December 9, 2024 • 32 mins
During a seemingly perfect holiday season, stress can often catch us off guard, manifesting in surprising and sometimes physical ways. Sharing a personal story about breaking out in a stress rash, I reveal how even the most festive times can take a toll on our well-being. Together, we explore the tricky balance between cherishing family time and setting boundaries to keep holiday stress at bay. By highlighting our own experiences, we encourage you to recognize the signs of stress and make deliberate choices to prioritize what matters most.
Navigating holiday traditions and expectations brings its own set of challenges, especially when personal beliefs and cultural backgrounds come into play. We discuss the pressures of replicating magical childhood memories for our kids and how differing cultural expectations can lead to tension. By sharing practical solutions and personal anecdotes, such as opting for simple yet meaningful experiences, we provide insights into adapting traditions without losing the essence of the season. Trust and open communication become key tools in aligning holiday expectations with our current realities.
Finally, the true essence of Christmas shines through as we reflect on maintaining routines and finding strength in faith. We delve into the importance of staying grounded through physical, spiritual, and mental practices, even amidst the hustle and bustle. Celebrating the journey of Jesus and the hope He brings, we are reminded of the power of God's love to transform worry into joy. Spreading hope and kindness becomes our mission, as we encourage listeners to embody the teachings of Jesus, offering support to those struggling during this festive time. Join us as we discover the joy and peace that come from a deeper connection with God and each other.
Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!
Start for FREE
THE NEW LIFE COLLECTION IS HERE:
Shop Here 👉 https://letsdigthepodcast.myshopify.com/
____________________________________
STAY TUNED FOR ALL EPISODES HERE:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxNumgVDs3mAeIfVhq64qAQ?sub_confirmation=1
Use this link for all the ways to keep in touch:
http://linktr.ee/letsdigthepodcast
FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM:
Pierre: https://www.instagram.com/pierrearistil/
Danilee: https://www.instagram.com/danileearistil/
If this episode resonated with you please be sure to leave a comment, subscribe, like or share it. Thank you for joining as we dig!
____________________________________
Would you like to be a blessing:
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/letsdig
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up?
Let's Dig crew.
Hey, do you remember last weekwhen I showed up and all of my
chest was broken out in?
Speaker 2 (00:08):
red hives?
Speaker 1 (00:09):
I don't know if it's hives, I don't know what hives
really mean, but it was a redrash.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I've never seen something like that before, all
across my chest.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
And I was trying to think I'm like did I wear a
weird necklace?
Did I eat something that mademe like have?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
an allergic reaction.
I started praying, hoping thatGod can reveal to me what this
thing was on your body.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Well, he revealed to me it was actually stress.
It happened two weeks ago, sothat's what stress looks like.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
That's what stress looks like.
What's that called Like?
What is that Like?
Stress, she, yo, she.
She basically did this.
She like almost flashed me.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
It was just like this she like almost flashed me, and
she like, she like pulled downher thing and she's like babe
what?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
And I was like father God Jesus set her free from
this now, right.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
And it's like all red .
It was.
It was like so it started twoweeks ago.
It was just like a spot on myneck that was like red and rash,
and I was like, oh, rash.
And I was like, oh, that'sweird.
And I even texted my mom like,mom, what do I put on this?
Listen, I'm 37, I'm still gonnatext my mom of, like, what do I
put on this?
And then a week later it was ona different spot on my neck and
(01:17):
like bigger and more.
Yeah, and that's when I waslike, oh, this has nothing to do
with what I ate.
This has nothing to do withwhat I ate.
This has nothing to do withwhat necklace I wore.
This has everything to do withwhat I just spent the last 20
minutes in the bathroom reallythinking very hard about, and
that was holidays, bills,children, all the things that
(01:41):
are happening right now.
And I realized, crap, this isstress.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
That's wild to me, that you like stress, like you
stress yourself into, likebreaking out, which I guess it's
common to people.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
It's very common.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah, I guess that's.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
I've never really done it like that before, but
yeah, everybody, every bodyshows stress in a different way
and when the body feels thatstress, it can come out in
different ways, and some peopleit's their stomach acts funny.
Some people they can't eat,some people all they do is eat
Like stress comes out ofpeople's personalities and
(02:19):
bodies in different ways.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah, I get it.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
And apparently mine just likes to come out in a big
old red rash.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Yeah, I think this is a whole conversation right now
on managing stress and anxiety,especially throughout the
holidays.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Yeah, here's the thing y'all.
We're going to talk about thistoday anxiety in the holidays.
But I want y'all to stick inbecause even if you don't think
that you identify with thatphrase, or even if you don't
think that you identify withthat phrase, or even if you
don't think you fall into thatcategory, I'm here as someone to
say you actually might.
I'm a person that loves theholidays.
I live for this season.
(02:54):
I actually like when the timechanges and it gets dark really
soon, because I know that meansthe Christmas lights are coming.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I don't like that here in Southern California
because California people can'tdrive and all of a sudden
traffic just jumped 30 minutesbecause people don't know how to
drive in the dark.
All of a sudden.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
It really does suck, but that signal of the time
change tells me it's almost timefor Christmas lights, christmas
movies, like all the thingslike I love.
So when people say, are youanxious, are you stressed out
for holidays, I genuinely thinkno, I'm good, I love the
holidays.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah, that's wild man .
Speaker 1 (03:30):
At the same time, I'm the person standing in the
bathroom with a huge old rash onmy chest because I'm stressed
out.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Huge old rash.
Okay, so we're going to talkabout that, but let me take a
moment to say what's up toeverybody, to all of our new
subscribers, all of our oldsubscribers, everybody.
You all are part of LDC let'sDig crew.
You guys already know why weare here.
We are here to help you grow adeeper relationship with God,
others and yourself Also.
We took last week off withoutan announcement.
(03:55):
We just went MIA and somepeople probably traumatized
because you're like uh-oh, lasttime Eric Stills did this, they
went MIA for four years.
So we didn't record last week.
We just didn't, we were justtoo busy.
It was just family time we justhad too much and we've learned
how to prioritize.
And you know what it wasstressing me out a little bit.
I was getting frustratedbecause, like yo, we have to
(04:16):
record, we have to put somethingout.
Every Sunday at 2 pm, pacifictime time, we go, we have a
video that goes out and I waslike you know what, not this
week, we don't.
I'm not going to let it stressme, I'm not going to get anxious
and I realized some of y'alllistening to this.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
y'all don't even care , but some people were like wait
, where's the episode?
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Where's the episode?
So, to all the people thatreally do care, thank you for
caring and also thank you fornot reaching out, I guess I mean
, or our DMs are mad silent, somaybe y'all don't care, but hey,
we're here right now, we stillgonna help you.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
And we're good, we're okay.
We're good, we actually arebetter for not having an episode
last week and just enjoyingfamily time and Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Straight up facts right there.
That's a fact, thank you.
All right, so we're back, andwhile we're going to talk right
now, we're going to talk aboutstress, we're going to talk
about anxiety, we're going totalk about pressure from
yourself, pressure from yourpartners, pressure from your
family, pressure from society,pressure from culture.
Some of it, a lot of it, Ithink, might be self-inflicted,
(05:18):
because some of y'all be puttingpressure on yourselves, like
Danny Lee.
We're going to talk about thatbecause some of that stuff that
was stressing you out, it wasstuff that you came up with in
your head and I had to come backas your partner and say,
actually, babe, why don't we dosomething different this year?
