The Compass Chronicles Podcast: Where Fandom Meets Faith

Our Obsession With SuperHeroes With Guest Wanda Dipaolo

• Javier M • Season 3 • Episode 4

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What if the capes, rings, and shields we love are really breadcrumbs leading us toward a bigger story? We dive into the space where fandom meets faith, tracing how Superman’s steady rescue, Captain America’s moral courage, and Green Lantern’s willpower can illuminate trust, virtue, and calling without turning heroes into idols. Wanda joins us to unpack real freedom in health, wealth, and spirit, and we tackle the “Superman complex” that burns out caregivers and leaders who try to save everyone themselves.

We talk about Lois Lane’s leap as a portrait of faith with discernment, not blind risk, and why the Trinity’s constancy grounds hope when life feels unstable. From the Injustice arc’s lesson on anger to Spider-Man’s black suit and the lure of darkness, we confront how pain can twist our view of justice, and how transparency, community, and prayer bring us back to the light. We also challenge the subtle villains—envy and comparison—stoked by social media, and offer a better way: be a creator, not a competitor. Put on the armor of God, stay in your lane, and let the Holy Spirit turn gifts into service rather than control.

Along the way, we share honest stories of grief, healing, and the everyday choices that shape character when no one is watching. Classic comics carried a moral clarity we still need; their thrill fades when the credits roll, but the assurance of faith abides all day. If you’re navigating burnout, wrestling with anger, or wondering how pop culture can deepen your walk with God, this conversation will meet you where you are and point you forward.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves superheroes, and leave a review to help more listeners find us. Got a hero story or a question we should tackle next? Message us—we’d love to hear it.

I would love to hear from you!

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For listeners looking to deepen their engagement with the topics discussed, visit our website or check out our devotionals and poetry on Amazon, with all proceeds supporting The New York School of The Bible at Calvary Baptist Church. Stay connected and enriched on your spiritual path with us!

SPEAKER_00:

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Compass Chronicles podcast where Faith Fandom Meets Faith. My name is Javier. I welcome you back to our show. Uh, today's gonna be a fun show. We have a great new guest, and uh, we're gonna be talking about a pretty interesting topic. Uh, I'm gonna introduce my co-host Mickey, and she will then introduce our guest. So I want to thank everyone who's joining us today. And Mickey, I leave it to you.

SPEAKER_03:

Thank you. Well, welcome in everybody to the Compass Chronicles. Again, where um Fandom Meets Faith. This is basically a podcast where we talk about pop culture and how we incorporate faith into that culture. Um, a lot of times we look at superheroes and we wonder um how they can be relatable to um Christians and our walk with the Lord. Today we have an amazing guest. Um, she's a newfound friend of mine. I'm so glad that she's here. I've been blessed to have an opportunity to get to know her. Can't wait to get to know her more. Um her name is Wanda, and she is a um digital creator working on creating um um basically freedom online with health and wealth. And I love that. So um, Wanda, welcome in. I'm glad you're here. And why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you. Thank you for the invite. I I really appreciate that. Um I you know, I help people create freedom, you know, in their income and in their health, and and also in their lives, and and I guide them online with a simple system, you know, so they can understand what's going on, you know, um inside their body, so they can understand what's going on inside their body. And I also help people um online as an incubator online to help people um step into the person that they want to become.

SPEAKER_03:

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00:

Awesome. Well, and thank you for coming on, Londa. We appreciate it. Um, so today, like I said before, we're gonna be talking about um how we look at heroes. Obviously, we are a fandom podcast, so we're gonna talk about uh pretty much any superhero you like. We all have our preferences. As you can see, I'm representing Superman, but only because I'm a DC fan, uh, not because I like Marvel, because my co-host loves Marvel. So we're always gonna be that way. But um so uh but we all have our superheroes, be it uh our fathers, our mothers, our friends, cousins, we all have our hero, right? So our question is how as believers and as people, as human beings, how do we relate to our heroes? What makes them our heroes, and how do we compensate that with our faith if it's an outside hero, like a person or you know, like baseball players or or anything like that? How you know would we deal with that as Christians? You know, because obviously God says he doesn't like anything above him or whatever, we make that an idol, that's an issue, right? But we all have our heroes. I have heroes, writers and artists and stuff that I enjoy and I love. Uh but anyway, Wana, so my question to you is how your heroes and your favorite uh kind of book or anything with pop culture or you yourself, how do you deal with uh the hero?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I think Superman has lasted so long because he makes the world feel safe, you know. Um people need hope and protection, you know. When you watch Superman, you know that things are gonna turn out okay. And his story normally, you know, ends well. And our superhero is, you know, uh our dad, you know, our dad is a superhero in life. You know, looked up to him. We look up to him, he protects us, he trusts us, you know. Not we trust him, I mean. And um, that's just so important. Supervent, you know, he presents the feeling of protection, you know. He stands for the truth, and uh, and that's something that's solid, it doesn't change. You know? You know, the world keeps shifting, but uh the Trinity doesn't, you know, God stays the same, the Father, the Son, the Father, the Holy Spirit always stays the same. So that's so powerful, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

That's awesome. That's awesome. Uh Matee, I'll leave the Marvel fan next because you know, we don't You just throw me running under the business, didn't you? Of course. Well we wouldn't if we're not having fun, it's not fun.

SPEAKER_03:

No, hey, I hey, I'm a tough cookie. I can take it, so it's okay to shit out.

