Episode 57: Rudy Zevallos’ Legacy Of Faith; with Stephanie Zevallos

Episode 57: Rudy Zevallos Jacob Paul: Welcome to the Truth in Love podcast with your host, Kimberly Faith. The Truth in Love podcast seeks to present God’s timeless truth through the lens of his remarkable love.

Kimberly Faith: Stephanie, you’re one of my favorite people to sit down and talk to.

Stephanie Zevallos: Thank you. I’m back. 

Kimberly Faith:  Yeah. No. It’s a thank you for agreeing to come back and just share your heart about your son and about what God’s doing in your life. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes.

Kimberly Faith:  Especially on the one year anniversary of Rudy’s going to heaven.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. Yeah. 

Kimberly Faith: And I know this isn’t easy. We were actually having prayer right before this and just decided we’d put this in God’s hands. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. 

Kimberly Faith: I don’t know any other way to do it.

Stephanie Zevallos: It’s kind of the story of my life.

Kimberly Faith: Well, now you all, just to kind of bring our listeners up to date as far as the story we did back in April. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. 

Kimberly Faith: Can you just, in a nutshell, kind of give our readers I said readers, I meant listeners. I guess if they’re reading the transcript. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah.

Kimberly Faith: Just give everybody an idea of what happened to your son.

Stephanie Zevallos: So my son, he went by Junior. He passed away suddenly and unexpectedly last October, October 5th of 2024, crossing the finish line of a half marathon. We had no idea at the time, but he ended up having a brainstem hemorrhage. Since then, lot’s changed. It’s really hard to believe that it’s about to be a year in a month. It’s just insane to even think about. Sometimes it feels like it just happened last week, and then sometimes it feels like it’s a million years away.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah. I can’t imagine that journey. And it truly is a journey. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah.

Kimberly Faith:  I always cringe when I hear people say, well, it’ll get better with time. I don’t think so.

Stephanie Zevallos: I don’t think so because it comes and goes in waves, and it’s just always just a kind of an up and down thing, you know, and you have not even good days and bad days, you have good times and bad times.

Kimberly Faith: You know, I was really amazed. You invited me to celebrate his birthday.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes.

Kimberly Faith: And that was back in July. 

Stephanie Zevallos:  August.  August 6. Yeah. His nineteenth birthday.

Kimberly Faith: That’s so funny. August 6 is like my dad’s birthday, my brother’s birthday.

Stephanie Zevallos:  Oh, wow. 

Kimberly Faith: One of our team birthday. There’s like, I don’t know. All these people I know. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah.

Kimberly Faith:  I should remember that date. And I was just so amazed at all the young people from the church that showed up.

Stephanie Zevallos: Oh, yeah. God, there were over a 100 people there easily. His friends from church, from school, from and a lot of the ones that are from school go to the same church because they have a huge youth group there.

Kimberly Faith:  Well, I want to just as part of the story, I mean, you were on the podcast back in April and just it was so wonderful. It was just so your story was so wonderful. And I want to kind of just also tell listeners who maybe haven’t heard the whole story, of course, could go back and listen to that podcast, about how he got saved.

Stephanie Zevallos: Right. So in 2023, he started going to church on his own. My husband and I didn’t go to church regularly, maybe once or twice  a year. But Junior started going on his own and he started attending the youth groups on Wednesdays at First Baptist, and that’s where all his friends and stuff go. So he ended up getting baptized. Pastor Luke baptized him October 20 of 2023.

Kimberly Faith: This was after he got saved, right?

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. Yeah. And so that was almost a year exactly before he passed away.

Kimberly Faith: Was he invited by someone he played football with?

Stephanie Zevallos: He was, yes. 

Kimberly Faith: Okay.

Stephanie Zevallos:  His friend, Jack’s from the football team went to this church and everything and he invited him.

Kimberly Faith: So,  his friend had a big influence on evidently, he saw something in Jack’s that he wanted.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes, definitely. Jack’s just a super humble, super cool guy who just walks around and oozes confidence and you’re just like, wow, he’s amazing. You know, he’s a Christian, a God follower, and he’s not shy about it at all. And I think Junior really looked up to that.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah. Well, and he, of course, after he was born again trusted Jesus as his Lord and Savior and got baptized, and he ended up having this incredible impact on your family.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah, it had a ripple effect on us. It really did. And it’s actually still going.

