036 - Are you in Heaven's Net? - Grace Among Us

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Grace Among Us, the podcast where we
unearth the many faces andplaces of grace and share
stories of the power of grace inour human lives.
Our desire is that this willinspire you to see grace in your
own life and share it withothers.

Carri Richard (00:20):
Richard, I am a mindset coach who helps people
make space and enjoy the ride.
I'm here with Ebony Gilbert andwe are going to talk about no
surprise.
Grace, grace, yes, hi, Ebony.

Ebony Gilbert (00:38):
Good morning, good day, Carri.
(Carri - How are you?
) I'm good, I'm so good.
It's Friday.
I'm excited about that.
The end of a week, thebeginning of a weekend.

Yeah, how are you ?
I'm fabulous, (Ebony -Oustanding), I'm excited to be
here with you.
I like sometimes we change upthe times that we meet and
shift, kind of

Speaker 1 (01:03):
Shakes it up a little bit.

Yeah, Kind of gets me out of my comfort zone,
even a little bit more.
So thank you, hey.
I think you know today we'regoing to talk about Heaven's Net
.

Yes, we are.

Yes, we are, and do you want to get us started.
What is that?
What does Heaven's Net mean toyou?

What does Heaven's Net mean to me?
Prior to about 30 days ago, notmuch.
And then these two people Iknow decided to create this
event and curate this agenda andHeaven's Net was the inspired
topic.
So I've been thinking about ita lot more lately and I don't

(01:53):
know if I've firmed up my fullthought around it.
But I can tell you this muchwhen I think of a net and I'm
from a small fishing town andthere's lots of boating and
things of that sort but I thinkof a net, I think of something
that catches a bunch of stuff.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
It's a catch-all.
You know it's a place wherethings get caught up.

It sounds very restricting, but it's also very
protective and very inclusive.
So I think of something beingcaptured, but not in a prison
way.

No hostages (Ebony - no hostages).
I gotcha.
yea, uh,

Which is a very elementary understanding right,
but I'm still developing andthinking about it.
What are your thoughts about it?

Well, that's what I love about it.
I just actually heard it inpassing a while ago and it was
like kind of caught me up like,Heaven's Net?

Pun intended?
It caught you up?

Oh, that's oh Nice, catch Catch.
Ha Nice catch, oh my gosh, wecould just do this for the whole
time, but we won't.
We promise, we promise.
So it is Like I can't fallthrough the cracks, you know,

(03:30):
when I am reliant on somethingbigger than me, on God, like
there's this net.
There are these sayings outhere, "leap in, the net will
appear.
Or, you know, don't do thisdoing something without a net,
and all this, but like in, youknow, with grace, it's always

(03:53):
there, that net is always there,and I can either believe that
or I cannot believe it.
And, truth be told, I don'talways believe it.

And what happens?
You said something yeah, goahead, go ahead, go ahead.

Go ahead.

You said something.
You said I can't fall betweenthe cracks.
So a net has holes in it.
To me, the net is the grace.
The holes are free will.
You can remain contained in thenet, but you got to breathe.
You know, you still have a view, you still have a glimpse into

(04:33):
the outside world, thesurrounding area.
You can still see.
It's not prison, it's notsolitary confinement.
You can breathe, you can havefree will, but you're still
caught up with the safety ofknowing I'm not going to fall
between these cracks Now if Iwant to claw out, If you want to
bring your buck knife and youwant to do it yourself, cut a

(04:55):
hole, you know cut your waythrough the net's not going to
stop you.
Yeah, but when you said I'm notgoing to fall between the cracks
, I had this vision of the holesin the net and, like you, think
of fishing.
The fish aren't falling throughthe holes, but they can still
breathe and they can stillfunction and they're still part
of this environment, even thoughthey're contained in this net.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
Right.

I'd like to think that we're contained in this
net with free will, with thesafety and security of grace the
net, but there's still holes.

Absolutely.
It's not restrictive, no, it'ssupportive.
And the question you know, I'vebeen playing with the idea of,
like when I'm fearful, or when Iam afraid to do something, or I
put my guard up like I'm goingto be protecting myself, right,

(05:54):
I ask myself am I believing thatI'm in heaven's net?
And most of the time when I'min that space, the answer is no.
So on the flip side of that, ifI remember I'm in heaven's net,
like what can I not do and whyam I afraid?