SPEAKER_00:

That's why I do it. That's why I do it.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I'm I'm a I'm a Captain America girl. Like um, yeah, my daughter and I went um uh as as you all as you know, our listeners may not know that I take care of my grandma with dementia. And you know, it's not an easy thing to do, and you have to try to find some fun in it. Um and you try to, you know, in order to thrive and make your way through it, you have to look at the good and and in the situation. And my daughter said to me one time, and I don't know why she brought it up, but she said, Mom, if you ever get dementia, she goes, I'm gonna tell you that your husband is Captain America and he's out saving the world. And I was like, Okay, I can live with this. So she, so every year she buys me little things that are Captain America related, you know, she's getting my my room ready, so so that way I could believe her if it were to ever happen. But um, Lord willing that, you know, that's not gonna happen to me. But we just, you know, we just kind of play around with it because we're dealing with it every day. But I think superheroes, I think we need to, we we tend to gravitate towards things that we can see with our own eyes. And when the movie came out, I mean, we see Superman flying around. He's like um, like one of what you had said about um Superman and Lois Lane, I'll let you share that. But I I think it's amazing that when we see that, it gives us more of a visual because like we can't see God. We can't see what he's doing all the time in our lives. So he superheroes, I think, just give us a perspective, like a persona basically, as to what God can do. Because if this is this is a made-up figure, can can you even imagine the power that God brings to the table? And we can't even see his power. So seeing it firsthand and watching it just I think it brings a little bit of hope to um our lives and lets us know, you know, this is a person that usually is, you know, superheroes are usually sent from a father, like Jesus was sent by his father. Um he he comes down to save us, he always protects us. He wants to, he's not there to um watch us fall, he's there to pick us up. So, you know, and he it encourages us and he helps us when we get in our in our in our situations. The superhero shows up and he saves the day, you know, like God does, you know. And so that's where I think fandom is relatable with pop culture because and faith, because um, when I think about Superman, Super Superman, no, he's not my favorite character. Yes, I do like him though. And um I do I do like Wanda's analogy with it. I do think that um it just gives us something relatable, and sometimes um even though we can't see God, when we see Superman, it just reminds us of who God is and how powerful God can be. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely, absolutely. Um and and I and I'm gonna be uh I I love DC and I love Superman, but Superman isn't my hero. I just decide Superman is cool because uh Superman can get a little boring after a while, per se. I'm talking as a comic book fan. Uh I'm I'm a big and people are probably gonna hate me because all my friends pretty much when I say Green Lantern, they go crazy. What do you mean, Green Lantern? I I the only reason I really love Green Lantern is only because of the he has to use emotions and everything. It's will, anger, joy, love. All these are parts of the ring or the lantern core. So they all have emotions. There's death, there's anger, there's love. And Green Lantern, the one we is is his willpower, his strength to stand up to stuff. And I look at that as also as a Christian, where we have to stand up for what we are and who we are. And when Christ tells us to, you know, we're gonna have to face things that we're not gonna understand or whatever, we have to hope on him, and he gives us the will and the strength to fight that, you know, and the best we can. So that's the way I see Green Lantern and I see heroes. Uh, but I want Wanda talk about her analogy she used with uh Superman, which was pretty cool because uh Mickey had told her about me, and I said, you know what, that's the premise of the whole show. So um why not let you go?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, okay. Well just picture this when Superman catches Lois Lane, you know, that's like God catching us.

SPEAKER_02:

Amen.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, and that's just so reassuring to know that he's always there, even though we can't see him. He's always there. He's lives inside of us. You know, we are we are him, you know. He lives in us. And yes, we can get caught up in worry and all those things, but when we know that this too shall pass. Right? What's happening now, you know, it's gonna pass. And there's always a solution to the problem, you know. I always say, go to the phone, don't go to the throne. When you got a problem, open up that bottle. Because every problem that you have, you can go in there and you can find it. And I like that because I like the reassurance myself. I like the reassurance of God's word, and and if it helps me, it can help you if you're open. Right? If you're open and you can let him in your life, he'll work with you. You know, and I just I like that. I like knowing that he's in me. And anything that uh he just started a great thing and me will finish it to the end.

SPEAKER_00:

