March 12, 2024 • 15 mins
As I stand at a crossroads, grappling with the complex symphony of life's challenges, I find solace in the unwavering presence of faith. This episode is a heartfelt reflection on the transformative power of belief through life's tumultuous seasons. With Chanel by my side, we've navigated the bittersweet decision to put our beloved podcast on a shelf as we journey through personal and professional growth. I share the intimate details of recent trials, the warmth of divine intervention, and the profound impact these experiences have had, not just on my psyche but on the trajectory of my path forward.
Within the tapestry of our discussions, I weave the narrative of anxiety's grip and the liberating guidance faith provides in breaking free. As we prepare to press pause on our podcast, I extend a heartfelt thanks to you, our dear listeners, for the support and companionship that have been the wind beneath our wings. There's a promise of hope and the potential for joy as we step away, sending our love and encouragement to each one of you who has become part of our extended family. This isn't a goodbye, but a moment of gratitude as we hold on to the faith that has carried us here and will continue to light our way.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello everyone and welcome to the Real With Lab
podcast.
How is everybody doing outthere?
I hope you're all okay.
I hope your family is doinggreat.
Well, I just wanted to reachout to all of you letting you
(00:22):
know how I appreciated youlistening in on our podcast each
episode, you know, with me andChanel, who is my daughter.
But now, on this episode it'sgoing to be called.
It's called challenges versusfaith and for me, those two
(00:45):
words are important becauseevery day in life we go through
challenges and sometimes thechallenges are so big and that
you have to literally take astep back and you have to think
about.
You know your surroundings,what's happening, you know how
are you going to handle thechallenges.
And then you have the otherside, where there's your faith,
(01:09):
and it depends on the individual.
You know, some people have alot of faith, some people have
little faith and some peoplehave no faith.
For myself, I have a lot offaith and when I think about
challenges and the faith that Ihave, it's not easy.
It really isn't.
Sometimes we have to makedecisions that it's best for
(01:31):
mental health because of what ishappening around our life,
right?
So, with that said, you know Ihave been dealing with some
stuff, some real challengingsituation, and it has caused me
(01:55):
to make a different turn in mypersonal growth and right now,
what has taken place is a goodthing for me.
You know I had applied for aposition and I had to do a lot
of testing and you know, ofcourse you do the interview and
(02:19):
so that part of it there was twoparts and that part of it was a
little stressful, but I wassuccessful.
So that now is another steppingstone in my personal growth
where I have to really payattention.
(02:42):
Now you know how we've beenpodcasting on here for about two
years now, two years and a bitand it has been very enjoyable,
you know, inspiring who wants tohear and who would listen in.
And there's also anotherchallenge that right now that I
am facing and it needs myundivided attention.
(03:07):
So, with that said, everyone, wewill be stopping our podcasting
.
I can't tell you when we willstart up again, but this
decision that me and Chanel made, you know it wasn't really so
(03:29):
much of that easy, because welove coming on here and we love
to talk, you know, about ourreal life experiences.
You know it's not any joke,it's not any fake nothing.
It's real.
And so, because of my growthand my other challenge that I'm
going through which is somewhatI don't want to, you know, say
(03:51):
it out, it's more of a personalthing that I have to monitor and
everything video throughMetcalfeorg that's why we've
come to the decision to stop ourpodcast, and our podcast will
still be up and everything, butI cannot tell you when we will
return, but I want to make sureI thank each and every one of
(04:12):
you that came on here and tookthe time to listen to our story
and to inspire you and tomotivate you.
You know it has been enjoyable.
So for now, I have to push onand sometimes in life everyone,
we have to make choices and wehave to do it for the better of
(04:34):
our mental health and and alsoto focus, you know, on our
future endeavors, you know.
So this is where I'm at, thisis where we are, we are at.
You know Chanel's work job hasbecome, you know, more demanding
and busy and stuff like that,and you know we like to be
(04:56):
consistent in what we do, and sowe've decided to pause
indefinitely.
Don't know, can't tell youwe're gonna be back next month
or so, because right now thingsare about to get very hectic.
I am very happy for my personalgrowth and my growth in in what
I will be doing, and so I lookforward to that.
