The Hope Hotline - What It Looks Like To Be In Ministry | Part Two

Episode Date: October 9, 2026

What It Looks Like To Be In Ministry | Part Two

and welcome to the Hope Hotline. How you doing? How's it going? What's up? Mm-hmm. We're back. Just the three of us instead of the song that goes just the two of us in my head. Just the three of us.

Yeah. It's a good day. It's Friday. It's Friday. Not a great day for everybody. But it's a great day. Why is it not a great day for everybody? Because there's a hurricane.

That is true. And it's kind of moving up. Is it a category two now? It's a three almost a four. What? Holy moment. Holy, that escalated quickly. I know.

So last I saw this probably around like noon, and they said 10 miles per hour off from a four. What? Heading towards Pensacola. Makes you wonder. It does. And we're almost. I just don't buy what we're being sold nowadays. We never saw this level.

And they'll say, well, the water's warmer. No, no. No, it's not. About the same time. I thought we were done with hurricane season. No, not until November, like, 9th or 10th or something like that. Wait, yep, after Thanksgiving now. I feel like they changed it.

I know. It's after Thanksgiving. Yeah. I mean, we rarely get anything obviously past like October, but it technically is hurricane season. Yep. I'll pull the dates. After Thanksgiving?

Yeah, I think it's the end of the month. I thought it was always like beginning mid. I thought it was beginning to. Yeah, it's June 1st to November 30th. It's hurricane season. Look and see what was it in like 2018? What was the hurricane season start to finish in 2018? No way.

Yeah, I know. Trust me. I've already had this, I swear. You looked it up in it. Right now. It's official date June 1st, 2018 to November 30th, 2018. Huh. I know.

And we had 15 named storms that year, eight hurricanes to major category three or higher. I know. I've already done the research. I don't understand how it wasn't November 1st. It was always June 1st to November 1st. Yes. I know. Or at least that's what I thought.

Maybe it was just in our heads. Yeah. I think it is. I think it was always in my head. It's the Mandela. Mandela effect. It is. The Matrix.

What is a Mandela effect? You know like where it said like Berenstein Bears was actually E-I-N? And then they're like, no, it wasn't. Or like the fruit of the loom had like the cornucopia. But it actually never had the cornucopia. Bull crap. See? Yeah.

No. It didn't. Never. Never. So they said, like, we're in alternate universes. So right now, if you lived in that universe, you remember that. But right now, if you look it up, there's no cornucopia. And no record of it.

No record of a cornucopia. Mandela effects. Yep. I'll send you some on TikTok. I ain't going to lie. I don't buy it. I mean, does your mom remember that Fruit of the Loom had, like, a cornucopia with fruit coming out of it? everybody remembers it that way.

I'm not crazy. Well, apparently you are. Or you live in the alternate universe. Exactly. There's so many of them. There's so many of them. Like Chick-fil-A, not having the K, but it actually has a K.

It used to have the C-H-I-C-F-A. Really? But it has a K on it. Yo. I don't remember that because that never was a big Chick-fil-A person until it came down here. which took forever. So I wouldn't know that.

That's weird. Yeah, there's a lot of, first one, Mendela Effect, Fruit of the Loom. This one says I know what I saw. Okay, there it is. That's what it is. So on the left, that is not accurate. On the right, that is what it is

when you look it up right now. Also, this one's crazy. Okay. I do remember the one on the right, obviously. And I don't get, I mean, we don't do fruit of loom in my house. I mean, the one on the right is, but I know I saw the one on the left. At least I feel like I did.

Yeah. Because that's what I feel like I saw. So Monopoly. We all know Monopoly, right? Right. The guy. Yeah. Does he have a monocle?

What is that? The little glass. Glass. Absolutely. Nope. He has never had a monocle. Bull crap. Bull crap.

He has. Nope. On one of the little cards, he had it. I hear some good ones. That's bull crap. I know. I hear you. I agree with you.

Okay, these are them. So I know what I saw. So the ones on the left are not accurate. The ones on the right are. So that that little Pikachu never had a black thing on its tail. Well, I wouldn't know that. That, uh, the, Oh, Monopoly guy.

Absolutely. Yep, nope, he didn't. Looney Tunes. was always U-N-E-S, not O-O-N-S. No, that's not true. Fruit loops never had

two, both of those. Like, they only had the two at the bar. They never spilled fruit, but the loops always had two O's, not the top and the bottom having two O's. I don't, I don't. So you're wrong, because anything on the right is accurate right now.

Like if you go to their website, that's what you're going to see. It's always been that way. Jiff was never Jiffee. it was only Jif. And it was always Oscom E-E-R, not M-E-Y-E-R. Okay, some of them I don't know for sure.

Like what's the, the F-B-B-R-B-R-E-Z-E. Fabriz was absolutely that container. The blue one? Yeah, but it was, it was spelled F-E-R-E-Z-E, not F-E-B-R-E-Z-E. I wouldn't know that either. And the, the, the, the monkey with Curious George.

Curious George. Never had a tail. Never had a tail. I don't know about that either. He might have. He might not have. And Kit Kat doesn't have like Kit Kat's like that. Like no line. There's never a hyphen. And Cinderella, I think it's Cinderella. I think Kit Kat did have a hyphen. I feel like it did. Kit Kat. Yeah, Kit Kat has no hyphen.

Now. But I'm pretty sure it did. No, that's what they're saying, hope. That never, ever existed. That's what the Mandela effect is. None of these existed on the left. These are all made up in our minds. That's what everybody claims. All these companies claim they never ever did anything on the left. That is something you made up in your mind.

I brought it up. Oh, yeah. I think it was. And I didn't know what she was talking about. Oh, yeah, because we said the Mandela effect about, what was it, the hurricane? No, it starts ending in November 1st. Oh, yeah, the hurricane season. Because we thought the hurricane season ended November 1st.

Oh, wait. No, I didn't think it ended on November 1st. Oh, I don't. I thought it ended in November and it wasn't always the same date that it ended. And I thought it was always a date, though. It's kind of like Easter. Easter's never on the same day. Oh, see, I always thought it was June 1st, November 1st.

No. Because it's always June 1st to start. No, and I didn't know that it was always June 1st. I thought it was a day in June, early. Yeah. And ended in November, early, not early, early to mid. November. That's what I always thought.

And I thought it was based on what they believed, like Farmer's Ominek, what they said the temperatures were going to be. And that's how they decided this is going to probably be what hurricane season is. Not like it's December 25th every single year. And that, you know, they don't even do that with the time changing. True. They don't. But this they do. I don't agree.

I take issue. Okay. Okay. I'll now read something. Everybody learned something today. Yep. And my mom agrees with everything you said. So. What does she agree with?

All this stuff. She said she remembers all the stuff you did. I agree with hope. Thank you. There you go. We're from the same. We're from the same era, girl. You guys just know.