That's awesome. That's I hope people are listening and understanding, taking that in. Um, especially that analogy about what you know, Lois Lane, uh, Superman always catching Lois Lane. And it's so funny because if you look at some of the uh comic books or some of the uh episodes, she always throws herself out the window knowing that he's gonna catch her. You know what I mean? She has but it's all about that faith, right? She has not that I'm gonna jump out of wind and say catch me. I mean, I hope he does, but but you know what I mean. It's just it's this whole where this whole faith. And it reminds me of that Roman uh soldier that went to Christ, and he tells him, I don't know you, I don't, but I know you have the strength and your word can take of everything. Just and he says that faith alone is bigger than anyone he's ever spoken to. That faith of an of a gentile, which is us. So imagine that faith, right? So that's where when you said that I thought of that and said, It's true, we we have to take that leap of faith. Not, but I don't want to say leap of faith in ignorance, because it could be ignorance where you just leap because, oh, God will catch me. It's that famous analogy where uh the lady's drowning and the helicopter comes and the boat comes and all that, and God, oh, but God didn't say you just didn't listen and didn't take it. And and that's the whole thing, right? Where we uh love superheroes and we want to be that big guy and want to be that one in the front, but not realize that the real hero is God in you and helping you do what you are doing, right? It helps us get up and do what we're doing right now, you know, talking about him and and working all, you know. We all have real lives per se. You know, we all have things we have to take care of, family members and and things like that, and God gives us the strength. And we see that in in Christ and heroes and and and anime and mangas and stuff like that. But then I also think about the negative part of being a hero. Now, we're gonna get a little deep here only because it I I take that this part very seriously because I I am a big believer of mental health therapy. I believe in mental health, I believe in psychiatrists, I believe in that if God put people like that in our lives, that means it's being there to help. Uh, and my biggest thing that I learned about me was that I have what's called a Superman complex where I always want to be the hero, I always want to be the guy to solve the problem, I always want to be the one to jump in and take care of the issue and all that. And I realized that being that hero, you know, you tend to either exhaust yourself, you either lose yourself in other people's issues or problems, uh, and not take care of your own self, and even start losing your connection with God because you're feeling like you're the one that's gonna start taking care of the problem, right? You're the hero, you're the one that's gonna jump in and be pull out in the big ass and say, Yes, I am the one that's doing it, right? So that's the way I also see how heroes can be detrimental to us, how we want to be that hero. So I leave that open question to you guys and and Mickey and see what you know because like you, you take care of your grandma and things like that, and and we feel that that love and that we don't feel because we want that recognition or that hero status. We do it because we love. And when you take those two things and you kind of mix them up and think that doing it is meant love, you know, that's where the the separation comes. But you know, I I uh I leave that question open to you guys to see what you think about that.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, I think with um Superman specifically there's a moral compass um because he um sometimes he restrains his power, you know, um, because he wants to choose righteousness and and goodness. And um he isn't just strong, he's good. He's a good person, he's a good being, and he demonstrates that through examples. Um, yes, he's he goes around and he he he he sees and he knows there's trouble and he's gonna try to be the guy that saves the day. But ultimately, he's trying to do the right thing. He, you know, it's not necessarily, hey, put the spotlight directly on me so the world can see me. He's trying to do what's right. He's trying to, you know, protect and and and save. And also, like, you know, when he's not in his Superman cave, um, he's still trying to be such a good person. You know, when you w watch his shows and stuff and and and he has conversations, Superman isn't like, you know, but I'm Superman. I do everything, you know. He doesn't do that. He doesn't walk around boastfully doing that. And another um thing I like to say to people is um for me, Jesus is my ultimate superhero. Like I see Jesus as as the ultimate Superman, the ultimate, like Jesus is the I don't know if you've ever seen the picture where it has all of the superheroes and Jesus is in the middle and it says Jesus is my superhero. I love that picture because I can relate with that, you know. And I I mean, yes, we like a lot of different um variations of um heroic people. To me, my grandmother is my superhero. She saved me when I was two years old, when I went into foster care, and she saved my life. And um she stuck with me, she stood by me, she never judged me. Even when I was 14 and I thought I was a bag of all that in a bag of chips, and I thought I knew everything. My grandma never judged me. She corrected me through love, but never judgment. And she told me, Sidney, you know, I really don't think that's a good idea. Now, if you do that, you know, these you're gonna have to go through the consequences. You know, you're gonna have to live up to own up to your mistakes. And I did. There were some times when I was like, oh, I'm not, this isn't a bad thing, and I would do it anyway. And she would come back around and be like, see what I tell you, don't do that, don't do that, you know? And she's just always been one, um, even though I didn't live with her throughout my whole life, um, she stayed a part of my life as my foster grandmother while I was in and out of other foster homes until I was 16. And then I went back with my mom. She helped me to understand that even though my mom wasn't able to take care of me, she was still my mom and I needed to honor her and love her. And if it wasn't for her, I honestly couldn't say that my mom and I would ever have ever built a relationship. So she to me was like on earth, she was one of my biggest superhero fans because she, I could go to her, I could tell her anything. Even if I was embarrassed or ashamed, I knew I could tell her. And she would, I may not like what she was gonna say, but she would give me the truth. And I think superheroes do that in our lives. Like you said in the beginning, um, Javier, that not all superheroes wear capes. They could be somebody that's a friend or a family member or a child or even a coworker or or a college roommate. It could be anybody could be your superhero when somebody steps in to your life and takes on that role for you, and you just admire them and you respect them and you love them because um no matter what mess you're in, they're putting up with you, you know. Like my girlfriend put up with me. Right, right, right, right, right.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, for sure, for sure. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

So I love I love to think about that, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03:

Um that makes any sense.

SPEAKER_00:

Totally makes sense. Um, also, I I just want to put the question out there to our listeners and stuff like that. Like, who and how do you uh deal with your hero, or what is your hero, or is there something in your life that shouldn't be your hero? Why is it your hero? Why is it center of your life instead of uh Christ or anything else? What's taking over you uh being part of your life that you think it's your hero, but it also could be your uh enemy. So uh that's a question I want to put out there to people. And if uh please send us an email, let us know what you think, and and send us messages. We'd love to hear from everyone. Um and uh also, you know, when we talk about um heroes per se, we also have to talk about the villain, right? Because there's always someone that's bad that the hero needs to either defend or fight or destroy, right? So obviously we're talking about our uh the devil and and all his influences in our lives. And what do what hero do we look at to try and stop that? Do we look on ourselves to say, oh well, you know, the devil's attacking me, but if I want to just uh you know, I'll I'll block it out, or I'll do I don't need that, or is God the one that's gonna be your hero, or how do you defeat that in a way? So one, I'm gonna give you that, throw that at you, and and see what your thoughts on that. Well, what was the question, how I defeat well, like um yeah, as as you know, all every hero needs their enemy, right? Or the evil part, right? So we obviously as Christians, as believers, as people of faith, our biggest enemy is the devil and his minions. So how do you deal with that as a Christian, as a human being, uh, without making your making anything else centered? Because we tend to do that, right? We tend to sometimes put ourselves in the middle and say we got this without even realizing we're saying that. But um, so yeah, that's my question, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I I think Superman's story shows us the real power isn't about um control of force. It's about responsibility, right? He teaches us that we all have that power within us, right? And what matters the most is well how we choose to use it, right? Truth, truth strength is protecting others and doing what's right when nobody's looking, you know? Using your gifts. And and it's and they weren't given to dominate.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

