GPS: God. People. Stories.
From murderers to missionaries and actors to athletes, people from all walks of life have life-changing encounters with God. Listen to them share their stories here.
GPS: God. People. Stories.
Midnight Moms: How Chicken Nuggets Built a 1.6M+ Community
Becky Thompson and her mom, Susan Pitts, manage the Facebook group Midnight Mom Devotional—a community of women who pray for other moms every night.
After a post about chicken nuggets went viral, the prayer-centered group saw explosive growth and now has over 1.6 million followers. Listen as they share how their community grew from one mom to over 1 million.
“The night is dark and lonely, but God’s presence doesn’t leave us just because everybody else goes to sleep,” Becky said.
This episode is a re-air from our July 2022 series “Christ to Their Community.”
Join the Midnight Mom Devotional Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/MidnightMomDevotional
Join the Midnight Dad Devotional Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/MidnightDadDevotional/
Books by Becky Thompson and Susan Pitts:
· Midnight Mom Devotional: https://beckythompson.com/midnight-mom-devotional/
· Becky’s latest book - God So Close: https://beckythompson.com/close/
· Featuring Becky’s dad, Dr. Mark Pitts - Midnight Dad Devotional: https://beckythompson.com/midnight-dad-devotional/
Other “Christ to Their Community” episodes:
· From Survival Mode to Serving Others: A Brooklyn Pastor’s Story: https://billygraham.org/podcasts/god-people-stories/gps-danny-torres
· Former Inmate Gives Hope to Other Prisoners: https://billygraham.org/podcasts/god-people-stories/gps-louis-dooley
Connect with us through email at gps@billygraham.org or on Facebook at Billy Graham Radio.
If you’d like to know more about beginning a relationship with Jesus Christ, or deepening the faith you already have, visit FindPeacewithGod.net.
If you’d like to pray with someone, call our Billy Graham 24/7 Prayer Line at 855-255-7729.
Michael Shurbutt:
[00:00:00] Hi, I’m Michael Shurbutt, the producer for GPS: God. People. Stories. Before we start, we wanted to let you know that you’re about to hear a re-air of a listener favorite episode. In the episode, you’ll hear Christy Ethridge, who’s helped us over the years, co-hosting with Jim Kirkland. We hope you enjoy this re-visit from our Christ to Their Community series from July 2022. If you’d like to hear the rest of those episodes, we have links in the show notes.
Susan Pitts:
[00:00:26] I sat there and watched it go viral. And I called up Becky and said something is happening. And she said what? And I said I don’t know, but you need to get in here and see what’s happening.
Jim Kirkland:
[00:00:36] Susan Pitts created a Facebook post about moms and chicken nuggets. And it spread like wildfire.
Susan Pitts:
[00:00:44] I think we got like 200,000 followers that week because we were getting 40,000 a day. And I said, Becky, I think it’s time to pay attention to this. God is shining a light on this. And we cannot ignore this.
Jim Kirkland:
[00:00:56] Susan Pitts and her daughter, Becky Thompson, manage a Facebook group called Midnight Mom Devotional. It is a community of over 1.6 million followers mainly moms who pray for other moms. I’m Jim Kirkland.
Christy Ethridge:
[00:01:14] And I’m Christy Ethridge. Welcome back to the Christ to Their Communities series of GPS: God. People. Stories. And outreach of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
Jim Kirkland:
[00:01:25] And on this episode, Becky and Susan share an amazing story of how Midnight Mom Devotional began and what they’ve learned about the power of prayer through building that online community.
Christy Ethridge:
[00:01:35] But before you jump on your computer or open the Facebook app on your phone to look them up, we’re talking about the specific group Midnight Mom Devotional. There’s another unrelated Facebook group with a similar name, but Midnight Mom Devotional is the group Becky and Susan started.
Jim Kirkland:
[00:01:52] So the operative word, Christy, devotional.
Christy Ethridge:
[00:01:55] Devotional.
Jim Kirkland:
[00:01:57] Midnight Mom Devotional. Thank you very much for the clarification. And speaking on the power of prayer, you’ll hear Billy Graham share some words on prayer as well.
Billy Graham:
[00:02:08] There is one great lesson that Jesus would teach us. And that is the victorious assurance that God answers every true prayer.
Christy Ethridge:
[00:02:17] More from Billy Graham later on in this episode. And so you don’t miss out on any new episodes, just make sure you’re subscribed to GPS: God. People. Stories. on your favorite podcasting app. But right now, if you’d like to know more about what it means to become a follower of Jesus Christ, check out our website. It’s available anytime at FindPeacewithGod.net. That’s FindPeacewithGod.net.
