Woman Evolve with Sarah Jakes Roberts - Nurturing Your Body w/ Amanda Samuels

Episode Date: November 2, 2022

The category is BODY! That’s right. We’re talkin’ fearfully & wonderfully made! Just ask the homie Amanda Samuels who’s out here revolutionizing her health. Now, who all believe that the way W.E. care for our bodies impacts our relationship with God? W.E. do and the Holy Spirit co-signs! SJR tells of a dissonance experienced when feeling betrayed by the body. And chile, where is the lie? If we’re honest, W.E. gotta watch how W.E. handle ourselves and in turn approach God. This episode is a reminder that W.E. are best in our bodies when W.E. honor and dedicate ALL of it to Him. On the low, Amanda came to preach & W.E. are here for it! Gone are the days when body consciousness is rooted in outward appearance. It's time to do the inner work and become more spiritually in shape, so that God can do a work in you & through you—Amen! Spoiler alert: the bestie SJR is spilling tea on growth opportunities, being built for this, and the need to come out of hiding, so TAP IN! Delegation, as the season change W.E. encourage you to listen to your body & hit up our sponsors when necessary. This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp online therapy & Zocdoc digital health marketplace. Tell ‘em W.E. sent you!

God can't bless you for ten to be or who you can care yourself to. He can only bless you and the lane that was created for you. I feel that for somebody like that. You don't need no itch, it's a tea you need boundaries. What? I don't need your lights, I don't need your elevation. All I need is a God party for me that's there for all things. All things, all things.

Try. Okay, so let's talk about it. Yes, I know. Some of us are in a season where we're loving her. Yeah, her like your body. She's doing everything she needs to do. She's showing up at the gym. She's killing it.

You love cis. Others of us are just like lukewarm friends. And some of us are not on speaking terms with her. Guess what though? She is a part of you and it is something you have to learn to embrace, not just embrace their, I say, care for. This week we're talking about the revolutionary care

of our body and it is a journey for many of us, especially when we're dealing with not just the physical side of weight loss, but sometimes disease, sometimes scars and wounds from experiences that we've had in the past, learning to love your body is a journey, but it is not one that you're going to have to take on your own because my friend Amanda and I are going to sit down delegation style and talk about all things body but also the growth and the mental space required for us to finally come to a space where we honor that God has given us this body to show up in the life that we had.

She even asked me a question that kind of took me by surprise but I hope you enjoy it. Let's get into this week's episode. Hey! Hi, Fassasera! How are you? I'm doing great. Thank you. How are you? this week's episode. Hey. Hi, Fassasera. How are you? I'm doing great. Thank you. How are you? I'm good.

Let's talk about the number of games that are being played with your set. It's giving you, Ro. It's giving absolutely not a one. Let's get into it. You thought I was gonna show up here and just give you a crown. I didn't know. I didn't know. Someone wasn't playing any games. I was gonna show up here and just give you a crown.

I didn't know someone wasn't playing any games. We have to bring out the big guns for Canada. Listen, oh gosh, you're in Canada. Show this so much love. We have to make it to Canada. You have to because I came all the way to Chicago. I was just like, oh, I'm coming. Yes.

How are you? I'm coming. Yes. How are you? I'm good. I'm doing well. I'm doing, I'm every day, one day at a time. Yeah, sometimes it'd be like that one day. Absolutely. Amanda, tell me a little bit about your relationship with your body, from maybe 10 years to where you are now.

Okay. Mm. Okay. Okay, so me and my body have a love and hate relationship. She's my home girl most of the time, but we are never on the same page. Let's just say that. I've always been body conscious. I guess it's a good way to say it. So I've always tried to be in the gym at the time. You know, you start, you stop, tried meal plans.

You know, the apple cider vinegar was in for a while. Like all these different things, I would try it over time, but I've always had a love and hate relationship with my body. Honestly, I think it was rooted in not really understanding the importance of just accepting my difference. So there was always a standard and a stigma, especially in high school, of like,

what were supposed to look like and what it's supposed to be. Now being the dark skin, curvy one growing up when skinny girls were in and nothing wrong with you, y'all was still beautiful, but we weren't it. We weren't it. So it took me a while to really fall in love with the essence of who I am.