You think so that's my thoughts. They want me to dominate and and the power's in us. When you know that power's in you, you can feel it. You can feel the the love of Jesus in you, and I it's it's the energy is contagious. You know, the love of Jesus is contagious, it's it's everlasting, it doesn't leave us. He'll never leave us nor forsake us. And knowing that, right, that's so powerful. Just knowing he's never gonna leave me, he's never gonna forsake me. He knows every hair on my head, he knows what I was gonna do, and he has a purpose. He has a purpose for me, he has a purpose for you, he has purpose for our viewers. And we gotta dig inside, and we have to do the work.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, we have to do the inside work and many of us don't want to do. But uh once you do the inside work and like you like you said, Becky, it's like an onion, and you peel the layers back, and and you know, once you peel the layers back and you can deal with the things, it's a little easier. And and when you can go through something, you can share your story and it will help another person. And that's what it's about. I really believe that it's about helping other people. I mean, Superman's great, yeah, but he's not gonna come and save you. You have to be aware of your thinking and your actions and what you do every day. That's so important. You know, because nobody's gonna save your life. Superman's not gonna jump down and save you. Right. The log is gonna save you. Cast all my cares on on me because I care for you. You know, I you know, there was a time where I was mad at God. I didn't believe in him. You know, I was just angry. I lost my brother. He was born on my birthday, died on my birthday, lost my best friend in a car accident. And um I was very angry. But I realized that God was working through that. It was either a lesson or a blessing. And I knew at a young age that he had something for me to do. And um, it wasn't easy. It's never easy, but I think when you find community, you find support, and when you deep down and you do that work, that's where the that's where the magic happens. You know, just um picture this your younger self for myself, it was me sitting on a stairs, waiting for mama to come back and mom left and she didn't come back for days, and I would wait for her. I thought there was something wrong with me at an early age. But I realized that when Gotti, you know, look at that younger self that you know you're safe. You're loved, you're valued, you're worthy. It's okay. You know, this was then. This is now. You don't have to feel that way anymore. You know? You don't have to feel like you're alone and and you're scared, right? Because I'm here for you. That was a big thing for me. I was like, whoa, them things affect me. But when I could look at my younger self and see that little girl sitting there all scared and all crying and and knowing, alright, it wasn't a fault. You know what? You know, now it could feel you wrap your arms around you. And you know, it takes you from where you were, that scared person, uh, unloved, living in many foster homes. I didn't tell you what it my Mickey, but I all lived in many foster homes. So when you said that, I could relate. You know, I always wondered, and I was separated. My brothers and sisters were in another home, but I was always by myself. And it was so hard, guys. It was so hard. Am I ever gonna see them again? Are we ever gonna be together? They were in a foster home that wasn't so good, and it was very hard because I couldn't control that. But I prayed, I prayed and I prayed and I prayed. You know, there's just power in that. So I think we have to take the true strength as, you know, it's using your gifts. It's dominating people, it's not making you do something you don't want to do. Right. And and you don't and you don't want that, right? You want people to come really. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

I love that you're bringing that up because um when you look at superheroes, we all we all wonder what their gifting is, right? What they're what is their what is their supernatural power that they're bringing to the table. It's a gifting, and we all have a gift. I I believe that God gave us all an assignment. And when I think about the enemy, um, in and with what you were saying, Javier, that um, you know, when we have to face the enemy head on, sometimes we don't do that. Sometimes we side with the enemy. Sometimes we take the the that side. We we you know, we say this might be a little bit easier or this looks more interesting, or this is more fun, and and we we we kind of step over to the dark side, if you will. Um sorry referencing a little Star Wars, but you know, hey, jump in, you know, we jump ships sometimes because it it seems like the easier or safer way to do it. But God is about transparency. When you go into evil, you go into hiding and you go into darkness, and that's where where the bad things can happen in your life. And you got to be careful stepping into those zones because I know some of the darkest places that I've been in my life, things did didn't turn out so good for me. You know, had bad things happen to me. But when God brought it to the light and the transparency came, I was able to get healing from it and I got freed from it and I was able to um help others that were going through the same thing because um I I remember, you know, when I became a foster parent, people were like, why did you become a foster parent? As a, you know, you were a foster kid and now you're a foster parent. You know, I took in 151 kids and I had a revolving door for seven years. And as soon as I shared with those kids that I too was a foster parent at some point in my life, they could relate to me and it made them more comfortable. Right. Instead of, okay, what kind of an other adult parent um authority figure is going to be put over the top of me? It it brought it down to something they can relate with. And I think that's where superheroes come in when we when we think about their power and their gifting. Like you said, Javier, about the Green Lantern. Again, not my favorite, but that's okay. He has a lot of emotional, you know, he has a lot of insight. He he brings that to the table. And that's what makes him who he is as a superhero. And whoever created him probably, if you think about the creator of that person, that person as an individual probably had that same insight that he brought to the table with Green Lantern. Just like the creator of Superman or Captain America or whoever your superhero is. I think it's important that we we understand that sometimes we do fall into the darkness. And we have to understand, you know, um how you how you go through these comic books sometimes and you read it and you're like, um, you're kind of, I don't know if you've ever seen it where you see like a a person that's like two pe two people in one, whether the good and the bad, you know, the good versus the evil. And they're they're fighting with their own, their own struggle in life. And sometimes you, you know, like Superman when he put, I mean not Superman, Spider-Man, when he put on the black costume because he was going into a darkness, he was in he was enraged. I think we all go through that. I think we can relate with that, where we just get angry. I was angry at God when he took my mom. I was very angry at God when he took my mom. It took me to a very dark pit that I didn't want to be in. And it took me sitting at the feet of Jesus for three years to figure out what God was doing in my life because I thought God was the blind. I blamed God. I said, I had plans with my mom and you took her away. Not very happy with you. And you know, but here's the thing about God is he loves our heart so much that he was okay with me telling him the truth. That's where the transparency came out. And once I started talking to God about it and just letting him know why I was so frustrated and angry and um asking him to forgive me for that anger, he started breaking that off for me. You know, he started breaking all of that darkness off for me. So when we're up against the villain, when we're trying to be the heroic, but we're we're we're tuga-warn with the villain in in our comic book era lives, we we need to recognize that we we also can be the villains sometimes too. Like, I I know sometimes like when I'm dealing with my own daughter, she's 16. I, you know, I adopted her. Like her and I will be fighting, and sometimes I'll say things that I probably shouldn't say to her as a mom. And then I have to go back and I have to be the bigger person and go, you know, you really didn't deserve that. I mean, yes, you messed up, but I should not have treated you that way. I'm sorry, I apologize. That is a huge thing to go through when you when you're being pulled, and and the enemy is like, yeah, she's ripping her daughter apart, but God doesn't want us ripping, you know, our daughters apart. He wants us building our daughters up and putting crowns on their head. So when I think about the mistakes that I've made in my life and going back and forth, I really see how God has demonstrated for myself how important transparency is. Because I I didn't always used to be transparent. When I was in kindergarten, I didn't even speak in kindergarten. I hid behind the teacher. I was a scared little rat. I was terrified. You might find me in the cellar, but you wouldn't find me in the classroom. I never spoke, I never did anything. And God said, one day you're gonna do this. And I said, Oh no, I'm not. And he said, Yes, you are. And here we are. And look, now, you know, now I have five podcasts, you know, and I never thought I'd even do one. So I think God brings us to the table. He pulls it, pulls our gifting and our goodness out of us. If, like what you said, Wanda, if we're willing, if we we have to be willing. The ones, the people that were chosen in the Bible, they weren't necessarily called because they were the smartest or the brightest, or they went because they were willing. They were called, I mean, they were called because of their willingness to do it. And God does that with us, and I love that.

