Latest / Everything In Between: a Trinity UMC Podcast / Serving Others: Faith, Purpose, and Impact

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Serving Others: Faith, Purpose, and Impact · Everything In Between: a Trinity UMC Podcast

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Life isn't black and white. It's not just mountaintop
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moments or rock bottom seasons. It's lived in the middle, in the
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doubts and the prayers that feel unanswered, in the joy you
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didn't see coming. Welcome to Everything in
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Between, a podcast from Trinity UMC.
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Hello, welcome to Trinity United Methodist Church's podcast,
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everything in between. My name is Christina Shaver.
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I am blessed to be the pastor here at Trinity.
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Who else is with me today? Hello, I am Melissa Johnson.
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I am the next Generation Minister here at Trinity.
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Hi, I'm Jillian. I'm a student here at Trinity
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United Methodist Church and I'm the Vice President of our Youth
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Leadership team. Yeah, she is.
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Are you a senior now? Senior slightly.
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Heartbreaking. I love it though.
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I kind of love being around people who were in high school
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and then going to college because that was such a fun time
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of my life. And it's, I still have a fun
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life, but it's just very different.
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And I'm like, oh, that was so great.
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I hope their experience is as great as my experience was.
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It wasn't perfect, but I just, I had a lot of good friends and I
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did a lot of things in the church and I was really into
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music and singing and like, you know, all that stuff.
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So it was fun. Are you excited for senior year?
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Yeah, seems very stressful. Seems like a lot of events you
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know? It is a lot, but there's a lot
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of good things just taking flow. Yeah, all.
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Right, so we are talking about serving this week.
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We the not me. I did not go because I had to be
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a grown up, but our student ministry and our college
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ministry just came back from ARM.
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What is ARM, Melissa? So ARM is Alabama Rural
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Ministry. It is a nonprofit organization
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that helps keep homes or make homes warm, safe, stable in the
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community. They also provide a day camp for
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children ages 5 to 11. And this year, it's huge.
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In years past, since COVID, it's been like 15 kids.
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And we walked in prepared for like 23 and we had 37. 37. 37
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kids from 5 to 11 years old. But yeah, it's an organization
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that we've partnered with for the last 20 years, and this year
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was an experience. I felt more adult there than I
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do here. Are we going to have like a big
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blowout party for our 21st year of serving with arm?
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Seems like a milestone. We've also we've, we've attended
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ARM. This was our 19th year going.
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We took a year off because of COVID.
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So I guess this upcoming year will be our 20th trip.
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Should. Them should do little party.
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We're always looking for a reason to party.
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We are we love confetti around here.
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We love it. So Jillian, what comes to mind
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when you hear the word serving? What does that mean to?
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You So I think for me, serving isn't like like typical.
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I think when I hear the word serving, it's like like
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attached, like spiritually, like that's like the only way I can
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think of it now because like of like reading it in the word and
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like hearing messages about it. Just like that's like the
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connotation that's been giving to me about it.
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So, but like it's meaning, I think it's like a selfless act,
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like not just like a word, but it's like an action, like a
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verb, so. Yeah, I think that's great.
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I always see it as just being very aware that you are not the
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only person in the world and that we're called to help other
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people and that really stretches us and grows us.
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And so and that's really our call with God.
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We are not meant to just be comfortable all the time.
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We're meant to grow with with God and with each other.
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And serving is a really good way to stretch that out.
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How long have you? Have you gone to arm a couple of
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times or one time? I've been like the maximum
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amount of times that I can. So this last year was my third
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year. So you can go like after
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freshman year. Yeah, she'll be our day camp
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lead next year. So each year there's someone in
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charge of making sure all of our plans and supplies and
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everything is done before we get there.
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And then when I'm not in a room, they're the ones leading.
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Well, now that we have the college ministry, you can
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continue to go in college, right?
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So you're a senior, so after you graduate.
