The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Alana Bell & Lauren Whatley Joined Nate Kibler Live On “The White Mountain Ministries Show!”

Episode Date: April 22, 2025

Alana Bell & Lauren Whatley of FreeFly Counseling and Wellness joined Nate Kibler live on The White Mountain Ministries Show! The White Mountain Ministries Show airs live Tuesday from 2:30 pm – 3:15 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The White Mountain Ministries Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.

Welcome to the White Mountain Ministry Show. I am your host, Nate Kibler. I thank you for watching, for listening, for praying, and for being a part of what the Lord is going to do through this show today. Hey, Elena and Lauren, this ain't church, y'all. It is all about the kingdom of God. We're already laughing. We're only 10 seconds in.

So I'm excited. We have two amazing guests that are joining us live in studio that drove all the way up from Raleigh, North Carolina I'm honored and blessed that someone would drive three hours four hours I think to be on the White Mountain ministry show so welcome We will introduce these lovely ladies in just a moment just a couple things. I want to talk about a first one to Say I hope everybody had an amazing Resurrection day weekend and an awesome Easter with your family with your church

family. We had a beautiful time. I had the honor of preaching at the heart of the home in Timberville and I had a special guest come and join me for part of the sermon. It was something that the Lord put on his heart. This was not daddy trying to get him to step out. This was the heart of God for this young man. And my son, Kai Roman Kibler, at nine years old, actually got up in front of the congregation and shared his first ever message to a church about the kingdom of God.

And we shared some beautiful things. We talked about having a supernatural walk with Jesus on the beach a couple of weeks ago in the Outer Banks. He talked about how God gives us a choice and how God is love. And then at the end, we want to talk about this ain't church y'all.

We did something very unique. We actually, we prayed, we sat together as a church family and I had everyone close their eyes and imagine they were in that empty tomb where Jesus had resurrected and what they would do in that moment, what they felt, the visions that the Lord showed them and we actually opened the doors to the church as if we were coming out of the empty tomb and we went out and we walked

across the street to the Walmart as an army and we walked across the street all the traffic stopped on both streets. It was like the Lord was splitting the Red Sea for us and we went and shared the good news of Jesus Christ because you know what? This ain't church, y'all. If we go to church on Sunday, I used to call myself a creaster for many years of my adult life.

We were just talking about it where I only went to church on Christmas and Easter and the rest of my life. It was like he resurrected on Easter Sunday and then he went back down to the grave for 364 days and then he came up again the next year. But we are called to represent the gospel when know that Jesus Christ is alive every day. So hallelujah. I want to thank the sponsor of the show, Opening Doors Real Estate and Melanie Morris and also

Prophet Overflow SEO. We thank you guys for being partners and supporters of the show, Opening Doors Real Estate and Melanie Morris, and also Profit Overflow SEO. We thank you guys for being partners and supporters of the show. And one last piece of information before I introduce our guests. We are going to be going to Costa Rica to share the gospel very soon. There's a team of eight, so I ask you guys for prayers. I also ask you for support. If you feel led, you guys know I almost never ask for money on the show, but if you're watching this and you feel led you can see the links on the screen, right Judah? At White Mountain Ministries though, I'll tell you

right now for Venmo, at White Mountain Ministries is the best way for me personally. So bless you guys, thank you for watching. Share the show, that's how people are watching and seeing this all over the world. So Judah, it is time to introduce these lovely guests and this is really their platform today, so let's get rolling. You guys are live, welcome. Thanks. Good to be here. Yeah, thanks for being with us. Yeah, it's a privilege to be here. So coming all the way up from North Carolina. Yes. Yes. Yep. Yep. Honored to have you. Yes. I was just kind of grinning over here

as you're doing your introduction, because I got to hear your son's testimony this morning. And then hearing you introduce the show, I'm just like, wow, this dude, you are so different than the Nate that I knew when I was a kid. We've known each other so long. And it's just amazing to be here with you having these conversations today.

It's really cool. I feel Holy Spirit actually right now because it's not likely in that sense, you know what I mean? And so for those who watch the show, Elena, I do believe, has known me longer than any guest that's ever been on the White Mountain Ministry Show, including my own wife. I've known my wife for about 20 years.

I have known Alaina for like 25 years. So her husband was actually my college roommate. We have known each other since we were like freshmen in college at JMU, go Dukes. And yeah, and part of the show today is going to be talking about transformation because when we knew each other for much of our life, it was a very different life than it looks now.

Yes. And so you guys had a supernatural way that the Lord connected you. Ours was not supernatural, but maybe it was divine in the sense of God. It was like, he knew, even though we were in a certain place for a lot of our life, he saw us for not where we were, but for who he created us to be.

Right? The patience, the grace that he has. Yeah, I've actually walked through that with the Lord a little bit. And during worship at a conference I was at, it took me back through all these memories and I would kind of hit the floor in shame and like, oh gosh, how

did I do that Lord? Like that was awful and then he would flip it and show me what he was doing in that space. So I probably looked like a crazy person at that conference because I was on the floor one minute weeping and grieving and the next minute I was like praise the Lord like he did so much through that time. So I think absolutely we were meant to be friends and really family at this point. So. Shane Lilly comments on the show, what an awesome Resurrection Day movement, taking his resurrection power into the world. That is awesome. Bless you guys. John Martin. I see others watching. So yeah, Lauren, tell us a little bit about you because you and Elena have been very

close for a long time, but I do not know you nearly as well as Elena but you guys are business partners you're like best friends so tell us a little bit about Lauren. Yeah yeah well so I have a little bit of a different testimony and story than Elena. Grew up kind of in the church, good old southern Baptist and but really came to faith probably at age 12 where it became real to me. Jesus became so real. I did the whole raise your hand, bow your head, close your eyes, raise your hand, do you want to accept Jesus? And I did, but that night I had an encounter with love that I it's outside of the box. I had no context for it.

