The Breakfast Club - Cyntoia Brown encounter with God after surviving sex trafficking +an open group convo about faith!

Episode Date: October 31, 2025

On this episode Loren LoRosa is joined by Cyntoia Brown, Randall Long and Pastor Maria Durso for a very honest conversation about seeing God in the thick of your mess.  Cyntoia has an incredible story to tell of perseverance and faith after surviving sex trafficking and being sentenced to life in prison at age 16. Randall Long, a Delaware native, founded the Color Coded Kids Foundation and speaks about community engagement, especially with kids. And Pastor Maria Durso, brings fire and first hand experience to the fight against languishing outside of the Lord.YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastClubPower1051FMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. On the latest episode of Next Question with me, Katie Couric, I sat down with Bernie Sanders. We've talked many times over the years, and today he even throws a few questions my way. Are you ready for another question? Go ahead. Hit me, Bernie.

We talk about the billionaire class, the cost of living, and of course, the government shut down. Listen to next question with me, Katie Couric, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Big Take podcast from Bloomberg News keeps you on top of the biggest stories of the day. My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day. Stories that move markets. Chair Powell opened the door to this first interest rate cut.

Impact politics, change businesses. This is a really stunning development for the AI world and how you think about your bottom line. Listen to the big take from Bloomberg News every weekday afternoon on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Chicago, a white woman's murder, a black man behind bars, for a crime he didn't commit. 90 years of killing somebody I have never seen. The Crying Wolf podcast is the story of a corrupt detective, two men bound by injustice, and the quest for redemption, no matter the price. Listen to the Crying Wolf Podcasts on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Cal Penn, and on my new podcast, here we go again, we'll take today's trends and headlines and ask, why does history keep repeating itself?

Each week, I'm calling up my friends, like Bill Nye, Lily Singh, and Pete Buttigieg, to talk about everything from the space race to movie remakes to psychedelics. Put another way, are you high? Look, the world can seem pretty scary right now. But my goal here is for you to listen and feel a little better about the future. Listen and subscribe to Here We Go Again with Cal Penn on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a homegirl that knows a little bit about everything and everybody. You know if you're going to lie about that, right? Lauren came in hot.

Hey, y'all, what's up? It's Lauren LaRosa, and this is the latest. latest with Lauren the Rosa. This is your daily dig on all things pop culture, entertainment news, and all of the conversations that shake the room, baby. Now, I have been on an HBCU tour. You guys know I've been all over, but we ended the tour literally this week. In real time, I'm recording this. We ended it yesterday as Delaware State University defeated Norfolk State University at Lincoln Financial Field, which is the stadium where the Eagles play, the Sean Jackson for Delaware State University versus Mike Vic for Norfolk State University was a huge game. Over 47,000 people. Over 47,000 people purchased tickets, y'all.

I was told by the end of the night by the president of Delaware State University, Dr. Tony Allen, that they were looking at making a profit, which they would then use to put back into the school and look out for Norfolk a bit because it's a home game for Del State. they were looking at a profit of over a million dollars let me tell y'all something okay when i was at delaware state university um i was literally told going to the school is going to make it so hard for people to ever know who you are what you want to do and for you to work in the industry you want to work in it takes one small person one small dream and a whole lot of faith and a whole lot of God to be able to break barriers where people are like, wow, what? Hold on. What is that transformation?

What's happening? And that has been the story of Delaware State University, you know, now Norfolk State University, Jackson State and what Deion Sanders did there because somebody had a vision, a dream, but also somebody was really tapped into their spirituality and their faith. And God said to them, listen, I need y'all to go over here, climb this mountain, and then you'll be able to make a way for other people. So as I'm recovering from all of the events that we hosted at Norfolk State University and, you know, ending our HBCU alumni tour that we do for Bronco grinding and myself, Lauren La Rosa, as, you know, I recover from all of that. I wanted to share a conversation that is very much in the vein of that, the faith of a mustard seed and but God. So let's get on into a combo. I sat down in conversation with Centuia Brown Long. And a lot of you guys may have heard her story.

Centolia Brown Long is an American author, a speaker, and a criminal justice reform advocate. She was a victim of sex trafficking as a minor, and she served 15 years in prison for murder after she shot and killed a man who solicited for sex. And originally her sentence was 51 years behind bars, but God. We also were joining in this conversation by Maria Doris, who's a pastor, a faith leader, and a woman who has lived lives, okay? I mean, she has done makeup for some of the biggest celebrities and models in the entertainment business.

