The Women of the Waiting Room Devotional Dancery

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
God has been so good to me.
God has held my back in themidst of my enemies and I ain't
even have to be there.
I have home and many citiesFree, and it's not very many For

(00:25):
Forgot to carry me and mychildren.
I'm so connected to the airthat I breathe, the oceans and
the sea, the mountains, theskies and the trees.
I'm going in everything thatbelongs to me.
So you've been so good.

(00:45):
His love, his love flowseverywhere and it runs deep,
deep, deep in my soul.
Oh, his faithful name.
And the knees become footsteps,but because I love him, I don't
mind.
Oh, he's famous.
I've seen enemies becomeboosters, but because I love him

(01:07):
, I don't mind.
If I ever got the chance tohave a seat at the table, come
on Judas.
Hey, he's been so good.
Good just ain't good enough.
Better than good to me.
Better than good to me.

(01:30):
I call on your love for thesouls that were lost.
Hey, because somebodyrepresented you in the wrong way
.
I call on your love for thesouls that were lost.
Hey, because some child watchedyour mama ruffle.
Can't love a person.
Call on your love for the soulsthat were lost Because papa was

(01:55):
a rolling stone from bed to bedI called on your love for the
souls that were lost.
Somebody could be caught up ina suicide and it's a do or die
situation.
Oh, but I trust you, god cause.

(02:18):
You've been real, real good.
Just ain't good for me.
It's been good to me, real,real good.
Good, just ain't good enough.
It's been good to me.
I got you Real, real good to me.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Been so good.
Better than good to me, amen.
And before we kick off today,today special pop-up podcast on
this and linda, I want to letyou guys know how much I

(03:17):
appreciate these women for foranswering the call for action.
The women of the waiting roomsurgery for for Soul started off
as an anthology of seven women.
From that it has cultivated adevotional which will be coming
out two weeks after theanthology to introduce my

(03:51):
co-authors of the devotional,give you guys a chance to see
and will listen to some of theiramazing stories and also just
give you a peek of who they are.
Get a chance to know the authors, hear from them, hear from
their mouths not just mine abouttheir stories and what they
have contributed to thisanthology and how God has come

(04:14):
into their life and spoken tothem and delivered them from
their waiting room.
Some of them may still be intheir waiting room, so they're
giving you a peek into theirlives to be able to be
vulnerable with you guys today.
Hopefully, after hearing theirstories, you'll be able to

(04:36):
follow them on social media andpurchase you know the book from
them From their respectivewebsites, because we love Amazon
For a best seller, but wereally want to, to contribute To
the actual author, give themall the credit that they deserve

(04:57):
.
So, if you like or you feelthat you connect With a certain
author here, take down theirsocial medias, follow them and
contribute to them, pour intotheir ministry by ordering the
book directly from them.
Okay, so today we're going toget started.

(05:20):
The first person that I want tobring up is Ms Sharon Denise
Smith.
How are you today.

Speaker 4 (05:30):
I am doing great.
I am doing wonderful.
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
Thank you for answering the call at the last
minute.
I know, right, get it done.
Get it done, yes, ma'am.
So let's kick it off it off.
Okay, let's kick this party off, right.
I want you to tell people whoyou are, tell them where they
can find your own individualbook that you already out, have
out right now.

(05:55):
Give a little more detail aboutthat and then go into your
contribution to the devotionalwhat made you want to be a part
of the devotional, but also alittle more about without
reading your part in thedevotional, but a little more
about your contribution to thedevotional and why it was
special for you to join.

(06:16):
Okay, I am Sharon Denise Smith.
I am actually a Georgia Peachfrom South Georgia.
Smith, I am actually a GeorgiaPeach from South Georgia.
I've been in Atlanta themajority of my childhood and
adulthood.
I am currently a life coach, Iam a registered mediator for
Georgia and I also currentlywork at one of the local housing

(06:40):
authorities in the real estatedivision.
And so, 2020, during the heartof the pandemic I had been
itching to finish a book, and soI had started writing a book
and I put it down.
Life happens.
Pick it back up, life happens.
And so I literally launched itAugust 2020, in the middle of

(07:05):
the pandemic.
Didn't think it was going tosell, didn't think I was going
to be able to launch it.

Speaker 4 (07:11):
I still, to this day, haven't had a formal book
signing, but I have stillactually sold over 300 copies of
my book.