Because who's holding the other side of the
net?

It's not me.
The good Lord so, I don't knowif confidence is the right word.
It's like that question thatgets bantered about, like what

(06:48):
would I do if I couldn't fail?

What would I do if I couldn't fail?
What would you do?

I would sing in front of people.
(Ebony Yeah?
) I love to sing.
I sing in my car.
I'm afraid, I'm afraid, (Ebony- uh-oh, I think we have an
activity for you) oh good Lord.

I could say, I mean, I could look back, I could
look back, I could look back Icould look back.

I could say, I could look back.
I could look back.
I probably would have saidthings I had held back on.
You know, I might have takenrisks that I didn't take.
There are regrets that I havethat I didn't say what I needed
to say or express something tosomebody, to a loved one, or

(07:47):
something like that.
I'm sure I could make a wholelist.
Ebony, how about you?
What would you do if youcouldn't fail?

I think it would eliminate the hesitancy in
trying to do things.
I'd go for it.
And the truth of the matter iswell, let me ask you this, Let
me ask you this the way youdefined failure when you were in
those moments, that fear offailure during those moments, do
you define failure the same waytoday, comparatively speaking

(08:25):
to how you defined it back then?
So what was fearful and stoppedyou from saying those things
and doing those things 10, 20years ago, those regrets Looking
back, was that fear of failurerational?
And in some cases I'm sure itis.
Or now, at this point in yourlife, you're like there was no
failure, I wouldn't have failedeither way.

I didn't have that discernment at all.
It was, "I might offend them,anger them.
I might put myself in asituation where I wouldn't, 1.
I wouldn't look good or peopleweren't going to like me
anymore.

The holes in the net.

Yeah, yeah.
And today I still have fear.
I mean, I don't know that I'mgoing to be cured of that, and
that's probably a good thing.
It's a but it's more of asignal to get curious than it is
to like just put a halt to itand run the other way.

If you could replace the fear of failure with
something else that's withinthe net, what would it be?

Ask me that, ask, ask me that again.

So the fear of failure is outside of the net,
right.

Oh, I like it.

And you got these holes so you can see it and you
can experience it, yeah.
If you replace that with what'sin the net, what would it be?

So what's in the net is like abundant, unceasing
love and encouragement andconfidence and like "do it, do
it.
If that's on your heart, do it.
It's there for a reason.

You said something a little while ago.
You said well, I didn't havethe discernment.
Back then, I think discernmentis one of those things, and then
that as well, like it, helpsyou to discern.
Is it wise for me to do this atthis moment, not because of
fear, but is this the right timeand the right place for it?

Yeah.

Is that whole pause and slow down for a minute
?

I'll tell you what I love that.
You say that because it'sinteresting.
I probably decide not to say alot of things today, but for a
very different reason.
Not because I'm afraid, becausethey're not necessary, yeah.

Speaker 1 (11:13):
They're not loving?

They're probably not.
I've probably got somethinggoing on that I'm gonna spill
over onto somebody else, right?

How will this help in this moment?
You know, will these words helpanything in this moment?

And I love to explain and complicate things,
so I don't need to do that.

But for me it's the slowing down.

So if fear of failure is outside the net,
what's inside the net from yourperspective?

There is no failure in the net.
If I claw my way outside of thenet, if I claw myself outside
of grace, outside of the will,outside of the kingdom, there's
failure.
But even that can be work foryour good and you'll always be
welcome back into the net.
But within the net there is nofailure.

(12:19):
There is a hymn I really like"there's no failure, He'll
finish what he started.
So for me I would eliminate theoption of failure altogether in
the net.

Yeah.

I'm protected (Carri - Absolutely) and I'm in
a community.
Nothing exists in the net byitself.
I'm not doing life alone in thenet, so even if I mess up, I'm
surrounded by folks who are inthe same net with me.
Who have my back.

Absolutely.