And I made love to her and thenshe was fine.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
What are?
Speaker 2 (05:36):
you talking about Yo?
Do you guys see this hoodie I'mwearing right now?
So this is the new lifecollection hoodie.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Not the hoodie.
His story is trash.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Yeah, the hoodie is fire guys.
It is heavyweight, it isoversized.
I love it.
This is the hat too.
It's the dad hat.
It's a vintage dad hat, perfectgift for the holidays.
If you are a Christian thatstruggle with telling your story
, if you believe that struggles,I don't know where to put my
S's sometimes.
Sometimes, I feel like S's areoptional.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
That actually makes a lot of sense with your words.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Yeah, I just don't want to use S right now.
Let me try this again.
If you are a Christian thatstruggles with telling your
faith, telling your story,telling people what God has done
for you, I really do believethat you need to get this hoodie
.
There's a T-shirt.
You need to get this hat.
You need to wear something likethis, which will be a tool to
engage conversations.
It will help people ask youquestions, especially when you
(06:33):
see the back.
You can see the links righthere.
We'll make it availablesomewhere here in one of these
corners.
I'll never know where thecorners be at, but you're going
to see it.
This will help you tell peopleyour story, not just what he's
done for you, where he's pulledyou from and where he is taking
you Cause I do believe that Godis doing a new thing in this
generation and his people thisyear, and so don't miss out, but
let's, let's jump into it.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
All right, let's dig, let's dig, all right.
So we wanted to share a fewthings that you know we talked
about a little bit of.
We are feeling some stress,anxiety, like the holiday is
coming up, and again, I neverassociated with that statement.
I never felt like I was one ofthose people that fall into that
category.
I thought those were just otherrandom people that I don't know
(07:16):
, like I don't know them, not me.
And then here I am with astress rash in December 1st.
Literally, it was like December1st.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Say that again A stress rash, a stress rash
Stress, rash Stress.
You see, all the S's Can't saythem.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
That is a lot of S's.
It's like four right there,anyways.
So all that to say, for me,what causes the stress is my
expectations of what I want theholidays to be like, and I do
put them on myself.
I understand that.
(07:49):
It is me.
My childhood for holidays, itwas pretty magical.
I'm not going to lie.
My mom killed it.
My mom did everything to makethem special.
We had traditions that we did,even the small ones of like.
we always got to open up apresent christmas eve night, and
(08:09):
that present always ended upbeing new pajamas it was rigged
got it was rigged a hundredpercent and we knew it and we
loved it, didn't care yeah wenever expected to open a toy
saturday I don't have pajamas Imy drawers.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
So that's nice.
You want to get me new drawersfor Christmas?
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Listen, I loved that.
It was just so special to sleepin those new pajamas before we
woke up Christmas morning inyour new pajamas, like yeah, it
was almost like a new outfit forChristmas morning.
Toys, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
That's funny.
My parents did a really greatjob of making it feel very
special and in the beginningstages of us as parents, we
fought about this For sure,because you wanted to just copy
and paste your childhood on yourkids and for me I was the
opposite.
I didn't really have muchmagical moments for Christmas
growing up as a child, yeah, soit wasn't that I was trying to
(09:02):
mimic that or copy that for mykids.
I just didn't want to takeanything from my childhood for
my kids.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Right, so I wanted to take almost everything.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
I was like let's just start fresh, let's start brand
new.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
And that was my world for a while.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
And that was because I didn't really have much stuff
from my childhood.
I was like, well, I want toroll over besides being in a
Christmas cantata or playing ina chamber orchestra Right being
in a Christmas cantata orplaying in a chamber orchestra
right or playing at a Christmasbanquet, which you know, it was
kind of forced to do it, which Iguess it pays off.
Anyways, all I'm saying is like, for me it was very different.
I wanted to just have a freshstart with our kids and we
fought about that very early on.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
And I think that is one of our big culture
differences is that white peoplewe love to do the same thing
for the same year over and overagain.
Like I, have friends that theirgreatest joy in life is that,
or one of their greatest joys.
I don't want to minimize it,it's.
It is really sweet, but likethat their children play with
their own toys, like so a toythat a friend has.
(09:58):
Their kids are playing with thatexact same toy now and that
brings them a lot of joy yeah sowhy people we just love to like
tradition, like you do the samething every year, same present
every christmas eve?
Speaker 2 (10:09):
um, I don't know if this is a that's a white people
thing.
I I think that's just there's.
There's just types of people ingeneral.
There's.
This is a big world I meanthere's, there's cultures all
over, from from c to signshining c, those s's are getting
you today.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
I can't say them S's today, but wait, but wait.
Is there something in Haitianculture that you guys do do the
same thing every year, all thetime?
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Sure, so like when we look at Thanksgiving.
Right, there's some holidaysLike, for example, 4th of July.
Where are you going to findHaitians in South Florida?
Oh, that's true, at the beach.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
And that's so random.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
First, January 1st, what you think Haitians are
eating.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Soup Jumou.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
So you see what I'm trying to explain.
Okay, there are some thingscustoms, rituals that all, I
think, all cultures have.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
They're just different in each culture.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
I think the issue is for us when we feel like our
current circumstances does notallow us to roll over something
that we're accustomed to doing.
Sometimes it causes stressbecause it feels like you're
either failing Right, won't beable to make this happen, and
(11:22):
you put in your mind that otherpeople are depending on you to
execute that thing Right, whichthat's what I meant by saying
that.
I think it's self-inflictedsometimes because our kids don't
know your childhood.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Right.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
They don't remember your childhood, and whatever
might've been magical to you inthe eighties or in the nineties,
they're like you didn't haveiPads.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Actually, I saw a picture the other day and it was
a Christmas tree and a house inthe 90s with like presents,
like halfway out to the room andthey're like Christmas is
different in the 80s and 90s Yoour son doesn't even want live
presents.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
He wants me to cash app him bro.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
He's like cash app me .
He's like yo send me some ApplePay.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Apple Pay, yeah, send me V-Bucks so I can get this
digital money on Fortnite.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
That's hilarious, Like you see what I mean.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
But it's true.
So I'm like, matter of fact,the kids are actually a lot
simpler than I said.
Oh, you want me to just, youwant me to just sell you.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
That is so impersonal though, like I can, it did take
me a while to wrap my headaround the concept of
approaching each year as adifferent year.
Yeah, yeah, and realizing thatwe've moved so many times.
(12:39):
Christmases were in differentplaces all the time, and a lot
of times we've shared it withy'all.
We don't live near family, somajority of the time
Thanksgiving and Christmas donot have family included.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
And so it is really up to us to be like okay, what
do we want to do this year?
And I have really enjoyed thatand that's it.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
I think that's the biggest thing that we've added
to our family.
When it comes to holidays,every single year we go into it
say what do we want to do thisyear?
Yep, forget last year.
Right, forget that tree.
We don't have to go cuttingdown trees, which we heard a
story about.
Someone went to go cut downtrees and then there was a whole
infestation of spiders.
It literally still creeps meout but what I'm saying is like
(13:19):
we're not house y'all thespiders were on their presence
oh, bro, burn their whole housedown, just leave.
Just go ahead.
Leave the house.
I'm done.
Leave the house, oh yeah, so Ithink that was the best thing
that we've added and and Ireally want to encourage a lot
of people, man, that arelistening to this right now you
guys are going through theholidays and you feel like
you're stressed out becauseyou're comparing it to last year
, you're comparing it to theyear before, or you're comparing
(13:43):
it to the Joneses, or you'recomparing it to your neighbor.
