A WOW Moment - July 9th 2020

Technical Setup and Trying to Add Mercedes

My mom is going to get on. Are you on now? Yeah, I'm waiting on Mercedes. Is her face going to pop up? Yeah, it'll pop up here in a second.

Why is over beside Asha's head blue streak? That's just from the light. I'm blocking it now.

From the light over there. That was cool, right? Yeah. Yes. It's probably, yeah, it's probably from the light. It might be that one. Yeah, it's probably coming from that one. Well, that one's working right now.

Yeah, so it's disinfected. Hi, we're waiting on Mercedes.

That's what Ashley said, she said, do you feel,.

What did you say, do you feel protected?

She asked me something, do you feel something?

And I said, I just feel clean. No, I was like, do you smell it? When there's enough people in this room, because every time we have a meeting in here and everybody leaves and the air starts to settle, I'll walk in here and it smells like UV.

Well, no, it doesn't smell like UV, it smells like burnt skin, because that's what's happening is the skin cells that everybody shedded while they were in here, they've risen to the top of the room and the UV is burning it.

So it smells like burnt skin. I feel like I want to stand out and get a sunscreen. No, you don't want to do that. I know! No, you don't want to do that. Those aren't real. It won't, it will burn. We'll blanch it for you.

If those were real and you were to look at them, they'd come right in your eyes. Hang on, Mercedes is on. Let me try and fix it to where, there she is. You need to add Mercedes. Why won't it let us add her?

Allow viewers to be at requests. All right, Mercedes, I made it where you could request to be on. So requests to be added, for some reason it won't let me automatically add her. She has to request it.

Look, it's Ashley's face. Yeah. Very close. Don't, don't, don't make fun of my face. There she is. Don't make fun of my face. Mercedes, for some reason, I don't know if there's something wrong with your camera, but it won't let us add you, for some reason.

It's letting me add other people, but just not you. Maybe check if she's on the wifi or something. Is she on wifi or is she not on wifi? Have her hop off and get back on to you. She says she's on wifi.

She's telling Mercedes what to do and then I'll type in Mercedes what to do. Hey. Hey.

Hop off and hop back on because like I have where I can add people, but you're the only one I'm not allowed to add for some reason. Oh, because she's an admin. Yeah, it might be because she's an admin.

On that page. Well, no, because she, well, that's true. Maybe she can't be on here today. Maybe she can get on Justin's phone. He's probably working. No, he's not. We're trying something new, so hold on, guys.

Yeah, we're trying something new. Hey, Mercedes, try, oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Add Mercedes.

Matthew 10:29-31 and the Call to Trust God

Hey, guys. Hey, I see some of you. I see Vickie's right side. You see Vickie's right side? Yeah, I don't see, there's all the.

You're gonna have to talk really loud, okay?

Yeah, as loud as I can. I got my headset in, so hopefully that'll help. Can you hear me okay?

Come on, say something.

Sorry. Hey, guys, can you hear me? Shake your heads if you can hear me. Yeah, I can hear you. Okay, because it's kind of spotty a little bit. And then you all say nothing and just stare at me. It's fantastic.

Yeah, so much fun. It's gonna be fun. Yeah.

Sorry, you're, I think, you're a little intermittent on the,.

And it's safe to do that, because all these things are gonna run right.

Hey, guys. Yeah, you're super, like the, I can't hear you. Like, I can hear you, but I can't hear you. I don't know if it's connection or what the problem is. I'm only getting every other word. All right, well, we're shutting you off.

Okay. All right, love you. Love you, too.

There was nobody with me for a minute. It was scary. Oh, I love these people. I was by myself. I love these people. On my phone, I was by myself, but you left me.

Never leave you, Courtney. I will never, ever leave you, I promise. I love you.

I love you, too. Okay, so anyways, your go-to verse.

Is Matthew chapter 10, 29 through 31. Perfect.

Ashley, can you read that scripture for us, please? Okay. Okay. Wait a minute, 10. 29 through 31.

Okay. Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your father's consent. But even the hairs of your head have all been counted. So don't be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.

That's really deep.

Yeah. So why is this your go-to verse, Courtney?