To be honest, it really came into being this year. And so throughout high school, it was pretty rough just trying to sit in and trying to just be the best version of me that I could be. And in my 20s, as I evolved through my 20s, still in my 20s, I've realized that I have to just accept the difference that I have and what I have to offer. Because to me, I may not be what I wanted to be,

but all my girls are like, oh, I want your legs. I want your thighs. I'm just like, yeah, I want the no belly. That doesn't exist on you. So let's talk about that. But now I've kind of come into an understanding of how loving all of me, how necessary it is and how important it's been.

And it's been a journey. It's been a journey. And it's still one day at a time, because it's really this year that I've kind of just settled into. Like you gotta love yourself where you're currently at in order to get where you wanna go. So that's where I'm at right now with this body of mine.

Yeah, I feel, you know what I think I've learned to just kind of ignore her. Like I usually don't pay my body any attention and that doesn't, it's not even from the super confident place. It's just like she's going to do whatever she's going to do. Like, I'm going to do what I can and she's going to do whatever she wants. I can remember though, obviously when I, you know, I talk all the time about having my son as a teenager and getting stretch marks.

And at that age, having the stretch marks on my stomach was like evidence of this pregnancy. So like I never wore bikinis. I never had my stomach out even as at a young age because I had these stretch marks. And I just didn't want people asking me questions if we were out. And so I think a part of me just learned to have this

dissonance with my body, where I don't honor, I don't view, I don't honor, I don't view, I don't love, I don't nurture her. And I do feel like, later in my 20s and into my 30s, I began to really do better. But what do you, have you ever, maybe I should ask this, like have this instance where you feel like, in some ways your body has betrayed you,

like your body bears the marks of your imperfect decisions, whether it's women who have experienced cutting or a pregnancy like mine, or even having disease, like how do you come to a space where you can love a body that literally isn't showing up, not just physically, but just doesn't show up in a way

that is easy for you to embrace. Yeah, well, you said something about stretch marks. That's the third, I didn't have no kids, and I still had the stretch marks. So I understand. Honey, first of all, they show up. I thought it was just gonna be on my stomach and then I realized later on in life,

I'm like, I didn't get pregnant again and get here you are. All the eyes right on the side. Yes, all the time. And why are you stretching like this? If God made you this way, why would you start stretching? God created you to be this size. Exactly, don't expand. That's what we're stuck to.

No, so I feel like the mother should see a question that I have done my body a disservice. And it's not that I didn't try. Like I used to be a gym rat. So I used to be in the gym all the time. I've tried different dieting, but it never would keep the weight off. And like, I've always had it up and down in my weight. And I never could figure it out. So, actually, when I came to the Women of Off Conference

in Chicago, in June, and you challenged us to do a checkup. Yeah. Well, I did a checkup and I actually ended up discovering that I had my body was showing signs of PCOS and that's polycystic ovarian syndrome where they find cysts in your ovaries. And I started to do some research because I always knew like something had to be wrong because I would commit to different meal plans. I would commit to exercising and I just couldn't keep it off. And it affected me on multiple levels.

It affected my confidence, it affected my mood, it affected everything, and I couldn't figure out what that was. And when I got the results back literally three weeks ago, it's just been, it took me a while to really take it in. I didn't even tell my family for a little bit because I really wanted to process that and really do my research. And I realized that she was doing a disservice to me

because I was doing one to her at first. I wasn't keeping up with my checkups. I wasn't doing the intentional things. I was just trying to work on the exterior that I wasn't really taking in what the interior needed. And through that process, it really made me understand why God told me in January that this was gonna be your year of rest.

And not relaxation and not sleep to rest. And to rest in what he's doing and to just trust him. And it's been one of the hardest years. But like being able to discover what's going on in my health has helped me navigate, okay, what do I now need to do to get back on track? Because at the end of the day, it's me and her and it's me versus me.

So we have to come to some type of, some type of, what's the word? We just have to come to an agreement where we're just like, this is what we need to do internally in order to make sure I'm my best so that I can then be and go where I need to go externally. So that's kind of in that.

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zack.com slash woman evolve. That first of all, thank you for sharing that bad woman. I'm not a bad woman. I'm not a bad woman. I'm not a bad woman. I'm not a bad woman. I'm not a bad woman. I'm not a bad woman. I'm not a bad woman. I'm not a bad woman. I'm not a bad woman.