Sharon said website is wrong. It's so weird, man. It's not cool. It's not right. It's weird. take it up with CERN. No, I'm not. I'm taking it up with nobody.

I believe what I believe and everybody else can go pound sand. I love it. I love it. You're not changing my mind just because you're trying to... No. I ain't by what you're selling. It's propaganda. It is.

I agree. Not everything, but a lot. Most. They want us to question our sanity. Right. So they can manipulate you. Right. That's how it all starts.

starts. Well, that's how, like, anybody that is in a, like, a unhealthy relationship with, you know, a family member or a friend, what do they try and do? Make you question everything. So you question even what you believe about them so they can manipulate you and control you. It's what our government tried to do, people. Sure did. If you've ever been in a relationship, if you've ever been in an abusive relationship, you can see it a mile away. been there done that yep yep i'm like yep you really can see at a mile away like yeah it's like that smells like manipulation yeah like i've been here before i know i've smelled this before that wasn't that wasn't accurate that wasn't good but people who've never like lived through hard knocks of some kind of you know like for me i put myself through that really bad situation so like I have to eat that but but it has paid off in dividends I mean in some ways because now I am not gullible right at all right and I'm kind of like

stone not movable yeah those kinds of situations very helpful they are they can be very very helpful for you if you I said I could tell them my mom today I'm like On the phone, I was talking to her and I was saying, you know, like, excuse me, I'm about to burp. When we see tall-tale signs of the same pattern, how do people go, like for me, like I saw a pattern. I mean, I saw a really bad, I went through a really bad experience and I thought to myself and I said to myself, never again. Like, idiot once, not idiot twice. Like, I'm not doing this. This is craziness.

but like I said to her, how does people, how do people do this with friends, they do it with spouses or boyfriends or like allowing people to have influence over them? Like not parental, but even like, like if you, some people will continue to go for guidance from really bad, from bad people. Like you should never listen to them, especially if you're a believer. You never go to the outside world to get advice. It's going to be scattered. It's going to be a chaotic. It is not going to be good. But I was saying to her, I was like, for me, I sat there and go, okay, I'm never doing that to myself again.

But I said, it's like people don't always do that. People completely. And if you're younger, I understand it. To a certain extent, I mean, I was young and stupid. So, but even I knew, like, the next time that ain't happening again. I'll be by myself. I could do bad by myself is what I used to say all the time. I could do bad by myself.

Like, I don't need help. Come on. Well, like, but I was saying to her, I just don't understand how, like, if you've done it and you've experienced, why keep repeating it? It's familiar. But people, people do. Like, they'll continue to go to the friend. Like my growing up I had friends that were only there when they had nobody else. I mean, all of us, I think, have experienced a friend or friends that only want you around

when they don't have anybody else. And I thought to myself, I ain't picking a friend like that again. I'm going to pick a friend who wants me around all the time. And I will pick friends like that, that I'm not just their. placeholder. Right. I'm more important than that. But people even do that with friendships.

I see it. They don't value themselves or understand how important they are. So they let their heart be like just bashed in. Yep. Stomped on. And I'm like, yeah, I'll be by myself before that happens. But I just don't get it. Like, even with this, like people continue to buy lies.

and you should be smelling it and going, I've been manipulated before and it's not happening again, even if it's our own government. Then you don't experience crazy crap. I mean, we really should question everything. We should not be so, we should not believe everything and be so goable that we're easily manipulated.

Again, like I said, I ain't having that. happened to me again. Yeah. I ain't stupid twice. Yeah, exactly. Listen, I'm stupid. Shame on you. Right. Exactly. Yeah. I'm stupid, but not over and over again in the same thing. I'll just make another stupid mistake for the first time. That's going to happen a lot. Yeah. That happens a lot too. A lot. Same. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Yep. But not, not repeatedly. Yeah. I'm like, if you could, if you could just encourage people to like, like, value who they are. Yeah. It's that. And be like, yeah. Not today.

Been there, done that. I've seen you before. Not happening again. Yep. And some people just like believing the best in people, don't do that either. I'm guilty of that. Yeah, don't do that. Make them earn that.

Jeff tells me all the time, people change but seldom do because it requires work. Outside of God, it's not going to happen. And the worst the case is, the worst the case is the more narrow margin. And the higher percentage that it's only going to take God. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. The God factor changes everything.

Yeah. So for me, I'm like, I don't believe the best in people. I make them prove that the best is there. Otherwise, no. I'm not doing it. Just not. I am not a trustworthy sort. And there's a few people that actually know that real well. I mean, to get in the inner fold ain't easy because I trust nobody.

As far as I can throw on them. Tom used to say that to me all the time. It's like, how do I know I'm special? Because you treat everybody special. And I'm like, no, no, I really don't. I'm nice to everybody. Yes, you are. Right.

But not everybody's special. True. True. There is a difference. There is. There is a difference. There is. And everybody should be like that to a certain extent.

You should be kind and nice to everybody. Right. Because everybody is due that courtesy and is Christ-like. True. But to allow them into the inner sanctum of your life, that should be only for the special people. Jesus had 12. He actually only had three.

He was intimate with three. True. True. True. Yeah. He had 12 that he took under his wing to make duplicates of himself. But he only had three that he was like, you're special. Yeah, okay.

You're special. And then even beyond the 12, he had the 70. Right. But they left him when things got too rough. And they were like, yeah. Yeah. Not doing it. And he's like, so even though 70, I know.

Bye. My. Like, again, if you give your heart to every. everybody, you're allowing your heart to be destroyed. Like, you should, like, that's why, again, yes, me and we're not getting to what I was going to talk about just yet. But it's like, but this is for somebody. Yeah. I know nobody needs to wait for three years to tell somebody they love them.

Like me and Tom did. Oh my gosh. That's crazy. That's wild. I love it. Two and a half years. Maybe not two and a half. Maybe it was like, well, we got in.

We'll round up. July. How did not slip out? I know. They never did. I think that's how it happened with us. I said, oh, I love you. And I was like, what did I just say?

Yeah. Yeah. What you meant to say, you just wished you hadn't said it. You wished he said it first. Yeah. That's so funny. And you never let it slip up, huh? Nope.

Nope. He, like, wanted to know if I did. So he tried to play this game and trick, which made me, like, so you can't lie. It's like, you love me, don't you? Not telling me he loved me. No, of course not. But he's like, you love me, don't you? And I'm like, I'm not answering that question.

Oh, my gosh. He's like, you need to answer that question. I'm like, I'm not answering it. So you phrase the question where you pin the person in. Right. So that they have to answer. And I'm like, okay, well, I can't lie, but I'm not telling it. And it's like, I'll tell you that yes, that's true.

But am I telling you that? No, I'm not telling you that. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall. early days. I would have. Especially when he wanted to date multiple people. When he wanted to date multiple people. I want to love to see your face.

