- 00:03
- What's that white thing? I don't know. It's your phone. It's just a button for your phone.
- 00:10
- Oh. It won't show you. Oh, it says live. That's how you know when you have got to. Yeah. I'll just wait for people to like.
- 00:18
- We give them a few minutes because you know when your phone goes ding. Do you have that set up on your phone? Mine just went off, yeah.
- 00:24
- Yeah. So in a few minutes. So a new thing I've noticed is little profile pictures will pop up in the top right hand corner to show you who's watching.
- 00:33
- Oh. Yeah. We're late. Oh, somebody's here. Is that you
- 00:38
- Jordan? No, actually it's not. I didn't get on there. You don't have to. Yeah, they'll start getting on here.
- 00:49
- We're running late. I was yapping. Well, you can tell them stories.
- 00:56
- Well, they were just truth, Carrie. Why? Well, truthful stories. They were fairy tales.
- 01:06
- Oh, yeah, because they just popped up in your truthful pictures. Of course, I don't know. They were about slides saying it. No, those are always going to be truthful.
- 01:15
- Right. I lived in a fairytale world with that for a long time.
- 01:22
- Finally, truth came. Alright, we're going to get started because we're running late.
- 01:33
- I'm sure people will start popping on as soon as they realize their phone's going off. Welcome to our
- 01:40
- Bible study tonight. Everyone, I'm Vicki. Everyone remembers
- 01:45
- Mercedes. Oh, you're on your phone. Now you sound like me when
- 01:52
- Miranda called that night. Is that a two -page text? That's not important.
- 02:00
- Can you go to the store and get me this and this and this? I was like, that's not getting my thing.
- 02:08
- That would be important. This isn't important. I was panicking for her.
- 02:19
- I know. I was like, does he have a red? I know. I was like, okay. No, I just need cheese, bread.
- 02:28
- Anyways, welcome to tonight's Bible study. We are starting late because I was too busy telling a truthful story.
- 02:34
- Not a fairytale. I'm Vicki. Everybody knows
- 02:40
- Mercedes. She's off her phone now. Tonight, we are very blessed to have the wonderful, beautiful, and the most talented
- 02:49
- Miss Carrie Stanley. To be honest with you, Carrie, I never thought we would get you on here.
- 02:56
- Really? Okay. That was the best response.
- 03:07
- I mean, it's not that I didn't want to be here. I just, you know, I don't know.
- 03:13
- I've asked so many people to do it. Yes, and women on staff.
- 03:20
- And everybody's like, no, I don't want to do it. But yours has always been, you've had something going on or something.
- 03:27
- Well, on Thursdays, it's usually a long day. Yes, that's my longest day here, actually.
- 03:34
- I didn't actually leave here today until almost 4 .30. That's when
- 03:40
- I get off work today. Don't you get off usually at 12? No, not anymore.
- 03:46
- I'm back 8 to 4 .30. And then I have to drive from downtown, which is wonderful.
- 03:53
- Amazing. I wonder if the people watching wonder who the disembodied voice is.
- 04:00
- They ought to know it by now, because Jordan's on Saturdays. And she needs to hear her voice.
- 04:07
- So they ought to know her voice. They will see her face. She's going to be one of our guests in a couple weeks.
- 04:13
- So they will finally get to see Jordan. But just wait. She's coming.
- 04:19
- But anyway, so tonight we have the wonderful and beautiful Miss Carrie Stanley, like I said.
- 04:26
- She is the senior pastor's assistant. She's actually the senior assistant to the pastor.
- 04:35
- There you go. Carrie's also been coming and being a member of this church for 13 years.
- 04:43
- And I have to tell you, Carrie, I want to apologize because we were supposed to have had lunch way before Easter Sunday.
- 04:51
- Okay. Because we went and had lunch months ago. Right. And then we were both like, we've got to do that again.
- 04:58
- Yeah, we need to do that again. And then we text each other and it's like, we need to have lunch. Yeah, we do need to have lunch again.
- 05:04
- And then we don't ever do it anymore. We will eventually, I promise. We'll do it. We'll do it. You're busy,
- 05:10
- I'm busy. Maybe we ought to just do dinner and get David and Scott involved. There you go. They can talk about the car.
- 05:16
- Oh, because they love the car. Not the fairytale car. It's the real car. The real car. Stop about my fairytale.
- 05:24
- I didn't tell a fairytale. I'm telling myself I told a fairytale. Anyways, we asked
- 05:33
- Carrie to either give us a verse or verses that she would like to study or her go -to verse.