And I can trust that, wherever my actions land
in the net, I don't have to befearful of offence if I'm in the
net and I'm operating in thatgrace and in the love.
Now I'm not there yet but, itwould eliminate, it would
replace fear with there is nofailure.

Yeah, so if there is no failure, what would you
do?

Trying to do it these days.
Slow down and make sure I haveguided steps.
There's no failure, but therecan be missteps.
I can go from here to thecorner in a straight shot, or I
can go the wrong way, still getto the same corner, but it's
going to take a hell of a lotlonger.
If there's no failure, let meslow down and assess the

(13:52):
situation that I'm in or thatI'm faced with, or whatever, and
make sure I'm going in the mostguided way to get to where I
need to be, whether it's aconversation, a situation, a
moment controlling my ownemotions.
Just pause.
Pause for that discernment.
I'm working on that.

I just got an image of you know when I'm spot
on or I'm aligned to guidedsteps, like if I'm listening and
I'm taking the guided steps.
There's not a lot of effort andit's almost like I'm not

(14:36):
fighting, that I'm in the net,but if I'm trying to get out of
the net and do it my way, that'sa lot of effort.
That's a lot of effort, you know.
I think of all the movies andstuff where, like, people get
snatched up into a net andthey're like, oh, you know, and
that's what I do when I don'tlisten.

I'm excited about talking more and hearing more
about what Heavens Net means topeople on March 13.

Absolutely, me too.
It's a beautiful community thatis gathering and there is still
some space (Ebony - ) Pleasecome.
Yeah, come have fun, becausewhen we're supported not only in
community but by this beautifulnet that has got us.

(15:39):
I'm excited to see what's onpeople's hearts and what they
may be encouraged to undertakeor move forward on or understand
or come to terms with or beexcited about, with the support

(15:59):
of no failure.

What's in the net for you?
Yeah, is it confidence?
Is it a sermon?
And what's outside the net foryou?
Is it insecurity?
Is it your past?
What's outside of the net andwhat's in the net for you?
And how do we ensure thatwhat's outside of the net?
Does it distract us from thebenefits of being in the net
yeah.
The benefit package is amazing.

(16:24):
It's fabulous.

It's really there's a lot of perks in there.
It's, it's tenure.
There you go.
University of life tenureprofessor that is correct.
And the question.
Another question could be am Iin the net?

(16:49):
If you've got something new orsomething uncomfortable, it's
like, Am I operating from thenet or am I operating?
Have I taken my buck knife andsplit a hole and and?

I'm flailing in this ocean of life and I'm
slipping out.

And we're all waving to you Come on, come back
, come on in.

I don't have an anchor holding me Now.
I'm sinking.
Instead of being held.
Great questions, let's exploreit more.
I'm excited, so let March 13ththrough the 15th Camp.

Piankatank, Virginia on the river.
Come see us, come see us, comecelebrate with us, have fun with
us.

Speaker 1 (17:42):
Have fun with us yeah , I like it.

This is good.
All right, Ebony, anything towrap it up.

One thought, I know if I don't mess it up
because I just got it, I didn'thave time to articulate it.
The net is smaller than thesurrounding area.
Ocean' s always bigger than thenet.
The sea, the gulf, is alwaysbigger than the net.

(18:14):
That's okay, it is okay.
That's okay - Because you knowwho's holding the net.

Yeah, and there is room for everybody.

And there's room for everybody, and there's room
for everybody.

There's room for everybody.

And sometimes the net has the rest of the bottom
for a little while to do all thecollecting it needs to do
Before it gets lifted up.
Those are my thoughts.

Speaker 1 (18:40):
I love it.

You're going to play with that a little bit.
Okay, all right, outstanding,until next time.
We'll see you soon and graceout.

Speaker 1 (18:53):
Thank you so much for joining us.
If you enjoyed this episode,please let us know.
We'd love to hear from you andshare it with a friend.
Also, please be sure tosubscribe so you're notified
when a new episode is posted.
We hope you're leaving withanother pointer to grace, A new
perspective that will light itup in your own life.
Until next time, be well, bebold, be kind to yourself and be

(19:16):
on the lookout.

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036 - Are you in Heaven's Net?

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