But all of that comes with some things for some people. And by some things, I mean addiction. I mean, you know, losing it all and having to gain it all back through faith and realizing God. Now, as a former lead pastor of Christ's tabernacle, a huge congregation, which was also the first church to be born out of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, Maria takes all these lived experiences as that top celebrity makeup artist at one point,

a woman who went through years of really intense drug use. I mean, like, almost didn't make it to see today type of drug use. But, you know, she has come up out of that, and now she is using her faith to transform and to have conversations, transformative conversations with others. And lastly, but totally not least in this conversation, you guys will hear from Randall Long. Randall is the creative mind behind the cool world mascot, Cooley, with Numerous Children's Clinic. Now, Cooley is more to just a character. Randall likes to say that Cooley is a figure that represents unity, diversity, and acceptance,

all these things which are, you know, really close to his heart. But all of this creativity is utilized the best and what Randall does as he is ministering and honestly developing children. And when I say developing, I mean like really pouring into them and, you know, tapping into their creative and, you know, just using his story to inspire others. That's the common threat here. It's inspiration and faith of a mustard seed.

Let's get on into the conversation. I think you guys are enjoying this one. When you look back over your story, what stands out as your turning point? You know, the moment when pain begin to give purpose. Go ahead. Ladies first. I think a turning point for me when I saw that there was purpose in my pain was when my now husband had challenged me. I was speaking about my situation.

For those of the, those of you all didn't hear the introduction, but I spent 15 years incarcerated. I was sentenced to life in prison. It was supposed to be 67 years old before I got out. All of my bills had been denied. I had none left. and I received the letter in the mail from my now husband and that started us going back and forth having conversations and when I told him how I was pretty much frustrated with God

but I didn't believe he was real. He challenged me and he said, who told you he was finished? And I had kind of written on the end. I thought that was it. Like it was nothing but ashes, right? But it helped me to see that, you know, God is really doing something with this.

Let me sit back and let him finish. and so I think that was a turning point for me and then the way that it unfolded I saw that if I hadn't gone through all that I had gone through I wouldn't be able to do the things that I am now testifying about how good he was sent about how there is a way out yes

a question for you guys talking about what some of your lives have been like and what you've been through did you guys recognize God when you met you in your mess and did you know it was him or what were you feeling or experiencing that at moment happened? So for me, I don't feel that I really recognized it was him. And that was because it was, I was in such a funk from everything that I went through.

Like so much anger had consumed me that I had convinced myself that he wasn't real. And so while I knew there was something that would keep me holding on and pushing forward, I knew there was something that would tell me you're not going to spend the rest of your life in prison. I called it everything but him. I said it was the universe, but the universe. but the universe was looking at for me and, you know, all these things that you hear but it was him all along

and it wasn't until I saw the his hands so I started acknowledging that it was him so I learned to call on the name of Jesus and I said, you know what, it was him all along and I started seeing the way he showed up but yeah, I was so angry that I didn't, I wouldn't even acknowledge

that it was him. Well, I had a definite encounter with God. I was crazy out of my mind, did drugs from the age of 10 to 25. I've overdosed on heroin three times. I've been arrested, try to commit suicide, find the man of my dreams, go on this vacation to Mexico, worked in Bergdorf Goodman, did famous people's makeup,

and I have everything the world says I need in order to be happy. I had designer luggage. I had more change than Snoop Dog. I did. I did. I did. If it was on the cover,

cosmopolitan or bog. I had it. But we get to my new boyfriend. We get to this vacation spot in Mexico. He smuggled in, I'm sorry, $3,000 worth of cocaine. I see how God has protected me so many times. And on this 10-day vacation, as the days are going on, I'm emptier and emptier and emptier. I never heard of being born again. Imagine that. I knew where to get the latest hair cut. I never waited online to get into a club. I knew every DJ, but I did not know we could be born again. I have a new life. And as the days going on, I have everything the world says I have in order to be happy. I'm successful. This guy loves me. He's good looking, but I'm empty. And you know, we all have.

have that emptiness inside of us. And the only one that could fill it is God. He's the only one. And all of a sudden, as the fifth day to this 10th day vacation, I felt like something was screaming inside of me. Help me. Help me. And I didn't know who to tell because I didn't know what it was. So my boyfriend went out for a walk on the beach one night.

