January 20, 2026 • 31 mins
Welcome to this special bonus episode of the Jesus Calling Podcast, inspired by the topical themes from Sarah Young’s seasonal prayer devotional Jesus Listens: Prayers for Every Season. Today, we are featuring guests who speak to themes that all of us might be experiencing in this season of winter. As the days grow shorter and the night longer, we are offered a rare gift: permission to stop. This season can be a challenging time for many, and if you are struggling with low spirits, please know you are not alone and help is available. This episode is an opportunity to honor your weariness, to resist the urge to rush, and to discover the profound healing that happens when we simply let ourselves rest in the stillness.
Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned:
Jesus Listens: Prayers for Every Season
________________________
Connect with Jesus Calling
*Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*
Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
Listen
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Life Audio.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome to the special bonus episode of the Jesus Calling podcast,
inspired by the topical themes from Sarah Young's seasonal prayer devotional,
Jesus Listens prayers for every season. Today, we're featuring guests
who speak to themes that all of us might be
experiencing this season of winter, as the days grow shorter
and the nights longer. We're offered a rare gift, permission
(00:36):
to stop. If you are struggling with low spirits, please
know you're not alone and help is available. This episode
is an opportunity to honor your weariness, to resist the
urge to rush, and to discover the profound healing that
happens when we simply let ourselves rest in His stillness.
Our first thoughts are from author and speaker Patsy Claremont.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
When I was twenty, after I gave birth to our
first son, I began to disintegrate emotionally. I began to
become unhinged because.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I didn't know what to do to be different or
to be well, and so I withdrew from society, thinking
that if I could manage myself at home, then maybe
I could grow into managing myself in society that wasn't
(01:37):
to be.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
The immediate case, and so I struggled for a number
of years. I was on heavy medicines to try to
help me manage my anxiety level, and I was quite
addicted to them. I was a heavy smoker and I
(02:01):
drank about ten pots of coffee a day, which does
not help your anxiety level. Eventually, after withdrawing into my home,
I withdrew into my bed and my prayer was, Lord,
give me a disease, not one that'll kill me, just
(02:21):
will explain to other people why I have to hide.
And instead he brought me to a point of desperation
where I realized that if something didn't change, I wouldn't
survive myself. And it was at that point that I
cried out from the depth of my being, Lord, I'll
(02:45):
do whatever you ask of me, and I heard a
voice within me that said, simply make your bed. I
began to argue, well, what difference does it make if
I make it? Besides I'm in it. Well that was
the point. That's where I began on my journey of
(03:10):
learning that God was more than just someone you said
yes too, but that you began to appropriate the direction
he would give you for your life and step into
it even when you didn't feel courageous enough to do so.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
To learn more about Patsy Claremont or to join her
book club, please visit Patsyclaremont dot com. Next up, we'll
hear from pastor and former drug trafficker Herman Mendoza.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
My name is Hermer Mendoza.
Speaker 5 (03:46):
I am a lead pastor at Promised Ministries International. I
also am the director of a children's program dubbed Powerhouse
Kids in New York City. I'm the father of three
grown adults and I have for grandchildren. I think a
(04:08):
lot of our young people, they tend to want to
belong to a group of people because they feel isolated alone,
and they gravitate to the desires of the flesh. I think,
in my case, all these things thinking that those things,
the pleasures of the world, will fulfill one's life, and
(04:31):
unfortunately these are things that are really destroying us as
young people.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
I try to.
Speaker 5 (04:37):
Find my identity in the community, trying to connect with
other kids, local kids, and thinking that by hanging out
with them that I can try to find in a
sense myself and my true self, and got lost in
the whole culture thing of the eighties and started off
with just weed mariguana.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
I was introduced to marijuana.
Speaker 5 (05:02):
At the age of thirteen years old and then from
there collated to more hardcore with drugs cocaine and heroin.
Came to the States and got involved, you know fully,
with my brothers distributing cocaine. And this was in the
mid nineties and Mayor Giuliani in his tenure year of
(05:23):
being the mayor of the City of New York, he
was cracking down on drug traffickers and I was arrested
and it made the news. Three point eight million dollars
seized of cocaine, two brothers incarcerated, facing life in prison.
My brother that got arrested with me in the federal
rap he surrendered his life to Jesus and he said, Lord,
(05:47):
send my brother to the same facility where I'm housed
so that I can share the gospel with him, because
if not, they're going to kill him.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
This was all God setting everything up.
Speaker 5 (05:57):
He would have it all the way because I waived
my extradition rights and I ended up in the same
federal prison my brother, and there was a day room
within the grounds I was housed in and they were
inmates having a prayer service, and my brother used to
invite me, I.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Want you to hear the word of God.
Speaker 5 (06:17):
I was making my way to the day room and
I was having this conversation with God, and I said, God,
you know, if f you're for real, all I want
is peace. I am losing my mind here. I just
want peace. And so I entered this chapel. I sat
in the back observing this religious service. I wasn't understanding
(06:37):
what was going on. I was seeing inmates that were
facing life in prison like me, testifying to the goodness
of God, giving testimony of marriages restored. And I was
seeing in my mind. It was just flashes of images
in my mind of the people that I harmed, Mothers
perhaps selling their bodies to obtain the drugs that I
(07:00):
was spewing, people killing themselves to receive the poison. That
I was out there, and I just felt so bad
and so convicted. And the preacher says, amongst fifty five inmates,
there's someone here that has been searching for things of
this world, money, drug, sex, and all those things has
(07:23):
brought him to a place of destruction. But God wants
you to know that he loves you, and he wants
to give you peace, and the peace that he wants
to offer you surpasses all understanding. That was it. I
felt the tugging in my heart. He says, you know
who you are. And I made my way to the
front of this church and I just got on my
(07:47):
knees and I started to cry and cry and cry,
and iank s good for forgiveness.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
And the Lord his spirit enveloped me there.