Kimberly Faith: That’s kind of what we want to talk about. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah. 

Kimberly Faith: Because you and your family did not get saved until after he died.

Stephanie Zevallos: Correct.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah. And so, I think on the last podcast, we talked about how you connected those dots. 

Stephanie Zevallos:  Yeah. So as I mentioned on the last one, when I was growing up, my parents were divorced. My dad did go to church. He was very faithful. But I didn’t realize until actually, you had told me that that was his walk with Jesus, you know, and wasn’t mine. So, I think that’s why I never really felt like it fit. And my husband, Rudy, grew up Catholic. So they go to mass and then church on Christmas Eve and that sort of thing. So once Junior started going regularly, we thought it was cool. Obviously, we went to his baptism and stuff, but we still weren’t really into church, you know, like every Sunday thing or, you know, praying or talking to God.

Kimberly Faith: You hadn’t been born again at that point. Yeah.

Stephanie Zevallos: Right. But once Junior passed away, you know, going through his room on his desk where he did all his schoolwork and stuff, you know, his room’s exactly like it was when he passed. His Bible’s still open to Leviticus. He was reading the Bible from front to back, and he was in Leviticus, and there’s, you know, a bunch of stuff highlighted. So, you know, I’d go in there and read it, and I’m just like, how in the world was he reading this?

Kimberly Faith: Right.

Stephanie Zevallos: This is 

Kimberly Faith: Leviticus is a tough book. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Hard to follow. Yeah. 

Kimberly Faith: Especially for a teenager.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah.  But he would read it, highlight it, write notes down, go back to it, you know, so he would understand everything. But when he had passed, myself, my sister, my brother, my nephew, two of my nephews actually, we all my two daughters, let me forget them, all actually had a mass baptism, a mass saving. 

Kimberly Faith: So you all were born again and then were baptized.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. That was about, I think, ten days after he had passed away, we did that.

Kimberly Faith: Wow. You know, that’s I mean, and Rudy’s gotta be in heaven just rejoicing over that. You know?

Stephanie Zevallos: I know he is. Yeah.

Kimberly Faith:  And it’s yeah. So you mentioned that his story is still impacting people.

Stephanie Zevallos: It is. So that was all back in October. And, you know, we faithfully, you know, go to church, help out at church. You know, we’re constantly trying to find things that we can do to help people, help others just because that’s who Junior was. That’s who, you know, I want to be.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah. The first podcast was Run Like Rudy. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. Yeah. Yes.

Kimberly Faith: And so, you know, picking up that theme, I mean, his life has not just inspired your immediate family, but I know, for example, he had enlisted into the Marine Corps 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah.

Kimberly Faith: On September 11 of 23, and, you all went to the boot camp graduation, right?

Stephanie Zevallos: For his best friend. Yes. So he enlisted, him and Fidel, his best friend, both enlisted in September 2024. So this was just a month before he passed away.

Kimberly Faith:  Oh, that’s right. ’24.

Stephanie Zevallos: Not even a month, maybe like three weeks. But Fidel ended up carrying out their plan and their dream, and he graduated boot camp this past June. And Rudy and I flew to California and went to his graduation.

Kimberly Faith: I bet that meant a lot to him.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah. It meant a lot to us too. And Rudy, my husband, keeps in really close contact with Fidel.

Kimberly Faith: Did you all go to the high school graduation?

Stephanie Zevallos: We did. Yeah. We did. And they gave us an honorary diploma for Junior. So that was nice.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah. I feel like, you know, the community where Rudy had a great impact, from what I can observe, he’s still having that impact because especially on young people who understand they can look at what happened to Rudy and understand the fragility of their own life.

Stephanie Zevallos:  Right. Yeah.

Kimberly Faith: And I think for those of us who are of a certain age, I think we get our fragility a little better than I remember when I was 17 or 18.

Stephanie Zevallos: Oh, yeah. You’re invincible.

Kimberly Faith: Right? 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. Amen.

Kimberly Faith: But that gives you perspective, I think, as a young person, what occurred to me at the birthday celebration was that there was this whole group of all these young people who were remembering him for who God had made him. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. 

