The Hope Hotline - The Month of Gratitude | Part 2

Episode Date: November 12, 2025

The Hope Hotline | S03-E73 | 11-12-2025

Hello, hello, and welcome to the whole. It is a birthday, Hope Hotline. It is a birthday, Hope Hotline today. Tracy and Norma share the same birth date That's so cool I know would you have ever thought It's so cool It is so cool It is random It is very cool

So today Why are you looking at me like that Normie She told me to look away She doesn't feel up to it You're my birthday twin She is your birthday twin You can't leave me behind, Norma.

That is true. Can't. Can't leave no man behind. Today is a good day. It's a birthday day. But it's even better because it's Dubai. Cumble cookie, which we're all going to do our taste test, except for Norma. She has no desire whatsoever, which.

She has her reasons. So we're going to, I got four. Should we just do four? Yeah. Oh, gosh. I did. I really like cheesecake, so I'll just take a very small bite. You can take a bite of mine.

What is wrong with people who do not like cheesecake? You should be examined. And it's like chocolate and the, oh my goodness. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Okay, we're going to do. Can we just sing?

We're going to sing happy birthday and we're going to blow out the candles. There's not enough candles on there. Well, there is not enough cheesecake to fit it. Not enough cheesecake. Yes. Both of you are going to have to do it together. You're not filming. Tell you, I'll film. Here, give it to me. The big one?

Yep. Hold on. Like that? Yeah. Okay. Hold on. We're going to switcheroo. Hold on. I'll do this. Your legs are on fire from working out. Oh, that's what. that's not completely but that don't help okay oh too i'll pray okay are we singing happy

birthday yes i'm melving one one you guys started in your key because you're happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday dear You're both of you two. Happy birthday to you. Okay, you take this one. You take that one to Vanessa. There's spoons over there. Norma wants nothing to do with it.

Spoons are over there. And I got birthday cards for both of you. You got belt bars on yours. Ready? I'm the worst thrower. I'm glad Tom didn't see that because I would never live the end of that down. Can you get me one? It's in that box.

They're totally different. I'm so, okay, so this one's candy cane brownie and chocolatey hazel nuts. Yeah, I've done the candy cream brownie. Can I get a plate? She just sounded exasperated by me asking that very question. I ask for so much. Oh, thank you. Okay.

Now, I have to say this stuff. Yeah. But I can say it without crying. Okay. Okay, we're going to start with, we'll start with Tracy. Okay. I literally have to say probably in all. And I don't even know how long.

It's been that long. I don't think I've ever let somebody in my life so quickly in my, in my like inner sanctum which that's not perverse i don't mean that perversely yeah so jared don't worry i know jair's freaking out yeah i don't think i've let anybody in my group like as in far as like i know lots of people and like if i like want to do things with you privately and stuff like that there are in a lot of people that i feel like that with only because first of all there's not a lot of time but second of all, like, you like lots of people, but they have their friends and, I don't know,

it just doesn't, it's not that you don't mesh, it's just, whatever. Because there's some people that I genuinely am like, oh, I'd go and hang out with them, but their life is busy and whatever, my life is busy, and sometimes to add one more, it's not possible. But I will say with you, like I don't think I've ever let anybody in my life, in my personal personal whatever

with the amount of trust that I have with so many things in my life especially the church I don't think I've ever ever done that with anybody that I can recall that fast because you're just that great of a person I'm just on the on the whole you're just such a high level of character

and I have not seen too many people handle the amount of stuff that you do. I mean, you're forgetful. Don't get me wrong. That does help. It does help. It does help with the stress level and the pressure when you can forget and then not be all bummed out that you forgot. But, like, nobody, I hardly have ever met anybody who handles the amount of stress that you do or the amount of tasks that you do with such grace.

You don't hardly ever mean it. And you don't cry anymore. I know. A lot of people cry, you know. I know. But you don't. So I literally was thinking about you. I'm like, man, I don't think I've ever, you're a unicorn.

You really, really are a unicorn. For real. Thank you. Takes a long time because, I mean, I usually tell people who are really close friends with me. I usually tell them, like, I don't trust it. I don't trust fast. And it takes a long time for me to, like, I'll go out with you if you ask me, but I ain't going to, like, let you in.

You are totally different. So God bless. I love you for that. I love you. I'm so grateful because, man, you add so much to Foundation Church, but you add so much personally to my family. I love that. Next to my little baby girlies.

I ain't even going to cry over her. I don't know how I do. I'm like, why don't I cry? That's okay. I don't cry. But listen, I'm just to, I, there are, like, Norma, I'm not kidding you when I tell you. And everybody knows I don't lie. But you are just a great human being.

And I cannot believe I raised you. Because I cannot believe I raised that grade of a human being. I had a lot to do with your dad. But I'm just saying, like, you're just such a great person. And you have faced a lot of challenges in life that, most people at a very young age have never had to face and in spite of all of those challenges you've done it with great determination and even when you like fall and you feel like can I get back up you always get back up and you never like every circumstances and everything you

face almost always you rise and you rise very quickly so god bless you for that because that ain't a lot of people but you're such a great person like like you're such a great person and I can't even believe you're my kid so I am so grateful for that because never gave me an ounce of problem for the most part for the most part never gave me an ounce of trouble and even if you were every now and then a little smarty pants you're quick to recover and say you were sorry so pretty happy Tommy's my only Tommy's my only problem and even he's gotten lots better that frontal lobe develops on a kid on a boy and boy oh boy is it great so all you women out there who have boys that you just wonder when's it going to happen it happens it does i can promise you

just takes a really long time huh okay did we bite this yet oh i'm halfway done yeah oh and what do you think i like the brownie better really okay let me see if this one says good you had did you get the did you get the ground i mean the bottom part like there's like a cookie part at the bottom now people told me they heard us crunching they can hear that crackly it's a smr you're welcome i don't know what that is but it's really good and apparently you're supposed to cook it you're like toasted or something like that with butter With their butter It's so good

Dubai butter or something I'm going to tell you right now I think the brownie and this are equal for me I'm saying something because I love a good cheesecake You don't like cheesecake but I like the brownie butter That doesn't count

yeah tell you just need to shut up it was okay tellia doesn't count she needs to be quiet over there because she doesn't like cheesecake yeah you don't like it uh i think it's so good it's like cold and like creamy and i like the chocolate part at the bottom it hits just right it does

i'm a fan mhm yummy yumskers absolutely yummy for the tummy How many calories do you think is in this? I was trying not to think about that. I literally just thought about that and I said, don't think about that. Yeah, don't think about that.