Speaker 5 (07:57):
I felt that peace that surpasses all understanding.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
For the very first time.
Speaker 5 (08:03):
Wasn't about me, isn't about excuses, It wasn't about negotiating
with God. It was about the wrongs that I've done,
and that Jesus paid the price for my sins and
that he can make it all right. Even though the
sins that I was committing, there's a price to pay
for them, and I had to pay that price. God
(08:28):
enables me to have freedom through prayer to talk to
Him and for him to remind me that he loves me.
He's with me, and the Holy Scriptures are there to
guide me each and every day. Prayer is just the
essence of who we are, is the breath of life.
It is everything to me. Personally. This is where I
(08:50):
seek guidance through the Holy Spirit, through prayer, and that's
what really shapes me and gives me a sense of
direction even when I prepare my sermons on Sundays.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
You know, I love Jesus calling it.
Speaker 5 (09:04):
It's front of my devotional materials and it's just so impactful.
Speaker 4 (09:09):
It really speaks to the heart.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
It's an amazing story because from former drug lord to pastor,
this hope, this hope in Jesus Christ, God is amazing
and when you seek him, you will find him and
he will change your life forever.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
To learn more about Pastor Mendoza and his ministry, please
visit Herman Mendoza dot com. Next up, we'll hear from
Kristin Smedley, a mom of three and an advocate in
the blind community.
Speaker 6 (09:47):
When I was carrying my firstborn child in my belly,
you know, you start off with you find out you're
pregnant and you just want a healthy baby. And then
when you're like me, as my belly was growing, my
dreams for him were growing. I mean I went from
I just want a healthy child too. Oh, I didn't
know if it was a boy or a girl, And
I thought, oh, I know they're going to be an athlete, like,
(10:09):
are they going to be the next Mia Ham or
you know, Mike Schmidt? And will this baby be a
pitcher for the Phillies or catching touchdowns for the Eagles?
And then you start to think valedictorian, Summa cum laude,
all those things, and my dreams for this little human
were ginormous by the time I gave birth to him.
(10:32):
And Michael came into the world and was the happiest
baby that I had known a lot of babies and
a lot of kids, and I had never seen somebody
so happy and pleasant and interested in everything. And I
thought to myself, I have everything I worked for and
dreamt of, and as much as people had said all
(10:56):
my life, God shines his light on you. And it
confirmed in that moment of looking at my Michael that
he really does. He really did shine his light on me.
And then at four months old, I was old of
Michael and a doctor said to me the worst four
words that I have ever heard. Your son is blind.
(11:18):
And I'm not proud of it. But my first question
was really play baseball? That doctor looked at me like
I was a little nuts, and he said, no, I said,
Willie drive and he said no. And I said, is
(11:42):
he at least going to be able to go to
school have success there? And he said, probably not a
regular school. I said, well, what do I do now?
He said, I don't know what to tell you, but
good luck. I was raised in a farm found of
(12:06):
faith and that God is good and he wants good
things for you in this world. And I thought to myself,
what kind of a God does this?
Speaker 4 (12:15):
This is hard.
Speaker 6 (12:23):
I heard Michael coming down my hallway and Michael did
not walk. He bounced, and he skipped, and he danced
his way through the day. He still has a little
bounce in his step. And he bounced into my room
and he was standing right in front of me and
had no idea. I was sitting in front of him,
(12:44):
and he said, Mommy, are you in here? And I
looked up and thought, are you kidding me? Like another
sucker punch to my heart. You have to put it
right in my face that Michael can't see me. I said, Michael,
what do you need? And he said, with his all
of the joy that just spills out of Michael in
his little tiny body and his big glowing, smiling face,
(13:07):
he said to me, Mommy, isn't this the best day ever?
And I thought, oh, my goodness, how could you possibly
have a best day ever? You're missing so much in
this world and your road is going to be all struggle.
And I asked him the best question I have ever
asked him. I said, Michael, why do you think it's
(13:29):
the best day ever? He said, the sun is shining
and I have all my toys, and Mommy, I'm just
so happy. And if Hollywood were to produce this moment
on film, there would be a lightning bolt that came
down and hit my heart and fireworks would go. And
(13:52):
that's exactly what I experienced in that moment. It was
like God took a freight train and hit me in
the head and said, Kristen, look at this little person.
Blindness is not bothering him. It's bothering you. He is
figuring everything out. He had spent three and a half
years on this planet doing all the things he wanted
(14:14):
to do. And I realized also in that moment that
I hadn't armed him with any of the tools of blindness.
I just kept praying in way and hoping it away,
and he was still still figuring it out and having
a great life. And I will say, in that moment,
my miracle happened, and it was my blindness of Michael's
(14:38):
life and his purpose in this world that was cured.
The only way I knew how to take a step
forward was I started looking at it from Michael's point
of view. And Michael's point of view was, Oh, every
day is the best day ever. And I committed at
that moment to making sure that I was his number
(15:01):
one guide in this world to get him the tools
that he was need to do the things that would
fulfill his purpose in this world, not my dreams for him.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
To learn more about Kristin Smedley and her advocacy for
the blind community, please visit Kristin Smedley dot com. Stay
tuned for more stories After a brief message, These uncertain
times bring anxiety and fear, but Jesus Listens Prayers for
(15:36):
Every Season gives you daily prayers of comfort with seasonally
inspired illustrations. This beautiful book includes prayers that speak to
your situation, whether it's a time of stress or strength.
Look for Jesus Listens Prayers for Every Season wherever you
buy books. Our next guest is talk show host and
(15:59):
author tamer and Hall.