SPEAKER_00:

That's awesome. That's awesome. And and keeping in the same tone about the anger, there is an arc in Superman. It's the Unjustice League, where he is uh uh actually tricked into killing Lois Wayne uh by the Joker. And uh he uh loses it because she was pregnant at the time, and he literally spoiler alert if no one's ever read the Unjustice League, um so if you don't skip, um he literally uh and you know Batman and the Joker, everybody always says, why doesn't Batman just kill the Joker already and just get it over with? Well, Superman does the job, and he does kill the Joker, and based on that, he his whole idea of justice changes. His whole idea of being a hero changes, and that's another thing. And how do they survive this? Through the Justice League, right? They all each person that community, each one had a part, and that's one thing I wanted to lead from that. He was angry, he he brought people, he killed people based on his idea of justice, and obviously it was not justice, it was anger and hurt, and and and we can see that in the world today where people think that they're actually helping or doing stuff, but they're actually hurting uh themselves, and they're angry, and they think by lashing out or saying things, it's going to either help them or help the other person. But keeping in that idea, I was thinking about community, right? How we all have to talk to each other, and if there's an issue where you know, if your brother cries, you cry, if your sister hurts, you hurt. And that's the way I also see the Justice League, because Superman couldn't fight all the enemies by himself, he needed partners, he needed people behind him. Uh, and that's the word Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Fly, all these, and they're all different parts, they all bring their own thing in. That's the same thing.

SPEAKER_03:

You know what I wanted to think?

SPEAKER_00:

Sure, go ahead.

SPEAKER_03:

What I wanted to jump in and say, real quick. Sorry for the interruption before I forget, because I know I'll forget this moment in my brain. Um, in the movie Batman, I don't know if you remember where where the Joker literally goes to Batman and says, says, You need me. Because without me, there would be no you can be no Batman. And I was like, whoa. I was like, wow, that is some bold conversation right there. Like, you know, if I wasn't out here, you know, reaping havoc on this world, you wouldn't be needed. I was like, wow, that is like, yeah. So I mean, honestly, that's that's that's the way it is. Like, look, look at that, there, that is a true symbolism of Christ and the enemy. Yeah. Seriously. Right. We deal with that, you know. Some people be like, well, there's no God. Well, then why why do we have so much evil if there's not a God? And they're like, oh, well, if we have a God, then he wouldn't bring on evil. Well, we kind of need the evil to for us to understand and learn who God really is in our life. We have to go through the trial and tribulations to do that. So I just wanted to point that out because it just popped into my head.

SPEAKER_00:

That's awesome. Yeah, I'm glad you didn't, because that's that's a great uh analogy as well.

SPEAKER_01:

Um wonder what are your thoughts on you know, I just think that uh, you know, we look at superheroes because they inspire us, right? They're visible and they're familiar, but faith goes deeper, right? Doesn't just inspire, it transform it's you know, it changes your heart, your mind, right? And and it's everlasting.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that's that's there's no no no quitting that. Once you have God in your life and and you realize the essential of the the of God being part of your life, it's like a necessity. Like when you don't have God in your life, it literally is a part of your being lost. It's you're not you're not a hundred percent full. You're just living a partial of what you can be. If you put God into where you gotta be or or put him into the center of all we do, our podcasts, our books, our our family, whatever, we start to realize that holy cow, this is, you know, he's really taking care of this. He's really doing this. And because I gave up me and put you in front, then you know, that's when you realize, wow, I should have done this way back in the day. Now he should have done this in there when I was 14, 15.

SPEAKER_01:

Why did it take me so long, right? Why did it take me so long?