As a Baptist, we don't talk about the baptism of the Holy Spirit at all, but that's what happened that night, I had a baptism of love. Wow. When I was just, you know, I raised my hand, my parents knew, like I accepted Jesus, but I felt an urgency to get alone, and to get alone with him, and I was in the bathtub,

actually, and I, you know, and I said Jesus. I felt an urgency to get alone and to get alone with him. And I was in the bathtub actually. And I said Jesus. It's like we're vulnerable and not thinking about other things and he just comes to us. Yep, I'm by myself. And so the irony of it is I'm in water, right? Baptism in water. But then also I just said, Jesus, I feel your love

and I want more of it right like I feel like I was a kid of divorce right so that kind of Messes some things up a little bit or just kind of jumbles them some So you gave your life to the Lord in a Baptist church And then you experienced the power of God that night when that night in your yeah and it was a baptism of love I said like this is what I want this this love is what I want consume my life so being so young at 12 years old did you share that with your parents did you share that with other people would you keep it

to yourself I pretty much kept it to myself but I was the more common thing that you hear right yeah yeah I was lit, I couldn't get enough of the word of God. And then it was shortly after that, I don't know, maybe 13, where I felt like the Lord said, hey, I want you to teach. And I was like, okay, well, I'm called to ministry. That was my call, you know, but I was in a Baptist church

and Baptists don't really like you as a woman preaching. You can teach the kids. Yeah, yeah, so. So another day it's like, you know, one was good enough to be the first one to see the empty tomb and the resurrected Jesus and be the first evangelist and share the good news with the world, but not okay to preach, come on.

Yeah, yeah. But I just knew, I just knew it was him. The love was so tangible that I couldn't get away from it. And so I just went with it and I started, what now I can see is I started experiencing the prophetic, but I had no context for that either. So I was seeing pictures and metaphors and hearing the Lord speak through that.

And so tried to lead in any way that I could in my youth group, but just the call to ministry stuck with me. So you've been walking this out for a long time and never really wavered from it in all these years. Is that what I'm hearing or? I had a couple of years in there where I just kind of got tossed around by the world. And I went to Bible school.

I felt the call to go to Bible school, get some formal training. But really, I think it was a bait and switch. It was actually a very healing season for me. It was a setup to be around really good people with a lot of love. And actually went on a very intense healing journey from trauma in my past and things like that. And that's where I learned even more about the gifts. I encountered Jesus even more, like I had in the bathtub, without religion, just the real deep encounters that heal us and touch us. And again, just knowing Him and then also getting to know Holy Spirit because you know we didn't talk about that much in the Baptist Church. I think we all grew up in similar

settings. I was basically Methodist and Baptist and I don't really think I even still know the difference. Yeah. But I know you could hear a pin drop. There were no hallelujahs. There was no power. There was no Holy Spirit present that I can ever remember. So I think that's gonna be a big part of the show today. So get into the giftings a little more. Yeah, for sure. Well, the giftings I guess came about, again, I was going through a healing journey.

So I went to college and then thought I was like gonna be this hero minister Yeah, you know save the world and I'm aren't that awesome testimony yeah, and what ended up happening is all this pain and in trauma and dealt with trauma came up from like 1819 and Then the Lord sent me good good people that were a couple years older than me that just were people that knew how to love well and knew the fruits of the Spirit really well and that was overflowing in their life and so then I started this healing journey but ironically like being a counselor now. I'm going to we're going to come back to the gifts. I want Elena because we're talking about awesome testimony

and Elena also has an amazing testimony. And I think that you guys actually met after you encountered the Lord, right? That was after? Yeah, yeah. So this is the path we're gonna take. So you can open up, be as honest as you want. I know that you were still in the old life

and we'll talk about our old life together at some point as well. But I would love and I know the world would love to hear Elena Bell's testimony. Yeah, well, similar to Lauren, raised in the Southern Baptist Church, I raised my hand like a good little girl when I was seven and received the Lord. As I grew through youth group there was some painful things that happened over the years in the church and it just kind of fell away. Our church had a split. Men fall. And when men fall, people fall away from God. And I don't look at that

as a huge part of my story, but the Lord has taken me back there to see that. So I was loving church, loving youth group and all of that, but as I got into my teen years, I really loved partying a lot more. Drinking, smoking weed, doing the, you know, having a good old time, doing whatever I felt like doing. And I just, but I always kept it in the back of my head. When I have kids, that's when I'll get serious about God. Because my mama, bless her heart, raised us to love the Lord. She had us in church every week and that's what moms do. So I saw that for myself as when I'm a mom, then I'll come back.

And I did. Partied all through college. That's how Nate and I got so close. See who pulls out more dirt on each other. No comment. I know you're more dirt on each other. No comment. I know you're going to be well behaved. I said what I love. I'm pretty much moving book. It's not like I come on here and share every detail. There's a reason I had to have four demons cast out.

We can come back to that too. I got things to say on that. But, you know, it just was that when I have kids, and that's what I did. When I had children, then I was like, you know what, we need to be going to church. Hunter and I started going to church together. We – This girl was in our wedding, by the way. Yes, and you were in ours. That's all well and well.

Just so the viewers know. Yes, absolutely. To start teaching Sunday school and all this, so fast forward a few years, being a mom was my identity. And there came a point where we were done having kids and I just didn't even know who I was after that. What do I do now? And I started getting kind of depressed.

And I asked the Lord, I remember sitting on my front porch and I can tell you where I was sitting, I can feel it as I sit there. I said, okay Lord, if having another baby is not what you have for me, then I surrender, let's do it your way. I could cry because it was within weeks I was in graduate school. He sent me friends whose marriages were falling apart. He had people calling me out of the woodwork asking me, and it lit this thing in me that had always been there to help people and love

people. And so that's actually we met in school. He basically came to you them powerfully right? You want to hear the big story. That was a year later. You can share what you want. I would be honorable and I don't share anything that you don't want, but I would like to hear it from you. No, absolutely, but let's get there because I started- Later talk to me like a sister, by the way. Don't take it personally. I mean, after 25 years, you are my brother, but I was just kind of going on the timeline.

That I started school, we did a year, we met our freshman year. My apologies, I thought you had that encounter before you started school. No. Oh, you did not, okay. It was a year later. It was a year in.