I'm not a bad woman. I'm not a bad woman. I'm not a bad woman. I'm grateful that you took that extra step and want to go get checked out. The paradigm shift of not focusing so much on the exterior expression of my body, but the inner care of your body, I feel like is revolutionary.

I think that it is a powerful conversation. And it changes the way we even go on these diets because at the end of the day, if I just feed my body, something that's good for her, something that's gonna be good for her system and good for my heart and good for the fuel that I need for the day.

And then sometimes good for the emotions that she's having after a hard day. Because there's nothing like binge eating and then your body feels terrible. So it's like, what can I do to feed my body well and also give her a treat because she's out here showing. We need the treats. The balance of that, how do you think that connects with just our spiritual health? I just did this expo with Charlemagne and it was the mental wealth expo. And so our spiritual health, our spiritual wealth,

what do you think the connection is between that and our body and how do we bring them into alignment? Right, I believe everything intertwines. And one of the things that God was dealing with me about the other day, it's just like your health is gonna be as great as your health will be the deciding factor of your wealth. Because you cannot go further than your body will allow you to go.

And that is both physically, naturally, and also spiritually. I realize that when I'm not feeling healthy, that tiredness, that laziness, it reflects in my spiritual walk. And you start to get lazy with how you approach God. You start to get lazy with how you communicate with Him. And then it just affects you,

and then that affects your emotions. It's literally a ripple effect. And then once you get into that emotional effect, now you're not feeling it. You're feeling tired. The anxiety's coming to depression. And now you can't feeling it, you're feeling tired, the anxiety is coming, the depression, and now you can't call for what you want to because you don't even have, it's discipline. It's all discipline, and I realize that in struggling with discipline, with my body,

it has affected every other area. And funny now, when it comes to PCOS, one of the symptoms is that you have mood swings and that you're never regulated and you're never feeling a consistent flow of confidence because it releases a lot of cortisol which really does affect how for women, that's effective for us because we need, we need, I think it's dopamine.

So we need to just be, it all plays an intertwining role. So I've decided that if I can come to terms with loving my body, and I think if I can come to terms with giving her a schedule and giving her a regime, like, someone in separation to me because it's not necessarily what I want to do, but it's what needs to happen in order for us to live in peace together. So if I can come to terms with giving myself, it's a give and take, and that's the thing. We always want to do hard stops and hard diets,

but it's just like it's a journey. And just like in our spiritual walk, our walk with God, it's a journey every day. We have our ups, we have our downs, we go through the mountains and the valleys. And with that, we also have to navigate how to pull on God and we how to trust him. And for me, it's trusting God

with my daily decisions of what I'm gonna do. I wake up and I'm like, God, what am I eating today? Right, right. I know I'm a slave. I'm a slave, yeah. And then I'd be like, okay, what am I eating today? Right, right. I know I'm in sleep. I'm in sleep. And then I'd be like, okay Lord, it's about eight o'clock, dinner has been had. What's my treat?

I mean, what are my treats for today? And it's like, it's everything in moderation. And when you're able to just kind of create a system and a discipline with your health, you will see that it actually increases your dopamine levels. And you start to release more, like you get more joy and you get, you feel better. The better you feel, the better everything, it's kind of a ripple effect.

And I realize that my relationship with God is always, in a sense, at its strongest, what I am energized for it it because it requires your time. It requires your energy. It requires your effort. And when your body is tired, you don't have that in order to give anything else. So I feel like your body and your spiritual walk are, they work in tandem together and it's all a journey. I personally love the idea of separating who I am now versus who I know I need to become. So there is a her that is within me and I have to ask her what are we doing today? What are we eating today? What are we reading today?

What are we scrolling today? Because this version of me wants to do things that may not be good for her, but because I'm honoring that I'm in relationship with a better version of me wants to do things that may not be good for her. But because I'm honoring that I'm in relationship with a better version of myself. I bring them into agreement by asking myself what decisions would you make from this place of health? What decisions would you make from this place of faith? Because when we're tired and we're weary, we don't always make the better decisions. But to remember, there's another version of me. She may be very deep underneath disappointment. She may be very deep underneath disappointment.

