The Hope Hotline - Joy in the Holidays! Part One

Episode Date: December 5, 2025

The Hope Hotline | S03-E75 | 12-05-2025 Send questions to: [e-mail] MERCH: https://www.foundationmerch.net/ Subscribe to my podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/thehopehotline/FOLLOW ME: Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/thh Website: https://hopehotline.com Instagram: / the.hope.hotline

Hello talk Hello and welcome to the whole potline. It has been a very long time. It seems like we keep taking breaks, like long breaks. but that's because things keep happening people you know life is life like if you do a podcast in the middle of the day right and we do not record no so if we record it that might be different but um that's true and then at the end of the month we're off for two weeks yeah that is true yeah so getting things done though well like Monday wasn't that Monday was personal for me

but last week was Thanksgiving hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving holiday yeah Mine was fantastic. Fantastic. I loved it. I enjoyed it. Oh, I don't look orange anymore. I'm moving it slowly, so nobody else notices. Oh, well, I just gave it away.

I looked orange before we came on. I'm like, I look orange. Like, I had jaundice. I look like I had jaundice. I know, and I'm very dark, so we're going to, I don't know, something must have changed. I don't know. The settings, maybe? Yeah, probably.

Yeah, who knows? I think everything got reset. We'll back. At least we can, like, I think we have sound, so that's good. That's a good thing. We're both sitting here, like, what do we do? What do with our hands? What?

It's a beautiful thing. So my Thanksgiving was super calm, super quiet. But how about you guys? Yes. Yeah, great. Super calm, super quiet. Jeff was in charge of the turkey, and I was in charge of all the sides. How that worked out?

Great. I made green bean casserole for the first time. Oh, that's right. Heather makes ours killer. Go ahead. Yeah, I make it all from scratch. like mushroom gravy all of it holy molly um it was incredible but i'm i'm a little concern that my puerto rican ancestors are disappointed you they're turning they're turning

over they are they are with a casserole i know oh my gosh that's very white very white literally but it's very white very southern true i know yeah who would have thought uh-uh yeah green casserole. I love it. It's like one of my favorites. Same. Yeah. And Heather, like, I don't know. I think she says it's easy, but man, it's so good. I know. I was supposed to make it this year, and I totally forgot to tell my

mom, so we didn't have the stuff. So, we had plenty of food, don't you worry? Nobody lacked. You were in Mass, Massachusetts with your family. That must have been awesome. It was. Yep. It's a beautiful thing. It's a beautiful

thing, people. Well, let us get started because I am I'm like chomping at the bit to get back to normal so do your thing and then we'll do our thing perfect okay um all right so if you're on Facebook hello it's a few of you watching you can stay here or you know the deal you can go over to rumble and hang out with us in the live chat that's why all arrows point back to rumble it's just easier for us to all connect over there but you can do whatever you want it's fine If you're on YouTube, that is fine as well. Some people just like being able to, you know, put it down in a little corner.

Rumble should be able to do that too. So try it. Just try it out. All you're going to do is get a little log in and you're done and done. You can watch us on Sunday. You can watch Pastor Tom on Rumble, Monday through Friday, all kinds of things. So Black Rove is still available, and the audio podcast will be available after we're done this podcast. It's not alive.

I post it later. So if you just want to listen, I know a lot of people like just listening to podcasts while they're driving so you'll miss our crazy faces and things that happen but you'll still be able to hear it um we would love for you to keep sending those questions in ask hope at hope hotline.com that's the best way to send it and if you haven't got a response email back try again just in case we want to make sure that we get to your questions and we love hearing from you guys so uh very excited about that um we got some good news as dana lee we missed her thursday i mean in november it was just a quick month so she's coming back the last Friday that we're meeting before our next

break so she'll be here and she's excited so send those questions in anything medical related or she's doing her own if you're a follow her on TikTok she's doing her own little side hustle now so if you have questions about that we're excited to have her back on she's so fun our merch is always available the sweatshirt is in the works Heather knows about it conversation is happening you mean the switcher zip up no I'm not doing this for the no just so you know I'm only doing one I'm doing one okay is for Sharon and that's it okay because they are ridiculous in price oh okay ridiculous so we're only making one so don't even worry about the zip up it's a done deal sweet Sharon's the only one getting it it's a gift

listen I I would have paid for her to get that thing at this point oh my gosh it's ridiculous exactly yeah oh my gosh okay well anyway but the UBU T-shirt is available, the hat and the mug and the spoon. And you know that spoon has two meanings to it. So if your mom, you know, you know, you know. All right, TikTok, Hope is moving and grooving. Almost 3,500 people are following her and loving the game. So we'll have some new stuff coming out this week.

So join us and try to beat Hope on name that tune. I think we might have something a little different for today. So you definitely want to check it out if you haven't yet. And Pastor Tom, moving and grooving as well, TLP clips. From the last time I had these screenshots, he has gone up almost 300 on his podcast and like 150 on his followers. So he's also moving and grooving. Some of them do excellent.

And some of them are like, I don't like this guy. I don't like what he's saying. And then we've got our few little helpers in the comments that are like, why? There's a Bible verse. So you got to love it. Very consistent. And then, of course, our worship, they're doing great as well. And we just, yeah, we love being able to share that music.

And I think that's it for today. We've got our things. But, yeah, that's pretty much it for today. That's what we're going to talk about. You can pull that one thing up real quick. Yeah. So, radiant aesthetics and permanent makeup, that is a good friend of ours. I'm not just promoting it.