Speaker 7 (16:01):
Just yesterday and my church, their whole sermon was about
the law way right, and our minister talked about the
children of Israel leaving in the Book of Exodus and
having to go through the wilderness, and there was a
shorter path, but that is not the path that they
were led, and why the long route is the route,
and what you need to learn in the long route,
(16:23):
and a lot of the things that are happening for
me in my career at this point have happened past
the age of forty five, which in my business traditionally
you were probably on your way out versus on your
way up. And for me, I sat with that sermon,
what does God want you to learn by sending you
on the long route? And I think a couple of
(16:46):
things for me have become so clear. While the talk
show is a point of great accomplishment, it allowed me
also to know that there's more right. I lost my
dream job.
Speaker 8 (16:58):
Before the public nationally.
Speaker 7 (17:00):
But I knew it was in God's hands, and I
knew that I didn't need to do anything other than
find peace with it and find my lane. So faith
has been a foundation. I think it keeps me peaceful
I think it keeps me from even on those moments
where I want to run down the street and scream
(17:20):
at the top of my lungs. It provides perspective because
I do believe these things happen for a reason. You
pray and you have faith, and it's not happening. It
doesn't happen a second time, or don't been a third time,
and then you start to believe, Wait a minute, has
God forgotten me? Or is there you know what's going
on here? How do I define myself and the things
(17:40):
I want to accomplish? But all along you're on the path.
You know, the win is in the loss, The faith
is in the challenge. The uncertainty is supposed to bolster
the faith and the belief that it is going to
happen in God's time. Now, there's so much of life
(18:01):
that we can extract the negative, We can extract the
difficult and balloon those up into the total sum of
the journey. And I truly, in my heart believe that
it's not a cliche when we say the good outweighs that,
and that's in our own lives, you know. Just recognize
that these events are not the total sum of your
(18:23):
journey and that it's faith that provides the path that
gives us perspective.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
You can see Tamaron Hall each week on her talk show.
Learn more at tamaronhallshow dot com. Next up, we'll talk
to singer Kevin Olasola, a member of the popular music
group Pentatonics.
Speaker 8 (18:48):
I was born in Pasadena.
Speaker 9 (18:50):
My dad and my mom, they're both from Nigeria and Granada, respectively.
They decided to move to Owensboro, Kentucky, and that's where
I was raised and we had a truly great time.
I think I had so much fun making music while
I was in Kentucky, but I would say it was
(19:13):
never the goal.
Speaker 8 (19:14):
Being a musician was not my plan.
Speaker 9 (19:17):
I always thought that I was going to go into medicine,
but apparently God had other plans. Beatboxing was something and
still to this day I think is so funny because
it's the thing that I'm known for. But the thing
that I did literally for fun, no training, just was
making sounds out of my mouth. I was starting to
learn this whole idea called cello boxing, which is playing
(19:37):
cello and beatboxing at the same time, and that's when
I started to pray and started to think, God, what
am I doing here? Because you know my path. I've
been training to be an academic my whole life. I've
been training to go into medicine my whole life. I
felt the tugue in my heart, so seriously I got
down on my knees and I said, to God, I
think you're absolutely crazy. This doesn't make any sense, but
(20:01):
I can't deny that. I feel like you're leading me here.
I don't know if it's forever, but I know I
at least have to follow this right now. You're gonna
have to do it because I literally have no idea
how to pursue a career in music. I feel unprepared,
I don't feel as trained. The Lord here am I.
(20:23):
I trust you? And from that prayer, I promise you.
It was like a pan of worms open. I knew
I couldn't go back on my word. I knew I
was supposed to do this. I couldn't even explain the
feeling to you. It was like I just gave my
life over to Christ and he said, okay, now, let
me take the rest of the journey. What happened from that,
(20:45):
I got so many opportunities to do things for like
the New York Times and other publications.
Speaker 8 (20:51):
But two main opportunities came.
Speaker 9 (20:53):
Gunger had called me and asked me to tour with
them as part of their opening act for the David
Crowder Band. The other opportunity was three kids from Texas,
Scott Kirsty, We're deciding to go on this TV show
called The sing Off. They had kind of formed an
a cappella trio in high school and they thought that
(21:14):
their sound could really work for this TV show, The
sing Off, and so their producer Ben Bram said, well,
you know, if we're going to do this, you need
a base and a beat boxer. My video that was
going viral. Ben savent and said this is the guy
you need to round out your sound. So they called
me and said would you want to be a part
of it? And I actually said no, I was not
(21:35):
interested in a cappella. Like I said, beatboxing wasn't something
that I wanted to do as my career. I wanted
to do more cello playing and production. They said, just
come and join us for this audition try it, and
I said, okay. We do the audition. The next day
we find out that we make it onto the sing Off.
There was a before and after moment when I knew
(21:56):
that I had to.
Speaker 8 (21:57):
Completely trust God with everything.
Speaker 9 (22:01):
When you're trying to give God everything in the places
where you may not feel comfortable, that's where you have
to lean in because in that place is where God's
going to require the most out of you, doing things
that you know you can do on your own strength.
It doesn't require all of you doing things where God
is calling you or require you to be so unbelievably.
Speaker 8 (22:23):
Aligned in Him.
Speaker 9 (22:25):
And you're going to have to develop yourself in Him
to have success.
Speaker 8 (22:31):
And if God.
Speaker 9 (22:32):
Almighty is the one that has put the plan in
place for you to be successful so that His glory
is known, you better believe.
Speaker 8 (22:40):
That God will create a way for you to have success.
