Latest / MESSmerized - Funny and faith based encouragement in marriage , family , Christian parenting , and finding purpose / Episode 149: A Conversation With One of My Besties: Real Friendship, Real Life, Real Bible Study (with Stephanie Martin)

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Episode 149: A Conversation With One of My Besties: Real Friendship, Real Life, Real Bible Study (with Stephanie Martin) · MESSmerized - Funny and faith based encouragement in marriage , family , Christian parenting , and finding purpose

0:06
[SPEAKER_01]: This is Cynthia Gannoff and you are listening to the mesmerized podcast.
0:14
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, friends, welcome to mesmerize.
0:16
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm glad you're here, especially in May when it is crazy.
0:20
[SPEAKER_01]: I just got home from the award ceremony at the local elementary, and I got notified that JB would be getting a reading award, and I'm just gonna be honest, you guys know JB struggles with reading.
0:30
[SPEAKER_01]: He's dyslexic, and just it's been a battle.
0:33
[SPEAKER_01]: And I thought, wow, they're gonna have to dig very, very deep to give the Janoff Kitto a reading award.
0:39
[SPEAKER_01]: and so I didn't know exactly which one it was and when I got there they announced all the different awards they were giving for reading and one of them was a 40-book challenge and I was like wow man that's some on top of it parents.
0:51
[SPEAKER_01]: I wonder if I did the 40-book challenge with my older kids but I'm sure I didn't.
0:55
[SPEAKER_01]: And so as they start handing out awards
0:58
[SPEAKER_01]: they get to the 40-book challenge and JB gets that award and he's so proud and they take the picture and I smile and all I can think is there has been a farce or something going down in the elementary school because we did not read 40 books together.
1:13
[SPEAKER_01]: I didn't fill at a log like what's happening.
1:15
[SPEAKER_01]: So afterward, he comes over and hands me his little wards and I'm like hey bud!
1:21
[SPEAKER_01]: When did you read 40 books and then he let me know that that was part of what they were doing with him in school when he gets pulled out by teachers to work on reading and dyslexia and all that that they actually did the 40 books so that was important to one of his teachers to help him with that and I thought how awesome is that?
1:37
[SPEAKER_01]: I just love it how we all film the gaps for each other.
1:40
[SPEAKER_01]: That wasn't something that had to happen.
1:42
[SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't part of the curriculum but that his teachers that pull him out and work with him and know how hard he works in reading that they love him and
1:50
[SPEAKER_01]: to do something that would allow him to get an award like that, and so I was just so encouraged and reminded that we are all doing this together.
1:57
[SPEAKER_01]: And as we're doing a series in May on Motherhood, I am bringing in lots of people that encouraged me in my motherhood, mom friends, people that I know, maybe that I don't know as well, but that are still encouraging me from afar.
2:10
[SPEAKER_01]: And today, Stephanie Martin, and I'll tell you what, I know that you know Stephanie, because she's been on this show a lot, she's a dear friend, but boy, she encourages me and my motherhood.
2:20
[SPEAKER_01]: We have prayed over our kids as we walked the streets of this neighborhood, and she has prayed over my kids when I'm not there.
2:28
[SPEAKER_01]: She sent me scripture to cling to in the hard times, and what I love about Stephanie is she reminds me that there's areas of our lives that maybe we're not
2:35
[SPEAKER_01]: feeling that we're about strong end and lean into other people that are that can show us how to do that better.
2:41
[SPEAKER_01]: Stephanie loves God's word and she spends so much time in God's word and has such deep wisdom from that and I feel like she just always brings that to the table when we're together.
2:51
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I thought let's have her on.
2:52
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's hear about that.
2:54
[SPEAKER_01]: What does that look like?
2:55
[SPEAKER_01]: How does she spend time in God's word?
2:56
[SPEAKER_01]: What motivates her?
2:57
[SPEAKER_01]: What works for her?
2:58
[SPEAKER_01]: What doesn't work for her?
2:59
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I think you're going to love this conversation and also that reminder that
3:03
[SPEAKER_01]: We don't have to be intimidated by things that we're not as good at or be jealous or make it a competition, lean into it, find people around you that are better at things than you are and let them speak into it.
3:14
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's what I hope today is with Stephanie.
3:16
[SPEAKER_01]: So here we go, kick it off with my good friend, Stephanie Martin.
3:24
[SPEAKER_01]: Back by popular demand, it's Stephanie Martin.
3:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Was that too much?
3:33
[SPEAKER_01]: You're getting very regular on the show like it or not, and just so everyone knows the joke you always say is that I'm like
3:39
[SPEAKER_01]: ask you can you come on the podcast in seven hours or I never give you this.
3:43
[SPEAKER_01]: I we had noticed this round.
3:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, we did.
3:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, we did.
3:47
[SPEAKER_01]: We did.
3:48
[SPEAKER_01]: And I appreciate it.
3:48
[SPEAKER_01]: So thank you very much.
3:50
[SPEAKER_01]: You're welcome.
3:50
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, it's the month of Mother's Day.
3:53
[SPEAKER_01]: Heather McFaddy and I were just laughing on our other podcast about whoever thought it was a good idea to put Mother's Day in the month of May.
4:01
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, you kidding me?
4:03
[SPEAKER_01]: May is like.
4:04
[SPEAKER_01]: ridiculous, but I decided we're gonna take the whole month and have people on and talk about all mothers types of issues and thoughts and ideas and I wanted to bring on some of my favorite moms, including my own mom, that I thought about you because I thought we're such good friends, but you're such a good mom and such an encouragement to me as I watch you, mother, your children, and also like what can we learn from each other as moms?
4:31
[SPEAKER_01]: What can we lean into?
4:32
[SPEAKER_01]: And so that's why you came to mind.
4:36
[SPEAKER_01]: And you and I talk about this a lot about how hard it is to find women that champion women well.
4:44
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think this is an opportunity.
4:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Like let's do this well.
4:48
[SPEAKER_01]: I know we're going to talk about something you're really good at that I admire about you and let's celebrate that.
4:53
[SPEAKER_01]: And just why don't we do that better as women, right?
4:57
[SPEAKER_01]: Why don't we champion each other well on the things that others are good at that we're not.
5:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, thanks for gassing me up as the kids would say.
5:04
[SPEAKER_00]: That was awesome.
5:07
[SPEAKER_01]: The kids don't want to hear you say that, but go on.
5:09
[SPEAKER_00]: No, they don't.
5:10
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't.
5:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.
5:11
[SPEAKER_00]: What, guys?