Makes sense. Yeah, so there's several other encounters. Thank you, put me in my place. It's okay. Only with love, Nate. I know. Well, okay, do you want to hear a couple other encounters on the way to getting to that one? So, I think... Yeah, hear about it. You guys

met, right? Oh, yeah. Well, a week prior. Yeah. What happened to you? There was a prophetic word. Oh, that, you're right. Aren't you like speaking prophetic words over her or something for like the first time? Yeah, you're right. That was actually. Okay, my timeline's messed up now. She had something very specific happen before. I had grown a lot in the Lord and there were things that were still a big part of my life that just did not suit him, but he had never spoken to me about before. I didn't even know that it was on his radar that he cared. But there was a very profound

moment where I heard the audible voice of God and he said, it's time to break free. This is not who you are anymore. And it, I mean, So when you say the audible voice of God, like you heard it like a fun terrorist, or it wasn't like the still small voice. I turned and looked. And was like, what? And then I went back to what I was doing, because I was like, that, what?

But that next week was the week that we had on campus. At the beginning, We're both counselors I don't know if we said that officially but we're both therapists and we were in graduate school for counseling at the beginning of The counseling year with Regent you go on campus. You have a whole week And so I told the Lord okay, if you want to tell me who I am, you've got this week And so I was Beautiful how you gave him your timeline, by the way. He did not have to honor that, but there was a sacrifice of like, hey, okay, all right, I'm listening.

You clearly got my attention. You spoke out loud. Yeah. DeLore can do a lot in a week, I'll tell you that. And throughout that week, every single night, and I'm not going to take up too much time talking about it, but in my journal I wrote down, I had this need, here's how he showed up every single night and I'm not gonna take up too much time talking about it but in my journal I wrote down I had this need here's how he showed up every single night yeah and I think I dropped at dinner that one night that I had heard the audible voice. So meanwhile that week like I'm discerning there was she

was hanging out with this girl and so there was two of them with that were inseparable and I started hanging out with them as well that week. Hey Annie. And I'm like, man, Holy Spirit is all over one of these individuals. And I had a 50 50 shot, right? Like who is it? And I guess wrong. I thought it was like the other girl that had something, there was something that I knew the Lord was going to have me speak. I was just discerning, right?

Like kind of your spidey senses going off. And it was one night at dinner that Elena then opens up and she's about to burst just to confess some things, but then also to say, guys, I heard the audible voice of God. And I turned and I'm like, it's her, it's her. And I turned and I start to prophesy to her that she's gonna prophesy into other people.

Now, my gifting, I see way ahead usually, like I'm like three, six months ahead on a lot of things. And so I don't get a lot of quick turnarounds. I get people that call me later on and say, oh. So you get words that are like a little further out. Yeah. Not like next week words. I think they've kind of sped up lately.

Hey, three to six months, that's better than three to six years. Yeah. Yeah. There's a lot of those words too. And people start to panic. There are those. Why is it happening? Faith, because they think it's going to get a word on Sunday.

They think it's going to happen on Tuesday. If not, they're mad at God. Yeah. You were wrong. Yeah. So I prophesied to her that she's basically going to speak into other people. And some of our friends came late to that dinner.

And she was feeling, I mean, maybe you could say it, this burning sensation in her. This girl was sharing some of her story. And I felt like I was going to explode if I didn't speak into her whatever the encouragement was that I said that I had to Share and so I just started speaking into her all of this stuff And then Lauren is like blown away because she has just prophesied that I'm gonna open my mouth and encourage people Yeah, and within minutes. I was like doing just

That's awesome. It's like you just need it. It's almost like you just needed to hear it. Yeah, and then it was activated Yeah, that's what like you probably know this hear it. Yeah, and then it was activated Yeah, that's what like you probably know this you may not but the first thing the Lord spoke to me He showed me he loved me I was crying like a baby when I got to know I have no idea what had happened The first thing he spoke to me was Nathan you're going to do this too. Yeah. Yeah, and so I never doubted Yeah, I always trusted this was gonna be my life three days later I'm praying over people in the streets and five weeks after that. I'm seeing miracles

Yeah, because I heard like he spoke it to me. It was all like he spoke that to you through her Yeah, that was the voice of God through her and it's like okay that I believe that I received that now. Let's go Yeah, yeah, so all that week. I mean things are happening to me that I have no context for you know, I love the Lord I'm following the Lord I've surrendered I'm giving in my life But I can look back now and say that what I felt before I spoke into her the girl at the table with us Was the Holy Spirit, but then I didn't have any context for that I didn't know I just felt like I'm gonna explode if I don't say this and then so you started operating the gifts, right?

Well, at least on- At least on some level. Yeah, so- But I remember the time, because this is important, I think, for our relationship here, because we were staying, my family was staying at your family's house, and you were starting to operate and, you know, in the kingdom, really, and with gifting and things

my wife and I at that time actually did not know about. And we were still struggling to have a baby. And before you left, you just asked Anne, you were like, can I pray for you? Can I put my hand on your womb? And whatever. I remember that's like, I was in such a bad, dark place really at that time because that was only maybe

about five or six months before I was delivered, if I remember correctly. And we believed in God, you wanna pray for her fine, but that actually impacted my wife much more than it did me because you touched her. And she- I remember her laying on the floor in my basement, laying hands on her belly and I was all fired up, but nobody-

She knew something was going on. It planted seeds for her relationship. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm grateful for that. That's why it's so important to step out in faith, regardless of where I was. I might've thought you were a cuckoo, but who cares? Yeah.

Yeah. Because you were operating under obedience and truth. Well, and receiving something that you don't have context for then opens you up and makes you hungry for it. So the end of that week where all of those things were happening, I was just so floored by what God had done. I was leaving at the end of the week. I was going to go sit in the garden on campus and just have some time with the

Lord and journal and pray. And Lauren walked with me. We walked as far as the coffee shop and then outside the coffee shop, she said, can I pray for you? And I was like, oh yeah, cool, thanks. Like, you know, like good Baptist, like I'll pray for you in my own time. I'm not saying it out loud. Maybe God if it's you.

But she meant, let me pray for you. Actually pray for you. Like Holy Spirit was like, this is a moment, right? Yeah. And so I prayed for her and then- We ended up walking down and sitting in the garden together. Yeah, so I prayed for her and I just- I think that's not prophetic, in the garden?