And yeah, so that's where we'reat.
(05:20):
And in this episode, when yougot challenges in life and when
you got trouble, I'm alwaystelling my listeners that don't
cry, just know that God isstanding by.
Prayer moves mountain.
It really does.
I have strong faith in God andI also have faith in myself,
(05:45):
like I have good self-esteem.
Sometimes it gets really rough,but we have to learn to push on
with our faith in God and nomatter how dark it is, you know,
no matter how dark it is, youhave to stand in that darkness
(06:07):
and trust that God is going toshow you the light.
No matter how scary, no matterhow fearful you feel because
we're all human beings, we'renot perfect you gotta believe
and trust God.
You know, for me it's not anoption.
It's what is right for me.
(06:28):
You know everyone has adifferent outlook, but faith and
prayers is what will help youget through any challenges, and
so I know that.
You know God is real.
My challenges are real.
(06:53):
You cannot just go alone in thisworld and thinking that you can
solve everything.
There's no such thing.
You know, we all need guidancein our life, in whatever we're
doing, whether it's God sendingsomeone to uplift you and to
help you.
You know, because God can sendpeople, you know that will be
(07:15):
there for you.
And you know, as we say, peoplesometimes in life they're just
for season.
Sometimes you can meet up onwonderful people and it's okay,
and then after a while that's it, you know, but for that moment
they were helpful, they weregood, but then people do move on
(07:36):
.
You know what I mean.
People do move on, and so Ijust believe that in everything
that we do and everything thathappens in your own life,
there's always a reason forsomething.
You know, there's always areason for something.
So, with that said, you know,just remember all your
(07:59):
challenges that you're goingthrough.
Whatever is going on in yourhead, you know, whatever you're
battling in your heart, right,there's always a solution to it,
right?
Don't ever feed off of whathappened in the past.
I just wanna leave somepositive words with you.
You know, don't ever thinkabout what happened in the past.
(08:21):
Do not hold on to the past.
It will destroy you.
It will destroy you and I knowthat we all have gone through
our own challenges.
We've gone through hurt andpain.
You know what I mean.
I'll give you an example too,because there's families out
there that have gone throughsome traumatizing moments.
Just the other day, a young manand a teenage boy was standing
(08:45):
at the bus stop and somebodydrove by in a car and pumped, I
think, three bullets.
He picked up, I think, two inthe head, one in the chest, if
I'm not mistaken, but he wasdead on the spot.
The 15 year old got shot in hisface, right Life altering
injuries to his face, and so Isaw the family back in.
(09:08):
I believe they're from Ghana,if I'm not mistaken, and the
sister was like the way shecried.
It just it went up to my head.
I had shivers because he camehere so that he can help them
and one day they could come.
So he came here for a betterlife, right, and he came.
(09:31):
He was I don't think he washere for a year yet and he's
dead.
I believe he was 40 years oldor something.
He's dead.
You know, and I'm just.
You look at life and you wonderlife, we have no value, our life
don't have any value andthere's nothing connected.
(09:53):
He was going on his way.
The 15 year old, I believe, wasgoing to play basketball
because he loves basketball, andI believe he's still in the
hospital.
Now what if his face is sodisfigured that it's gonna
traumatize him?
You know so when I look atthings like that, you know it's
devastating, right, and soSometimes you know in life it's
(10:16):
just you don't know what's goingto happen, you don't.
You just don't know.
You don't know what's going tohappen.
You know you can be here todayand tomorrow, that's it.
So I just tried my best toalways try to think positive.
Sometimes, when we're goingthrough so much, it's hard to
think positive.
Reality, guys, right, it's hardto think positive, but we have
(10:40):
to know that.
You know what we have one lifeand we got a push and we got to
try hard.
You know, show each other love,show each other that that level
of respect.
I know that we're only here once.
We're here for a short time.
Have you ever thought aboutyour age?
The other day we're 16 or 20and then you look at your age.
(11:01):
You know what I mean.
Time is valuable and it doesn'twait on anybody.
You know we think, oh, time isgoing so fast.
You know we're all guilty ofthat.
All the time is going so fast.