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Yeah, it might be construction after that though, is what I'm
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hearing. I I don't know, we'll see this
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year it was all of college went to construction.
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But there's some of them that just their gift is the day camp,
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serving in the day camp. And some of us don't want to
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have to try to kill a hive of Carpenter peas.
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No, when I worked for ARM I was in charge of the day camp, so I
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did. Oh wow, I didn't know you worked
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for Arm I. Did work for ARM.
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I got this job because it was in between college and then going
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to seminary and I needed a summer job.
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And my dad is United Methodist minister and he was like, I'm
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going to get you a job at this thing called ARM.
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And so I was the day camp coordinator at a site they don't
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use anymore called Wes Wilmer. And it was talk about like
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thinking and growing outside of myself.
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That experience like really, really just gave me an awareness
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of how, First off, not everyone is as privileged as I am to get
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to live the life that I live, but also just being OK with
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being uncomfortable to help other people.
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And so like, one of the major things was is that that group of
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kids, lice was like rampant was like, yeah.
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I think you gave a message. I did and everyone freaked out.
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Everyone was itchy before everyone.
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Was itchy. I mean, I'll just start talking
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about it and I'll get itchy, but lice was something just really
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common and they tried really hard to contain it, but lice is
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hard to contain. And so I spent a lot of time
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doing lice treatments on some of the kids and I kind of just had
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to get OK with the fact that like I was going to get lice
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because it was either essentially make them feel like
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less than because I was like, get away, get away from me.
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I don't want lice or just allow them to be normal kids and keep
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up with the I just would do preventative lice treatments on
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myself. And but it was really, really
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hard because the kids would, they would sometimes make fun of
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of other ones when they saw that they had lice.
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And so like helping them not make fun of other people, but
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also me being OK with this is a reality in which you live in and
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you don't need to be like a baby about it.
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Like you don't need to freak out.
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You just need to handle it. And that was really helpful for
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me because there's been a lot of situations in my life where now
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as I've gotten older, when crisis arise, you can either
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like be a jerk or you can just say I'm going to handle it.
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And that was a really good experience and going I'm just
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going to handle this and not make this about me.
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And it was helpful and I did get lice and you know what?
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I survived and I did a million treatments on my hair and it was
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OK. I obviously like didn't keep it
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forever. It was fine.
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Yeah, I think that's cool. I really like that message.
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I never knew it was like a arm, but I think that's good because
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if you're always trying to, like, avoid a problem, you see,
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like you got to connect with those kids and you got to teach
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the other ones, like how they should treat others.
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And you wouldn't have been able to do that if you're like, in
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the corner the whole time, afraid of the lice.
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Freaking out. Yeah.
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So I think that's cool. Like, I mean, it was a little
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bit of like a sacrifice, but there's, there's been bigger.
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Sacrifices, I've made bigger sacrifices since then, but it
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was it was a really good experience for me.
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One of the other things is the trailer that we lived in was a
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brothel before it was the arm trailer.
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Wow, yeah. And wasn't fully renovated
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before. It was not fully renovated
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before we moved in and we had to clean it out and I saw some
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things that I've never seen before and I was a little less
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innocent after that day and I will never forget.
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There was a heart-shaped tub in the master bedroom of this
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trailer, and there was so much disgusting stuff in it.
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Like, we like, had that. We basically, like, put on
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gloves, like wouldn't touch anything.
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We cleaned it out. I mean, like bleach, poured
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bleach, like everywhere. And then we were like, you know
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what? It's never going to be clean
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enough. Everyone just agree that we're
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not touching that area of the trailer.
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Yeah, so did you. Keep.
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The tub. You had to, it was like in it
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was like in the bedroom. We couldn't get it out.
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We just, it was a wasted area. We did not go near.
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I mean, no one was going to take a bath because there was like 3
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of us living in that bedroom, right?
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So I guess it could. Be like a storage area.