5:12
[SPEAKER_00]: What nice words.
5:13
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to come more often.
5:15
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, well, your hair looks fabulous, by the way.
5:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Thanks.
5:18
[SPEAKER_01]: Did we get, did we cut and curl?
5:20
[SPEAKER_01]: What's happening here?
5:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I did it.
5:22
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't.
5:23
[SPEAKER_00]: That's good.
5:24
[SPEAKER_00]: That's good.
5:25
[SPEAKER_00]: Wow.
5:25
[SPEAKER_00]: You really went all out.
5:27
[SPEAKER_00]: She did.
5:27
[SPEAKER_01]: She even has a sweater tied around her neck like she's a Nanducket instead of Dallas and it's something.
5:33
[SPEAKER_00]: because I'm cold and it feels good.
5:36
[SPEAKER_00]: It feels good.
5:37
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, well, let's talk about this.
5:39
[SPEAKER_01]: Where I thought we'd start funny.
5:41
[SPEAKER_01]: I want you to describe our friendship in three words.
5:44
[SPEAKER_01]: Mom, to mom.
5:44
[SPEAKER_01]: Since we're talking Mother's Day and you're one of my closest friends, describe our friendship in three words.
5:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so these were really easy.
5:52
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm scared.
5:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, three words.
5:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Number one honest.
5:58
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I'm honest, but you're honest too.
6:01
[SPEAKER_00]: So we have a really honest friendship.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Good bad and ugly and beautiful.
6:07
[SPEAKER_00]: All of it.
6:07
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think we're definitely honest.
6:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Number two, supportive.
6:13
[SPEAKER_00]: You are really, really supportive.
6:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Like it, it's
6:18
[SPEAKER_00]: It really has been a gift to me.
6:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Just to be constantly supported no matter if it's the high or the low or the hard or the easy, I really do appreciate that.
6:29
[SPEAKER_00]: And then number three, spontaneous.
6:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, yes.
6:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think we're both a little bit even though we're both moms and we have a lot going on.
6:42
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that we're both really up for spontaneous.
6:47
[SPEAKER_01]: You are.
6:48
[SPEAKER_01]: You're the one I'm going to call every time and be like, well, I didn't call.
6:52
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to text you and be like, I'm picking up in seven minutes.
6:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's go get sonic or whatever.
6:58
[SPEAKER_01]: And you're like, okay.
6:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
7:00
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
7:01
[SPEAKER_00]: I like that.
7:01
[SPEAKER_01]: It's on nine o'clock on a Tuesday night.
7:04
[SPEAKER_01]: Come over and play a game.
7:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
7:06
[SPEAKER_01]: And so yeah, we are spontaneous.
7:08
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, those were nicer than I thought I was going to get.
7:10
[SPEAKER_01]: Cause you've said before, tell everyone, like my ringtone is crickets, right?
7:16
[SPEAKER_01]: For you.
7:16
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, when I call you because I always say, if you don't answer, I'm like, what's up, crickets?
7:22
[SPEAKER_01]: Like I expect immediate, I want an answer.
7:25
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you always laugh at me.
7:26
[SPEAKER_01]: You're like, you're gone for two weeks at a time.
7:28
[SPEAKER_01]: And then you're like, answer the phone.
7:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, you are like the one of the busiest people I know and I can call and call and call and I'm supposed to understand that you're busy, but if you call me and I don't answer you're like indignant It's sold through
7:46
[SPEAKER_01]: All right.
7:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, the other day, you and I went walking, and we did this a lot years ago, but we went walking, and you were very, you channeled your inner Cynthia.
7:56
[SPEAKER_01]: You're like, these are the things that are going to happen on this walk.
7:58
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, to talk to you about X, Y, and Z, and then we're going to pray for these things.
8:01
[SPEAKER_01]: I was like, oh gosh, I was just kind of struggling.
8:03
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that's your so busy.
8:04
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, yes, well, we've got to get down to business.
8:07
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes.
8:08
[SPEAKER_01]: And so we did something we used to do a lot and we need to be better at doing.
8:12
[SPEAKER_01]: But we just walked the streets and prayed for each one of our kids.
8:15
[SPEAKER_01]: And so we would go kid by kid.
8:17
[SPEAKER_01]: We went, I think, yeah, oldest to youngest and what's going on at kids life, you would tell me what's going on.
8:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Will's life and I pray for him.
8:22
[SPEAKER_01]: I'd tell you what's going on.
8:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Cates and you'd pray for her and my Kate, we both have a Kate, by the way.
8:28
[SPEAKER_01]: And so one of the things we prayed for, we prayed about was we were talking on JB and we prayed that, you know, he would accept the Lord and then
8:37
[SPEAKER_01]: what, 10 days later, he literally dressed to Jesus.
8:41
[SPEAKER_01]: And as heart, and I was like, how cool is that?
8:44
[SPEAKER_01]: That just when you can see those moments and the things you pray for, because Heavens knows we're praying for a lot of big prayers for some of our older kids.
8:52
[SPEAKER_01]: And there is not instant results.
8:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
8:55
[SPEAKER_00]: No, man, that is the best.
8:57
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know what I like is whenever we do that and you pray for my kids.
9:02
[SPEAKER_00]: You pray for things that I don't think about.
9:05
[SPEAKER_00]: And you also pray for things that honestly I'm too weary to pray anymore, and so it feels good to be like, okay, they're covering in prayer and you know what I had a little break and I can I can I can pray that to again.
9:17
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's amazing.
9:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, encourage that for you guys.
9:21
[SPEAKER_01]: If you walk with someone regularly or you don't, you just want to do, I mean a good way to do that.
9:26
[SPEAKER_01]: We just pray.
9:27
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, do we look a little weird in the streets, maybe?
9:29
[SPEAKER_01]: But probably.
9:30
[SPEAKER_01]: I pray for JB on the way to school every day and he always says every single morning.
9:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Now don't close your eyes mom, safety first and I want to be like have I ever been driving down the rope with my eyes so praying but okay thank you for telling me that last every single morning JB.
9:45
[SPEAKER_01]: So um eight.
9:46
[SPEAKER_01]: You, when you pray for your kids, my kids, or anything, you tend to pray scripture, or I'll say, I need you to pray for X, Y, or Z, and you'll say, okay, I'm going to find a verse on that.
9:59
[SPEAKER_01]: And I always admire that.
10:00
[SPEAKER_01]: I think it's so powerful to pray God's Word.
10:03
[SPEAKER_01]: In fact, there's something going on right now in our lives at home.
10:07
[SPEAKER_01]: me and Mike and the kids, whatever.