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. But you know, God has his time, right? There's a time for everything, and and we all had our you know, our our issues, me with my disability and and being in the hospital for so long. And as you said, I was super angry, and Mickey knows my story. I I hated God for what he put me through. Um, well, not that he put me through, but what I went through for his sake. Um, because if it wasn't, if I didn't go through what I went through, um, I wouldn't be sitting here with you guys talking. Like that's an absolute fact. Um, I didn't believe that for a long time. I didn't believe that. I said nah. There's no way, like you you there's no way. I mean, I started the podcast to actually uh deconstruct my faith. That was the whole point of the whole podcast when I first started podcasting was to deconstruct faith. I totally wanted to prove God wrong, wanted to prove that this whole faith thing is is stupid, it's not. And obviously, you have to study in order to debate, right? You have to learn your quote enemies stuff so that you can bring against it. So, what God do, I tried to find out more. The more I found out, the more he talked to me and said, listen, and I and I'll be straight, you'll say, listen, stupid. This is exactly what it is. You're proving it yourself, how can you disprove it? It makes no sense, right? I'm a logical person. I love logic. I love if if if this is telling me this, and in my mind I'm going, come on now. So that's what it got me to say, you know what? You're just making me believe more in you, they're not making me believe more in you. Yeah, and that's where all you and and God does that though. Yeah, I think that's a fact. Like God will knock you sometimes and say, Hello, I'm still here, even if you don't think I'm not here, you know, or he'll do not that he does stuff on purpose. God, God is not vindictive or God doesn't hold anger or anything like that. But I think sometimes, and and the way I look at God, I look at God as my dad, as my best friend, yeah, as the one who will I I I'll joke with God. I will talk to God like I'm talking to you guys. I will never be one of those goddess, our stuff great. No, like, hey God, I'm pissed off right now. Why? You know, okay, and and when you have that freedom to talk to God like that, I think it's very easy to have a relationship with God when you don't think of him as this big giant guy with you know beard and the whole, you know, he's always looking down on you and judging you. No, our God loves us, he loves us so much, and and when you when you realize that, I I still get hair, my hair still stands up when I say that because I don't deserve it. I definitely don't deserve someone to die for me. No one, no, I don't deserve any mercy at all. I think grace, thank God for God's grace, and that's why I do what I do, because of God's grace and his forgiveness, and his forgiveness to deal with me and everything I'm gonna mess up. Because the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning and say, God, I'm gonna mess up today. I know I am, but I'm asking you right now to help me understand why I'm messing up, help me understand why I got to this point. Why did I get angry? Why did I curse or why did I do this? That's the way I have it. And and and I think that's a good way to deal with anything in life.

SPEAKER_03:

Like, you know, um Another point I want to bring to the table, Wanda, when you said that um um faith is something that is forever. My daughter and I have been binge watching the Captain America movies because in December Captain America's coming out. Ha ha ha ha ha. No skin. Anyway, I can't wait. It's kind of that's really funny too, because my birthday, my birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks, and my daughter says, What do you want for your birthday? I said, I want I want to go see Captain America in the movie theater, so you have to watch grandma, right? And so she gets her phone out and she looks it up and she's like, Well, that stinks for you because my birthday is February 5th. She goes, Captain America movie doesn't come out until December 18th, the day after my birthday. And I said, Well, then for your birthday, I want to go watch Captain America. But going back to fandom and faith, it's interesting because like when we when I sit down and I watch the movie, it's good, it's active, and it's I'm like, oh yeah, beat him up, get him, get the bad guy, you know, and we're all into it, right? But when the movie's over, you know, you have that that good feeling in yourself for a little while. It's it's short-lived, it's a short moment. Faith never, that feeling never goes. Once you get it, God, God gives it to you, it stays with you forever. You have that reassurance in and out all throughout the day. And I love that because you know, Phantom is is is exciting, it's fun, we can watch it, and we get that thrill in the moment. God gives us the thrill of the lifetime because it is forever and it's everlasting. And I just love that. I want you, I don't know when you said that, it made me think about that, especially because I've been binge watching Captain America.

SPEAKER_00:

So those I have to say, Marvel movies, not the new ones now. I'm not gonna judge those, those can go away. We don't talk about those. But Captain America, Iron Man, all those were awesome movies. They were and they all had a little bit of a moral uh storyline in them, right? Because I think uh what we don't realize when these comic books or these um superheroes were written about, they were written in a time where moral value was a bigger issue than it is now. Uh morality, religion, faith was a very big thing in the 50s and 40s, 30s, 50s when these things were created. So I think the the artists or the writers had a little bit of that background in them because if you look at the old comics or the old cartoons, you do see a little bit of a, you know, don't lie, don't do this, don't do that. Not like now now you can become a murderer and it's fine. You can be uh a bad superhero still like you. Um we all love, I'm not gonna lie, I love sometimes I love the antagonist, I love the guy that's not really the best guy, but he's the coolest guy in in the uh in the series or the story, especially with anime. Anime uses a lot of um uh how do you call it? Not bad people, but people that aren't the highest of moral values in the sense they don't see things the way we do. Uh, but they are sometimes the best character in the whole thing. But um, so like I was saying, is um, and I lost my train of thought because I wanted to I tend to do that. I always tell Mickey pull me back because I tend to be anger. And I'll keep talking and talking, I'll lose my line. But um like uh we were talking about also um we were talking about anger and and our and our uh issues with that or whatever and how we see heroes. Um there's also uh part where people uh we can see this where are anti-hero. They don't like heroes, they don't like people who win, they don't like people that do the right thing. You know, we all have that, right? We all have that person that looks at you and says, Oh, you're doing great, but behind you be like, what the so bad. I don't you know why is God blessing them and not me? It's always that green envy, that envy, right? So we all have that uh person or thing that does that. So that's another thing I wanted to bring up. Like, what is you know, who is we all know the devil is our enemy, right? We all know that. But what is your enemy in the sense outside of the scope of the devil trying to tempt you? What things become your enemy and how do you use Christ to battle those enemies? Like how do you top you know deal with them in in the Christian view and everything that so um that's my question.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I I I think you first you don't compare.