- 05:43
- So Carrie, what verse or verses have you chosen for tonight? I chose John 14 .1
- 05:49
- and then I also chose John 16 .33. Alright. Mercedes, will you read this picture please?
- 06:01
- Do you want me to read both of them or one of them? Do you want to do both or do you want to do one and dismiss it?
- 06:07
- Let's do one at a time. Okay. Alright. John 14 .1. Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God.
- 06:13
- Believe also in me. Well, that's just straight to the point.
- 06:19
- Yes. It's hard to do though. It is. What I know for me,
- 06:25
- I know recently I've been, I've been struggling. Well, we all struggle with discouragement.
- 06:31
- But for me, it's been very recent over the past several years actually on and off.
- 06:37
- And for me, this one was my go -to because when
- 06:45
- I read it, it's literally like a command for me. Because he says, must not, we must not be troubled.
- 06:54
- And when I get discouraged, I mean, the biggest thing that I do when I'm discouraged is
- 07:00
- I literally lose sight of my focus. I lose, you know, literally
- 07:07
- I allow my faith to be choked out. Because if you're having discouragement, then you're literally replacing your faith almost.
- 07:14
- Or you're, you know, you're not seeing faith, you're not trusting, you're not believing. And so that was why this was my go -to.
- 07:22
- And it says, you know, must not, and he literally says that that's a command.
- 07:32
- And for me, when he's commanding it, I need to sit up and I need to listen.
- 07:40
- I need to take a different direction. I need to stop literally wallowing in the discouragement.
- 07:46
- And I need to change my actions. Because if I'm not, if I'm discouraged, that means I'm not trusting in him.
- 07:53
- My faith is weakening. But who doesn't? Oh, agreed, definitely.
- 08:00
- Who doesn't wallow? Yeah, that's true. And I just have to remember that I think for me when
- 08:08
- I start to wallow, I just don't need to, I need to make sure I don't stay there. I think it's when we don't fight hard enough to get ourselves out of the pit, you know what
- 08:18
- I mean? So it's really funny because when
- 08:24
- I'm discouraged, I forget about his promises. I'm so focused on what
- 08:33
- I'm discouraged about that I'm missing what he's trying to tell me. So it's funny, you don't be discouraged by what you see, be encouraged by his promises.
- 08:47
- So that was something that I loved the most about this verse and what it was telling me.
- 08:55
- Because I'm really, when you're discouraged, you're focusing on what you're seeing. You're not focusing on what your faith is telling you or what you should be doing.
- 09:05
- So. And that can be really, especially when it's something in your life that's, you know, whether it's your family or someone in your family that you're discouraged by, whether it's someone you love.
- 09:22
- Because it's usually someone you love that causes the most discouragement for you. Yes, yes.
- 09:29
- And the most pain. Yes, exactly. And you want to choke them out.
- 09:36
- Right. That's true. So you don't want the discouragement to cause you to sin either, which would be, you know, be angry or just completely allow it, like I said, to choke out your faith.
- 09:51
- And then you become more focused on what you're discouraged by or what you're seeing than what he's actually trying to show you.
- 10:00
- So that was where I went to with that verse. But when it's somebody that. OK, let me ask you this.
- 10:08
- When it's somebody that you love, like you said, because that's that's that's what's most hurtful.
- 10:16
- What do you pray for them to help? To help.
- 10:22
- I mean, do you. Because undoubtedly it's something in their actions, something they said, something they've done, something that you see what
- 10:32
- I'm saying. And it's not necessarily just what somebody has done to you can also be, you know, just because there it could be their choices or it could also be like, you know, death.
- 10:46
- You're discouraged by someone who's died or you're discouraged by illness. You know, somebody you love could be sick or whatever.
- 10:53
- But if it's about someone who's hurt you, you have to look past the hurt and decide, you know, if I get discouraged by their the pain that they're causing me, maybe
- 11:11
- I need to look past that pain and I need to. I have to remember that I need to apply truth or wisdom to that.
- 11:20
- And maybe they need to. I need to be an example for them. Maybe they don't know any better. So I have to be that example.
- 11:27
- And if I just get so focused on my discouragement that I don't apply wisdom to the situation or to the people that are hurting me or whatever.
- 11:37
- Then you're not being a good example. Correct. Gotcha. I just got through telling a young lady the other day that because she's discouraged about a lot of stuff, her and her wife.