She's a good friend. but I am going to tell you right now, Christmas is coming. And if you want a great gift, that's it right there. Her specials came out today too. Oh, what's her specials? There is a glow and plump that I just scheduled. That's exciting. It was one of her specials.

What is a glow and plump? I don't know, but I want it. that's flippin funny well she does permanent makeup along with the list that you see right there dermaplaining nano fusions micro-needling hydro hydro hydro hydrodermabrasion facials I had to squint people facials brow limitations intent permanent makeup waxies and more. She has over 20 years experience. You can go online and book with her at RadiantU. dot glass, or excuse me, Radiantu.orgonius.com. I'm telling you right now. Great Christmas present.

You want to see her specials? Yeah. Okay, here they are. So she's got the skin script cranberry turnover peel to reduce oil, refine and resurface normal oil and acetic acetic skin okay maybe like acne prone skin is probably that's probably the professional way of saying it and I'm going to say it the less professional 70 bucks like absolutely yeah um for 100 bucks or 90 bucks with the tip yeah like oh my gosh you could give somebody an hour of their dreams right and then yeah

you can add on a foot massage to that plump and lift facial glow for the holidays, nanol infusion, nano infusion, and I cannot say, okay, you guys can read it. Hi, Loran. Thank you. Go ahead. Acid. Yep. And then gift cards at the end. And if you buy a gift card for $100 and more, you get $10% off, $200 more, 20% off. I mean,

basically it's free. Literally. Girl math. Girl math. Girl math. To a love it. I know. And she's such, she's so great. It's so, you just, you leave there. Actually, Fern just messaged me today and she was leaving and she's like, sorry I'm talking really slow. I just left Tracy and I'm so relaxed and I'm so happy. Oh, yeah. Oh, my gosh. You cannot beat it.

Yeah. Seriously. So good. So good. And the topic today that I want to talk about is joy. And I'm telling you right now, go get a facial. Right. More joy than you even thought was possible. Exactly. I just think I was I was kind of pondering what I wanted to talk about for this, this podcast. and it was super easy for me to come up with it. I'll be honest with you because I think that I see more sadness and like anxiousness, discontentment, like the holidays have a great way of bringing out the best and the worst in people, depending on your given situation.

And even if your situation's great, it can still bring out the worst in you. And that's because a lot of things is built on so many other things than the true reason for, even like the Thanksgiving. A lot of times Thanksgiving should be built on what we talked about, which is gratitude specifically. Because there is so much, if you think about it, We only take one day out of the year to really be thankful, which is insanity.

Like most people choose only that day. And they're really celebrating a holiday about our heritage of this country. But if we would learn to be thankful every day. We talked about this from the moment our feet hit the floor to the time we put our head to the pillow. If we really truly thought about the things that we should be grateful for and thankful for, there's absolutely no way we could be nasty, mean, and unkind. True. It's not possible.

They don't go together. It's like what Vanessa said that peace and anxiety can't function at the same time with the brain. And neither can be grateful and being unkind. It just doesn't go together. They just don't operate. They're like diametric forces, like two positives of a magnet trying to go together. It's not going to happen. It's just not.

So for me, I think about a lot of people who have our experience lost this year. Where do they find the joy in this time of year? I think about, which we'll talk about, but I think about people who are financially, I mean, people are in real bad financial situations. because of the economy where do they find the joy i mean there's a series and i have a list but it is possible it is possible to have um joy in in this time of year and that's because um it's not about it's not about this time of year joy isn't about getting a gift or giving a gift joy is about the purpose and the reason why we are doing all of these things and if our focus

is on that very thing then the rest will just flow i found this great scripture john 1511 it says i have told you these things and a lot of times i'm telling you until i read this scripture and i read it slowly i literally i literally I literally saw something I've never seen before when I was searching this out and working on this podcast. I looked at this scripture and I was like, holy moly, I've never noticed this before. But it said, I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow. You're not, when Jesus was saying this, he was saying it to us, right?

to the disciples. And he said, I have told you these things that you will be filled with not your joy, but with his joy. Okay, that's crazy. We have the ability. I have never noticed that. Have you guys ever noticed that before?

You'll be filled with his joy. Yes, your joy will overflow. Because if you have his joy, which is a fruit of the spirit, you can't help but overflow. It's true. I have never noticed that it said my joy. It's just like that scripture talks about the ability of healing and walking in power

comes from the power that it's in us. You know, a lot of times you don't read that last, that's a scripture that follows, you know, like you'll do all these things. But it's according to the power that is working in you. And we forget that or we eliminate that scripture. And we're going, well, nothing's happening. Well, that's because you didn't finish the reading the rest of. the scripture which is it's based on your power that's working in you and that is the same thing

right here i looked at that and i went holy moly that's just like that scripture yep i just it's good like you have the ability to have his joy so there's absolutely no reason whatsoever that you should not be overflowing this holiday season no matter their circumstances no matter what's going on or has gone on right which is a great hope because you're filled with the holy spirit and it is a gift of the spirit so if you have a holy spirit yeah or a fruit of the spirit so if you have the indwelling holy spirit living inside of you you should you should be joyful you should have joy and you should be using it yeah now which is a thing like people you know you know, pray, pray for this and pray for that.

Well, if it's a fruit, it's already there. It exists within you because the Holy Spirit dwells within you. You need to activate it, use it, pull it out. Yep. But it is to the extent of his joy. It's just so crazy. Right. Crazy good.