Kimberly Faith: You know? And because he was a he was an extraordinary young man anyway.

You know, he was athletic. He obviously

Stephanie Zevallos: Right. Yeah. There’s nothing he couldn’t do. Everything he touched or tried, he excelled at.

Kimberly Faith:  Yeah. Right. The Stairmaster.

Stephanie Zevallos: That’s the Stairmaster story.

Kimberly Faith: You want to hear the Stairmaster story? Listen to the first episode of the podcast.

Stephanie Zevallos: It’s horrible. 

Kimberly Faith: But it’s actually hilarious.  But, you know, I think that what strikes me is despite the fact he was this good looking, athletic, you know, had a can do attitude, had a career that he was wanting to embark upon, what people are remembering the most about him was his relationship with God.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah. Yeah. Most definitely. He’s just such a special kid, such a really special kid. And, you know, when we first got baptized and saved, my whole goal I mean, I don’t know if my I was still grieving. You know, we still are grieving, but I think that my thought process was I just want to  see my son again. So I’ll do whatever it takes. You know,  if it takes getting baptized or

Kimberly Faith: Right.

Stephanie Zeallos: I’ll, you know, go through the motions.

Kimberly Faith: Right.

Stephanie Zevallos: But in my walk with God since all this has happened. It’s gotten so strong, I’ve learned so much and you know, things that I couldn’t even grasp before. I’ve learned in this past year and it’s just completely wild for me.

Kimberly Faith: That’s so interesting that now your goals have become richer and higher. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Right. 

Kimberly Faith: Because you don’t just want to hit the low bar,you want to hit the high bar. And Rudy was hitting that high bar when God took him home. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. 

Kimberly Faith: And so  it’s kind of funny. That title run like Rudy was so appropriate. I don’t know what we’re going to call this podcast. We’ll figure that out at the end. Maybe run like Rudy part two or something. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah. 

Kimberly Faith:You know, something real original. But it’s so interesting that God has continued to use the life of your son to raise the bar in your life.

Stephanie Zevallos: Definitely. And I can tell you that my goals and, you know, my husband’s goals look so different from a year ago,our just the entire thought process. My goals now have nothing to do with money and reputation and securing these things before, you know, we technically retire.

Kimberly Faith: Right. 

Stephanie Zevallos: You know, my goals now have to do with, you know, God and people and giving and loving and showing up.

Kimberly Faith: That’s so powerful. That’s so powerful, Stephanie. I mean, you’re a very talented, beautiful woman and intelligent. And I know this just from not just the podcast, but because we study God’s word together and you have this amazing prayer life. And I’ve seen, of course, the bar being raised in your life, which is, you know, very encouraging.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes.

Kimberly Faith: It’s so encouraging to see other Christians coming alongside and getting it, you know? And I think the inspiration and the motivation that has come from your son’s example in just one life, just your life. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Right. Yeah.

Kimberly Faith:  It’s phenomenal.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah. I still get messages from people on Facebook or, you know, random texts, you know, hey, I knew your son from this, this, and this. He was an amazing kid. Thank you for raising such an amazing guy that did all this stuff by the time he was 18, and I’m over here 50 trying to get my life together. It was very heartwarming.

Kimberly Faith: You know, I think about that sometimes because I was kind in the slow class, and would get my life together too. And every time I think about that, I think about how little time people like, well, like Jesus had three years of ministry that was recorded. You know, the apostles, they didn’t have real long lives because of the persecution. But even if it’s just one person that we brought to Christ, you know, the podcast about the prodigal, you know, he had thirty days. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Right. 

Kimberly Faith: And, you know, that it was a few weeks ago, the podcast, released on September 9. He only had thirty days, and yet he made a huge difference in somebody he cared about that he was able to lead to the Lord, and now she’s a missionary in Africa.

Stephanie Zevallos: Wow. 

Kimberly Faith: You know? So not only is his blessing multiplied in eternity through the thirty days that he had to serve the Lord, but he has multiplied blessings through the person he reached.

Stephanie Zevallos: Right.

Kimberly Faith: That’s the concept of multiplication, discipleship, right?

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes.