In the garden. In the garden, yeah, yeah. And I said, you know, I'm seeing this picture of a tree. It's my grandma's favorite hymn. My mom's mom's favorite hymn was in the garden. That just occurred to me. That's awesome. The Lord's still using those Baptist roots.

Oh yeah. Those prayers. Oh, the legacy of prayers. Yeah, yeah. So thankful. What happened in the garden? Yeah, so I prayed with her and prayed over her and I started seeing a picture of a tree with fruit.

And I don't remember the full context of the word, but Elena has shared multiple times, like I was encouraging her, it's not your fruit to produce, it's not your fruit to conjure up, basically. She saw me picking fruit from a tree, but it wasn't fruit that I had planted. She had no idea that for the last nine months the Lord had been taking me on a journey through the fruits of the Spirit. One month he'd be teaching me about love, the next month he'd be teaching me about patience, and I had journaled all of that to the point that I had drawn a picture of a tree in the front of my journal and what she described after she prayed for me was

exactly what I had drawn. She had never seen it. And I was like, what do you mean you saw a picture? People, what? Like I had no context. You saw a picture when you prayed and how was it like you're totally reading my mail in that moment. And that's basically where our friendship was born. This is why the GIFs, examples without saying it, are so important. Yeah, absolutely. Because there's something, this is every day, supernatural life, things that can only be God. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

It could only be the Lord. Like there's no way for her to have known that. And because it stirred love and hunger in me. Now there are people who operate in counterfeits. They get information. It's not the Lord, right? But this, because it pointed to Jesus, that's how we know that it is Him. Beware of false prophets. Everybody loves to use that verse. But just go to one more

line. What's the very next line, say girls? Can you tell me? Beware of false prophets. You know what the next line is? Come on. You will know them by their fruit. Yeah, yeah. You will know them by their fruit. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You will know them by their fruit. That fruit was very good. And so that is where I started learning more about the Holy Spirit, learning about the gifts. That's probably where I got the gusto then lay hands on you. I don't think you laid hands on me. I laid hands on my wife. Did I let you pray for me at that moment? Can I tell you what I saw? Sure. That weekend. Yeah, go ahead. I can only imagine. Again, I did not have context for it. This is

before I was delivered just so everyone knows. No, I did not have context for it, but Nate, we had known each other, I don't even know, 17 years at that point or whatever. Because. And you're going to wait to tell me this on live air? No, but. I'm messing with you. It's okay. I've been holding this in my pocket. This is real. The battle is real. So Nate was in a dark place. You guys had been going through such a hard fertility journey and you were done. And there was something. My dad was sick. I thought he was going to die. I think he was my rock. I did not know that God was, you know, he was the source and so yeah Not so in that like on that weekend. I couldn't have said hey, there's a demon on Nate

But looking back there what like there was a darkness on you there was something about you that just you weren't yourself and When you called and told us that you had been delivered. I was like, oh Okay, I understand now. I knew there was something I did not have an understanding of the spiritual world like I do now. Yeah. Yeah. But I knew I still had the recognition to know it was like, there was an angel right here. But like, there was something there.

I knew that was there that was not me. Yeah. I just did not actually know that that was real Yeah, yeah. Yeah, but it was so again learning Six months after that, you know, they came screaming out of my mouth, right? Yeah Yeah, everything changed and so I mean I think it's good that we talk about this former life Yeah, talk about transformation I'm not like asking you to blast me from the past

or toot my horn in the present, but maybe because you know the old Nate so well and the new Nate pretty well too. Maybe you can even share like a little bit of transformation just that you've seen in my life from old to new. Cause it's one thing to come from me, you know? But you've seen it. Well, I mean, I did.

But we ended up after I had my encounter, I was like, oh my gosh, around the same time, you just, you know, God, the Holy Spirit touched you and then he radically touches us and we're like super close. So what was that? Yeah, it was like, it was maybe like six months apart from the time.

We went to talk, like share with each other. The Lord spoke audibly to me and then delivered you and we are both just like without context for all of this suddenly hungry for the Lord, suddenly growing and it was, it was a huge change because prior to that, you know, we drank together, we smoked together, we just partied, you know, life was do what you want to do, have fun, make good money. You were, okay so, lives that looked good on paper. Sports. You were sports obsessed. Oh gosh. You and

so I've seen. I shared a picture that Sunday at church by the way, a picture of me on the Jumbotron at a Redskins game and I was like this lost young boy just looking for victory, looking for something, searching in all the wrong places. Yeah, yeah. But I think you and I have both kind of gone through a journey where the Lord has stripped things away from our lives because they were idols, right? And then has brought them back. And so, and not like, like has just given more permission. So like for a while you didn't do sports at all.

And after being the sports fanatic, I think that was really hard for people. I cut it off for a year. Yeah. And I thought maybe that would be it. And then my son got into it and the Lord started showing me, son, I'm not taking this away. I just wanted to see if you were going to put it above me. Yeah. It was not to be your identity anymore. I had a similar experience with alcohol. So I used to walk around with ‑‑ I always have a water cup. I've got this bottle now. Back then it was a hot pink turvist that said this might be wine. And I thought it was hilarious that my water bottle said this might be wine. And there was a moment where

I was having a conversation talking to somebody about going to the beach and how ‑‑ I guess they had gone to a dry beach and I said, well, my family could never do that. How do you throw a cornhole if you don't have a beer in your hand? And I went on and on and on about alcohol and how important it was in our family. And then the Lord was like, that was the still small voice, why not? And I was like, oh man, okay. So for two years I didn't drink at all. But I had no way to tell people what was happening in me. And people, when you quit drinking, unless you have a clearly documented alcohol problem, people shame you for not drinking with them.

You mean you don't drink socially? You don't drink on the beach? What's wrong with you? You're not normal anymore. You're not fun anymore. And so it was huge. But for me, now I'm at a place in my life where I can have a glass of wine. It's not a big deal. It's not idle anymore. And I think for you, sports has been

able to come back in a moderated way. But it's like the ways that we define ourselves that aren't him are what he will strip out. So when we start walking this kingdom life and we were like before like kind of like normal by other people's standards and we just kind of went to church and read our Bible and said a prayer to go to heaven. Well, when you start walking this kingdom life, everything changes. Yeah. And it's so supernatural and you know it's truth. For me, whatever anybody says, I know what happened in my life was impossible and I'm not going back. I don't care if anybody tries to bring it back, I'm not going back. But that's hard for people.