- 11:51
- And I told her, I said, what you have to do is you have to sit back and you really have to ask
- 11:57
- God. You have to pray. Sure. And say, well, what is it that you're trying to show me or teach me?
- 12:05
- Because it could be not just them turning that person towards him. It could be him trying to show you something.
- 12:12
- Exactly. Right. Exactly. And I have learned so many lessons because he was actually trying to show me what
- 12:26
- I needed to do or what I was doing that didn't need to be doing. Right. And that's a whammy.
- 12:34
- Yep. Because then you can wait. Wait a minute. They're the ones that are doing this. They're the ones doing something wrong.
- 12:41
- Mate, why do I have to. Right. Right. Exactly. Yep. Okay. Very good point.
- 12:49
- Deuteronomy 31 .8 says the same thing, tells us the same thing.
- 12:54
- It says, Lord, as the one who will go before you, he will be with you, he will not leave you or forsake you.
- 12:59
- Do not be afraid or discouraged. Yep. 31 .8. Is that what you had?
- 13:09
- Yep. I wish that was the last time. That was good though.
- 13:15
- That is very good. And John 14 .27 says, peace I leave with you, my peace
- 13:20
- I give to you, I do not give to you as the world gives. Your heart must not be troubled or fearful. Yes.
- 13:26
- It was funny because in 14 .1, that was Jesus talking to the disciples before he was going to die and before he was going to be crucified.
- 13:38
- And he was telling them, he was basically, he knew ahead of time that they were going to fear, that they were going to be discouraged once he was gone.
- 13:45
- And so he was letting them know and commanding them to, you know, to trust and to not fear.
- 13:54
- Which is what Moses was saying to the Israelites on his parting.
- 13:59
- Yep. Of parting too. It's hard to get discouraged when there's so much against what you're doing or so much, you know, you can be in the middle of the worst moment of your life you would think and the worst thing you can do is get so discouraged that you lose focus on him.
- 14:20
- I've been there and it sucks. Yes, it does. So it's finding your way back. I don't believe it.
- 14:26
- I haven't been there. Yep. It's like turning around and wanting to find the recent pieces to find your way back.
- 14:34
- You know? Exactly. Did somebody leave a trail for me to go back? It's not that easy.
- 14:41
- Wasn't it easy? Yes, it was. I think that's easy, right? Thank you, Gary. Thank you.
- 14:48
- Exactly. I'm sitting with somebody that gets my... I watched that movie as a kid.
- 14:54
- It made me cry. I loved that movie too. I liked it. I really did. All right,
- 15:02
- Mercedes, let's move on to John 16... 33?
- 15:09
- I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world.
- 15:14
- Be courageous. I have conquered the world. Mmm. Mmm. So usually when
- 15:22
- I realize that I need to stop being stupid and quit being so discouraged,
- 15:29
- I go to this verse and realize that if you just rely on me, if you continue to turn to me, that you will have peace.
- 15:36
- That you're going to have troubles. You're going to have, like he says, you're going to have things that happen, but be courageous.
- 15:45
- Discouragement is the lack of courage. It is a lack of courage. And he says in so many verses, be courageous.
- 15:53
- Be without fear. So, and I know without fear we can't have courage, but he always says to have courage.
- 16:03
- So whenever I'm discouraged, this is one that I always go through as well. And I've struggled with it quite a bit here recently, so just some certain things that have happened are causing it.
- 16:14
- But I have to remember to continue to rely on him and to still be the example for the others that may not.
- 16:22
- Because if they see me so discouraged, that can lead them away as well.
- 16:27
- Oh, well if she has God, or she is trusting in Jesus, then she's so discouraged, apparently why do
- 16:35
- I need to do it then? Why do I need to have that? It's not that great then. It's not helping her. So I need to make sure that I am remaining a good example and doing what he says for me to do, which is to be courageous.
- 16:51
- And oh my gosh, that is so hard sometimes. It is. Especially when you're in control, you're kind of in control.
- 16:59
- I had some issues with control. No, I was a huge control freak. Huge though.
- 17:06
- And that's when everything in my life changed. And that was one of the things that he kept pounding on me that I wasn't seeing.
- 17:17
- That I'm not in control. And he kept saying, Vicki, it's not your world, it's mine.
- 17:22
- Because no matter what, he's going to get his way. I'm not in control of this. I am. No matter how hard you try,
- 17:28
- I'm still going to do what I need to do. Just go with it, or you can fight. His promises are still going to be fulfilled, and his purposes are still going to be fulfilled.