Speaker 2 (07:20):
My book is called Dreamer and so initially it was
intended to be a children's book, but it's also family oriented.
I've had so many adults to sayI read your book and after
reading it I decided to do this.
So Dreamer is about a littleAfrican-American young man that

(07:40):
wanted to be a rapper.
Dreamer is based on a truestory and it's actually.
There's a lot of highs and lowswithin Dreamer.
He was really really smart inschool, straight A declared a
genius and he wanted to be arapper.
And his mother was just like ofall the things in the world,

(08:03):
you want to be a rapper, you sosmart, and so, through pushing
dreamer to his dreams, what shethought was his dreams, what she
dreamed for him, his mothersharp the character in the book
she also found her own dreams,um, and so I've had a lot of
adults to say you know, I wantedto go back in freddie finish

(08:23):
school, but I just thought I wastoo old, and so part of my
testimony is that I spent all ofmy 40s in college and by the
time I was 50, I had two degreesand two certifications by the
time I was 50 years old coupledwith being diagnosed with
multiple autoimmune.

Speaker 4 (08:43):
coupled with being diagnosed with multiple
autoimmune.

Speaker 2 (08:45):
So I had so many things coming at me that you
would have thought that I wouldhave just quit, but I kept going
, kept going and I kind of sortof pushed through and so
bringing everything forward tothe waiting room.
When I first heard about it Iwas like, oh man, that sounds so

(09:08):
, so great and it sounds sofamiliar to my story.
right, and so one of my currenttestimonies is that my girl with
both of my parents my mom haspassed away didn't have a good
relationship at all with my dad,although he was in my life, and
so he was there in the physical, but he wasn't there mentally

(09:29):
and emotionally.
And so here recently he wasdiagnosed with cancer and so I
have to take care of him.
And so, because of my childhood, my dad never did anything to
me, but he didn't protect me ordidn't protect me from other men
, so other things were done tome and my dad did nothing about

(09:51):
it, right.
And so I grew up with a lot ofanger and a lot of rage, and so
when he got cancer, when he wasdiagnosed, it was just really
awkward for me, because now Igot to take care of this person
that is never taking care of me,right.

Speaker 4 (10:08):
And so when they came , back with the diagnosis of
cancer.

Speaker 2 (10:13):
I immediately started planning his funeral, I
immediately started thinkingabout hospice, I started
thinking about caskets and allof this stuff.
And so my son had to grab meand say, mommy, they didn't say
the man was dying, they justsaid he had cancer.
People live with cancer, and soI had to channel that little

(10:38):
girl in me to try to figure outwhy was I trying to bury him so
fast?
right, and so I got into therapyone of the best things I ever
did for me and through therapy,I found out that I wasn't really
trying to bury my dad, but Iwas trying to bury my past and I
was trying to bury my pain.
And so I knew then, before Icould take care of him, that I
had to heal that little girlthat always wanted to be daddy's

(10:59):
little girl, and I had toforgive somebody that never said
that they were sorry.
And so it was a struggle for me, because I feel like society
has taught us two things thatyou know you have to have an
apology to forgive, and thenyou're also supposed to forget.

(11:20):
So when I heard about thewaiting room and I heard about
the devotional, you know I saidthis is the perfect platform for
me to tell why I feel like somany people are unhealed.
And I think we're unhealedbecause we're trying to forget
our trauma, right?
We can't unhear it, we can'tunsee it, we can't unfeel it,

(11:46):
and so why is there such thishuge weight and expectation that
we're supposed to forget thethings that happened to us?
And so I started, you know,praying and and asking God.
You know I would hear my, myaunt I didn't know my
grandparents, but my great aunt.
I kind of grew up under herwings a little bit and I would

(12:08):
hear her say you know, baby,just talk to God about it.
You know, baby, just pray aboutit.
And so I started talking to Godabout it and started praying,
and I realized that I don't haveto forget what happened to me,
I just have to find a way todeal with it, right.
And so I started honing in on Ican forgive, though I have never

(12:33):
had an apology, being able toapologize to me and doing some
research, I had to understand mydad's childhood, right?

(12:53):
So he didn't grow up with hismother.
His older sister raised him,and so she was a kid herself,
right.
And so what did she do?
She gave him everything hewanted, right.
And so my dad is a narcissist,right.
He's a master manipulator,right.
And so, um, and accepting himfor who he is and his lack of,
because he couldn't give me whatnobody gave him.

(13:15):
He couldn't protect me becausenobody was there to protect him.
His dad was a truck driver anda military man, always on the
road.
His mom passed away when he was, you know, young, and his
sister just let him do whateverhe wanted to do, and so,
literally, my dad had noguidance, and so I had to manage

(13:35):
my expectations of him andthere was a point where I kind
of started to feel sorry for mydad right.
I couldn't imagine going throughhis life, you know, not having
all the things that you thinkyou need to make you a better
person.
And so that's where I learnedabout grace, right.