I don't know if maybe we can just talk about that resistance. I'd like to hear you both share on that, but maybe things that you've experienced in your life, whether it's friends, family, I don't know. Yeah, yeah. Resistance, persecution, hate, slander, whatever, word we wanna use when you start walking in the kingdom. Yeah, yeah, well, I think I'm the, kind of the oddball in the family in a good way,

in that like my family grew up very much in the South, South Carolina, small town, you know, lots of them had never been on a plane before. And so then when I'm saying I'm called to ministry, that's like an amazing thing, that's a good thing. But then when I start following and I start doing odd things like in college after- Got to follow a ministry box.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So after the Lord kind of got a hold of me, I remember, I think it was sophomore year of college, I went to Turkey because I felt a call. I had a friend that was in college with us and he was a Muslim background believer and he had come to know the Lord two years prior. And then a year before I went to Turkey with him and a

couple of other people, his dad became a believer which is a really big deal in Turkey because it's You're kind of like culturally Christian or culturally Muslim in Turkey. So it's like you're never not going to be Muslim Because it's kind of like here, like we're American, there's a lot of cultural Christianity, right? Everybody in the South knows Jesus. Yeah, so it was a really big deal for him to have an encounter with God. And so he wanted people to come back

because the spiritual warfare was there, the resistance was there in Turkey as he was going back as a believer ministering to his dad. And he's like, I just need support, you know? And so being, I guess I was 19 or 20 and telling my parents, hey, I want to go to Turkey. I feel the Lord's calling me to Turkey, you know? Sam Pilver says, love you guys.

Yeah. Love you, Ann. We love you too, honey. Yeah. Yeah, it's just outside of the box, you know? So when you start following the Lord, it's not comfortable. And He asks you to make big moves, even like moving to Raleigh was a big move, and I felt His invitation to that.

And so I think for me, it's just doing things that people don't always understand. And it's like being okay with that. Yeah. That you know maybe there's a level of understanding but they don't get it fully. Yeah. Um and it's learning that that's just dying to yourself like okay there's not going to be that understanding there all the time. Dying to the fear of man. Dying to the fear of man. Yes. Thought of rejection. Exactly. Care what people think. Yeah, that's hard. Yeah, so it's really letting that go because following him is such an adventure.

So fun, it's so fulfilling, and the people you're gonna meet along the way need you to follow him so they can get a touch from the Lord, you know? And so. Well, you gave an introduction to this, and I will, this is probably, there's certain testimonies for me

I just think I'll share forever Because there's just beautiful moments and teaching but you talk about follow me when we had this Supernatural encounter at the beach two weeks ago with my son and I was sitting there praying because he told you know Kai that he Was gonna speak to him on the beach and we're sitting there and he's like daddy Jesus is here. I'm like, what do you mean? He's on the beach, he's walking. He looked at me and Kai doesn't know the scriptures like that. For us that seems basic, but for someone,

he doesn't know that Jesus said that, but now it's gonna impact him for the rest of his life. Because he looked at me and he was like, he said to follow him. I'm like, what did he say? He said, follow me. And we jump out of our seats. He didn't say, Kai, I need you to go to church. Kai, I need you to read the Bible. Kai, I need you to

be good during the week. He said, follow me. And at nine years old, he gave Kai a personal invitation to be his disciple. That's what he desires for us to walk with him, follow him, deny yourself, pick up your cross, follow me, be my disciple, be a true light and representation of me to the world. Not your denomination, not your specific church, not your belief, but what the Holy Spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead, is teaching you. Yeah, yeah.

You know, it's all about relationship and that, like follow me, I want to be with you and I want you to be with me where I am and so then when we follow Jesus We're in this beautiful adventure with him in partnership in relationship and it's about love, right? It's totally about love eternal life is to know Jesus Christ. Yeah John 17, but it's not Selfish either because when you're following Jesus, Jesus wants to give himself away to everyone, right? Everyone that's willing to receive him. And so when you're following him like that in relationship, he's gonna connect you with other people. That's like, that's his prayer. Like Jesus, may they be one

with me as we are one and may they be one with each as we are one, and may they be one with each other, so that the world will know them by their love for each other. That's good. The world's gonna know. Just to encourage you guys, sometimes it can take time. I know people, it can be tough,

because sometimes you can feel like you're all alone, but here's the thing. He will teach you in those moments that he's always with you. He will never forsake you. Even when you're all alone, but here's the thing, he will teach you in those moments that he's always with you. He will never leave and forsake you. Even when everybody turns their back, they betray you, even if it's your best friend or whoever, people you would have never thought, your family,

I will never leave you, son. Yeah, absolutely. We put our trust in he is the source. Do you wanna talk about anything about persecution or stepping out in this new world and just things you could potentially face? Do you want to talk about anything about persecution or stepping out in this new world and these things you could potentially face? Well, saying yes to Jesus doesn't make your life easy.

And I think that sounds so simple and basic, but I sit with people all the time and as part of my own testimony, well, I thought when I surrendered on the porch that day that it meant that my life was going to be easy. But it's actually, there's so much that happens. I mean, the enemy knows who you are too, and the enemy is going to attack who God has called you to be. And so there's a lot of things that I've gone through personally or my family's gone through, or even just people not understanding what's happening when you're changing.

So there is a lot there. Transforming even. But then there's, Jesus never said it's gonna be easy. We just think, well if I'm doing the right thing, I should get the result that I want. But what he said is that I won't leave you like you were just repeating. Like he's with you and so learning to know his presence

in the midst of the hardest things that you're going through is life. You find that life even in the depths. Yeah, yeah. And what I see in my life, we talk about the resistance, and I know a lot of people disagree with this, but just because you're, there will be resistance,

but the more you grow in your power, the more you grow in your power, the more you grow in your authority, the more you know who you are in Christ. The enemy will eventually realize, you know what? I can't touch Elena. I'm just gonna go mess with somebody else. Yeah. But we have all kinds of weaknesses, you know, we're human.