Speaker 9 (22:43):
Not just in your career, but also in your family,
also in your health. He's created a way because God
wants a holistic, loving, joyous life focused on Him. This
is a passage from Jesus listens from January twentieth. Jesus, Yes,
(23:06):
my guide, help me to go gently through this day,
keeping my eyes on you. I ask you to open
up the way before me as I take steps of
trust along the path of life with you as my guide.
This is an important secret of success in your kingdom.
(23:27):
Though I remain aware of the visible world around me,
I want to be primarily aware of you. When the
road before me looks rocky, I know I can trust
you to get me through that rough patch, no matter
what is happening. Your presence with me enables me to
face each day with confidence in your encouraging name Amen.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
To learn more about Kevin Olasola and to see where
Pentatonics is touring, visit ptxofficial dot com. We'll close this
episode by talking with Things Firing. Sabrina Greenley, life coach, speaker, author,
and mother of NFL player DeAndre Hopkins.
Speaker 10 (24:15):
My childhood was one that was full of adversity and
turmoil from the very beginning. My mother and my father
go through domestic violence disputes over and over. I didn't
have the twos of the takeaways to even deal with
(24:39):
adversity or the abuse I had already endured. One of
my other little brothers passing away even after he was
in that car accident. It trickled my family into a
whirlwind of live's deception, and so I really didn't want
to deal with it, and we didn't have counseling or
therapy or anything. My other brother got killed by police
(25:02):
in Atlanta in nineteen ninety seven. I lost fiance. I
was in a car accident with Deandre's father and he
died when DeAndre was only six months old. Every single
thing was plummeting down on me. So here I am
laying on my bed, super depressed, like, how could God
(25:24):
be in anyone's life or my life when I'm just
sitting here going through all of this. And so I
was just in one relationship after another, trying to cope,
trying to survive that. I was in abusive relationships and
I didn't consider them as abuse because sometimes I was
(25:44):
the aggressor sometimes I wasn't. I just wanted full blown
coping mechanism mode, trying to survive. I was on a
whirlwind of ups and downs, a domino effect of one
thing happening after a next, and so I was attracting
all the wrong men. Well, two thousand and two, it
(26:11):
was a beautiful July day, July twentieth, to be exact,
and I had befriended a guy. We had only been
in a relationship for three and a half months. However,
there were so many red flags. There were so many
things that I overlooked the lies, the deception. I had
an inkling that there were other women, and so on
(26:34):
this particular day, he takes my car and he drives
it to Greenville, a nearby place where I had resided
at the time, and I got up and I was furious.
Speaker 8 (26:44):
My car is gone.
Speaker 10 (26:45):
I can't believe it, like, you know, where's my car?
I call him, no answer. As I'm headed out the door,
he calls me, Hey, I'm at this place. Okay, so
I head there. Then I get another call, hey, I'm
at this place. The typical games that he played. It
never dawned on me that I wouldn't make it home
that day. And I went there and I saw my car,
(27:08):
and he comes out of this dwelling. I kind of
turned my back to this door, still had no idea
that this woman existed or that she would come out. Meanwhile,
him and I are outside arguing. This young lady is
bowling a concoction in her kitchen of bleach and liquid
(27:28):
red devil i, which is liquid draino.
Speaker 8 (27:31):
To most people these days.
Speaker 10 (27:34):
She screams my name, and she mixes this concoction and
she throws it on me. I instantly fall to my knees.
I instantly go blind. He picks me up and he
takes me to a nearby gas station. The gas attendant
is screaming. They both take me over to the water fountain,
(27:54):
splash water on me, and he leaves me there, and
the gas attendant calls not one one. They helicopter fly
me to the Augusta Byrne Center, where I eventually go
into a coma, and I'm there in a coma for
a month and waking up blind, actually being addicted to
(28:18):
the morphine extensive therapy because I couldn't move my neck
or my back at this time, I had to have
skin grafts to save my life. So every single thing
that I thought was life instantly turned into depression, anxiety,
and life was no longer anything that it seemed after
(28:38):
that point. The children were my sole supporters at the
time and my inspiration to get back up. The little
things that they would do. I look back now that
they were really trying to just find humor in something
(28:58):
they did, or they would come in and tell me
about their day, and so little things like that really
really really helped me a lot. DeAndre came and said
on the bed one day and it changed everything. He said,
are you coming today? And I said, no, not coming.
I was running out of excuses. Really when he said
something that really changed my life. He said, Mama, it
(29:20):
doesn't matter that you're blind. He said, I just want
you there, I need you there. And it resonated with me.
How dare I say that I'm going to repair my
family but still not show up. I began to start
repairing my life. Now what that looked like. I had
no idea. I just knew that I couldn't allow my
children to be captivated by the streets or people. And
(29:45):
I made up my mind that what happened to me,
I didn't want them to use as an excuse for
them not succeeding in life. There was so many different
things that happened to me, and each time I got up,
no matter what happened, I stood up.
Speaker 8 (30:03):
I stood for myself.
Speaker 10 (30:04):
I stood in my truth. I stood up for my
children at times, getting all four of them into college.
Even after the attack. There are going to be things
that is going to come out with way that God
says he gives us the tools in the biblical sense
to conquer everything that we went through. All we have
to do is just tap into that. Once I found
(30:25):
the presence of God and he found me and he
met me where I was, everything turned around. And if
I can do that a little girl from central South Carolina,
then I feel like everyone has the chance to redeem themselves.
But you first just have to surrender and give God
your life and in the end, you know He'll give
(30:48):
you the glory for your story.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
To learn more about Sabrina, please visit Sabrina Greenley dot
co and be sure to check out her book Grant
Me Vision at your favorite retailer. Thank you for listening
to this special bonus episode of the Jesus Calling Pop podcast.
As you begin to embrace this time of winter, we
hope you'll find peace, comfort, rest, and inspiration during this season.