(13:58):
And then, once I learned aboutgrace, I still felt like I got
to heal myself so that I cantake care of him.
Now, with this cancer, I wantto be able to take care of him,
love him while I can, and I wantto be able to give him the love
that he never had even thoughhe doesn't know what it is, he
doesn't know how to accept it,but he still could be deserving

(14:19):
of it.
And in order for me to do that,I I can't forget it.
But what I can do is ask God todeliver me from the hurt and
the pain and that I could carefor him and honor him without
resentment.
And so that's where forgive,grace and deliverance.
And so I detach, forgive andforget, because you can't forget

(14:42):
, you'll never forget.
And because you can't forget,you'll never forget.
And because you can't forget,that's that's where triggers
come from.
Your triggers are going toremind you, and going down the
street where it happens is goingto remind you.
A certain song on the radio isgoing to remind you of your
trauma.
So you're never going to beable to forget it.
But can you deal with it?
You can deal with it, and canyou be delivered from it?

(15:03):
You absolutely can be deliveredfrom it, and the person that
hurt you, hurt people, hurtpeople, and so sometimes you
just have to grant grace, and sothat's pretty much my story.
Um.
That's why I felt like thedevotional um was the platform
for me to be able to share, andin sharing, I also released and

(15:28):
that's pretty much where it allkind of landed at you sure did
release.
When I read your, your, your umcontribution, um, I spoke on
this, the uh in the last segmentof um, the Linda waiting room.
I spoke on your chapter, not somuch just telling people, I

(15:51):
just name dropped because I'mlike I'm thinking other people,
I was telling people.
I was like you know, I wasgetting so frustrated with the
whole project.
I was getting so frustratedwith just everything on top of
everything I said.
But then I thought about yourstory, I thought about Myra, I
thought about a lot of people'sstories and just going back and

(16:16):
reading them and just having animpact on other people.
Because we don't know likepeople don't know who you are
like on a global.
You know like what?
If it's a girl that's on mythat that listens to my show in
Africa or in the UK, who or awoman or or an elderly person

(16:38):
who has a loved one who hurtthem or caused them grief or
caused them pain, right, and nowthey got to go back and they
got to take care of that personand they thinking, nobody knows
what I'm going through.
Well, guess what?
There's somebody waiting on theother, like Laquita Parks,
there's always somebody waitingon the other end of your story.

(16:59):
That is so true.
And if people don't know whoyou are and they don't like I
can big you guys up all day long, but they want that intimacy.
I'm speaking as an audiencemember right now.
I'm speaking as a reader.
I can go in and I can hear allthese things about all these

(17:22):
amazing authors.
And I can hear all these thingsabout all these amazing authors
, but the ones that cling in mymind are ones that I've saw the
unsung heroes about or I'vewatched on TV.
There are documentaries likeJames Baldwin, like Nikki
Giovanni, like Maya Angelou,like Toni Morrison.
You know what I'm saying.
These are my champions because,yeah, I can read their stuff

(17:46):
all day long.
That's great.
But I got a chance to really beintimate with them because
they've sat down, they've takenthe time to give the audience a
piece of them through their ownmouths, to tell their own
stories, their own ways.
And when you do it like this,you connect better.

(18:07):
You get when you connect betterwith your targeted audience,
because a lot of times we wemistake our support system for
our audience.
We mistake our friends and ourfamily for our audience.
They support us.
Yes, they'll buy the book.

(18:28):
Yes, but a lot of people whobuy our books do it to support
us and probably will never crackit open.
But if you want to make a, a bigchange, tell me how it felt the
first time you got somebody tocome back, until you say you
know what?
I read your book and it made itmade me want to do.

(18:50):
How did that make your heartfeel, sharon?
I actually um, I actually cried.
It was actually a co-worker.
Um, she had been with theagency for some years and the
agency is real big onprofessional development, but
she always felt like she didn'thave time or she didn't want to
go back to school, but therewere certain certifications that

(19:12):
she desired, and so when sheread it and she came back, um,
and one thing, I forgot to addthat also with the book dreamer,
there's a theme song that wasactually written, produced by
Dreamer himself, and it's calledDo what you Believe In, and so

(19:33):
there's a QR code on the back ofthe book and you can scan it
and you can listen to the song.
Is the song on Apple Music?
The song is on Apple Music.
And it's called what Do what youBelieve In on apple music.
The song is on apple music andit's called what um do what you
believe in.
Okay, hold on one second, keepgoing, keep going, okay.

(19:54):
And so, um, I.
I was just floored.
That is so many adults thatwant to go back to school and
not necessarily to do four years, but some people just want to
get certain certifications.
Some people is the artistcalled dream on dreamer.
No, the artist is actually um kvizzo, k vizzo, yes, or it may.

(20:21):
Yeah, she'll say k vizzo, yesor it may, yes.
You say k vizzo, okay, keepgoing.
I'm sorry, I'm looking for itnow because I'm gonna play it if
I can find it.