Can you imagine? Hope's face. I don't know how you endured that. Only because I knew God. By then, God told me he was the one. Outside of that, I would have said, you got to go. Bye. But I did tell him you got to go.

You did. Like when he told me he wanted to date me and the other girl. I'm like, so funny. Yeah. He's so immature. Right. In the sister wives is that. I think he, I don't know this for fact, okay?

So when I say this, I don't know this for truth. Okay, guys. All right. But I think he thought he had it so going on that I would be honored to still be able to date him while he dated somebody else. I mean, it kind of sounds like that. That's exactly what it sounds like to me. He was giving you an opportunity. Right.

To still be able to date him. Right, he dated somebody else. He's like figuring things out. What? I was like, dude, I literally said to him, I remember where I'm at, where he's at, how he looked, the whole thing. Oh, my gosh. I remember looking up to him, looking up at him and going, you know how I date. So if you want to go and date her, you can.

But I'm not dating you while you date her because you know how I date. I don't need, we don't need to figure that out. Oh, my gosh. You lost your mind, dude. Yep. You know, what the sad part is, is there not a lot of women today are like changing their philosophy because they're so picky about who they date. Like you have to like, the guy has to have a list in order for you to even be like approachable. Yeah.

Right. Yeah, yeah. Back in the day, it wasn't even like that. So, I mean, he didn't even have a car. Come on. Oh, my gosh. I'm like, good luck on dating her. and your little Toyota pickup that's single cab and tight as a, you know, it didn't even run.

But I was like, yeah, no. But back, well, today it's kind of different. But people are desperate. There are some people that are still desperate. But I'm not, I've never been. I mean, again, I got screwed hard. Yeah. So I learned the hard way.

Yeah. I'm not doing this. Like, I like me. Yeah. I like myself a lot. so and I hated myself for so long for allowing that crap to happen to me so you might understand this Tracy you hate yourself because you realized how hard it was to get back all of the self-esteem that you lost and build that character back up because you feel about that big by the time someone's done with you

and now you're that big and you're like I've gained ground and I should really be here but I'm here so you're not taking me back down to here I'm going to keep growing and if that means you I have to date you and somebody else, which drops me back down to you, go date them. Yeah, exactly. Not happening. I don't love you more than I love myself. I love myself more. So I don't do that.

But a lot of people do, though. I know. But yeah, he was like, literally, some of his stuff, it was pretty funny. Just to watch it. Like, you didn't know I was there. I was just watching it. Yeah, you would have. Better than.

It was a wild scene, dude, because I didn't even cry. I just watched to walk out the door and I was like, don't let the door hit you, bud. Yeah. Yeah. Not happening. I would have felt the same way. I would have been frustrated. I'm like, you crazy, dude.

I'm like literally thinking to myself, you just lost the best thing that ever happened to you. As you should. Have at it, dude. Have at it. My heart would pitter, patter, and be all sad and stuff like that. But like the first time he broke up with me, I don't, I probably did cry, but I don't remember. But for me, I never. I never let him see me cry.

I never let him see me sweat. I never let him think I was bothered. I didn't even tell his friends I was bothered. I tell him my girlfriends that were married to some of his friends that I was pissed. But, yeah. When he broke up with me, even at, where was that? Universal. We went on a youth thing, a big universal, like fire week, but it's not fire.

it was called I don't know Assembly of God Assembly of God thing I can't remember where it was but it's kind of like fire Acquire the fire

We went to I think it was a choir The Fire and he broke up with me there like just stopped talking to me all of a sudden Oh I hate that I'm like oh he was so mature

Oh I hate that So after a while I got the hint but for a little bit I was like I didn't know what was going on But then you get the hint because you're around a whole bunch of people. So you're not really talking to each other a lot anyway. So after a little bit, you realize something right.

Something's going on here. So he like literally broke up with me but didn't say it, but gave it to me through body language. And I just was like, all right, well, I'll go off with my other set of friends. You will be with your friends. I guess I will go off and be with my friends, other set of friends. And even then I was like living my best life. I was like, you are not going to bother me, dude. You are not going to get the best of me.

Again. For you. I like myself. Yeah. Yep. You have to, guys. I mean, that's one of the things he said that made him want to come back. He's like, you are never bothered.

Right. I'm like, yeah, because you're not number one. Right. God's got to be number one. And I was working hard to get that back. So if God's number one, then you really do love yourself. Yeah. Love thy neighbor as thyself.

right you have to really love you in a non-prideful way to be able to love people properly right and loving people properly is not letting them get away with treating you like crap right true Jeff Tomas would give a good class on that because Jeff Tamas is my duplicate in the male body right I'm telling you if me and Jeff Tamas were married we take the world on and conquer it right now We would take the world on and we would conquer it. It's a good thing. It'd be like Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

Like they'd be burning everything down along the way. I'm telling you right now. Like me and Jeff would probably be brainstorming every night about how to whatever we were trying to do. Yeah. And we would be doing it. Instead,

it would not necessarily be a good thing. Instead he has me. While he's brainstorming about how to take over everything, I'm sitting next to him on Pinterest designing my next table skate. And looking hot while you're doing it. That's really what's all important, Vanessa.

He doesn't need another person brain. Yeah, he doesn't. Like, he doesn't need another mega mind. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He needs the hot wife. He needs a hot wife. Fair. Yeah.

That's the way it roll. That's the way it goes. Okay. So, no, yeah, you probably, you probably, you probably, you two probably would have enjoyed the experience and laughed. I would have. I would have. He's crazy. I would have. He's crazy. He's crazy. He's crazy. My girlfriends were like that though. Yeah. I can imagine. They were all like,

but they kept going. Yeah. Oh my God. Three times. Three times. Oh my. I know. Broke up over a sandwich. That's crazy. That was at Universal. Broke up over, uh, I like to call her summer girl. Because happened over summer. We all call her summer girl. Summer girl. Okay.

Her name was Bonnie in real life. She was cute girl. Where is she? I don't know. Ooh. I have no idea. Tell you? Huh?

Can you find it? Talia? Get on it. She's probably married now. So Summer girl. Okay, Summer girl. And then there was another girl that he broke up with me over that all the guys. All guys.

wanted to go out with her, but she, like, modeled and she was really pretty girl, blonde, like the whole thing. Like, she had the complete package. And she said yes to her? Yeah. Like, she was pining for him. She made it aware. She was, she, she made it aware to, like, the right people.

Like, his dad's best friend was her dad and Tom's dad were best friends. So she made it aware that she was interested. She was not, not. interested. And so all the guys. So these were like safe bets because he knew that they liked, like she liked him. But listen, he could, he would go into, it was ridiculous. Like the school that he went, the schools that we go to, the teachers would married women. Married teachers would be hitting on him. Single teachers hitting on him. He had one like prosecuting attorney. She might have been like one of the head ones. Married.

married basically said, oh, like, dude, you just give me the word. And I'm like, and he thought she's kidding. I'm like, she ain't kidding. No, no. Nobody says that if they're kidding. Trust me. And he's like, yeah, she's just playing around or whatever. I'm like, she's not playing around, dude.

