00:00:55
Speaker 1: Hovery One. I'm David Chadwick and this is one O seven point nine FM WVT Charlotte FFM News Talk Radio. Thank you for being with me today. In case you don't know, this is a faith in values program that tries to intersect faith and values with what's going on locally and globally. It's a pleasure doing this show now for over twenty six years. Thank you to Perry's Fine Jewelry for your sponsorship of the show. Without you, I could not do this on a weekly basis. Many thanks, especially the Hadley Perry who oversees all of this and allows me this opportunity to do this show weekly. Well, I have been looking forward to this show for a long time because it's with one of my really good friends who has an interesting story that I want everyone to hear, who also is a noted wife of a noted professional golfer, locally Web Simpson. Her name is Dowd Simpson, a Doubt and I have known each other since she was a baby, and also I had the privilege of marrying Web and Dowd some seventeen or so years ago. So she has been invited and graciously accepted to get her on the show. Here today, Doud Simpson. Welcome to WBT.
00:02:01
Speaker 2: Thank you, David. It's an honor to be here. I feel blessed.
00:02:04
Speaker 1: Well, I'm just blessed that you're here, and thank you for giving us this experience, because what I want to do with you today is to give an insight into something that a lot of people would I think ask questions about, just wouldn't know how to get the answers for. And that is what is it like to be the life of a very noted, successful professional golfer. What is his life like? How does that intersect with your life of how many kids?
00:02:29
Speaker 2: Five?
00:02:29
Speaker 1: Five kids? So you have a very interesting, active life with your kids.
00:02:35
Speaker 2: It's very full. It's a full life, whether it's one child or twelve children. I think it's very sanctifying and beautiful. When Web and I got married, I remember my mom saying, you're going to be living out of a suitcase for the rest of your life. Are you okay with that? And I said, I am one hundred percent okay with that. I am marrying the man, not the job. But the job does come with a lot of joys and a lot of challenges. So when we first got married, we really did. We just packed up our suitcase and hit the road, and home became not four walls in a roof, but really where we were together. So I preferred to be on the road with Web supporting him than at home by myself. But honestly, David, whether it's the wife of a golfer, the wife of a construction worker, the wife of a pastor, the wife of a doctor, whatever it is, the circumstances might be different. But the human heart and the human condition is the same. God has intricately woven and created and formed and fashioned us. So the human heart within all of us is uniquely designed and fashioned by Him, and we have the exact same needs, the exact same longings, the exact same desires, And the Lord uses the circumstances that were in to pull on those heart strings.
00:03:58
Speaker 1: And mold us and create this into his image. A lot of people ask me, what's the purpose of my life? And I go Romans eight twenty nine is the best answer I can give you. His purposes to conform us into the image of Jesus, and he uses all kinds of life, experiences and circumstances in order for that to happen.
00:04:13
Speaker 2: Yes, that's so true, especially in the world of Goth. I have found that Goth makes a terrible god.
00:04:21
Speaker 1: Like people. That's one of my favorite phrases. People make lousy gods, but your vocation makes a lousy God too.
00:04:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, because success could then become your savior, and failure could then become your identity. And the Gospel frees us of all of that, right, because our identity is found in Christ, in Christ alone. But I've found that when we've had the successes and when we've had the failures, actually walking with the Lord makes them in their proper place.
00:04:48
Speaker 1: And all of those are being used by the Lord for his glory and our good. We just don't see it at the moment very often, but we have to walk with Him in those experiences in order to have the image of Jesus being conformed with him.
00:05:02
Speaker 2: That's so true, David. I feel like anything the Lord uses in our life is a tool of sanctification in a loving father's hand to make us look more like Jesus. For example, with five children traveling on the road, we literally are moving from one hotel to the next, and we are a traveling circus. I remember there was one time when I was carrying two suitcases, Roly suitcases. Web was carrying two Roly suitcases. We have four children on each one of those Roly suitcases as we're running through the airport, and I have one attached to the front of me, and we are sprinting trying to make our flight. And you can imagine all of the anxiousness and the fears and the stress. But the Lord use those as a means for us to look more like him.
00:05:49
Speaker 1: Well, what we want to do today is to get to know you and to get to know your family a little bit better. But also just how in the world do you particularly when you're in those extreme highs with you Web winning the US Open, for example, the extreme lows, when he's not making even the cuts, how do you deal with that in life? And how do you begin to understand life's disappointments. You know, there's a great phrase that life's disappointments should be our appointment for something else, because God's in everything, the highs and the lows, and he uses all for his glory and our good. But how do you handle that with you know, in an emotional situation that's grabbing your heart and pulling you down and pulling you up whichever it may be. And you have a great and deep faith. So when we come back from the break, I want to talk about your faith and how that came to be a part of your life, but also how you and Web even met and just just what that was like and how God orchestrated and allowed that to happen. So Dowd Simpson is my guest today. Dowd's husband is Web Simpson, the noted golfer US Open champion, just has so much success by his name, But more than that, he's a father. He's a husband married to Dowd who's in studio with me today and with your five children. You have a wonderful story that you are telling us today about and I just want to make sure everyone hears it well, Dowd before we take a quick break, any final thoughts.
00:07:12
Speaker 2: Christ is enough. Christ is enough. He satisfies every human desire.
00:07:17
Speaker 1: So the sufficiency of Jesus is our goal today to help everybody realize that no matter what you're going through, the extreme ups the extreme downs, that the sufficiency of Jesus is always there. He'll always meet your every need, your every longing in your life. And as you believe that today as you cling that today you will find him to be enough. He will be your sufficiency. Again. Dowd Simpson's my guest we'll talk to her in just a second about how did you come to faith, how did you meet Webb, and how has life been over the last seventeen years since you were married. I'm David Chadwick. This is one oh seven point nine FMWBT. Will be right back. As we know, this is the day that the Lord has made. Let's rejoice and be glad in it. Hivery one. I'm David Chadwick and this is one O seven point nine FMWBT Radio. Welcome back to this show again, a faith and values program that tries to understand what's going on in the world, oftentimes having guests on who tell their own story about what it's like to live in the world as people love some notoriety, and one of those people today is Dowd Simpson. She is the wife of Web Simpson, local professional golfer who's had extorted highs some lows as well. Let's talk about those in just a second. But Doubt again, welcome to the show.
00:10:04
Speaker 2: Thank you, David.
00:10:06
Speaker 1: Let's get to know Doubt Simpson, Who are you, oh boy?
00:10:12
Speaker 2: Well, I am the oldest of five children. I am Greg and India's daughter. I am a native Charlottean born and raised. Did not think I would live here full time, but yet here's where the Lord has my feet. I grew up in a Christian home. My parents did a wonderful job of introducing me to Jesus. But as we know, we can't rely on our parents' faith to make it our own. Someone said to me once, going to church doesn't make you a Christian, just as much as sitting in your garage makes you a car So I.
00:10:45
Speaker 1: So true. But you can't borrow your parents' faith. And there's an interesting insight that the Bible gives. It's like borrowing oil when you're waiting for Jesus to return. You can't borrow somebody else's oil. You got to have your own oil. It's got to fill your own heart, the presence and the Holy spirit that you've got to claim for yourself. So you had to go through like my three kids did, as well as a preacher's kid. It has to be your own faith. It's not my faith.
00:11:08
Speaker 2: You're exactly right, David, And typically that happens when the Lord strips you of all of the things that you're clinging to to find your worth, purpose and identity. And so it wasn't until later in life, really, my senior year of college, and.
00:11:23
Speaker 1: You're at wake Forest. Now that's exactly That's where Web was, and that's where you met. And we'll talk about that in a second.
00:11:29
Speaker 2: Yes, that's exactly right. And gosh, David, I was. I remember feeling really unhappy. I remember feeling like if I just changed my circumstances, then maybe I would be happy. But ultimately, as you have said since I was a little girl, the heart of the matter is a matter of the heart.