- 17:37
- There's nothing you can do to change that. And he will drag you through the muck until you finally give up.
- 17:43
- And then when you give up, he will cleanse you off, and you'll say, oh, okay.
- 17:50
- All I had to do was this. Right. And what's funny is, it may not go the way you want it to, but there's always a purpose for it.
- 18:03
- No matter whether it doesn't go your way, or if it doesn't go good, or what you believe to be good, there's always good in anything that he does.
- 18:10
- Even if his purposes aren't fulfilled, they're always good. Right. And that's like I've told,
- 18:16
- I can't tell you how many other ladies I've talked to, but I've told so many of them my life story, and things that I've been through, and things that I've lived through.
- 18:24
- And it's like, to be where I'm sitting at right now today, and the person
- 18:31
- I am today, you would have never thought it nine years ago. Right.
- 18:37
- You would have never, if the person that I was, I'll put it to you this way, if the person
- 18:44
- I was eleven years ago was to walk into this church, nobody would recognize me. You're nothing like you are now.
- 18:52
- Nothing. I think we probably were all that way at one time.
- 18:57
- I mean, and actually, Probably a lot worse than what we are.
- 19:03
- I work with a lady that's a little bit older than me. She works in a different court than I do, but our offices are right beside each other.
- 19:11
- And I was telling her a little bit about my history, and she looked at me and she said,
- 19:16
- Miss Vicki, the person that I know of you today, there is no way that's the person you were.
- 19:24
- And I'm like, yes ma 'am. Those are things that I used to do. And she's like, can't be.
- 19:30
- I said, it's only by the grace of God that I stand before you now, and I'm able to tell you that I went through all that,
- 19:37
- I lived through all that, that He has changed my heart and changed my life. Right.
- 19:43
- Because I couldn't have done it. No, on your own. So, that's the whole thing with being discouraged.
- 19:53
- But imagine what that testimony is for her. So, you're telling her the way you used to be.
- 19:58
- She sees how you are, and she can't imagine you being that person before. Imagine what that testimony that was for her.
- 20:05
- Right. And such an example you are for her. I work with a young lady that's 30 years old. Well, she just turned 30.
- 20:13
- And she's single, and she's never been married. And, you know, she's like,
- 20:18
- Miss Vicki, I just don't know. I said, honey, if it's meant to be, it'll be. And she's like, really?
- 20:24
- And I looked at her, and I've told her some things that I've been through. And she said, there is no way,
- 20:30
- Miss Vicki. That's what they call me. I'm like, yeah, that was me.
- 20:38
- But not anymore. Maybe there is something that is not. Right. Maybe there is.
- 20:46
- So, I'd say that's pretty cool. I mean, my own daughter, Wesley, she just sometimes, she's like, really,
- 20:52
- Mom? You're not going to go off? You're not going to fall off the handle? You're not going to, you know?
- 20:58
- And I'm like, no. I'm not going to use the energy for that.
- 21:05
- My energy is more face -to -face towards praising the God that I need to be praising and saving the energy for somebody that needs my help.
- 21:14
- There you go. With something else. Not a bunch of nonsense. But the problem
- 21:21
- I have is when I'm in the midst of helping one of these people or talking with one of these people, this,
- 21:31
- I get discouraged so much. Because I just want to go, what else do you have to do?
- 21:45
- He has shown you and shown you and shown you. And sometimes it's just actually like he's commanding you to do it.
- 21:53
- It's not about whether you feel it or feel like doing it. You need to just do it. It's an action.
- 21:59
- It is literally you need to just do it, whether you want to. Whether you're feeling like it or not is irrelevant.
- 22:06
- You just got to do it. What do they say about feelings? They really don't matter. Do they matter? They're not good indicators of truth, that's for sure.
- 22:14
- And we have a whole sermon on that one, though. Correct. I'll tell you, because I just need to put this on my board at work and just leave it there.
- 22:27
- If I didn't work for government, I would. They won't allow you to put anything on the board? That's what I was wondering.
- 22:32
- I have some things framed, like little pretty things framed. That's scripture.
- 22:38
- But they look like little pictures, you know. But when it comes to me writing something.
- 22:46
- So if you put something on a post -it note or something, they wouldn't want you to have that? This is my board, but I could put something on my desk.
- 22:55
- But this is one of those huge whiteboards. Oh, I see what you're saying. And I don't want it plastered on there.