And I stayed in the room and I decided to talk to God. But I didn't talk to him the way we talked to him. I shook my fist and I called him every name in the book. And I said, what kind of God are you? What kind of God are you? What is this thing called life? I feel like a dog chasing a tail. And in this room, this holy God that should have struck me dead with my filthy mouth,

with my immorality, with it all. He said my name and it was not audible. It was internal. You have to know my name when I was born. My mother died. I have no name on my birth certificate. He knew my name. He knows your name.

And he said the name, Maria. And he said, give me your life before it's too late. And I knew that I knew it was God. I didn't know his name was Jesus. I didn't know anything. But I knew that I knew. My boyfriend came back from this walk on the beach, 15 minutes. And I said, Michael, when we go back home and you go to church and me,

he said, church. He said, you need a smoke. a joint girl. You need to go out. And then when I was leaving this vacation spot, they offered me a job. They said, we know you're not married.

And why don't you stay here and be a host? And I turned to my boyfriend and I said, that's the devil. He doesn't want me to go home and go to church. Now my boyfriend's like, first you hear God and now you know who the devil is. He said, we're definitely breaking home up when we get back to this apartment.

We had just moved in together. And I had a telephone. And I called a friend of mine, and I said, I got to talk to you. I did not know any Christians. I didn't even know there was such a thing as a Christian. And I said, I got to talk to you. And she said, hurry up. And I said, Barbara, I need God in my life.

And Barbara said, praise the Lord. I said, praise the who? She said, while you were gone, some hippie preached the gospel. To her and 30 of our friends. She said we held hands And we said, Lord saved Michael and Maria in Mexico And that was the night That voice spoke to me in that hotel

So it was the church And we gave our lives to Christ And that was 50 years ago in September. Amen. On the latest episode of Next question with me, Katie Currick, I sat down with Bernie Sanders, who is 84 years old, has spent 34 years in Congress, and he can still pack a rally with people a quarter of his age. Denver, 34,000 people come out.

Salt Lake City, 20,000 people are, you know, huge turnouts. People are really dissatisfied about the status quo. His fighting oligarchy tour with AOC and other young progressives has become a movement, but is his message too far to the left? Well, he certainly doesn't think so. Is that sound like a radical idea, Katie? Is that too far left for you? Okay, okay.

I get your point, Bernie. We talk about the billionaire class, the cost of living, and of course, the government shut down, not to mention the current state of the Democratic Party. To me, the failure of the Democratic Party has been an unwillingness to recognize the realism. Open your free I-Heart Radio app. Search next question with Katie Couric

and listen now. Here we go. Hey, I'm Cal Penn, and on my new podcast, Here We Go Again, we'll take today's trends and headlines and ask, why does history keep repeating itself? You may know me as the second hottest actor from the Harold and Kumar movies, but I'm also an author, a White House staffer,

and as of like 15 seconds ago, a podcast host. Along the way, I've made some friends who are experts in science, politics, and pop culture. And each week, one of them will be joining me to answer my burning questions. Like, are we heading towards another financial crash like in 08? Is non-monogamy back in style? And how come there's never a gate ready for your flight when it lands like two minutes early? We've got guests like Pete Buttigieg, Stacey Abrams, Lili Singh, and Bill Nye.

When you start weaponizing outer space, things can potentially go really wrong. Look, the world can seem pretty scary right now, because it is. But my goal here is for you to listen and feel a little better about the future. Listen and subscribe to here we go again with Cal Penn on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Crying Wolf Podcast is the story of two men bound by injustice, of a city haunted by its secrets, and the quest for redemption no matter the price. White victim, female, pretty, wealthy, black defendants. Chicago, a white woman's murder, a black man behind bars, for a crime he didn't commit. I got 90 years for killing somebody I have never seen.

He says the police are his friends and then that's it. They turn on it. A corrupt detective. How he was interrogated the techniques. That's crazy. A snitch and a life stolen. They got the wrong guy. But on the inside, leave him.