My birthday. I don't even know. It's my birthday. It doesn't count. Holy moly. All right, I hate to ask you, but you want to do your thing so we can get into the other thing? Yes, I do. All right, go.

We're going to do this one quickly. All right, so if you are on Facebook, guess where you should be on Rumble. so move on over to Rumble but if you're not if you're hanging out that's fine you can watch it on the foundation church or on the whole potline and you can like share and comment on facebook and you can hang out on there that's totally fine but also we are on Rumble and we've got a whole live chat so hey guys in the live chat Sharon I love you and the squeaky mouse gets the wheel the squeaky mouse gets the oil what's the what do we say the squeaky mouse gets the the cheese the oil the squeaky wheel we'll gets the oil you know what Sharon I bet your dream

will come through someday um but I just have to I have to figure it out so one day one day the squeaky wheel gets the grease okay that's the way yeah are you sure no I it's it's a saying for people that do like somebody that keeps like pursuing something like pursuing prayer for a business and they keep pursuing and pursuing and pursuing. When you hear that squeaky wheel, it gets annoying at some point. No offense, Sharon. When it gets annoying at some point, you put oil on it because you're like, oh, my gosh, I've got to make this noise stop.

This is driving me absolutely crazy. So sometimes being annoying gets things done. Just kidding, Sharon. That's the only way I could think to how to explain it. All right, Amory is on from New York. I bet it's snowing up there as well. I know it's snowing and flurrying. Massachusetts, crazy. I'm so sorry for you, mom. But also, you could be here. So there's that.

Who else? Who else? Who else? Hey, thank you so much, Daniel. I appreciate it. Hello, Galena. Sharon says, squeak, squeak. You're so funny. On YouTube, there is also the option to watch on there as well. But stay on rumble, guys, stay on rumble. That's where we want you guys. And of course, We love your questions and you guys have been a little slack lately. So I forgive you, but send over your questions. Let us know anything, literally. And you know that I'll do the Natalie one in a second, but you know that she comes on as well. So they could be questions from any walk of life at all. We love them all. So please, please, please send the questions. You know, we're going into holiday season. So maybe you have questions about relationships or questions about

other things that are going on in your life and we are here and we are always ready to answer those questions and of course Natalie will be here again in the very near future and she always has great stuff for us she tries to do like more of the newer things that have been happening or I don't know you know sometimes like there's so much information out there that it's really nice to get Natalie's perspective because she studies things out and she has like probably the right places to look for things versus like us not necessarily always having the right places to look for things because we're trying to guess. So she's a great way to, she's a great person that we can trust that we'll look into it. Plus she's a believer. So we love that as well. You can always find

us and we're always available on Instagram. And I have a really good video. that I need to put in Dropbox real quick, but I can't find it. So I'm going to have to look for that in a second. And then our merch, and I just talked about Sharon. So not only are we going to work on that zip up because I told her the squeaky wheel gets the grease. That's good squeak in a really long time.

Squeaky wheel gets the oil. What is it? We were trying to decide what it was. I don't think I already told you. Squeaky wheel gets the oil? No, gets the grease, but I'm just saying, the wheel has been squeaking for a really long time. I know that. What I'm saying is we didn't know what the saying was. And Vanessa said she knew what it was, but I didn't trust her. Sorry. It's the squeaky will gets the oil.

No, it's the grease. Gets the grease. She thinks it's oil as well. No, it's not. It's the squeaky wheel gets the grease as chat. Would you put money on that? 100%. Okay. Vanessa. The grease. I'm like 99.9% sure. Can you check a nice little... Ask a friend.

Ask a friend. So we do have all these amazing things on our merch store. And we have them in, not even just online, but also in store. And so if you're here, you can walk home with it. Otherwise, yes, you've got to buy it online. But we would love for you to grab that. And then we have our little friends. Can I show her?

Yes. Okay. We have one of our little girls holding on to that spoon. She must have not been beaten by it yet. Yes. She must be a good little girl. She has a smile on her face. She must be a good, I know, she does have a smile on her face.

Is she not the most, that's Kristen's granddaughter. She is adorable. She is so cute. She is so stinking cute. What a cutie, patootie. Oh my gosh. I love it. Yeah, she's not, I don't think she's old enough to like experience the

spoon in all its glory i know i agree i agree she's way too cute too like how can you how could you no it's not possible it's not possible it's not possible you're gonna have to turn your head i know when you use the spoon on that i know that is the hardest part of parenting that part of it but also so is having an unruly child and so it's a necessary evil it is it is as much as you don't want to i know it's so true okay um i'm trying to find my my my little laptops being a little silly so i'm going to come back to us for a second okay um because i have the new dare to be thing up but it my my mouse is like running run it is something's wrong with my it is in that one punch um my mouse is like running all over the place so i can't figure out where i dropped um our dare to be commercial and i really

would like to show that um so are you excited that for Dare to be. Are we going to meet on Wednesday? I mean, on Friday? What do you mean? Here? Oh, are we having the podcast Friday? Yeah. We're kind of have a podcast right. Perfect. Yeah. So I has chat. Okay. And it's the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

You guys are so smart. I know. Like, I just, oh, that's why it's in the wrong person. You guys are the smart. That's why I keep you in my life. But I just need, I need to lean in and trust you guys more. Because sometimes you're not leaning in on squat. I didn't lean in this time. that's that's an arc term it's true it's true arc stole it from us you're leaning in what if what if highly unlikely guys aren't gay enough to create that yourself I mean you've heard some of

the stuff we say yeah but you copied it from them so okay okay probably actually yeah actually a good point we probably did 100% okay all right are you ready I'm ready for you I'm ready okay okay let's do this. Let's do it. There comes a moment when you know God is calling you deeper. To rise up, to stand strong, to dare to be. This is more than a gathering. It's a night of healing, hope, and fresh fire in his presence. November 14th at 7 p.m., doors open at 6.30. Join women from every walk of life for an unforgettable night of worship and the word. Come expectant, come ready, because when faith meets God's presence, everything changes. This is your time, your season, dare to be.