Music and Audio Tag:
[00:02:43]
Susan Pitts:
[00:02:51] We are a community that prays for moms as moms. Every night at 8:30 on Facebook, uh, we post a very short but very specific prayer calling women to gather around one specific mama
Jim Kirkland:
[00:03:04] Midnight Mom Devotional is a massive group on Facebook now, but it started with Becky just reaching out to connect with other moms.
Becky Thompson:
[00:03:13] As a mom of two very small children, um, living in my husband’s small town, I was isolated from so much of my community and really separated from a lot of who I had been in my life. So in a struggle to find identity, and find community, and find my place, I was awake at all hours of the night. And I began to share just online on my personal Facebook account and then later in more of a public Facebook account what I was going through as a mom.
Jim Kirkland:
[00:03:44] Night after night, Becky was awake and checking in on Facebook to share her journey and let other moms know that they were being prayed for. And she was getting a lot of responses.
Becky Thompson:
[00:03:56] In the middle of the night, these women would comment But here’s the thing, all of these people would say this is what I need God to do in the middle of the night. And I told my own mom. I said, listen, there are these women. They’re sharing their hearts. I can’t have them feel like no one is seeing their comments. Will you come and pray with me nightly in the comment section. Will you help me pray for these women? S
Christy Ethridge:
[00:04:17] So many moms were commenting and responding. Becky needed backup. Together, Becky and her mom, Susan, teamed up to make sure each and every mom who needed prayer knew they were seen.
Becky Thompson:
[00:04:28] These women, they’re out there. They’re-they-they need support because the night is dark and lonely. But God’s presence doesn’t leave us just because everybody else goes to sleep. And so, we would spend hours, literal hours praying through, you know, for the mom who was awake with a sick child. You know, just commenting back simply we’re praying for you. But it was more than that. It was pausing to sincerely pray.
Christy Ethridge:
[00:04:52] The big turning point for Midnight Mom Devotional happened one night when Susan was taking the lead on the page while Becky had her hands full with a newborn.
Susan Pitts:
[00:05:01] One night – I don’t even remember why – I just wrote a prayer about how, uh, the mom who was afraid she was ruining her kids because sometimes she serves them chicken nuggets or pizza instead of nutritious food. Sometimes, you know, she lets them – I don’t know – be on tv too much or something. You know, something simple. And just said, you know, Lord, you say she is a good mom. That she loves her babies. And just posted it.
Jim Kirkland:
[00:05:28] Susan didn’t realize it when she was writing that prayer, but it would end up being one of those moments where a simple prayer would end up resonating with moms everywhere.
Susan Pitts:
[00:05:38] I sat there and watched it go viral. And I called up Becky and said something is happening. And she said what? And I said I don’t know, but you need to get in here and see what’s happening. I think we got 200,000 new followers that week because we were getting 40,000 a day.
Jim Kirkland:
[00:05:53] Officially, the Facebook group Midnight Mom Devotional went live in 2016. But Becky and Susan would be quick to tell you that it really began decades earlier.
Christy Ethridge:
[00:06:03] Yeah. Susan recalls her early days of motherhood and what she would do while up late at night caring for baby Becky.
Susan Pitts:
[00:06:09] We used to live kind of out in the country. Oklahoma City wasn’t grown as far as it was at the time. And I could see the hospital out the back door of my house even though it was seven or eight miles away. It had a cross on it, a white cross. So every night late when you’re up with a newborn, moms know that you’re up late anyway. Every night I would stand at the back door and look at that cross and pray for the mamas every night for years.
Christy Ethridge:
[00:06:35] Susan also journaled her prayers. One prayer journal entry from when Susan was pregnant with Becky resurfaced decades later with a remarkable connection to this new Facebook group they were managing.
Becky Thompson:
[00:06:48] So, my mom sent me a photograph. The Midnight Mom Devotional community was just beginning. And the photograph was a page of her journal. And in her cursive handwriting was written I pray for the new baby that he or she would be a testimony to your love and power to sustain parents, especially moms, through hard times and trials.
Susan Pitts:
[00:07:10] I remember praying that, um, this baby would be a blessing to moms and parents and would minister to the needs of moms and parents who were in difficult places. And I actually found that prayer. I cut it out of the journal, and I mailed it to her. And I said, honey, the Lord knew you were going to minister to-to parents and especially to moms. He knew this was a call on your life. And that He would always be there with you taking you through this journey ministering to other moms.
Jim Kirkland:
[00:07:38] These days Becky and Susan both plan an integral role in the Midnight Mom Community.