But he's very like, in a lot of ways. I'm like, thank God he's very naive. Like, because he wasn't used to women hitting on him. Right. Listen, he was not attractive at all when I started dating him. at all. I didn't even know I was dating him for the first little bit. Oh my gosh.

I just thought we were going out. And about two weeks in, I'm like, oh. We're dating. We're dating. You know what? Same. Kind of a pity. I was like going out with him because he's funny.

My sister literally said to me one time, she said, and then I want to hear about yours, Vanessa. But the first. I don't know. The first, I don't know. First a little bit, my sister, because he was dropping weight and everything. But my sister goes to me, you know if you marry him, he could get fat again. And listen, he wasn't attractive when she first saw him.

And my sister's husband looks like George Bush. George W. Bush. He's thin, very well kept, extremely always very stylish. Tom was completely opposite. Oh, my God. Everything that I just mentioned by a lot. His attire was 10 years old, older than where we were at. His hair, his fat, he did not have it going on.

And you started hanging out. I was like, I'm not marrying him. Started hanging out with him because he was opposite of everything that had ever dated or even been interested in in a lot of ways. And he was super funny. I mean, we all see him. Once he get you laughing.

I know. He's very, very funny. Yeah. He is. So he had me at the jokes, or not even jokes. He doesn't tell jokes. He's just very witty.

Yeah, he is. He's witty and his like facial expression. Yeah, like, so I was like, man, okay, I'm going to go out And at least I know, like, we'll go out and we'll have a, well, at least I'm going to laugh a lot. Yeah. Little did. I know I was too much for him.

Oh. He's the first day he's like, you were too much. He debated him with asking me out again. He's like, I mean, you were too much, almost more than I wanted, but he's like, I'll give him another shot. Oh, my gosh. So I was too much personality, which is true. But he didn't have a lot going on. But I think he said you were hot.

Worth it. Too much, but you're still good looking. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, that's crazy. Go ahead, Vanessa. Talk to me, goose. I feel like the same thing happened for me. Like, we were hanging out.

He was picking me up. We were going on, like, date. And you realize, wait a second. And he never, like, gave us a label. I'm like, what are we doing here? Are we exclusive? He's like, I didn't know I had to ask you to be my girlfriend. Like, will you be my girlfriend?

yeah I will thank you for asking that's better than Tom he even talked about this last night on our way home last night he's like this is not what he said last night but he was talking about this specifically

he was like because I tease him because like 10 days in he's like where is this headed and I'm like oh my gosh what are we we're only dated or we've only been going out for 10 days

what do you mean where is this headed like oh my gosh guy. I'm just telling you. I'm the guy in the relationship. I know. I know. He's the girl. You are. Yeah. He wanted a label. He did. I didn't give it to him. I said to him. I said to him, that makes sense. Yeah. You're the girl. Yeah, I wanted a label. I wanted to know where we go. Yeah. I did not. I did not. I just, I told him, I said, well, why don't we just date for a little bit? And then we'll, we'll see where this goes is what I said. Why don't we just date for a little bit and see where it goes? and then we'll figure it out.

But I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm in high school. Right. That's exactly how Jeff felt. Yeah. I later told him, I said, I felt like I was in high school or something like that. That's exactly how he felt. He's like, and then he asked me as if he was in high school, do you want to be my girlfriend? Right.

Check yes or no. I think Tom just said, do you want to be exclusive or something like that? Not do you want to be my girlfriend? Because I would have broken up with him right there. I ain't being nobody. I don't know. Not being your girlfriend. I was 21 and he was 31.

That's true. That's true. She's a baby. That makes a lot of sense though. Let's think about that. No, that's so true. That's very high school. Right.

Because I just got out of high school. Yeah. Literally just graduated. And Tom was 25 and I was 26. So. But he had never dated before, really, to speak of. So he was in high school and he acted like it. A lot.

All right. So do we have any announcements? Yeah, we can go through them real quick. We've got the breakfast club is coming up next week. You have to be 50 plus or married to somebody 50 plus. And that is right here at Foundation Church. You can meet over at the caboose Cafe. And then the day before that is the podcast.

And so make sure that you realize that we're not on. We have a wedding. So I'll be at a rehearsal dinner. My daughter is getting married. the next day. So that's crazy. And then Dare to Be is coming up the following Friday. So make sure you mark your calendars.

Make sure you're here. And then last but not least, Pastor Tom has his podcast tonight at 8 p.m. And so you definitely want to jump on. It is live pretty much 8 to 9-ish. And he's on his Instagram and he's on TikTok. And so if you hop on, especially on TikTok, if you can and you're a fan, you can just click that like click the screen and it helps put that out there to other people to find him and yeah people are hungry for the truth right now and so if we can get that out that would be

excellent people are looking in every avenue from new age to Catholicism and so if we can give them the full Bible the full gospel truth that is best case scenario so we like getting out there TikTok is TikTok and so obviously if you're on Instagram you can share it as well if you have a friend that is really trying to like study the Bible. This is a great opportunity to get them into the word. And it's, it's good. It's on a Friday night. It's easy.

You can sit right from your home. You can ask questions. And so, yeah, it's been really good. So make sure you log in tonight on any of those platforms. Super easy to find too if it's alive. So definitely join us tonight. That is all. Hot diggedy dogged.

Okay. So sorry I was answering to me now. I was trying to pause. I was trying to go as slow as I could. What is that? You're multitasking. I am multitasking. So I'm going to catch Vanessa up so we can continue on with how do I know I'm called to ministry and where do I start? So she wasn't here because she was on her birthday, which is yesterday. Yeah. Her birthday vacation. We went away to the mountains. Who went away with you? the way. My husband and my two kids. And where did you go? We went to Bryson City and we were in the Smoky Mountains like literally in the in the smoking mountains in a cabin. Was there any oh in a cabin how nice was that? So nice. Like I would open the door to like the little patio area and the Smoky Mountains were literally in your face in my face. Were the leaves changing it? Yes. No

way. And every day it just got brighter and brighter and brighter. And then we drove through Tennessee into North Carolina and there's this famous road called the Dragon Tail. There's like 300 like turns and 11 miles.

Did you want to throw up? I did. It was just, it was a lot. And then Jeff, the way that he drives, it was, he was in cloud nine, let's just say. He loved every second of it. Was it going up and going down? Yes, all of it. Oh my gosh, I would have vomited.

Yes. I don't like that. It's super popular. At least nine people die every year on that road. Oh my gosh. What? Yeah. Yeah. That's crazy. Why? Because they just drive too fast and they lose control and go off over the side. Yeah, a lot of motorcyclists will take that road and they just go too close to the curb and there's no guard rails. Like you're literally on the side of a mountain. That's like Pike's Peak in Colorado. Yeah. That's like. Dangerous. What's that one called Glacier National?