00:11:47
Speaker 1: That's a David ism people remember I say all the time because it's true. The heart of the matter is a matter of the heart.
00:11:53
Speaker 2: And I was seeking to fill my heart with all the sparkly things of the world, hoping that I would find again worth, purpose and dignity, satisfaction in my performance in what people thought of me, which also you have said, people make terrible gods, and they certainly do. And it wasn't until the Lord took me to a really low place that I said, gosh, this life is not giving me what I hoped before, and I realized I came face to face with my sinful state. Oh, my brokenness, my depravity, my wretchedness, just filth. Like I could not climb high enough to get to God. I could not do enough good works to get to God. My sin was so heavy and yucky that I had no place to put it but at the feet of the cross. And that is when I met Jesus. Was right after college, and I was met with like the most beautiful, warm, gracious embrace of a loving father. Because of what Christ had done on the cross, I could actually come to the Father. So I took all of that and gave it to Jesus, and Jesus welcomed me with open arms.
00:13:04
Speaker 1: The Bible calls it the Great exchange, that God takes our sinfulness upon himself through Jesus and the Cross, and gives us his perfect righteousness by grace through faith, free of charge. Who wouldn't want that deal? Because you get free then from all your junk in the past.
00:13:21
Speaker 2: You're exactly right. And freedom was the word that I felt. I had felt chained and shackled, and in that moment of saying yes, Jesus, I want you and you first, without a close second, third, or fourth. I felt those shackles break and fall off. I felt freedom for the first time.
00:13:39
Speaker 1: That voice is down Simpson local Charlotte tan but noted as the wife of Web Simpson. I want you to be your own person, though doubt emphasizing that today. So this experience with the Lord where he took all of your burdens and your shame and your guilt upon himself and gave you his perfect righteousness happened at the end of your wake Forest experience. Had you met Web at that point.
00:14:00
Speaker 2: I actually love our story of how we first met. So I was a freshman at Wake Forest and the girl who became my best friend. Her name was Maggie Simons. She grew up playing golf with Webb. And she told me second semester of our freshman year that my future husband was coming to Wake.
00:14:17
Speaker 1: Well prophesied over you.
00:14:18
Speaker 2: Huh, which at the time I laughed at. I was not interested in a future husband. But she had a party in Raleigh and she invited me. So I went to her party and I met a man who was sitting on a couch who happened to be Web's dad, and he said to me, my son is a dorky golfer. He's coming to wake Forest next year. I will pay you one hundred dollars if you just walk around campus with him. Go get a coke so he can be seen with an older pretty girl, which I laughed and I said, well, Sam, if he's half as cute as you are, I will do it for free.
00:14:55
Speaker 1: So you never got your one hundred dollars, but you went ahead and went out with Webb David.
00:14:59
Speaker 2: He actually paid me one hundred dollars. He did my dowry. So Web and I met. We were introduced by Maggie and became fast friends. In fact, Webb and my brother Graham lived together all throughout college. They were great friends, and Webb and I would study together at Triple Hall. And when Christmas rolled around, I think he got enough courage to actually ask me out on a date. And sure enough Sam Simpson paid for our.
00:15:27
Speaker 1: Date and immediate love or was it gradual?
00:15:31
Speaker 2: M gosh? Immediate for me. I feel like within the first two weeks I knew that this was the man I wanted to grow old with, This was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. But David. Again, I did not walk fully wholeheartedly after Lord until after college. So Web, in my relationship, became an idol in my life, right, And idols are terrible because they always leave you wanting more and they never satisfied, said Fine.
00:16:00
Speaker 1: Is Web a follower of Jesus at this point wholeheartedly in his life?
00:16:04
Speaker 2: He would tell you he was a Christian, just as I would have told you I was a Christian. But really we were living more moralistically. The whole list of dos and don'ts. That's what kind of we thought the religion was, and Christianity was. We didn't realize it was a relationship, a beautiful relationship with Jesus.
00:16:20
Speaker 1: A lot of people misunderstand that rules and regulations are fine, but they're the result of the relationship to please the one with whom you have the relationship. But the Christian faith really is a personal, living, dynamic relationship with the God of this universe revealed to us through Jesus Christ.
00:16:34
Speaker 2: Yes, and a men.
00:16:37
Speaker 1: So you and Web get married at the end of your college experience, if I remember correctly.
00:16:43
Speaker 2: So we actually break up, David.
00:16:46
Speaker 1: Oh wow, So I didn't know this part of the story.
00:16:48
Speaker 2: This is a beautiful part of the story. So this is when I really found the word, and I said, I want this. I don't want my relationship with Jesus first without a close second, third, or fourth. So I actually flew back to wake Forest because I was living in Atlanta at the time, working for a Christian company, and I was confronted. The Lord used a verse in John talking about how John the Baptist was paving the way for Jesus, and I thought, how on earth can I make my way straight for Jesus when it feels so crooked? And that's the verse that God really assaulted me with, of I can be the one that makes your way straight, I can be the one, And so I flew back to wake Forest. I broke up with web Ha ha because he was an idol in my life and I was clinging on to him and I wanted to cling on to Christ. So we broke up for an entire year without any hope of getting back together.
00:17:41
Speaker 1: Really, you didn't see each other during that year at all, or were there moments that you got together.
00:17:46
Speaker 2: I actually told him, I said, I release you. I free you to do whatever the Lord has for you and the Holy Spirit. I had been preparing his heart because he was like, you know what, I actually want God first in my life too. I don't want Dowd Keith at the time first in my life, and I didn't want Web Simpson first in my life. We both wanted Christ. So God took us and put us on separate paths. And I said, don't call me, don't text me at the time, don't aim me.
00:18:13
Speaker 1: And so you really were a part for a year. What brought you back?
00:18:17
Speaker 2: During that year for the first time, the Lord surrounded me with authentic female friendships. He plugged me into a church in which I was serving, and I really got to understand what it looked like to follow after Jesus. And then I started dating. So I didn't date for a whole year. But when I started dating, my sisters called Web and said, dad's dating again. I think you should take it.
00:18:39
Speaker 1: So you were dating some other guys other than Web, and then your sister calls Web and says, she's on the market again. That's correct, and so you get back together. At that point we do.
00:18:51
Speaker 2: We do get back together. And when you know, when you get back together with someone, you either know right you know right away this is a yes or this is a clear note. And it was a definite Yes. It was the same man I had fallen in love with years before, but this time something was different.
00:19:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, you have that what Marilyn and I call Maryland. Just celebrate our forty eighth year together. We're one flesh. I mean, who I am is who she is. Who she is is who I am, And when we came together and married, it's just been one continual oneness that's been happening. But it's only because of our oneness with Jesus, who is the glue that brings us together. Dowd Simpson's my guest. Let's talk about what it's like to be the wife of a pro golfer. When we come back.
00:22:02
Speaker 3: Shepherd Gods.
00:22:10
Speaker 1: Life fuse from death. And when you realize the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, and that the faith in Him is all about a relationship, not rules and regulations, your life in Jesus takes on a new perspective. Shepherd us, oh God.
00:22:29
Speaker 3: A maders, a faithful medicenter.
00:22:34
Speaker 1: I wan by and he leads us beside still waters and green grass. And when you have that relationship, sometimes he forces you into that ground and in that place he restores your soul. Howeveryone, I'm David Chadwick and this is News Talk one oh seven point nine WBT FM Radio, and it's good to have you all back with us today. If you'd like to hear this program with Doud Simpson from the beginning to end, go to WBT dot com, scroll down to the weekend shows, look for the David Chadwick Show and you can hear it from beginning to end. DWD, what a pleasure to have you on this show again. I hate to keep saying this, but your husband is Web Simpson, very noted professional golfer. You live locally here, five kids. You guys have been married seventeen years. But let's talk about what we just left off with, and that is you and Web had separated for a while, you got back together again, and then you got married some seventeen years ago. Let's remember that wedding day together.