Oh my gosh, look at this andthat it's not really the time is
going so fast and not really.
When you look at it, we gotweek.
Each day God gives us time.
(11:21):
I guess it's how we apply whatwe're doing within that time.
You know, this morning I woke upand Every morning I have to
give him thanks for waking me upand giving me back my soul.
You know all the other thingsthat we try to to do when the
challenges that we go through.
You know, because you want agood life, you want a clean life
(11:44):
and you want to be able to havea good living and and and learn
and grow and stuff like that.
You know, and sometimes it's sohard to gain.
But when he does grant it toyou, we have to be grateful
because always remember Forthose of you who are listening
when you pray.
You know when you pray, godlistens and he also will answer.
(12:14):
But sometimes what you'repraying to him for for him to
grant you, he doesn't alwaysgive it to you, because he can
see that what you're praying tohim for will not benefit you.
It will not do you any good.
It's either gonna be a disasterdown the road or you're going
to just lose your mind over it.
(12:35):
You know whatever it is, andWith that, he has a better plan
for you and I I can just, I havelived that.
I have lived it.
You know, I have gone into a, asituation, you know, where I
(12:56):
feel anxiety or I feel fearfuland All of a sudden, you don't
even know.
You know God just makes the wayand I bloom.
So for anybody who wants to hearthis, for those of you out
there, don't give up.
(13:16):
I'm not giving up when I sayI'm going to stop podcasting
because there's something thatthat I am growing and so we have
to stop and make a decision tostop, you know.
But you Know we, we have tolearn to make choices, that you
(13:42):
know that is best.
And so when I tell you about myspiritual experience and you
know the challenges of it's soheavy, but God kept me and he's
kept my daughter and we stillhave to do our best to, you know
(14:06):
, take care of some stuff.
So everyone, again I want tothank you for being here, for
listening and everything youknow, and Take care of yourself,
and this is not a, this is notsomething where, oh, my god, I'm
gonna something.
You know I'm into Some sad newsfor me.
(14:30):
No, it's great news, but I keep, I stay humble in my, my great,
you know my great news ofgrowing into something New and
and and and higher than what Iwas doing, and so I remain
humble because I'm grateful.
So, thank you everyone foralways being here on be real
(14:53):
with lab podcast.
I wish you only the very bestin your future endeavors and
Wish you all the best with yourfamily.
You know Life, what life has tooffer, okay, and we will, we
will, we will.
We will talk again, I don'tknow when, but we will be back,
(15:13):
and If we're not, I Can onlywish you the very best.
Take care of yourself.
Much love always.
Hello everyone and welcome to the Real With Lab
podcast.
How is everybody doing outthere?
I hope you're all okay.
I hope your family is doinggreat.
Well, I just wanted to reachout to all of you letting you
(00:22):
know how I appreciated youlistening in on our podcast each
episode, you know, with me andChanel, who is my daughter.
But now, on this episode it'sgoing to be called.
It's called challenges versusfaith and for me, those two
(00:45):
words are important becauseevery day in life we go through
challenges and sometimes thechallenges are so big and that
you have to literally take astep back and you have to think
about.
You know your surroundings,what's happening, you know how
are you going to handle thechallenges.
And then you have the otherside, where there's your faith,
(01:09):
and it depends on the individual.
You know, some people have alot of faith, some people have
little faith and some peoplehave no faith.
For myself, I have a lot offaith and when I think about
challenges and the faith that Ihave, it's not easy.
It really isn't.
Sometimes we have to makedecisions that it's best for
(01:31):
mental health because of what ishappening around our life,
right?
So, with that said, you know Ihave been dealing with some
stuff, some real challengingsituation, and it has caused me
(01:55):
to make a different turn in mypersonal growth and right now,
what has taken place is a goodthing for me.
You know I had applied for aposition and I had to do a lot
of testing and you know, ofcourse you do the interview and
(02:19):
so that part of it there was twoparts and that part of it was a
little stressful, but I wassuccessful.
So that now is another steppingstone in my personal growth
where I have to really payattention.
(02:42):
Now you know how we've beenpodcasting on here for about two
years now, two years and a bitand it has been very enjoyable,
you know, inspiring who wants tohear and who would listen in.