Yes, it is. Like, and it can overflow. And what's so cool about that, it's reliant on him and his faithfulness. Which eliminates all. all of what the season's about, except for him. But go ahead. Yeah. And so, because us, we're flawed.

We're imperfect. And so if it was to our, if it was based on our ability, it would crumble. Which goes. But because it's his, like it's relying on him and he's perfect. He's faithful. It's steady. It's enduring. Mm-hmm.

So. Which goes to the difference between happiness. which is ours, which is what you're saying right there, being happy is a mood. It's a feeling. Yes. But joy is spiritual. It's supernatural. Two totally different things.

And that's where I think people mess up is they think it's the same. They think happiness. So like they're saying, when you say have joy, they're like, how can I be happy in the situation? They're not understanding. It's a complete, those are two different things. Two different things. Right. Right.

One is carnal. The other one is so spiritual. Temporal, situational. And the enemy is that he doesn't care if you're happy. He cares if you're joyful. Yeah, right. Because joy comes from him. Yeah, and it's powerful, right?

The joy of the Lord is our strength. Right. So that makes us powerful. That makes us unstoppable. Yep. So he's after our joy. He's not after our happiness, really. He cares less if we're happy.

Because it's going to, it's fleeting. right like you guys said it's temporary yeah and you're right well like he he he doesn't care about if you're happy yeah yeah because it's temporary right it's it's gonna come and go right right and it's kind of like when people feel god they're like like I but I don't feel him anymore so it's like it's probably better to not feel him because as soon as he's gone then you're like oh and I don't feel God anymore where is he he's right here it's you you're the problem well sometimes it's like not feeling married right exactly i don't feel like a mom today okay well you are so take care of your kids that's so good it is it's the same thing though it doesn't matter yeah

it doesn't matter how you feel it matters how you respond it matters how you live the day to day the reaction of whatever you're walking in consistency is key in all things 100% commitment is mandatory yep if it's not then it's fleeting and you will not stay in your walk with God and you probably won't stay married and you might not stay a mom I mean yeah because if you if you're if it's based on a feeling we're in trouble oh I don't feel like I'm in love with my husband anymore that's what most people say is like we fell out of love I'm like what's I even mean I'm like shut up what does that mean love is not a feeling like you don't like him like him again right you know what I mean

I don't know. Yeah. It's just, yeah. It's crazy. And you know, the thing is, people will say, well, that's so hard to do. It's so hard to be consistent in joy.

It's so hard to be consistent, right? Or it's so hard to, that's easier son than done. But it's not easier than done because Psalm 1611 says, in your presence is fullness of joy. Right. So stay in his dadgum presence. Right.

Literally. Yeah, his presence, his joy. maybe not yours because yours is happiness but like you said that first verse that you said my joy it's his so if you have that like that's where your source is and like Vanessa said it doesn't it doesn't go it's there you just tap in right plug in well and a lot of times people want like um well a lot of times people don't want to do the hard stuff true which is if they don't want to do the hard stuff as far as like a staying in his presence okay

and it's not that hard to do like staying in his presence so that you do feel that joy you do feel that peace you're constantly reminded why you have life so good and that things are working for your good

and that even though maybe you have experienced a loss but God had all you know he knows everything so those steps that he has in front of you they lead to peace and joy and comfort and all the things that help you get through whatever you're walking through.

But you have to stay in his presence. And it's not that hard to stay in his presence. You can stay in his presence. Like, not while I'm driving down the road or not while I'm at work, bologna. I literally have done desk jobs and I've done hard labor jobs. Guess what? Earbuds are there for a reason. Like, when I'm driving today, pretty much the whole entire time I've driven today,

which has been all over the place. I listened to the Bible the whole entire time. I don't think I've listened to anything else, but listening to the Word. And I found some gems in there. Like today when I was listening to it, because sometimes when you're listening to it versus when you're reading it,

you get in here two different things. While I was listening to it, I have listened to the same chapter I don't know how many times over and over and over again because I was shocked to my core how what I heard in there, how it could just, it's just shocked to my core. But because of that, it brought me to a certain place. And I was like, damn, God, you're so stinking good.

Like, the word does not return void. That's one of the reasons why this church only pretty much preaches and teaches and uses the word more than anything else that you'll ever hear and more than any opinion that really ever matters is the opinion of what the word says. So you can. You can listen to Christian music. I mean, Christmas music right now.

What is Christmas? If you listen to the old stuff especially, which is what I mostly do, it's basically all about Jesus. True. So you could even listen to Christmas music, which brings you right back to him. I don't know.

But go ahead. Is anybody want to add anything to what I was saying? And then I'll move on to the next thing. I got nothing. I'm not changing joy. I'm just changing. What I want to continue to talk about, but like what I was saying is some people would say it's very, very hard and all that other stuff.

What I was talking. What you mentioned too, like listening to the word while driving, there's something that happens in your brain when you're, especially for me anyway, when I'm doing something and I'm listening, I don't know, it just taps into a different part of my brain where I just retain differently and I retain information differently. It's a different way of learning.

Yes, there's like five different. It's true though. No, it's true. So, yes, I will sit down and I'll physically read my Bible, but when I'm driving, a lot of times I will listen to the audio and it just hits a different part of my brain.