He Harris finds an ally in his sally, Robert, who swears to tell the truth about what happened to leave and free his friend. And if you're with me, your goal to, I'll take care of you. I'm going to be with you. You stuck with me for life. Listen to the Crying Wolf podcast, starting on October 22nd, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Big Take podcast from Bloomberg News dives deep into one big, big global. business story every weekday. A shutdown means we don't get the data, but it also means for President Trump that there's no chance of bad news on the labor market. What does a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich reveal about the economy? Our breakfast foods are consistent consumer

staples, and so they sort of become outsize indicators of inflation. What's behind Elon Musk's trillion dollar payout? There's a sort of concerted effort to message that Musk is coming back. He's putting politics aside. He's left the White House. And what can the PCE tell you that the CPI can't? CPI tries to measure out-of-pocket costs that consumers are paying for things, whereas the PCE index that the Fed targets is a little bit broader of a measure. Listen to the big take from Bloomberg News every weekday afternoon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So for all of you guys, how did you deal with, I mean, if there was shame, right?

How did you deal with now I'm going to take everything I've been through in my story to help other people. And in doing that, you've got to be very honest about what you've been through and how you felt and all these things. And not everybody receives it the best all the time. How do you guys deal with that even today when you're going around and sharing your story and ministering to people? dealing with people that might not receive it the best way, but also dealing with any internal shame or guilt that you may

experience. So for me coming through the way that I came through, the way that the Lord brought me through, it's just it's so amazing what he did with me. I can't help but tell someone. I can't help but tell other young girls in my situation

that there is a different way of life, that there's a way life out for you. Somebody who's in that situation right now, I'm so excited to let them know that like the Lord he's got a plan for you he can bring you out of this like you said you just keep walking so shame is never even a thought and i know where shame comes from and it's not from my lord so it has nothing to do with me as it has no part of my identity has no room in my life um so it's it's not even an issue it's not even a thought you know and when you when you get brought through something when you have that testimony it doesn't become hard

I know a lot of people like to ask you whenever I share my story, isn't it hard for you to relive? No, honey. I know how it ends. I know it's good for me. It's a hard at all. There is no shame. And so there's only glory to him.

And so I tell anybody who would listen, even if you don't want to listen, I'll tell you anyway. Thank you for that. All right, I'm into a question for you. So you're really passionate about investing in the next generation, especially children of color. Why is that mission so personal for you? Why is it so personal for me?

One, I like to empower all. Two, the reason why I love to empower kids of color, people of color, is because I know I grew up in the 90s. I'm 80s, maybe. I mean, I look like it. But I know that by seeing certain communities, I see there's a lack of male presence. And the reason why I go so hard in what I do

been showing empowerment through creativity and different forms of empowerment. These kids are so used to seeing people come in and out of their lives. And I noticed by doing certain back to schools and speaking at certain schools that some individuals come into schools and yes, they'll do their projects and then they'll move on to things. That's not to say that certain schools

can go a different route. But the thing is that there's no consistent, in these kids' lives. And one of the ethnic groups that lack it is people of color. They see people coming in and out of their lives. I see at different community events where there's less men or champion, kudos to our mothers and our grandmothers and things of that nature.

But we need more men that's going to stand up and actually show up to events, put on events that actually empower you, and not be laxeday-school about it. Because the majority of our kids, when they see us put effort into things, they show up as their best. So the reason why I love empowering people of color

is that I like to show them that it is possible. I was born deaf in my left ear. I was placed in special education. There were so many labels where it kept me in a mental prison walking through life because every great opportunity that I did have, wasn't capable of walking into it because I was in a mental prison, basically allowing my past it to take every step I took. So by numbing the pain through alcohol, drugs, partying, sex,

porn, things of that nature, our communities, our kids, they need to see men of color, men general, show up. That's what we need. I said, thank you for the work that you do too. I'm sitting here and just, I don't have kids, but I have a niece. And my niece is 10. And as I'm watching her grow up, one of the hardest things for me is that I can't protect her from like the world of things, right? And it always makes me think, like when I was younger

and my mom was trying to teach me things, why she tried to instill certain things because your kids got into the world and you just got to rely on what you've taught them. And there were people in my life that I came across. Like I noticed he spoke earlier, but like there were people in my life that I came across. people like you that helped to like, you know, reinforce things as it was happening.

And you guys are so important because sometimes we don't hear it in our house, but then we go into the world and we forget it or, you know. So just appreciate what you're doing. I'm really sitting here thinking, like, wow, what you're doing is really going to, you know what I mean? Like, it's really going to help and change people's eyes because it did it for me. So appreciate you. Thank you for being here to everybody. Now, one question for you, Sintoya.