I think that's what hurtspeople too, as well, like
everybody's at work braggingabout what they're doing for the
holidays, or someone may noteven be bragging, they might
just be telling you about whatthey're doing for holidays, and
in your mind, you're trying tofigure out okay, how can I keep
up, or how can I flex?
And some of it's self-inflicted, because the person you're
talking to is not even expectingyou to keep up with them.
(14:04):
It's all in your mind.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Well, sometimes it's even just.
We live in this world ofconsumerism and so when a
coworker is like, oh yeah, we'regoing up here and we're going
over there, we're going to dothis, we're going to do that,
and I literally would think I'mgoing to bed no.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
No, I would think I wish I could do that for my
family.
I wish we had that option andwe just don't right now.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
And we just don't right now.
So it is really hard, I thinkso we have a list we're going to
share with you today.
We've got a list of a fewthings.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
And one of them is managing your expectations.
That was that one.
It's managing your expectations, realizing that where you are
right now is maybe not where youwere last year and it won't be
where you are next year.
So just managing thoseexpectations and realizing, like
, what can we do for this yearthat will make it feel special.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Yeah, I think, even in expectations.
I think for us that are married, for those that are dating, for
those that just got intorelationships, which, if you
just got into a relationshipbefore the holidays, just not a
good move, bro, what?
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Why.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Wait till after the holidays.
No way Wait till afterValentine's Day the holidays are
so romantic.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
I 100% want to be with someone during the holidays
.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
If you're going to get into a relationship with
somebody, wait for Easter orsomething.
Take them to church.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Why are you so full of trash today?
What is wrong with you?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Okay.
But I do think that people needto do a better job at talking
about their expectation right,what they're expecting for the
holidays, right.
So for us, before we go intoholidays, we sit down and say,
okay, what are the things thatwe want to see, what are the
things that we want toexperience?
Right, let's talk about it.
What are the things that wecan't do this year?
(15:46):
What are some things from lastyear we want to roll over Right,
right, and last year we want toroll over right, right.
And then our kids are gettingolder.
So, actually talking with them,say, son, what do you want to
do?
yeah baby girl, what do you want?
Because you'll be surprised thestuff that they're expecting.
You're like, oh snap I couldafford that.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
That's easy last year .
But I wanted to take brooklyn,our four year.
She was turning four.
I wouldn't take her todisneyland.
I want to take her todisneyland.
I want to take her todisneyland.
All that child could talk aboutwas stupid.
Chuck E Cheese Bro.
And then I had to realize, likethat actually is a lot cheaper.
I like let's do a birthdayparty at Chuck E Cheese.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Bro you over here stressing out because, like how
are we going to take her toDisneyland?
I said why don't we just askher when you want to go?
Chuck E Cheese, bro Wendy's.
I'm like bro Wendy's, bro, Iget you.
That's what he went for hisbirthday.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
y'all was Wendy's Yep .
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Let's go to Wendy's and get an eight-piece nugget,
two double cheese, junior bacon,cheeseburgers, a little
smoothie, call it a day.
You know what I'm sayingHilarious.
So that's what I'm saying.
I think it's just havingconversations about that, all
the expectations a lot of themare in our head, yeah for sure.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
I think another great way to help you stay balanced
and not be so stressed duringthe holidays is actually
volunteering.
There was an opportunity that Iheard about a few weeks ago,
and it was a foster care housethat housed kids and they were
asking people to come and justplay with the kids for a few
(17:15):
hours, while the parents weretaken out to get them Christmas
gifts, and unfortunately myschedule didn't allow me to be a
part of it, but I actuallyreally wanted to, and things
like that putting yourself inthose positions can really give
you perspective of what you dohave and that it is enough.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Yeah, that's wild man I was talking to, uh, had lunch
yesterday with pastor and um, Iwas asking him like how do you
manage, um, when you sit downand meet with all people?
People are always DMing him,writing him, emailing people
wanting to meet the pastor allday long.
Yeah, so how do you manage that?
And he said several things, butI'll emphasize on one that
(17:55):
really stuck out.
That implies, or that'sregarding to this he talks about
how a lot of time he'llredirect them.
But he said there's sometimeshe meets with so many people
because it helps him.
It helps him stay grounded, ithelps him stay humbled, it helps
him stay grounded.
I thought, wow, that's reallybig Right.
You know, when he's like, likewhen I'm helping someone that
(18:16):
can't do nothing for me, itmakes him more grateful for his
life, puts him in a posture ofof, of Thanksgiving, a posture
of gratitude, humility.
And I think that lines up withwhat you're saying right now of
stop making it about yourselfthis holiday and see if you can
meet somebody else's need, noteven someone else's want, but
(18:40):
somebody else's need Like.
You know what I'm saying, andso I really do agree with that
Like.
So, yeah, don't date duringholidays.
Volunteer at my church.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Don't date during the holidays.
Why?
Speaker 2 (18:49):
do you do this?
I'm sorry Go ahead, okay.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Another one is trust God with what you cannot control
.
Yep, I think that's huge.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
I think that's the biggest one.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
That's a massive one of like okay, I'm just going to
trust God if he's going to makea way, or we're going to make
the best of it, or I justliterally am going to put all
these things that are keeping meup at night in his hands and
know that I'm going to doeverything I can with what I
have.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Yeah, it's crazy.
That's crazy.
The Bible says without faithit's impossible to please God.
It's impossible to please God.
That means everything that wedo it needs to be through faith
in order to be pleasing to thefather, because our life and our
situation sometimes can seem sobig.
But we serve a God of theimpossible.
(19:34):
We serve a God that can doanything Right.
So what happens is sometimes wemake our problems bigger than
God, yeah, and all we can see isour problem Right, is
disrespectful and dishonorableto how big God is.
Because God is so big that ourproblems should be nothing in
(19:57):
his presence.
It shouldn't even matteranymore.
So when we're saying learninghow to trust God, the more you
trust God, the more you cansleep at night, the more you can
leave things in his hand,knowing that my God is so big,
like that old song, there'snothing my God cannot do.
Our problems should be not evenlittle in his presence.
They should disappear.
They should have no worth, novalue in the presence of God.
(20:20):
And so I think for us asbelievers that are going through
this season, and even for thosethat don't believe in God, I'm
telling you right now trust God,believe in him, put in his hand
all of your problems.
They will disappear in God'spresence.
They were, and when I saydisappear, if you got bills, the
bills are still going to bethere.
What I'm saying is, you won'tlose sleep about it because you
(20:44):
know it's in God's hand andGod's going to provide he's
going to take care of it.
It loses the power over you.
Anxiety leaves, depressionleaves, yeah, stress leaves.
Your bills are still there,your problems are still there.
Because I don't want to be likeone of those speakers that say
that your problems are going togo away.
Yeah, no, your problems arestill going to be there.
What I'm saying is they losetheir power in your life and it
(21:09):
gets replaced with joy, withpeace, with peace, yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Absolutely, and it gets replaced with joy, with
peace, with peace yeah,absolutely.
Another one that we really wantto encourage is to take care of
your physical body and yourspiritual body, like making sure
, if you work out, go to the gymstill.
Like don't lose sight ofworking out, eating, making good
decisions in your food, becausethat really will make a
difference.
If you stop going to the gymand all you're doing is eating
these sweets around you, you'regoing to feel terrible.