I'm like, oh, I must have missed that. that. Well, I think there are, I mean, some people do far better. Like some people have to write and they, like, if they are trying to remember something, they'll have to write what they're trying to remember several times. And once they've written it like three to four times, it's in there. You're not getting it out. Sometimes it's writing. Sometimes it's watching for me. Like if I watch certain things, like I'll learn something I've never. And I'm like, man, I should have watched a long time ago because all of us learn different ways. That's why when my kids, when I homeschooled them, I had like four different ways that I taught

them. Sometimes it's games. Games will teach you. Multiple choice games, things like that. They teach you. So there's just all these different ways that we can retain things. You can figure it out, though. There's a way.

Like I cleaned. When I had a cleaning business, all I listened to, well, not all. But a lot of times what I listen to is the Bible. I learned so much. I listen to teachings. I listen to a lot of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. That's funny. But I listened, and I learned from there too, but I'm just saying, like, you can absolutely sit and listen to things and learn.

Yeah. So even. It comes by hearing. So, true. I'll keep it going. True. Now, this time of year, it's really hard on people for the holidays. And I made a list why it's really hard. So people are going to think that you're insensitive. If you're like, knock it off, you don't need to be down in the dumps. I know of what I speak, though, okay? It's not as if I haven't suffered a loss around the holiday season and that it was significant. But I can tell you that God is big. And he can help you walk through any and all situations. And it's, way easier the manner in which you clinging to the lord through those but i'll give you the list i made a list it says um so it's very hard for people during the holiday season because they overload themselves

with schedules been guilty of this i literally have overloaded my schedule so much that christmas came and went and i was like where did it go because i i It was nonstop. And these things are my things, right? And if you might be able to say, you guys can add to them, these were my things, right, that I relate to.

Family tension. Now, you've never dealt with that, Tracy. But I have family tension at the holidays. It sucks, but it doesn't have to. It just doesn't have to. Grief, loss, or loneliness. You've dealt with family. attention. Right. Vanessa? Oh yeah. Yeah. Most people have. It's not abnormal to not have something

like that happened. You're like you're like a unicorn. Yeah. That's not that's most families have had to go through this. Right. Right. We're not, we all don't think alike and we all don't. It's just one of those things. Yeah. Even if you're equally yoke, you can piss each other off. Oh yeah. Well no, we know we have done that. But we come around real quick. Because we are equally yoked, we forgive very quickly and move forward. And we're like Massachusetts people. So you get like mad for five seconds, then you kind of move on and nobody's like holding grudges. So I think that's the difference too is that. That's a nice thing. There's not that extra drama. Because we're all business owners. We're very strong-willed. We're all very like strong personalities. So we definitely say things

to each other that maybe aren't the nicest. But then they were like, that was stupid. That was not nice. Yeah. Just whatever. Yeah, but yeah, we circle back around real quick. Yeah, we have not circled back over real quick before. We're circle back. But ours hasn't always been just siblings. Ours has been, which is probably the same thing with Vanessa, mine's not just been siblings and parents.

Mine's been aunt's uncles, siblings and parents. That's rough. Because we were in that situation not equally yoked. And we were not, people were not big fans of us. Yeah, yeah, I got that. lifestyles and things like that. Right. Right. Grief loss or loneliness, that's a big end. And I know some people this year that lost people, very significant people in their lives this year. That's a tough one. That is, no, for sure. And I'm not saying get over it by no means,

but I have lost my dad. I lost my dad in September and then knew that all the holidays were coming. Yeah. Okay. Unless you've lost you've lost. a parent you have no idea yeah it's and my mom lost her husband of 50 plus years but I will tell you this my mom and the way she handled it like there was no moaning groaning and complaining and crying on on Christmas where there like little tears that I'm sure she shed in little quiet moments probably but for the most part like my family still did everything that it had done before we laughed we joked around we enjoyed ourselves but we had to make a decision that just didn't happen we all had to decide like we're not going to allow things

to rule and ruin something that shouldn't be ruined yeah that's a decision you have to make like you can be down in the dumps and get into depression and which happens for a lot of people you don't have to be lonely make friends and you don't have to grieve you can overcome that person is worthy of sorrow and sadness but that person is not and would not if they are a good person want you to be so down in the dumps day after day after day after day that you're miserable there's so much life

and if you're a believer it's not the end you know like there is that you will reunite one day and really Jesus is really the most important in his presence

there's fullness of joy stay in his presence because that's far more important than the loss you've experienced i know people say easier said than done no i'm telling you right now it is easy like i i did cry on christmas morning because i missed my dad but i also knew there was still so much more to life and that that was fleeting and that i would see him again that i am not going to stay in a time of mourning and loss, especially during the holiday season. There's nothing good that comes from it. And there's nothing good that comes from it.

Don't stay in it. It's not healthy mentally or for those that love and adore you that are still here. Right. Most people forget about that. There are still people here even after you lose somebody that still love you and still need you and want you. So focus on that. The financial pressures.

That's another one. True. Listen, I remember, and I just talking to Tommy about this on the day, Black Friday, he and I and Talia were headed up to do some Black Friday shopping. And I was saying to him that, you know, for Black Friday, for some people, is when they're going to get their gifts because they don't have a lot of money. But I said, I remember that, I said, do you remember the one year that, like, I literally didn't get, we didn't have enough money to go, even Black Friday shopping.

I told Tom, I said, I don't know what we're going to do. Like, I, listen, the word says he'll meet your need, not want. And this was the biggest, this is, this was one of the biggest faith journeys for Tom and I at this particular time. It's like, I don't even know what we're going to do for Christmas. because like we really don't have the extra to to spend on Christmas presents for the kids and then somehow the Lord popped it into my heart or my mind to go garage sailing and I had the kids make me a list or tell me what they wanted do you not know that I found like everything or even things that they didn't even have on the list I found it they had

one of the best. He was saying it was one of the best Christmases he's ever had. Pretty much so many things were new. I love that. Unopened. Yeah. Because God will meet the need. Right. You know? They had better things than in some cases than I had ever bought at the store.