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Yeah, it was a storage area that we just didn't want to think too
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hard about, you know what I'm saying?
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Yeah, yeah. Melissa, what about you?
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How is serving kind of unexpectedly changed you?
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I think it's something that I was raised with my entire life.
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I witnessed Annie Ferguson doing it and my grandparents doing it
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when they started, when they were coming to the church.
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And so I think it's just ingrained in me.
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And so when I see someone who doesn't understand it, sometimes
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I'm like, OK, let's, let's make you uncomfortable and like teach
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you that there's more to the world than yourself.
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I think that having the opportunity to serve in the ways
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I do, I mean, obviously it's become my career, but having
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these opportunities to take students to ARM or do service
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days has really changed my perspective.
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It changed the way that I plan to raise children.
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And it was really exciting, like, to have students at ARM
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this past week. They are like, this month they
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were talking and having their devotions and they were like,
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you know what we want to bring back?
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We serve. And I was like, are you going to
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show up? Because I don't want to do yard
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work by myself for hours. And they were like, yeah, yeah,
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yeah, we'll show up. So I'm putting it out in the
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world that they will be there for the service day that we
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planned for August, Right, Jillian?
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I will be there. We need your commitment on air
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on. Air on record.
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It's not on my birthday. Look, yeah, I I would.
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I would. I was still what?
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August 8th, right? August 8th.
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You heard it first. She's like, almost glaring at
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us, like daring us not to show up right now, Yeah.
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Please be there. I love serving, but my
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uncomfortable serving is yard work at a school where there are
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wasp nests that haven't been kept.
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Really. Where are we going?
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I think we're going to do Prior Megs and Shalimar.
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OK, wow. Yeah, we will need a lot of
12:00
people. Yeah.
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We should just go ahead and start advertising and building
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that now, shouldn't we? Yeah.
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Make sure they go so. Hearing it here first, people.
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If you're listening, go ahead and pull out your phone or
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planner and put in August 8th service day.
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Do people still actually use planners for calendaring?
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Yeah, Arthur Riley has, I think it's Martha Riley has a
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color-coded one, which. You crazy planner.
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Yeah, I did too, until I just couldn't.
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Bring it with me, yeah? That's really convinced, but
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it's really good for like school work.
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So like I kind of I try to like label out like what days things
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are due because I can't that's a lot to.
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Put and there's a difference between typing it into your
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phone and like writing it down. There is something about if you
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handwrite something it imprints better in your brain.
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So I do like my To Do List. I do like to write by hand.
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And there's just nothing more satisfying than like, crossing
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that off your list. I know.
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It's the best feeling. I love To Do List.
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I do love a handwritten To Do List, I just wish my handwriting
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was better. So other people could read your
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To Do List. I can't help it, it's so bad.
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But it should have been a doctor really at.
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Least I can write my signature. That's true.
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Most of the students that went to ARM, they were supposed to
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sign a paper saying like I think it was for safe sanctuaries or
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it might have been the trip covenant for ARM and most of
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them could not sign their name all.
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Right, we're having a class on that and we will be working on
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it. We'll do tech time where they
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teach the Oaks and the Oaks can teach them how to write in
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cursive. I think what we should do is
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just print their names off in cursive and then have them trace
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it over and over again till they know how to sign their name.
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We're. Just going to send them to Kathy
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Curry with all of her trace and. Tools.
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I don't. When I was little, I would
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practice, you know, because you think you're going to be famous
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one day. So you need to prep for all the
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autographs that you're going to get, right?
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Me and my future professional soccer career, that didn't
14:03
happen, but that I would practice.
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Yeah. Like I I'm going to be famous.
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I need to practice. People are going to ask me for
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my autograph. Why?
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Don't they do that? I think.
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You remember in this unstable in one of my college courses when
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John and I were engaged, I was practicing writing Melissa
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Johnson so that when it came time to sign our wedding
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certificate, our marriage certificate, I could I could do
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it well. I learned cursive in like third
14:30
grade. It was.