Okay. It starts with an A, I think. Look that up really quick. Glacier National. It's this un... It's a very short word. Oh, gosh, what is the name of that thing? Going to the Sun Road?

Sun. It's Sun Road. Thank you. It's not an A. It's called Sun. Sun Road. And let me just tell you. Scary is crap.

Yeah, I was scared. Like Norma had her eyes close the whole entire time. Yeah, my butthole was like this. Uh-huh. Yep. Then they're done that. Yeah. Like, ooh!

Yeah. Go ahead. Yeah, so we just, every day, we did a train ride through the mountains, the Smoky Mountains. It was a five-hour train ride with zero Wi-Fi. That was really fun. We got to see all the foliage. Is that how you call it? Yeah.

Foliage. Yep. Vollage. And then we got some homemade donuts on our little layway. Apple cider. They were in apple cider. I know I wanted some. It's disappointing.

That's okay. Then we went on a hike up the mountain. And if you know anything about the Appalachian Mountains, like there's cryptics, I think they call them. Like, what does that mean? Mountain people, hillbillies that live in that. You know about them. They're like off the grid people.

And like, are they weird? Things that, and people that you can't explain in there. And you're not supposed to whistle while you're in the woods. There's like an unwritten rule. You can't whistle. When you're walking through the woods of Appalachian Mountains. Is that for real? Yep.

Yeah. Guess who was whistling? Guess who whistled the whole two miles. Jeff. Because you want to see one of these people? Because he was just making fun of it. Good for him. God bless him.

I love that man. With all of my heart. The whole time whistling. The whole time. Just whistling. Are you this for real though? Yes. It's like a, what is it called?

A conspiracy. Oh, okay. So it's not real. No, like everybody in Appalachian Mountains is like you cannot whistle. How do you know? I will say. Because I did a conspiracy theory night on this. no whistling.

You can't whistle. I will say he went down the mountain limping. He's, by the end of it. He was injured. Like, Appalachian, no whistling.

So it's a folklore. Because his ankle again. But. Okay, so whistling, especially at night, or deep in the woods, which you were, is believed to attract

wandering spirits, shape shifters. Hope, hope. Hope. Lock in. Walk in. or things known as hates. So if you whistle, you come back, limping.

Well, there's reasons for that. And it ain't got nothing to do with no spirit. Just saying, he was whistling. I warned him. We had a conspiracy night. I warned him about this. You did warn him. Good for him.

I don't know how to whistle or I would do it. I know. He came home last night. I was like, Jeff, you're not supposed to whistle. So we were hanging out for a birthday. And he literally started whistling again. And it was like the perfect whistle too. It was like the one that's like creepy.

Yes. I love him. Like don't tell me not to whistle. No. Amen. Preach. What else did we do? Did you get anything appellee?

Oh, and we did ATVs, yeah. Oh, that's fine. Through the mountains. Yeah. Did you do anything apple wise? No. Fall wise. I should have.

Was it cold? It was like like 70s, like a low 70s. So the mornings were like cool. and then what was it in the day 70 and the mornings were like 50 yeah that's cool I know and and the God is good and you had the mountain view the mountain view yeah it's beautiful I started and ended my day sitting looking at the mountains okay I will tell you this that's probably the only thing I would be jealous like I wouldn't want to go and do pretty much anything but you know how I am about the mountains I know and I really didn't care about the mountains

until this trip. I was like, oh, I get it now. I get it. Especially in the fall. I know. Because it's nothing like it. There isn't. He used to go to Shenandoah Mountains all the time every year for the fall.

Yeah. Every year. And then, you know, because they always have everything. They have the stands. Yeah. They have. They have the things. They do.

That you don't get in the summer or who goes there in the winter, not me. No, no. Summer and fall. True. That's when you go to the mountains. true because it is gorgeous. So I think you need a trip to the mountains, hope. I do.

That was so easy too. It was. The flight, it was so easy. Oh, you flew? Yeah. Allegiant. Oh. Right there.

Yeah, just got on, cut off. That's it. So fast. Emma came to youth that night. She did. Literally landed and she came in. I know. She ain't missing it.

No, she's not missing it. She's got her friends. Literally. She got her peeps. I know. I know. So yeah, I was that simple. Well, at least you have fun.

Yeah, I had a wonderful time. It was great. Can't beat that. And I'm very happy, even though I haven't got your gift yet. It's okay. This too shall pass. It's the thought. There was no thought.

I thought about you and said, I need to get her a present, like three or four times since I found out was your birthday on Wednesday when I found out because I didn't even know it was your birthday, which I have to put in my calendar. which how did I not have that in my calendar? I don't know. But I haven't thought about you outside of that. And there is no thought, Vanessa. Oh, that's okay. So there's no counting. That's really disappointing, actually.

I know. I'm very disappointed. That's why I'm going to be honest. I love it. Please always be honest. This is my present to Vanessa. What is it? I got a Taco Bell gift card and an AI picture of us.

That's brilliant. My love language right there. That looks just like you too. Not kidding. I know. That's pretty good for AI. Very. My first thought was I wanted us to like be in like Europe. So I did this one first.

Oh my word. If I can zoom in on the arms, which I don't, I don't know if I can. I don't know what end up happening. Oh my gosh. What in the interior of your arm? Yeah, look at the arms. I don't know what happened. It looks like a butt.

I know. Where's my pan? I can't. Okay. We're just, we're just going to stay there. Yeah, so that was my present to her. She got a Taco Bell gift card. That's awesome.

And an AI photo and a Carvel cake. Okay, I ain't going to get you anything close to that. That's very creative. I know. Listen. You're going to get a card and a gift card. If you just write something with like a good heart posture, that would be, that would really mean something. That would be like cherry on top.

Oh, see how much it would mean to her? Not happening. Not happening. I will promise you all. do the same thing that Heather, Heather, that Tracy did for me. Oh, gosh. Oh. I will not use AI to write my card. She wrote, she wrote everything. Yeah. And at the very end of it, she goes, you'll be proud AI did not write this. I did. Yeah. Yeah. And now. Sometimes I got to pull out my brain. Not always. Not always, but sometimes. On occasion. Yeah. It's necessary. So I can promise you the same thing,

Vanessa. I appreciate that. It'll come from my heart, but not the posture of my heart. I thought you were going to gift me protein pills. I know. That's what I thought just going to. I found another bottle, by the way. I don't want it. You know what you're getting for Christmas. Those things are so freaking huge.

I think I gave a bottle to Tommy. Keep giving them. It's the gift that keeps on giving. All year round, Clark. They take five of them. They're so big. There's these protein pills and they're supposed to help you like receive all the protein.

Collagen and everything. They're like this big. That's not a joke either. You have to take five of them. And I'm like, hope. I think you'll really like these. In one day.