She may be very deep underneath pain and shame, but she's there. And I can only bring her to life by inviting her into this present moment. But it's hard sometimes. And it's scary too. One of the things I realize is sometimes when you've been a certain way for a long time,

the fear of becoming, like not knowing who I'm going to be, so therefore I try myself, because I can't see who she, I can visualize it, but I don't fully understand what is going to require of me and what is going to cost. So sometimes you kind of sit in comfort in order to, you kind of block yourself,

and that's why I always say it's me versus me, kind of sit in comfort in order to, you kind of block yourself. And that's why I always say it's me versus me. Because oftentimes we are our biggest barrier into becoming the person that we desire to be, the person that we know God is calling us to be. And one of the things I had to realize even now recently, like God was talking to me about this yesterday, you are going to have to over,

how big is your face? And will your face trump your fear, talking about this yesterday. You are going to have to over, how big is your face? And will your face trump your fear, your fear of not knowing? And when you don't know fully, because if we can conceptualize it, it seems to me, God is huge. So if I can think about where I'm going,

that means it's even bigger, right? It's even better. So it's just like that alone is gonna cost and it's gonna require a lot. So not even understand, like when you know, okay, God is not only gonna do on my limitation of what I visualize. He's gonna exceed that abundantly.

So it's a fear that kind of comes in and then you get anxious and then you become the roadblock to your health journey. And I've had to make a conscious decision every day to tell myself you will choose faith over fear because what is in you and what is required of you requires a better version of you, internally and externally. So that is the tug of war.

And it's a daily decision just like love is a choice, your health is a choice and God gives us that choice. He's that gracious and he's that loving and that kind that he will give us the room to make these decisions. But in order to unlock the best that he has for you, you kind of have to make certain decisions today. And it will cost you, but you have greater gain. Okay. So now I feel like you're in my business because when we start talking about being afraid of who we're becoming So I have this moment at one hour loose my dad does the thing and you know, I'm like, what does this mean afterwards? I'm like okay, I'm finished crying finish not in I'm like, what does this mean like what does who like am I someone different now?

What I don't know, does what I was doing before still working this space. And then, you know, so I'm just like whatever. I'm still the same. We're still doing things the way we've always done them. And we open up registration for conference. And like within four days, we are beyond the capacity of the part of South Dallas.

And I know in my heart that if I shut it down, that I'm gonna get so many people saying, I didn't get a chance to register, I'm coming, you got a year, you got to fix it. So then it's like, okay, it's two different places I can choose from. One place is the American Airlines Center where the mavericks play.

That's the only, okay, the mavericks. And it holds 18,000 people. And someone tells me if you have 12,000 people in less than a week, 18,000 is probably not enough. I'm like, 18,000 is feeling comfortable. She's feeling safe. She's feeling like one guy has for me in this season. They're like, well, there's another place that holds 40,000. I'm stressed. I don't know about you. But why would you sign up for a place that holds 40,000? Like, what is this? Like, what do we do this? Then somebody gonna ask me if Jesus is coming back after the conference. Would you have wanted to be in this space that had a meeting with people?

Why are we throwing Jesus in this? What would Jesus do? I can't. So in 2000, why are we bringing these bracelets back? So I say all of this to What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts?

What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts?

What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? What are Jesus' thoughts? uncomfortable what you've always known what feels within your ability to do. Are you willing to stand in faith and say, God, literally, I don't know why me. I don't know why why you would do this to me. I don't know why you would trust me. Why are you doing this to me? I'm not ready. I don't have what it takes. I'm not good enough.

I'm not strong enough. And yet, you got to move anyway. And so I am moving in faith. And I feel like what you said is so important because it's not just when it comes to our body. There are so many different areas of growth opportunities within our life. But growth is only an opportunity. It is not a mandate.

It is an opportunity for those who are willing to say yes. And sometimes we say yes afraid. And sometimes we say yes afraid, and sometimes we say yes without knowing who we are becoming, but we say yes because we trust that growth requires dependency on God. And if we have chosen to live a life that is dependent, our only option is growth and trust and faith. Yeah.

And the truth is, we think that the one yes is enough. Oh no. Right. Once you're done, because I just told you yesterday. Yes, yesterday. Right. Once you're done growing in this area,

we're going to start to grow journey in another. It's just like it's a constant yes. And it's just like, now it's health, now it's worthiness, now it's love, now it's physical capacity. It is so many emotional capacity. There's so many different seasons of growth. And I think that's what it is. Because it's like we understand what it took to get to this level.