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I used to be in 3rd grade. I mean, maybe they just didn't.
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Pay attention, they do it now, I mean.
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Teachers have the choice to teach it.
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And so then it's really the ones.
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Who are really good in their planners that get to teach it.
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Not to have George learn it on his own because James, you know,
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at his private classical education school, they
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exclusively write in cursive. Yeah, so he but can.
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He also write in print. Not very well.
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I'll be honest. He writes so much better in
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cursive because they learn print in kindergarten and then halfway
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through 1st grade they they start cursive and he's been
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writing in cursive ever since then.
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I. Wrote all of mine assignments
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and cursive in like 6th or 7th grade because I felt extra that
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day. I saw a girl, I saw a girl next
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to me like writing everything in cursive and then like our
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teacher like compliment her handwriting.
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And I was like, oh hey, I want to do that.
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Yeah. But at least I know how, so it's
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OK. Well, I mean, I've forgotten a
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lot of my cursive, but I can still pull it out.
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It's in there somewhere, but. I do a blend we're.
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Going to have to cut all of this.
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This has nothing to do with what we're talking about.
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I'm, I'm interested in the conversation.
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I would assume other people would be too.
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I would say the, the most unexpected place.
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I, I, I don't know if you guys know this.
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I know most of this. I lived in South Korea for a
15:58
whole year. And as you guys were talking
16:00
about like your experiences, I never really thought of that
16:02
experience as like serving. I always thought of it more of
16:05
like a job. But it totally was.
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But it totally was realizing that in this very moment that we
16:12
were, we went to a Methodist University in partnership with
16:17
my junior college, and I taught an English Sunday school class.
16:22
And then I taught an English conversation class to a bunch of
16:24
graduate students. And I'm like 19 years old and
16:27
these kids are way older, and they wanted to learn English
16:30
from me conversationally. That whole experience, really
16:34
just teaching the Sunday school class, I would say was humbling.
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And, and I think I thought it was more of a job because I was
16:43
so frustrated with, with that culture.
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It's sometimes like hospitality is, is required and, and there
16:51
were people who would like take the class that were just trying
16:54
to be nice, which is fine, but it just became like such a
16:58
burden. And I think that's how we
17:02
sometimes view serving, is that if we do it too much or too
17:05
often, we start to get burnt out and we see it more of as like a
17:09
burden than an opportunity to to share that love of Christ.
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And so that's a really good segue into how do you balance
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serving without burning yourself out?
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Go ahead, Melissa. This is something I'm learning.
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I'm, I'm really trying to lean into it because for a long time,
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I mean, but especially before Jane, I was able just to do this
17:32
all the time. And it didn't affect me because
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I didn't have a whole lot of responsibilities.
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I worked, I came to church, I had friends and that was it.
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And so like my eventually my friends morphed into just church
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friends, it seems like. And so we were doing this all
17:49
together and then eventually we had kids and you know, or got
17:53
married, had kids and that was just like everything shifted.
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And so the balance is difficult. And so I joke, but I'll, I'll
18:05
leave, I'll leave the country every other year where I am
18:09
unreachable just to like really focus on me and my family.
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And because serving is very rewarding.
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Ministry is very rewarding, but it doesn't always replenish or
18:23
fill your cup. And so sometimes you need to
18:27
focus on just your relationship with the Lord and internally,
18:33
not you're not your external community, but like your
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relationship, like how Jesus would retreat to pray by
18:39
himself. Like you need those moments.
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And so it's just a really fine line of balance and pace.
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Julian. I was really thinking, this is a
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really good question for you guys because I don't serve so
18:57
much to where I feel like it's like overwhelming, like I'm
19:00
losing myself or I'm like burnt out, which like that would be
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like the greatest blessing to have.