Kimberly Faith: And, you know, on top of that, when you look at raising your children with even just biblical principles. I’ve said this before and it’s not original with me, but even if somebody raised their children just to obey the 10 commandments, but didn’t necessarily have a close relationship with God. They’re going to obey the rules of God, but they’re not really in the relationship part of it. The impact of God’s word on the child’s life does not go away void. It doesn’t go away without return.

And I know you all were military family, had a lot of you know, had some values. And obviously, those had an impact on Rudy. He was searching for, as somebody in high school, he looked up to somebody with character, with strong values because you exemplified that at home. And then he kind of met your bar and then he took it one higher.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. Definitely took it one higher.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah. And so, isn’t it great that we get to contribute to each other’s lives if we let the Lord guide us.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. And I think Junior was a great example of that. You know, he kind of went where he thought the Lord was leading him and he wasn’t really shy about it.  And that’s what we’re hoping to do now. I want when I reach heaven and God asked me, you know, what I think that he’s going to ask anybody that gets there is, you know, so how many people are here because of you? How many people have you helped or planted a seed for? Or just any little thing, you know, to show them the love of God. You know, I want to be like, well, because of Junior

Kimberly Faith:  Right.

Stephanie Zevallos: This all happened. And so that’s what I’m trying to do.

Kimberly Faith: And that’s why you’re here today. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes.

Kimberly Faith:  I mean, really, that’s what it boils down to. You want to show the power of one life. That life just happened to be your son.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. 

Kimberly Faith: And he caused a pivot in your life, in the life of so many of your family members, and now you want to cause others to pivot with the time you’ve been given.

Stephanie Zevallos: Right. And who knows how much time that is?

Kimberly Faith: That’s right. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Because we don’t know.

Kimberly Faith: We don’t know.  And I think, one of the things I admire the most about you is that you have taken this tragedy and turned it into an opportunity for eternity. That’s really admirable.

Stephanie Zevallos: You know, I gotta give the glory to God on that one because that wasn’t me. Because, you know, when everything started rolling into motion, I was still knee deep in grief, you know, and really, I don’t think was in a whole lot of control of the situation. I was just kind of doing what I feel like God was probably telling me to do. And then that kind of escalated and led me to where I am now where, you know, I feel like I’m trying to learn, trying to do good, trying to be better.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah, I mean, it’s a journey and I think you’ve taken the right approach. You could only do what you can do for today. And we were kind of talking about this before we went on and started recording. Just all the stuff that’s going on in both of our lives. And it’s like, I was on the phone with one of my team members earlier and just like, girl, I don’t know what the answer is, but I know the one who knows.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. 

Kimberly Faith: And we’re just going to have to give him the wheel. Let’s get out of the cockpit. I’m in the back of the plane.

Stephanie Zevallos: Very, very back.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah.

Stephanie Zevallos: I will say that probably about a week or two ago, my middle daughter, her and my son-in-law are truckers, so they’re on the road all the time. And she’s 27. But anyways, she had called me and we were talking and she was like, have you read anything about Job?

And I was like, Job from the Bible? And she was like, yeah. Well, I didn’t know, but she has started reading the Bible. 

Kimberly Faith: Oh. 

Stephanie Zevallos: And so we actually and I had finished Job in one of my Bible studies.

And so we were talking about it and, you know, I thought to myself, thank you, God. I’d never thought that I’d be talking to one of my kids about a book in the Bible. 

Kimberly Faith: Wow.

Stephanie Zevallos: You know? And it’s not like I knew everything or all the answers

Kimberly Faith: Right.

Stephanie Zevallos: To the questions that she had, but we went over it together and, you know, we’re just kind of talking about it. And I thought that was pretty neat because a year ago, neither of us would have known who Job was.

Kimberly Faith: You know, and that transparency on your part where you understand you don’t have to know it all, you know.

Stephanie Zevallos: Right.

Kimberly Faith: You can have, I think as a believer, when we can acknowledge how little we know, when we’re dealing with somebody who maybe even knows less. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Right. Yeah. 

Kimberly Faith: It’s back to being poor in spirit, which is acknowledging that without God, we are bankrupt. And he’s got to do even this podcast.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. Yes. Absolutely. 