- 23:03
- Right, right. They don't want you to be influencing. Oh, no, because it's a government thing.
- 23:09
- This lady came down there the other day. She walked in her office, and she said, how do you work down here with no windows?
- 23:17
- And I said, well, to be honest with you, I worked in a courtroom for 17 years, and there are no windows in the courtrooms at 201
- 23:23
- Poplar. So I don't need a window. I don't need a window. And she goes, well, you know,
- 23:29
- I walked in here, though, and it just feels refreshing in here. And I looked at her, and I said, really?
- 23:38
- And Calvin, the young man that worked with me, was standing over where we do all of our shadow puppets.
- 23:54
- Certification. I have a station where we do the certification. We have to seal them.
- 24:02
- Oh, I see what you're saying. So it's right over here close to my desk. And he was standing over here, and he was doing her certification, and she was standing in front of my desk.
- 24:11
- And I have this big glass sneeze guard thing in front of my desk. You can write stuff on there.
- 24:18
- Yeah. And she said, yes, it's very refreshing in here. She said, if you don't mind me saying, it's just really peaceful, like spirit -filled peaceful in here.
- 24:31
- That's cool. And I told her, I said, well, I don't mind you saying that. I said, because to be honest with you, if you don't mind me saying, we talk scripture in here all the time, so that's probably why.
- 24:43
- And she said, really, girl? I said, yes, ma 'am. That's awesome.
- 24:48
- And then she just kept talking, and I kept talking. But I never bring it up first. Right. Because I don't want somebody going upstairs, telling them upstairs that I'm trying to preach downstairs.
- 24:59
- So they know, like, they know who you are. They come to you to actually. Well, this was just a customer.
- 25:05
- Oh. And she just said this. I thought it was like a co -worker. No, she just came in to pick up her. Okay. Yeah.
- 25:13
- And Calvin. That was great. The young man that I work with, Calvin, he started shaking his head. He said, yeah, we get some pretty deep discussions down here on scripture.
- 25:22
- That's awesome. So, because the two young people I work with are both believers, thank
- 25:27
- God. That's good. They'll work for them all the time. But it is.
- 25:32
- It's hard to find that now. Yes. Yes. Unless you work it. Evergreen.
- 25:38
- Evergreen. Oh, no. Mercedes brought me to church. She's the reason I ended up here.
- 25:45
- There's always a slight chance of hope. She was really concerned about you.
- 25:52
- Yeah, that was really what it was. I'm glad she was, too. Because I needed it.
- 25:59
- I need me to come to church with you. And then every time, I would not come because I was so scared.
- 26:05
- Okay, the reason I didn't come at first was because I had never been here, and I was scared to drive here and figure out the parking.
- 26:13
- Because, you know, I have anxiety, and it's so stupid. It is so much anxiety -ridden parking. Yeah, so I was very nervous.
- 26:20
- I literally did not come for weeks. I don't even know how many weeks. And then my mom finally said she'd go with me.
- 26:27
- But every Monday, she would, So why weren't you there? Well, you know, when she first came, though,
- 26:36
- I don't think we had good lines on the parking lot. So it probably didn't run through the parking lot. What are you talking about?
- 26:42
- My mom did. So after that first time, I was all right. But it was the first time trying to get me here was, yeah,
- 26:50
- I was a. . . It took a couple weeks. I would get up, get dressed, be completely ready, and then
- 26:56
- I'd go, OK, never mind. I can't do it. You just didn't have the nerve yet, huh?
- 27:02
- We're not that bad. We're actually kind of easy to get to know. Yeah, the first time
- 27:07
- I came here, I was. . . Just how Pastor preached, and it was so, like, a normal conversation instead of feeling like I was being lectured or sitting in a college room and someone's teaching me something.
- 27:20
- And it's not like I just felt. . . It felt so much more at home to be talked to like a normal person instead of being thrown these theological doctrine diploma people.
- 27:37
- Well, he'll go around to you. Oh, yeah, but it's still. . . He doesn't feel like he's dealing to you. Yeah, it's very, like, personal level.
- 27:45
- And that is more what I was looking for. Of course, there's people that, you know, prefer the other. But if I'm sitting in class all the time,
- 27:52
- I definitely don't want to be sitting in another lecture. But I was so glad. You don't tend to listen, probably, you know, when it's someone who's doing, like, a speech or feels like a speaker as opposed to someone who's actually getting on your level.
- 28:10
- Exactly, exactly. I got attention problems already, so I needed someone that was going to.