Becky Thompson:
[00:07:44] Mom and I co-write these prayers together. Because more than anything, we want these women to be seen and know they’re seen by God. But also, let them know that there are other women going through similar things even if it’s not the exact story of their life. And we just go back and forth. And we craft the prayer in such a way that we feel like it best reflects, you know, that prolonged praying period that we have, um, outside of what’s posted there on the page that women can connect with and share among their communities
Jim Kirkland:
[00:08:15] In addition to co-writing the prayers, Susan has a very hands on role with the community.
Susan Pitts:
[00:08:19] I am really like the mama bear for the page. Because we don’t allow any of the vitriol, you know, the ugliness to come in. We will hold your hand and walk with you through tremendous pain, but we will not allow someone to come in and diminish that for you or to diminish your story. So, I probably spend hours every evening making sure that people have a voice, but that they have a kind voice. And that women can come there and feel safe and know that they’re going to be okay. I feel like it’s important to have created this community where women can feel seen, and heard, and appreciated, and loved. That’s my job.
Christy Ethridge:
[00:08:58] Both Becky and Susan are able to stand firm in the power of prayer because they each have a strong relationship with Jesus Christ, which for both of them began early on their lives. This is how Susan’s journey began.
Susan Pitts:
[00:09:11] I was about, oh, I think maybe 8 years old. And Billy Graham came on tv. I was so young. And he presented the gospel in a way I had never heard about the Lord before. And in my living in that little house, I just prayed and asked the Lord to come into my heart. And, um, He did. My life has literally never been the same. And I was 8 years old. And it changed everything. Just everything.
Christy Ethridge:
[00:09:38] We had no idea that Susan came to know Jesus Christ through the ministry of Billy Graham when we first spoke with her. Becky’s journey to faith began through her parents.
Becky Thompson:
[00:09:48] You know, I like to say that Jesus lived in the house with us. I mean, that’s really how we grew up. I mean, He wasn’t somebody waiting for us on the other side of eternity. We talked to Him regularly. We talked about Him regularly. We invited the Holy Spirit to move in and through our home. And so, it was almost as if God was just a member of our family. And we were a member of His. And so when people say how did you come to know Him, I’m like well how did I come to know my parents? He’s just a part of my life. And so, because that was the foundation of what I believe to be true and came to know for myself, it wasn’t more about coming to know Him later on in life or really awakening to what that means later. It was just a steady, deeper walk into this, uh, lifelong relationship with the Lord.
Jim Kirkland:
[00:10:37] Becky and Susan have been used by the Lord to pour into the lives of so many moms, but their own faith has also been shaped by the interactions they’ve had with the Midnight Mom Devotional Facebook group.
Susan Pitts:
[00:10:49] I’m so glad that prayer has been a part of my personal life. But I also feel like, okay, in Oklahoma we have the oil derricks. You know. And they pump the oil out of the earth. And you have to go down really deep sometimes. I mean, sometimes it just feels like prayer is like that. You have to really go deep to get into the Lord, and into His heart, and into the Word. And to pray Scripture. And to not trust your own mind.
Jim Kirkland:
[00:11:16] After six years and countless lives affected by their online community, Becky and Susan reflect on their journey so far.
Susan Pitts:
[00:11:25] It’s been a journey for me to trust Him not just with my own life but with the lives of, you know, the millions that He’s brought to us. The point of that is that is just God. Like this is what He does. This is all Him. He has done all of this. All we have done is try to be a good steward of what He’s given to us.
Becky Thompson:
[00:11:45] It has reminded that even the simplest whispers of our heart to God can be the most effective to change lives. All you have to say is the name of the Lord, and He comes. All you have to whisper is your heart, and He’s already there with everything you need. Because when He comes, He brings His strength. He brings everything that He is when you ask for any part of Him.
Christy Ethridge:
[00:12:08] Sometimes the topics they address change as their online community grows and in response to what’s happening in the world at the time.
Jim Kirkland:
[00:12:16] Events like the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and the ongoing war in Ukraine. But no matter what may be happening at any given time, Becky and Susan are quick to remain focused on their mission.
Susan Pitts:
[00:12:29] We always say that our mission is to support mamas in their journey of motherhood through prayer. That’s our mission. But we look at everything from the position of prayer and motherhood. When everything happened with Ukraine, I’ll just say this. Becky and I took three days together. And we fasted and prayed for the moms. We just fasted and prayed for the mothers. Um, and we just spent three days doing that to hear God’s heart on that for how we could help.