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So I mean, from like my viewpoint, like I see how much
19:12
Melissa does and like it's so helpful for everyone around her
19:19
and all of the students because she's helping them grow their
19:21
relationship with the Lord. But I could also see like how
19:25
that would prevent her from spending more time on her own
19:29
and getting to like grow herself because she's so involved in
19:33
like her students lives, I think for.
19:38
Me, how do I balance serving or just I think because we we are
19:44
in like a giving profession being in ministry.
19:48
What I like is that I have a lot of control over the environment
19:52
and the mood that is being set when we're serving or when we're
19:56
all together. And I'm going to, 1st off, try
19:59
really hard for it to be a really great atmosphere.
20:02
So it doesn't feel like just waiting and like it's everyone's
20:10
grumpy and miserable. I think having a really good
20:13
attitude and knowing that we can control that really like helps,
20:17
you know, like we can really set the tone.
20:19
And I know that. And so I use that to my
20:21
advantage, but also I really invest in.
20:26
Friendships. In my own personal life, I have
20:28
a lot of really good minister friends that I spent a lot of
20:32
time with. Like I'm going this afternoon to
20:34
help. One of my friends is moving and
20:36
we're going to help get her all situated.
20:39
And so knowing that I'm going to get to spend time with people
20:42
that I love deeply. I enjoy my Fridays.
20:48
I do not like working on Fridays.
20:51
I would I have to sometimes I do not like doing it because that
20:55
is really my day to do my it's my Sabbath.
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It's my Sabbath. I go for a walk.
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I spend time with my husband. We make pizza on Friday nights,
21:07
like we have these really great resetting activities that we do.
21:13
And I think that really sets me up for a great week because if I
21:18
have enough time to kind of replenish my energy, I can keep
21:23
going. And knowing that I've have a
21:26
busy week, it's OK because I know I have a Friday.
21:30
So that's, that's really helps me out just as an adult in life.
21:36
I'll speak to the tone you talk about because I don't know if
21:39
you heard about Tom and John's work site at Arm, but they were
21:43
serving in a house where you walk in the back door and it
21:46
slopes down. If you walk in the front door,
21:48
it also slopes down towards each other.
21:50
And so they were supposed to be replacing the floor joists in
21:54
one room and replacing the insulation and then doing the
21:59
flooring. And they're working on it and
22:04
they hear bees and they put a tarp over.
22:10
I don't really know how it all worked out, but there was like,
22:12
they put a tarp over it and they were Carpenter bees.
22:15
And everyone just did a 123 and jumped and started stomping on
22:18
them. And only Tom.
22:20
Turns out you can't be bit. Female Carpenter bees bite.
22:23
Tom got bit twice, but they cleared that kept moving.
22:27
They were in great spirits working with each other.
22:30
And then Kasen Jaggers goes, isn't that beam supposed to be
22:33
connected to something? And then 10 minutes later the
22:36
room next to them collapsed and the whole the whole thing could
22:42
have been like scrapped like most any other team, especially
22:46
if it didn't have Tom Gowing on it would have walked away.
22:48
Arm would have been like, no, we're not doing this anymore.
22:51
But because Tom Gowing was there and he is so experienced, he was
22:53
like, we can do this. And the woman came in and you
22:58
would think, like, all of her belongings just crashed into
23:01
this hole because that's where everything was being stored.
23:03
And she was more concerned about the students and if they were
23:07
OK. And she wasn't super concerned
23:11
about belongings in her home. She was concerned about the
23:13
people who are already serving her.
23:15
And those people continue to serve.
23:17
And we were nervous they weren't going to get the first job done
23:19
in the week. And instead of just getting mad
23:22
done, they got everything done because the tone was set that it
23:25
wasn't miserable and it wasn't awful and they could do this.
23:29
And I'll, I'll even add to that because I was with Lisa at
23:31
annual conference and she goes, so my construction guy who was
23:37
supposed to be there is currently in the hospital and my
23:42
other guy not there. So she I said, well, we've got
23:46
really qualify people. So at least you have that.