- 28:16
- . . That's very true. It's very true. So I needed someone that was going to keep me. . . To grab your attention. Yeah.
- 28:21
- Well, at least you're not discouraged. Right. Anymore. About coming.
- 28:28
- Oh, about coming. No, I was like. . . Keep going. I was probably discouraged, like, 30 minutes ago about something.
- 28:36
- But everybody gets discouraged. It's how you handle it is the important part.
- 28:41
- That's exactly right. Yeah, and on what level you put it on. Yeah. Do you allow it to take up this much of your life, or do you allow it to take up this much of your life?
- 28:51
- I mean, I'll admit that there's times that I, you know, over -discourage myself, but I call you or I text
- 29:00
- Mercedes. Like, I think it's all. . . You can, if it does get to that point where you cannot handle it anymore, it's all about then you have to take it to the next person.
- 29:10
- But don't you see that, though, as someone being selfish? What? By reaching out?
- 29:15
- No, if you allow yourself and you know that you're getting. . . Oh, yeah. That deep.
- 29:21
- Don't. . . Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's actually turning inward as opposed to turning, you know, towards scripture or, you know, absolutely.
- 29:30
- Because then you're more focused on your feelings, how you're, you know, what it's doing to you, as opposed to, you know, helping or dealing with what the actual problem is.
- 29:42
- Right. I think so. That's your worldly human flesh. Right. Acting on you.
- 29:48
- Right. So let's not be selfish. There you go. You know, we're all working on it.
- 29:56
- I just wish y 'all knew and understood how much I love this lady. Terry and I had never sat and had lunch before ever, never sat down and had a very long discussion about much of anything, except for in passing.
- 30:09
- And one Sunday I said, let's go have lunch. And I don't know if we went that day or if we did it for the next
- 30:17
- Sunday, but when we went to lunch, I'm going to tell you what, we got a lot covered. Yes, we did. I mean.
- 30:23
- . . We had a lot going on, so. . . I was like, she's probably not going to want to come out with me anymore.
- 30:29
- No, because I had felt and dealt. . . She got a lot of baggage. I had felt and dealt with exactly the same, some of the same issues that you were feeling and going through.
- 30:39
- Exactly. So, you know, and that's what I tell people all the time. Just because I'm 50 years old and got kids that are grown and grandkids, doesn't mean that I can't help
- 30:52
- Jaden over there. Or Mercedes.
- 31:01
- That's Aisha. Aisha. I mean, you know, and it's just like, you know, because.
- 31:08
- . . And that's what I'm trying to encourage our younger women with, with interacting with our older women.
- 31:15
- Because so many of our younger women deal with so much stuff, and if they would just walk up to some of our older women and say, hey, can
- 31:23
- I talk to you for a minute? They would learn a lot. And I know it's like very. . . I mean, I get it.
- 31:29
- Y 'all are like. . . That was never my issue.
- 31:34
- My issue was more of they probably have more, like, real problems than my problems.
- 31:41
- That's how I always saw it. But that probably never did what I'm doing. So they would understand. I learned quickly that was false.
- 31:51
- I've had many discussions with them. But that was my issue.
- 31:56
- But I also think a lot of younger people's issue is the vulnerability. Because now, like, in my generation, it's definitely a thing.
- 32:05
- You don't share feelings. And, like, any kind of showing of weakness, that's how they view vulnerability.
- 32:13
- When in reality, vulnerability is, like, that's courageous. Because to be vulnerable and to open yourself up like that, you have to be able to handle hurtful things that people are going to use against you from it.
- 32:30
- But in all reality, being vulnerable for me has been more freeing than holding it in.
- 32:38
- Makes you grow. Helps you grow. To the point that now I'm like, well, if somebody uses it against me, I really don't care.
- 32:44
- Like, I said that for a reason, and you know that. And if you choose to turn that and twist that into something that it isn't, that's on you and not on me.
- 32:54
- And the people that know me will know what it really was. And it's also a teaching moment for that person that hurt you.
- 33:05
- Because you can always still be the bigger person. And it can still be a teaching moment to use wisdom to help that other person.
- 33:13
- Kindness and patience. Exactly. Mercy. Yeah. Forgiveness. Mercy. Mercy was one
- 33:20
- I, grace. Mercy was something that, and grace that I had to, that was a hard one to learn.