I was much happier that time when I was just going to ask you, did you re-record that we did. Oh, no, that's that old one. We got, we did it. Well, we were going to do away with it anyway because you don't want to repeat the same one two weeks in a row. But that other one, I literally think I sounded like I wanted to be doing anything that that including having my fingernails ripped out of my I know this one sounds good you have inflections in your in your voice yeah I'm much I'm in I'm in a good head space there yeah true true when we recorded it though I didn't hear he has I don't know if we were both

rushing so like I was right because we both had somewhere to be yeah but not when she when she recorded it you weren't here for that right yeah no no when she when we recorded it it it didn't like register that this sounded terrible and then when I was like putting it in I'm like Oh, I knew it was terrible, but I was like, we got to go. I mean, it is what it is. I didn't think it was that bad. I didn't either. I knew it was bad.

Okay, see, I didn't even think it was bad. But I didn't know. It was that bad. But I lit, both of us literally had somewhere to be. We did. I know. It was a busy one. But I bet if you didn't point it out, nobody would have noticed.

I think differently. Because I sounded pretty much like I did not want to do it. I sounded miserable in that one. Is that this Friday? That is. This Friday. It is. Tis the season.

She just knew that. She was just checking on everybody. Yeah, of course. A reminder. We live day by day. Literally. We're doing today. Today is Wednesday.

Somebody are I get that. You know what? I've been serving myself because I've been giving myself reminders. Yes. And so I'll get reminders throughout the day of things that I need to do in the future. Oh, that's really sweet. I know, right? I like that.

I'm setting myself up for. six. Like women, like days out in advance you're telling yourself or later on that day. Because I do that for me with later on that day. Always have like I have my paper calendar and then I have my stuff like I can't do a paper calendar. I've lost everything in a in my phone and my calendar. So I do the paper calendar and then I do my reminders. I will not I will never twice it happened to me. Oh I would cry. And all like my heart think right now. It was saying that. It was bad. So I'm like I'm never trusting that thing again. And I don't.

So I'm back at paper and I trust paper. I need to get burned at least once so that I can motivate myself. I hope that it never happens. I mean, my whole calendar, like, it's when I had my own business. So I had all of my client base on there. Oh, no. Oh, my gosh. It was bad.

I would cry. Oh, yeah. Fetal position immediately. All my contacts, everything. Oh, my gosh. Hope. contacts too so you couldn't even contact your clients it was bad oh my god no way eventually like weeks later everything came back i don't even know how oh wow but by then i mean like hello

that was an attack of the enemy yeah that was a demon that was a demon this is not good i can tell you that that was not good i bet you were super happy did you overcome later not then did you give you yeah you gave yourself 30 minutes 30 minutes I was so I was more perplexed like what am I going to do because you know you know you know where you can start like you have a problem solve uh that's happened overcome yeah because some of them like were new people like I had so like if it's a new job then you're like oh wow yeah yeah I don't even know what to do with this right so I did nothing In those moments, you do nothing because there's nothing you can do.

Just overcome. Resilience. Yeah, and those resilience. And also, like, moving forward, your brain has adapted to, like, oh, we overcame that. We can overcome other things. Oh, yeah. Well, the worst case scenario, what was going to happen, which is what I concluded to myself is the worst case scenario is they're going to tell you that you didn't show up and or

they'll never call you back. It's like, okay. God will meet the neat. But then if they call you and say, where are you? You can say, well, here's what happened. And they can believe you or not. But I'm like, what are you going to do?

Yeah, literally. Pull it out of thin air? It's not possible. So I basically is like, well, here we go. It's crazy. Yeah, I get it. There are some things that you can get really irritated about, but then you can do it, then you're just going to have to like

just overcome it and be like, there's nothing to do. so why be mad? Like, there's nothing you can do. And there's nobody you can take it out on. Who are you going to take it out on? Apple? Like, they're not, they don't care.

They don't care. They're not going to do anything for you. So it is what it is. Through that. It does teach you things in life, though. But you know that, okay, the world did not end. And that's one of the things, like one of my last jobs, the supervisor there would say to me,

and I do say it, I do say it now, but she would say if somebody made a mistake or something, I'd be like, oh my gosh, I'm really sorry. Because sometimes there were big mistakes, you know, it wasn't good. And she's like, listen, nothing we do around here is brain surgery. So the world's not coming, crashing to an end. Right. And we will all live to see another day.

Right. Nobody's going to die. So true. Truth. Okay, so what? A class doesn't get their stuff. They'll get it the next day. Right.

They're not going to die. Yep. I know. It's all good. They can pull everything up they need on the internet. So, oh, well. Yep. But again, it is truth.

None of it is brain surgery. Right. That's a big deal. Well, you know, brain surgery is a big deal. Yeah. I'm not doing that. Right. Otherwise, you might not have a brain.

Right. If I go in there, it might be scrambled by the time I'm done. Oh, my gosh. But I'm not in there. So we're all good. Huh? Yeah. I would be on the floor.

Yeah. Somebody had to rely on me for something to a high level. We're in big trouble. Yes. I know what I know. And I'll stick to that. I know. Something activates in, in pressure situations.

You're capable of, like, crazy things. It's true. But. Yeah, but God knows my limitations. So he never asked me to do anything that I'm like, oh, my gosh. Yeah. I mean, I may feel like it inside, but I'm always like, oh, well, there's worse things in life.

True. Brain surgery. That's worse. Not wrong. that's scary so um okay so we are in november and we are talking about thanks being thankful and having gratitude and there are many stages are many things in life that um that i think that we need to be i mean we we named some of them last week but there are many stages in life for many compartments in life that you need to be able to be thankful and have gratitude.