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[SPEAKER_01]: And I just pulled scripture this morning.
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[SPEAKER_01]: I channeled my inner Stephanie.
10:12
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, okay, what versus am I going to pray over this?
10:15
[SPEAKER_01]: And it just made it reminds me of how you really enjoy and and prioritized spending time in God's Word.
10:25
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's what I want us to talk about today because I've seen that and I've watched that in you and I feel like I'm just going to be brutally honest like I spend time in God's word sometimes because I need to because I'm speaking and it's a word form of spending time in God's word and then sometimes out of obligation and sometimes out of just wanting to you know do the the right thing air quote or whatever.
10:49
[SPEAKER_01]: But I wouldn't say I could historically say that I've thoroughly enjoyed it like I just crave it like you do and I'm just wondering if you could talk to us about that.
10:57
[SPEAKER_01]: Was that always been the case for you?
11:00
[SPEAKER_00]: No, no, it hasn't always been the case and it's not always easy and I definitely go through seasons where I enjoy it more than others and there's definitely times where I feel it more than others in fact.
11:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Before we did this, and I had a little bit more time than seven hours, and you gave me some time.
11:19
[SPEAKER_00]: I think one of the questions you said is, what has it been like?
11:22
[SPEAKER_00]: And I over the years have been in it.
11:25
[SPEAKER_00]: And I remember when my kids were babies and toddlers.
11:28
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't know, I grew up in a Baptist church, and it was always like, the prescription was, you get up early, you spend time in the Bible, and then you start your day.
11:38
[SPEAKER_00]: And when my kids were babies and toddlers,
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[SPEAKER_00]: You know, and then on many, many, many days, you know, you'd go pick up one of those little babies or toddlers and they've got a fever and then forget it.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, your day is totally changed and so it felt so dry and so hard and I felt like such a failure.
12:03
[SPEAKER_00]: And it was so discouraging and then finally I thought, well, I'm just going to do what I can do and the Jesus book of the Jesus story book Bible saved me.
12:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I thought, okay, I can read three minutes.
12:20
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, literally every story is two or three minutes.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to read that while the kids are eating breakfast.
12:26
[SPEAKER_00]: And it is one of those beautiful books that is so simple and yet deep, that that used to be all I could do in a day.
12:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Wow.
12:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
12:39
[SPEAKER_01]: And that was enough.
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[SPEAKER_01]: That's where you met the Lord when you were trying to help your kids meet the Lord, like he showed up in that, right?
12:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
12:48
[SPEAKER_00]: And it was so beautiful.
12:49
[SPEAKER_00]: And then, you know, then there were other times where it was like still get up early.
12:54
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not a morning person I do think if it all possible morning time is really great because it just sets your mind on the word, but for years, I would read at night, you know, after the kids were in bed and the quiet the house was finally quiet I would kind of read.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever, you know, scripture and then I'd kind of think of a thought, like just the very condensed version of whatever the Lord was trying to teach me.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And I would either write it down or I try to say it over in my head, so when I woke up in the morning, that was the thought that I just did it in whenever we want.
13:32
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think the one, one of the lies that I believe for many years is that your quiet time has to look a very certain way to be successful.
13:43
[SPEAKER_00]: And I've learned that the Lord is so much bigger and so much gracious, that there's a variety of ways that work, but he also made us and I think he also knows what is good for a heart in our mind.
13:58
[SPEAKER_00]: And I do think I really do believe this and has gotten older, I've realized that there's only a certain amount of decisions that I can make before I'm kind of worn out.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And so it is important for me to kind of start thinking about him and his word, so I'm not making all those other decisions, but while I'm empty.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and I like that you brought up that you grew up, I grew up in a Baptist Church too, and Harris, neither one of us are not kind of Baptist Church.
14:25
[SPEAKER_01]: I know the Bible, the way I know the Bible, because I'm a Baptist Church, and I'm so thankful for that.
14:30
[SPEAKER_01]: But I also grew up, and I don't even know if it was a by virtue of Baptist Church or just that day and age, but that there was a prescriptive way to do it.
14:39
[SPEAKER_01]: And if you weren't doing it a certain way, you weren't doing it right.
14:42
[SPEAKER_01]: And so which led to what you're saying coming from a place of guilt and you know, like yes, I think two things you're so dead on God is so big that they're that can look a variety of ways, but I also like Had this freedom given to me in the last decade of we are so individually created that
15:04
[SPEAKER_01]: well-intentioned pastors, they have a different creative then they have a different mind that them saying like this is the way, you know, do these three or four things.
15:13
[SPEAKER_01]: That probably is great for them, but that's probably not how Cynthia Gantoff who's undiagnosed to ADHD and busy and doing, you know, like I, I feel like I meet the Lord and music a lot in my car, like worship music, and I've been
15:29
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, for years, listen to the Bible in the car because I'm focused driving, whereas I'm at home, it's hard, like just different ways that it works.
15:37
[SPEAKER_01]: Of course, yes, I sit down and I read God's word and and the other thing, commentaries have helped me a lot to dig a little deeper in things.
15:45
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I just think I think that's a word, maybe for someone, if we can offer you freedom, if you've grown up thinking it has to look at.
15:52
[SPEAKER_01]: a certain way, like, and you're not doing it right, and you have guilt associated with that, then think about two things.
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[SPEAKER_01]: God is huge, a Stephanie saying, and there's lots of ways to meet him, and two, you are designed uniquely in what works for me, it works for Stephanie, may not work for you.
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[SPEAKER_01]: And that's okay.
16:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
16:08
[SPEAKER_00]: And I, even one of my kids was like, hey, it's just been hard for me to do Bible study lately.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And I said, you know, I get what you're saying, just try to spark and encourage how you connect with the Lord right now.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm never
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm always going to encourage people to be in the word because the word is God's eternal truth that will last when nothing else lasts.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Nothing else lasts.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And it is the only offensive weapon that he gives us.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So his word is so important.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I also think it is important for you like you just said to figure out who you are individually and how do you connect with the Lord?
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[SPEAKER_00]: I know that I connect
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[SPEAKER_00]: And so that's really important to me.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So if I am feeling not as connected, it's me, not him.
16:59
[SPEAKER_00]: And I just need to quiet myself.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I need to get out in nature.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And that helps spark some of that relationship for me.
17:10
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think people, just like you said, some people really do it through music or arts, or being a nature, reading, solitude.
17:20
[SPEAKER_00]: I would say get to know yourself and know what kind of sparks it for you, not that it's a substitute for his word, but it can help supplement getting into his word.
17:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, I heard a speaker the other I was at something as an eye and she said that she struggles of focus when it comes to praying.
17:39
[SPEAKER_01]: So she prays in the car and she literally fastens like the seatbelt or whatever next door.
17:44
[SPEAKER_01]: It is like that's Jesus.
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[SPEAKER_01]: He's fastened in and I'm just going to talk to him and I thought and so I've been doing that this week and that's been helpful because I can be overwhelmed by praying and like there's so many people pray for and
17:53
[SPEAKER_01]: do I need to be on my knees and do I have to do this however many minutes and it was that enough and then I'm like okay I'm in the car a lot that's something to do and if I can visualize like as if you're sitting there, Stephanie like the Lord is sitting there and I'm gonna like take this time so yeah that was helpful to me so yeah take what works
18:10
[SPEAKER_01]: from people, yes, first and foremost, God's word.
18:13
[SPEAKER_01]: But take what works and what doesn't work for you.
18:15
[SPEAKER_01]: Don't live and guilt about that.
18:17
[SPEAKER_01]: I think that leads to something else's.
18:20
[SPEAKER_01]: I think we're intimidated.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Some of us can be intimidated by the Bible.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Like it's just there's no much.
18:26
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm wondering, like, do you face that?
18:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, how do you get around that?
18:31
[SPEAKER_01]: What helps you not just be intimidated by there's so much there and I don't feel like I know enough.
18:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, right.
18:38
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it is an ancient book.
18:40
[SPEAKER_00]: I think we come to it sometimes or at least I do.
18:42
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think, well, I should understand it.
18:44
[SPEAKER_00]: I should connect with it.
18:45
[SPEAKER_00]: I should understand everything that's happening.
18:46
[SPEAKER_00]: It should be easy because it's the Lord and that's what we think.
18:51
[SPEAKER_00]: But I have to remember that this is an ancient book that is still relevant today.
18:56
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a live, it's active.
18:59
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I would encourage anybody, if you're like, I don't know where to start with the Bible.
19:04
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what to do.
19:05
[SPEAKER_00]: I would say start with really entry, easy entry points.
19:11
[SPEAKER_00]: the gospel of John.
19:12
[SPEAKER_00]: I love John.
19:14
[SPEAKER_00]: He is not as complicated.
19:17
[SPEAKER_00]: He tries to make it pretty simple, but he's also pretty deep.
19:22
[SPEAKER_00]: The gospels are great.
19:23
[SPEAKER_00]: You get a nice introduction to Jesus.
19:26
[SPEAKER_00]: And as you start reading that, and if you can take it slow,
19:31
[SPEAKER_00]: And just really read it and you just say, Lord, what do you want to teach me about you today?
19:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, what do you want me to know about you?
19:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Not what are you trying to, what is this about me?
19:45
[SPEAKER_00]: But like, what do you want me to know about you?
19:47
[SPEAKER_00]: The Psalms are amazing because they're so honest.
19:53
[SPEAKER_00]: They're just so honest, and they're so relatable.
19:56
[SPEAKER_00]: And then I love Genesis and Exodus, just really the very beginning.
20:04
[SPEAKER_00]: And then as you get familiar with those books, then you can start reading a little bit more as the Old Testament.
20:12
[SPEAKER_00]: If you take the time to read a lot of the Old Testament, it almost reads like a soap opera.
20:17
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it really draws you in because you have a lot of characters and you see their ups and downs.
20:22
[SPEAKER_00]: But really, I've started to realize that the whole story is about the Lord and to see his faithfulness over thousands of years is really captivating.
20:35
[SPEAKER_00]: I would offer a couple of things.
20:39
[SPEAKER_00]: Number one, if you have a study Bible, a study Bible is great because what it does is you read the scripture on top and then it's a bottom it has little notes that help you understand what exactly is happening and it's from scholars and it's usually from a group of scholars and they work on this together so it's not any one person giving just their opinion and so a study Bible can be really really helpful.
21:02
[SPEAKER_00]: The other thing that I found super helpful over the years is a chronological Bible.
21:09
[SPEAKER_00]: So what it does is you read the Bible and the order that it happened.
21:14
[SPEAKER_00]: And so all these stories and people start to make a lot more sense in the bigger picture.
21:21
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think it gave me an appreciation of just the timeline of God's people and his story.
21:32
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I love the idea of a chronological Bible, and I was just thinking I haven't done that a long time.
21:39
[SPEAKER_01]: My older kids really like Bibles that have the note taking on the side like literally their huge.
21:47
[SPEAKER_01]: They're not like take on Sunday, but you can literally journal like journal like Bibles on the side.
21:52
[SPEAKER_01]: There's so many things out there and what is really cool is it's hard because you can't really walk in like what did you see the life away bookstore?
21:59
[SPEAKER_01]: There's still Martel somewhere in some places, but if you could go into a Christian bookstore somewhere that is so helpful in Dallas, you know, we have logos.
22:07
[SPEAKER_01]: Some of those go in and touch and feel and see all the things that are, you know, different ways, still God's word, but there's different ways
22:16
[SPEAKER_01]: That's super helpful.
22:18
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's start, like, just walk us through, knowing there's no right or wrong.
22:22
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, what does this look like for you very practically?
22:24
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, you know, it's, listen, she's not a morning person.
22:27
[SPEAKER_01]: She ain't kidding everybody.
22:28
[SPEAKER_01]: And he's, he's real serious about breakfast, too.
22:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Don't think you're skipping breakfast with this girl.
22:33
[SPEAKER_01]: So you've, you've had your breakfast, you're awake, and you're going to sit down in God's word.
22:39
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, what, literally, what does that look like?
22:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I have a couple of things I want to say.
22:44
[SPEAKER_00]: there are lots and lots of devotionals out there that can help guide you.
22:48
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think those are great.
22:50
[SPEAKER_00]: However, there's just no substitute for his word.
22:53
[SPEAKER_00]: There's just no substitute.
22:56
[SPEAKER_00]: And I really like approaching his word because I want to see what he actually says.
23:01
[SPEAKER_00]: And I want to know how it moves in me without somebody else.
23:08
[SPEAKER_00]: influence in that.
23:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, there's certainly been times where I needed a little hand holding an additional was really awesome.
23:15
[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm not knocking it, but I do think there's just something about his word and you and I think that's really important.
23:21
[SPEAKER_00]: So you know what, I had a Bible setting and we went through Matthew.
23:25
[SPEAKER_00]: This is Mark and I like these, I like these little journals that I can write in because what I do is I just try to take a little bit at a time.