And I had a subscription and I kept getting them. So now I have somebody on like the back order that I just keep giving them to hope for her birthday. But when I saw, she's like, they're really big. I was like, I've had big vitamins, whatever. And then you. 28 grams of protein.

Yeah. When you see, how many? 28. Mm-hmm. Oh, my gosh. I know. But when you see them, you're like, I have never seen anything this big in all my life. That's what happened.

When I opened it up, I was like, why? The what? Why? They're hard. They're not even like gel-filled. No. They're like charged. They get stuck in the back of your throat.

They have yogurt or something to make them go down. It has gotten sucked sideways. Yeah. We used to drink my protein drink with it to help it like. No. Not get lodged. Oh, my. gosh, they are fierce. They're terrible.

And they don't taste good. No. I mean, I'm sure they're great. No, but my word. Oh, my gosh. Okay, now that we only have 12 minutes left. Okay. Let me ask you these questions. Okay. Rapid fire. Rapid fire. We're moving on. Not today. Yeah, because we only have Wednesday next week. Oh, okay. We'll cover it next week. Yeah. But I'm going to ask her these questions to get

everybody caught up because then everybody will be, we'll all be on the same page. same page. I like that. And I want to hear our stories. I'm here for you. So we're all on the same page. I don't know if I have an answer for all of them, but you do. Let's go. It's not going to be, you're not going to, listen, Vanessa. Yes. You could still use your first language to answer these questions. It's not your second. Okay. What is that? And it's everything that you know and it's nothing hard. Okay. Except one. I'm joking. I'm joking. I go ahead. Go, go, go. I just want to make her nervous. Oh, okay. What was the first thing you ever did in me?

ministry. What was your first job? Oh, I picked up kids. I was a volunteer at our bus ministry, and I picked up neighborhood kids. And a bus. And a bus, and a school bus. By yourself or was somebody else? I did not drive the school bus. Why is that? Because I don't have a CDL. Or license. That's what I was getting at right there. How old were you when you got your license? So I attended the program. Oh, when I got my license? Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Not your CDL.

25, I think. 25 years old. Isn't that interesting? She was 25 because you grew up in the city. And you don't need a license when you grew up in the city. You need a metro card. That's right. We need a metro card.

Yep. Or a bus. Did you ever ride the bus? Because I used to buy the bus and the metro. Me too. Sometimes you have to do both to get where you need to go. That's right, girl. That's right.

That's it. Or? I never did that. That's crazy. Well, I did because I lived, I didn't actually do this, but it was like this. Because when you live in D.C., if you live in the suburbs of D.C., there's a lot of us that live out there. So I lived about 25, 30 minutes tops from D.C. at this particular time. And so it would take you like an hour and a half to get to work.

Oh, my gosh. An hour to an hour and a half depending on the traffic. And so unless that's like the bus was fast because you got in the HOV, the HOV. Oh, okay. So there would be a bunch of people that drove into the city every day. And so they were one person in the car. So what they would do is they would stop at the bus stops. And they would invite people to hop in and go hove.

And then you didn't have to pay your bus for. fair you got a free ride because they didn't require you to pay gas and you got on the h-o-v so i did that but i wouldn't always get in because sketch some people they look like the guy from home alone in the taxi yeah yeah you know from home alone new york today yeah and like no it's not how i'd be like no thank you but i did that a lot instead of riding the bus I just get in the, get in the car and ride down. I know, it's crazy. But that's what you do in the city.

I don't, I mean, probably they still doing it today, but that's risky nowadays. That's what we did. So, yeah, like, I didn't have to drive either. I had my license, but I didn't have to drive. So did somebody ask you to do it or did you volunteer? When you got, when you did the bus, were you asked to do it or did you volunteer? I got too old to attend the program. So I was one of the kids that used to get picked up from my neighborhood.

And then I still wanted to participate. And so in order for me to stay, I then volunteered. Okay. So it was me. Okay. Perfect. Were you confident when you started? Probably because you had ridden the bus already.

So you know what it entailed. It wasn't like you were stepping out of your comfort zone. Yeah, I don't remember like being nervous. Good to know. See, these are easy questions. Yeah, easy. I'm super young. Did you feel called or did you simply see something that needed to be done?

I don't remember, like, feeling like a compelling, like, call on my life to do it. I just, I saw an opportunity. I feel like that's been a constant theme in my life. Literally. I was just like, wow, nothing's changed. I saw an opportunity. And I just kept showing. Right. Yeah. Yeah. What are you doing in ministry now that you never imagined yourself doing when you started?

Public speaking, like in a large scale. I didn't, I never saw myself doing that. Like if people knew you, like, they would have said, never. She's never public speaking. Not her. Because that was Jeff. Jeff has always been the mouthpiece for us. Yeah. It's like my mom. My mom, my dad always talked to. My mom was always the wall. flower. She's just the silent partner. Yeah. But if you were there last night at the, at my, my, my, uh, divine healing, uh, class, I mean, she spoke up and she like, and sometimes I'm like, who's that? I know, I know, I know. Because I grew up and my mom was super quiet. I love her so much. Yeah. So it just depends. Be so bold now. Your mom. Yeah. In a lot of ways, yeah. It's true.

Mm-hmm. So. God can really miraculously change all of us in ways that we never even dream possible. So like, okay, so here in six minutes, actually over six, like six and a half minutes, share you have that much time or you don't have to use all that time. But share your like story from when ministry started to kind of like where you are now. Like how God took, because he who is faithful, there's just what we're talking about on Wednesday. Who is faithful with the little things will be faithful with much?

A lot of people think I'm going to step into a pastoral position and they've done nothing. And basically, most of all of our stories are where we started out in something small and it shows how you're not to despise small beginnings because those small beginnings lead you to the bigger things that God has in store for you. You wouldn't be ready if he gave you it too far in advance. So, and most people don't want to wait because like we were saying, a microwave world. Right. Not us.

We didn't grow up really in a microwave world. So we're used to like things having steps. But Gen Zers, younger millennials, they're like, I want it now. Right. Like I have to wait. That's not right. True. You are like holding me back and what the Holy Spirit has for me.