Kimberly Faith: That’s a blessing. That’s such a blessing because that is, again, like you said, a year ago, you wouldn’t have been having that conversation with your daughter.

Stephanie Zevallos:  Yeah.Never in a wildest dream, but it was just kind of so amazing. I remember just hanging up and being like, that was pretty cool. That was pretty cool.

Kimberly Faith: I think that’s also a great lesson for all of us who are believers who, you know, we want to bring people to salvation right now, you know?

Stephanie Zevallos: Right.

Kimberly Faith: You need to get saved today. Hello? Can’t you figure this out? This isn’t difficult. You don’t promise tomorrow, know, we want to be the Holy Spirit.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. Yes.

Kimberly Faith: And instead of letting God draw people and give us opportunities, you said it plant seeds, right? You had a discussion with your daughter, a seed was planted, you know? 

Stephanie Zevallos: Right.

Kimberly Faith:  And, you know, Jesus is so brilliant. I mean, I know that sounds kind of silly me saying that, but I just He’s so brilliant. When He gave us a great commission in Matthew 28, He said, Go ye therefore, He said, Make disciples. It’s so interesting he didn’t say, go save the world. Go preach, bring people to salvation. He didn’t say that first. He said, make disciples.

I find that when discipleship is teaching people to be Christ-like and teaching them like our study we do, you And it’s often through discipleship that people are saved, you know? And it’s kind of like the Marine Corps, the Army. You aren’t a Marine until you’ve been through basic. 

Stephanie Zevallos:  Right. Yes. Yeah.

Kimberly Faith: You may think you are, but you’re not. And you aren’t, you know, a soldier until you’ve been through basic. And I think as Christians, it’s easy for us to get kind of defeated and discouraged like, Lord, I know it’s your will for this person to be saved. And I’m just so sad and so discouraged that they’re not. We just give up instead of continuing to plant those seeds and have those conversations.

And God can take anything in our life, and you’re such a good example of this cause you’ve taken something really, really tough and said, I’m going to make this matter for eternity. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. 

Kimberly Faith: But even, you know, a big shift of our, you know, our office team can be used for God’s glory, you know. And I think if we can view every hard time as the first thing, this is an opportunity. What great training that will be.

Stephanie Zevallos: Right. 

Kimberly Faith: You know?

Stephanie Zevallos: Exactly.

Kimberly Faith: What do you think has been the most difficult part of the last year?

Stephanie Zevallos: I think the most difficult part is, you know, thinking at one, any given moment, you know, when you’re feeling okay and like waters have calmed down and you’re like, okay, I think we’re going to be alright, you know, and then something will happen or you’ll see something or just anything, you know, random will happen. And it just kind of brings you right back to the moment. And, you know, it’s really kind of a slap in the face because you’re like, ugh, thought we were through with this. I mean, I don’t think you’ll ever be through with grieving for a child. I think that probably goes on forever.

Kimberly Faith: It’s a traumatic event.

Stephanie Zevallos: Very traumatic.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah.

Stephanie Zevallos: Very traumatic.

Kimberly Faith: You know, I was talking to my therapist today and, you know, something he said that makes so much sense to me. I never thought about getting therapy, but you know what? I think all of us need it to some degree.

Stephanie Zevallo: Amen.

Kimberly Faith: And so on the advice of a couple of people who suggested I do it. I’ve been doing it. I’m glad I have, but it’s not easy. But he said something. He said, you know, a lot of the trauma that happens to us is in our subconscious. And it’s stored there, and it’s not triggered. It’s not necessarily triggered when we like it. It’s triggered by something we see or something we smell or some somebody says something just the right way. And then it comes to the surface and we have a reaction and we don’t even understand our reaction. And I’m thinking to myself, wait a minute, I got enough stuff I understand that triggers me.

Stephanie Zevallos: Right. Yeah. Need all these underlying things.

Kimberly Faith: But I was thinking about that, in my drive time, when I wasn’t dealing with the problems. And I was like, you know, Lord, that is such a great, that knowledge is so useful because it just makes me depend more on you. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah. Definitely. 