So it's like we... Well, that's why we have to get to the point where we have nothing that the enemy, no chance in the armor. And part of that comes with transformation and identity and truly walking with them and knowing the opponent as well. Like the coach would be like, not become devil conscious, but know the opponent. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And knowing who you are and knowing your authority,

knowing that I am a child. And there's been moments recently where, I mean, I've been under a lot of spiritual attack. I have been feeling condemnation. And the Lord, not the Lord, the enemy putting questions in my mind of like, oh, would this have happened if you had done something different? And it's just like, he'll speak things and they sound true.

The enemy always speaks in half truths. So he'll say something and then you'll start to entertain it, but what you have to know is the Lord's voice. You have to know the voice of your father. Okay, would my father speak to me that way? Absolutely not. And so then I'm gonna speak out to the enemy

exactly what my father says about me. No, I'm a child of God. I followed him I surrendered you have nothing on me and then it leaves. Well, that's my son got up there on Sunday He got passionate. It was like his most passionate moment. He said I hear from the voice of God He's awful often quiet and calm He said and sometimes the enemy tries to come in and give me bad thoughts But I know that that's not Jesus because Jesus doesn't give me bad thoughts. But I know that that's not Jesus, because Jesus doesn't give me bad thoughts. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Know how he speaks to you. Yeah. Guilt, shame, condemnation, that's not how he talks. That's not him. He's a good shepherd, right? And we grew up in the Baptist church, right? Well, you messed up, you get spanked, and then you go repent for it every day

for the rest of your life. I know pastors that are 60 years old and still wake up every morning and they could pen for things that they did when they were Teenagers. Yeah, if that's you for the love of God, you have been forgiven. You have grace you can move on Please I declare over your life move on. Yeah, he loves you. He forgives you are forgiven It is finished. Not just what was already done but was already to come as well. It was all finished. Of course repentance is key. We mess up. We repent. Yes. But we repent and then we say God I know you love me and thank you for seeing me who you've created me to be. And if you're anyways.

You're not perfect now? Well no. I know your wife, you don't have to say anything else. Perfection lives as one with me though. Yeah, yeah. So I actually do believe, and people will struggle with this, but I do believe that we can reach to the point, like I do not live a sin conscious life. Yeah. I do not wake up in the morning thinking about sin

or thinking about trying not to sin. Yeah. It's like you wake up and somebody says, well don't think about an elephant. You think about an elephant. I live a Jesus focused life, not on sin, not on the world. Because it's like I'm not trying to look like Jesus. You become him.

Yeah. Well and that's the fruit of the spirit. When you're one with him, then the fruit of the Spirit, if you go back to Galatians and it's like, here's all these things, put to death all these things, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Self-control, that's always the last one. Self-control. Self-control.

But self-control is not even self-control as in I have to do all the work of it. It's a fruit of the Holy Spirit. So when you are one with him, that is the fruit that you can expect out of your life. Yeah. Yeah. And that's such a misconception is like here, you need to produce all these things in your life. Strive for these things, strive to be, you know, gentle or kind or whatever it is. But I think then when we surrender our life to the Lord, He cleanses us of those old ways, like the rage, the anger, all of that He cleanses us from, and He gives us the grace. Grace is so key. Grace is so powerful. It's how we can walk this walk,

right? And so it's like a works conscious versus a righteousness and grace conscious. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I remember like, I told you like I kind of went off the rails for a couple of years there and it was a season where I felt like I couldn't hear the Lord. I couldn't hear him at all. I was in a dark time. Like looking back, I know that like I just kind of needed to get out of the situation. I was Rosalie Plamate, who's come with us to Costa Rica, said loving this fire. We love you too Rosalie. Awesome.

Yeah, yeah. But in that dark time, I remember it just in an ordinary moment. It was like the heavens opened up and the Lord said, Lord, my grace is really big. And then it like closed back up again. And it was a year later that I got back with the Lord and I said, my grace is really big. And then it like closed back up again. And it was a year later that I got back with the Lord and I said, you know, I had some church hurt that I'll walk through people saying, hey, we're discerning all these things.

And it was just judgment. It was just man's flesh. And so walking out of that season, I experienced the grace of God because I said, okay, Jesus, I know you're real. I've encountered you way too many times. So Show me what's real Show me again, and he just started adding all these things back into my life

So much of what you're saying is like seeing ourselves the way God sees us. Yes Do we see ourselves as born again? Do we see ourselves as sinner or do we see ourselves as saint? Right and we're saints now we're covered in the blood of Jesus. I promised you to not make this up because it's in your Bibles. Yes. I guess it depends on what translation, I don't know how far it's going on, but any translation I have ever read, we are now saints, we are holy blameless and righteous in His sight. Yes. You're not a black hole. You have the King living inside you, with you everywhere you go. You're not a dirty sinner that needs to grovel all the time. Yes. And that's not saying, again, do whatever you want, because the scripture also says

in Galatians 5, you are not called to do whatever you want. You can live according to the Spirit, you can live according to the flesh, and they according to the flesh and they're a constant battle Yeah, we learned to get our flesh to submit and and we we walk it out with the spirit. Yeah. Yeah, exactly And when we mess up there's grace and we were not intending to talk about this at all I just feel like there's gonna be an audience today. I feel right now. I'm a heart There are people watching this right now even live that need to hear this. Yeah, absolutely You know, I'm thinking like John I think it's John 15 is somewhere in 15 between 17 I love that passage 15 through 17 my favorite of the whole Bible

I mean that was like his last words, you know, like we need to be Looking at that more eating of that word more. And so he's saying, now you're one with me. We've become one with him in his death. We've become one with him in his resurrection. There's no separating my spirit from his spirit. Nothing can separate that. And so when the Father looks at us, He sees us covered, He sees us righteous,

He sees His Son in this beautiful marriage, if you would say, in our spirits, where we have become one. And so in our counseling work, what we do is we attend to those places where it's like, man, what you were saying, there's this wounding and now the enemy's just poking at that wound constantly. But that's not who you are, right? That's just something that needs to be healed.