Speaker 4 (20:33):
Um, it's called k vizzo, k and vizzo yes, yes,
hold on one quick second for me.
I may be able to.

Speaker 2 (20:45):
Is it RKVZO?

Speaker 1 (20:47):
No.

Speaker 2 (20:53):
Let's see, no, it should just be K-V-E-E-Z-O.
Okay, okay, I found them Now,now, and it's called dreamer yes
I'm gonna play it if I couldfind it.

(21:23):
I found him, but I haven't.
I see everything else.
He got a lot of songs now.

Speaker 6 (21:29):
Is this your baby?

Speaker 2 (21:30):
Yes, it is my baby.

Speaker 6 (21:32):
Let me see if I can get it.

Speaker 2 (21:33):
Girl, he got a lot of songs, but I don't see.
I don't see Dreamer on here, soI see everything else.
I'm not Dreamer, okay.

(22:07):
So since I found him, let's seethat are safe for me to play,
or all of them are safe for meto play.
No, they're not all safe, okaylet me see what about?
Is grandma safe?
I want to do something thathighlights.

Speaker 1 (22:35):
Let's keep the faith.

Speaker 2 (22:37):
Can you hear this?
Yeah, I can hear it.

Speaker 8 (23:10):
Yeah, you can play it if you want, overthinking your
dreams and self-doubts andtaking a different path from the
one that they laid out.

Speaker 1 (23:13):
So you're feeling left out now, but just follow
your dreams.
That's the problem.
Just do what you believe in.

Speaker 8 (23:15):
You don't even need a reason, cause they don't see
the vision blood, sweat andtears, long nights and
repetition rocking out on venueswhen nobody was in it, don't
know what you've been through.
So block out their opinion andlive through your dreams.
Man, you gotta see it vivid.
I'm talking clear image.
Man, you gotta see you in it.

Speaker 1 (23:35):
Gotta see yourself in it, what you believe in, why
you believe what you believe.
Tell me what you're thinking.
Why don't you change the thingsthat you're thinking?
If someone's gonna scream,who's worth believing?
Do you believe?

(23:57):
Cause all that you're saying?

Speaker 2 (24:03):
Do what you believe in.
Yeah, it sounds good.
Do what you believe in.
Thank you, you're welcome.
So the book was based on thetrue story about your son and
you.
Yes, that is so awesome.
Oh my goodness, that is soawesome and that brings

(24:25):
everything into fruition.
It brings everything into 360.
And you're able to go on andjust accomplish your goals while
he's standing up for what hewants to do with his life.
That is amazing.
That is an amazing story andalso the illustrator for my book
.
This was the first book thatshe illustrated.

(24:47):
She was 12 years old when shedid it and after she did the
book, she decided that drawingwasn't her dream.
She always wanted to run track.
So she is now in high schooland she is one of the top track
runners in georgia, and so italso pushed her to follow her

(25:08):
dream.
After she actually illustratedthe entire book, at 12 years old
, she started running track andimagine, and you say you went on
, you didn't even have a a booksigning and you still went on to
sell over 300 copies of thebook.
That is amazing and that is apandemic in the middle of a

(25:30):
pandemic.
So you know, people reallywanted to hear that, they needed
that, and that's what thedevotional is about.
Right, we want people to knowthat in your waiting season,
while you're in your waitingroom, god is there.
He hears you, he sees you, heknows what you're going through.

(25:51):
So, while the pieces may fall,don't leave them there.
Don't leave them there.
Pick those pieces back up, andif you feel like you can't get
down there to pick them upbecause you're scared to cut
that, you're gonna cut yourfingers.
Well, you just keep on goingand let god pick them up and put
them together back for you, butyou keep going.

(26:12):
You keep chasing your dreams.
Don't let, no, don't.
Don't.
Give the devil no way to comein and distract you from your
God-given purpose.
So tell people where they canreach you, where they can find

(26:32):
you on social media, if you havea website.
If you don't have a websiteright now, put your cash app in
the comment section in the chatso people can order the
devotional directly from you.
Okay, I will definitely do that.
I am on instagram and facebookas s-h-a-r-o-n-d-e hyphen or not

(26:56):
hyphen um capital n-i-s-esharon, especially denise smith,
and that's both on instagramand on facebook.
Currently I don't have awebsite, but it is independent
stages as I kind of circle backaround to doing some things for
me.
I literally dedicated the lasttwo years to my dad.

(27:19):
He's still living, he, as ofright now, today, as we speak,
he was admitted for chemo.
Um, he goes in every eight toten weeks for his chemo
treatments.
My dad just turned 82 on the20th and so we're pushing
through this cancer thing.
Um, he sometimes say now whatyou say, they say I got.
I thought people would bereally sick, you know and so

(27:43):
just you know know, and I knowit's bigger than the cancer,
right, because we laugh together.
you know, we talk, and I got tothe point where I no longer
wanted to be daddy's girlbecause I realized that's not
what he needed.
What he needed was somebody totake care of him.
And so, when you understandyour place and your position in
a person's life, then you justhave to act accordingly.