Now you ask me to do it all over again. Hello, somebody. Hello, somebody. It's just so you know. It's like from the help when the, when it's a viola, Davis characters like, ain't you tired Miss Millie? Sometimes I wanna go to God in my prayer closet.

You're like, ain't you tired of saving your life? Ain't you tired of signing me up for stuff that I can't do but you force me to do and then I find out you good in the midst of it. Ain't you tired of it? Cause that's when we do it too much. For sure. Just kidding.

And that, that's the beautiful thing about God, because even though we limit ourselves, he's just like, oh no daughter, there's so much more for you to do. And yes, especially Sarah, 40,000 good luck. I will be there very much, so, but it is a lot. But the truth of the matter is, is you're built for it because God equips you.

And everything that He's giving you and everything that is required of you, He's already put down on it and the inside is you. It's just a matter of you to trust Him to allow it to bloom. Yeah, that built for it, man. Yeah. And we never want to believe it, like we hear it. And it's just like, you're built for this,

and sometimes there's the last thing you want to hear. Right, for a short. I appreciate you're built for this, but you want to come do this? Because sometimes it's just like, yeah, that's nice and all, but the requirements are quite high. But the truth is, it really just requires our yes and our obedience.

And obedience is one of the simplest lessons, but the hardest thing sometime to align yourself with because you understand the cost. Yeah. And if we allow ourselves to realize that the reward is greater than I think it will bring us peace, but it's our human nature and it's our comfort. It's just like whatever we find comfort and solitude is very difficult to let go.

But it's always when you get a little comfortable, God, it's like, all right, great, now we're gonna move on. It's just like, okay, so I trust you, Lord. I don't know, you're talking, and when you say that built for you, and I feel like we hear people say that a lot about different circumstances, like you're built for this, you're built for this, and I feel like we hear people say that a lot about different circumstances, like, you're built for this, you're built for this, and I'm thinking about,

Jesus talking about building the church on Peter, and I'm thinking maybe we spend so much time thinking that God is putting us in a situation where something is going to be built for us, that we miss that God is building it on us, and the comfort in God building it on us is that if God is at the foundation level, your only job is to stay low enough

so that God can keep building. Don't get puffed up with pride and start thinking I'm building it for you or building you up on top of it. Just stay low enough for me to build this on you. And I feel like that's the only time that I have peace when I think about whatever God is doing with woman evolve and the harvest that God has allowed us

to receive. I just keep thinking to myself, like this, you're not anybody. Like this doesn't make you important, this doesn't make you special. It just means that God has found you qualified to build on. So stay close to the ground, stay humble, stay connected, stay close to your roots so that God can do whatever God's going to,

whatever He's going to build, whatever He's going to architect, He's already got the plans. I just got to stay close enough to my roots to be a good foundation. And that's hard work and and that's body work, and that's mental work. And it's all worth it in the end. I think that God does allow us moments where we get to step out from being in the foundation

and see what he built to be like. That's nice. And then go right back up. I mean, that's right. Absolutely. And that is true because humility is one of the, for me, like, one of the things, and people always tell me I'm crazy when I break this, but I might more keep me humble.

Because keep me low enough to not take pride in what it is that you're doing through me, knowing that it's not for me, but it's for your kingdom. And that, that hard posture comes with, it comes with a lot. And sometimes we we mess up sometimes we get we start to we start to we go. Yeah, let me humble you. Here we go. Remind you that it's not yours. But it's like that the beauty of it is that if you avail your heart to be humbled by God and to make sure that in all things what you're doing is for him and it's for the kingdom. He will always honor that, I feel. And that was one thing that I had to,

because I'm, yeah, even now I'm in a season where I'm just like, okay, Lord, we're not gonna do this, we're gonna do this. Great. What does that look like? Because at the end of the day, we're not here for our own desires. We just have to allow it to align with God's and He's gonna give us the desires of the day, we're not here for our own desires. We just have to allow it to align with God. And He's gonna give us the desires of our heart, but when it's in alignment with His will.

So for me, it's always the understanding and the constant along myself to remember that all that I am is His. And if I can just stay in that heart posture, whatever He's gonna do in and through me will be for. It's good, so yeah, that's always been something. This summer I took an extended break from working and in my time away I was able to make even more space for my mental wellness.