00:23:35
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, well, David, I remember webin I decided when we got back together. I was pursuing an acting career in LA and he was on the PGA tour. So our lives took us in very different places. There was a moment when we were at his grandfather's funeral, where the pastor had said he and his grandmother had been together for over sixty years. And I thought, what are we doing. Let's build a life together, Let's make it count. Need to be in La, you don't need to be on the tour. I'm going to say goodbye to La so that I can come and be your helpmate and support you. So on the front lawn of his grandparents' house, we picked up the phone and we called you, David. We said we want to get married. Before he had even asked for my dad's hand in marriage, which honestly my dad would have immediately said yes, we asked you if you would marry us, and we found a date and we got married here in Charlotte at Myers Park Presbyterian Church, the church that I had grown up in as a little girl before attending Forest Still in my teen years, and then had our reception at quil Hollow, which is really neat because that's where it was the Wells Fargo. Now the truest is played, and.
00:24:40
Speaker 1: Some people may remember there was a gentleman by the name of Graham Keith who had always introduce the golfers. On that first hole, and that person is your granddaddy.
00:24:48
Speaker 2: He is gosh, he is just the epitome of a Southern gentleman. And he had so much pride announcing Webb Simpson on the first tea.
00:24:57
Speaker 1: So you and Webb get married, and I remember that day is just a gorgeous day outside, but inside the church was magnificently decorated, and you were a beautiful bride, and Web was so proud to take you on as his bride. And you guys, have had a wonderful marriage all of these years. And you settled in Charlotte first of all? Is that right?
00:25:16
Speaker 2: We actually lived in Raleigh first, So we lived in Raleigh because Web is from Raleigh. But as soon as we got pregnant, which was a surprise three months into marriage. We got pregnant. With him traveling so much, I wanted to be closer to home in order to have help from my family. Then we realized that Charlotte Airport we could get to and from wherever he needed to go without a stop. So really it became proximity and efficiency and we ended up digging roots really quickly as a unit as a married couple here in Charlotte.
00:25:49
Speaker 1: So Web is the Arnold Palmer Scholarship Award at wake Forest, which is a very prestigious scholarship. Because of his golf ability, he jumps into the professional golf circuit. Does he have immediate success?
00:26:02
Speaker 2: David? You know it's so funny, is I thought golf was the most boring sport growing up. There was no contact, there was no screaming and cheering and yelling. It was something I took a nap to on Sunday afternoons.
00:26:15
Speaker 1: It's like Mark Twain said, us, a nice way to mess up a Sunday afternoon walk.
00:26:21
Speaker 2: But then it became so different when I fell in love with someone who played it, I still didn't really understand it. He would come back from a tournament in college and be a little bummed that he shot a seventy six, and I remember just saying to him, what that's better than a seventy seven?
00:26:38
Speaker 1: And so he starts on his career and again does he skyrocket to success right out of the chuot He by.
00:26:46
Speaker 2: The Lord's kindness and blessing. He plays really, really well. He's really talented. He's got natural talent. It's always been pretty natural. But more than being a successful and incredible golfer. He is an incredible husband and father to our five kiddos.
00:27:06
Speaker 1: And so he starts to be successful in golf, and you have pretty soon after he entered into the whole professional scene, he wins the US Open. What's that like?
00:27:18
Speaker 2: It was crazy. So I was pregnant with our second child, so I had James, and then Willow is in my womb and I am probably thirty four weeks pregnant, and the US Open is on the West Coast, so my mom and dad graciously keep James and I fly to the West Coast to watch him, and I am very pregnant. I'm just so excited to be there watching him. At the time, he wasn't in contention, he wasn't leading. But this is what I say about Web. He always does best coming from behind. You know. He's like this crouching tiger that's ready to devour. Not to be confused with the enemy, who is like a crouching tiger ready to devour.
00:27:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I remember so clearly that particular Sunday, and I'm sitting there watching it because I love Web and love you guys, and I'm going he could win this. He could win this. As it gets closer and closer.
00:28:09
Speaker 2: And the crazy thing is, I didn't realize that until my phone started blowing up all of a sudden. I started getting all these text messages. We're cheering for you, We're praying for you, and I look at the leader leaderboard, and I'm like, oh my goodness, Oh my goodness, Like he could actually win.
00:28:24
Speaker 1: So what's it like after you win one of the Big four, one of the majors? What's it like in your all's lives? Oooh.
00:28:31
Speaker 2: I would say that our home pretty much stays the same. It's just the demands that increase. He was asked to do a whole TV circuit, but he declined because we were giving birth to our second child. So the TV and the sparkle and the fame and all of that is a big poll. But Webb's priority has always been his relationship with Jesus, his relationship with me, and his relationship with the kids. So he really sought to prioritize.
00:29:03
Speaker 1: That he has the right priorities in life, that is for sure. And then you have, I think, if I remember correctly, immediate success continuing thereafter. He's in the top ten of all the golfers in the world.
00:29:17
Speaker 2: Correct, You're right, David. By the kindness and grace of God, he made it to fourth in the world, which is pretty miraculous. But he did not change. He was still the same because he was standing on the rock.
00:29:34
Speaker 1: And y'all's lives continue to grow closer together. But then over the years, as happens with every athlete, you know, our bodies were down. We don't have the mental acumen that we normally had, and success doesn't always stay at that highest level. And you've gone through the great successes obviously with Webb, but then the great lows as well. What's that like As a wife of a professional golfer. Do you have a sorority of sisters out there that you can call and say, hey, I'm walking through do this and they help you out? How does that work out?
00:30:02
Speaker 2: This sounds crazy, but I actually like the low lows. I think it does something for a marriage when you can't C. S Lewis. C. S Lewis has this quote. He says, a burden shared is half the burden. And so when Web and I shared numerous conversations and tears around our kitchen table, it became the water that enriched the soil of our marriage that produced an aroma that worshiped the Lord and glorified him. I really love the struggle. I know that sounds crazy that I love the struggle, But in the struggle, that's where your roots start to grow in relationship with one another, but more importantly, in relationship with God.
00:30:43
Speaker 1: That's exactly right down. You know, in my really down times in life, I've really rejoiced and I've answered what Paul meant and Romans five. Rejoiced in your tribulations because two things happened. One is it drove me deeper into Maryland, and it drove me deeper into the Lord. And what I changed those deep depth of gratitude, No, not at all.
00:31:03
Speaker 2: And a lot of times our disappointment can show us what we were hoping for. And there's a difference. I remember Web wants telling me there's a difference between hoping in and hoping for. You can hope for good golf, but if you hope in good golf, you're making golf your God and you're turning something good into a God. And only God wants that place. And so a lot of times God will dismantle the things that we're clinging to in order to show us that He is enough because he loves us enough to keep us dependent only on him.
00:31:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, and prize our puny fingers away from that idol. And if there's any idol we're clinging to. Trust God, if you love him, He's going to love you enough to take your fingers off of that idol, so you'll cling to him and him alone. Is that what you've discovered?
00:31:52
Speaker 2: I have? I have discovered that ultimately Christ is enough.
00:31:58
Speaker 1: Well, his sufficiency. Again, we keep coming back to that, don't we is there for us and now at this age and stage of life and marriage and everything. And we'll explore this in our final segment in greater depth. But where are you in web right now? And where is his career?
00:32:15
Speaker 2: So we went from he went from being fourth in the world to having a really low valley, and then as that started to decrease, the Lord graciously increased a ton of ministry opportunities for him and for us.