It's crazy. That is so cool. But if you, you know, I could have said, that's beneath me. Right, right. But it's not beneath me. Right. And God literally set it up that everywhere that I went and he had it so like he had it that just when I knew I was going to like this is it's now or never like a huge like this huge family oriented um subdivision had their annual

um garage sale weekend and so on a Friday it stood Friday and Saturday on that Friday like and he said I remember us going and me pick me saying I like that. I like them. I would buy it. And then, like, I put it away for Christmas. But it's crazy because he just had it all set up. I don't know. God is big. And, I mean, some people may think that I'm crazy, but that's a grateful heart, one that has gratitude. And I just didn't think, like, oh, that just happened. No, I believe, beyond a shadow of a doubt that God knew what I needed. And if he had to, he made that stinking garage sale happen at that time. time frame just for me if that's the only reason i believe it's just for me because i think he loves me and cares about me just that much but nothing is beneath any of us it's not and if you're willing

to say to humble yourself and say you know what if this is what we can do then i'm just going to believe that god will set these things up for me and i'll get what i need and he did so financial Pressures don't have to be financial pressures. They can be easy. I know like Vanessa, you guys have faced, well, Tracy, too. You guys have faced financial. I've got a few stories. Same.

Share. Because it would probably help lots of people out because they think surely nobody's going through or has gone through what I have. Surely you're wrong. Yeah. No, absolutely. It's not true. Yeah.

I mean, when you own like, well, like I was married prior to my marriage now. So when you're young and you have. two babies like we did the same i would go to like once upon a child and i would walk with them and they'd show me the things that they loved and then i would have them go in a different direction and grab them and then that was what we did too and it was so anybody who says no once upon a child is a second-hand store yeah like yeah yep and it's all like kid stuff yep so uh i would do that and then there was definitely years where like my mom would do stockings and it like the years that she did i don't know if she knows this but the years that she would do stockings for us

were the years that I was like, okay, it's going to be a lot to do like six stockings plus Santa gifts plus this. So there was years she would send out like these huge stockings like full of stuff. And it was like the years that was like, oh, thank God. It was like such a relief. And then there was one year where Jair and I were really like struggling. And I had just started doing photography again. And one of my good friends like came to me in November and was like I really want to have like a gallery wall with like photos. Could you do that for me? And I was like, yeah absolutely so I sent her like all the things and she picked the biggest like one ever so it was like a $1,200 gallery wall and that literally paid for our gifts I was like I had same with

you like I had no idea what we're going to do that year we we tried to do every like everything like maybe if we like set money on side and then something would come up and it was just nothing like nothing was working and then my friend literally saved our Christmas she I don't even think she knows that either but it was one of those times and she was so thankful that I did that for her So it was like a blessing to her and then a huge blessing to me. But it's just like those things that you like, you do. You trust God in those moments. Oh, yeah.

You don't stress out. And you just ask that he shows you the way. And sometimes he'll give you those creative ideas. But if you're stressed out the whole time and like, well, and you're complaining and whining, your mind's not even open to hear what he's saying. He's probably telling you exactly what where to go, what street to go down to find the biggest garage sale you'll ever find in your life that has all the stuff from all the rich people that don't want it. And then, you know, or on the side of the road. Or the side of the road. I mean, or the dumpster, like my story.

Oh, let's hear it. That's getting better and better. It was the year where we lived in Alabama and my kids were teeny. There were probably like two and three. And that year was like specifically really hard. Like there was no like wiggle room because we had literally just moved from California. So just the moving costs and just all of that. So we lived in an apartment complex and we opened our mail one day.

And Coles had a back that, I don't even know if they do this anymore, but back then during Christmas they would attach like $10 Coles cash. They still do that. It's like $15 ones though. Oh, yeah, back then. And it's like you didn't have to like, no purchase necessary. I remember this. like oh and all of a sudden we are looking around and people are throwing their trash their their their their um

coupon cash coal's cash in the dumpster holy because it was like junk mail I remember this I remember when they did this people thought it was junk mail right because they weren't really looking at it the way that we were looking at it right you were reading and so I remember that it's like it was yesterday Jeff and I both looked at each other and we were like all right what we're going to do is we're going to go back and when it's nighttime we're going to go into the dumpster and just collect them all so that we have like cash for um Christmas gifts that year so that's exactly what we did Jeff prop like like lifted me up and I went in and I grabbed all the coupons and the dumpster and then we would take turns every day and go to Coles and get one gift. And that's how we did that year. Wow. That's crazy.