I think for a lot of reasons. First of all, I think it's pretty awesome that it talks about how sparrows don't even fall to the ground without God knowing about it, or it being part of God's plan. But also that if he knows the smallest things, like how many hairs are on our head, that why wouldn't we just trust him with things going on?

Like anything. I mean, that can be for anything. I go to this verse a lot because I do deal with a lot of depression, anxiety issues. So this is one thing that if I'm having a bad day or really having a ton of a depression moment or a few days or whatever, I can read it and it reminds me, you know, why am I so worried about, you know, why am I so worried about the little things?

Why, you know, it tries to remind me that if God knows how many hairs are on my head, then why should, what's holding me back from just trusting that he knows what's gonna happen, he already knows what's happening, what's gonna happen, what's gonna happen tomorrow, next year, 10 years from now, there's, you know.

Basically he, it's all his plan no matter what happens.

Right, and he already knows. So if I'm gonna sit here and worry about a specific thing, what good does it do? Because he already knows, he already knows what's gonna happen, he knows how it's gonna turn out.

If he knows how many hairs are on my head and a sparrow, which Josiah and I talked a little bit about a sparrow, it's a very worthless bird. You don't eat them. You know what, I mean, they're not pretty.

So a sparrow, they chose a sparrow to say that even if a sparrow falls to the ground, God knows that it happened. And then it goes to say, don't you know, you're worth more than many sparrows. So worthless bird.

Yeah, a worthless bird that you can't even eat. So what's it good for if you can't eat it, right? I mean, really. Do they eat anything? What do they eat? Do they eat like, you know, seeds and insects?

I don't know. So they don't even help. They're needy birds. You're making me wanna Wikipedia it. No, no. They're needy birds that don't do anything helpful. And that's what they chose to use. And that's what Matthew chose when he, you know, wrote it, so.

I just find, I find comfort in the verses because it just reminds you, you know. It even says, like, aren't two sparrows sold for a penny?

Well, this, this is what this verse from chapter, from verse five all the way to the end. Right. Is kind of like the go get them speech. Right. That Jesus gave to the disciples when he was telling them, go get them.

You need to do this, you need to do that, yeah. Charge. That's why I said chapter 10 in all, cause I really liked the whole chapter. But those specific verses are the ones that I go to. Right.

That's because it, it plainly states right here in 28. Don't be afraid of those who want to kill you. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

But notice it says, don't fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both the soul and body in hell. You know, it tells you, you know, cause this is temporary.

But right here in this moment is temporary. So don't fear somebody that can take that away from you. Right. This whole, the whole chapter, I love the whole chapter. But I especially love, you know, probably about 26 down to 31 actually.

I like 16.

Yep. Look, I'm sending you out as sheep among the wolves. Hello.

I mean, because that's. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves. Right. That word.

Get your point across. Get out of there. Big, get out of there. Mm-hmm. Spread the word and keep on living. Oh, and then, oh, and then, wait, wait, wait. There's another one in here. But wait, there's more.

But wait. Stop it, Ashley.

That gum. Also like the 37 through 39, that chunk. Wait a minute.

37 through 39. I was looking at dusting the dust off my feet and heading out the door. No. Yeah, because he says if he goes to someone's home and they don't want to listen. That's up above 16. Then you dust your feet.

14. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that house or town. That means leave that muck behind you. And keep on going to the next one. And then after you leave there, you go to the next one.

Yep. And then after you get through there, you go to the next one. Yep. I want to say, do we ever stop going to the next one? No. Do you ever give up?

Why is that? Because I'll be one to tell you in a heartbeat.

I was the biggest control freak, just like you. Because you said, why do I worry about stuff? Well, when you worry about stuff, you're being a control freak because you don't have control over that issue.

And because you don't have control over that issue, and because you can't put your hand on it and you can't do it and you can't fix it or you can't whatever, then you, it creates anxiety. And then that anxiety creates depression because you can't fix it.

You know, I'm talking about control and stuff like that. I have a Bible verse that's written in my office, you know, on my whiteboard in my office. And I have it written on there, there's a whole testimony behind it for the last six months, just kind of an ongoing thing for me right now.