00:32:32
Speaker 1: I know he has a podcast that he does. It's become enormously popular, especially among golf and ficionados. And let's talk about that when we come back. But again, how the lows drive you deeper into one another? What that looks like, and then how it drives you deeper into Christ and what that looks like as well. Dowd Simpson's my guest. I'm David Chadwick. This is News Talk one oh seven point nine FMWBT will be right back.
00:34:40
Speaker 3: Christ is my fat, fine day saying you're rock do be y'all said everything around me said, I've never been more loud. I put my faith in Jesus.
00:35:05
Speaker 1: He's now.
00:35:08
Speaker 3: It's faithful through Janation.
00:35:14
Speaker 1: So well, every one of us has a foundation in life upon which we're building our lives. The question is what kind of foundation. And if it's built on sand, folks, the storms of life will wash away your foundation. Build it upon Jesus. Everyone. I'm David Chadwick and this is one oh seven point nine WBTFM Radio. It's great being with you today. Thank you Dowd Simpson for being with me today. If you're just joining us. Dowd Simpson is the wife of professional golfer Web Simpson. They live locally, but Dowd and I have been friends for a long time, did their wedding some sixteen seventeen years ago, and I've just had a pleasure knowing her and if you've listened so far, you can say that's a very articulate, thoughtful and winsome person, and she really is. Indeed, Now let's talk some more about the downtimes, which is where you are with Webb. I mean it happens to all of us. We get a little older, and golf especially demands so much mental and physical and emotional acuity that all have to work together and it just erodes because of who we are in life. How are you handling this phase of life as webs trying to come to grips with you know, this isn't going to last forever. And talk about the podcast that he is doing that opened up for him really amidst more of his losses that have been a blessing to literally tens of thousands of people.
00:36:34
Speaker 2: Yes, thank you. Yes. Webb has had the opportunity using his success in the PGA Tour as a platform to be able to share the gospel through many different avenues. So when he was young in his career, he started the Web Simpson Challenge, which was for high school golfers. It was a golf tournament for high school golfers, but he would share the gospel. And then we started a partner with College Golf Fellowship, which is a college golf ministry for college golfers. So the weekend before Christmas. For the past, let me see, I base it off of the birth of my third.
00:37:12
Speaker 1: Child, so there past by birth of kids.
00:37:17
Speaker 2: For the past twelve years we've opened our home the weekend before Christmas from anywhere from fifty to ninety college golfers that come and spin the weekend with us, spend the night literally on every surface of my house. There are people on the floor, landing on the stair, landings in my pantry, on couches, in every bed. But it's an opportunity for Web again to use the platform of golf to share the gospel. And then, most recently the Bible Caddie podcast just started with two of his best buddies, Ben Crane and William Kine, and they again use the platform of golf to share the gospel.
00:37:55
Speaker 1: And they do so so well. In Web, whenever he gets a chance to speak, always points people to Jesus, which is one of the reasons I admire him so much. If you could counsel people out there regarding when you go through the Great Highs, how do you handle it? When you go through the great lows, how do you handle it out? Simpson?
00:38:16
Speaker 2: Oh, the highs and the lows are both ordained by a good and loving and sovereign Father. When I don't understand what's happening, or my kids don't understand things that are happening, I always tell them, let's come back to two truths that we know. God is good and God is sovereign. It would be terrible if we served a sovereign God who was not good, and it would be terrible if we served a good God who was not sovereign. But our God has both of those attributes. So he ordains the high highs and the low lows. And when our feet are on the firm foundation of the rock of ages, right, we actually as believers can experience those high highs and those low lows in their proper place as a means to sanctify us look more like the image of Jesus, because they're in the hands of that loving, good and sovereign God. So during our high hives we worship, we just think him. We think him, think him, think him. In our low low's David, we worship, we think him, think him, think him.
00:39:15
Speaker 1: Oh, say Okay, so can dout Simpson honestly say this trite little phrase that sometimes Christians quote, Well, life's disappointments are God's appointment for something else.
00:39:27
Speaker 2: Yes, I can, Yes, and a men, because a lot of our disappointments show where are we are placing our hope.
00:39:35
Speaker 1: Does that mean, though, that we don't feel the disappointment? I mean, you don't stoically try to just push them aside. You've still got to.
00:39:42
Speaker 2: Feel absolutely And you know what I do? I actually turned to the psalms. Okay, because God and his graciousness gave us the psalms, because he knew the human heart that we would feel disappointment, regret, homesickness, loneliness, sadness, depression. And David felt those exact same things. And he shows us. He shows us how to lament. He shows us how to pour it all out to the Lord. I mean, Scripture says that he knows the thoughts in our head before there's even an utterance on our tongue. But here's the beauty of those psalms. Every one of them ends with hoping in the Lord. So give it all God, give all the mess, give all the yuck, Give all the tears, the worries, the fears, the disappointments, and then put your feet on the rock hope ultimately in God.
00:40:25
Speaker 1: And that rock is always higher than the water that's coming up around our neck, you know. Lead me to the rock that's higher than I. Psalm sixty nine says yes.
00:40:33
Speaker 2: And Charles Spurgeon is one of my favorite theologians, and he has this beautiful quote that says, I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the rock of ages.
00:40:43
Speaker 1: M right, it's powerful.
00:40:46
Speaker 2: I remember at one of our lowest points in Webb's career, one of his mentors asked, what do you hope What do you hope for at the end of this? And I looked at him and I said, my hope is that Webb clings to Christ as much afterwards as he is right now in the midst of the heart.
00:41:05
Speaker 1: Yeah. And it's interesting when you're really high and life is going well, those emotions don't seem to last very long because you keep waiting now for the next high. And if you're doing that, that can become an idol, can it?
00:41:17
Speaker 2: It absolutely can? And idols are terrible. They are terrible because they keep you wanting more, and yet they never satisfy. It's a well that will run dry. There's only one well that will fully satisfy.
00:41:29
Speaker 1: And what is that phrase two that before we meet Jesus, our hearts are idol making factories.
00:41:34
Speaker 2: Gosh, that's so true. And we are restless until we ultimately find our rest in him.
00:41:39
Speaker 1: We know that word you use, lament is such a good word. In the Psalms, it's talked about a lot. But what I love is the Book of Lamentations, where Jeremiah is watching his beloved Jerusalem get destroyed when he'd been telling people, if you don't repent, God won't relent. And then though even amidst all of the heavy descriptions of what's going on, he says those words and Lamentations three, The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercy has never come to an end. They're new every morning. Great is his faithfulness.
00:42:06
Speaker 2: We actually named our fourth child Mercy because of that exact verse, mercy.
00:42:11
Speaker 1: I love the word. And he's not getting what we deserve. I'm glad I don't get what I deserve.
00:42:16
Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you, Jesus.
00:42:18
Speaker 1: So at this stage of your life, now we only have about a minute and a half left at this stage of your life. What are you and Web hoping will happen in the years to come.
00:42:27
Speaker 2: Honestly, David, we love a simple life. We like the simplicity. We like being extraordinary in the ordinary. I'm going to steal a phrase from Eugene Peterson. He says long obedience in the same direction. We just want to be faithful with today's moment so that they can have eternal ripple effects in heaven.
00:42:50
Speaker 1: Your husband one time said to me, in one of the times I was kind of low. He may have forgotten this, but he said, let me tell you truth, David, about golf, it's not how you drive, it's how you arrive. I've never forgotten that. He says, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. And I've just always clung to that as I moved forward in life. It's always how you arrive. Any final thoughts.
00:43:12
Speaker 2: Oh, Jesus loves you. He is good and he's for you. His plans are good.