In fact, I think every part of your life, there needs to be where you're constantly. I think there was something that's, I can't remember what it was this morning, but something happened this morning. And I was like, oh, my gosh, thank you, Lord. You know, I can't remember what it was. But I was even, like, this morning when I was feeding my chickens, and it was so beautiful out. I was like, oh, my gosh, thank you, Lord. What a beautiful day.

Like the weather is fantastic and it's fresh. It's crisp. Because Monday I was sweating like a pig out there and I was doing nothing. Right. I mean, I was literally sweating to death on Monday. I was like, it's November. What is going on? And then what a difference a day makes.

So we've enjoyed some beautiful weather and I am grateful for that. I am grateful for the reprieve. I'm grateful for it to feel like fall. and so I don't know there's just many many parts of our lives and I think that thankfulness is a big deal and one of the areas that I think

that a lot of people don't think of being grateful in is in the battle and this is one of the things I was talking about to Vanessa before we came on in my office but a lot of times people don't understand that gratefulness and thanks thankfulness in the midst of battle is huge and what a difference it makes in what you're fighting. Spiritual warfare, maybe, you know, the term the battle belongs to the Lord, it really does.

If you put that, if you use that theology and you really put that into perspective, the battle does belong to him. When you really give it to him, then there is thankfulness in there. And there's one thing, I read this thing that said, how did it go? Thankfulness activates God's power. And, you know, in that, I think that's so true because, I don't know, like, if you're thanking him for something that you're believing for then it really goes it no longer is your responsibility and it activates the power for him to take it on does that make sense yeah what i'm saying and it almost like you're you're in a place of victory already like when you're thankful like you already know the battle is

already won and so you're you're you're positioned yourself from a place of victory at that point when you're you're like thank you you know it's like you're on the other side even though you're still in the midst. Yeah. I know. I do feel like that. Sometimes when I'm really up against things, that's why I think it's easy for me to say I'm not going to quit because already, and I do think that that's true because I oftentimes feel like I'm already on the other side of it in the midst of it. Because I already know the victory is there. I just got to get to it. But I feel like I already know the outcome. So I'm actually already on that side, just walking through the situation.

If that makes any sense. Go ahead, ladies. No, absolutely. I totally agree with that because we all are going to come into situations that we're going to have to walk this out. And there's two options. Either give up or you persevere. Like there's really only two options. So if you do, like Vanessa said, you know that like you start with thankfulness

and your mindset is looking for the victory, you're not going to be distracted when the things aren't aligning yet. You're just going to be like, okay, it wasn't today, but it's going to be tomorrow. And saying thank you usually happens on the other side. Right. Yeah. And when you switch that up and you actually lead with thankfulness,

like it, you are, you're just like, like I said, you're standing in a place of, that battle's already won. Right. Which is faith,

because you already know. It is just faith. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's your faith being put it into practice. Faith is the substance of things,

hope for it and the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11-1, and I think that that is huge. Because you are on the other side of victory, like you said. Super important. I always like to use scripture on what I'm talking about. And one of the things is we're going to talk about, and I'm just telling Vanessa, and this is one of Vanessa's favorite stories of what we're going to use, but I absolutely in agreement with you.

I've used this one. I've used this one in lots of teachings, because I think it is so, so powerful, and it speaks to the power of the Lord. But I think it even speaks more profoundly to being grateful and being thankful, that being thankful before. you even step into the battle, right? So in Second Chronicles, 20, 21 through 22, and this is the NLT, it says the singers went before the army saying, give thanks to the Lord, his faithful love endures forever.

And the Lord caused the enemy to be defeated. That story is, I mean, if you've never read Second Chronicles 20, you need to read it. because you'll never face anything in life ever again without thinking of this story and realizing if God be for you who can be against you. And in these scriptures, in this 2nd Chronicles 20, it says because it was King Jojofat and the Israelites, they were being, they had three armies coming against them.

Three armies had collaborated together. The Emanites, the, it wasn't, it was it the Moabites, emirites, and it starts with an E, I think. Emirates. I think that was the three of the three armies. They all came, they collaborated together to come against the Israelites. And Jehosephat prayed to the Lord. And when he prayed to the Lord, he prayed with Thanksgiving. okay so he came to him praising him for who he was how many times when we're facing a battle

in our prayer most of us when we go in and we're facing something we go in begging we go in pleading we go in and moaning and we go in complaining we don't come in with thanksgiving and really that's what jehoshaphat did and he is such a mean i think tom didn't tom talk about him on sunday josea is my favorite king but jehoshaphat was a great one too i think i thought he mentioned him but maybe he didn't. But so King Jehoshaphat came to the Lord. He praised him, he thanked him, and he told him about who he was.

And that pleased the Lord. This is with Jehoshaphat saying and calling out for everyone to fast, right? So they came with honor, sacrifice, and Thanksgiving. And oftentimes we as Christians want to come and ask the Lord as if he's a genie in the bottle, and we do nothing and you do everything. Again, it comes with that entitlement philosophy or mentality.

That's a dangerous mentality. So they come to him, and the Lord, it says that they prayed, and it says that the Lord said, through the prophet that was a Levite stepped up, who was a prophet, and said to Jehoseph, that this is what the Lord says. And at the very end, it basically said the battle belongs to the Lord. It wasn't their battle. It was his battle.