But, you know, I'm talking about, you know, like sparrows, they fret,.

Like these small animals, they fret all the time. They're always looking for food. They're always trying to take care of themselves. And it's one of those things that we have to, we always are fretting as well, trying to take care of what's topmost of our mind.

We're trying to control the situations that are going on around us. And this verse has to do with me letting go and saying, God, all right, I'm giving you control right now. I'm gonna pray this prayer every single day until you answer me.

And then he answered me. And in the most clear, like there's no, oh, that was a nice coincidence way. I was like, oh, okay. Two weeks later. And so, but it's one of those things that right now, like anybody who is working with me, which is basically half our church at the moment, but anybody who's working with me right now here at work, they know kind of what some of the things that are going on here and why it's so turbulent and crazy for me right now.

And it's very easy for me to forget that God told me,.

I'm in the middle of a miracle going on right now.

And God very clearly told me, hey, I got this. I got this. You need to sit back, Ashley. You need to, well, it's one of those things that can't really sit back. But at the same time, it's like, I'm trying to control situation.

Like we have God's blessings coming upon us. And with those blessings coming some other issues. And so I'm like, oh, I've got to fix this right now. And God's like, do you really think that I kind of opened the floodgates and I've been like, oops, I didn't mean for that to happen.

Kind of like the dad who just like, you know, throws his kid up in the air and he's like, oop, I dropped you. Like, no. So I have this Bible verse to remind me, because it's one of those things, every single one of us have this Peter moment.

Where God told us, hey, step out in faith. And we step out in faith.

And even it's one of the stupidest, craziest things. You know, a lot of people, they are hard on Peter. Cause they're like, man, you were walking on water. You were going, and then you screwed it up. Then you looked up at the storm.

And then, so it was one of those humbling things for me the last couple months where I was like, people are really harsh to Peter. Cause how many times, how many times have we done the same thing? I'm in the middle of doing that right now where I'm in the middle of, I am walking on water.

And as soon as one bad thing happens.

Don't pull a Peter, don't pull, don't be Peter.

But that's the thing, all of us do it. Every single time, every single time. I'm like, stuff going on, like the last couple of weeks have been really rough on me. And so I'm pulling Peters almost every single day where I'm losing my ever loving mind, losing my temper.

And then I have to stop and be like, stop. And that's why I keep that Bible verse that I prayed written on my board. It's God, me trying to remember, it's like, hey, stupid, focus. No, God said he's gonna take care of you.

You're his child. He will even like Courtney has with this horse. He even takes care of birds. He provides food for them. I can't, Proverbs, it's even the fields are clothed in great splendor and the smallest of birds are taken care of and fed.

Why then would God not take care of you? Yeah, so calm down, stay focused. That's what I have. Keep your testimony. Oh, there you go.

That's the other verse that I have. Yeah, not Proverbs, thank you. Yeah, that's the other verse that I also referenced with this one that we're talking about in Matthew chapter six, 25 through 34 is the whole chunk.

But like 25 says, therefore, I tell you, don't worry about your life, what you will eat or what you'll drink or about your body, what you will wear. Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Consider the birds of the sky. They don't sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they? Can any of you add one moment to his lifespan by worrying?

And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow. They don't labor or spin thread. So it goes on and on and then it says, verse 30, if that's how God closed the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown in the furnace tomorrow, won't he do much more for you, you of little faith?

So that, I mean, definitely, I think that that's the verse you were talking about. That's exactly what I was talking about. But yeah, I mean, it goes with the one that I chose for tonight, but I'll also reference that one too.

It's just kind of a slap in the face. If God's gonna take care of the birds and the flowers and all of that, it even says, you of little faith.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all these things will be provided for you. I think I need that on my wall. I need to find that and put it on my wall. Because so many times, even I myself, at the elder age that I am, the silvering age that I am, I have issues.

I have issues with saying, okay, it's not up to me. Okay, I can't do anything about this. You know what I'm saying? So I'm sorry to tell you, Courtney, but it don't get much easier the older you get. But I will tell you, from experience, the more you learn to lean on him, it doesn't mess with you mentally as bad.