That's the sanctification that's being looked at. You guys work with people. I'm assuming that you do believe the people you counsel, this is a big moment here. I hope you say yes. People can reach a place where they do not have wounds. Yeah, healing is available. The healing is not only available, but it's taken place.

Yes. Yeah. We can't change history, we can't change what has happened in the past, but we can learn to understand how this part of my story, which I really wish wasn't part of my story, but is, is part of who I am now and how God can use that for my good, for His glory. And the sad thing is though that people are hurt by churches all the time because they have those

verses thrown at them like a band-aid. Like take this verse and put it over your trauma and don't you dare blame God for what happened and don't you dare get angry. Well you know what go back to the Psalms and tell David don't get angry at God. You know like we have to pour out our pain in order for the Lord to then come in and heal it. And he does. He comes in and he heals it. Yeah, absolutely. Do you have anything you want to add to that?

Yeah, well, I'm just thinking these wounding, these places, I kind of describe spiritual warfare in a very simple way is that we've been wounded because of the things we've walked through in life and then we come to know the Lord and then the enemy is just kind of like a bully, right? He just wants us to not become our fullest expression on this earth of who God made us to be and so he will poke at those woundings but it's like he's got something to poke at. He's got some, there's like a hook in that wound that has been put there and he throws a lasso

and he just kind of pulls right my experience with boys is once you stand up to them they find somebody else to go pick on exactly I am very much yeah I don't want to believe because I'm doing something powerful for the kingdom that that I'm gonna be getting bullied in return. I don't buy that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, we get this to be for a whole big conversation, but we're actually running low on time. Yeah, yeah.

I know it's hard to believe that time flies. I know it does. I'm glad that we've been able to teach. Having so much fun. We're teaching some good stuff, so thank you guys. Talk a little bit, I love that you are believers counseling. Praise the Lord, full restoration of Christ Jesus. So that's kind of where I think we'll go for maybe the next five or ten minutes. If you guys want to talk about your practice, give a shout out to what it is that you're

doing, your retreats. This is for you, so go. Yeah, absolutely. Go ahead. Well, Freefly Counseling and Wellness is our business. We offer individual and couples counseling, but the Lord has recently, just in the last couple of years, brought us into doing retreats. Currently, they're just for women, but we do have some men's retreats coming up. What's up with all this stuff just for women? It's coming and I'm gonna recruit you. I brought y'all up and I'm gonna recruit you. You can't come to ours because we only do women. What's up with that? It's coming. You'll bring me in to help train or do something, something? I could be a special guest. You start praying for it but we've got some dreams. They start praying for it? Yeah. Well be careful because if that happens it's done. Yeah, well good. Yeah, yeah. I'm just

messing with y'all. Keep going. Yeah, no, it's, I mean, I wish we had hours because there's a whole testimony. We thought the Lord was giving us a building. I mean, it was all full steam ahead. We were getting a building. We were growing in this way. That door slammed and long story short, the Lord totally flipped it upside down and showed us about doing retreats and how amazingly transformational they can be. Yeah, yeah. And so the retreat world at large is kind of covered by the New Agers too, and there's a retreat for anything you want out there. And so when we got the invitation from the Lord to start doing retreats, they're not church retreats either.

Church retreats are great. They have their place, but we're giving an experience and encounter with the Lord on these retreats to body, soul, and spirit. And so we really felt his leading to kind of pioneer in this area. And there's other Christians who you have talked to that also are feeling like, man, the Lord's talking about retreats. So I think- Well, it kind of reminds me, I use a different word because we are going on mission trips, but, the Lord's talking about retreats. So I think. Well, it kind of reminds me, I use a different word because we are going on mission trips,

but I feel like it's kind of similar as a transformative experience where you're spending time away. Yeah, exactly. And being immersed with the kingdom. Yes. So it's similar, different, but similar. Yeah. The time away is a huge part of it.

Right. But so many- That's why I encourage full immersion. Yeah. I don't know what you guys do, but I'm really trying to encourage full immersion. What do you mean by that? If you have something you have to do back home, if there's something that has to be taken care of, fine, but try to get your mind off of all of that as much as you can and just be in the moment with what God's doing on those trucks. We give our women our cell phone numbers and instruct

them to give that to their family so that they can put their phones away for four days. I like that. Well, I'm not going to do that because who knows what will happen next. I think the freedom, some of them get freedom just for being off their phones for four days. At least y'all are having men and they're like, I'm not reaching out to her. If it was a flip, I'd probably get a lot of messages. Don't be scared away. Those of you who really want your phones, don't be scared away.

We're not your parents. You can have the phone if you need it. Right. But what we do is we take the clinical skills that we know, the science-backed, evidence-based, like this works for anxiety, for depression, for addressing burnout. We take all the clinical tools that we have, that God called us to learn, and then we couple that with time with the Lord, with play, with exercise, with nutrition, so we're taking care of the mind and the body.

And then we create space. We have quiet time in the morning, we have devotionals. We'll do, we incorporate God into our conversations, of course. But then in the evenings, usually on the last night, we'll have a worshiper come and just lead a time of worship where the women can rest and hear from God, they journal and some of those moments have been the most profound. There are ways that people can reach out to you? Yeah absolutely. Yeah yeah I mean you can go to our website it's freeflycounseling.com and you can see

everything about our retreats there. There's a contact form you can reach out to us. Alana told me to ask you, all fair, I'm remembering. Freefly, that's the name that you came up with? Yeah. Can you share what that is? Because I have no idea. Absolutely.

Well, the concept kind of started when somebody left a poem on a seat that I was sitting at at a conference. And it's all this, it's about a cage and a bird being free and saying, don't let them cage you in anymore, right? And fly free. And so kind of the emblem for our business is an alpine swift. Alpine swift is a very interesting bird because it can fly for days and days and days without landing, it can fly and sleep,

it can fly and eat, it's just a very special bird. And then there's an Alpine Swift. Okay. Yeah, and so, but then in the background is a mountain and so our kind of concept is you don't have to be caged in anymore, you are meant to fly and you're meant to fly free and you can actually get a higher perspective and fly over the mountains of your life get the Lord's perspective on that right and overcome things and so you already answered my

next question and I was about to ask if you guys had any inspiration more inspiring words for young women Kingdom kingdom entrepreneurs, or people that are maybe stuck in some religion or just ready to step out and they're gifting. So that's kind of, you kind of already addressed that. Yeah. Yeah. Elaine, anything? Go ahead.