And he was going to, through his power and authority, he was going to take care of it. So what they did is they sent all of the singers in front of the army, which is what it says. The singers went before the army saying, give thanks to the Lord. His faithful love endures forever. So that's what happened. And because they did that, it caused. the lord um it caused uh the lord caused the lord caused the enemy to be defeated as they were going to go

and fight and they were even told you're not going to have to do anything when they got to a place where they could look out uh it was like it was like a lookout they saw the army when the after they had heard them singing the worshippers had been singing and and the army was marching when they got to the lookout, the three armies had defeated each other and killed each and every single one of them. There was not one person that got away out of the three militaries that had come to fight the Israelites. There was so much plunder that it was called the Valley of Blessing, and it says it is still called that today. because of how much the Israelites took from the plunder of these three, I mean, they took clothes, well, they listed like three or four different things that they took

from the plunder. You just sit there and go, how many times do we come to the Lord with Thanksgiving verses, how often do we come with complaining? And our words are of defeat. but it goes back to what i read which is how what is that something activates power thankfulness activates god's power and it does um does anybody want to add to that really quick before i move on because i'm going to go to another one no that one's i the reason i love that one so much is that he didn't even have to fight he literally not one finger was laid he showed up

and everybody was dead it really like for me whenever i face anything i think to myself i don't have to do anything this is his this isn't mine right there's not one thing i need to do if he tells me to do something i will if he tells me to say something i will but really it's his battle vengeance is his let's sayeth the lord isn't it it's not ours amen what are you going to say venessa because i think you want to say something. I'm actually just rereading it and I'm like rereading it. I'm like that yeah I love this story. Yeah same. Like even before like before the Levite said what he said and started prophesying they were they were crying out to the Lord. Yeah. And they were saying how our God won't you stop them? We are powerless against the mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not

know what to do but we are looking for you to you for help and it just takes one person to stand up right and and speak life and speak the word of the lord and it changes everything changes everything changes everything yeah it's so funny because if none of them none of them came out came and spoke to the lord about if he will it's just they they knew he had to yeah you know, and like he was their only hope. Yeah. And it wasn't like, oh my gosh, what if he doesn't do it? And it's really a mentality.

Like, will he do it or won't he do it? He will do it. You have to believe. You have to believe. And that's what they did. And in so much that they fasted to make sure that that doubt and unbelief wasn't there. They sacrificed. And a lot of times people are like, they wonder why things won't happen to them.

but they don't ever remove their carnality out of the way. There is no fasting. There is no sacrificing. And then they always want to go, well, see, I told you he doesn't do it. It's not always his will. And I'm like, well, you never got you out of the way. Right. Or you're a horrible theology.

Right. Yeah. Which is dangerous. Instead of reading a book, read the word. Right. And like, seriously, break it down in the group. Greek and the Hebrew. Yeah.

Like, it's huge. But that's not what happens. I mean, if you go back to the Old Testament, you'll find out, you'll see over and over and again where God just really came through for the Israelites. And when he didn't, like, when he didn't, it's because of their disobedience. Right. It wasn't because God didn't want to. It even says that he did.

The reason he didn't is because of their disobedience. So really, maybe you need to live. look at if God's not doing something for you, maybe you need to look at where you might be disobedient because it's his will every single time. You're his kid. Right. That's good.

That's a word. Yeah, that is a word for sure. Jonah, two, nine through ten. So Jonah is in the belly of the fish and because of his disobedience and him not doing right. But because he was, his prayer had, Thanksgiving in it, he was released.

And here's what it says in Jonah 2, 9 through 10. It says, but I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows, for my salvation comes from the Lord alone. Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach. So I think it was his thankfulness and his praise to the Lord for who he was. But I also think it was a contrite repentant heart. Because he says, he said, I will fulfill my vows. And he wasn't willing to fulfill them before.

So I sit there and go to you, be thankful, but also be obedient. What is God telling you to do? So often people want God to do everything and them to do nothing. And I just, I don't understand that theology. If you have employees and they want you to give them, everything but you in return have given them tasks to do and they don't want to do those tasks are you going to reward them no you're not so why are you expecting God to be any different right absolutely not chat was like absolutely let's

talk about that I thought they said absolutely not I don't even know I was not even touching my phone she didn't she didn't even have it on her yeah oh my gosh see there you go antichrist oh my god chat gpt just started talking to us but if you think about that like if if if you put yourself into perspective of you if you owned a business I mean seriously act as if you own a business and if your employee wanted you to do so much for them but they weren't willing to do the tasks that have been given it's just like your children. When you give your child jobs to do, are you going to reward them for a lot of parents are nowadays. Okay. You shouldn't be. You're teaching really bad habits,

but are you really, you're teaching your child to be irresponsible. But we'll put it back to owning a business because that's going to cost you money. Yep. And really that's what hurts people in the most is when you hit their pocketbook and you're not related to them. Because a lot of times people do anything for their family. True. Which you shouldn't. But think about that. If you owned a business and your employee was not operating at the level in which they were

supposed to be, would you honestly continue to do for them? No, you wouldn't do for them. You would wait for them to either comply or you would cut them loose. Right. And that's basically what happened to Jonah. Yeah. But he was thankful. He was honoring and he was repentant.

And I think that's why he got sped out, not just for just being thankful. But thankfulness is powerful. It is being, and I just don't think people are thankful anymore. They're not. As a whole. They're not. No, as a whole, they're not. It says in the last days they won't be.

Yeah, true. I mean, people should think about, when was the last time I actually said thank you to somebody? Think about that. Seriously, you need to think about when was the last time I said thank you to somebody. Even my own family that did something for me. Or did you just expect them to do it? Yeah. And if you're a person that doesn't say thank you very much

or you can't remember the last time, are you truly happy? Because most people that aren't thankful are so self-involved that they're actually not happy. Like I'm super thankful for everything. Like I look for opportunities to be thankful. and so in that I'm not really thinking about myself as much and so I'm thinking about like Talia helping me with a podcast

this like you getting this food I'm like man I'm so thankful for that I might not verbalize it as much as I possibly should but I like in my brain I'm so thankful like these built bars oh my gosh I'm like so thankful I'm excited to try it I'm not like she only got me two bars she didn't get me a box for each one yeah exactly where's my like my brain can't even go there because like I just it's you And then there's just more joy in your life because you're looking for opportunities to be thankful and you start to see things and magnify the good. Yeah. You know?