And there's also anotherchallenge that right now that I
am facing and it needs myundivided attention.
(03:07):
So, with that said, everyone, wewill be stopping our podcasting
.
I can't tell you when we willstart up again, but this
decision that me and Chanel made, you know it wasn't really so
(03:29):
much of that easy, because welove coming on here and we love
to talk, you know, about ourreal life experiences.
You know it's not any joke,it's not any fake nothing.
It's real.
And so, because of my growthand my other challenge that I'm
going through which is somewhatI don't want to, you know, say
(03:51):
it out, it's more of a personalthing that I have to monitor and
everything video throughMetcalfeorg that's why we've
come to the decision to stop ourpodcast, and our podcast will
still be up and everything, butI cannot tell you when we will
return, but I want to make sureI thank each and every one of
(04:12):
you that came on here and tookthe time to listen to our story
and to inspire you and tomotivate you.
You know it has been enjoyable.
So for now, I have to push onand sometimes in life everyone,
we have to make choices and wehave to do it for the better of
(04:34):
our mental health and and alsoto focus, you know, on our
future endeavors, you know.
So this is where I'm at, thisis where we are, we are at.
You know Chanel's work job hasbecome, you know, more demanding
and busy and stuff like that,and you know we like to be
(04:56):
consistent in what we do, and sowe've decided to pause
indefinitely.
Don't know, can't tell youwe're gonna be back next month
or so, because right now thingsare about to get very hectic.
I am very happy for my personalgrowth and my growth in in what
I will be doing, and so I lookforward to that.
And yeah, so that's where we'reat.
(05:20):
And in this episode, when yougot challenges in life and when
you got trouble, I'm alwaystelling my listeners that don't
cry, just know that God isstanding by.
Prayer moves mountain.
It really does.
I have strong faith in God andI also have faith in myself,
(05:45):
like I have good self-esteem.
Sometimes it gets really rough,but we have to learn to push on
with our faith in God and nomatter how dark it is, you know,
no matter how dark it is, youhave to stand in that darkness
(06:07):
and trust that God is going toshow you the light.
No matter how scary, no matterhow fearful you feel because
we're all human beings, we'renot perfect you gotta believe
and trust God.
You know, for me it's not anoption.
It's what is right for me.
(06:28):
You know everyone has adifferent outlook, but faith and
prayers is what will help youget through any challenges, and
so I know that.
You know God is real.
My challenges are real.
(06:53):
You cannot just go alone in thisworld and thinking that you can
solve everything.
There's no such thing.
You know, we all need guidancein our life, in whatever we're
doing, whether it's God sendingsomeone to uplift you and to
help you.
You know, because God can sendpeople, you know that will be
(07:15):
there for you.
And you know, as we say, peoplesometimes in life they're just
for season.
Sometimes you can meet up onwonderful people and it's okay,
and then after a while that's it, you know, but for that moment
they were helpful, they weregood, but then people do move on
(07:36):
.
You know what I mean.
People do move on, and so Ijust believe that in everything
that we do and everything thathappens in your own life,
there's always a reason forsomething.
You know, there's always areason for something.
So, with that said, you know,just remember all your
(07:59):
challenges that you're goingthrough.
Whatever is going on in yourhead, you know, whatever you're
battling in your heart, right,there's always a solution to it,
right?
Don't ever feed off of whathappened in the past.
I just wanna leave somepositive words with you.
You know, don't ever thinkabout what happened in the past.
(08:21):
Do not hold on to the past.
It will destroy you.
It will destroy you and I knowthat we all have gone through
our own challenges.
We've gone through hurt andpain.
You know what I mean.
I'll give you an example too,because there's families out
there that have gone throughsome traumatizing moments.
Just the other day, a young manand a teenage boy was standing
(08:45):
at the bus stop and somebodydrove by in a car and pumped, I
think, three bullets.
He picked up, I think, two inthe head, one in the chest, if
I'm not mistaken, but he wasdead on the spot.
The 15 year old got shot in hisface, right Life altering
injuries to his face, and so Isaw the family back in.