Because our flesh takes over in that category a lot. And we don't want it to. We fight it off. We try to do everything we can for it not to. But there are many, because we fail every day. I mean, it's not, I sin every single day because I worry about something.

It's a given. And the good thing about it is he already knows that. And it's like, many years ago, and I'm not gonna tell the whole story, but many years ago, I was in a bad situation. I was in drugs and alcohol and all kind of stuff.

And I knew I didn't need to be there. I knew that was the wrong place for me, okay? And I prayed. I said, God, I know this isn't for me, but I don't know how to get out of it. God didn't just, he body slammed me.

It was a body slam to where I had no other choice but to get out of it. There was no other choice. So if you're hard-headed like I am,.

And I'm not hard-headed at all.

I think, I work with you.

I think the Lord that he knows where you're hard-headed. I really do, because he don't tiptoe around. Not me, anyways, not anymore. And I'm very thankful for that because I probably wouldn't listen if I didn't get body slammed or taken to the woodshed, if you wanna call it that.

But I do know that he is very worthy of all the glory that he gets out of every situation that we have ever been in or gonna be put in or gonna be facing. Because the reason for that is because he knows every little hair on your head.

And he named him. This is Roberto. It's kind of a strange name. That's kind of odd because there's a lot of names there.

But, I was going somewhere, I forgot.

He named all the hairs on her head.

And he already knows what she's gonna worry about tomorrow. Oh yeah, there you go. He already knows what, thanks, Ashley. You're welcome. He already knows. That's why David hired me. He already knows what your worry's gonna be.

But the best news of all is he's already got it all figured out.

So, you know. Well, and, you know, one day I saw, I wish I'd written it down. It was some quote thing on a page that I follow on Facebook. And it wasn't a Bible verse, but it was like Lisa Voskamp or somebody that's on there that does quotes for women, inspirational quotes.

And it had said something about, something to the effect of, trust God in the situation that you're in. Don't worry about it because you might be hindering somebody else for what, you know, God might be using this for somebody else.

So, in other words, don't be selfish. Don't worry about it. Don't try to change a certain situation because God might be doing something that you have no idea. So it kind of made me think like, there might be a situation that seems really bad or seems, you know, I need to fix it.

I need to control. But what if that situation is being used by God to bring him glory and to reach other people?

But the thing with it is, is if you try to do it with your flesh and you try to fix things and change things, he's gonna put you in your spot. But also Because everything's gonna work out the way he wants it to.

Right, it is.

But also, you know, I think we all should think about that. Like a certain situation, you know, and situations that are bad, you know, we have to deal with and they're bad and a lot of them are really tough.

But instead of trying to fix it, make it better, you know, whatever, instead, try to cope with it in the moment. Try to be there for people, you know, for whoever's going through it. But also, you know, remember that God's gonna get the glory out of it somehow.

Well, you know, because you know my story. You know the whole story of Scott being an alcoholic and all those years that I prayed and I prayed and I prayed. But what had to happen was he had to break me.

The Lord had to break me and mold me into who he wanted me to be. Before anything else could take place in my life. Before there was anything else gonna happen, I had to be broken and I had to be molded like a lump of clay into what he had set out for me.

And after that, because I'm gonna tell you, I spent many a night just crying and not knowing why, God, why? God, Lord, why? I had to ask why. After I did that, I said, you're so wise. Why did you do that?

So, you know, it's not always easy, but the main thing is, is that in the end, it's gonna be gorgeous. It's gonna be beautiful because we're not gonna be here forever. I keep trying to tell my children that, and they say, Mom, we don't wanna talk about that.

But, you know, I mean, hitting the age that I am, I may not see tomorrow, but if I didn't, I would hope that my kids would be like, yep, but we know where she's at. We know, we know where she is. And she's not having those times of going, I don't remember what I was saying anymore.

Or the wrong word coming up. So, you have another scripture there, I see.

There was one in Luke that, because, you know, Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

They were all present when Jesus was given this.