It's like, no, I'm not. Yeah. I would not be prepared to be. where I am now if I didn't go through what I did and the steps that I took along the way for sure. It was all a stepping stone. It laid a foundation to where I am now. But growing up, because I attended bus ministry and, you know, the church used to pick me up, I saw ministry modeled to me at a very young age, like a very young age. And my mom was super active in our church. And so it was always around me. She also raised us in church. And so I was filled with the Holy Spirit at a very young

age. I had my prayer language at a young age. I was just exposed to it. So it just naturally happened. Like I was just, I naturally gravitated towards it. And whenever there was an opportunity and I saw an opportunity, I would just step into it and not even think about it. And I do a lot of that now, even. I like, I see an opportunity. I step into it. I think later. And, and so, yeah, I, I did bus ministry. And that led me to be invited on as a staff member at my church. And so I worked in the finance department. I would count our offering. And I still count the offerings till this day. Yeah. Look at that. Full circle. Full circle. I used to count the offering. And we used to get in donations because it was a larger church. And so I would count the donations that would come in. I would print out receipts. And that was

just kind of my thing. And that's how I met Jeff. He became an intern at the church that I was working at. And it's like a three-month internship. They learn about, it was a hands-on program where they learn how to to implement the children's program that we did in New York from start to finish. And the The goal is after the three months was done, you would then take what you learn and go back to your local church and implement what you learned there. But Jeff was so good at what he did that they invited him back to stay on as a staff member at the church. He took a bus route. Everyone was assigned a bus route, which was a neighborhood in New York City. He took a bus route that had like five kids attending from that neighborhood to three buses.

in like a matter of like three months. And so they're like, yeah, we're going to keep you. So he stayed on, which was a good thing for him because he was homeless at the time. And so while he was an intern at the church, he had housing because they would give him home room and board. But after the internship, which was only three months long, he had nowhere to go. And nobody would take him. his family members had no, like he had, he had burned every single bridge.

Yeah. And so when they invited him back on, the church itself had like a dorm style housing for the young staff members who were single. So he had room and board taken care of. And so he came back on staff. We, you know, we got, we fell in love. We got married. And then we knew immediately that we didn't want to really raise our family.

in the city, we were living in the, like, admissions field. Like, our neighbors were, like, my direct neighbor was a prostitute. Yeah. Lovely. And then, like, there were times where I would get home from work and there would be, you know. A John waiting outside of the dog. Like, a dope person, like, being getting high on our stoop. And so I just knew it was time.

Like, the Lord was like, you're done here. Like, I'm pregnant with Joseph. and an opportunity opened up in California to work for his family. His family had like an automotive shop there. And so we did that for a little bit. But when ministry is really what you want to do, you're not satisfied. He was like, I need to pursue this.

And so he applied to become a children's pastor at a church, a large mega church in California. We did that for a little bit. and some things happen there. Some things were exposed there. And we're like, oh, once it's exposed, like, we have now, like, the Holy Spirit literally released us. And so that led us to another church in Alabama as children's pastors as well. And that, we lasted there about 18 months.

And things were exposed there. Yep. Pretty much. pretty much. It's crazy. I know. I know. But is it?

But right. Yeah. Look at the headlines. Like I feel like this is just another story. I know. And growing up in it. And instead of it like hardening our hearts, it just fueled us even more to want to do it right. Yeah.

You know? Because our source wasn't people. It was God and honoring him. And so we were like, all right, let's try again. And an opportunity opens up in Florida. at a church. And by that time, I had two kids. In Charlotte County, correct?

Yep. It was in Charlotte County, yeah. Court Charlotte. And by that time, we had two kids. And it was getting really hard to raise a family on $35,000 a year. I don't know why. And so with the price and cost of living in Florida. I don't see why.

Yeah. And they were like, we were like, there just has to be a better way. And an opportunity opened. up for Jeff to go into the field that he's in now because it was very important for him to be able to still impact families and to help the community but also have a living wage to do more with. And so God opened up a door in finance and he knew absolutely nothing. Nothing. He knew all this. Nothing. Because when you guys came to the church, you had just left that. church and he wasn't doing finance when he was at that other church no he you guys had started

growing that church like he did the bus ministry and they were like yeah now we don't want the church to grow we want to keep it small you got to go which is insane we were um it was unhealthy growth is what they said um and so at that moment it immediately when it was said like the holy spirit released us yeah because how what is what is healthy growth I'm like, all right, because the book of Acts, they added to their numbers daily. 3,000. Yeah. So when you came to the church, you guys were trying to figure some things out.

I would clearly remember that. And shortly after you got to the church, foundation church, is when he got that job. I remember because I remember the whole opportunity, the whole thing. Like, because he started talking to us about it. Like, it was yesterday. Yeah, so after we left the church in Port Charlotte, I forgot to mention this. He went to kill bugs to try to figure out, you know, like he needed to like get some licenses and like learn the business kind of. So he killed bugs while also doing that.

And at that time, local church was launching and they asked him to be the campus pastor. And so we did that. It was called Life Source. It's not a church anymore. it literally died. Yeah. And so while he was killing bugs, also learning the business and getting his licenses, he was also a campus pastor in town. And that's, you know, we were implementing all the things that we knew to do coupled with just loving God and loving people and seeing them being set free.

And people kept coming. And because we were growing so quickly, that's when they were like, this is unhealthy. So wait a minute. He had already started the other business because I didn't remember him doing that when he first started at Foundation. No. Mm-mm. He started at Modern Woodman as like selling life insurance. Gotcha.

Yep. I remember that. And got open that door up and he went in and he climbed the ladder pretty quickly. Yeah. And he got to a point where there was no opportunity. to grow anymore and he was like there has to be more than this and plus he was making them lots of money right and he's he's thinking why am i making them all that money right that's my money right and so that got the that yeah and so then he then he launched into uh launching his own business and then while

also doing that we started attending foundation church and we got plugged in almost immediately and we haven't really look back slow down since. Because you guys doing coming here you've taught several classes and from married to just in general classes about just discipleship together then you by yourself

and then Jeff does our Sunday morning announcements with a teaching. Yeah. And like, you've never not done something. Right. I was on the worship team for seven years.

Oh, that's right. Yeah. I was volunteered by you. And you were like, hey, I was filling in for Jana because she was giving birth. That's right. And you were like,

can you fill in? And you had stepped down. Yeah. And so. I was like, I could fill in. I thought I was filling in seven years later. I was still on the team. That's right.

And so we, over the years, we, we see a need. We see opportunity and we just meet the need and we fill the opportunity. And we just say, we continue to just say yes. And I think that's the theme of my life. The theme of our marriage is that we continue to say yes and we obey. And I would say that one of the things, as we close out, one of the things that I will say is about you and Jeff is if the need is something that nobody would want to do, you'll do it. There's nothing that's too, there's nothing beneath you guys. Yep.

So true. even all these years in. Yeah. Whatever it is, it's not beneath you guys. And you'll, I mean, I can't tell you how many times Jeff has told me, you just tell me what you need and we'll do it. Or I'll do it. And so I think that when you're in ministry and you've been doing it for a really long time,

even though you're not, well, you guys kind of are on staff. because, well, because he does a lot of our counseling for us and stuff. But not full time because he has a separate job besides that. But I think, but it's still ministry. And I think what happens is when anybody does ministry for a really long time and they grow and they get higher in position, a lot of times people really think that there's things beneath them. Yeah. And or they're beyond doing that.

and that would be more beneficial for someone else to do it kind of thing. And I will, and I proudly, when I say proudly, I don't mean that proud like isn't. I was going to say it. Go ahead. About you. You'll do the same thing. Oh, no, yeah. What I was going to say is there's absolutely nobody on our staff.