23:33
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean,
23:35
[SPEAKER_00]: one to five sentences at a time and I really look at every word and I just think about
23:43
[SPEAKER_00]: When we went through Matthew, I just really thought, what did it really feel like?
23:47
[SPEAKER_00]: What did it feel like to be there?
23:48
[SPEAKER_00]: What was it like?
23:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I read, there's a story about a woman who bled for 12 years.
23:55
[SPEAKER_00]: And I thought, okay, what did that really mean for her?
23:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, it meant that she was not a part of the community.
24:02
[SPEAKER_00]: She was considered unclean for 12 years.
24:05
[SPEAKER_00]: and ladies, I mean, if you're bleeding for 12 years, like you're exhausted, like that's a exhausting and just to think about how exhausting it was and then to see Jesus' interaction with her.
24:17
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I would read this.
24:20
[SPEAKER_00]: just diffuse sentences.
24:21
[SPEAKER_00]: And sometimes I can concentrate in our focus and I get it.
24:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes I don't.
24:27
[SPEAKER_00]: But I just try to at least, I might read a few sentences.
24:31
[SPEAKER_00]: And then I just try to just pray Lord, like, what do you have for me in this today?
24:37
[SPEAKER_00]: What are you trying to tell me?
24:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Or what is there something you want to tell me?
24:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Is there something I need to start?
24:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Is there something I need to stop?
24:43
[SPEAKER_00]: Is there something?
24:44
[SPEAKER_00]: And he is pretty faithful.
24:46
[SPEAKER_00]: And he would tell me something every day.
24:47
[SPEAKER_00]: And it would be like, I want you to think about,
24:50
[SPEAKER_00]: my kindness, you know, and in my kindness to this woman that it looks harsh because he was like, who touched me?
24:57
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, and you think, oh my gosh, he's being harsh, but I think what he was trying to do is say, I see you in your most desperate state, and I want you to know that I know, and I love you, and you're healed.
25:12
[SPEAKER_00]: And so you know, and just write down a few thoughts, I don't like to feel, I don't like to feel like I have to do anything and then this last couple years when it's been really hard after my dad died, I didn't journal a lot, all I would scribble down every morning is five things I'm grateful for.
25:31
[SPEAKER_00]: But it, that's all I could get out.
25:34
[SPEAKER_00]: But I knew that if I focused my mind on the things that the Lord was giving me, that I could still believe that he was good, and it might be the smallest thing it might be like, I'm grateful for my hot coffee.
25:45
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm grateful for the rain.
25:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever it was, and then some of them were big, but it helped focus my mind into being grateful and positive.
25:55
[SPEAKER_00]: And then if I had anything else in me,
25:58
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, now I do pray for people.
26:02
[SPEAKER_00]: And I like to pray, like you said, through the scripture, because I feel like that is a word from the Lord.
26:11
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't want to pray from my self, either selfishness or self-centeredness or my very limited perspective.
26:20
[SPEAKER_00]: And so that's why I would anchor my prayers in scripture.
26:23
[SPEAKER_00]: So for example, if I had read about that,
26:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Bleeding woman that morning in, like, say, so that you were on my mind or your kids.
26:31
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd be like, Lord, I pray that wherever they are in their most desperate moment, that they would see your kindness and know that you healed them.
26:39
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, I may not have thought of that on my own, but if I use scripture, it just helps me.
26:44
[SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, and I like that this and that was a perfect example is that the Lord, I've seen this and you over and ever, he prompts you and to share things or to pray for people like you'll say, hey, I was spending time in God's, like you'll just text me.
26:58
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, like I was spending time in God's word today and I feel like he said this to me and this was something you needed to be reminded of or whatever.
27:04
[SPEAKER_01]: and how it prompts you, not just is your own life changed by those moments in God's Word, but he's prompting you to speak his truth to other people, your kids, your friends, other people around you, which is just like this little incredible side benefit of that.
27:20
[SPEAKER_01]: The other thing I wanted to touch back on is the devotionals.
27:23
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm with you on that.
27:24
[SPEAKER_01]: I've written like in a past some devotionals for parents and other things, and I always would think about how
27:31
[SPEAKER_01]: what a gift it was because I got everything out of it.
27:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Like I hope somebody else got something out of it.
27:36
[SPEAKER_01]: But that's your point is like, don't let the person who wrote the devotional get the complete gift of the time they spent in God's Word and you're getting like the fourth of the gift because you're getting like the rehash of it.
27:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, you go straight to God's word.
27:49
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, I love good devotional to tie things together for me.
27:52
[SPEAKER_01]: I would say for me, I like to start in God's word and end with a devotional sometimes, not even over the same section.
27:58
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, there's just certain ones I like, at most for, you know, all those, the ones that we all know.
28:05
[SPEAKER_01]: And I like to maybe end in that place, but I like that you said it, because I think there's something wrong with a devotional, I've written devotional's, but I do think, man, if you,
28:14
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just like when you prepare like a sermon or whatever you're like you always get more out of it than the people listen because you dug into God's word and just don't miss that and so Let's talk about being in a Bible study Important not important could go either way seasonal thoughts on that okay wait can we go back one more second just one second of course okay okay well we just talked about how much I pray for people and I just really in all honesty
28:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, what's those, as I was thinking about the Bible and his word and you're going to laugh because it really feels like working out to me and you know, I don't have to work out, but I do because it's good for your body, but you know a long time ago a doctor told me like the best exercise that you can do is the one you're going to do.
29:02
[SPEAKER_00]: And so like total.
29:03
[SPEAKER_00]: Even if it's the most feeble of exercises, if you do it consistently, that's better than doing nothing and I really feel like that's what it's like with God's word.
29:12
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think you and I are both saying the same thing.
29:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Like yeah.
29:16
[SPEAKER_00]: The ultimate goal is for you to spend time in God's Word with God, and that is the ultimate.
29:23
[SPEAKER_00]: And that takes a lot of exercise, that's a lot of strength, that's a lot of focus, that's a lot of dedication, and whatever you need to get there, whether it's a devotional or if it's music or whatever, you're going to use those is support to get you to that point.
29:40
[SPEAKER_00]: and so there's just a lot of freedom.
29:42
[SPEAKER_00]: So what we're saying is there's a lot of freedom and whatever you can do that you're actually going to do is going to be the best thing but the goal is really to spend time with the Lord and His Word and so that's where you're headed and whatever whatever you can do to help you get there consistently and think is the best and then when we talk about praying for people like I said this last couple of years has been really hard for me and I
30:06
[SPEAKER_00]: really had a hard time praying for people because I was empty.
30:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Like empty, dried, done, weary.
30:12
[SPEAKER_00]: And I felt a lot of freedom praying to the Lord, saying, Lord, you know how much I care about these people.
30:20
[SPEAKER_00]: You know how much I love my family and my friends or my neighbors or whoever in Lord, I just don't have it in me.
30:27
[SPEAKER_00]: and he's so gracious and he knows and that's the gift of the Holy Spirit in the Holy Spirit knows how we care and the Holy Spirit intercedes for us.
30:39
[SPEAKER_00]: And so if you are anesthesia and where you're trying and you're weary and you think I just can't.
30:46
[SPEAKER_00]: The Lord is there and He meets you there in the Holy Spirit is there for you and so you don't have to do another thing.
30:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
30:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
30:55
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's that all good.
30:57
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I'll really good and really important.
30:59
[SPEAKER_01]: And again, back to the, you know, how to feel guilt in that to like I just feel the freedom that you're giving in that.
31:05
[SPEAKER_01]: And so, okay, talk Bible, so I will say, okay, what do we want to talk about are you, I mean, obviously you're in favor and you lead one and that's amazing.
31:15
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not in it, but I wish I were.
31:17
[SPEAKER_01]: But,
31:18
[SPEAKER_01]: Is it like, you know, like, life's busy, people are crazy and you're like, oh, gosh, what's the importance of a Bible study?
31:25
[SPEAKER_01]: Have you always been in one like you personally are there seasons where you're not and that's fine?
31:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, just talk us through that because I think you're either
31:33
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if this is accurate, but I kind of feel like there's Bible study people and there's not.
31:37
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm talking at like a group Bible study.
31:39
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't mean like a group.
31:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, okay, okay.
31:41
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's talk about, you know what, let's talk about what a group Bible study is for those who don't know.
31:46
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, let's talk about that.
31:47
[SPEAKER_01]: And if you always been in one, are you, you know, tell us all that.
31:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, well, yes, I've been in many Bible studies over the years starting probably when I was, you know.
31:55
[SPEAKER_00]: a teenager, but that was probably not very consistent.
31:58
[SPEAKER_00]: A Bible study is where you get together as a group, and it can look a little bit different, and you talk about lessons.
32:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes there's a lesson and passages you're supposed to read and answer questions on, and then you come together, and either a large group or small group, and there might be a speaker who speaks on the passage where you might meet in a small group and talk about the questions.
32:18
[SPEAKER_00]: I have been in Bible study over the last few years
32:22
[SPEAKER_00]: in a smaller group setting.
32:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me tell you what I like about it.
32:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me tell you what's hard about it.
32:29
[SPEAKER_00]: What I like about it is when you go over any material, kind of like when you go see a movie together, it's friends.
32:36
[SPEAKER_00]: You know what I mean?
32:37
[SPEAKER_00]: You go see a movie and then you, you finish and somebody's like, oh my gosh, I love that movie and then some people are like, oh my gosh, something who is kind of sad or oh my gosh, did you know to sit in the movie and you're like, no, I didn't.
32:47
[SPEAKER_00]: and it's kind of the same with Bible study.
32:50
[SPEAKER_00]: We each bring a different life experience, we bring different circumstances, and we're seeing things from different perspectives, but it's still God's truth.
32:59
[SPEAKER_00]: And so when I'm in a Bible study and Cynthia, I hear you talk about your experience when you read the story of the Bleeding Woman, it illuminates for me something new that I haven't thought
33:12
[SPEAKER_00]: it's amazing.
33:14
[SPEAKER_01]: I too feel the same way about Bible studies like in in homes or in our church or whatever, not all Bible studies are created equal.
33:22
[SPEAKER_01]: I've found over the years.
33:24
[SPEAKER_01]: No, that's being nice.
33:26
[SPEAKER_01]: And so, um, I do think you got to figure out what works for you.
33:29
[SPEAKER_01]: First and foremost though, you need, make sure it's doctorally, you know, on the right page, if you have questions, I mean, that's kind of something you say in the everybody's like, well, how do I know that?
33:39
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, if they don't line up with God's word, right, then you didn't you need to, you need to question that.
33:45
[SPEAKER_01]: If it's too much someone's experience versus God's, I mean, what are the things you look for?
33:50
[SPEAKER_01]: If you're like, ooh, that works or ooh, that's a red flag.
33:52
[SPEAKER_01]: Any thoughts on that for someone you might say, I haven't been in a great Bible study, what, how do I know if this is a good one?
33:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, well we talked about this in my Bible site.
34:02
[SPEAKER_00]: So there's a few things that are essentials.
34:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, if you are a believing Christian, there are things that must they cannot be denied and they have to be supported, okay, that Jesus is fully man and Jesus is fully God.
34:19
[SPEAKER_00]: and that there is a Trinity, and it includes God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, and that we are sinful.
34:28
[SPEAKER_00]: We humans are sinful, and that Jesus died for us, paid for our sins.
34:34
[SPEAKER_00]: He's resurrected, and He will come back.
34:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so those are some essentials that you need to have within Bible study.
34:41
[SPEAKER_00]: And if anything's contradicted to that, I would say you need to be very wary.
34:47
[SPEAKER_00]: And you need to know the word so you can see is this what the Lord says or if this is not what the Lord says.
34:54
[SPEAKER_00]: So those are some essentials.
34:56
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, not all Bible studies are created equal.
35:01
[SPEAKER_00]: The good thing about Bible study is if you have a lesson to do, it does keep you in the word.
35:06
[SPEAKER_00]: There's some, there's an accountability.
35:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, okay, we have lesson one.
35:10
[SPEAKER_00]: I have to have lesson one done by next Wednesday.
35:12
[SPEAKER_00]: And so it keeps you in the word and it keeps you going and it keeps you engaged.
35:17
[SPEAKER_00]: And then you get to talk to other people about it.
35:22
[SPEAKER_00]: And so when you're studying, when you're going through maybe the lesson or the passage, you can hear what other people are how they're interacting with the message.
35:33
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, for example, I've heard women who would read the passage and say, you know what?
35:41
[SPEAKER_00]: I've realized that when I criticize my husband,
35:46
[SPEAKER_00]: I know at the time I was like, well, I don't really feel a lot of conviction there, but hearing them be convicted of that really sparked in me, hey, is that something that I should think about?
36:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Is that something I should be convicted of?
36:02
[SPEAKER_00]: And just really going to the Lord with it, but he's seen what the Lord is doing now that people is really kind of amazing.
36:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
36:13
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
36:14
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think the other thing I love about being in a Bible study is that you have people that are praying over you and supporting you and speaking into you that you know are in God's Word.
36:23
[SPEAKER_01]: And if anything we've learned is the people you want praying over you, the people speaking into you and the people that, yeah, they have a voice in your life, you want those people to be regular in God's Word.
36:34
[SPEAKER_01]: And so,
36:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, you started, I know you're part of a, a larger babysitter, but you started one that you're doing in your home, and I've seen another one of my good friends in our neighborhood is doing one out of her home.
36:44
[SPEAKER_01]: And I would just want us, let's wrap up with this.
36:46
[SPEAKER_01]: How, let's encourage people because, um, that may feel daunting, but to have a babysitter in your home is really, um, is really amazing.
36:55
[SPEAKER_01]: And in a lot of ways, one, it will bring people and otherwise wouldn't maybe go to a church or somewhere else.
37:01
[SPEAKER_01]: It brings them in.
37:03
[SPEAKER_01]: It forces you in the best way, yourself to be in God's word, right?
37:08
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, that's accountability, but also, it doesn't say, it doesn't have to say, well, I know the Bible so well, I'm now hosting a Bible city.
37:16
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, it doesn't have to be that.
37:18
[SPEAKER_01]: I think that's what maybe keeps people from it.
37:20
[SPEAKER_01]: And I just wanted to say as we're going into summer,
37:22
[SPEAKER_01]: This might be a word for someone that maybe it's time just to invite a couple of women, or a couple of neighbors or whatever into your home, to do Bible studies together.
37:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe not necessarily is outreach.
37:35
[SPEAKER_01]: If you're not comfortable in that, maybe you're not asking every non-believer in the neighborhood to come over.
37:39
[SPEAKER_01]: But you know there's three or four believers in her neighborhood like Christian women.
37:44
[SPEAKER_01]: Just talk us through that a little bit because that can somebody's listening to like there is no way that I am equipped or have enough Bible
37:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, okay, so I belong to a church and they have a women's bubble study within the church and then they also have neighborhood groups.
37:59
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's a lot of leaders who are willing to have the bubble city in their own homes within their neighborhood.
38:06
[SPEAKER_00]: And just hearing the testimonies of those other leaders, like some of them invited neighbors that they barely know that they thought, oh my gosh, they're never gonna be interested in a bubble city, will they came?
38:17
[SPEAKER_00]: Then there's other people who are like, I don't know why I invited her, but I did, but come to find out, you know, woman A and woman B had so much in common and they were going through the same trial and they were there for each other.
38:30
[SPEAKER_00]: All to say, I've seen faithfulness and other ladies and they just did with the Lord was asking them to do no matter if it was a little awkward or weird or they felt totally unacquipped and they did it anyway and the Lord weren't and he moved and I think the one thing I would say, if you and you know it, you know it because the Lord is in your heart and if you're thinking, oh, maybe I should or should I, I don't know, I don't know.
38:56
[SPEAKER_00]: All you need is really humility to say, I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing here.
39:03
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm doing the best I can.
39:05
[SPEAKER_00]: The Lord is the teacher.
39:07
[SPEAKER_00]: He's the one who guides, he's the one who teaches, he's the one who can fix, he's the one who encourages.
39:14
[SPEAKER_00]: And so you're just a facilitator, just like he's told us, like you're going to be my messenger.
39:19
[SPEAKER_00]: And so that's all you are.
39:20
[SPEAKER_00]: You're a facilitator.
39:21
[SPEAKER_00]: You do not have to, in fact, I would encourage you,
39:26
[SPEAKER_00]: you just kind of say, hey, I'm here.
39:28
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm learning with you.
39:29
[SPEAKER_00]: I want us to talk about this.
39:31
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not sure there's been plenty of times where I'm like, I don't really know what's happening here, but let's look at other places in the Bible.
39:37
[SPEAKER_00]: See what can inform that.
39:39
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I think if you have humility and if you just have any interests, like the Lord can do amazing things.
39:47
[SPEAKER_00]: And you can just do it.
39:48
[SPEAKER_00]: And I do think something that I've noticed.
39:51
[SPEAKER_00]: is that women just want to be together and they want to have community and there's not it as many avenues for face-to-face community I think as they're used to be and so to be invited into somebody's home and to be invited to share a time is really sweet and by the way these other lady
40:13
[SPEAKER_00]: ladies that are hosting neighborhood studies.
40:17
[SPEAKER_00]: They're not just meeting in their homes.
40:19
[SPEAKER_00]: They're meeting in coffee shops.
40:20
[SPEAKER_00]: They're meeting in backyards.
40:22
[SPEAKER_00]: They're meeting in public places.
40:24
[SPEAKER_00]: It might be your home.
40:25
[SPEAKER_00]: Do not let any, um,
40:28
[SPEAKER_00]: any speed bump get in your way.
40:30
[SPEAKER_00]: There could be all kinds of things you could do to work around it.
40:33
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't have to be your home.
40:35
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't have to be at a certain time.
40:37
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't have to be once a week.
40:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Some of those vowel studies met just once a month because they had moms of little and all they could manage for child care was once a month.
40:47
[SPEAKER_00]: You can do it.
40:49
[SPEAKER_00]: There's so much flexibility.
40:51
[SPEAKER_00]: So ask the Lord Lord, what are you calling me to?
40:54
[SPEAKER_00]: What can I do?
40:54
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to serve food.
40:56
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to serve any
40:58
[SPEAKER_00]: you just do what you can do and just kind of like, you know, the little boy who offers fishers and loves, like Lord, I don't have a lot, but this is what I got.
41:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah.
41:07
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm flexible.
41:09
[SPEAKER_01]: You had me until you said the backyard and I will not be attending anyone's Bible study in the backyard in July and Dallas, Texas.
41:15
[SPEAKER_01]: So just know that.
41:16
[SPEAKER_01]: Don't invite me.
41:17
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not coming in the winter.
41:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, okay.
41:20
[SPEAKER_01]: In the backyard.
41:21
[SPEAKER_01]: You're all that's incredible.
41:22
[SPEAKER_01]: That is incredible.
41:23
[SPEAKER_01]: That is incredible.
41:24
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I can't imagine the sweater you'd have on when you've got that when wrapped around your neck and April.
41:28
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you would have on.
41:30
[SPEAKER_00]: You would have on a
41:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you would.
41:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's end with this.
41:37
[SPEAKER_01]: OK, so Mother's Day, month.