00:43:21
Speaker 1: Doub Simpson, thank you for being on the show today and everyone learned from her life. Jesus is our rock. We can stand on him even when the floodwaters are at our neck. Keep looking upward, breathing. They will subside. He'll use everything together for good. I'm David Chadwick. This is one oh seven point nine WBTFM. Talk with you all next week, So just
Speaker 1: Hovery One. I'm David Chadwick and this is one O seven point nine FM WVT Charlotte FFM News Talk Radio. Thank you for being with me today. In case you don't know, this is a faith in values program that tries to intersect faith and values with what's going on locally and globally. It's a pleasure doing this show now for over twenty six years. Thank you to Perry's Fine Jewelry for your sponsorship of the show. Without you, I could not do this on a weekly basis. Many thanks, especially the Hadley Perry who oversees all of this and allows me this opportunity to do this show weekly. Well, I have been looking forward to this show for a long time because it's with one of my really good friends who has an interesting story that I want everyone to hear, who also is a noted wife of a noted professional golfer, locally Web Simpson. Her name is Dowd Simpson, a Doubt and I have known each other since she was a baby, and also I had the privilege of marrying Web and Dowd some seventeen or so years ago. So she has been invited and graciously accepted to get her on the show. Here today, Doud Simpson. Welcome to WBT.
00:02:01
Speaker 2: Thank you, David. It's an honor to be here. I feel blessed.
00:02:04
Speaker 1: Well, I'm just blessed that you're here, and thank you for giving us this experience, because what I want to do with you today is to give an insight into something that a lot of people would I think ask questions about, just wouldn't know how to get the answers for. And that is what is it like to be the life of a very noted, successful professional golfer. What is his life like? How does that intersect with your life of how many kids?
00:02:29
Speaker 2: Five?
00:02:29
Speaker 1: Five kids? So you have a very interesting, active life with your kids.
00:02:35
Speaker 2: It's very full. It's a full life, whether it's one child or twelve children. I think it's very sanctifying and beautiful. When Web and I got married, I remember my mom saying, you're going to be living out of a suitcase for the rest of your life. Are you okay with that? And I said, I am one hundred percent okay with that. I am marrying the man, not the job. But the job does come with a lot of joys and a lot of challenges. So when we first got married, we really did. We just packed up our suitcase and hit the road, and home became not four walls in a roof, but really where we were together. So I preferred to be on the road with Web supporting him than at home by myself. But honestly, David, whether it's the wife of a golfer, the wife of a construction worker, the wife of a pastor, the wife of a doctor, whatever it is, the circumstances might be different. But the human heart and the human condition is the same. God has intricately woven and created and formed and fashioned us. So the human heart within all of us is uniquely designed and fashioned by Him, and we have the exact same needs, the exact same longings, the exact same desires, And the Lord uses the circumstances that were in to pull on those heart strings.
00:03:58
Speaker 1: And mold us and create this into his image. A lot of people ask me, what's the purpose of my life? And I go Romans eight twenty nine is the best answer I can give you. His purposes to conform us into the image of Jesus, and he uses all kinds of life, experiences and circumstances in order for that to happen.
00:04:13
Speaker 2: Yes, that's so true, especially in the world of Goth. I have found that Goth makes a terrible god.
00:04:21
Speaker 1: Like people. That's one of my favorite phrases. People make lousy gods, but your vocation makes a lousy God too.
00:04:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, because success could then become your savior, and failure could then become your identity. And the Gospel frees us of all of that, right, because our identity is found in Christ, in Christ alone. But I've found that when we've had the successes and when we've had the failures, actually walking with the Lord makes them in their proper place.
00:04:48
Speaker 1: And all of those are being used by the Lord for his glory and our good. We just don't see it at the moment very often, but we have to walk with Him in those experiences in order to have the image of Jesus being conformed with him.
00:05:02
Speaker 2: That's so true, David. I feel like anything the Lord uses in our life is a tool of sanctification in a loving father's hand to make us look more like Jesus. For example, with five children traveling on the road, we literally are moving from one hotel to the next, and we are a traveling circus. I remember there was one time when I was carrying two suitcases, Roly suitcases. Web was carrying two Roly suitcases. We have four children on each one of those Roly suitcases as we're running through the airport, and I have one attached to the front of me, and we are sprinting trying to make our flight. And you can imagine all of the anxiousness and the fears and the stress. But the Lord use those as a means for us to look more like him.
00:05:49
Speaker 1: Well, what we want to do today is to get to know you and to get to know your family a little bit better. But also just how in the world do you particularly when you're in those extreme highs with you Web winning the US Open, for example, the extreme lows, when he's not making even the cuts, how do you deal with that in life? And how do you begin to understand life's disappointments. You know, there's a great phrase that life's disappointments should be our appointment for something else, because God's in everything, the highs and the lows, and he uses all for his glory and our good. But how do you handle that with you know, in an emotional situation that's grabbing your heart and pulling you down and pulling you up whichever it may be. And you have a great and deep faith. So when we come back from the break, I want to talk about your faith and how that came to be a part of your life, but also how you and Web even met and just just what that was like and how God orchestrated and allowed that to happen. So Dowd Simpson is my guest today. Dowd's husband is Web Simpson, the noted golfer US Open champion, just has so much success by his name, But more than that, he's a father. He's a husband married to Dowd who's in studio with me today and with your five children. You have a wonderful story that you are telling us today about and I just want to make sure everyone hears it well, Dowd before we take a quick break, any final thoughts.
00:07:12
Speaker 2: Christ is enough. Christ is enough. He satisfies every human desire.
00:07:17
Speaker 1: So the sufficiency of Jesus is our goal today to help everybody realize that no matter what you're going through, the extreme ups the extreme downs, that the sufficiency of Jesus is always there. He'll always meet your every need, your every longing in your life. And as you believe that today as you cling that today you will find him to be enough. He will be your sufficiency. Again. Dowd Simpson's my guest we'll talk to her in just a second about how did you come to faith, how did you meet Webb, and how has life been over the last seventeen years since you were married. I'm David Chadwick. This is one oh seven point nine FMWBT. Will be right back. As we know, this is the day that the Lord has made. Let's rejoice and be glad in it. Hivery one. I'm David Chadwick and this is one O seven point nine FMWBT Radio. Welcome back to this show again, a faith and values program that tries to understand what's going on in the world, oftentimes having guests on who tell their own story about what it's like to live in the world as people love some notoriety, and one of those people today is Dowd Simpson. She is the wife of Web Simpson, local professional golfer who's had extorted highs some lows as well. Let's talk about those in just a second. But Doubt again, welcome to the show.
00:10:04
Speaker 2: Thank you, David.
00:10:06
Speaker 1: Let's get to know Doubt Simpson, Who are you, oh boy?
00:10:12
Speaker 2: Well, I am the oldest of five children. I am Greg and India's daughter. I am a native Charlottean born and raised. Did not think I would live here full time, but yet here's where the Lord has my feet. I grew up in a Christian home. My parents did a wonderful job of introducing me to Jesus. But as we know, we can't rely on our parents' faith to make it our own. Someone said to me once, going to church doesn't make you a Christian, just as much as sitting in your garage makes you a car So I.
00:10:45
Speaker 1: So true. But you can't borrow your parents' faith. And there's an interesting insight that the Bible gives. It's like borrowing oil when you're waiting for Jesus to return. You can't borrow somebody else's oil. You got to have your own oil. It's got to fill your own heart, the presence and the Holy spirit that you've got to claim for yourself. So you had to go through like my three kids did, as well as a preacher's kid. It has to be your own faith. It's not my faith.
00:11:08
Speaker 2: You're exactly right, David, And typically that happens when the Lord strips you of all of the things that you're clinging to to find your worth, purpose and identity. And so it wasn't until later in life, really, my senior year of college, and.
00:11:23
Speaker 1: You're at wake Forest. Now that's exactly That's where Web was, and that's where you met. And we'll talk about that in a second.
00:11:29
Speaker 2: Yes, that's exactly right. And gosh, David, I was. I remember feeling really unhappy. I remember feeling like if I just changed my circumstances, then maybe I would be happy. But ultimately, as you have said since I was a little girl, the heart of the matter is a matter of the heart.