Yeah. It really will change your life, especially if you're a grumpy person or a critical person. If you're very critical, you're probably not super thankful. 100%. Yeah. There's such, people like that have such an expectation of. well why are you not doing that for me right yeah i've i've literally seen people be so nasty because the world does not revolve around them and treat people so poorly because of it

sadly in the church more than even in business right yes yeah because you've been in both worlds for a very long time it's it's like a spirit of entitlement right it really is yeah it's frightening i know it is especially when you like sit under the same preaching that we all do and you don't it doesn't connect there's a disconnect oh yeah somebody's asking other's asking me a question absolutely um what 100 percent yeah yeah I don't know for me I just sit there and I think to myself like going growing up in a I mean for the most part everyone in my house when I grew up was a very appreciative we always said thank you it was mandated pretty much to be southern hospitality or southern manners yes sir no sir those kinds of things and an expectation of being a grateful person and just using your manners and stuff like that but we are we have got shied so far away from all of that stuff and we've gone there that's one of the also with with with no with not with

the lack of saying thank you and the lack of being grateful there is a bigger problem which is a lack of respect and honoring and if you look at the scriptures if you look at these um stories in the word where people were grateful and thankful, it was full of honoring also the Lord. True. True. You know, it goes hand in hand. Absolutely. And really, if you're doing everything unto the Lord, then you would be thankful, and you wouldn't take advantage of people, and you would honor your job, and you would honor going to church and your pastors, because you're doing it unto the Lord. So, like, if you really are, like, everybody at some point, like, prayed for the

spot they're in today, most likely. Yes. And you prayed for this opportunity. You wanted a church that would stand up against the stuff that when everybody else fell down. And then all of a sudden you're going to take advantage of the one thing that you prayed for and got, or you prayed to be a mom. And now you're complaining about having to wake up in the middle of the night because you have a baby that you prayed for. Like, we forget. So that's so true right there. You get what you prayed for. And then you're not grateful for it. And then, yeah, yeah. There's a sense of regret.

Right. Yeah. Because a lot of times people, it's so funny because a lot of times people will pray for a really nice new vehicle or car or something. Like I get made fun of because I use the word vehicle. But it shows my age better. They'll pray for a really nice car. They'll get the really nice car. And they might have forced themselves getting their really nice car.

they're grateful for it at first until they have to start making the payment. True. And then they're like, what have I done? What have I done? And then you get a 50-year mortgage. Oh, that's the new thing.

Tell what? You got a 50-year mortgage. Do you hear the new thing? No. Now there's 50-year mortgages and you're paying like a million dollars in interest on a home. Are you kidding me?

No. Dave Ramsey. has passed away. Just kidding. It's just a joke. He's in a coma. He's in a coma. Yeah, that probably gave him a heartbed.

Exactly. Yeah, there's like. Who did the 50-year mortgage plan? Yeah. So it might look good. And it's actually like when you do the numbers, it was like a $300 a month like savings. It wasn't even anything great from a 30 to a 50.

But it was just enough to save a couple bucks. But not. Again, all that interest. I know. Literally. Yeah. That is stupid. So stupid.

I know. But everybody wants that bigger, better thing. Mm-hmm. And if you spread it out, even though it's a $300 different over the long haul, it'll actually make it so you're able to afford something larger, which you probably shouldn't have. Right. I know. Got to have it now, syndrome. Yeah.

not being grateful and thankful i mean there's something to be said paul was was content in all things he was i mean and it's okay to start somewhere like it's okay to start with a uh not as nice vehicle or an a used phone or it's okay to start somewhere and then see how that goes and then take care of that one thing and then if you're 20 like 22 years old like you're just starting life it's okay to not have a brand new home or a brand new vehicle or like it's okay why not be just happy where you're at right right be content with what you can't have i know yes it's the it's the world of social media everyone's trying to keep up with the joneses and it's all about image yeah it's all about pride and you know what happens

that follows you know that yeah you're gonna fall yeah so you're going to fall I mean that is so true I never even thought about that because in the world today you aren't thankful for the small things

so you think you need the big things to actually for it to amount to something whereas it's like goes back to you were happy that you got two built bars where some people would be like only two where's the other

where's the box yeah that is such a good point and we are really living in that world today with in my gosh and and if you enable that like as an owner of a company or as a pastor and you enable that bad behavior it just it's like talk it's just poison it just keeps coming and you can't stop it and so it is very like as leaders like we have to be careful not to enable that behavior either yeah and uh and it's You have to deal with it. He who is faithful, the little will be faithful with much.

You got to start somewhere. Yeah. You know, it's so funny because my first house, me and Tom's first house, my girlfriends from D.C., now they had been married. Me and Tom had only been married, I think, our first year when they came down. And they both got married at, like, 18 years old. And I was 29. So they had like 11 years on me.

Yeah. And their husbands, they and their husbands, like they had really nice big houses in D.C. Right. And you couldn't tell me nothing. Like I knew they had big houses. I was so excited for them to see our house. And like other people came over.

I sit here and think about these things. But we had family members that had, you know, like in-laws, or excuse me, like my father-in-law's wife, she had, it's a blend of family. She had her kids and her kids had been married longer, but they had really high-paying jobs. They had really nice houses. And I remember these people coming into our house and I had literally bought everything from yard sales

because we were trying to get ahead, be smart with money. And could we have gone out and bought all that stuff new? Yeah, probably. But was it that would have been good stored of our money? No. because if you want to put money away towards your future and stuff like that, retirement, then you don't spend all of it. So I went out and I bought all this stuff at different yard sales

or secondhand stores and I refurbished it and redid it. And everything was super cute in there. And I remember them coming over and looking at everything. And it was really cute and they would ask me stuff and I would say, oh, I bought that at a yard sale or whatever. And they were like, oh, it didn't dawn on me until years later. I was so pleased with what we had and I thought it was so great

I thought God had really blessed our socks off which he had but to these people they would have never bought anything at a yard sale they would have never and that's not to say that they're horrible people it's just it's a different perspective on things

and where we were at like that was great what God did. I was very pleased with it, but to other people, they would have been like, yeah, not,

not gonna happen. It's just, yeah, that's cute for you, but not for me. Right. I'll spend the money. And go ahead,

if you have it, I guess, and listen, I'm big on, if you have it, then do whatever you want with it, but I'm also like, be smart.

Yeah, yeah, and if you are just starting out, it's okay. It's okay to just start out somewhere. I did the same thing. You're not going to have everything all at once,

but not, days. I just watch this girl. She's an influencer. She's 23 years old. She just moved into her apartment and she just spent over $500 on Christmas decorations for her house. I just sit there and go, I hope you make a lot of money. She's a Christian.