Now that you're advocating for victims of trafficking and criminal justice reform, what drives you to keep sharing your story? And you talked about this. You know, the memories that you have aren't painful for you because you know how it ends. But what drives you to keep telling your story in ways that reach people

where they feel like they want to come and think about what the end of their story will be and not where they are right now? Like how are you push your needs? women or human men to be able to see or know their end so that they're not afraid to come and share things with you. So how I do it? Yes.

I just show up as me authentically. And, you know, there's nothing that's off the table. We have conversations. To be honest with you, when I go into facilities, I go where they are. A lot of the girls that I serve, they're currently incarcerated in facilities. I go into those facilities and sometimes we just sit and we just have crafts. We just do crafts, our two crafts. A lot of conversations are had over glitter.

and they just open up some of the toughest, you know, kids that are wreaking havoc throughout the weekly facilities, they just melt when it comes to beaded bracelets. I don't know what the science is, but that's my thing. And we just talk, we just have honest conversations. And I feel like that's really important. And the other thing that's important is that I show up consistently because they desire that consistent... There's this consistency again, the regular relationship.

And so a lot of these young girls, they're struggling with the same thing. many of us have encountered and that's this attack on identity like the enemy has this huge assignment attacking us in our identity and that's something that I face um but meeting them where they are meeting them from who they are loving them just as they are that's really i guess if i had a strategy that's what my strategy is but it's really important for me to also do the other side of my work going out and speaking about my experience because i can remember when i was young and I didn't identify as a quote-unquote trafficking victim because the whole discourse on human trafficking was you get snatched off the street and thrown into a white van and held in a basement somewhere. For girls like me who were living on the streets as runaways and did things that we were taught you needed to do in order to survive, we were considered fast or promiscuous.

we were considered doing things that were an act of volition instead of being violated as children why adults? And so having that conversation is really important because there are other young people who may be going through that, they be experiencing that. They don't understand there's a name for that. They don't understand

like that's not on you and there's a way out of that. I didn't even understand that what I was doing was not healthy. I didn't understand that it was wrong. Like my entire perception of relationship was skewed. My entire perception of what it meant to be would someone else was skewed. And so that's why it's really important for me because they need to

understand that there is a way out of that there's a different life, that there's fulfillment waiting for you, there's happiness waiting for you, and this is not the end of it. On the latest episode of next question with me, Katie Couric, I sat down with Bernie Sanders, who is 84 years old, has spent 34 years in Congress, and he can still pack a rally with people a quarter of his age. Denver, 34,000 people come out. Salt Lake City, 20,000 people are, you know, huge turnouts. People are really dissatisfied about the status quo.

His fighting oligarchy tour with AOC and other young progressives has become a movement. But is his message too far to the left? Well, he certainly doesn't think so. Does that sound like a radical idea, Katie? Is that too far left for you? Okay, okay. I get your point, Bernie. We talk about the billionaire class, the cost of living, and of course, the government shutdown, not to mention the current state of the Democratic Party.

To me, the failure of the Democratic Party has been an unwillingness to recognize the relationship. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search next question with Katie Couric and listen now. Here we go. Hey, I'm Cal Penn. And on my new podcast, Here We Go again, we'll take today's trends. and headlines and ask, why does history keep repeating itself? You may know me as the second hottest actor from the Harold and Kumar movies, but I'm also an author, a White House staffer, and as of like 15 seconds ago, a podcast host. Along the way, I've made some friends who are experts in science, politics, and pop culture. And each week, one of them will be joining me to

answer my burning questions. Like, are we heading towards another financial crash like in 08? Is non-monogamy back in style? And how come there's never a gate ready for your flight when it lands like two minutes early? We've got guests like Pete Buttigieg, Stacey Abrams, Lily Singh, and Bill Nye. When you start weaponizing outer space, things can potentially go really wrong. Look, the world can seem pretty scary right now, because it is. But my goal here is for you to listen and feel a little better about the future. Listen and subscribe to Here we go again with Cal Penn on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Crying Wolf Podcast is the story of two men bound by injustice, of a city haunted by its secrets, and the quest for redemption, no matter the price.

White victim, female, pretty, wealthy, black defendant. Chicago, a white woman's murder, a black man behind bars. for a crime he didn't commit. I had 90 years for killing somebody I have never seen. He says the police are his friends and then that's it. They turn on it. A corrupt detective. How he was interrogated the techniques.

That's crazy. A snitch and a life stolen. They got the wrong guy. But on the inside, Lee Harris finds an ally in his celly, Robert, who swears to tell the truth about what happened to Lee and free his friend. If you're with me, your goal to... I'll take care of you. I'm going to be with you.