(31:14):
If you enjoy this podcast, please be sure to subscribe
and like it on your favorite podcast platform. For more
information on the devotional Jesus Listens prayers for every season,
please visit Jesuscalling dot com.
Life Audio.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome to the special bonus episode of the Jesus Calling podcast,
inspired by the topical themes from Sarah Young's seasonal prayer devotional,
Jesus Listens prayers for every season. Today, we're featuring guests
who speak to themes that all of us might be
experiencing this season of winter, as the days grow shorter
and the nights longer. We're offered a rare gift, permission
(00:36):
to stop. If you are struggling with low spirits, please
know you're not alone and help is available. This episode
is an opportunity to honor your weariness, to resist the
urge to rush, and to discover the profound healing that
happens when we simply let ourselves rest in His stillness.
Our first thoughts are from author and speaker Patsy Claremont.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
When I was twenty, after I gave birth to our
first son, I began to disintegrate emotionally. I began to
become unhinged because.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I didn't know what to do to be different or
to be well, and so I withdrew from society, thinking
that if I could manage myself at home, then maybe
I could grow into managing myself in society that wasn't
(01:37):
to be.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
The immediate case, and so I struggled for a number
of years. I was on heavy medicines to try to
help me manage my anxiety level, and I was quite
addicted to them. I was a heavy smoker and I
(02:01):
drank about ten pots of coffee a day, which does
not help your anxiety level. Eventually, after withdrawing into my home,
I withdrew into my bed and my prayer was, Lord,
give me a disease, not one that'll kill me, just
(02:21):
will explain to other people why I have to hide.
And instead he brought me to a point of desperation
where I realized that if something didn't change, I wouldn't
survive myself. And it was at that point that I
cried out from the depth of my being, Lord, I'll
(02:45):
do whatever you ask of me, and I heard a
voice within me that said, simply make your bed. I
began to argue, well, what difference does it make if
I make it? Besides I'm in it. Well that was
the point. That's where I began on my journey of
(03:10):
learning that God was more than just someone you said
yes too, but that you began to appropriate the direction
he would give you for your life and step into
it even when you didn't feel courageous enough to do so.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
To learn more about Patsy Claremont or to join her
book club, please visit Patsyclaremont dot com. Next up, we'll
hear from pastor and former drug trafficker Herman Mendoza.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
My name is Hermer Mendoza.
Speaker 5 (03:46):
I am a lead pastor at Promised Ministries International. I
also am the director of a children's program dubbed Powerhouse
Kids in New York City. I'm the father of three
grown adults and I have for grandchildren. I think a
(04:08):
lot of our young people, they tend to want to
belong to a group of people because they feel isolated alone,
and they gravitate to the desires of the flesh. I think,
in my case, all these things thinking that those things,
the pleasures of the world, will fulfill one's life, and
(04:31):
unfortunately these are things that are really destroying us as
young people.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
I try to.
Speaker 5 (04:37):
Find my identity in the community, trying to connect with
other kids, local kids, and thinking that by hanging out
with them that I can try to find in a
sense myself and my true self, and got lost in
the whole culture thing of the eighties and started off
with just weed mariguana.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
I was introduced to marijuana.
Speaker 5 (05:02):
At the age of thirteen years old and then from
there collated to more hardcore with drugs cocaine and heroin.
Came to the States and got involved, you know fully,
with my brothers distributing cocaine. And this was in the
mid nineties and Mayor Giuliani in his tenure year of
(05:23):
being the mayor of the City of New York, he
was cracking down on drug traffickers and I was arrested
and it made the news. Three point eight million dollars
seized of cocaine, two brothers incarcerated, facing life in prison.
My brother that got arrested with me in the federal
rap he surrendered his life to Jesus and he said, Lord,
(05:47):
send my brother to the same facility where I'm housed
so that I can share the gospel with him, because
if not, they're going to kill him.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
This was all God setting everything up.
Speaker 5 (05:57):
He would have it all the way because I waived
my extradition rights and I ended up in the same
federal prison my brother, and there was a day room
within the grounds I was housed in and they were
inmates having a prayer service, and my brother used to
invite me, I.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Want you to hear the word of God.
Speaker 5 (06:17):
I was making my way to the day room and
I was having this conversation with God, and I said, God,
you know, if f you're for real, all I want
is peace. I am losing my mind here. I just
want peace. And so I entered this chapel. I sat
in the back observing this religious service. I wasn't understanding
(06:37):
what was going on. I was seeing inmates that were
facing life in prison like me, testifying to the goodness
of God, giving testimony of marriages restored. And I was
seeing in my mind. It was just flashes of images
in my mind of the people that I harmed, Mothers
perhaps selling their bodies to obtain the drugs that I
(07:00):
was spewing, people killing themselves to receive the poison. That
I was out there, and I just felt so bad
and so convicted. And the preacher says, amongst fifty five inmates,
there's someone here that has been searching for things of
this world, money, drug, sex, and all those things has
(07:23):
brought him to a place of destruction. But God wants
you to know that he loves you, and he wants
to give you peace, and the peace that he wants
to offer you surpasses all understanding. That was it. I
felt the tugging in my heart. He says, you know
who you are. And I made my way to the
front of this church and I just got on my
(07:47):
knees and I started to cry and cry and cry,
and iank s good for forgiveness.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
And the Lord his spirit enveloped me there.
Speaker 5 (07:57):
I felt that peace that surpasses all understanding.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
For the very first time.
Speaker 5 (08:03):
Wasn't about me, isn't about excuses, It wasn't about negotiating
with God. It was about the wrongs that I've done,
and that Jesus paid the price for my sins and
that he can make it all right. Even though the
sins that I was committing, there's a price to pay
for them, and I had to pay that price. God
(08:28):
enables me to have freedom through prayer to talk to
Him and for him to remind me that he loves me.