(09:08):
I believe they're from Ghana,if I'm not mistaken, and the
sister was like the way shecried.
It just it went up to my head.
I had shivers because he camehere so that he can help them
and one day they could come.
So he came here for a betterlife, right, and he came.
(09:31):
He was I don't think he washere for a year yet and he's
dead.
I believe he was 40 years oldor something.
He's dead.
You know, and I'm just.
You look at life and you wonderlife, we have no value, our life
don't have any value andthere's nothing connected.
(09:53):
He was going on his way.
The 15 year old, I believe, wasgoing to play basketball
because he loves basketball, andI believe he's still in the
hospital.
Now what if his face is sodisfigured that it's gonna
traumatize him?
You know so when I look atthings like that, you know it's
devastating, right, and soSometimes you know in life it's
(10:16):
just you don't know what's goingto happen, you don't.
You just don't know.
You don't know what's going tohappen.
You know you can be here todayand tomorrow, that's it.
So I just tried my best toalways try to think positive.
Sometimes, when we're goingthrough so much, it's hard to
think positive.
Reality, guys, right, it's hardto think positive, but we have
(10:40):
to know that.
You know what we have one lifeand we got a push and we got to
try hard.
You know, show each other love,show each other that that level
of respect.
I know that we're only here once.
We're here for a short time.
Have you ever thought aboutyour age?
The other day we're 16 or 20and then you look at your age.
(11:01):
You know what I mean.
Time is valuable and it doesn'twait on anybody.
You know we think, oh, time isgoing so fast.
You know we're all guilty ofthat.
All the time is going so fast.
Oh my gosh, look at this andthat it's not really the time is
going so fast and not really.
When you look at it, we gotweek.
Each day God gives us time.
(11:21):
I guess it's how we apply whatwe're doing within that time.
You know, this morning I woke upand Every morning I have to
give him thanks for waking me upand giving me back my soul.
You know all the other thingsthat we try to to do when the
challenges that we go through.
You know, because you want agood life, you want a clean life
(11:44):
and you want to be able to havea good living and and and learn
and grow and stuff like that.
You know, and sometimes it's sohard to gain.
But when he does grant it toyou, we have to be grateful
because always remember Forthose of you who are listening
when you pray.
You know when you pray, godlistens and he also will answer.
(12:14):
But sometimes what you'repraying to him for for him to
grant you, he doesn't alwaysgive it to you, because he can
see that what you're praying tohim for will not benefit you.
It will not do you any good.
It's either gonna be a disasterdown the road or you're going
to just lose your mind over it.
(12:35):
You know whatever it is, andWith that, he has a better plan
for you and I I can just, I havelived that.
I have lived it.
You know, I have gone into a, asituation, you know, where I
(12:56):
feel anxiety or I feel fearfuland All of a sudden, you don't
even know.
You know God just makes the wayand I bloom.
So for anybody who wants to hearthis, for those of you out
there, don't give up.
(13:16):
I'm not giving up when I sayI'm going to stop podcasting
because there's something thatthat I am growing and so we have
to stop and make a decision tostop, you know.
But you Know we, we have tolearn to make choices, that you
(13:42):
know that is best.
And so when I tell you about myspiritual experience and you
know the challenges of it's soheavy, but God kept me and he's
kept my daughter and we stillhave to do our best to, you know
(14:06):
, take care of some stuff.
So everyone, again I want tothank you for being here, for
listening and everything youknow, and Take care of yourself,
and this is not a, this is notsomething where, oh, my god, I'm
gonna something.
You know I'm into Some sad newsfor me.
(14:30):
No, it's great news, but I keep, I stay humble in my, my great,
you know my great news ofgrowing into something New and
and and and higher than what Iwas doing, and so I remain
humble because I'm grateful.
So, thank you everyone foralways being here on be real
(14:53):
with lab podcast.
I wish you only the very bestin your future endeavors and
Wish you all the best with yourfamily.
You know Life, what life has tooffer, okay, and we will, we
will, we will.
We will talk again, I don'tknow when, but we will be back,
(15:13):
and If we're not, I Can onlywish you the very best.
Take care of yourself.
Much love always.
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