(21:35):
But the more you take care ofyour body, okay, I'm going to
stay in the gym, I'm going tofocus on my nutrition, like I
have set a goal for this monththat I'm going to drop some
weight and I'm going to reallyfocus on my nutrition through
the month of December.
And some people would be likewhy would you do that?
This is the hardest time, andI'm like that's why is because
this is the time of most sweets,most candies, pies, all the
(21:58):
things.
And so I'm going to actuallyhave extra focus in this season
and be like I'm going to dropsome weight, I'm going to focus
on my nutrition, make sure I'min the gym to keep myself
regulated during the next fewweeks.
And then, on top of that, yourspiritual man, self-regulated
during the next few weeks, andthen, on top of that, your
spiritual man making sure thatyou are prioritizing time to
pray in the mornings, to readyour word like, don't lose focus
(22:20):
.
I think this is what I want tosay.
Going into the season, it canget so busy and if you lose your
um, not your habits, but yourroutines, you lose your routines
of going to the gym.
If you lose your routines ofpraying, if you lose your
routines of reading the word,all of these other things we're
talking about will really startto shake you.
(22:41):
But if you keep your foundationand if you keep those things
that keep you regular andregulated in the spirit and in
your physical body, you'll getthrough these next few weeks
Like it won't shake you, won'trattle you.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah, um, ultimately you act how you feel.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
So if but, I'm saying again, I'm processing.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Ultimately, you will act how you feel.
That's true.
You will act how you feel, yeah, meaning when you're feeling
Physically strong, you're goingto carry yourself strong, so
true.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
But if I feel Like poop, I'm going to act and eat
actually Like trash.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
If you feel broken, if you feel hurt, you're going
to act hurt.
It hurt, you're going to acthurt.
It's true, you're going to actbroken.
Yeah, that's why hurt peoplehurt people.
It's true.
So when people get on ourInstagram or on our YouTube or
TikTok or trying to hurt us likethere's people that go to our
shorts sometimes and they'lljust talk trash.
(23:40):
One person I call me back.
I said I'm so sorry somebodyhurt you because I can tell
you're trying to hurt me.
That's crazy because hurt people, hurt people, broke people, try
to break people.
Like I'm saying people thatfeel down, try to pull people
down.
Yeah, so I think honestly, likewhat you're saying, in this
season, where anxiety goes up,where suicidal rates are through
(24:03):
the roof, where people feellike they don't want to live
anymore, you act how you feel.
That's why people act on thatfeeling of suicide.
So what you're saying is staystrong spiritually, stay strong
physically, stay strong mentally.
Be careful who you're lettingspeak into your life.
(24:24):
Be careful of the things thatyou're reading, be careful of
the things that you guys arewatching.
Yo, your eyes is a door intoyour soul.
You know what I'm saying.
So, the things that we'reputting in, we'll start acting
on it.
So ultimately, like what you'resaying is like if you're
feeling weak, get up, go for awalk, go to the gym.
You'll feel better aboutyourself and you'll act better.
If you're feeling spirituallystrong, start praying more,
(24:48):
prioritizing that time to bewith the Lord, read the word and
ultimately you will act how youfeel.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
That's good, that's really good.
And the last one is honestlyjust it seems simple, but it's
so true is just remembering thewhole purpose of these
celebrations, the whole reasonthat we even have a Christmas
season and that is the birth ofour savior.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
And that that is why we get to celebrate.
I get emotional every time.
I'm like because if that babynever came, we would not be
sitting here where we are today,forgiven, full of joy and peace
, having a relationship with Godand with Jesus, like we would
never have those things affordedto us.
So my favorite moment of awhole season is standing in
(25:36):
church singing oh come, let usadore him.
Like it is literally all thatmatters at this point.
There are things that we have.
There are things that you walkthrough in the season where you
don't have your loved ones withyou.
You maybe not have all thethings that you wish you did to
pay bills or to take care ofyour family, or things that you
may have needs Just becausewe're in Christmas season.
(25:58):
Those needs don't go away, butknowing that you have everything
in Jesus, yeah, and I think too.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
I think just to encourage those that, just to
encourage those that have a hardtime celebrating Christ through
the holidays, don't just useChristmas as a time to celebrate
baby Jesus, but celebrate risenJesus.
I think sometimes people makeChristmas too much of a
(26:28):
historical event.
And celebrating the birth ofJesus, right, the coming of our
Savior, but it's alsocelebrating the second coming of
our Savior.
Ultimately, it's celebratingthis right here, that God loves
us so much that he made adecision to come walk on this
(26:49):
earth with us.
And to me that's what Christmasis all about.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
It's not just the birth of baby Jesus, right,
because it's the fact that Jesuscame and he walked this earth
and he healed and he saved andhe delivered.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
It's ultimately just like man, God like left this
throne, yeah, and said I'm goingdown there to walk with them.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
And I'm going to do it through a teenage pregnancy.
Yeah, I'm going to do somethingthat's impossible.
I'm going to come and lay withdonkeys and sheep, right and Bo
the dog.
Remember the movie Star?
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Such a cute movie or the donkey, yeah the donkey, we
do watch the Star every yearwith the kids.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
But here's what I love about that story is that
Jesus came and did not make itabout the presence, it wasn't
about the glam.
He came through a manger, rightRight there in a shed, in a
barn, like I'm saying.
And so to me, I look at that, Isay, wow, all the other glam,
all the other stuff, it doesn'tmatter.
And ultimately, for Christmas,we're not just only celebrating
(27:54):
the birth of Christ, but we'recelebrating that God loves us,
that he came and walked on thisearth with us.
He came, lived this human life,fought for us, died and rose
again.
We serve the only king that youcan't find in a grave or in a
box somewhere, like like whatI'm saying, and it's us
(28:17):
celebrating that he's going tocome back again.
So we're here to tell you guys,man, throughout the holidays,
there's hope.
God loves you, jesus loves you.
That's why we're here.
That's the only thing thatshould matter this year.
All the other things, let themgo.
If you can't accomplish it, ifyou can't make it happen, if
(28:38):
it's going to make you go intodebt, if it's going to break up
relationships, let it go,because it doesn't matter.
Ultimately, god loves us all andthere's hope for us.
This should be a time of peace.
This is a time that wecelebrate the coming of our true
savior, jesus, who is the truthFor all of us that are out
there.
And you're a believer and youbelieve in God, you carry the
(29:00):
truth.
So when you're around, walkingaround a neighborhood, like when
you're at your job, when you'rein church, when you're in the
gym, when you're at the car wash, doesn't matter where you are.
If you see somebody stressedout, you see somebody anxious,
you see somebody dealing withstress, you see somebody dealing
with depression, you seesomeone and you can sense the
spirit of depression or suicideon them.
(29:22):
Christians, I'm askingeverybody.
It's time for us to stand up,put our arm around someone and
say hey, bro, there's hopewhat's?
the hope God loves us and allthis that we're worried about.
He just wants to take it fromyou and he's going to trade you
and give you peace and give youjoy and you're going to feel
happiness.
And here's what I love.
(29:42):
He don't give us rest.
He don't sleep like a baby.
Because, all this stuff thatwill stress you out, you'll
realize in God's kingdom,doesn't matter, Doesn't matter.
That's all I got man.
That's how we're going to over.
That's how we've beenovercoming and managing anytime
we have stressful thoughts.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Anytime we feel anxiety, that's how we overcome.