He's with me, and the Holy Scriptures are there to
guide me each and every day. Prayer is just the
essence of who we are, is the breath of life.
It is everything to me. Personally. This is where I
(08:50):
seek guidance through the Holy Spirit, through prayer, and that's
what really shapes me and gives me a sense of
direction even when I prepare my sermons on Sundays.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
You know, I love Jesus calling it.
Speaker 5 (09:04):
It's front of my devotional materials and it's just so impactful.
Speaker 4 (09:09):
It really speaks to the heart.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
It's an amazing story because from former drug lord to pastor,
this hope, this hope in Jesus Christ, God is amazing
and when you seek him, you will find him and
he will change your life forever.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
To learn more about Pastor Mendoza and his ministry, please
visit Herman Mendoza dot com. Next up, we'll hear from
Kristin Smedley, a mom of three and an advocate in
the blind community.
Speaker 6 (09:47):
When I was carrying my firstborn child in my belly,
you know, you start off with you find out you're
pregnant and you just want a healthy baby. And then
when you're like me, as my belly was growing, my
dreams for him were growing. I mean I went from
I just want a healthy child too. Oh, I didn't
know if it was a boy or a girl, And
I thought, oh, I know they're going to be an athlete, like,
(10:09):
are they going to be the next Mia Ham or
you know, Mike Schmidt? And will this baby be a
pitcher for the Phillies or catching touchdowns for the Eagles?
And then you start to think valedictorian, Summa cum laude,
all those things, and my dreams for this little human
were ginormous by the time I gave birth to him.
(10:32):
And Michael came into the world and was the happiest
baby that I had known a lot of babies and
a lot of kids, and I had never seen somebody
so happy and pleasant and interested in everything. And I
thought to myself, I have everything I worked for and
dreamt of, and as much as people had said all
(10:56):
my life, God shines his light on you. And it
confirmed in that moment of looking at my Michael that
he really does. He really did shine his light on me.
And then at four months old, I was old of
Michael and a doctor said to me the worst four
words that I have ever heard. Your son is blind.
(11:18):
And I'm not proud of it. But my first question
was really play baseball? That doctor looked at me like
I was a little nuts, and he said, no, I said,
Willie drive and he said no. And I said, is
(11:42):
he at least going to be able to go to
school have success there? And he said, probably not a
regular school. I said, well, what do I do now?
He said, I don't know what to tell you, but
good luck. I was raised in a farm found of
(12:06):
faith and that God is good and he wants good
things for you in this world. And I thought to myself,
what kind of a God does this?
Speaker 4 (12:15):
This is hard.
Speaker 6 (12:23):
I heard Michael coming down my hallway and Michael did
not walk. He bounced, and he skipped, and he danced
his way through the day. He still has a little
bounce in his step. And he bounced into my room
and he was standing right in front of me and
had no idea. I was sitting in front of him,
(12:44):
and he said, Mommy, are you in here? And I
looked up and thought, are you kidding me? Like another
sucker punch to my heart. You have to put it
right in my face that Michael can't see me. I said, Michael,
what do you need? And he said, with his all
of the joy that just spills out of Michael in
his little tiny body and his big glowing, smiling face,
(13:07):
he said to me, Mommy, isn't this the best day ever?
And I thought, oh, my goodness, how could you possibly
have a best day ever? You're missing so much in
this world and your road is going to be all struggle.
And I asked him the best question I have ever
asked him. I said, Michael, why do you think it's
(13:29):
the best day ever? He said, the sun is shining
and I have all my toys, and Mommy, I'm just
so happy. And if Hollywood were to produce this moment
on film, there would be a lightning bolt that came
down and hit my heart and fireworks would go. And
(13:52):
that's exactly what I experienced in that moment. It was
like God took a freight train and hit me in
the head and said, Kristen, look at this little person.
Blindness is not bothering him. It's bothering you. He is
figuring everything out. He had spent three and a half
years on this planet doing all the things he wanted
(14:14):
to do. And I realized also in that moment that
I hadn't armed him with any of the tools of blindness.
I just kept praying in way and hoping it away,
and he was still still figuring it out and having
a great life. And I will say, in that moment,
my miracle happened, and it was my blindness of Michael's
(14:38):
life and his purpose in this world that was cured.
The only way I knew how to take a step
forward was I started looking at it from Michael's point
of view. And Michael's point of view was, Oh, every
day is the best day ever. And I committed at
that moment to making sure that I was his number
(15:01):
one guide in this world to get him the tools
that he was need to do the things that would
fulfill his purpose in this world, not my dreams for him.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
To learn more about Kristin Smedley and her advocacy for
the blind community, please visit Kristin Smedley dot com. Stay
tuned for more stories After a brief message, These uncertain
times bring anxiety and fear, but Jesus Listens Prayers for
(15:36):
Every Season gives you daily prayers of comfort with seasonally
inspired illustrations. This beautiful book includes prayers that speak to
your situation, whether it's a time of stress or strength.
Look for Jesus Listens Prayers for Every Season wherever you
buy books. Our next guest is talk show host and
(15:59):
author tamer and Hall.
Speaker 7 (16:01):
Just yesterday and my church, their whole sermon was about
the law way right, and our minister talked about the
children of Israel leaving in the Book of Exodus and
having to go through the wilderness, and there was a
shorter path, but that is not the path that they
were led, and why the long route is the route,
and what you need to learn in the long route,
(16:23):
and a lot of the things that are happening for
me in my career at this point have happened past
the age of forty five, which in my business traditionally
you were probably on your way out versus on your
way up. And for me, I sat with that sermon,
what does God want you to learn by sending you
on the long route? And I think a couple of
(16:46):
things for me have become so clear. While the talk
show is a point of great accomplishment, it allowed me
also to know that there's more right. I lost my
dream job.