- 33:27
- But when I did learn it, I was more of a, I had to put myself, whenever I got discouraged with someone or felt some way towards them that was not appropriate,
- 33:39
- I'd always say, well, what if I was in that situation? And so then I have to put it in a perspective where I have to understand their feelings so that it's easier to be merciful and gracious to those people.
- 33:50
- But then you always still have those people that you're like, come on, you have a problem with everything. But you still have to do it.
- 34:00
- Not everything in your life. Yeah, exactly. You gotta be careful with the word everything. Actually sitting with one of the older ladies of the church, which we're not older, older.
- 34:11
- We have older women than we are. That is true. Okay. We have been commanded, though, to help y 'all.
- 34:23
- Yes. That's correct. And God has told us that that's what we're here for.
- 34:30
- To come alongside, yes. So. Teach the younger ones. Yeah. Even for me, too.
- 34:36
- The youth. Right. I mean, y 'all are commanded to help the ones that are younger than you two.
- 34:44
- Which we won't talk about in the nursery department right now. Why are you looking at me?
- 34:50
- Because you're the youngest one sitting here. But I'm not crawling on the floor.
- 34:59
- That's what we're called to do. And I feel like that's one direction that I'm really trying to get the
- 35:05
- WOW ministry into doing. Is to be more open and being more available for these younger women in our church.
- 35:13
- Because so many of them need us. Yes. And we need to be more available and we need to be more.
- 35:18
- I was glad to hear that there was a lot of your age going on the ministry.
- 35:24
- Yes. Because I was very excited to hear that. And even younger. Because we have struggled to get that to happen for a long time.
- 35:31
- Yeah, the youngest is 18. And the people that are 18 that are going that I heard, I'm so thankful they are.
- 35:38
- Yeah. They need it. Absolutely. Well, I'm just thankful because I'm like, at least they're learning quicker than I did.
- 35:45
- Hopefully we can save them from those hard times and get it to them quicker.
- 35:51
- But look at the hard times and look where they've gotten you. You see what I mean? There's a reason why you went through them.
- 35:57
- And now is the time for you to share that reason. And that reason is because of the grace and mercy that God's given you and shown you.
- 36:05
- So that's what I have. I just have many more years than you do. So, like you, you're trying to prevent them from many, many years.
- 36:15
- You're trying to prevent me from it. Right. It's so hard. Right. And my goal is to not let you go through what
- 36:22
- I went through and be as old as I was when I became a Christian. I was in my 40s.
- 36:27
- You were in your... Yeah. Y 'all want to fix all this. Well, Karen, you're not but 15. Y 'all want to fix all this before you're my age.
- 36:34
- You're not but 15. That's the goal. Yeah. They're safe. I'm older than her.
- 36:41
- Y 'all are not even that old. Oh, 53 feels old. That's not. No. That's like...
- 36:48
- I think my dad's 53. So there you go. Yeah. I mean, he doesn't always feel 53, but most of the time, yeah.
- 36:58
- As soon as we get to retreat, you'll have to help us get up and set up, right? She's going to be in my room, so.
- 37:04
- Yay. Y 'all have to call her in the middle of the night. You need to come help me, you know, get up out of bed.
- 37:12
- Honestly, she knows how I am. It may be me. Okay, we'll come help you out of bed.
- 37:17
- I'm not very much help either. Oh, it's going to be so much fun. I know. I'm so excited. Well, anyways.
- 37:24
- See, we went from discouragement to... Yeah. Ministry. It goes all over the place.
- 37:29
- That's why I think the good Lord above, that He's over all of us and not me. Because if I was to plan this, it would flop.
- 37:38
- Like a pancake from the sink. No, it wouldn't. Here we go. It doesn't flop. Well, Carrie, I want to thank you, and we will have you on again.
- 37:48
- Thank you. Oh, it's already 7 o 'clock. Yeah, it's already after 7. I can't see what everybody's saying, but...
- 37:55
- Neither can you. I'm too sweet. It's just Jennifer. We can't see
- 38:00
- Jennifer. That's why it's over there. They're here to just listen.
- 38:07
- We had it to where we were reading the comments, and I got far too distracted. That's me.
- 38:13
- This is not Q &A. That's for Saturdays. We'll go back and answer them later.
- 38:21
- Send them to Josiah. That's what I do on Saturdays. That's what you should just do. Whatever questions you have.
- 38:26
- If you have any questions, just check with Josiah. There you go. Ask Josiah, though, for answering questions,
- 38:33
- I guess. Well, yeah, because he can type them in. Yeah. Because he does it.