(28:05):
Amen, and so you know.
I run his errands, I pay hisbills, you know I'm his personal
assistant and it's just say OK.
You know, as I work withseniors, so many seniors don't
have family support, familysupport, and so I had to look at
the big picture of what God wasdoing, because at 54, almost 55

(28:34):
, you know, I had to heal thefive-year-old little girl and I
had to be the adult that heneeded me to be.
Amen, amen.
And I want to commend youbecause caretaking is not easy.
I did it with my dad before hewent to glory and I did it with
a lot of my family members, andright now my husband does it
with me and I do it with him.

(28:56):
He has some things that happenedto him during the war.
I have lupus and thyroid.
Well, I've been diagnosed withlupus and thyroid cancer and
fibromyalgia.
So I'm battling these thingsdaily.
So I get it and I understand,especially as a cancer patient

(29:19):
myself.
So I do understand.
I haven't had chemo, but I dogo in for rounds of radioactive
iodine, which is radiation, so Ican understand his struggle as
well.
And I'm just going to keep yourdad in my prayers.
God bless him.
He's over 80, and he stillseems like he's snazzy.
I love that about him.
What you say, they say I got.
I love that.

(29:41):
I love that.
So tell dad, you know, thewomen of the waiting room and
our audience, and listen, lindaand my global audience from
around the world.
We are praying for his healingin Jesus name and I appreciate
you for coming on last minutegiving your testimony, giving
your story, giving the story ofyour son.

(30:02):
He's doing exceptionally well.
I commend him for following hisdream and not being um, not to
come into other people'sperception of what he should do
with his life.
Um, he, he is very talented,super smart and whatever he
pours into um, it's going to belike Midas, it's going to be

(30:24):
golden regardless.
So I just appreciate you sovery much.
Thank you, thank you so muchand thank you for the work that
you do, thank you for theexposure, thank you for your
openness to and your stuff isheavy.
It takes a real big person tobe able to sit your stuff over

(30:55):
here and listen to somebodyelse's.
So you say, listen Linda,listen Linda.
To be able to listen to whatsomebody else is going through
and what they need and whattheir dreams are, and just a
platform for exposure to helpthem get to the next level.
It is absolutely wonderful.
I appreciate that so much, andthis won't be the last time
Sharon will be on this platform,so be on the lookout.

(31:19):
Sharon is invited back to gomore into depth about Dreamers.
Hopefully we can get her son onhere so we can play some more
of his music.
So maybe that episode willhighlight some more of his music
and what he has coming up inthe future as well.
So God bless you, sharon.
Thank you so much, no problem.

(31:41):
So the next person I'm bringingup will be Sade Void, and
before we get started with Sade,I want to play this for Sade.
So I'm playing Made Away byTravis Green.
Once we're done with Made Away,we're going to get started with

(32:01):
Sade Boyd.

Speaker 1 (32:13):
Don't know how, but you did.
It Made a way, standing here Notknowing how we'll get through

(32:35):
this test, holding on to faith.
You know best, nothing cancatch you by surprise.
You've got this figured out andyou're watching us now as if we

(33:05):
can't win.
Wrap us in your arms and stepin Everything we need you to
supply.
You've got this in control andnow we know that you've made our
way.

(33:26):
When our backs were against thewall and it looked as if it was
over you, you made my way, andwe're standing here Only because
you made a way.
You made a way.

(33:52):
Now we're here Looking back onwhere we've come from the fires
of you, and I think we've died.
You deserve the love and mercyyou show, but your grace was

(34:18):
strong enough to pick us up andyou made our way.
When our backs were, when ourbacks were against the wall and
it looked as if it was over Lord, you made a way and we're

(34:40):
standing here.
And we're standing here Onlybecause you made the way.
You made the way.
You made the way when our backswere, when our backs were
against the wall and it lookedas if it was over Lord you, you

(35:02):
made the way and we're standinghere and we're standing here,
lord you.
You made a way.
It was standing here, only God.
You made a way.
You moved mountains.
You called love to fall withyour power Before me, freehold.

(35:30):
There is nothing that'simpossible.
And we're standing here onlybecause you made the way.
You move the city.
You call war way.
You moved on.
You called on the Lord.
You called on the Lord For atime.

(35:53):
You're a prophet For a miracle.
For a miracle.
There is nothing.
There is nothing, nothingpossible, nothing possible.
And we're standing, and we'restanding here Only because you
made the.
Through the pain, you causedall the walls to fall With your

(36:15):
power For a miracle.
There is nothing that'simpossible.
And the sand in me Only becauseyou made a man, and the sand in
me Only because you made a man.

