Todd and Julie Chrisley reflected on their approach to life in their first podcast since they were sentenced to a combined 19 years in federal prison.
Julie, 49, shared a “powerful” quote from author Priscilla Shirer during the latest episode of their podcast, “Chrisley Confessions,” which was broadcast Wednesday. It was the first episode the embattled couple have released since their sentencing last week.
“Age is just a number, and since we don’t know our death date, we have to live every day as if it’s our last,” Julie said.
“None of us knows when our time stamp is,” Todd, 53, said in agreement. “Which is why I say yesterday doesn’t matter. Today is what we have. And tomorrow belongs to God. Because we’re not promised tomorrow.”
Todd and Julie Chrisley discussed the importance of living “every day as if it’s our last” after being sentenced to prison.
(Tommy Garcia)
The couple discussed their thoughts on how God will give people a “calling” and “simultaneously prepare” them to fulfill it.
“God will call you to do something, and then he’ll equip you to do it,” Julie said. “He’ll give you what you need to do it.”
“What God calls us to, he will walk us through,” Todd added. “He will equip you with what you need to complete that journey that he put you on.”
Julie noted the importance of “timing” and remembering that “it’s not your timing, it’s God’s timing.”
“We want everything to happen on our time,” Julie said. “We want instant gratification. We want things to happen when we want them to happen. We want things to happen where we suffer the least. And we want things to happen where it always goes our way. And that’s just not how it is.
The two were sentenced to a combined 19 years in federal prison in their tax fraud and bank evasion case.
(Getty Images)
“Sometimes God has to, like you said, break us down to bless us, to build us back up.”
Julie said that people can “get into trouble” when they try to “manipulate” the timing or the situation to achieve a certain outcome.
“Sometimes we don’t even know what our outcome is that we need,” she added. “And what we think we need is not what we really need.”
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Julie explained that she believed it was important for her to learn this lesson and share it with others.
“I’m not the only person who’s struggling,” she said. “There are people out here who are struggling, whether it’s a job, a family member, a sickness, a marriage, a child, a friend, whatever. And I know that if you can lean into God more, and I believe what that means is prayer.
“I believe that means fervent prayer, like praying diligently and believing when you pray that believing that God’s going to answer your prayers and claiming it. I believe that that’s what would free us up mentally, free us up physically.”
Julie acknowledged that she worries “all the time.”
(Dennis Leupold)
“If I could do that more, it would make me feel so much better. If I could let some of it go and not try to worry. Because worry is not from God, but it’s something that I do all the time,” Julie admitted.
She then quoted a study she said found that 92% of the things people worry about never happen.
“Eight percent of the time, the things you worry about do happen,” she acknowledged. “But, you know, we can’t live in that.
“And that’s what my prayer partners have had really focused or been trying to help me, to live above my circumstances. And that’s what’s very hard for me because I’m a live in the trenches kind of girl.”
THE CHRISLEYS RESPOND AFTER BEING ‘UNFAIRLY TARGETED’ IN TAX EVASION CASE
The South Carolina native stressed the importance of remembering that challenging times pass.
“You have to know that your circumstances are not forever, that they’re going to eventually change,” she said. “You’re going to eventually come through the other side and that you’re going to be given the strength you need to get through it.”
“And that’s sometimes hard to accept, I think, when you don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Todd said that while everyone has “dark days,” they can either choose to “sit and wallow in them” or “get up.”
“We can get up,” he added.
Near the end of the episode, Julie acknowledged that she knew she was setting an example for her children on how to manage life’s challenges.
Todd said the two have tried to be good role models for their children but admitted that they have “fallen short at times.” They share sons Chase, 26, and Grayson, 16, and daughter Savannah, 25.
(Getty)
“Any difficulty that I am going through or that I have gone through, I have tried to go through it always thinking and knowing that my children are watching,” she explained. “And that the difficulties I’m going through, how I handle it, they’re watching that as well.
“If I handle it right, they’re watching. If I screw it up, they’re watching. And so, for me as a parent, I want to try to make sure that I do it right more than I do it wrong because I know they’re watching, and I know it will prepare them for difficulties, unfortunately, that they will have later in life.”
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Todd added that he and his wife have tried to be good examples for their children but admitted that they “have fallen short at times.”
Todd and Julie share sons Chase, 26, and Grayson, 16, and daughter Savannah, 25. Todd is also a father to daughter Lindsie, 33, and son Kyle, 31, with ex-wife Teresa Terry.
On Nov. 21, Todd was sentenced to 12 years in prison after being convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax fraud.
Julie received a seven-year sentence after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax fraud. She was also charged with wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
The reality stars have maintained their innocence throughout the investigation and trial.
