Sue Bidstrup / Great Big YES!

Meet Sue!

There are so many things I could choose to say here. I’m a mom (3 children now in their 20s), wife (30 years!), sister, daughter, friend. I’ve been a ministry leader, a podcast host, an author, and a stay at home mom. I’ve lived in the Chicago area most of my life until a move brought us to Texas 10 years ago. Sometimes I say “you guys” and other times, it’s “y’all.”

I love pop culture – movies, TV, music, social media, politics, books, podcasts. It all started back in 5th grade with Shaun Cassidy. My mom and dad owned a bookstore so I had dibs on all the newest Tiger Beat and Teen Beat magazines. I would rip out photos of Shaun and cover my walls with them. Then my mom took me to his concert and I was a goner. I remember people were standing on their chairs screaming and I’d never seen anything like it. He jumped through a hoop in a red satin jumpsuit with sparkles. I’ve never been the same. To this day, I’m all in if there is a concert (we see lots of live music here in Austin!) and while there are no magazines really anymore, I keep up to date with pop culture and I love to share book and movie reviews and current events on my blog and Instagram page.

But all of this is so small compared to the way I feel about Jesus. A friend asked me when I was a teenager, “Do you think you’ll go to heaven?” I said, “YES” and he asked why. “Because I’m a good person,” I replied. He said that’s not the way to get to heaven, he said you have to “ask Jesus into your heart.” Ever since this defining moment on the shag carpeting in my basement when I was in 8th grade, I have been on a quest. I grew up Catholic and I wondered why no one had ever explained this to me before. So I started seeking, asking and knocking. It’s a long story with twists and turns (you’ll have to read the book!) but the gist is this. I asked Jesus into my heart and into my kitchen and bathroom and car and office and marriage and friendships and parenting and walking and work outs. I have invited him into my anxiety and my fears and my pride and my desire to control and my addiction to comfort. He has invited me to live free. Free from the sting of sin and death, free from fear, free from striving and performing and “figuring everything out.” HIs invitation is the invitation of a lifetime. It changes everything. We are all invited. Our “YES!” is just the beginning of the story He will write with our lives. (Actually, He has been writing our stories since before we were born but some of us tune in a little later.)

This is my passion. Jesus and God’s Word and our stories. Because our story is HIs story. His extraordinary love and sacrifice enter into our everyday boring Tuesday while we are doing laundry, or maybe His love first meets us when we have a child or lose a child or receive that phone call we have always dreaded. He is there for all of it. His love transforms our ordinary lives.

So, that’s me. A sinner saved by grace. A daughter full of gratitude. A believer with a story to tell. A middle aged empty nester who has finally stopped hustling and said a great big yes to letting Jesus take the wheel. What a relief it is. I’m going to write about it and talk about it any chance I get. I hope and pray it gives Him glory.