You stuck with me for life. Listen to the Crying Wolf podcast, starting on October 22nd, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The forces shaping the world's economies and financial markets can be hard to spot. Even though they are such a powerful player in finance, you wouldn't really know that you are interacting with them. And even harder to understand. Trump's trade war, 2.0, is only accelerating the process of de-dollarization, which in a way is jargon for people turning away from the dollar. That is where the big take from Bloomberg podcast comes in, to connect the dots.

How unusual is a deal like this? Unprecedented. Every weekday afternoon, we dive deep into one big global business story. The biggest story of the reaction of the oil market to the conflict in the Middle East is one of what has not happened. Katie, you told me that ETFs are your favorite thing. They are. Explain that. Why is that the case? And unpack what it means for you.

Our breakfast foods are consistent consumer staples, and so they sort of become outsized indicators of inflation. Listen to the big take from Bloomberg News every weekday afternoon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The work that you guys do, have you guys ever felt like, what if I can't save this person? Like, I'm telling my story. I'm doing all this word. But what if I can't save this person?

Like, is there a weight to that feeling that you guys have to screamings at all? We don't save anybody. The Holy Spirit saves them. And God knows that not one would be lost. He didn't come to judge. He came to save. He didn't come for the well He came for the sick

And Our job is to tell To speak with compassion and grace And to pray And to pray for them When we're not with them to pray for them Because some plants, some water God gives the increase

I cannot believe that a seed That goes into the ground Will not grow if it's a good seed I definitely believe that. We got married on a rainy Monday in City Hall when we got safe and 40 years after we got saved we got married in our church our three sons of pastors with our eight grandkids we finally did it right. Listen I love this because we're photoshopped here and you know what that's how Jesus sees us we are photoshopped

he sees us without spot and wrinkle we think he's examining every piece of dandruff, every little skin, you know, every little pimple he does, and he sees us through the eyes of the blood of his son. This is how we look to him. Amen. And he loves us. It's interesting to see those photos because it makes me think about the times where I just try to mass so much because I couldn't stop my mind from thinking so much. So I always thought that alcohol, even though I don't me alcohol when I step into a room. I'm confident when I step into a room. But in order to shut my mind off at times, it was alcohol did that. And I don't know why I allowed it to get to a certain place because it started small. And you know when small things turn in big

things, it started on the weekends in college. And then from college it turned on a weekdays after work on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Then it turns to Tuesdays, it's karaoke night. Then Thursdays is ladies only, but guys, this, it's like a snowball effect to where it gradually creeps up on you. But the thing is, is that my mom always says that by our choices and our decisions, some things don't have to happen to us, but by our decisions, we get in our own way and those things, we make the wrong decision to put ourselves in the wrong places at the wrong time. and things about nature. So I say all that to say that, just seeing those pictures, this made me start thinking for her some things.

Cynthia, I don't know if you had something you wanted to say a while back before we brought in the pictures, but if so, I wanted to break that too. I was, she basically said what I said, you know, we can't save anybody. And especially like in the line work that I'm in, with the organization that I work with, by the time a girl has made it to me,

like she's already been giving up on. on the system has written her off parents teachers they've all written her off like i serve what they they titled the hardest to serve youth um and so there are some that you know all i can do is show up and be consistent and i can plant good seeds that's what's important we plant good seed not just playing a seed plant a good seed and you just trust that the lord is going to take over the rest but sometimes it doesn't work out that way every story is not a happy ending i've just lost the girl not too long go. And it happens. And it's a part of the work. But you still show up and you still keep planting those seeds. You don't worry about the end results. Like the end, that's none of your business,

what the Lord does. You just do what he called you to do in that moment. That show up and be consistent. Thank you. So in closing, I want you guys to be able to, you know, give closing remarks, whatever you're going to say. But there is a closing question. Some of read the scripture. And And I just want you guys to also mention, you know, what this verse means to you. The scripture says, the Lord will bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of his spirit of despair. What does that mean to you guys? Well, it means that God makes us new.

You know, I want to speak to the believer for a moment because a lot of times we carry our ashes. and we put them on the next day's sacrifice or on the next day's altar of worship. And you can't have fresh fire with ashes. And in the Old Testament, the scriptures tell us that God designated a specific place for the ashes. It was called an ash heap.