So we hope that you resonatedwith this conversation and, for
those of you who really, man,felt like that touched you, that
said something to you or maybewe're just speaking straight to
your situation Know that thatwas a God that loved you and
that encouraged theseconversations and led us in
those conversations to speak toright where you are today.
We were on TikTok and a girlwas like man.
I ended up right where I wassupposed to be and it was
because of what we were sharing.
(30:25):
So I want you to know that thisconversation, we prayed before
we started this conversation, weprayed for God to guide every
word that we say, and so if itresonated with you, know that
that is a God that loves you andwanted you to hear this today,
and if that's you comment inthis today, and if that's you
comment in this video, we'realways writing back to people
who comment to us, even thehaters, but especially the ones
(30:46):
that love us, Um, and so we wantyou to subscribe, we want you
to click the like button If youfeel led and you want to give a
heart and give some love to thischannel.
It really just encourages us andknows that we are making a
difference, uh, in your life andthat we're helping you grow a
deeper relationship with God,others and yourself.
We love y'.
What's up?
Let's Dig crew.
Hey, do you remember last weekwhen I showed up and all of my
chest was broken out in?
Speaker 2 (00:08):
red hives?
Speaker 1 (00:09):
I don't know if it's hives, I don't know what hives
really mean, but it was a redrash.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I've never seen something like that before, all
across my chest.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
And I was trying to think I'm like did I wear a
weird necklace?
Did I eat something that mademe like have?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
an allergic reaction.
I started praying, hoping thatGod can reveal to me what this
thing was on your body.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Well, he revealed to me it was actually stress.
It happened two weeks ago, sothat's what stress looks like.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
That's what stress looks like.
What's that called Like?
What is that Like?
Stress, she, yo, she.
She basically did this.
She like almost flashed me.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
It was just like this she like almost flashed me, and
she like, she like pulled downher thing and she's like babe
what?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
And I was like father God Jesus set her free from
this now, right.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
And it's like all red .
It was.
It was like so it started twoweeks ago.
It was just like a spot on myneck that was like red and rash,
and I was like, oh, rash.
And I was like, oh, that'sweird.
And I even texted my mom like,mom, what do I put on this?
Listen, I'm 37, I'm still gonnatext my mom of, like, what do I
put on this?
And then a week later it was ona different spot on my neck and
(01:17):
like bigger and more.
Yeah, and that's when I waslike, oh, this has nothing to do
with what I ate.
This has nothing to do withwhat I ate.
This has nothing to do withwhat necklace I wore.
This has everything to do withwhat I just spent the last 20
minutes in the bathroom reallythinking very hard about, and
that was holidays, bills,children, all the things that
(01:41):
are happening right now.
And I realized, crap, this isstress.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
That's wild to me, that you like stress, like you
stress yourself into, likebreaking out, which I guess it's
common to people.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
It's very common.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah, I guess that's.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
I've never really done it like that before, but
yeah, everybody, every bodyshows stress in a different way
and when the body feels thatstress, it can come out in
different ways, and some peopleit's their stomach acts funny.
Some people they can't eat,some people all they do is eat
Like stress comes out ofpeople's personalities and
(02:19):
bodies in different ways.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah, I get it.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
And apparently mine just likes to come out in a big
old red rash.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Yeah, I think this is a whole conversation right now
on managing stress and anxiety,especially throughout the
holidays.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Yeah, here's the thing y'all.
We're going to talk about thistoday anxiety in the holidays.
But I want y'all to stick inbecause even if you don't think
that you identify with thatphrase, or even if you don't
think that you identify withthat phrase, or even if you
don't think you fall into thatcategory, I'm here as someone to
say you actually might.
I'm a person that loves theholidays.
I live for this season.
(02:54):
I actually like when the timechanges and it gets dark really
soon, because I know that meansthe Christmas lights are coming.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I don't like that here in Southern California
because California people can'tdrive and all of a sudden
traffic just jumped 30 minutesbecause people don't know how to
drive in the dark.
All of a sudden.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
It really does suck, but that signal of the time
change tells me it's almost timefor Christmas lights, christmas
movies, like all the thingslike I love.
So when people say, are youanxious, are you stressed out
for holidays, I genuinely thinkno, I'm good, I love the
holidays.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah, that's wild man .
Speaker 1 (03:30):
At the same time, I'm the person standing in the
bathroom with a huge old rash onmy chest because I'm stressed
out.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Huge old rash.
Okay, so we're going to talkabout that, but let me take a
moment to say what's up toeverybody, to all of our new
subscribers, all of our oldsubscribers, everybody.
You all are part of LDC let'sDig crew.
You guys already know why weare here.
We are here to help you grow adeeper relationship with God,
others and yourself Also.
We took last week off withoutan announcement.
(03:55):
We just went MIA and somepeople probably traumatized
because you're like uh-oh, lasttime Eric Stills did this, they
went MIA for four years.
So we didn't record last week.
We just didn't, we were justtoo busy.
It was just family time we justhad too much and we've learned
how to prioritize.
And you know what it wasstressing me out a little bit.
I was getting frustratedbecause, like yo, we have to
(04:16):
record, we have to put somethingout.
Every Sunday at 2 pm, pacifictime time, we go, we have a
video that goes out and I waslike you know what, not this
week, we don't.
I'm not going to let it stressme, I'm not going to get anxious
and I realized some of y'alllistening to this.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
y'all don't even care , but some people were like wait
, where's the episode?
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Where's the episode?
So, to all the people thatreally do care, thank you for
caring and also thank you fornot reaching out, I guess I mean
, or our DMs are mad silent, somaybe y'all don't care, but hey,
we're here right now, we stillgonna help you.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
And we're good, we're okay.
We're good, we actually arebetter for not having an episode
last week and just enjoyingfamily time and Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Straight up facts right there.
That's a fact, thank you.
All right, so we're back, andwhile we're going to talk right
now, we're going to talk aboutstress, we're going to talk
about anxiety, we're going totalk about pressure from
yourself, pressure from yourpartners, pressure from your
family, pressure from society,pressure from culture.
Some of it, a lot of it, Ithink, might be self-inflicted,
(05:18):
because some of y'all be puttingpressure on yourselves, like
Danny Lee.
We're going to talk about thatbecause some of that stuff that
was stressing you out, it wasstuff that you came up with in
your head and I had to come backas your partner and say,
actually, babe, why don't we dosomething different this year?
And I made love to her and thenshe was fine.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
What are?
Speaker 2 (05:36):
you talking about Yo?
Do you guys see this hoodie I'mwearing right now?
So this is the new lifecollection hoodie.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Not the hoodie.
His story is trash.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Yeah, the hoodie is fire guys.
It is heavyweight, it isoversized.
I love it.
This is the hat too.
It's the dad hat.
It's a vintage dad hat, perfectgift for the holidays.
If you are a Christian thatstruggle with telling your story
, if you believe that struggles,I don't know where to put my
S's sometimes.
Sometimes, I feel like S's areoptional.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
That actually makes a lot of sense with your words.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Yeah, I just don't want to use S right now.
Let me try this again.
If you are a Christian thatstruggles with telling your
faith, telling your story,telling people what God has done
for you, I really do believethat you need to get this hoodie
.
There's a T-shirt.
You need to get this hat.
You need to wear something likethis, which will be a tool to
engage conversations.
It will help people ask youquestions, especially when you
(06:33):
see the back.