(36:38):
And the sand in me Only becauseyou made a move, made a move.
You made a move, made a move.
You made a move, made a move.

(37:01):
You made a move, made a fool.
You made a fool.
Don't know how, but you did it.
You made a fool.
You made a fool, don't know how, but you did it.
You made a fool, don't know how,but you did it.

(37:24):
Don't know how, but you'll getit.
Don't know how, but you'll getit.
And I don't know why.
Don't know why, but I'm safer.

(37:44):
Don't know why, but I'mthankful.
Are you crazy?
Don't know why, but I'mthankful.
Are you crazy?
Don't know why, but I'mthankful Over and over and over,
over and over and over.

Speaker 2 (37:56):
Just keep on, keep on , keep on, keep on coming.
Don't know why, but he could bea little long-winded and we got

(38:19):
a show to do.
That song got another threeminutes.
So you know, of course we can't.
I would love to finish thatsong and hopefully, after sade
we'll go ahead and finish him onout.
But how you doing sade, I'mgreat, I'm great.
How are you, my sister, how areyou girl?
You know, it's always good withme and you get on that phone.

(38:42):
Now, look when I'm in.
Look, this is a full disclosure.
I'm not finna, do this withSade tonight.
Okay, y'all, we not finna dothis with Sade, because Sade get
on here and we'll be talkinglike we talking on the phone.
Okay, and we, not finna, dothis.
We're going to stick to theprogram Sade Today.
We got to stick to the program.
Okay, I want you to come in.

(39:03):
Sade is no strangers to thewaiting room.
She is actually a friend of theshow.
She has hosted this show for me, she has interviewed me, she
has come on to talk about herbooks.
But we just need, you know, weknow about your first two
children's books, so you can hiton that if you want to.
But I want you to speak on thetopic that you said is clear and

(39:27):
near and dear to your heart,which is mental health, and then
, after that, I want you tospeak on your chapter in the
book which actually gives moreinsight about mental health,
without telling what you know.
You're reading your chapter,but give the audience some
insight of what they can expectfrom your chapter and then end

(39:51):
with how they can purchase thebook from you and how they can
reach you and connect with you.

Speaker 7 (39:59):
Okay, well, everybody knows you know, I wrote my
first two children's books,currently working on a third one
called Brown Girl Magic.
I'm super excited for that bookto be done this year.
But what draw my attention tothe waiting room is because we
are always in the waiting roomwaiting for something.
A part of this project isbecause of the things that I

(40:31):
endured in my past growing upbeing this young woman that I am
you wouldn't believe the thingsI've endured and being adopted,
being a foster kid.
The title of my chapter in thisbook is called the Enemy Stole
my Identity, and the reason whyI came up with that is because
my life has been robbed for mefrom innocence since a baby

(40:55):
being introduced to a lot ofthings that a child should not
be introduced to.
My birth mother doing drugs,and not light drugs, not light
weed.
She did heavy drugs with me andshe abused me, so that landed
me into foster care.

(41:15):
So I touched on many topicswith my chapter with abuse, with
verbal, with mental, physical,sexual abuse, me being molested
and raped at a young age andbeing into different homes,

(41:36):
bouncing from house to house,basically being adopted to a
family that I carry the name butthey didn't care about my
well-being.
They didn't care if I got aneducation.
They didn't even care if I atea meal at night.
They just sucked me dry to thepoint that I was in survival

(41:57):
mode.
That's all I knew.
That's all I knew from thestreets of coming from New York.
That's all I knew from thestreets of coming from New York.
That's all I knew was how tosurvive and I adapted those
behaviors into my adulthood andwith mental health.
It was a strain on me because Iwas like, oh my God, I'm
suffering from abandonmentissues.

(42:18):
I was like, oh my God, I'msuffering from abandonment
issues, I'm suffering from daddyissues, mother, mommy issues,
unanswered questions that I wassearching for since a child.
So I had to learn to adapt withthese things, even though I had

(42:38):
a lot of anger, I had a lot ofunanswered questions.
I ended up in hospitals tryingto figure out my life from a
young person to now, and therapyis very, very helpful.
Therapy is very therapeuticprofessional counsel because it

(43:08):
helps you get to that groundworkwhere you can't even get at
some points where some thingsare emotional or some things
trigger you to talk about.
So the reason why I can speakon my life on certain things,
and the reason why I was able towrite this piece is because I'm
not afraid to share mytestimony, because I know what
God pulled me from.
I know the things that Iendured and survived from.