But I'm like, $500. You're the only one that lives in this. I'm not bashing. I'm just saying like she went, she did go to Dollar Tree, so kudos to her. But I'm just saying like, that's a lot of money. $500 for not just at the dollar she she went and bought other stuff but I just literally she just moved into the place I'm like you know your house doesn't have but she has to look a certain way she has to

image and I'm like it's very dangerous it is yeah it is and I think back in the day like at least for me like we looked at like my parents and were like wow they've they've made it so far but we knew in our brains like they also put in the work now you're watching kids your same age in your 20s and you're like they have it. Okay, I'll just make it work. But like, so it is. It's different with social media. You actually can see more. There's more information out there versus like us just kind of like looking at our surroundings. Yeah. You know? So that is the challenging part. But you're, you have the mind of Christ. So you can say, well, just because they do it doesn't mean they're not in crazy debt. And I don't want to be in that position. I want to be able to, you know, be able to go on vacation in my 50s and not be working.

And this girl runs and does 24 out now. She might be making money off a TikTok. I don't know. but she does the 24-hour day trips or the day trips away and stuff like that along with everything else and I'm just like but she'll spend two hundred and fifty dollars on the day trip right and she might make great money I'm not but I'm just saying there are a lot of people if she makes great money there are other people who don't make great money and they'll want to live that lifestyle and think that they can which I'm not I'm not if you can't pay it off don't do it right yeah if you don't have the ability to pay pay off that debt. Don't do it. Yeah. And there's a sweetness to the journey because I remember my first apartment, it was like 400 square feet next to the subway. Oh, mine was too. Mine was super small to. Every night, we would have to sleep with the radio on or music playing because it was either music or the subway sound at night. Yeah. And I mean, I loved it. And then after each and every move, I mean, I've moved 11.

times. Yeah, that's crazy. In, we've been married 17 years. And each move, we upgraded a little. Yeah. And a little. And, you know, where we live now, it makes me appreciate it so much more. Right. So the point where I don't care, like possessions to me hold zero. I will throw something away in a second. True. She does. And you've witnessed that. All the time. because I don't like possessions to me like things to me it's but that's something you learn

throughout the journey of it where like this does not fill me right there's none of this the trips the house it's nice but it doesn't fill the void that only jesus can and some people just haven't had that revelation yet right no they haven't and it's a very very sad thing yeah learn to be content and thankful where you're at really there is something it's a sweet spot it is there's a sweetness to it it's there's something precious about it and then I mean good things are going to come regardless anyway like if you're if if you live with your

if you live with your parents still you're gonna move out you're gonna get married if you're single if you're single hopefully you're not married living with your parents God forbid that happened but but you're going to move out and you're going to get married and this will never be your life again you will never experience this again so you better cherish it you better relish in it and you better appreciate it and if you're a person that's not in a great marriage or you don't have hardly anything you're like your apartment or your house it doesn't have a lot of on the walls or

whatever you know what what's great is to say next week i'm putting a little bit of money away i'll not go to starbucks or whatever and i put a little money away and i'll go and i'll enjoy going and maybe going to like some salvation armies or some thrift stores or whatever and every week or every other week you find what you're looking for until the place looks just the way you want it there's something special about all of that we just have to have everything now and if we don't have everything now, then God's not good enough. Yeah. And he's more than good enough.

Check yourself. Mm-hmm. Yeah. One of the things I said here, and I'll close up and we'll do sponsors, it's, I have a challenge. I said, here's a challenge for you. The first challenge is declare Thanksgiving over the hardest place in your life right now. That's good. That's a hard thing to do.

Yeah. But you need to do it. Declare Thanksgiving over the hardest place in your life right. right now. Then you praise him before you see what you're believing for. That's another tough one. I've been, I've done all of these things just so you know. And sometimes I'm still doing them right now. In some parts of my life, I'm still doing the praising him before I see what I'm believing for. I do that more than anything else. And the next thing I'm going to challenge you to do, which a lot of people don't like to do, but I can promise you

if you do it, you're going to look back and you're going to be so grateful you did, which is journal. Journal your trip to getting to where you're believing you're going to go. Because I said, my last one is journal your journey.

And it's true. You need to journal your journey because through it you're going to end up remembering and taking notice of great places through that journey of his faithfulness I my one of the greatest things that I love to go back and look at is when Tom and I dated we dated for three years my first year with him I didn't journal but but after the first year of dating him we broke up and we broke up for a very short period of time and then the second and third year of dating him before he asked me to marry him

I journaled it because those were my those were very tough time for me because we broke up two more times in there and I knew what the Lord had told me I knew that I knew that I knew what he told me and I was able to go I have gone back and I looked at that two year time frame and seeing my heart being broken but God's faithfulness through the whole entire process and I can use those times along with so many other times in my life that I can recall things through journaling or just remembrance, how grateful and thankful I was that I had him through everything and how he always came through. And a lot of times we forget where God has taken us from. So we can't be thankful for where we are or thankful for where we came

from. And when we're in a new place, we're not thankful because we're looking at the tomorrow. Be thankful in the today because there's something sweet about the today. yeah it really is important go ahead because Vanessa I think you're going to say something oh no I'm just listening I'm taking it all in because it's very true all of it and I wish I was someone who journaled more often me too you know like I wish I me too I need to do that I need to be that person I want to be that person but but listen when I go back and read some of it like the oh the faithful part I love reading those, but there's some things, I'm like, you're an idiot.

Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Like, golly, why did you write that? You're so stupid. What were you thinking? Absolutely. So part of it, you're like, another part you're like, oh, cringe. I know, it's true.