You can see the links righthere.
We'll make it availablesomewhere here in one of these
corners.
I'll never know where thecorners be at, but you're going
to see it.
This will help you tell peopleyour story, not just what he's
done for you, where he's pulledyou from and where he is taking
you Cause I do believe that Godis doing a new thing in this
generation and his people thisyear, and so don't miss out, but
let's, let's jump into it.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
All right, let's dig, let's dig, all right.
So we wanted to share a fewthings that you know we talked
about a little bit of.
We are feeling some stress,anxiety, like the holiday is
coming up, and again, I neverassociated with that statement.
I never felt like I was one ofthose people that fall into that
category.
I thought those were just otherrandom people that I don't know
(07:16):
, like I don't know them, not me.
And then here I am with astress rash in December 1st.
Literally, it was like December1st.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Say that again A stress rash, a stress rash
Stress, rash Stress.
You see, all the S's Can't saythem.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
That is a lot of S's.
It's like four right there,anyways.
So all that to say, for me,what causes the stress is my
expectations of what I want theholidays to be like, and I do
put them on myself.
I understand that.
(07:49):
It is me.
My childhood for holidays, itwas pretty magical.
I'm not going to lie.
My mom killed it.
My mom did everything to makethem special.
We had traditions that we did,even the small ones of like.
we always got to open up apresent christmas eve night, and
(08:09):
that present always ended upbeing new pajamas it was rigged
got it was rigged a hundredpercent and we knew it and we
loved it, didn't care yeah wenever expected to open a toy
saturday I don't have pajamas Imy drawers.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
So that's nice.
You want to get me new drawersfor Christmas?
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Listen, I loved that.
It was just so special to sleepin those new pajamas before we
woke up Christmas morning inyour new pajamas, like yeah, it
was almost like a new outfit forChristmas morning.
Toys, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
That's funny.
My parents did a really greatjob of making it feel very
special and in the beginningstages of us as parents, we
fought about this For sure,because you wanted to just copy
and paste your childhood on yourkids and for me I was the
opposite.
I didn't really have muchmagical moments for Christmas
growing up as a child, yeah, soit wasn't that I was trying to
(09:02):
mimic that or copy that for mykids.
I just didn't want to takeanything from my childhood for
my kids.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Right, so I wanted to take almost everything.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
I was like let's just start fresh, let's start brand
new.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
And that was my world for a while.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
And that was because I didn't really have much stuff
from my childhood.
I was like, well, I want toroll over besides being in a
Christmas cantata or playing ina chamber orchestra Right being
in a Christmas cantata orplaying in a chamber orchestra
right or playing at a Christmasbanquet, which you know, it was
kind of forced to do it, which Iguess it pays off.
Anyways, all I'm saying is like, for me it was very different.
I wanted to just have a freshstart with our kids and we
fought about that very early on.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
And I think that is one of our big culture
differences is that white peoplewe love to do the same thing
for the same year over and overagain.
Like I, have friends that theirgreatest joy in life is that,
or one of their greatest joys.
I don't want to minimize it,it's.
It is really sweet, but likethat their children play with
their own toys, like so a toythat a friend has.
(09:58):
Their kids are playing with thatexact same toy now and that
brings them a lot of joy yeah sowhy people we just love to like
tradition, like you do the samething every year, same present
every christmas eve?
Speaker 2 (10:09):
um, I don't know if this is a that's a white people
thing.
I I think that's just there's.
There's just types of people ingeneral.
There's.
This is a big world I meanthere's, there's cultures all
over, from from c to signshining c, those s's are getting
you today.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
I can't say them S's today, but wait, but wait.
Is there something in Haitianculture that you guys do do the
same thing every year, all thetime?
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Sure, so like when we look at Thanksgiving.
Right, there's some holidaysLike, for example, 4th of July.
Where are you going to findHaitians in South Florida?
Oh, that's true, at the beach.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
And that's so random.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
First, January 1st, what you think Haitians are
eating.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Soup Jumou.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
So you see what I'm trying to explain.
Okay, there are some thingscustoms, rituals that all, I
think, all cultures have.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
They're just different in each culture.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
I think the issue is for us when we feel like our
current circumstances does notallow us to roll over something
that we're accustomed to doing.
Sometimes it causes stressbecause it feels like you're
either failing Right, won't beable to make this happen, and
(11:22):
you put in your mind that otherpeople are depending on you to
execute that thing Right, whichthat's what I meant by saying
that.
I think it's self-inflictedsometimes because our kids don't
know your childhood.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Right.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
They don't remember your childhood, and whatever
might've been magical to you inthe eighties or in the nineties,
they're like you didn't haveiPads.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Actually, I saw a picture the other day and it was
a Christmas tree and a house inthe 90s with like presents,
like halfway out to the room andthey're like Christmas is
different in the 80s and 90s Yoour son doesn't even want live
presents.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
He wants me to cash app him bro.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
He's like cash app me .
He's like yo send me some ApplePay.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Apple Pay, yeah, send me V-Bucks so I can get this
digital money on Fortnite.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
That's hilarious, Like you see what I mean.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
But it's true.
So I'm like, matter of fact,the kids are actually a lot
simpler than I said.
Oh, you want me to just, youwant me to just sell you.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
That is so impersonal though, like I can, it did take
me a while to wrap my headaround the concept of
approaching each year as adifferent year.
Yeah, yeah, and realizing thatwe've moved so many times.
(12:39):
Christmases were in differentplaces all the time, and a lot
of times we've shared it withy'all.
We don't live near family, somajority of the time
Thanksgiving and Christmas donot have family included.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
And so it is really up to us to be like okay, what
do we want to do this year?
And I have really enjoyed thatand that's it.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
I think that's the biggest thing that we've added
to our family.
When it comes to holidays,every single year we go into it
say what do we want to do thisyear?
Yep, forget last year.
Right, forget that tree.
We don't have to go cuttingdown trees, which we heard a
story about.
Someone went to go cut downtrees and then there was a whole
infestation of spiders.
It literally still creeps meout but what I'm saying is like
(13:19):
we're not house y'all thespiders were on their presence
oh, bro, burn their whole housedown, just leave.
Just go ahead.
Leave the house.
I'm done.
Leave the house, oh yeah, so Ithink that was the best thing
that we've added and and Ireally want to encourage a lot
of people, man, that arelistening to this right now you
guys are going through theholidays and you feel like
you're stressed out becauseyou're comparing it to last year
, you're comparing it to theyear before, or you're comparing
(13:43):
it to the Joneses, or you'recomparing it to your neighbor.
I think that's what hurtspeople too, as well, like
everybody's at work braggingabout what they're doing for the
holidays, or someone may noteven be bragging, they might
just be telling you about whatthey're doing for holidays, and
in your mind, you're trying tofigure out okay, how can I keep
up, or how can I flex?
And some of it's self-inflicted, because the person you're
talking to is not even expectingyou to keep up with them.
(14:04):
It's all in your mind.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Well, sometimes it's even just.
We live in this world ofconsumerism and so when a
coworker is like, oh yeah, we'regoing up here and we're going
over there, we're going to dothis, we're going to do that,
and I literally would think I'mgoing to bed no.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
No, I would think I wish I could do that for my
family.
I wish we had that option andwe just don't right now.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
And we just don't right now.
So it is really hard, I thinkso we have a list we're going to
share with you today.
We've got a list of a fewthings.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
And one of them is managing your expectations.
That was that one.