Kimberly Faith: Because you know it’s there. You know it’s coming. And which means I need to be leaning into you even when I think I don’t need to.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. 100%. Yes. I think that’s absolutely and I also think, like, with our situation, I think we have a kind of a twofold thing because we’re grieving, you know, the loss of Junior. But then and I don’t think we’ve quite completely dealt with the traumatic event that happened. And so I think it’s kind of not two separate things, but, you know, kind of two branches of the same tree. Now that we’re kind of, you know, a year into our grieving process, now the traumatic

Kimberly Faith: Nature of the way he died.

Stephanie Zevaloos:  Yeah. 

Kimberly Faith: I mean, he crossed the finish line and was down. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Right. 

Kimberly Faith: Yeah. And then because you guys saw that.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah. We were there and so now anytime, you know, we’ll watch a show and they’ll be giving CPR, you know, then I can just look at my family sitting around and I know what everyone’s thinking like, we were there. That was my son and that’s what we’re watching, you know, and seeing someone being rushed to a hospital and, you know, being worked on. And I think it’s a traumatic thing for anybody to see, you know? And then when it’s your child, it just kind of just burns a hole in you.

Kimberly Faith: How do you like, so what advice would you give somebody who is because this is really kind of about trauma. You’re talking about trauma and dealing with the aftermath of trauma. And how do you like, how do you lean into God? And what does that look like to, I don’t know, help you work through those scenarios that trigger that trauma.

Stephanie Zevallos: So what I’ve learned personally is, you know, I pray every night now, my husband and I do together. And a main part of our prayer is, you know, just please help us. I mean for lack of better words just I mean you know right what we’re dealing with please help us. And I feel like you know every morning you wake up fresh and new and you know one foot in front of the other and I never try to think about what’s going to happen a year from now, what are we going to do on his twentieth birthday. You know I think about today and doing what we can today to keep his memory alive, to keep making heaven crowded.

Kimberly Faith: Right.

Stephanie Zevallos: You know, that’s small goals.

Kimberly Faith: Small steps.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah. Small steps.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah. And that’s so comforting because you know you don’t have to do the big things because God will do the heavy lifting, and it’s such a comfort. And I don’t know. Just based on conversations you and I have had, one of the things that amazes me about you and the way you handle this is that the way you’re constantly refocusing your perspective to understand there’s a bigger picture than just grief.

Stephanie Zevallos: Right.

Kimberly Faith: There’s a glorious purpose that can be worked through your grief. Your grief doesn’t have to be wasted.

Stephanie Zevallos: Definitely, it doesn’t. And I think that is I don’t really know how to explain it, but maybe part of who God made me to be is my experiences, how I can reach other people.

Kimberly Faith: Yes.

Stephanie Zevallos: You know, because honestly in order to talk to a mom who’s lost a child, you really won’t understand her unless you’ve lost a child.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah. I agree with that.

Stephanie Zevallos: So, I mean, there’s a certain demographic that, you know, I personally can speak to.

Kimberly Faith: That’s right.

Stephanie Zevallos: You know, there’s people that my daughters can speak to or my husband can speak to 

Kimberly Faith: Right. 

Stephanie Zevallos: That will really just resonate with them.

Kimberly Faith: Yes.

Stephanie Zevallos: And I feel like that really kind of helped molded who we are now.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah. It’s a gift that you didn’t really want 

Stephanie Zevallos: No. 

Kimberly Faith: But you have. And you have it now, so you can either waste it or you can put it to use.

Stephanie Zevallos: Right.

Kimberly Faith: To make heaven crowded, as you say.

Stephanie Zevallos: That’s a thing for my church.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, I lost a baby, at nine months, and I was nine months pregnant with her when she died. And there’s a small demographic that I can talk to about that and how to work through that. But you’re 100% right. I can’t talk to people who’ve lost a child like you have. It’s a different experience.

Stephanie Zevallos:  Right. 

Kimberly Faith: It’s a different you had, you know, years of life, outside the womb with this child. But the wonderful thing is that you aren’t even limited to helping people who’ve been in your experience.

Stephanie Zevallos: No. 

Kimberly Faith: Because your life is able to inspire, well, my problem isn’t that bad. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Right. 

Kimberly Faith: You know, if she can do this in this trauma, then I can do this in this smaller trauma.