Whether you're a working mom, stay at home mom, or a stay at home, and work mom. Sis, your mental wellness is valuable. And that is why this podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp Online Therapy. You know you've already been thinking about it. Now is the time to take that step to make some time for you. Having a therapist has helped me pace myself, remind me of my growth, and also holds me accountable to my mental wellness goals. Better health is just as convenient and affordable as it is necessary. Problems can come from every part of our life in a dividal that we have the appropriate tools we need to tackle them, and better help can assist you with that.

For me, instead of solely focusing on the problem in front of me, therapy has shifted my perspective into having healthy solutions and improved my communication skills. When you want to be a better problem solver, therapy can get you there. Visit BetterHelp.com slash Evolve today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterHELP.com slash Evolve. I have a question for you, Vast Sarah. Go for it. So, how have you navigated in the transitions from being hidden? Because I know there was a hidden season.

And people don't like to ask about it, but I'm going to ask was a hidden season. Very sure. And people don't like to ask about it, but I'm going to ask about the hidden season. Because I feel like that season is always the most trying season. What was your hidden season like in that season? What was God doing in order to prepare you for what he is now doing? And yeah, how did you navigate through that? That's a great question. And you know, my life stories a bit different because I didn't feel hidden because I wasn't really looking for anything. I never had like this idea that

I had a call on my life or that I was going to be used for anything. Like I never felt hitting because I never felt like there was anything worth using to be honest. So I think that if I felt any sense of, I don't, I just, I didn't feel like there was anything to see. I didn't feel like I had anything to say. I think the only thing that may have made me feel hidden

in hindsight was just shame kept me hidden from my friends and my family. So I didn't know I was hidden when I was hidden. I didn't know that. But what I will say now that I believe that God was hiding and protecting me from me, which is sometimes the greatest gift God can ever give you is hiding you from you.

If you knew who you were is hiding you from you. If you knew who you were, if you knew what God was going to ask of you, if you knew the rooms that you were going to be in, you would probably plan to be in them and mess it all up. And so sometimes God hides the fact that you're hidden from you until you see who you are and your character is built up in such a way that you can handle being exposed. But what I know now is that God was teaching me the power of stillness. God was really breaking me down from this idea

of needing to have a reputation from needing to have a perfect life, from needing to have a perfect life, from needing to present perfectly. When I was hidden, I got desperate to just be authentic. I just got desperate to say, you know what? I don't want to manufacture it. I don't want to contrive it. I just got tired of trying to put something together.

And it was only until I decided like, this is who I am and whatever, like this is what I got that I began to see God kind of peel the curtains back first to myself. Right. And I found love behind the curtain. I found peace behind the curtain with my shame, with the decisions I've made, with the divorce,

with all of these different choices, I found love still and I found peace. And then I think God continued to just peel back the curtain more and more and more, and I was able to experience being seen by family, because a lot of times, if you can't afford to be seen, then you have to stay hidden. Coming out of hiding is only for people who are ready to be seen,

and it wasn't until I was allowing myself to be seen by God, seen by myself, seen by my inner circle that I believe God allowed me to be seen by more people. And to be honest, like I spend probably seven days of the week wanting to hide. Because I'm just comfortable back there. I just being out here, you've been to say something, you didn't go on viral, you didn't piss somebody off for just breathing. And I enjoy the beauty of just kind of being to myself and with people who I know love and trust me. But that's not how God has assigned my life.

And so I am living vulnerable scene for the world and trusting that who I am for will receive me and who I'm not won't hurt me, or at least won't hurt me in a way that makes me go back and hide again. Does that answer your question? You know, absolutely, it does. And I think one of the things I kind of gathered from that conclusion is the more life you live

and the more experience you go through, whether that be beauty or whether it be ugly, is the more you understand the power of love. And I think the reality was, what I gathered was, you came to terms with loving all of you. Yeah. And then you were able to express that. And that is something that's really tricky.

And that goes back to our topic about the body. Yeah. We can love a lot of us, but the beauty and the resilience and the magnitude it takes to love all of you is very difficult because but it can be easy but it's the reality of knowing that God has accepted every part of you. And when you're able to do so as well, like it changes how you see everything, it changes how you show up.

Yeah. And then when you're able to authentically walk in who you are, as you evolve, as you change, then you can then not be afraid to show others that authenticity. And that's the beautiful, that's beautiful. Lesson in life to learn. Yeah. Let's focus on you for a moment. Take a deep breath, let it out.