(43:31):
I should not be walking thisplanet today, and I am.
I'm at a point when I sharewith my therapist.
I don't want to talk about thepretty stuff, I talk about the
nitty gritty.
I don't want to talk about thepretty stuff, I talk about the
nitty gritty, grindy stuff thathad me in a place where I'm like
these people were dealing withsomething themselves.

(43:52):
Because, like that young ladysaid, hurt people hurt people.
So if they're going to rape you, they've been raped.
If they're going to abuse you,they've been abused.
If they're going to manipulateyou, they've been manipulated.
If they're addicted to drugs,they're going to make you

(44:12):
addicted to drugs.
It's something that theyalready.
It's generational cycles.
That has not been broken, thathas been brought on to me and my
innocence was robbed.
So when I came up with thattitle, the Enemy Tried to Steal
my Identity.
The Lord gave it back to mebecause I started to pick up the
pieces of the puzzle and I hadto step away from the past

(44:33):
because I kept trying toresurrect it.
I had to step away and walkedaway from it because the past
already happened.
I can't keep reliving whatshoulda, coulda, wouldas,
because it already happened, andso I had to turn away and keep
moving forward.
So that's when I was able todevelop and started to write

(44:55):
books and started to motivatepeople and started to encourage
people and started to speakabout my mess that God pulled me
from, you know.
So I'm not ashamed and I wearmy battle scars very proudly and
I know for a fact that Iforgave these people that have

(45:20):
done me harm and that's how Iwas able to have peace and I was
able to have comfort and joy,because I know they were dealing
with something themselves thatthey probably couldn't get out
of either, but who knows,they're probably dealing with it
now.
I would never know, I wouldnever get an apology, but I know

(45:40):
in my heart and with my walkwith God has been is to forgive
in my heart, so I can be able tohave that peace and that joy.
But yes, mental health is a bigthing.
Yes, go get the help that youneed, especially if you're not

(46:01):
ready to face that demon or facethat person that done you wrong
.
Yes, get the help that you need, because that person is getting
paid to listen to you.
Don't go there half-truth andhalf-step.
Go there with the ugly the mostnastiest thing and that's how

(46:23):
they will be able to help yousurface and bring up surface
things.
That has been layered.
You got to pull back the layers.
So that's why I'm able to standhere to say, yes, I've been
molested.
Yes, I've been raped.
I've been homeless countless oftimes.
The drugs, everything you canthink of under the sun, has been

(46:45):
done to me, because as a child,I was introduced to it and I
thought that was correct.
I thought that was the rightthing.

Speaker 2 (46:59):
And I want to say, first, I'm so, so proud of you
as a survivor of all of thesethings, and I also want to
commend you for being sovulnerable and telling your
truth and telling your story andnot being ashamed of what you

(47:21):
have battled in the past, whatyou continue to battle, because
I'm going to tell you somethingthe devil will not attack what
he approves.
He only attacks what he knowsthat is of God, right.
He's only attacking his enemy,okay.

(47:42):
So if you're doing somethingand you're're you're doing good,
the devil is going to attack it, okay.
So always remember, when youget these attacks, they're
coming from.
No, those are your tests.
That's when sometimes you justdo nothing, you let god have the
lid and you keep going, youkeep going, you don't stop.

(48:04):
I had a conversation today and Ispoke with a young lady and I
told her never be ashamed, neverbe ashamed of what you're going
through right now, what you'regoing through in this season,
because it's building you up tobecome so much greater.
I put a post up today that saidI'm not competing with anyone

(48:27):
other than me.
I'm trying to be better than Iwas yesterday and I'm trying to
be so great that the me tomorrowwill have a harder time than
being the person that I am today.
Okay, right, I don't feel likeanybody can outwork me.
My work ethic is unmatched, andso I have no other choice but

(48:52):
to compete with only me, becauseI only see me and that's not me
being arrogant or anything likethat.
It's because everyone else Iwant to see them win too.
So I'm not looking to competewith anybody else except me.
I want to be better than I wasyesterday.

(49:13):
It's so much better today thatthe me tomorrow will have a hard
time competing with who I amtoday and, if you can look at it
that way, with who I am today,and if you could look at it that
way.
And another thing that I want tolet everybody know before Sade
gives you know a little bit moreabout her contribution in the
book and where you can reach her.