- 38:39
- Either he does or she does. It's in the verse of where the answer will be. Oh, you help him on the question and answer thing on Saturday.
- 38:46
- Yeah, I have counseling right before. So, like, at 1, I have counseling, and it's over. At 2, it usually runs over.
- 38:53
- I heard you in the background, but I thought you were just visiting or something. That's why I'm always there. Because it's like, you were staying, and I'm like, oh, might as well.
- 39:00
- I've got to watch it anyway, so. Live action Q &A.
- 39:08
- Send the parking lot one dollar each. Exactly. Because you wouldn't make it home. So, you're kind of his helper now, huh?
- 39:14
- Yeah. On Saturdays, I take Charlotte's place on Saturdays. Charlotte's off of work on Saturdays.
- 39:23
- Right. You're helping him. So, he teaches you. No. Remember that thing that she said about her words?
- 39:33
- I was trying to say, she's here with him. She cheers. She cheats him out. By the way, did y 'all notice
- 39:41
- I didn't wear my glasses tonight? I got a new Bible. It's got big words. I bet they can read it from there. They are big. I'm going to have to get rid of those.
- 39:48
- I know, right? Hers is smaller than mine, so I know, because I can't even see that. The only thing is, is that it's not in a study form.
- 39:57
- But, if this was big print in a study form... That's what I was wondering. There's no commentary, right? Right. If it was big in a study form, could you imagine how big it would be?
- 40:05
- Oh, my gosh. So, I will keep my regular woman that I have for studying, because it's a study
- 40:12
- Bible. But, this one, I will use when I'm... Because I always forget my glasses.
- 40:19
- She has to swap between glasses. Last week, I tried to... You need bifocals like I wear them. I know,
- 40:24
- I do. Last week, I tried to drive with my glasses. Next episode, denial. Thanks, Carrie.
- 40:35
- Next week, denial. Well, thanks again for being here with us tonight.
- 40:43
- We will have you on again. We're already starting to book people in May, and then we'll be working on June.
- 40:51
- So, yeah. I mean, it's getting to where we actually won't have people that want to come along with us now.
- 40:58
- Instead of us having to pull hair to get people in. You're coming in here. Wow. It's really great,
- 41:05
- I promise. It's fun. It's not a bad thing. No, it's not. It's fun. It's fun. So, now
- 41:11
- I'm going to take Mercedes and... Jaden. I guess I'll take... Jaden.
- 41:17
- I'll take... I'll take Jordan. I'm going to take Jordan to dinner.
- 41:22
- They want sushi tonight, so we're going to go have sushi. You don't like sushi? No. Based on the faces she made, yeah.
- 41:29
- That was a bad face. I'm not a fan, but... That's okay. I'm very picky about the ones that I like, but the ones that I like,
- 41:38
- I love. I try to do sushi all the time. See, I can't do that. If it's got cream cheese, if it's fried, or if it's raw,
- 41:44
- I cannot do it. That's like 90 % of sushi.
- 41:49
- Yeah, but the ones that don't have those three things are fantastic. I don't do anything well either. You're a
- 41:55
- California roll kind of person. Oh, yeah. If I'm like... If I have... If I don't see wood on there,
- 42:01
- I'm like, just give me a spicy California roll. We'll just go with that one. Now, what's in that?
- 42:07
- Cucumber, crab, avocado, and then they put the spicy mayo on top.
- 42:13
- It's really like basic, but it's really good. She's judging me. Is the crab raw?
- 42:19
- It's the artificial crab sticks. Oh, artificial. It's not really, I guess, processed.
- 42:25
- Yeah, it's not like... It's not fresh. Well, nothing. You gotta think, nothing seafood. What do you think of crab out there?
- 42:32
- I don't know. I don't know. I guess. Not artificial.
- 42:37
- That was a bad word. But you gotta think no seafood here is gonna be fresh, like at all.
- 42:42
- Not truly, right. Not straight out of the ocean, sweetie. Well, I know that.
- 42:48
- I appreciate it. That's what I'm saying. They can put it on ice and ship it. It's not the same to me.
- 42:54
- I gotta be honest. Well, anyways, thanks guys for joining us tonight. I'm sorry we got way off topic there with what we're talking about here.
- 43:02
- We're going to dinner. We would invite Carrie, but she don't do sushi, so... No, I'm having to spend time with my grandbaby.
- 43:08
- Okay, that's fine. You get a pass. You get a pass. Oh, well then we gotta go. See y 'all later. Thanks, Carrie.