Right, so all the authors, you know, they're present. It's kind of, you know, from their different views or whatever you wanna call it. So, yeah, Luke chapter 12, verse six and seven. It just kind of, I guess it kind of goes with the one that I chose.

But I think it's interesting because there's some different words used. I don't know, I just thought it was kind of interesting that they kind of go together. It says, aren't five sparrows sold for two pennies, yet not one of them is forgotten in God's sight.

Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don't be afraid, you're worth more than many sparrows.

Well, that's just the, that's just the different words are just because. It's different people. Yeah, Luke took it differently. I mean, it's all the same, but. Right. He heard it, for this book, he heard it.

I like how in Luke it says, yet not one of them is forgotten in God's sight. The sparrows, not one of them is forgotten. Those worthless birds. That you can't eat. The worthless birds.

You keep talking about eating birds. What do you? She's from Arkansas. What do you do for, you don't eat chicken? I do, but I don't think of them as a blue jay. Are they birds? Do you eat blue jays? No, but still.

She eats squirrels. Do you eat turkey? Do not eat squirrels.

No, she does. You eat squirrels. I've eaten a squirrel before. She's, she doesn't anymore. I'm not like blue jay, let me go prepare my squirrel for once.

Oh, okay. She doesn't anymore, because they're high in cholesterol.

Where is this coming from? I'm going to, I'll make you some squirrels. It's from a movie. It's from a movie. I'm going to bring it to you for once one day. How this is so much fun. Shoot. I love this.

Ashley, we're taking a trip to Arkansas, and you're going with me. You're going to see the country. Do I need a passport? I love this. You need a shot. You know, we'll go, we'll go get a squirrel. I need my tetanus shot.

I don't know. Clean fun. Does your mama cook squirrel? My mom, I mean, I'm sure she would, but my dad, my dad, my dad will cook squirrel on the grill. You know, I love your mom. I know. She's on here, I think.

She's so sweet. She is. She's so sweet. Well, anyways, yeah, so I just.

We just went way, we squirreled bad.

Squirreled, literally, literally. I just, I just like these verses, just because, you know, especially right now in a time with, I don't know, COVID -19, the coronavirus, everything's crazy. People are, you know, freaking out.

No good, horny pigs, Kevin. And people, like, I know of people, they're seriously, like, worried, scared to death. And I get it. It's a sickness. I get it. You know, whatever, I don't want to go off on it.

But. I had it. Right, and you're alive. I'm fine. And you're okay. I'm fine. People are getting it. They're not showing symptoms. I understand it's more serious for the elderly. It's more serious for those who have underlying conditions.

I get it. But people are, like, legit, like, Christians. I know they're Christians. And they're legit, like, stressing, worrying. I don't want to go outside my house. I'm scared to live. I'm scared to blog.

And I'm like, you know, I don't get scared over the coronavirus like that. But there are things that I worry about and stress about. So that, to them, may be a huge, big, and it could be. So you get the.

I get the stress, but not about that. But with these verses, like, you know, if it's the coronavirus you're worried about, if it's whatever, a sickness, whatever, God knows what's gonna happen in the end.

He's already there. God knows what happened before. He knows what's happening now. He knows how many hairs were on your head when you were born, when you're alive. I mean, he knows everything. So to worry about something is doing nothing, and it's making no progress for the situation that you're in.

Instead, put your trust in God, put your faith in God, and don't only say you do it, but actually act like it. Don't walk around in fear. I'm scared of the coronavirus. Just put your trust in God. It's all gonna be okay, and breathe, and breathe.

Because God doesn't want us to walk around with our head hung down, and disappointed, and discouraged, and whatever, and worrying about stuff all the time. He wants us to live like we're free, like we're Christians.

And we're supposed to be spreading the gospel, and how do you do that with your head down?

Exactly. How do you do that when you're so wrapped up and worried about a situation that you can't change, that you can change how you act, and how you spread his love, and his word, and how you treat others, and how you witness to others, and how you serve others?

I mean, we've got people in our church now that hurting from cancer, and sickness, and cook them a meal, do something like that. That's what I do. I like to do things like that in situations where I'm worried, stressed, whatever.

Witness to other people, serve other people instead.