Speaker 8 (16:58):
Before the public nationally.
Speaker 7 (17:00):
But I knew it was in God's hands, and I
knew that I didn't need to do anything other than
find peace with it and find my lane. So faith
has been a foundation. I think it keeps me peaceful
I think it keeps me from even on those moments
where I want to run down the street and scream
(17:20):
at the top of my lungs. It provides perspective because
I do believe these things happen for a reason. You
pray and you have faith, and it's not happening. It
doesn't happen a second time, or don't been a third time,
and then you start to believe, Wait a minute, has
God forgotten me? Or is there you know what's going
on here? How do I define myself and the things
(17:40):
I want to accomplish? But all along you're on the path.
You know, the win is in the loss, The faith
is in the challenge. The uncertainty is supposed to bolster
the faith and the belief that it is going to
happen in God's time. Now, there's so much of life
(18:01):
that we can extract the negative, We can extract the
difficult and balloon those up into the total sum of
the journey. And I truly, in my heart believe that
it's not a cliche when we say the good outweighs that,
and that's in our own lives, you know. Just recognize
that these events are not the total sum of your
(18:23):
journey and that it's faith that provides the path that
gives us perspective.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
You can see Tamaron Hall each week on her talk show.
Learn more at tamaronhallshow dot com. Next up, we'll talk
to singer Kevin Olasola, a member of the popular music
group Pentatonics.
Speaker 8 (18:48):
I was born in Pasadena.
Speaker 9 (18:50):
My dad and my mom, they're both from Nigeria and Granada, respectively.
They decided to move to Owensboro, Kentucky, and that's where
I was raised and we had a truly great time.
I think I had so much fun making music while
I was in Kentucky, but I would say it was
(19:13):
never the goal.
Speaker 8 (19:14):
Being a musician was not my plan.
Speaker 9 (19:17):
I always thought that I was going to go into medicine,
but apparently God had other plans. Beatboxing was something and
still to this day I think is so funny because
it's the thing that I'm known for. But the thing
that I did literally for fun, no training, just was
making sounds out of my mouth. I was starting to
learn this whole idea called cello boxing, which is playing
(19:37):
cello and beatboxing at the same time, and that's when
I started to pray and started to think, God, what
am I doing here? Because you know my path. I've
been training to be an academic my whole life. I've
been training to go into medicine my whole life. I
felt the tugue in my heart, so seriously I got
down on my knees and I said, to God, I
think you're absolutely crazy. This doesn't make any sense, but
(20:01):
I can't deny that. I feel like you're leading me here.
I don't know if it's forever, but I know I
at least have to follow this right now. You're gonna
have to do it because I literally have no idea
how to pursue a career in music. I feel unprepared,
I don't feel as trained. The Lord here am I.
(20:23):
I trust you? And from that prayer, I promise you.
It was like a pan of worms open. I knew
I couldn't go back on my word. I knew I
was supposed to do this. I couldn't even explain the
feeling to you. It was like I just gave my
life over to Christ and he said, okay, now, let
me take the rest of the journey. What happened from that,
(20:45):
I got so many opportunities to do things for like
the New York Times and other publications.
Speaker 8 (20:51):
But two main opportunities came.
Speaker 9 (20:53):
Gunger had called me and asked me to tour with
them as part of their opening act for the David
Crowder Band. The other opportunity was three kids from Texas,
Scott Kirsty, We're deciding to go on this TV show
called The sing Off. They had kind of formed an
a cappella trio in high school and they thought that
(21:14):
their sound could really work for this TV show, The
sing Off, and so their producer Ben Bram said, well,
you know, if we're going to do this, you need
a base and a beat boxer. My video that was
going viral. Ben savent and said this is the guy
you need to round out your sound. So they called
me and said would you want to be a part
of it? And I actually said no, I was not
(21:35):
interested in a cappella. Like I said, beatboxing wasn't something
that I wanted to do as my career. I wanted
to do more cello playing and production. They said, just
come and join us for this audition try it, and
I said, okay. We do the audition. The next day
we find out that we make it onto the sing Off.
There was a before and after moment when I knew
(21:56):
that I had to.
Speaker 8 (21:57):
Completely trust God with everything.
Speaker 9 (22:01):
When you're trying to give God everything in the places
where you may not feel comfortable, that's where you have
to lean in because in that place is where God's
going to require the most out of you, doing things
that you know you can do on your own strength.
It doesn't require all of you doing things where God
is calling you or require you to be so unbelievably.
Speaker 8 (22:23):
Aligned in Him.
Speaker 9 (22:25):
And you're going to have to develop yourself in Him
to have success.
Speaker 8 (22:31):
And if God.
Speaker 9 (22:32):
Almighty is the one that has put the plan in
place for you to be successful so that His glory
is known, you better believe.
Speaker 8 (22:40):
That God will create a way for you to have success.
Speaker 9 (22:43):
Not just in your career, but also in your family,
also in your health. He's created a way because God
wants a holistic, loving, joyous life focused on Him. This
is a passage from Jesus listens from January twentieth. Jesus, Yes,
(23:06):
my guide, help me to go gently through this day,
keeping my eyes on you. I ask you to open
up the way before me as I take steps of
trust along the path of life with you as my guide.
This is an important secret of success in your kingdom.