Nobody on our staff. if there was and they ever did, they got an earful from Tom. Yeah. And to be honest with you, it has happened where people have had to get an earful and be like, that's not somebody else's job. You see it, you do it. I do it, you do it. Right.

And so, but that hardly has ever happened, but it has happened. But I will say that at this church and in this building, there is not one person that is in leadership. I mean leadership as in staff, part-time, full-time, that they don't see something and it's not beneath them. They see it. If it's something on the ground outside, if it's trash, they'll pick it up. Nobody walks past things.

I speak volumes about the integrity and character of each and every individual. And because a lot of times ministry does that to people. And it should not. We are not. Nobody's beneath anything. Right. Well, and I always say everything stems from leadership. And so you and Pastor Tom will do what needs to be done.

And then that's from leadership. And then other people are like, well, if Hope would do it, like, there's no excuse. Once you know that your own leader would do something as little as like cleaning and helping and moving chairs and just doing whatever it takes just to get things done, you know, I would say the arch church is pretty good at that because it's all hands on deck all the time. Otherwise, you don't have church that day. They train their people to say, we get to do this. Right.

Are you kidding me? True. True. That makes me a moment. Can you believe we get to do this? Yeah, I know. So true. Are you kidding me?

No, I'm not kidding. No, that's for real. No, 100%. That makes me sick. I know. But when you people aren't in a church and you don't have to do as much stuff and then you actually do do it because that's different too. If they don't bring the chairs in to the cafeteria, there's no church service that

day. So you literally have to do it. otherwise there's no chairs right but for us like when you're doing things you're doing it to be helpful you know you're doing it because it's all hands on deck yeah we're a team right and people see that and they mimic that and then there's no excuse because hope did it you know so it does it comes it's it's very helpful i don't know it's it's it's that motto if i'm not it's the motto of i'm not asking anybody to do something that i'm not going to do myself and a lot of people say it but like you said then they're like well i mean i i probably shouldn't do this so i'm going to have

them do it and they always make excuses. So it's like there's that half truth where, you know, I do a lot of stuff behind the scenes and they don't do the things, you know. And of course, there's seasons for everything too. There's the nuance. But for the most part, you guys will do whatever it takes, you know. Literally. Yeah. You know what the thing is is, I mean, people can say it's a photo op or whatever. But I think like, I know a lot of people see people carry like Adonica's bag for her and things like that. But people don't see. They see that, but they don't see the other stuff that she's willing to do instead of having somebody carry her bag. But I would say more like, and I don't think these are photo ops.

I don't. Some people would probably say it's wrong. But Adalas is a great example of this. And Mags too. Okay. But Adalas being Jonathan's wife. Again, it goes up from the top. But I mean, Adalas is, is.

they're decorating for her own. Every event. Like two in the morning. She's a pastor Tom. They're up all hours in the night. Yeah. I mean, like for me, like, again, there's, she's, she's a team player in that. And people need to follow people that are like that.

And because there's a, for me, I respect people that are like that. I don't, you don't have to. And I know there's people that are like, I don't agree with. I don't care. Like you're not going to agree with everything I say or do. And you're not going to, it's a percentage basis. But you have to look at a quality of an individual that is that nothing is really above them. They may wear louis.

They may have like they're the, I mean, the first one to say, my hair is fake. I mean, they can laugh at themselves. They're not full of themselves. They're real. And like there should be something. said about people that are like like that versus following somebody who wants you to believe

they are picture perfect. Run from those people and run to the ones that you may not agree with everything that they do or say, but they're real. They're genuine. And there's something to be said for that. Yes. There is.

You can't buy that. You just can't. You just can't. So quality generation that's coming up they can smell fake a mile away and all they want is real like please literally

genuine if you're perfect or not I just please be real like that's all they want because they're so sick of frauds and hypocrites right yeah I know so being real is huge

but I'm glad that like I'm glad that I know because for the longest time I did not know anybody who was in ministry. They were all frauds. I know. And for me, I find it refreshing to say, huh, you're just like me. You're not perfect. You don't pretend to be perfect. And you can even laugh at yourself because you're not perfect. That's beautiful. Carly Terridesz, another one. Like when she came here and I got to be with her in the back room, because I've never met her. I've only

talked to her, but I've talked to her like other people have, like at events and, she's busy she was working so i never really got to talk to her i i got to talk to her husband but i never like had a personal conversation but she is there is nothing like she is like adonica like real as the day is long will sit and tell you about everything about herself about what's going on in her family like her kids that's refreshing it is refreshing because you're probably not going to get that for me. I'm not like that. I'm more like Adalus. Adalus is going to be more like not shallow, but more about like talking about you. Right. Because she finds that interesting and she genuinely loves people. Me too. Yeah. And Adonica and Carly love people, but they, they're not

private. Right. Open book. Open book. And that is like, I know. I love that. I love that. I love that. And she was so real and so raw. And then she was so real and so raw when she hit that, that platform. I was like, girl, that's why the Holy Spirit moves in you like he does. Because you're not a fraud. Right. You don't pretend to be. It's just a beautiful thing.

And rare. And rare. Yeah. And now that we're 15 minutes over. And yeah. Okay. So on Wednesday, we'll address. Because I really, for me, like us, we've been doing.

doing this for a long time. Tracy, far less than the rest of us. But still, like now, how long? From when you took pictures originally. Oh. Yeah, it's a long time, girl. No. Yeah, that's true. I'm 20 plus year. I'm like almost 30 years in since me and Tom started. Yours is close to the same, if not the same, correct? It's probably like nine, eight or nine. Yeah, which is significant. I mean, most people are maybe a year or two in. Nine years, they'd be. sitting there going that's a long time. But it's short. I mean, and that should give you hope.

Like in nine years, she went from taking pictures to preaching in front of people and running a podcast. And I mean, God can do a lot of things really, really fast. It all depends on how fast you seek him first. And he can trust you. But like nine years is still like,

to a lot of people that's like, like that's way longer than I want to wait, but it goes really fast. It's way faster than 30. Yeah. Okay? Yeah. Because if you tell some people 30, they're going to be like, I'm not doing it. But nine is reasonable.

Yeah. Yeah. It's doable. So that's what we're going to talk about, give people hope, encouragement. I like it. And like to know, like if Keyes called you to it, then you need to start operating in whatever that feels like. And we're going to talk about that on Wednesday. I like it.

We love you. we thank you for joining us we'll see you tonight on Tom's live Instagram and TikTok it's so good I can't remember what he said he's going to talk about because last night he talked about

what he was going to talk about and it's actually really good I just don't remember how it's so it was so good that I forgot oh my word and see a surprise and then Sunday morning live and in person

or live stream it watch it be here be square we'll see ya On Sunday, worst case scenario. Bye. Real talk.