That's good. That's good. God is good. And never once was I like, this is terrible. You know, like, no, never once. I was just like, grateful for that coupon. Because that's the only way we were going to have Christmas that year. Yeah. Yep. Get this. This is, this one's a, this one is so recent. This is so recent. This is, God, like, I literally am still on cloud nine about this one. I'm not kidding you. I think I told you to this. But, okay, so last year at Thanksgiving, I broke my table. It's a high top. Did I tell you guys this story? I think so. I know. It's sounding familiar, but I want to hear it again. I broke my high top table, and I had refinished it. My nephew gave it to me, and I had refinished it and redid the whole entire thing. It was beautiful. I went to go and

push leaves in because it's a high top that sits eight people or you can maybe sit for more but it's a big one so when I was pushing it in to make the leaves go down I broke it it's very it was very heavy and I have been thinking and you can't get these anymore or at least I've looked I can't find them they don't make them well made or sturdy or even I can't even find them and so I was thinking like what am I going to do like I broke this tape and Tom literally knows how much I love this table so he and Norma I walked away when I broke it I was like I'm done I'm done for the day I was exhausted from the turkey trot that started at seven or whatever and cooking and cleaning and I was just like I'm done

because it was like the last thing I was going to do it for the night which was like at 1130 I just it collapsed on the floor Norma came walking out of her room and I had been trying to fix it and she's like, what happened? And I was like, I broke the table. I'm going to bed. I'll talk to you later. Yeah. So Tom came out and he's like, what the heck happened?

She's like, the table broke. So he and Norma put the thing together with like duct tape. Oh, my God. And I've had a duct tape table for a whole year. Thanksgiving's rolling around. And I know. I got my family coming over. And I got to have enough space for all my kids.

and like they're kids so I am like what the crap am I going to do at the beginning of November Tom is walking the neighborhood and in one of the houses somebody had gotten booted out at a rental and laying behind all the trash is these four legs sticking up the back of this all this trash I don't even know how he saw it he's like I don't even know how I saw it And he was like, what is that? So, Tom, if you know my husband, he does not pick trash, nor pick it up or bring it home. He does not do this.

He does not like it. He thinks it's nasty. It is not his thing. Now, me, I'm all in. If I see something on the side of the road and I like it, I'll clean that sucker up and take it home. I'm fine with it. it was a high top table and the thing had they had put bleach on it they like they literally the table looked pretty rough he goes home he walks home gets his truck puts that it's so

flipping heavy girls it's all wood it is so heavy i can't even tell brings it home to me and when i get up in the morning he's like hey i want to show you something and um he when i got up he got up which he never does um he's like i gotta show you something i'm like oh okay he takes me outside and he shows me this table i almost cried i was like a kid and it can't i know it had been consuming me as far as what am i going to do right like what am i going to do i can't find this table right but i was like it all somehow we'll work it out we'll figure it out right i've refinished that thing girls the week of Thanksgiving or week the time i was off for this from Monday, no, it started Sunday, Monday, Tuesday.

Yeah. Wednesday it was done. Thursday it was in. Oh my gosh. Like, it's gorgeous. Yes. It's beautiful. Yeah.

But I'm just saying to you, like, the most unlikely person. Right. Picks up a piece of junk on the side of the road. Cases it. I know. What are the odds? Like, people like that don't look at the side of the road. If you don't like that stuff, you're not looking.

Oh, he, no way. You and me, we'd be like, oh. What is that? What's that? I might have. missed it because like it was down towards the ditch right but somehow he's like what is that right what is that why did he even want like why did they even he was just curious he's like i saw these things sticking up i was like what is that and then he walked around he was like oh my gosh are you

kidding me yeah thank you tell you goes it's like it's exactly it's actually more beautiful it's actually prettier but it's exactly the same she is right wow it's not more beautiful because how I redid it. It is more beautiful wood. Like it's a better wood. It is an upgrade. Thank you. It's like a complete upgrade. It is. I love that.

Me too. God is like so amazing. I'm sitting at that table at Thanksgiving and I was like, I still talk. I'm like, I'm beaming. Yeah. I literally walked into the garage and I was like, oh, the table's out here. That's interesting. I walk in the table's still in there. I'm like, wait a second. Why is there two tables? I mean like literally like the same yeah I love that but better I mean God is so like listen

people I'm just telling you tell them if you believe it it can happen mm-hmm it can like you have to believe and you cannot fret and you cannot worry like I'm just telling you might look differently than you expect it true might be on the side of the road it might be in a dumpster or in this yes yes yes very Somebody might be picking up something out of a dumpster and giving it to you for Christmas. Someone's trash and someone else's treasure. It's just like sometimes you feel like I can't make it up, but that's the faith journey. I know.

That's the exciting part of the whole entire thing. Like when I was having to do that garage sale stuff, people will be like, oh, that sounds terrible. I was like not thinking it was terrible. I was like, God, look at what you're doing. Like, holy moly. I go to another garage sale and there's more stuff that my kids love and it was like just walking faith out and seeing him make things unfold for me. Yeah. Like I love that for you as a mom, but then Tommy to say like that was one of his favorite.

Like that is so Jesus to do that. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah, I love that. But it was great for them because they knew that Christmas was coming through garage sales. Right. I mean, we don't hide anything, right? So we were just like, we're just going to have to do it this year.

But they didn't care. Right. I got what they wanted. Yeah. And on top of that, I mean, there's something to be said for not raising entitled people. Oh, yeah. Little humans. Oh, 100%.

There's, you know, it's good for people. I mean, my kids literally got to see God move. Right. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And that's like, those were what I call gospel moments. It's like gospel moments are when you can really share and show who Jesus is. And I had so many of them when I homeschooled them.