The priest would actually burn a sacrifice. What he was saying, He cut off the animal's head. It was the eyes. The ears gave it to God. The legs gave his steps to God. The inner parts washed, put on that altar. And the fact, the successes, put on the altar.

It burned up, and there were ashes. That priest literally had to change his garment, take all the ashes. That was his pain, his problems, his provision, all of it. And he would put it on an ash heap. and he had to remove it far from the area of worship. And those ashes to God, they were sacred. God knew it every ash man. He knew every tear that that ash meant.

He knew every problem that priest was going through. Everything, the provision that he was grateful for. Every ash meant something. But the next day, here comes Sunday, we're going to worship. We're not going to have yesterday's ashes on today's sacrifice. because that would be like trying to cook like this delicious steak in an old sooted pan that you made something you're going to ruin it so we got to get those ashes out if we've given it to God we have to believe he took it and he's going to make a way for us and he understands

and he's a man that sympathizes with our weaknesses but we got to go the next day in faith and just once again worship the Lord because you know what God, without faith, it's impossible to please God. God smells faith. He smells faith. He says, well, they believe I'm going to take care of it. Well, they believe that I understand their situation. Today, they're coming in and they're just worshipping me. Because every day, you know, you and I, we have ashes. And we've got to remove those ashes so we can have fresh time. So this actually just came to me, because whenever you said that about the ashes, I was like, you know, you can actually, you actually make soap from ashes.

Ashes used to make lot, which is used to make soap. Soap is used to make clean. Cleanliness, things clean. Come on. But for me, that verse in my life, when I think of, you know, the ashes, I think of how I had given up in that point. I think a lot of times we allow our circumstances and things that we go through to kind of put a period on things.

We think it's all over with for us, right? It's we live in that state of despair. The rest of the scripture talks about, you know, freedom to the captives, freedom from darkness for the prisoners. And we can put ourselves in that own prison, prisons of shame, prisons of anger, prisons of hate even. And I was in that place. I was so, I can't even begin to express to you how angry I was at God,

that he didn't move the way I wanted him to move when I wanted him to move that way. And I thought that that was just it. I was so angry that other people's faith enraged me. it enraged me to the point where I would sit there and have entire debates with people about the existence of God because I didn't want them to believe because I didn't wait either and that's where I was whenever my husband came to me and said wait a minute because he's not finished yet he's not done and he took from that place where I had decided everything was just ashes it was done it was destroyed and now there's beauty in it because now through my freedom from all of that, other people can achieve that freedom. I was praying and I was thinking, man, I'm supposed to be free from this physical prison right now

because, Lord, I'm playing to you. You know everything that it went on. You know my heart. You know me inside and out. Why are you allowing this to happen to me? But I wasn't even ready for what he was preparing for me. And, you know, that's the crown that he's given me. That now that's the life that I get to look.

All I have to do is go around. and tell people how good God is. I don't have a job, that's my job. It's to testify how good he is. And so that's what it means for me. You know, sitting here listening to you guys, it reminds me of a poem. And don't quote me on it, because I don't know who actually says it,

but it says, our deepest fears that we are inadequate, our deepest fears that we are powerful beyond measure. It is not our light, but our darkness that most frightens us. You playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlighten about you shrinking so others won't feel insecure around you because we are all meant to shine as children do. And as we let our own life shine

when unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. I'm Lauren LaRosa. This is the latest with Lauren LaRosa. At the end of the day, I tell you guys every episode, my lowriders. Y'all could be anywhere with anybody having a conversation about this,

but y'all choose to be right here with me. I appreciate y'all for that. I will catch you in my next episode. On the latest episode of Next Question with me, Katie Couric, I sat down with Bernie Sanders. We've talked many times over the years, and today he even throws a few questions my way. Are you ready for another question?

Go ahead. Hit me, Bernie. We talk about the billionaire class, the cost of living. And of course, the government shut down. Listen to next question with me, Katie Couric on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Big Take podcast from Bloomberg News keeps you on top of the biggest stories of the day. My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day. Stories that move markets. Chair Powell opened the door to this first interest rate cut.

Impact politics, change businesses. This is a really stunning development. for the AI world and how you think about your bottom line. Listen to the big take from Bloomberg News every weekday afternoon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Chicago, a white woman's murder, a black man behind bars, for a crime he didn't commit. 90 years of killing somebody I have never seen. The Crying Wolf podcast is the story of a corrupt detective, two men bound by a justice,

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