(23:27):
Though I remain aware of the visible world around me,
I want to be primarily aware of you. When the
road before me looks rocky, I know I can trust
you to get me through that rough patch, no matter
what is happening. Your presence with me enables me to
face each day with confidence in your encouraging name Amen.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
To learn more about Kevin Olasola and to see where
Pentatonics is touring, visit ptxofficial dot com. We'll close this
episode by talking with Things Firing. Sabrina Greenley, life coach, speaker, author,
and mother of NFL player DeAndre Hopkins.
Speaker 10 (24:15):
My childhood was one that was full of adversity and
turmoil from the very beginning. My mother and my father
go through domestic violence disputes over and over. I didn't
have the twos of the takeaways to even deal with
(24:39):
adversity or the abuse I had already endured. One of
my other little brothers passing away even after he was
in that car accident. It trickled my family into a
whirlwind of live's deception, and so I really didn't want
to deal with it, and we didn't have counseling or
therapy or anything. My other brother got killed by police
(25:02):
in Atlanta in nineteen ninety seven. I lost fiance. I
was in a car accident with Deandre's father and he
died when DeAndre was only six months old. Every single
thing was plummeting down on me. So here I am
laying on my bed, super depressed, like, how could God
(25:24):
be in anyone's life or my life when I'm just
sitting here going through all of this. And so I
was just in one relationship after another, trying to cope,
trying to survive that. I was in abusive relationships and
I didn't consider them as abuse because sometimes I was
(25:44):
the aggressor sometimes I wasn't. I just wanted full blown
coping mechanism mode, trying to survive. I was on a
whirlwind of ups and downs, a domino effect of one
thing happening after a next, and so I was attracting
all the wrong men. Well, two thousand and two, it
(26:11):
was a beautiful July day, July twentieth, to be exact,
and I had befriended a guy. We had only been
in a relationship for three and a half months. However,
there were so many red flags. There were so many
things that I overlooked the lies, the deception. I had
an inkling that there were other women, and so on
(26:34):
this particular day, he takes my car and he drives
it to Greenville, a nearby place where I had resided
at the time, and I got up and I was furious.
Speaker 8 (26:44):
My car is gone.
Speaker 10 (26:45):
I can't believe it, like, you know, where's my car?
I call him, no answer. As I'm headed out the door,
he calls me, Hey, I'm at this place. Okay, so
I head there. Then I get another call, hey, I'm
at this place. The typical games that he played. It
never dawned on me that I wouldn't make it home
that day. And I went there and I saw my car,
(27:08):
and he comes out of this dwelling. I kind of
turned my back to this door, still had no idea
that this woman existed or that she would come out. Meanwhile,
him and I are outside arguing. This young lady is
bowling a concoction in her kitchen of bleach and liquid
(27:28):
red devil i, which is liquid draino.
Speaker 8 (27:31):
To most people these days.
Speaker 10 (27:34):
She screams my name, and she mixes this concoction and
she throws it on me. I instantly fall to my knees.
I instantly go blind. He picks me up and he
takes me to a nearby gas station. The gas attendant
is screaming. They both take me over to the water fountain,
(27:54):
splash water on me, and he leaves me there, and
the gas attendant calls not one one. They helicopter fly
me to the Augusta Byrne Center, where I eventually go
into a coma, and I'm there in a coma for
a month and waking up blind, actually being addicted to
(28:18):
the morphine extensive therapy because I couldn't move my neck
or my back at this time, I had to have
skin grafts to save my life. So every single thing
that I thought was life instantly turned into depression, anxiety,
and life was no longer anything that it seemed after
(28:38):
that point. The children were my sole supporters at the
time and my inspiration to get back up. The little
things that they would do. I look back now that
they were really trying to just find humor in something
(28:58):
they did, or they would come in and tell me
about their day, and so little things like that really
really really helped me a lot. DeAndre came and said
on the bed one day and it changed everything. He said,
are you coming today? And I said, no, not coming.
I was running out of excuses. Really when he said
something that really changed my life. He said, Mama, it
(29:20):
doesn't matter that you're blind. He said, I just want
you there, I need you there. And it resonated with me.
How dare I say that I'm going to repair my
family but still not show up. I began to start
repairing my life. Now what that looked like. I had
no idea. I just knew that I couldn't allow my
children to be captivated by the streets or people. And
(29:45):
I made up my mind that what happened to me,
I didn't want them to use as an excuse for
them not succeeding in life. There was so many different
things that happened to me, and each time I got up,
no matter what happened, I stood up.
Speaker 8 (30:03):
I stood for myself.
Speaker 10 (30:04):
I stood in my truth. I stood up for my
children at times, getting all four of them into college.
Even after the attack. There are going to be things
that is going to come out with way that God
says he gives us the tools in the biblical sense
to conquer everything that we went through. All we have
to do is just tap into that. Once I found
(30:25):
the presence of God and he found me and he
met me where I was, everything turned around. And if
I can do that a little girl from central South Carolina,
then I feel like everyone has the chance to redeem themselves.
But you first just have to surrender and give God
your life and in the end, you know He'll give
(30:48):
you the glory for your story.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
To learn more about Sabrina, please visit Sabrina Greenley dot
co and be sure to check out her book Grant
Me Vision at your favorite retailer. Thank you for listening
to this special bonus episode of the Jesus Calling Pop podcast.
As you begin to embrace this time of winter, we
hope you'll find peace, comfort, rest, and inspiration during this season.
(31:14):
If you enjoy this podcast, please be sure to subscribe
and like it on your favorite podcast platform. For more
information on the devotional Jesus Listens prayers for every season,
please visit Jesuscalling dot com.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Clifford Show
The Clifford Show with Clifford Taylor IV blends humor, culture, and behind-the-scenes sports talk with real conversations featuring athletes, creators, and personalities—spotlighting the grind, the growth, and the opportunities shaping the next generation of sports and culture.