But then in just life, life unfolds. And then you can say, that's a gospel moment. That's like God's perfect timing. Something that we've started implementing just recently, I think within the last three years, is that during Christmas time, we'll just go on a trip. We're instead of doing a ton of gifts. Right. We just spend it together making memories because I yeah in this time you can get very

materialistic yes it can be very much you know what can I like accumulate what can I consume and it's like if you can like disrupt that and make it about um yes the Lord but also like making memories and making core memories while they're still underneath you because I'm going to blink and my kids are going to be and then I won't be their immediate family right you mentioned that. I know. I'm sorry. And I was just like, ew. I know. Well, it doesn't necessarily. Depends on who they marry. I know, but they will have their own family. They will have their own family. That will be priority. And then I'm not priority. And I don't want to be priority because then it's out of order.

Right. I want when my kids go off and make their families that they make, that they have them in the right place. But you know what the thing is, is Vanessa, I will say this. And I will encourage. because my family is so close. Yeah. We're so closely knit. Yeah. And I don't mind, like, sharing. I don't mind sharing.

Like, in Tommy's situation, he's dating Talia, right? And Courtney, like, having Courtney's family to come over and be a part of whatever we're doing would not be an issue at all. But I also prayed, Lord, like, whoever my kids marry, let it be a situation where it's, like sharing won't be difficult where it won't be like where we can come together if we wanted to as and so that like if Tommy was to marry Talia then and Courtney came over then we all open gifts Christmas morning and watch the grandbabies open presents and things like that not where like what like Tommy has to completely be as somebody else's house for the whole entire day and I miss that whole entire season.

Like for me, like I don't, I don't want to miss one holiday ever. I don't mind sharing, like, or everybody coming together. Because I think, like, family, like, for me, I see you doing that with your family. That is missing memories. And you're making memories.

I don't want them to grow up and then start losing. I want to keep adding too. Oh, 100%. You know, it's like Tracy's, you guys go there for Thanksgiving. She's coming here for Christmas. Do you know what I'm saying? It's like, I don't know. But it does happen and it might happen where life has a way.

And no, ideally, yes, I want that my kids marry someone and we can like merge and blends, all of that. But I also know that I won't be priority. Right. his wife and her husband will be priority because that is their immediate family. It's biblical, right? And it's like, and then they'll want to be with you. Right. That's it. Like you raise them up in the way they show them on their own. I'm doing the work now so that they want to come home. They want to come home. Right. Right. If they don't feel like they have freedom, then they feel like they're under somebody's thumb. Yeah. Well, it's not even godly because like God doesn't make us choose him. Like he's like waiting for the relationship and because he's been so faithful to us. Like we want to be with him. It's the same with us. Like we want to be with him. It's the same with us. Like, my mom's been so, my parents have been so great to us. Like, I want to go home and spend Thanksgiving with them.

I don't do it out of obligation. I don't do it for, because I could easily be like, it's just too much mom. There's too much to bring in the whole, all six people. But like, I want to be there with them. Yeah. Like, we love being up there. So that's what I want for my family too. Like when my girls get married, like I want them to choose where they want to be.

And then obviously my hope is that they want to be with us. Literally. But I also understand, like, I lived in Florida for most of my life and I couldn't always go home for Thanksgiving. So there was times where my parents missed out on things. But we always made it special. We always made sure we like FaceTimed and did things. But, um, and then they have like, one of my brothers were there. And it's just, you figure out a dynamic that works. But yeah, you, like, it has to be husband and wife making those decisions. Because then it starts to feel yucky when it's like, well, we have to do this because they're going to be mad. And, um, and it's just,

yeah, I don't know. Yeah, that's, that's a rough one. Like, for me, like, if either one of my kids, married somebody who were the other side of the family kind of like dominated and didn't have a thing where the heart to share because you know that does happen I've known of people that like no we have to go because if we don't go all hell will break loose and I'm like golly man that's got to be rough it is and it is only one side of the family gets to see or be with one side of the family every holiday that's that would be terrible or even when it happens It's so stressful that you have to, like, go place to place, and you have to be there at 3.20.

And if you're not there at 320, then it's not even enjoyable while you're here because you're watching the clock and you can't be late. And, ugh, like, I can feel the stress on that. No, everything should be flexible. Tracy and I are in a season where we have all our babies under one roof. And so while we have them and we're the immediate family now, we're going to make a count. Yeah. I don't blame you.

I mean, I still have my kids, but they're adults. and you're right that things even though they're adults like they things change right because i don't they're not mandated to be under my roof and they're like it is way different yeah so yeah and life could be different i'm blessed that it is the way that it is i was just telling somebody that this week i mean they don't have to live at home right glad that they have chosen to do that to be financially wise and things like that but it's very Hispanic of them it is Is they're from Puerto Rico? Are you sorry?

You got that interracial kind of thing going on. It is true. It's very Hispanic of you. I love it. But nowadays, nobody can afford to be out on their own. That is also very true. Unless you want to just like, I mean, you can, but like, for, my kids are like, why? They can save up.

Like, Norman has a nice little nest egg in her bank account. Tommy's trying to get a career. And so it would be unwise. It would be stupid as I'll get out. Oh, yeah. My kids know. they are welcome to stay as long as they need to. As long as they're contributors and not takers.

You start being a taker. You got to go. And like McKenzie saved a ton of money in one year. Now it's like a year and a half. And she has a really great nest egg. And she's now like taking on responsibilities to help like in certain things. And so it is. It's great to know that we're setting them up for success.

Because a lot of kids can't do that. A lot of them don't have parents. They're like, I'm like you can't stay. You got to go. Yeah. So. And, yeah. I mean, I've known people that have been like that.

But for me, I'm like, that's teaching to be a good steward of their money to be responsible. And I mean, for me, I'm like, if you're hankering to get out of the house, and unless it's to be super responsible, a lot of people are hankering to get out of the house so they can be free. For freedom. Right. And then they can do whatever the heck they want to do. Right. Right.