I'll tell you what is good medicine for people that worry and stress, and that is to witness to somebody else. Because if you start concentrating on sharing the gospel, and if you start concentrating on showing your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ the love that you're supposed to be sharing then, you don't got time to be worried about stuff.

I found that if I shift my focus on texting my friends or family at church, whatever, hey, how are you doing? I'm praying for you. How can I, can I help you right now? Let me bring you a meal. Whatever it is, if I focus on that, then all my energy is spent helping other people, and being concerned about other people, then I don't have to worry about my own situation, or whatever it is.

You're right. And I think we should all try to do better about that. I mean, there's so many ladies right now, you know, in our church that I know of that could use it. Whether it's just a text, a phone call.

We have a lot of women that are dealing with a lot of stuff right now. A meal. A lot of them. And we have even more out there on Facebook that watch us that have reached out, and I'm very thankful that they have, because you know, when you don't live, we're used to having each other.

I mean, I can call you or Ashley, I can call just about anybody in the church, and say, hey, we need this, or I need this. Actually, I did it. Whenever this pandemic first started, we couldn't find any of Kayden's milk that he drinks.

And one of our members that lives in Mississippi found it, and brought it to our house. Okay? There are people out there that don't have that. Oh yeah.

I mean, you know, with me being here, I don't have any blood family in four hours, the closest. And you know, it's pretty much us, but our family at church is our family. Right. Like, they're our family.

Yes, I have a great mom, a great dad, my sisters are great. I have family members, and I love them to death. But where we're at here, they're my family. Church is my family. It's not my Whitten family, my church family, they're family.

Right. When I had my tonsil surgery, I'm sure you remember, it was probably four years ago or so, and I had tonsil surgery, and then on Christmas Eve night, I started having complications from it, and I had to go in and have emergency surgery.

I remember that. And spend the night, and I see you. Do you know who we called? A church member. Hey, Adam called him. Hey, I have to rush Courtney to the emergency room. I need you here to help with our kids.

Within 15 minutes, we had a couple that came over to sit with Sophie and Wes, while Adam took them, and then we had another couple come over a couple hours later and spend the night at our house, on Christmas Eve night.

Spent the night at my house with my two and four year old, so that I could spend the night in the hospital,.

And Adam could be with me. Well, and that's what I'm saying. There's so many people that are actually on, and that watch these, and that watch a lot of our stuff on YouTube and on Facebook, that don't have that.

And if there's anybody out there that don't have a really close-knit church family, our suggestion to you is, is start visiting in your community, because it is a love like there is no other. I mean, you have your family that you can give blood to, you know, the blood kind of family, but then there's this kind of family that they're, the love that I feel like that we share amongst this family is...

It's just like nothing else. It's speechless. There's not a word. There's not a word. So, but anyways, we have gone over, which is perfectly fine, because nobody follows us. That's why I picked this time.

I picked this time slot on this day, because nobody else gets on the live, I mean, on the public page at this time, so that's why we picked it, because sometimes we go longer. So, but anyways, I hope that, I want to thank you again.

I've really enjoyed it. This has really been a good, and then Ashley had dinner here for us. Thank you, Ashley. Yes, thank you, dear. I would say what, I asked Ashley what, how much dinner was, and the way she said it, it didn't come out right.

Of course. Do you know who my father is? She said, a bushel and a peg and a kiss on the neck. I said, I don't think I'm kissing you on the neck, Ashley. I think it's a bushel and a peg and a hug around the neck.

Yeah, that's what it was. As soon as it came out of my mouth, I was like, yeah, that would've been uncomfortable for me, too. But anyways, Courtney, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

I have enjoyed this evening. Ashley, thank you for being here. Thank you for being you, because you are beautiful, and you're wonderful, and you're funny. And we tried to have Mercedes on, but things didn't work out.

Like we thought they were going to. We'll need to try it again and work the bugs out, because I'm sure that was just a buggy thing.

Well, we don't have to do it again, because she's going to be out of

Yes, but we can have special guests in other ways. Like, what if we had Candace and Robert? Well, Candace is going to be on. Yeah, she's doing one.