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40% off unlimited access to calms entire library that's calm dot com slash evolve. I'm at my best within my body when I am honoring my body for just thank you for helping me make it through the day. Like thank you for allowing me to stand on my feet while I made the dinner. Thank you so much for allowing me to work out today. Thank you so much for being at rest when I was at rest. When I acknowledge that my body is the secret, unappreciated weapon that allows me to power through my day. I love her more. You know what I mean?

I don't cringe when I see her in the mirror. I don't think to myself, ugh, when I put on certain clothes, I learn, I make her my friend and when your body becomes your friend, you want to treat her well. Absolutely. And I think it's a,

she's my friend five days a week. But sometimes, she's a, she's my friend five days a week. But sometimes she's a lady. I just had one slice of bread. And why? Why are you still dramatic? Turn it back. Turn it back, woman of God. So, you know, sometimes it's a beautiful thing, but there's beauty in the journey.

And that's how you can speak on these things. When you go through that journey, when you go through that love hate relationship, as you decide to grow a finder and finder every day, and you realize just how much you need your body, like literally, I need her. I need her. I do.

Absolutely. Absolutely. I think that you tell how I do. Absolutely. Absolutely. I was thinking of the other day. They were singing this song about crowns and how we're all gonna get a crown. And then the pastor got up at the end. He was like, if you ready to receive your crown, clap your hands.

I was like, ooh, she's not ready for the crown yet. She got work to do. Body still hit, don't you go, don't you be absent from the body. You better stay present in the body. We still have things to do body steel. Don't you go, don't you be absent from the body. You better stay present in the body. We still have things to do. I'm not ready for the crown. Absolutely.

I should not ready, but we'll prop on it. Right, but also. I love you, Amanda. This has been great. I love you too, Pastor Sarah. You have been a mentor for afar and it has been. This is an honor for me to be here. I was so nervous.

Oh my God. I don't know why you had no reason to be. Because for me, like, Pastor Sarah, you don't understand your impact on my life. So I think that's why I'm just like, oh, this is like the biggest honor, the star in my life. And I'm super grateful that I was able to do this.

And I remember I told you in Chicago, I'm thinking, remember this, but you would pass, you would be see, we're coming out of the back to do the VIP photos. I'm like, Canada loves you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I'm like, Canada just, just occasion for God. No, we will drive anywhere to come see you. I hope we love you here too. Thank you. I hope to make you here too. Thank you. I hope to make you dependent on this. So I can check on my whole girls and their bodies out that way. Yes.

I'm going to try to do a challenge between now and the end of the year to just commit to doing right by her every day. That was something I was kind of dealing with in prayer over the last few weeks. I'm like, let's see what we get from now to Jan one. You know, I have such an amazing podcast manager and we did 75 hard as not her.

She didn't do it. She didn't even try to deal with me. But yeah, China, yeah, she didn't try to do 75 hard with me. But I will say this, maybe China wants to come up with a woman evolved challenge where we do something for like 30 to 45 days, we workout, we read something, we become better people. But you know, and she's also a licensed therapist, so we ought to be able to get our mind and body right.

But I don't know if she's listening, so who knows whether or not that'll happen. I'll text her. I'll be like China, we have a therapist that we need to do a challenge. Yes'll text her. I'll be like, China, but as a therapist, we need to do a challenge. Yes, text her. Thank you, and thank you, and thank you. And you're amazing. All of it, every day.

Every day, we're drinking our water and minding our business. That's the woman evolved way. That's how we get down. Period. I love it. I love it. I love it.

Okay, take care. I guess I'll see you in Dallas. Oh, you're going to have to see me for that. I'll see you in the next one. I'll see you in the next one. I'm working on it. I see you in Dallas. How are you going to see me before then? I'll see how some way we're going to see each other before then. I'm working on it. I got you. Alrighty, thank you so much for that. It's been honored.

Thank you. Bye. Alright, bye. Amanda, thank you for spending time with us and sharing your truth. I have a joy. I have a giggle down on my soul after speaking with you. I cannot wait to see you. I know your story is going to encourage others to take better care of themselves.

Thank you so much for taking that advice and going to check on yourself. Whether it's physical, emotional, or mental health care delegation, I hope you're treating yourself well. You deserve it. We have lives to change and I don't want to do it without your sister. Take care. See you next week. you