Because they want to be told. and have this accountability. Or they want to be doing things that they shouldn't be doing. Right. Right. Right. Like. True. Very scary. True. So not good. Oh, hold on because I got to get my sponsors really quick.

I'm going to finish this up and we're going to hit sponsors. Comparison. Holiday perfectionism is another reason why. People are always keeping up with the Joneses or always trying to be competitive with one another. True. Um, comparisons is a great word, because we're, the scripture that says, we're not to compare ourselves among ourselves, which I think I wrote that down. No, I didn't. But people are always comparing like, like, how many gifts did you get? Or what did you get? Or what did you do? And I mean, it's just so sickening. It's ridiculous. But the Bible says we're not to compare ourselves among ourselves. And so a lot of times people are, like, judging themselves based on somebody else's.

And that adds anxiousness in a lot of, I'm trying to think of the right word for it. Turmoil. Yeah. Causes inner turmoil because you think, because I'm not measuring up to them or this, mind's not as good. Oftentimes, it's better you're not measuring up to that stuff. Be your own person. Do your own thing.

I remember one year, me and my girlfriend, we didn't have any money to do anything. And so what we did is we strung popcorn and cranberries because our tree was like, it had lights, but other than that, it didn't have much decoration. So we're like, you know what we're going to do? We're going to be an old-fashioned Christmas this year. We got a bag of popcorn, we popped popcorn, we got a bag of cranberries, we jab the crap out of ourselves, and then we made paper rings.

Listen, I was dating Tom at the time when I did this. So I was in my late 20s. So we did colored paper. We cut it into a long, we made, do you remember you guys? Yeah, the string paper, that's how we decorated for Christmas. It was so fun, it was so nice. And if I had brought somebody else in, they would have been like, but to us, it was like, yeah, it's like, be your own person.

And then be proud of your ingenuity and, you know what? And also, be proud that you don't have to be like everybody. And I don't mean prideful, be proud of yourself that you don't have to be like. everybody else that you can be humble enough to know that who cares what somebody else is doing right and listen listen most people if they found out that i got my my table on the side of their road they'd be like i'm like yes i know absolutely oh from heaven yeah it came from heaven remember in your presence in his presence there's fullness of joy most importantly we'll carry this on but let me do my sponsors real quick

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you won't be disappointed all right 30 seconds and then it's over with and done We will be back on Wednesday. Yes. We'll be back on Wednesday. And we will finish this up. You're going to New York on Friday. Yes. Sarah will be here for me.

Yes. Sarah might be, Sarah will be here. I might have Tommy come in and be with Sarah. Because Tommy said to me next time you're gone. That's right. Are you going to be here, though, Vanessa? So is Sarah. Are you gone, too, with her?

I'll give me in New York, too. Oh, both of you? we're going oh dear lords of mercy that's why you said for me to come yes oh yeah dear lord just right after that right after the podcast i know that's why you're going to brooklyn yes yeah because you're going to go her own stomping grounds i was trying to tell her to take the bus so she didn't get lost she's got you she doesn't need no bus unless they ditch us we might just there too so and the kids they might be like we're done Yeah, you're not going to need the bus.

You've got them. Yeah. We'll see. We're going to stick together. We'll see. Oh, my gosh. But that bus sounded amazing. No eye contact with the homeless people, please.

Okay. But what if? I've been to Boston a few times, so I kind of know. But New York's New York, man. I know. Anything goes. Anything goes. They are under new leadership, too.

Scary. True. True. Yeah, yeah. Scary. That doesn't happen until January, though. Oh, that's fine. It's all, it's all, hey, listen, have you looked at Times Square?

We're about to. Yes. Scary. We'll take a selfie there. It's going to get worse. Alrighty people. Okay. So I might, let's me, it might be me, Tommy, Sarah.

Might add a, might add a little bit of male hormone to the equation. That'll be fun. He wanted to come. He's like, hey, Mom, next time, Tracy's not there. I'll come. I'm like, are you kidding me? I know. Thanks, Tommy, now.

For real. So, you never know. Okay. All right, guys, see you on Wednesday of next week. If you're a foundation church person, we will see you on Sunday. And everybody's sick right now. Get over this. Yeah, what the heck.

I'm praying for you. I was handing out the healing now. I was like going up to all the youth kids. Are you coughing? We had 59 of our youth kid. And while Jare was speaking. 59 of them are sick. No, during Jarrah's thing, it was like,

I'm like, why is there so much coughing? So as they were coming out, I was like, were you cough? Because I didn't want to say, are you sick? So I said, were you coughing? And they're like, caught, what? I'm like, coughing. They're like, oh, no. So, but then I found a few.

And I was like, take this and read it until you stop coughing. They're like, okay. Oh, my gosh. So, yeah, we handed out Hope's Healing Now book. Healing is now. Yeah, lots of people are not doing, or I shouldn't say, are not feeling so hot. There, I know. I'm praying for you.

Yes. Jesus' name. Jesus' name, you are healed. Wait, Emily wants us to visit her in Long Island. Okay, girl. Oh, my gosh. I don't know if you're ready for that, sister. I know.

Listen. They're only there for two days. It's literally going to be a tornado. It's a whirlwind. I was going to say, we got all night. We got 48 hours. Holy moly. All right, guys.

We will see you on the other side. Bye. Real talk, real talk. Real talk.