23:50
And then I, I showed her the Instagram Reel where you're
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talking about like the floor collapsing.
23:57
She goes and, you know, we actually have people come in and
24:00
check that out to make sure that that's not going to happen.
24:03
And there you go. Yeah.
24:09
I don't know how they missed that.
24:10
It looks like there is before it collapsed.
24:12
There's a big like. Yeah, it was wild for Tom to be
24:16
like, this is the hardest side I've had in the last five years.
24:20
It's huge. And it was just a blessing that
24:23
it was the college kids that were on that side because like,
24:26
high schoolers are wonderful, but like, they're younger and
24:29
they're, you know, our high school kids did 8 windows.
24:33
They took out eight windows, had to put 8 windows in, which isn't
24:36
an easy job. It did take all week.
24:37
And they are so easygoing, like that group of of college kids
24:43
are, yeah, really funny. And you can definitely just say,
24:47
hey, we're pivoting. And they go OK.
24:49
Yeah, our biggest. They don't need any time to
24:52
pivot. They're like, OK, we're going to
24:53
pivot. So I love that about.
24:55
That our biggest problem was them fighting over getting the
24:59
opportunity to have the tools in their hands.
25:01
And I had to be like, you have to let other people try and if
25:05
they're slower than you, it's OK.
25:07
Teach them what they need to do and you'll also you're not only
25:10
be serving the home, you'll be serving that person by teaching
25:13
them. Yes.
25:14
And I think that's a really important thing.
25:16
Sometimes when we get really attached to a project, we can
25:19
just take a complete ownership of it and not let it go.
25:22
But we're called to help other people learn how to serve, which
25:26
means letting them do things. I say that to me and Melissa and
25:33
Mackenzie, who's getting. Better about it so hard they're
25:37
getting better, but it it is those small acts that that lead
25:43
to greater things. You know, other people have an
25:46
opportunity to serve when you teach them how to use a power
25:50
tool or, and, and like, then they're able to teach people or
25:55
they're able to, you know, go off and do it on their own.
25:59
Yeah, I think it's great for, like, from a youth perspective
26:02
like that, like just teaching us 'cause like I know most like,
26:08
she's never like, belittled me or like, treated me like, even
26:11
like when I was like years younger like that I couldn't do
26:14
something because I was too young and I didn't understand
26:17
it. Like she always allowed me to be
26:20
in a position where I was able to serve others and lead others
26:24
because like she gave me those tasks.
26:26
And like when you're given like bigger tasks, you're not, you
26:30
don't have the option to just like chicken out of them,
26:32
especially if Melissa is giving them to you because she'll make
26:35
sure you do them. She.
26:36
Will. So this trend is continuing.
26:40
Like that's how you learn like and that's how I'm more willing
26:45
to do like things that I usually that are like out of my comfort
26:49
zone or I wouldn't want to do like because I've just been
26:53
taught and like conditioned to want to want to do those things.
26:57
Yet middle school Jillian wouldn't have gotten up in front
26:59
of room of 37 and like commanded the room and directed them.
27:03
But this this month she did at ARM.
27:06
Yay yay. Love it.
27:13
I do have a question for Jillian that's not on book, but what
27:18
going to arm? What is the your favorite thing
27:21
that you've learned or you've done or you've seen through that
27:25
experience? So arm, I've been on day camp
27:30
all the years I've been at arm. So 3, I think the greatest thing
27:34
I've learned is just how to be selfless.
27:38
And you think that's like more with like construction and like
27:41
you really have to like put yourself like, like aside so you
27:46
can do this work and like keep your mind focused on who you're
27:49
doing it for. But like for day camp, like you,
27:53
it's easy to get frustrated with the kids and you can't like let
28:00
that show because they're just learning like they're they're
28:02
kids. Like I think just putting myself
28:05
aside and teaching them like I've learned, like what things I
28:10
say matter and how to get them to understand what I'm talking
28:15
about. I think it's just great because
28:20
I've gotten to connect with kids and I've gotten to prepare
28:23
myself year after year to just teach them the best I can.