SPEAKER_00:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

Right? I don't I don't compare to be better than anybody or any less than anybody. Um I don't compare myself to somebody that's been in business for a long time or just somebody that gets in. I think you should be a creator, right? Be a creator, it's it's just a better feeling and it's a better way to uh to look at things. I mean, I don't want to look at anything as competition, but as a creator, and I think we gotta put the armor of God on every day. Before we get out of bed, pray. Ask God to do his will, not yours. You know, and ask God to work through you, right? Who and I pray that every day, God, who can I help today? Help me, right? And I put that armor on of God and I go out to the Lord because there's gonna be a lot of people that, like you said, they don't want to see you win. Right. I want to see people win, you know, I want to see them win because I want to see everybody win. What's what I want for me, I want for you. It's possible. But you know, when people people judge, you know, they look at somebody they want what somebody else has. Did they put in the work? Did they put in the time? Did they put in the blood sweating gifts? They see that person as, wow, you know what? They're doing great, and I'm not. Well, we shouldn't look at that. We should just, you know, stay in our own lane, work in our own self, write that inside, and mind our own business. You know, you're right. And if I I look at it this way, I want everybody to win. I'm like the kind of girl, I'm gonna fix your crown. If your crown's right, absolutely. You know, um I I really believe that um the long cut is the only real shortcut. You know, and the you know the The designer of the architect is leading somewhere great. You know, I really believe that he's leading us somewhere great. Like right now, this call, we've been chosen. Yeah. You know, like you said, you never thought, but look, your comeback.

SPEAKER_00:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

Step back was your comeback. Why? Because you know what? You got up that sinking thinking, you listen to God. You know, he had to slap you around a couple times.

SPEAKER_02:

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01:

He got your attention, right? Correct. And here you are now, sharing with the world. And that's powerful. You know, people want to see the underdog win. There's always gonna be but listen, those people out there that the naysayers, the haters, they're all watching you. They're all following you. They might not comment. They're all following you. And I look at it this way. Um, I just stay in my own lane. I mind my own business. I'll work on me, being, you know, being the best person I can be. And I show people that they can be the best person they can be too. But they gotta do the work. But I can help them, I can guide you, I can lead you. But all everything that I have, everything that I am, is all from the Lord. Every single thing I have, everything that comes out of me is from God. Sometimes, you know what? I'm like you. I'm a mother, I say things, you know what, and then I have to apologize. But you know what? We all do the best job with what we have. Everybody does the best job with what they have. Some people choose to get better, and some people, you know, choose to be stuck in the dark is will snatch you up. No, it will snatch you up, but God will always keep you close.

SPEAKER_00:

Amen. Amen. And and and like you said, we uh when people get comfortable in their own pain and their own suffering and their own darkness, they don't know anything else because they're comfortable, they're afraid to get out of that comfort zone. I'm a perfect example. I liked where I was. I enjoyed being angry in a way. I it was just something to be, you know, to to to use. And uh and when people don't realize that you can get out of that darkness, you can move forward, you can look. Uh, there is that light at the end of the tunnel, but that light at the end is Christ, period. That is it. There is nothing there, there's no flashlight, there's no lightsabers, there's no Justice League, no Superman at the end. It is only our Christ and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And that's awesome. I I think uh we have talked about everything about what heroes are. Um, this has been, I think, one of the greatest conversations I've had in a long time. Um, I won't I I think I thank you so much for being. It was so funny just to bring it back when we had our talk with Rory, we were talking about social media and looking at things that you just brought up how we look at people and we think that they're doing so great. And remember, social media is what you see. We can be whoever we want in front of social media. I can look like I own a I mean a mansion and I live in a one-bedroom studio. You know what I mean? It's and when we people start to judge that, and they'd be like, oh, you know.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, right, but I I just want to say this. I want to say this is that um I work on social media, and when you meet me in person, I am the same person that you see me online, this is who I am. I'm I don't pretend to be anybody that I'm not.

unknown:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

A single parent that just really worked hard, that really went in a excuse me, a dark place, and I just didn't want to be there no more. I knew that, you know what, God was teaching me something. Was I broken? Absolutely. Did I want to give up? I wanted to take my life. I almost did take my life. But then God said, I have something for you to do, Wanda. And and and I have my children, and I want them to always be proud of me. I always want to provide and I want them to be safe, but I want them to know that this is the real me. You know, not somebody that has a big fancy car drive a Toyota. You know, you know, I live at a little ranch. And and I'm and I'm rich inside my heart, my body, my soul, because the Lord has entered me. He has taught me that, you know, he's never gonna leave me. He's not gonna forsake me like people. Right. And you can get really hurt if somebody rejects you. I mean, you can get really hurt, right? But look at it this way when somebody rejects you, that's God's protection. When you want something and you don't get it, God is saying, I'm not giving that to you because you know what? I seen something or I heard something you didn't hear. So just follow my direction. And I've learned that. And you know, this is the funniest thing. I was thinking last night, God, how did you bring Mickey in my life? I I was asking, you know, what is this purpose? Like, what are you doing? And then she said, You, you know, talked about you and and about doing another podcast. And said I said to myself, God, you know what? There's something that you want me to do. There's somebody that you want me to help. And I'm willing to be the vessel. You know, I'm willing to be the vessel, to be honest, to be transparent. And you know, and I can be raw. And I and this is the thing, it's important for you to be you, whoever you are out there, right? Just be yourself. Be your best self. That's so good. Be your best self. That's it. And don't compare yourself. Right. Look it inside yourself and say, what gifts do I have? And what can I contribute to the world? Because when you die, people ain't gonna remember what you said. They gotta remember how to make them feel.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. That's uh, I think a lot of times, I think a lot of times people try to um um copycat other people and want to be other people. And I uh in in one of my earlier podcasts with Crushing Strongholds, I remember um doing an episode talking about people um you know being a people pleaser because I used to want to be a people pleaser. I used to want to be, you know, I wanted that validation from people, not God. Superheroes and that's exactly so you know what, but one thing that God God literally told me, and and I've seen it in a meme. He didn't tell me, he just, you know, it came up on my phone, but I felt like God was like, you know, putting it in my face for a reason because he's like, you know, um, you know, you're already taken. Don't let nobody be who you are. You can't be who they are because they're already taken too. They are them and you are you, you be you, and let them be them. You can't be them ever. So stop trying to be. And they're not gonna be you ever, so stop allowing them to be. So if somebody doesn't like what you do, that's on them. Let them go. If if you see something that you're trying to be, that's that's like somebody else, well, just just be observant and be like, okay, how are they doing that? I kind of want to figure that out for myself. Don't try to go and be them. If you if you're curious, that's fine. You can be curious. If you want to learn, you want to grow, you want to develop, that's okay. That's you know, that's where leadership comes from. If you need to get discipled under them, fine. But don't desire to be them. God made you to be you, and it's so important that we need to recognize who we are and our own self-worth is so valuable to God. You know, we are God's superheroes all day long, each and every one of us with the gifts he gave us.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, seriously, we are. That's that's a great way to this because we all are superheroes in God's eyes, and and and he gives us the strength, he gives us our superpowers. We don't get those that we were, we're not mutants. We weren't born. There's a superpower by the Holy Spirit that's in us, right? So that's our superpowers. So Wanda, I want you to tell the people where they can find you, where they can contact you, uh, what your uh if you have a website or anything we can, and I'll put everything down in the description below. But we just want everyone to reach out to you and and get in touch with you.