41:39
[SPEAKER_01]: And I love, and I'm just going to say a couple of things and you can end how you want.
41:44
[SPEAKER_01]: But I love that we're talking about something I appreciate you and you as a mom and as just a friend and how will you do this.
41:53
[SPEAKER_01]: I would love for you just to encourage us in the month of May of all the things that are demands on us.
42:02
[SPEAKER_01]: and all the things that we feel like we do get right or don't get right or all the pressure or all the guilt.
42:07
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, a really good way to be a good mom is to be a good follower of Jesus, right?
42:12
[SPEAKER_01]: At the end of the day?
42:13
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes.
42:14
[SPEAKER_01]: And maybe that's a word.
42:16
[SPEAKER_01]: For Mother's Day month is just, you know what?
42:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Some of the other stuff can slide.
42:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Like let's go back to the basics.
42:22
[SPEAKER_01]: So let's get in God's word.
42:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's get in a group Bible study.
42:25
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's maybe have one at our home.
42:27
[SPEAKER_01]: But
42:27
[SPEAKER_01]: I think we can be obsessive over what it takes to be a good mom and I've just found the close rhyme with the Lord, the better of a mom I am.
42:38
[SPEAKER_01]: because he guides me more.
42:39
[SPEAKER_01]: So I would love for you to either give us a comment on that and or the second thing I love about you is you and I talk to this love, but she really and we started with this.
42:47
[SPEAKER_01]: You cheer people on well, you cheer on other women.
42:50
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that's a word too for this month of May as moms, that's another great way to be a good mom is to cheer on other women around you and that is not done well in our culture.
43:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so good.
43:02
[SPEAKER_01]: One you want to speak to.
43:03
[SPEAKER_01]: There you go.
43:04
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I'm going to pick the second one because I think I spent years and years and years not cheering on other moms.
43:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
43:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Was it easy to turn on my friends, of course it was.
43:16
[SPEAKER_00]: But was it easy to cheer on people outside that weren't my friends?
43:20
[SPEAKER_00]: That was really hard.
43:22
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'll tell you why it was hard because in my mind, I was thinking, oh my gosh, well, she's a working mom and she makes dinner and she works out and her kids are lovely.
43:29
[SPEAKER_00]: And it just felt like an indictment on me and who I was and how I was able, what I was able and capable of doing.
43:40
[SPEAKER_00]: And talking about the word, like the Lord got a hold of me.
43:46
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a parable that Jesus talks about, and he talks about, I'm hiring different workers for a vineyard, and he hires them in the morning, and then the day, at the end of the day, and just with one hour left, and he pays them all the same.
43:59
[SPEAKER_00]: And the one who works in the mornings like Jesus, like, or master, what are you doing?
44:03
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, why did you pay us all the same?
44:06
[SPEAKER_00]: And the master says, do you begrudge my generosity?
44:11
[SPEAKER_00]: And it just struck me to my core, because Jesus and God give in a way that blesses that person.
44:24
[SPEAKER_00]: And who am I?
44:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Who am I to begrudge their generosity that they
44:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, he's generous to me and I don't need to look around.
44:38
[SPEAKER_00]: And if I know who I am in him, I can be satisfied with what he gives me.
44:42
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't have to be grudge that in just because somebody else is super successful in whatever areas doesn't mean.
44:52
[SPEAKER_00]: God is so rich that just because he gives somebody else doesn't mean he can't give to me.
44:57
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not a zero sum game with him.
45:00
[SPEAKER_00]: So he can be as generous as he wants with me.
45:02
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I don't have to figure out his generosity to others.
45:07
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have to figure it.
45:09
[SPEAKER_00]: I can just be so thankful.
45:12
[SPEAKER_00]: And now that I try to make that shift, it is so life-giving.
45:19
[SPEAKER_00]: It is so life-giving because I can see somebody who's just really good at working with children.
45:25
[SPEAKER_00]: I can see somebody who makes amazing meals.
45:28
[SPEAKER_00]: I can see somebody who just completely rocks their job and it's not an indictment on me.
45:35
[SPEAKER_00]: It is seeing who God is and how He's equipped them.
45:39
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's the same for our kids.
45:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I don't have to look at another kid and think, oh man, they're doing everything right.
45:44
[SPEAKER_00]: That mom must be doing something right and I'm not doing it.
45:47
[SPEAKER_00]: No, no, no, no, no.
45:48
[SPEAKER_00]: That's just what the Lord's doing with them.
45:50
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's okay.
45:51
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I can celebrate what He's doing for me in mind.
45:53
[SPEAKER_00]: And I can celebrate what He's doing for others.
45:56
[SPEAKER_00]: And it brings so much life.
46:00
[SPEAKER_00]: And so if you can just
46:02
[SPEAKER_00]: consider that, and especially as women, I don't know what it is, we're just a little, we're just competitive, and I think if we could lay that down and just encourage each other, it's just, yeah, yeah, it's amazing.
46:17
[SPEAKER_01]: It is amazing and freeing that's what I've been freeing.
46:20
[SPEAKER_01]: If I can just get happy for what other people are doing well on how they're gifted, like it just frees me up too.
46:27
[SPEAKER_01]: And so, so thank you for sharing which you're gifted at, which I think is teaching Bible, talking Bible, encouraging people to be in God's word.
46:37
[SPEAKER_01]: Thanks for sharing that with us.
46:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Thanks for being an awesome mom friend and thanks for coming along.
46:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for being an awesome mom.
46:42
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't believe we can get to do this together
46:47
[SPEAKER_00]: So find such a privilege and happy Mother's Day.
46:50
[SPEAKER_01]: Happy Mother's Day month to you too, friend.
46:54
[SPEAKER_01]: All right.
46:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Thanks.
46:56
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, bye.
46:58
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, a big thanks to Stephanie for always been willing to jump on and be a part of podcast.
47:03
[SPEAKER_01]: And also just encouragement to you as we go into summer, to spend time in God's Word, however, you can fit it in, whatever works for you.
47:10
[SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't have to be some certain formula.
47:12
[SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't have to look a certain way, but just to be refreshed and that changes everything in our perspective for the day.
47:19
[SPEAKER_01]: So as you go into the summer, think of ways to get that as a routine in your life.
47:24
[SPEAKER_01]: And also as a routine in your life, I'd love you to keep listening to Summer to the show.
47:28
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll have lots of fun episodes coming your way, and I'm just grateful for you.
47:33
[SPEAKER_01]: So thanks for being a part of the mesmerized family.
47:35
[SPEAKER_01]: You're the very best.