28:28
And teaching them about Jesus is just like the best experience.
28:31
Because I said this at ARM, it kind of teaches me a little,
28:34
even though it's like really simple, simple topics about like
28:38
the Bible and about Jesus, but like they're questions, like I
28:41
get to talk to them about it. And I think it's just great
28:44
because it's from like their perspective and they're just now
28:46
learning. So I just love doing that.
28:49
Have you seen one of the kids that you had from your first
28:54
year to now? Have you seen a change?
28:57
Have you seen a growth in in one of those kids?
29:01
I think there's maybe a few like I always do see returners, but
29:06
they obviously like they get bigger and they're not so little
29:09
and like adorable anymore, but they're like bigger kids.
29:12
But they grow friendships with each other like over the years
29:16
and they're nicer. Like they're more like out of
29:19
their comfort zone and out of their little shell and they
29:24
treat each other so well. So that's just like something I
29:27
noticed like especially like past years, like there'd be some
29:30
kids that just like fed off of others and they were kind of a
29:34
little bit meaner. But these kids like older kids,
29:38
they treat the younger kids how they would have wanted to be
29:41
treated when they were that small.
29:43
Like they include them and whenever they're upset, they
29:46
calm them down. And they do a lot of like the
29:49
work for us because they're so caring towards the younger ones,
29:52
even if they don't really know them that well.
29:55
There's a different sense of community between these children
29:59
and the way they care for each other and the way that they
30:02
approach Jesus. I think a lot of the week you
30:07
guys said, like there's this different joy with the children
30:11
that we were working with because they don't necessarily
30:14
come from a lot. And they they come in and they
30:18
share the toys that they have. Like Jane sat down and she has
30:22
this obsession with a squishy dumpling right now.
30:23
And one of the little girls had them and the girl was so open to
30:26
just like, OK, you can play with mine.
30:29
And like a little Kyrie, how like last year he was the baby
30:34
and this year he still looks like the baby, but he's trying
30:38
to care for kids. And they took you guys into some
30:43
pretty deep conversations, like you had the little little ones.
30:47
And they even had great things to say when you ask questions
30:51
about our Bible studies. Yeah, I really learned from them
30:55
and like I learned more about myself when I'm talking with
30:58
them. Like kind of a little test of
31:01
patience, but but also just like how I have the ability to teach
31:07
others about Jesus and it doesn't always have to be me,
31:11
like going up to random strangers.
31:13
It can be these kids that this is like the most important
31:16
moments for them is when they're just growing up and learning
31:18
about Jesus. Yeah.
31:20
You know, Daisy, she came through the program and now
31:25
she's serving at ARM and she has the last two years or three
31:28
years. This was her third year.
31:30
She's a counselor there now, but this program that built her is
31:35
so important to her that she comes back.
31:39
It's really nice and her nephew's there too.
31:42
All right, so we are about to wrap up and I just want to have
31:46
some final thoughts. Like I think sometimes we get in
31:49
our heads about we don't have any time to give or we don't
31:53
aren't sure what to do. And I would say my advice is
31:56
just to start small. Like it doesn't have to be a
31:58
whole week of your life. It could be I'm signing up to
32:03
pass out bulletins on Sunday morning and like literally open
32:06
doors for people. It could be I want to call a
32:12
friend and check on them. It's just really thinking
32:16
outside of ourselves is so important.
32:18
And that's what as Christians we are called to do.
32:20
We're not called to be so self-centered all the time, all
32:24
the time. We're called to be Christ like
32:27
and Christ, you know, he would go to people when they were
32:31
hurting, he would heal them. He, he was a not just the Son of
32:35
God, but he was a blessing to everyone that he met.