Stephanie Zevallos: And I can tell you right now, I am willing and able to help anybody who wants it or needs it. Anybody can reach out to me at any time for anything. And we can talk about God. We can talk about trauma. We can talk about sacrifice. I’m here for it. You know. And it doesn’t have to be with losing a child. It could be with suicide or homelessness or, you know, I’m here for it all.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah. And, you know, sometimes I think that Christians and non Christians alike get derailed by such small things.

Stephanie Zevallos: Oh, yeah.

Kimberly Faith: You know, somebody cut you off in traffic.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah.

Kimberly Faith: You know, I mean, I hate to, I’m not trying to compare the two, but if you look at the spiral, you lose your job. You know, you lose a key employee on your team. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Right. 

Kimberly Faith: Man, it’s easier to think just to get in despair and hopelessness. But when we strive to have God’s perspective, which is, you know, I tell you about a month ago, God gave me these couple devotionals about learning to have his perspective. Then we look at a Monet at a yard sale, and we know that’s a Monet, and that’s valuable. And I’ll buy that for $10 because it’s worth a lot more than that.

Stephanie Zevallos: Right.

Kimberly Faith:  And it may look like a $10 painting, but it’s kind of like human beings. We’re created an image of God. And I can see a homeless person, and if I’m viewing that person with God’s perspective, I will if God prompts me to reach out to that person and to love on that person, even in just a small way, it’s because I’m seeing the Monet, not the $10 mark. You know? And I think that’s what you’re saying.

Stephanie Zevallos: Definitely.

Kimberly Faith: You have that perspective, which I’m sure you’ll you mentioned, you know, you wake up and you’re just like, well, you know, put one foot in another. I’m even worse than that, Stephanie. I wake up and say, I can’t move, God. You need to get me out of this bed. Help me.

Usually, my first prayer is, help me. I got nothing. And I make that admission freely.

Stephanie Zevallos: That is so valid. Yes.

Kimberly Faith: So valid. I know, again, I’ve shared this with you, but I know the Lord just chuckles. He just like, yeah, you got nothing all right. Let me give you some more strength, you know? And I do believe that to be able to give that testimony, that without God, we are nothing.

And that is magnified through the tragedy you’ve gone through.

Stephanie Zevallos:  Yes.

Kimberly Faith: Because you have taken that and used it for something through the power of God. And when people say, how are you so strong? You can say, well, I’m not.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah. It’s not me. I’ll tell you that right now.

Kimberly Faith: And then that’s an open door to sharing the gospel, to sharing how they can bring God into their heart, you know, through salvation and live in his power. They don’t have to depend on themselves.

Stephanie Zevallos: Definitely. And,you know, it doesn’t make me perfect or make my grief journey any less. It’s just that when other people see me, I want them to realize, like, there is hope. 

Kimberly Faith: Yes. 

Stephanie Zevallos: You know, there is hope.

Kimberly Faith: Yes.

Stephanie Zevallos: Bad things can happen, but there is still hope.

Kimberly Faith: Well, I think you’re a shining example of when I see you, I see Jesus. And I love that. I love that about you.

Stephanie Zevallos: I love that you said that.

Kimberly Faith: And it’s so, when I think about your son and, you know, of course, we don’t know what people in paradise are thinking or what they see or don’t see. But I just know that he rejoices over you and your family that he’s going to see you again.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes.

Kimberly Faith: You know?

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah. And until that time, you know, we’ll make him proud for sure.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah. And his sacrifice was worth it. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes.

Kimberly Faith:  I mean, it was worth it for eternal purposes. I don’t mean to say that. That sounds really harsh. I don’t mean it that way.

Stephanie Zevallos: No. But, you know, honestly, the way I look at it is that our time on this earth is so short. It’s a whisper. It’s a blink of an eye. It’s just a passing cloud, and then we have eternity.

Kimberly Faith: Right.

Stephanie Zevallos: You know? And it’s you know, getting to eternity, I’m not in a huge rush to get there, but at the same time, I can’t wait.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah. Of course, you have somebody that really loves you waiting. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah. 

Kimberly Faith:You know what? One thing that crossed my mind when you were talking was, you know, how a lot of these famous painters weren’t famous while they were alive.

Stephanie Zevallos: Right. 

Kimberly Faith: And then when they died, they suddenly became a lot more famous. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. 