Becky Thompson:
[00:13:02] I think as the page has grown, and we have become known as a place for prayer, known for a community that actually gathers and prays during world events or moments that need community wide prayer that expand outside of motherhood yet still impact motherhood; we ask the Lord to show us what to pray. And the prayer for what happened in Texas was, Lord, when we have no words we know that you still hear the words of our hearts. We know that when we don’t know what to say that you still meet us and help us. And so, we created an opportunity for women to say that they were praying. Um, that is why, you know, connecting it back to our mission, we are not just a page that says we pray. We are a page that believes in talking to the one, trued God together. Joined together. Where two or more are gathered in My name, even on social media, you know, there I am in their midst.
Music tag:
[00:13:59]
Jim Kirkland:
[00:14:05] Becky Thompson and Susan Pitts trusted in God and the power of prayer are a reflection of the personal relationship they each have with Jesus Christ. You can find out more about what it means to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ by visiting our website. The address is FindPeacewithGod.net. That’s FindPeacewithGod.net.
Christy Ethridge:
[00:14:28] Becky and Susan’s story may leave you thinking about how to build up your own community by sharing the love of Jesus. If that’s the case, they have some advice for you in just a moment.
Audio tag:
[00:14:38]
Billy Graham:
[00:14:48] There is one great lesson that Jesus could teach us. And that is the victorious assurance that God answers every true prayer.
Announcer:
[00:14:56] Billy Graham …
Billy Graham:
[00:14:58] Skeptics may question it. Humans may deny it. Intellectuals may ridicule it. But here is Christ’s own promise. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing ye shall receive. Trust that promise with all your soul today. Build your hope, and time, and eternity on that divine fact. God answers prayer. The Scripture says pray without ceasing. This should be the motto of every true follower of Christ. Never stop praying no matter how dark and hopeless your case may be. The future with its fears and uncertainties is fully revealed in Him. Turn to Him. With God, nothing is impossible. No problem is too difficult. No burden too heavy for His love.
Christy Ethridge:
[00:15:45] You can pray with someone right now about accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Just call our prayer line. The number is
(855) 255-PRAY. That’s (855) 255-PRAY.
Jim Kirkland:
[00:16:00] So you’ve been listening to this episode and are starting to think what can I do to get involved in online community. Or how do I start an online community? Well, here’s some advice from Becky and Susan.
Susan Pitts:
[00:16:13] Just do it. Honestly. Honestly, just please … please reach out on your personal page. Please, please, please pray. Please share your heart. Please engage the people that you know and let God expand it. So if you want to be involved in a virtual community, I-I’m the kind of person that says just-you can create your own. God’s given you a voice. He’s given each of you a voice. And He’s just waiting for you to use it.
Becky Thompson:
[00:16:42] God has given us this amazing tool to share not just the gospel but the power of community. And I have always said we were never meant to do it all. And we were never meant to do it alone. And life is always better when we live it together. Go for it and know that your community is waiting for you to decide to begin it.
Jim Kirkland:
[00:17:03] Know that your community is waiting for you to decide to begin it. Wow, that is a great take away.
Christy Ethridge:
[00:17:10] It really is. And I have to say I am now one of the 1.6 – there’s my son making noise – one of the 1.6 million followers of Midnight Mom Devotional. And I truly need it right now. My husband has COVID and is out of commission. My eight month old could wake up at any moment while we’re recording this. And my 6 year old is right here with me. And Jim, we’re not even at chicken nugget level. That would-that would require an oven. I just dumped some Goldfish crackers in a bowl for him.
Jim Kirkland:
[00:17:41] Well, I am sure Becky and Susan will, uh, be a blessing to you along your journey.
Christy Ethridge:
[00:17:47] Yes. And for all the dad’s out there, Becky’s dad, Susan’s husband, manages the Midnight Dad Devotional group on Facebook. Dr. Mark Pitts leads a prayer each evening for dads. And he’s joined by over 200,000 men.
Jim Kirkland:
[00:18:03] Wow! Well, thanks to Becky Thompson and Susan Pitts for their passion and dedication to praying over moms each and every night. In addition to the Facebook group, they also have a Midnight Mom Devotional book.
Christy Ethridge:
[00:18:17] And a Midnight Dad Devotional book.
Jim Kirkland:
[00:18:20] And we have more information on those books plus links to Facebook groups in the show notes. I’m Jim Kirkland.
Christy Ethridge:
[00:18:27] And I’m Christy Ethridge. Remember to subscribe to GPS so you won’t miss the third installment of our Christ to Their Community series. Next week’s episode is the story of a Brooklyn resident who started a church and then used it as a community center in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jim Kirkland:
[00:18:44] Thank you for listening to this episode of GPS: God. People. Stories. It’s an outreach of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Always good news.
Music tag:
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End of transcript