00:11:47
Speaker 1: That's a David ism people remember I say all the time because it's true. The heart of the matter is a matter of the heart.
00:11:53
Speaker 2: And I was seeking to fill my heart with all the sparkly things of the world, hoping that I would find again worth, purpose and dignity, satisfaction in my performance in what people thought of me, which also you have said, people make terrible gods, and they certainly do. And it wasn't until the Lord took me to a really low place that I said, gosh, this life is not giving me what I hoped before, and I realized I came face to face with my sinful state. Oh, my brokenness, my depravity, my wretchedness, just filth. Like I could not climb high enough to get to God. I could not do enough good works to get to God. My sin was so heavy and yucky that I had no place to put it but at the feet of the cross. And that is when I met Jesus. Was right after college, and I was met with like the most beautiful, warm, gracious embrace of a loving father. Because of what Christ had done on the cross, I could actually come to the Father. So I took all of that and gave it to Jesus, and Jesus welcomed me with open arms.
00:13:04
Speaker 1: The Bible calls it the Great exchange, that God takes our sinfulness upon himself through Jesus and the Cross, and gives us his perfect righteousness by grace through faith, free of charge. Who wouldn't want that deal? Because you get free then from all your junk in the past.
00:13:21
Speaker 2: You're exactly right. And freedom was the word that I felt. I had felt chained and shackled, and in that moment of saying yes, Jesus, I want you and you first, without a close second, third, or fourth. I felt those shackles break and fall off. I felt freedom for the first time.
00:13:39
Speaker 1: That voice is down Simpson local Charlotte tan but noted as the wife of Web Simpson. I want you to be your own person, though doubt emphasizing that today. So this experience with the Lord where he took all of your burdens and your shame and your guilt upon himself and gave you his perfect righteousness happened at the end of your wake Forest experience. Had you met Web at that point.
00:14:00
Speaker 2: I actually love our story of how we first met. So I was a freshman at Wake Forest and the girl who became my best friend. Her name was Maggie Simons. She grew up playing golf with Webb. And she told me second semester of our freshman year that my future husband was coming to Wake.
00:14:17
Speaker 1: Well prophesied over you.
00:14:18
Speaker 2: Huh, which at the time I laughed at. I was not interested in a future husband. But she had a party in Raleigh and she invited me. So I went to her party and I met a man who was sitting on a couch who happened to be Web's dad, and he said to me, my son is a dorky golfer. He's coming to wake Forest next year. I will pay you one hundred dollars if you just walk around campus with him. Go get a coke so he can be seen with an older pretty girl, which I laughed and I said, well, Sam, if he's half as cute as you are, I will do it for free.
00:14:55
Speaker 1: So you never got your one hundred dollars, but you went ahead and went out with Webb David.
00:14:59
Speaker 2: He actually paid me one hundred dollars. He did my dowry. So Web and I met. We were introduced by Maggie and became fast friends. In fact, Webb and my brother Graham lived together all throughout college. They were great friends, and Webb and I would study together at Triple Hall. And when Christmas rolled around, I think he got enough courage to actually ask me out on a date. And sure enough Sam Simpson paid for our.
00:15:27
Speaker 1: Date and immediate love or was it gradual?
00:15:31
Speaker 2: M gosh? Immediate for me. I feel like within the first two weeks I knew that this was the man I wanted to grow old with, This was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. But David. Again, I did not walk fully wholeheartedly after Lord until after college. So Web, in my relationship, became an idol in my life, right, And idols are terrible because they always leave you wanting more and they never satisfied, said Fine.
00:16:00
Speaker 1: Is Web a follower of Jesus at this point wholeheartedly in his life?
00:16:04
Speaker 2: He would tell you he was a Christian, just as I would have told you I was a Christian. But really we were living more moralistically. The whole list of dos and don'ts. That's what kind of we thought the religion was, and Christianity was. We didn't realize it was a relationship, a beautiful relationship with Jesus.
00:16:20
Speaker 1: A lot of people misunderstand that rules and regulations are fine, but they're the result of the relationship to please the one with whom you have the relationship. But the Christian faith really is a personal, living, dynamic relationship with the God of this universe revealed to us through Jesus Christ.
00:16:34
Speaker 2: Yes, and a men.
00:16:37
Speaker 1: So you and Web get married at the end of your college experience, if I remember correctly.
00:16:43
Speaker 2: So we actually break up, David.
00:16:46
Speaker 1: Oh wow, So I didn't know this part of the story.
00:16:48
Speaker 2: This is a beautiful part of the story. So this is when I really found the word, and I said, I want this. I don't want my relationship with Jesus first without a close second, third, or fourth. So I actually flew back to wake Forest because I was living in Atlanta at the time, working for a Christian company, and I was confronted. The Lord used a verse in John talking about how John the Baptist was paving the way for Jesus, and I thought, how on earth can I make my way straight for Jesus when it feels so crooked? And that's the verse that God really assaulted me with, of I can be the one that makes your way straight, I can be the one, And so I flew back to wake Forest. I broke up with web Ha ha because he was an idol in my life and I was clinging on to him and I wanted to cling on to Christ. So we broke up for an entire year without any hope of getting back together.
00:17:41
Speaker 1: Really, you didn't see each other during that year at all, or were there moments that you got together.
00:17:46
Speaker 2: I actually told him, I said, I release you. I free you to do whatever the Lord has for you and the Holy Spirit. I had been preparing his heart because he was like, you know what, I actually want God first in my life too. I don't want Dowd Keith at the time first in my life, and I didn't want Web Simpson first in my life. We both wanted Christ. So God took us and put us on separate paths. And I said, don't call me, don't text me at the time, don't aim me.
00:18:13
Speaker 1: And so you really were a part for a year. What brought you back?
00:18:17
Speaker 2: During that year for the first time, the Lord surrounded me with authentic female friendships. He plugged me into a church in which I was serving, and I really got to understand what it looked like to follow after Jesus. And then I started dating. So I didn't date for a whole year. But when I started dating, my sisters called Web and said, dad's dating again. I think you should take it.
00:18:39
Speaker 1: So you were dating some other guys other than Web, and then your sister calls Web and says, she's on the market again. That's correct, and so you get back together. At that point we do.
00:18:51
Speaker 2: We do get back together. And when you know, when you get back together with someone, you either know right you know right away this is a yes or this is a clear note. And it was a definite Yes. It was the same man I had fallen in love with years before, but this time something was different.
00:19:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, you have that what Marilyn and I call Maryland. Just celebrate our forty eighth year together. We're one flesh. I mean, who I am is who she is. Who she is is who I am, And when we came together and married, it's just been one continual oneness that's been happening. But it's only because of our oneness with Jesus, who is the glue that brings us together. Dowd Simpson's my guest. Let's talk about what it's like to be the wife of a pro golfer. When we come back.
00:22:02
Speaker 3: Shepherd Gods.
00:22:10
Speaker 1: Life fuse from death. And when you realize the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, and that the faith in Him is all about a relationship, not rules and regulations, your life in Jesus takes on a new perspective. Shepherd us, oh God.
00:22:29
Speaker 3: A maders, a faithful medicenter.
00:22:34
Speaker 1: I wan by and he leads us beside still waters and green grass. And when you have that relationship, sometimes he forces you into that ground and in that place he restores your soul. Howeveryone, I'm David Chadwick and this is News Talk one oh seven point nine WBT FM Radio, and it's good to have you all back with us today. If you'd like to hear this program with Doud Simpson from the beginning to end, go to WBT dot com, scroll down to the weekend shows, look for the David Chadwick Show and you can hear it from beginning to end. DWD, what a pleasure to have you on this show again. I hate to keep saying this, but your husband is Web Simpson, very noted professional golfer. You live locally here, five kids. You guys have been married seventeen years. But let's talk about what we just left off with, and that is you and Web had separated for a while, you got back together again, and then you got married some seventeen years ago. Let's remember that wedding day together.