And like you say stuff that you normally don't went and say, like, you know, how you talk. And I'm like, I don't talk like that. Right. You're so gay. Yeah, too romantic. document the growth you know i don't talk like that anymore thank the lord i didn't i didn't talk like that back then i was just trying to sound super smart i was just trying to sound like something i wasn't or something i'm like literally like you cringe yeah that can be cringing yeah not cool

that's so funny not cool so silly so silly so gross but that's it so like when you do go back if you journal, don't be stupid. Don't say anything, icky. Sound like you. Yeah, be yourself. Yeah, be yourself. You be you. You be you. Don't listen to them. It's appropriate. But I love the challenge. What was the first one? Let me look at it. There's four of them. Declare Thanksgiving over the hardest place in your life right now. Yes, that one. That's good. I love that. Check. That one's hard. I mean, I, all of us have had to do that. But like, I will say, since we've gotten done the hardest thing and the hardest and i would do i would thank the lord but when we were fighting tooth and nail with the insurance company and up until september of this year

i that was probably one the hardest places in my life from 2022 to last year i mean to september of this year and i literally tom and i both would speak thanksgiving and we'd speak victory over that process and there were times where even the end didn't seem right they end they they did not do right by us but it's not even over it's not over we'll still we're we are still believing for everything they stole from us to come through and we know that it shall happen but that stuff like there are not every time you know like right now i don't think that there's anything really very like there's hard things but not hard things we all have hard things but then there's really hard things and if everything for you is hard then you need to evaluate you

because most of the time life is not hard even if you have small children it's still not that hard maybe you just don't discipline good enough and that's the reason why it is true so you need to fix that. So. Or manage your expectations. That's a good word right there. Very good. Yeah. Remember they've been alive for two years. Yeah. Exactly. Oh my gosh. I remember when Tommy, that reminds me.

That kid is like the best, you know, like he's such a great, great kid. And he's, listen, he's really smart. He's really smart. He is very smart. Tommy is like. He's really smart. But I didn't think he was. He's really smart kid, though. Like, holy crap. So I remember when I, he went to pre-K, and I didn't want him to go to pre-K.

But in order for him to go to Venish Christian school, he had to go to preschool there to get into the kindergarten program to have a chance because there was a long line. and it was a waiting list so I bit the bullet and I said okay well then I'm going to let him go from January to May but I'm not letting him go a minute sooner because he's going to be at home he has all his life to go to school so we played we we everything outside he didn't learn color I mean he knew colors but he didn't learn letters or spelling or nothing so he goes to school and his pre-k teacher's like okay Now you go to your cubby, it has your name on it. And I'm thinking, oh, he's in trouble.

I'm like, he doesn't know. He doesn't recognize his name. She's like, I, she would have thought that I committed the unpardonable sin. Wait, this is preschool. This is four years old? Four going, by then he was five because he turned five going. Yeah, no, four going into kindergarten. Yeah, preschool going into kindergarten.

Oh, no, in kindergarten, his whole. entire class kindergarten where all of the class his class was so smart they had a professor come in from a college and said i've never seen because he was going around and he was doing a study on different um kindergarten kindergarten classes and students and stuff from private to charter i think to public and he said he had not seen a a class like this ever his whole entire class read, including my son, read every single book they had for the kindergarten class,

they had to go out and buy books, chapter books, and even he read through some of them. But then some of those kids, I mean, they were, he never failed, Tommy got 100 on every single one of his spelling test

until second grade. And this whole class, they never didn't get 100. On anything, they were beyond intelligence. I wonder where they're all at now. They're smart. Some of them were smart,

and then some of them are like, Tommy. They just dropped off and they just became normal kids, right? But Tommy went in and he knew nothing. He didn't know. And she was like, he doesn't know how to spell his name. I'm like, he doesn't know how to write. Spell his name. You don't know how to write. She's like, oh my gosh, we got a lot of ketchup to do. And I'm like, he's been having fun. Like, he's been having fun. He's been outside playing. I mean, like, being a boy. Right. She's like, oh my gosh. So all of a sudden, the pressure's on. And I'm like, oh, my gosh. Rome wasn't built in a And remember, two expectations, which is what you're saying,

I expected that kid to know how to do everything in six months. No. You can't do that. That's not really, yeah, poor Tommy. Poor Tommy. He ended up doing it, thank God. But I wrote him like a mule. Oh, my gosh.

So he went from, life is great to, like, you're sitting down, buddy, we're buckling, because he couldn't have gotten into kindergarten. Wow. Yeah, so you're right, though. I sit there and go, expectations. have a manage them like because that was not good management people sometimes people have too much that they expect out of their kids right yeah it's just like they don't need to know all their colors and they don't need to know the alphabet by the age of two because everybody else does that doesn't

mean your kid has to preach and how miserable were some of those kids having to learn to do that so miserable and then for what that like so you can tell her your parents can tell everybody yes exactly why that's it come on they can it's price so they can all say my kid can read a chapter book that's great my do you read chapter books no i don't read chapter books okay so what like you know what are you i know i know but it's it's the system we've created and we need to undo the system because it's not a good one raise the room it's not it's uh what does it's not good to be a one-upper oh it's not good to not like literally i'm not kidding you my friends came to my house and they were like it was a brand

new house. It was 1,600 square feet. It didn't have a lot of furnishings in it. And I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. They did not. But I never knew it because I was very content. I was very happy. And I just think sometimes it's good to be oblivious to what the world says you should have. It's a very good thing. So first one, declare Thanksgiving of the hardest place in your life right now. Praise him before you see what you're believing for. Journal it. You will remember his faithfulness when you do that and journal the journal. Journal the journey. Sponsor time. Real estate appraisal associates, the Southwest Florida Inc. is owned by Laura Callert. And they have been in business since 2005. They provide the most accurate certified

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which is, commit to Lord, whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. Call them at 941-4-603-9602. Sorry for going late, people. But sorry, not sorry, because that was, you know what? It's good for you. It's November. Yeah. We're thankful.

Yeah, we are. Yeah. It's your birthday. It's that song go? How's that song go? Go shoddy. It's your birthday. We're going to party like it's your birthday. That's where I'm going to end right there. That's what I heard too.

Yeah. That's it. That's probably a good idea. But at least you knew it. Because I didn't. So I'm going to go eat me some Dubai cheesecake. And I will see you on Friday. And hopefully for the podcast.

And then we'll see you hopefully Friday night for Dare to Be. Thank you for joining us. And we'll see you when we see you. Bye. Real talk Real talk Real talk Real talk