It's managing your expectations, realizing that where you are
right now is maybe not where youwere last year and it won't be
where you are next year.
So just managing thoseexpectations and realizing, like
, what can we do for this yearthat will make it feel special.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Yeah, I think, even in expectations.
I think for us that are married, for those that are dating, for
those that just got intorelationships, which, if you
just got into a relationshipbefore the holidays, just not a
good move, bro, what?
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Why.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Wait till after the holidays.
No way Wait till afterValentine's Day the holidays are
so romantic.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
I 100% want to be with someone during the holidays
.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
If you're going to get into a relationship with
somebody, wait for Easter orsomething.
Take them to church.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Why are you so full of trash today?
What is wrong with you?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Okay.
But I do think that people needto do a better job at talking
about their expectation right,what they're expecting for the
holidays, right.
So for us, before we go intoholidays, we sit down and say,
okay, what are the things thatwe want to see, what are the
things that we want toexperience?
Right, let's talk about it.
What are the things that wecan't do this year?
(15:46):
What are some things from lastyear we want to roll over Right,
right, and last year we want toroll over right, right.
And then our kids are gettingolder.
So, actually talking with them,say, son, what do you want to
do?
yeah baby girl, what do you want?
Because you'll be surprised thestuff that they're expecting.
You're like, oh snap I couldafford that.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
That's easy last year .
But I wanted to take brooklyn,our four year.
She was turning four.
I wouldn't take her todisneyland.
I want to take her todisneyland.
I want to take her todisneyland.
All that child could talk aboutwas stupid.
Chuck E Cheese Bro.
And then I had to realize, likethat actually is a lot cheaper.
I like let's do a birthdayparty at Chuck E Cheese.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Bro you over here stressing out because, like how
are we going to take her toDisneyland?
I said why don't we just askher when you want to go?
Chuck E Cheese, bro Wendy's.
I'm like bro Wendy's, bro, Iget you.
That's what he went for hisbirthday.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
y'all was Wendy's Yep .
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Let's go to Wendy's and get an eight-piece nugget,
two double cheese, junior bacon,cheeseburgers, a little
smoothie, call it a day.
You know what I'm sayingHilarious.
So that's what I'm saying.
I think it's just havingconversations about that, all
the expectations a lot of themare in our head, yeah for sure.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
I think another great way to help you stay balanced
and not be so stressed duringthe holidays is actually
volunteering.
There was an opportunity that Iheard about a few weeks ago,
and it was a foster care housethat housed kids and they were
asking people to come and justplay with the kids for a few
(17:15):
hours, while the parents weretaken out to get them Christmas
gifts, and unfortunately myschedule didn't allow me to be a
part of it, but I actuallyreally wanted to, and things
like that putting yourself inthose positions can really give
you perspective of what you dohave and that it is enough.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Yeah, that's wild man I was talking to, uh, had lunch
yesterday with pastor and um, Iwas asking him like how do you
manage, um, when you sit downand meet with all people?
People are always DMing him,writing him, emailing people
wanting to meet the pastor allday long.
Yeah, so how do you manage that?
And he said several things, butI'll emphasize on one that
(17:55):
really stuck out.
That implies, or that'sregarding to this he talks about
how a lot of time he'llredirect them.
But he said there's sometimeshe meets with so many people
because it helps him.
It helps him stay grounded, ithelps him stay humbled, it helps
him stay grounded.
I thought, wow, that's reallybig Right.
You know, when he's like, likewhen I'm helping someone that
(18:16):
can't do nothing for me, itmakes him more grateful for his
life, puts him in a posture ofof, of Thanksgiving, a posture
of gratitude, humility.
And I think that lines up withwhat you're saying right now of
stop making it about yourselfthis holiday and see if you can
meet somebody else's need, noteven someone else's want, but
(18:40):
somebody else's need Like.
You know what I'm saying, andso I really do agree with that
Like.
So, yeah, don't date duringholidays.
Volunteer at my church.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Don't date during the holidays.
Why?
Speaker 2 (18:49):
do you do this?
I'm sorry Go ahead, okay.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Another one is trust God with what you cannot control
.
Yep, I think that's huge.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
I think that's the biggest one.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
That's a massive one of like okay, I'm just going to
trust God if he's going to makea way, or we're going to make
the best of it, or I justliterally am going to put all
these things that are keeping meup at night in his hands and
know that I'm going to doeverything I can with what I
have.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Yeah, it's crazy.
That's crazy.
The Bible says without faithit's impossible to please God.
It's impossible to please God.
That means everything that wedo it needs to be through faith
in order to be pleasing to thefather, because our life and our
situation sometimes can seem sobig.
But we serve a God of theimpossible.
(19:34):
We serve a God that can doanything Right.
So what happens is sometimes wemake our problems bigger than
God, yeah, and all we can see isour problem Right, is
disrespectful and dishonorableto how big God is.
Because God is so big that ourproblems should be nothing in
(19:57):
his presence.
It shouldn't even matteranymore.
So when we're saying learninghow to trust God, the more you
trust God, the more you cansleep at night, the more you can
leave things in his hand,knowing that my God is so big,
like that old song, there'snothing my God cannot do.
Our problems should be not evenlittle in his presence.
They should disappear.
They should have no worth, novalue in the presence of God.
(20:20):
And so I think for us asbelievers that are going through
this season, and even for thosethat don't believe in God, I'm
telling you right now trust God,believe in him, put in his hand
all of your problems.
They will disappear in God'spresence.
They were, and when I saydisappear, if you got bills, the
bills are still going to bethere.
What I'm saying is, you won'tlose sleep about it because you
(20:44):
know it's in God's hand andGod's going to provide he's
going to take care of it.
It loses the power over you.
Anxiety leaves, depressionleaves, yeah, stress leaves.
Your bills are still there,your problems are still there.
Because I don't want to be likeone of those speakers that say
that your problems are going togo away.
Yeah, no, your problems arestill going to be there.
What I'm saying is they losetheir power in your life and it
(21:09):
gets replaced with joy, withpeace, with peace, yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Absolutely, and it gets replaced with joy, with
peace, with peace yeah,absolutely.
Another one that we really wantto encourage is to take care of
your physical body and yourspiritual body, like making sure
, if you work out, go to the gymstill.
Like don't lose sight ofworking out, eating, making good
decisions in your food, becausethat really will make a
difference.
If you stop going to the gymand all you're doing is eating
these sweets around you, you'regoing to feel terrible.
(21:35):
But the more you take care ofyour body, okay, I'm going to
stay in the gym, I'm going tofocus on my nutrition, like I
have set a goal for this monththat I'm going to drop some
weight and I'm going to reallyfocus on my nutrition through
the month of December.
And some people would be likewhy would you do that?
This is the hardest time, andI'm like that's why is because
this is the time of most sweets,most candies, pies, all the
(21:58):
things.
And so I'm going to actuallyhave extra focus in this season
and be like I'm going to dropsome weight, I'm going to focus
on my nutrition, make sure I'min the gym to keep myself
regulated during the next fewweeks.
And then, on top of that, yourspiritual man, self-regulated
during the next few weeks, andthen, on top of that, your
spiritual man making sure thatyou are prioritizing time to
pray in the mornings, to readyour word like, don't lose focus
(22:20):
.
I think this is what I want tosay.
Going into the season, it canget so busy and if you lose your
um, not your habits, but yourroutines, you lose your routines
of going to the gym.