00:23:35
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, well, David, I remember webin I decided when we got back together. I was pursuing an acting career in LA and he was on the PGA tour. So our lives took us in very different places. There was a moment when we were at his grandfather's funeral, where the pastor had said he and his grandmother had been together for over sixty years. And I thought, what are we doing. Let's build a life together, Let's make it count. Need to be in La, you don't need to be on the tour. I'm going to say goodbye to La so that I can come and be your helpmate and support you. So on the front lawn of his grandparents' house, we picked up the phone and we called you, David. We said we want to get married. Before he had even asked for my dad's hand in marriage, which honestly my dad would have immediately said yes, we asked you if you would marry us, and we found a date and we got married here in Charlotte at Myers Park Presbyterian Church, the church that I had grown up in as a little girl before attending Forest Still in my teen years, and then had our reception at quil Hollow, which is really neat because that's where it was the Wells Fargo. Now the truest is played, and.
00:24:40
Speaker 1: Some people may remember there was a gentleman by the name of Graham Keith who had always introduce the golfers. On that first hole, and that person is your granddaddy.
00:24:48
Speaker 2: He is gosh, he is just the epitome of a Southern gentleman. And he had so much pride announcing Webb Simpson on the first tea.
00:24:57
Speaker 1: So you and Webb get married, and I remember that day is just a gorgeous day outside, but inside the church was magnificently decorated, and you were a beautiful bride, and Web was so proud to take you on as his bride. And you guys, have had a wonderful marriage all of these years. And you settled in Charlotte first of all? Is that right?
00:25:16
Speaker 2: We actually lived in Raleigh first, So we lived in Raleigh because Web is from Raleigh. But as soon as we got pregnant, which was a surprise three months into marriage. We got pregnant. With him traveling so much, I wanted to be closer to home in order to have help from my family. Then we realized that Charlotte Airport we could get to and from wherever he needed to go without a stop. So really it became proximity and efficiency and we ended up digging roots really quickly as a unit as a married couple here in Charlotte.
00:25:49
Speaker 1: So Web is the Arnold Palmer Scholarship Award at wake Forest, which is a very prestigious scholarship. Because of his golf ability, he jumps into the professional golf circuit. Does he have immediate success?
00:26:02
Speaker 2: David? You know it's so funny, is I thought golf was the most boring sport growing up. There was no contact, there was no screaming and cheering and yelling. It was something I took a nap to on Sunday afternoons.
00:26:15
Speaker 1: It's like Mark Twain said, us, a nice way to mess up a Sunday afternoon walk.
00:26:21
Speaker 2: But then it became so different when I fell in love with someone who played it, I still didn't really understand it. He would come back from a tournament in college and be a little bummed that he shot a seventy six, and I remember just saying to him, what that's better than a seventy seven?
00:26:38
Speaker 1: And so he starts on his career and again does he skyrocket to success right out of the chuot He by.
00:26:46
Speaker 2: The Lord's kindness and blessing. He plays really, really well. He's really talented. He's got natural talent. It's always been pretty natural. But more than being a successful and incredible golfer. He is an incredible husband and father to our five kiddos.
00:27:06
Speaker 1: And so he starts to be successful in golf, and you have pretty soon after he entered into the whole professional scene, he wins the US Open. What's that like?
00:27:18
Speaker 2: It was crazy. So I was pregnant with our second child, so I had James, and then Willow is in my womb and I am probably thirty four weeks pregnant, and the US Open is on the West Coast, so my mom and dad graciously keep James and I fly to the West Coast to watch him, and I am very pregnant. I'm just so excited to be there watching him. At the time, he wasn't in contention, he wasn't leading. But this is what I say about Web. He always does best coming from behind. You know. He's like this crouching tiger that's ready to devour. Not to be confused with the enemy, who is like a crouching tiger ready to devour.
00:27:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I remember so clearly that particular Sunday, and I'm sitting there watching it because I love Web and love you guys, and I'm going he could win this. He could win this. As it gets closer and closer.
00:28:09
Speaker 2: And the crazy thing is, I didn't realize that until my phone started blowing up all of a sudden. I started getting all these text messages. We're cheering for you, We're praying for you, and I look at the leader leaderboard, and I'm like, oh my goodness, Oh my goodness, Like he could actually win.
00:28:24
Speaker 1: So what's it like after you win one of the Big four, one of the majors? What's it like in your all's lives? Oooh.
00:28:31
Speaker 2: I would say that our home pretty much stays the same. It's just the demands that increase. He was asked to do a whole TV circuit, but he declined because we were giving birth to our second child. So the TV and the sparkle and the fame and all of that is a big poll. But Webb's priority has always been his relationship with Jesus, his relationship with me, and his relationship with the kids. So he really sought to prioritize.
00:29:03
Speaker 1: That he has the right priorities in life, that is for sure. And then you have, I think, if I remember correctly, immediate success continuing thereafter. He's in the top ten of all the golfers in the world.
00:29:17
Speaker 2: Correct, You're right, David. By the kindness and grace of God, he made it to fourth in the world, which is pretty miraculous. But he did not change. He was still the same because he was standing on the rock.
00:29:34
Speaker 1: And y'all's lives continue to grow closer together. But then over the years, as happens with every athlete, you know, our bodies were down. We don't have the mental acumen that we normally had, and success doesn't always stay at that highest level. And you've gone through the great successes obviously with Webb, but then the great lows as well. What's that like As a wife of a professional golfer. Do you have a sorority of sisters out there that you can call and say, hey, I'm walking through do this and they help you out? How does that work out?
00:30:02
Speaker 2: This sounds crazy, but I actually like the low lows. I think it does something for a marriage when you can't C. S Lewis. C. S Lewis has this quote. He says, a burden shared is half the burden. And so when Web and I shared numerous conversations and tears around our kitchen table, it became the water that enriched the soil of our marriage that produced an aroma that worshiped the Lord and glorified him. I really love the struggle. I know that sounds crazy that I love the struggle, But in the struggle, that's where your roots start to grow in relationship with one another, but more importantly, in relationship with God.
00:30:43
Speaker 1: That's exactly right down. You know, in my really down times in life, I've really rejoiced and I've answered what Paul meant and Romans five. Rejoiced in your tribulations because two things happened. One is it drove me deeper into Maryland, and it drove me deeper into the Lord. And what I changed those deep depth of gratitude, No, not at all.
00:31:03
Speaker 2: And a lot of times our disappointment can show us what we were hoping for. And there's a difference. I remember Web wants telling me there's a difference between hoping in and hoping for. You can hope for good golf, but if you hope in good golf, you're making golf your God and you're turning something good into a God. And only God wants that place. And so a lot of times God will dismantle the things that we're clinging to in order to show us that He is enough because he loves us enough to keep us dependent only on him.
00:31:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, and prize our puny fingers away from that idol. And if there's any idol we're clinging to. Trust God, if you love him, He's going to love you enough to take your fingers off of that idol, so you'll cling to him and him alone. Is that what you've discovered?
00:31:52
Speaker 2: I have? I have discovered that ultimately Christ is enough.
00:31:58
Speaker 1: Well, his sufficiency. Again, we keep coming back to that, don't we is there for us and now at this age and stage of life and marriage and everything. And we'll explore this in our final segment in greater depth. But where are you in web right now? And where is his career?
00:32:15
Speaker 2: So we went from he went from being fourth in the world to having a really low valley, and then as that started to decrease, the Lord graciously increased a ton of ministry opportunities for him and for us.