32:39
And we can be a blessing to the people that we meet.
32:41
And so if we have this attitude of how can I be a blessing, I
32:45
think God is going to present opportunity after opportunity in
32:49
which we can just share God's love.
32:51
And that's really what we're called to do.
32:53
And I hope that everyone's listening feels encouraged that
32:56
they, just as they live their lives, can help show someone the
33:00
love of God. Yeah, agreed.
33:04
I think another piece of advice is the worst thing that can
33:07
happen when you're serving is that you realize that this is
33:11
not what you're called to do. If you're an introvert and you
33:16
want to step out of your comfort zone and be a greeter, that's
33:20
great. And then you hate it and you're
33:21
like, oh, maybe I don't want to greet.
33:23
Maybe I'll go learn AVL. Or come address some cards in
33:26
the office. Yeah, there's, that's just, I
33:29
think that's the worst thing that can happen is that you just
33:31
realize that maybe I'm not supposed to be serving in this
33:34
particular spot and not necessarily in the church, but
33:37
outside the church too. So like maybe you don't want to
33:40
work with the kids ministry or youth ministry or or do yard
33:44
work. You just, you are called to do
33:46
something else. But like you said, being willing
33:48
to even try is important. Well, thank you guys so much,
33:54
Julian. It was great to have you on.
33:55
You were wonderful. Do we want to do a Not just
33:59
Sunday card? Oh we can close with like A1
34:01
fish one. One fish a one question.
34:05
What is one thing you always say yes to?
34:09
Oh. Melissa.
34:14
Just say yes so she can not go into the thing where she just
34:17
wears us down. Well, we just had a
34:19
conversation, me and one of Nicole Bennett, that Melissa's
34:23
really hard to say no to just because she's really
34:27
enthusiastic and passionate and that makes me want to be
34:30
enthusiastic and passionate about what she's asking me to
34:33
do. So I'm I'm teasing.
34:37
No, I, I received a text from someone who was listening to one
34:40
of the previous podcast and she was like, I just laughed out
34:42
loud at you saying people are going to think you're bossy, but
34:46
you're more like pushy in a leadership way.
34:48
And she goes, I received that push three times.
34:51
And now I'm going to be volunteering with the youth this
34:53
summer. And I was like, yeah, see, it's
34:54
not a bad. Thing not a bad thing.
34:56
I was going to go just a little lighter and say I never say no
35:01
to an Ice Cream Sandwich at the end of the day.
35:03
Oh, it's. A good one, It's delicious.
35:06
Yo. Julian, what about you?
35:09
Can it be like anything like Ice Cream Sandwich or like?
35:13
I'll I'll say mine. I'll never say no to a good
35:15
book. I'll never say that's a true
35:17
book. How do you know it's a good book
35:19
before you start it? Though it it really depends on
35:21
who's recommending it. But I'll never say no to an
35:23
opportunity to read. There you go.
35:26
I never say no to a nap. Nice.
35:29
Yeah, well, that's like bad. I seem so lazy but I say no but
35:34
I nap anyways because I just. It just overcomes me.
35:39
I wish I was a napper. I'm not.
35:41
I wish I was a better sleeper than calling everyone of my
35:43
sleeps are the days. Is there something for me?
35:47
I can't think of something that I don't say no.
35:50
To her daughter. I do.
35:52
I can't say no I am. I am not the yes parent.
35:58
An opportunity to travel. I mean, I'll try to say no, but
36:03
yeah, I if I can. Sometimes I have to say no to
36:07
her opportunities to travel. I'm like, no you.
36:10
Have work. I plan them pretty well.
36:13
Plan them pretty well. I would say opportunities to be
36:17
encouraging and opportunities to travel.
36:19
Yeah. OK, yes.
36:25
All right. Thank you guys for listening.
36:27
We will see you next week on everything