If you lose your routines ofpraying, if you lose your
routines of reading the word,all of these other things we're
talking about will really startto shake you.
(22:41):
But if you keep your foundationand if you keep those things
that keep you regular andregulated in the spirit and in
your physical body, you'll getthrough these next few weeks
Like it won't shake you, won'trattle you.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah, um, ultimately you act how you feel.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
So if but, I'm saying again, I'm processing.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Ultimately, you will act how you feel.
That's true.
You will act how you feel, yeah, meaning when you're feeling
Physically strong, you're goingto carry yourself strong, so
true.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
But if I feel Like poop, I'm going to act and eat
actually Like trash.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
If you feel broken, if you feel hurt, you're going
to act hurt.
It hurt, you're going to acthurt.
It's true, you're going to actbroken.
Yeah, that's why hurt peoplehurt people.
It's true.
So when people get on ourInstagram or on our YouTube or
TikTok or trying to hurt us likethere's people that go to our
shorts sometimes and they'lljust talk trash.
(23:40):
One person I call me back.
I said I'm so sorry somebodyhurt you because I can tell
you're trying to hurt me.
That's crazy because hurt people, hurt people, broke people, try
to break people.
Like I'm saying people thatfeel down, try to pull people
down.
Yeah, so I think honestly, likewhat you're saying, in this
season, where anxiety goes up,where suicidal rates are through
(24:03):
the roof, where people feellike they don't want to live
anymore, you act how you feel.
That's why people act on thatfeeling of suicide.
So what you're saying is staystrong spiritually, stay strong
physically, stay strong mentally.
Be careful who you're lettingspeak into your life.
(24:24):
Be careful of the things thatyou're reading, be careful of
the things that you guys arewatching.
Yo, your eyes is a door intoyour soul.
You know what I'm saying.
So, the things that we'reputting in, we'll start acting
on it.
So ultimately, like what you'resaying is like if you're
feeling weak, get up, go for awalk, go to the gym.
You'll feel better aboutyourself and you'll act better.
If you're feeling spirituallystrong, start praying more,
(24:48):
prioritizing that time to bewith the Lord, read the word and
ultimately you will act how youfeel.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
That's good, that's really good.
And the last one is honestlyjust it seems simple, but it's
so true is just remembering thewhole purpose of these
celebrations, the whole reasonthat we even have a Christmas
season and that is the birth ofour savior.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
And that that is why we get to celebrate.
I get emotional every time.
I'm like because if that babynever came, we would not be
sitting here where we are today,forgiven, full of joy and peace
, having a relationship with Godand with Jesus, like we would
never have those things affordedto us.
So my favorite moment of awhole season is standing in
(25:36):
church singing oh come, let usadore him.
Like it is literally all thatmatters at this point.
There are things that we have.
There are things that you walkthrough in the season where you
don't have your loved ones withyou.
You maybe not have all thethings that you wish you did to
pay bills or to take care ofyour family, or things that you
may have needs Just becausewe're in Christmas season.
(25:58):
Those needs don't go away, butknowing that you have everything
in Jesus, yeah, and I think too.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
I think just to encourage those that, just to
encourage those that have a hardtime celebrating Christ through
the holidays, don't just useChristmas as a time to celebrate
baby Jesus, but celebrate risenJesus.
I think sometimes people makeChristmas too much of a
(26:28):
historical event.
And celebrating the birth ofJesus, right, the coming of our
Savior, but it's alsocelebrating the second coming of
our Savior.
Ultimately, it's celebratingthis right here, that God loves
us so much that he made adecision to come walk on this
(26:49):
earth with us.
And to me that's what Christmasis all about.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
It's not just the birth of baby Jesus, right,
because it's the fact that Jesuscame and he walked this earth
and he healed and he saved andhe delivered.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
It's ultimately just like man, God like left this
throne, yeah, and said I'm goingdown there to walk with them.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
And I'm going to do it through a teenage pregnancy.
Yeah, I'm going to do somethingthat's impossible.
I'm going to come and lay withdonkeys and sheep, right and Bo
the dog.
Remember the movie Star?
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Such a cute movie or the donkey, yeah the donkey, we
do watch the Star every yearwith the kids.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
But here's what I love about that story is that
Jesus came and did not make itabout the presence, it wasn't
about the glam.
He came through a manger, rightRight there in a shed, in a
barn, like I'm saying.
And so to me, I look at that, Isay, wow, all the other glam,
all the other stuff, it doesn'tmatter.
And ultimately, for Christmas,we're not just only celebrating
(27:54):
the birth of Christ, but we'recelebrating that God loves us,
that he came and walked on thisearth with us.
He came, lived this human life,fought for us, died and rose
again.
We serve the only king that youcan't find in a grave or in a
box somewhere, like like whatI'm saying, and it's us
(28:17):
celebrating that he's going tocome back again.
So we're here to tell you guys,man, throughout the holidays,
there's hope.
God loves you, jesus loves you.
That's why we're here.
That's the only thing thatshould matter this year.
All the other things, let themgo.
If you can't accomplish it, ifyou can't make it happen, if
(28:38):
it's going to make you go intodebt, if it's going to break up
relationships, let it go,because it doesn't matter.
Ultimately, god loves us all andthere's hope for us.
This should be a time of peace.
This is a time that wecelebrate the coming of our true
savior, jesus, who is the truthFor all of us that are out
there.
And you're a believer and youbelieve in God, you carry the
(29:00):
truth.
So when you're around, walkingaround a neighborhood, like when
you're at your job, when you'rein church, when you're in the
gym, when you're at the car wash, doesn't matter where you are.
If you see somebody stressedout, you see somebody anxious,
you see somebody dealing withstress, you see somebody dealing
with depression, you seesomeone and you can sense the
spirit of depression or suicideon them.
(29:22):
Christians, I'm askingeverybody.
It's time for us to stand up,put our arm around someone and
say hey, bro, there's hopewhat's?
the hope God loves us and allthis that we're worried about.
He just wants to take it fromyou and he's going to trade you
and give you peace and give youjoy and you're going to feel
happiness.
And here's what I love.
(29:42):
He don't give us rest.
He don't sleep like a baby.
Because, all this stuff thatwill stress you out, you'll
realize in God's kingdom,doesn't matter, Doesn't matter.
That's all I got man.
That's how we're going to over.
That's how we've beenovercoming and managing anytime
we have stressful thoughts.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Anytime we feel anxiety, that's how we overcome.
So we hope that you resonatedwith this conversation and, for
those of you who really, man,felt like that touched you, that
said something to you or maybewe're just speaking straight to
your situation Know that thatwas a God that loved you and
that encouraged theseconversations and led us in
those conversations to speak toright where you are today.
We were on TikTok and a girlwas like man.
I ended up right where I wassupposed to be and it was
because of what we were sharing.
(30:25):
So I want you to know that thisconversation, we prayed before
we started this conversation, weprayed for God to guide every
word that we say, and so if itresonated with you, know that
that is a God that loves you andwanted you to hear this today,
and if that's you comment inthis today, and if that's you
comment in this video, we'realways writing back to people
who comment to us, even thehaters, but especially the ones
(30:46):
that love us, Um, and so we wantyou to subscribe, we want you
to click the like button If youfeel led and you want to give a
heart and give some love to thischannel.
It really just encourages us andknows that we are making a
difference, uh, in your life andthat we're helping you grow a
deeper relationship with God,others and yourself.
We love y'.
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
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.