00:32:32
Speaker 1: I know he has a podcast that he does. It's become enormously popular, especially among golf and ficionados. And let's talk about that when we come back. But again, how the lows drive you deeper into one another? What that looks like, and then how it drives you deeper into Christ and what that looks like as well. Dowd Simpson's my guest. I'm David Chadwick. This is News Talk one oh seven point nine FMWBT will be right back.
00:34:40
Speaker 3: Christ is my fat, fine day saying you're rock do be y'all said everything around me said, I've never been more loud. I put my faith in Jesus.
00:35:05
Speaker 1: He's now.
00:35:08
Speaker 3: It's faithful through Janation.
00:35:14
Speaker 1: So well, every one of us has a foundation in life upon which we're building our lives. The question is what kind of foundation. And if it's built on sand, folks, the storms of life will wash away your foundation. Build it upon Jesus. Everyone. I'm David Chadwick and this is one oh seven point nine WBTFM Radio. It's great being with you today. Thank you Dowd Simpson for being with me today. If you're just joining us. Dowd Simpson is the wife of professional golfer Web Simpson. They live locally, but Dowd and I have been friends for a long time, did their wedding some sixteen seventeen years ago, and I've just had a pleasure knowing her and if you've listened so far, you can say that's a very articulate, thoughtful and winsome person, and she really is. Indeed, Now let's talk some more about the downtimes, which is where you are with Webb. I mean it happens to all of us. We get a little older, and golf especially demands so much mental and physical and emotional acuity that all have to work together and it just erodes because of who we are in life. How are you handling this phase of life as webs trying to come to grips with you know, this isn't going to last forever. And talk about the podcast that he is doing that opened up for him really amidst more of his losses that have been a blessing to literally tens of thousands of people.
00:36:34
Speaker 2: Yes, thank you. Yes. Webb has had the opportunity using his success in the PGA Tour as a platform to be able to share the gospel through many different avenues. So when he was young in his career, he started the Web Simpson Challenge, which was for high school golfers. It was a golf tournament for high school golfers, but he would share the gospel. And then we started a partner with College Golf Fellowship, which is a college golf ministry for college golfers. So the weekend before Christmas. For the past, let me see, I base it off of the birth of my third.
00:37:12
Speaker 1: Child, so there past by birth of kids.
00:37:17
Speaker 2: For the past twelve years we've opened our home the weekend before Christmas from anywhere from fifty to ninety college golfers that come and spin the weekend with us, spend the night literally on every surface of my house. There are people on the floor, landing on the stair, landings in my pantry, on couches, in every bed. But it's an opportunity for Web again to use the platform of golf to share the gospel. And then, most recently the Bible Caddie podcast just started with two of his best buddies, Ben Crane and William Kine, and they again use the platform of golf to share the gospel.
00:37:55
Speaker 1: And they do so so well. In Web, whenever he gets a chance to speak, always points people to Jesus, which is one of the reasons I admire him so much. If you could counsel people out there regarding when you go through the Great Highs, how do you handle it? When you go through the great lows, how do you handle it out? Simpson?
00:38:16
Speaker 2: Oh, the highs and the lows are both ordained by a good and loving and sovereign Father. When I don't understand what's happening, or my kids don't understand things that are happening, I always tell them, let's come back to two truths that we know. God is good and God is sovereign. It would be terrible if we served a sovereign God who was not good, and it would be terrible if we served a good God who was not sovereign. But our God has both of those attributes. So he ordains the high highs and the low lows. And when our feet are on the firm foundation of the rock of ages, right, we actually as believers can experience those high highs and those low lows in their proper place as a means to sanctify us look more like the image of Jesus, because they're in the hands of that loving, good and sovereign God. So during our high hives we worship, we just think him. We think him, think him, think him. In our low low's David, we worship, we think him, think him, think him.
00:39:15
Speaker 1: Oh, say Okay, so can dout Simpson honestly say this trite little phrase that sometimes Christians quote, Well, life's disappointments are God's appointment for something else.
00:39:27
Speaker 2: Yes, I can, Yes, and a men, because a lot of our disappointments show where are we are placing our hope.
00:39:35
Speaker 1: Does that mean, though, that we don't feel the disappointment? I mean, you don't stoically try to just push them aside. You've still got to.
00:39:42
Speaker 2: Feel absolutely And you know what I do? I actually turned to the psalms. Okay, because God and his graciousness gave us the psalms, because he knew the human heart that we would feel disappointment, regret, homesickness, loneliness, sadness, depression. And David felt those exact same things. And he shows us. He shows us how to lament. He shows us how to pour it all out to the Lord. I mean, Scripture says that he knows the thoughts in our head before there's even an utterance on our tongue. But here's the beauty of those psalms. Every one of them ends with hoping in the Lord. So give it all God, give all the mess, give all the yuck, Give all the tears, the worries, the fears, the disappointments, and then put your feet on the rock hope ultimately in God.
00:40:25
Speaker 1: And that rock is always higher than the water that's coming up around our neck, you know. Lead me to the rock that's higher than I. Psalm sixty nine says yes.
00:40:33
Speaker 2: And Charles Spurgeon is one of my favorite theologians, and he has this beautiful quote that says, I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the rock of ages.
00:40:43
Speaker 1: M right, it's powerful.
00:40:46
Speaker 2: I remember at one of our lowest points in Webb's career, one of his mentors asked, what do you hope What do you hope for at the end of this? And I looked at him and I said, my hope is that Webb clings to Christ as much afterwards as he is right now in the midst of the heart.
00:41:05
Speaker 1: Yeah. And it's interesting when you're really high and life is going well, those emotions don't seem to last very long because you keep waiting now for the next high. And if you're doing that, that can become an idol, can it?
00:41:17
Speaker 2: It absolutely can? And idols are terrible. They are terrible because they keep you wanting more, and yet they never satisfy. It's a well that will run dry. There's only one well that will fully satisfy.
00:41:29
Speaker 1: And what is that phrase two that before we meet Jesus, our hearts are idol making factories.
00:41:34
Speaker 2: Gosh, that's so true. And we are restless until we ultimately find our rest in him.
00:41:39
Speaker 1: We know that word you use, lament is such a good word. In the Psalms, it's talked about a lot. But what I love is the Book of Lamentations, where Jeremiah is watching his beloved Jerusalem get destroyed when he'd been telling people, if you don't repent, God won't relent. And then though even amidst all of the heavy descriptions of what's going on, he says those words and Lamentations three, The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercy has never come to an end. They're new every morning. Great is his faithfulness.
00:42:06
Speaker 2: We actually named our fourth child Mercy because of that exact verse, mercy.
00:42:11
Speaker 1: I love the word. And he's not getting what we deserve. I'm glad I don't get what I deserve.
00:42:16
Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you, Jesus.
00:42:18
Speaker 1: So at this stage of your life, now we only have about a minute and a half left at this stage of your life. What are you and Web hoping will happen in the years to come.
00:42:27
Speaker 2: Honestly, David, we love a simple life. We like the simplicity. We like being extraordinary in the ordinary. I'm going to steal a phrase from Eugene Peterson. He says long obedience in the same direction. We just want to be faithful with today's moment so that they can have eternal ripple effects in heaven.
00:42:50
Speaker 1: Your husband one time said to me, in one of the times I was kind of low. He may have forgotten this, but he said, let me tell you truth, David, about golf, it's not how you drive, it's how you arrive. I've never forgotten that. He says, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. And I've just always clung to that as I moved forward in life. It's always how you arrive. Any final thoughts.
00:43:12
Speaker 2: Oh, Jesus loves you. He is good and he's for you. His plans are good.
00:43:21
Speaker 1: Doub Simpson, thank you for being on the show today and everyone learned from her life. Jesus is our rock. We can stand on him even when the floodwaters are at our neck. Keep looking upward, breathing. They will subside. He'll use everything together for good. I'm David Chadwick. This is one oh seven point nine WBTFM. Talk with you all next week, So just
