realize that we do need our shepherd, and he's here to help us. The difference is we have free will and so does the sheep. They can run off if they want.

Francine Brown [00:39:39]:
Most of the time, they know better. But if they get accidentally separated, they can't see enough to get back. Well, that's the way we are. We go off track, and we don't know how to get back. And so we have to humble ourselves and say, show me the way.

Lanée Blaise [00:39:55]:
And we can't always see either, you know, our figurative sight. We can't see the whole picture. Like you said, we need our shepherd to get back on track too. I never knew that about sheep, but I like it.

Francine Brown [00:40:09]:
Most people don't know that even in my industry because they haven't I don't know. God gave me a great gave it to my parents and to myself. I don't see this gift in everybody doing this, but it's great. And now this is how I know God through the animals.

Sandy Kovach  [00:40:26]:
Wow. God uses anything and everything. You've always said that that Lanee and Yeah. There's Francine and her animals and her sheep. Yeah.

Lanée Blaise [00:40:35]:
I challenge everyone to try to find the way that God is most speaking to them or most often speaking to them. Is it through dreams? Is it through music? Is it through the animals? Is it through nature and beauty? Is it through sermons? Is it through words in the Bible? Is it visual things that you see? Be on the lookout and to listen out for God. So everybody out there, imagine yourself resting, being still, looking for lovely, listening for lovely, and realizing that even though things are not in this life are not gonna necessarily be under our control and not necessarily go the way that we want it to go, there is hope, there are other people out here to show us the way and to lead us right to God to get us to a sense of peace in realizing we're on this earth for a reason. Just like Francine, we're still here and we are not alone.

Sandy Kovach  [00:41:36]:
Thank you so much for listening. If the message inspired you, we'd love to hear about it. Let us know with review, with a rating. Let us know with an email or a post on social media. You can find all the links at imagine yourself podcast.com. And in the show notes. You can also find out, where to contact Francine. We'll drop that information there as well.

Sandy Kovach  [00:42:00]:
And until next time, when we have something new to imagine, take care of yourself. We're definitely praying for your blessings. But if you have to go through trials, may you go through them with hope and walk with God.