SPEAKER_01:

You can reach out to me at successwithwanda D.com. That's where you can reach out to me. I'll wanted Apollo. That's for my health. WandaDapolo.com or SuccessWithWanda D. Uh, it's an incubator for anybody that wants to work online.

SPEAKER_00:

Awesome, awesome. That's great. And uh, Mickey, I know that you have a whole bunch of other podcasts that you're working on. So I want people to know that you're just, you know, I don't uh take over all your time, that you are doing amazing, other amazing work, and I want people to find you in other places, so why don't you let them know?

SPEAKER_03:

Um, the main place we can find me, um, because my other podcasts are actually uh, you know, the scripture says that, you know, we gotta be the tree and then we have the branches and you gotta branch out. So with crushing strongholds, I basically just branched out in um two different avenues with truth be told and faith builders. But you can reach me at crushingstrongholds.com. It's super, super easy. You can find my website. There's a place in there you can go fill out your information, say hello, put your name, subscribe, whatever you want to do. But there is a note place in there. There's also a place if you want prayer. I, you know, hey, say hey, I need some prayer. Um, you can sign up for prayer. There's free free clarity calls. Um, if you just need to figure out where you're going and you know how to get yourself unstuck from the strongholds that keep you from your God's given purpose, because I feel like people really are not, they're barely scratching the surface of what God really has for our lives because we're stuck in our self-pity sometimes and we got to get to the root of the problem. And so that's what crushes strongholds is really about. And then I have until my watch is over.com. And that is for people that are um either caregivers or suffering from dementia or dealing with loved ones that have dementia, or if you just want even awareness, it's important, even at our age right now, to start getting aware. I feel like I already missed the boat on that because um there's a lot of things I wish I would have known at at a younger time in my life that I could have maybe helped prevent, you know, some things. But now that I'm aware of them, I can work on them and I can I can get myself and my body healthy. That's why I'm talking with Wanda because she deals with health um and she's gonna be helping me um work on just being um the healthiest, greatest person I can be for as long as God wants me to be here. I want to be the vessel, like Wanda, like you said, it's a good it's a great thing to be as a vessel. So Until My Watch is over is a podcast about dementia. We talk about equipment, we talk about supplies, and we talk about the struggle. We don't just talk about, you know, hey, go do this. You know, we talk about what works, what doesn't work. And so if you know anybody that uh that wants to get on there as a guest that knows anybody with dementia or has a heart and willing to share some of their story, I'd love to have them. So reach out to me again at untelemywatchisover.com.

SPEAKER_00:

Amen, man. That's awesome. And I know God is going to be doing some amazing things with you guys. Uh, so a little bit about what we are. Um, as you know, I we have the Compass Chronicles podcast. Uh, we also are looking to start uh well in the process of starting two new podcasts. One is called uh Hymnals to Headbangers, where we're talking about Christian music and how it's grown from being a church music only to where we have hardcore metal, uh rock music and all styles. And I would love uh to talk to anybody that's in praise and worship, is a worship leader, uh, is in a band or does any type of music, uh, please reach out to me. Um, I'd love to talk to you, have a conversation. We also are starting a whole uh new podcast called The Potluck of Belief. And this potluck, uh this podcast is going to be about talking about pretty much everything outside of what fandom is. So we're gonna be talking about the more serious stuff. We're gonna be talking about politics, we're gonna be talking about uh what our faith is and and what grace is and how everyone else sees it, what what isn't real, what what's going on in the world today. So that's gonna be one where I'm I'm gonna invite anyone who wants to have any conversation like that with me. Um, you're more than welcome to come on. Uh these will be starting hopefully in March. Um, I am going to be working with Rory at last um to uh see what we can do and get all these ideas out into the world. Um you can find me and everything else under Graceandgrind Ministries.com. Uh also we have an image or a media studio called Sasquatch Syndicate Studios. Uh, you if you need any music, you need video, you need um logos or just enjoy music, uh please reach to me at JM at Sasquatch Syndicate Studios dot nyc. Um, you can reach us there. Or if you want to talk about anything, you need to talk about your faith, you need help, you need uh where we can lead you to. Uh is there if you're going through some mental issue or anything like that, please reach out to us. You have we'll have all our information on the bottom. Uh if you need someone to talk to, someone to pray. Because you always need someone to pray for you. So again, thank you, Wanda, for being on. Mickey, as always, you rock. Thank you so much for being patient with me because I can be kind of crazy at my things that I do. Um, so anyway, I want to thank everyone for joining us. I want to thank everyone who prays for us. We ask that you comment, follow, leave a leave a little message on the bottom. Let us know what you thought of this uh conversation, what you would like for us to do, uh, any ideas. I would love to have any ideas of any of our podcasts that we put up, or any of our guests or hosts of podcasts that you want to join, please follow us and and and we'll put all that information on the bottom. So, again, thank you so much for you guys for joining me, and we will see you in the next one. God bless.

Head Shot

Javier Malave

Host