Kimberly Faith: And, I feel like that’s kind of Rudy, you know?

Stephanie Zevallos: Oh, definitely. Yeah.

Kimberly Faith: He’s become iconic for Jesus. And whereas maybe his ministry, if he lived, was going to be limited in some way. Who knows by what, right?

Stephanie Zevallos: Right.

Kimberly Faith: But now he’s been almost frozen in time as this person who loved the Lord.

Stephanie Zevallos: At 18.

Kimberly Faith: At 18. And, you know, we can all run the race like Rudy did. Because of how God allowed the time in his life for whatever reason. I don’t understand it. But I just so much admire what you’re doing.

Stephanie Zevallos: Well, thank you. I appreciate that. The year of his death is coming up October 5. On October 4, myself, his best friend Fidel, pastor Luke, and a few other people will be running the Froghill Half Marathon in his honor. And then all of our family and friends and everything will be there at the finish line. And the race director, Melissa, she’s a really, really wonderful friend of mine. The medal that they have this year says run like Rudy on it. I cannot wait to get one.

Kimberly Faith: That’s the race he died running.

Stephanie Zevallos:  Yeah. 

Kimberly Faith: That is wow. That’s going to be quite an event.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah.

Kimberly Faith: Quite an event.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah. I think it’ll be you know, it’s going to be a good day. I’d rather not sit at home and, you know, wallow in grief. I’d rather be doing something that I know he’d be proud of.

Kimberly Faith: I just love that your son motivates you.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. Yeah. He does.

Kimberly Faith: I mean, it’s, you know, we think about how our children when they’re younger, they motivate us to claim physical prizes. You know, my son to be a good soccer player. I want my son to do this or my daughter to, you know, to be a great lawyer or whatever. But your son is motivating you to do eternal things. And that’s just a flipped coin then that I didn’t I would have never thought about.

Stephanie Zevallos: No. It really is. It really is. If you would have told me a couple years ago that, you know, I was going to be saved and come to Jesus, come to the Lord through my 18 year old son, I would probably think you’re crazy. I’d be like, how in the world, you know, because as parents usually, you know, we’re the ones that guide our kids to things, you know, but oh, God. I just learned so much from him.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah. And, you know, you make a really valid point. Part of life is and the big part of life is the unknown. But that’s the adventure.

Stephanie Zevallos: Right.

Kimberly Faith: That’s the adventure. Who could have written a story like this? Only God. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. 

Kimberly Faith: And if we set aside our will and let his will take precedence in our life, then we get to run the adventure. It’s an adventure race. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. 

Kimberly Faith: The great adventure race. Run the adventure like Rudy.

Stephanie Zeallos: Yes. Yes.

Kimberly Faith: So it’s so but it’s so good that you’re taking that view. I mean, yeah. I mean, I could see how it’d be much, you know, it would be totally understandable to sit at home on the one year anniversary of his death and just be sad. But the cool thing is you’re going to  be surrounded by people

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah. 

Kimberly Faith: Who also love Rudy, doing something he loved doing and celebrating his life.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. And I think I’d much rather be doing that.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah. Yeah. Well, Stephanie, I really appreciate you being willing to come and do this podcast in celebration of Rudy’s life.

Stephanie Zeallos: Yeah. Yeah. And that’s how I like to look at it, and that’s how my family looks at it. You know, it’s the celebration of his life

Kimberly Faith: He did step into eternal life.

Stephanie Zevallos: He did. He did. And you know, I picture him when I’m running, when I’m training, I picture him running next to me in good Junior fashion, telling me to hurry up or I can go faster. That’s not all I got.

Kimberly Faith: Harassing his mother.

Stephanie Zevallos:  Yes.Yes. He was very good at that.

Kimberly Faith: And making sure he beats you.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes, definitely.

Kimberly Faith: Of course after he harasses you.

Stephanie Zevallos: Yes. But at the same time, it makes me focused, you know?

Kimberly Faith: Yeah. What a gift. 

Stephanie Zevallos: Yeah. 

Kimberly Faith: What a gift. And gosh, thanks for sharing your gift with us.

Stephanie Zevallos: Thank you for having me.

Kimberly Faith: Absolutely. 

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