Set yourself up for an experience. Experience sets us free. Experience sets the stage for relationship and gets us out of religion. I heard recently that religion is theology with no experience. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's good. Yeah, say yes to God and then buckle up because once you do, all kinds of crazy things will happen. When you really surrender and get them in your yes, it's amazing what this spiritual journey, this kingdom life, this whatever you want to call it, can look like. It's supernatural.

It's beautiful. And a lot of people don't understand it, but once you go in, once you take that red pill, you're not turning back. You know what I mean? The matrix is still out there, but there's this whole other world around us and it's very real. See it all differently. Yeah, but some people see whole other world around us and it's very real. See it all differently. Some people, yeah, but some people see it, some people sense it, some people hear it,

some people all over the above. Yeah. That's when we step into our spiritual senses. Yeah, yeah. I think if there's love, joy, and peace, and so if you're not experiencing love, joy, or peace in your life that goes beyond your understanding, goes beyond your head, then just start asking him for that and he's gonna show you. That's who he is, he is love and so,

he's not gonna withhold those good gifts from his kids. So we're reaching the part of the show, I don't know if you guys know that we do this, I'll put your giftings on the spot. Oh gosh. Did not know we were doing this. That's good. So that's fine. And if the Lord doesn't give you anything that's okay. But just prophetically you've walked into the city of Charlottesville here. Is there

anything that you have on your heart for the city, this region, or anything for the show in general? Don't look at her. Well, I just, I mean, there's something that just burns in me about identity and that is, you know, being in a prestigious city as well, I'm sure there's a lot of appearances and women who feel like they have to be a certain thing. And for, you know, my own journey, I've talked about identity and the things the Lord has stripped away. But so much of it is like we have decided to be like, I'm a mom or I'm a wife. But what happens if you can't have children or what happens if your husband dies or you have a divorce? Like then who are you? So I think it's so important that we have our identity rooted in him

and who he made us to be, which is his child, first of all, right? Like those other things are assignments. So if your assignment has become your identity, then there's some work for you to do. Yeah, that's good. Yeah. Yeah. You know, for me, I felt such a grace when we hit the city. And I do believe that there's a grace to, over this space here, to, and I don't know, Charlottesville, I've never been here.

Right. But to experience, almost like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, where there's so many new things to try, so much curiosity, and I think there's a grace for curiosity in the kingdom in this city, for people to taste and see that the Lord is good, that he is more than what they've always thought. And so, just that encouragement for those people that are local.

And in Charlottesville, there's so much spirituality, but they're just searching in the wrong places. It's like, you have those that are searching for spirituality in the wrong places, and then you got the religious that are not ready to step into the kingdom. So I encourage both to step into the kingdom. We see that in the retreat world too. It's like everybody wants transformation, they want spirituality, they want energy healing and all that stuff, but none of it is going gonna touch what you can receive just from the Lord Joe. I'm my Costa Rican brother He's finally on the right page today. I get a comment live awesome job. So encouraging keep giving people hope

So you know what you guys have already impacted people always say if you impact one person it was worth the drive, right? Yeah Is there something else that you wanted to share? Either one of you wanted to share? We have a couple minutes. It was worth the drive just to get hugged by triplets today. I had to shake some love out of that boy. Anything? You good? Yeah I just I just gonna say, you had asked me about your transformation and. Oh goodness, I was just about to say thank you, Laina, for not revealing too much of this. I was gonna say, look how far we've come along. We had the chance and we didn't even take it

that's how much we've grown. It's a good thing. See, hearing your son share his testimony this morning at nine years old, he knows the Lord. He knows his voice. And if you, I just like to look at the little things, like when we're seeing the tapestry that the Lord wove, was that you saying that this morning?

We see the backside of it? No, we listen to something. I was like, you see the backside or whatever, but it's like when the Lord is weaving a story, we don't know what's going on. If I had not had my encounter, you had not had your encounter, if Sean Hurley had not had his encounter,

then your son would be being raised by a good man and a good family, but he wouldn't know the Lord like he does now. And so it's the obedience of one person and one moment, and you don't know what is gonna happen. Or having spiritual gifts and having no idea how to do it because you don't have parents that even understand it.

Yeah, right. Yeah, yeah. So the power of one yes. Thank you, Elaine, I love you. This was actually a lot of fun. I knew that it would be, but we really, I do believe, flowed, and yeah, bless you guys, thank you. We'll do it again sometime.

Thanks so much for having us. Yeah, and again, Free Fly Counseling and Wellness, if you need therapy. Come on, get those last minute plugs, plug it, plug it, plug it. If you need therapy, if you would like us to come speak at your church or women's organization, or if you have any ideas, we would love to chat with you,

we'd love to get to know you better. We do offer therapy in North Carolina and South Carolina. Lauren is licensed in South Carolina as well. And our retreats are ongoing, so there's always gonna be an option for you. There's somebody I think you guys know. Her name is Patty Easley. Love seeing your spiritual journeys.

I know that. Hey, Patty. Hey, Mommy. Thanks for watching. Yeah. So I know people have been blessed. Thank you ladies. Love you. Appreciate you. And just thank you guys for watching. Again, share this show. Tell people watching it around the world. It's a very little thing that you can do that will bless us. Thank our sponsors again. Opening Doors Real Estate, Melanie Morris, and Profit Overflow SEO if you need to maximize profits and leads online, Profit Overflow SEO. And guys, pray in to Costa Rica.

We just thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your support, and I speak life and love and healing over your bodies, your minds, in the name of Jesus, and God bless. And I wanna also just thank this studio, thank Jerry Miller, thank Judah Wichaur, thank you for all that they have done to help just thank this studio. Thank Jerry Miller. Thank you to Wichita. Thank you for all that they have done To help us in this show and just bless everyone and have a good week. Take care.