(49:34):
I want to leave you.
I want to tell you guys thisThink of life as this.
Nobody owns the hourglass totheir life.
You cannot control that, okay,so always think of life like

(49:54):
this Every minute is the last 10minutes you're here.
How do you want to spend thelast 10 minutes of your life?
Do you want to spend the lasttwo minutes crying, depressed,
upset, worrying, stressing no,you want to be happy.
You want to be happy doingwhatever it is that you want to

(50:16):
do in your life Whether it'sgood, bad, indifferent.
You.
Let God judge that when you getthere.
But the last 10 minutes of yourlife you need to be doing
exactly what you want to do withyour life.
But I'm going to tell you thiswhen you put yourself on mute
sweetheart, because we hear therumbling in the background.
But I will tell you this aswell While you're doing what you

(50:40):
want to do, make that decisionof where you want to go in the
afterlife.
Because if you're not doing thethings of God and if you're not
doing what God wants you to do,be content with it, stand ten
toes in it, because we can't dowhat we want to do here and

(51:03):
don't think of the consequencesbehind it.
But just know, the only personwho can give you consequences on
the choices that you make hereon earth is god himself.
So until you get to that gate,you'd be the best, best version
of yourself, that you want to bein the last 10 minutes of your
life and you do that every day,every minute of your life, and

(51:25):
be happy and doing it.
Just know when it's all over,there's only one judge.
And when you get there,hopefully you ain't got no
explaining to do at the gatebecause, like chris brown, say
how you gonna, how you gonna saysomething.
You, on the outside of the club,you can't even get in.
Okay, make sure you're ableeven get in.

(51:46):
Okay, make sure you're able toget in.
That's why I say, when I dothings, sade, I'm telling you I
do things from the heart.
I try to do things rightbecause I got people.
That's in heaven I want to see.
First of all, I want to make itto the gate.
Right, I got my ticket.
Okay, I'm just like Tommy andthe Chalker Pack.
I got my ticket, I got my goldticket.
I'm going to make this game.

(52:07):
I want to get in there.
I don't want to be on theoutside of the club and can't
get in.
Okay, I want to be at a partyunimmersion.
Okay, I want to live forever inpeace.

Speaker 7 (52:20):
In peace.

Speaker 2 (52:21):
And not in fire, okay .
So tell people a little bitmore about your chapter in the
book and give your paymentinformation of where they can
purchase.
If you have a website, if youhave a cash app, put it in the
chat.
Don't say it over the thing,but put it in the chat and tell

(52:44):
people where they can find you.

Speaker 7 (52:50):
Okay, um, and tell people where they can find you.
Okay, you can find me onfacebook on shot a diy um, my
regular facebook.
Shot a void um.
Also.
The book is is basicallyeverything that I talked about
just now is highlighting allthose things that I endured in
my life.
You know the enemy tried tosteal my identity.
It's just touching highlightson that.
You can definitely order thebook through me, through email.

(53:13):
You can email me, shade, I willput it in the inbox for you
guys to get my email and my cashapp and I thank you, miss Linda
, for letting me be a part ofthis project.
It was very, very welcoming tome.
It warmed my heart to basicallyexpress and share a side of me
that not only that I share withmy therapists, but to be able to

(53:36):
touch readers out there thatare afraid to speak of these
topics of you know, mentalillness and incest and drug
addictions and stuff like that.
So I'm super excited to be apart of this.
Women's in the Waiting Room.

Speaker 2 (53:51):
You know what?
I don't shy away from thosetopics.
I try not to just for triggerwarnings and you know those
different things.
I try not to let my guests gettoo in-depth because I just
don't want people to have thosevisuals.
But I will never shy away fromthose type of things because
those type of things are realand true and anybody who knows

(54:14):
the Listen Linda platform is weare real and we are true.
We are not practiced.
I don't give people questionsbefore we get on here so they
can practice.
They ask us we don't do thatover here.
You're going to get it real orwrong.
And with that being said,before we bring our next guest
on, which is Miss Myra Cook, I'mgoing to go back into Made Away

(54:38):
, sade Void.
You guys.
You can find her books onamazon and another waiting room
you can pre-order if you like.
You know what she iscontributing to the devotional.
She's putting her cash app umin the chat so you guys can
personally um support her in herwriting journey.

(55:01):
Thank you so much you're welcomeand while we wait on Myra Cook,
I'm going to finish off withMade A Way.

Speaker 1 (55:09):
Thank you, thank you.

(55:51):
You move mountains, you movemountains.
You cause walls to fall, youcause walls to fall, you cause
walls to fall, you cause wallsto fall, to fall, to fall, to
fall, to fall.
And you call a slave To break,to call a slave To break, to

(56:14):
call a slave To break To fall,giant fall, giant fall, giant
fall.
Hey, try it for, hey, try itfor, try it for, try it for,
cause you're all melting.

Speaker 2 (56:39):
You're all melting and everything you think you can
do, cause you're all melting.

Speaker 1 (57:04):
Oh my God, mountains are moving, mountains, mountains
are moving, mountains aremoving.
From all the breaking down,from all the breaking down, from
all the breaking down, from allthe breaking down, could you
move mountains From all thebreaking down?

(57:54):
We'll be right back.
My son is breathing.
My son is living.
My son is breathing.
My son is living.
When the doctor said no, hey,who said yes?
The doctor said no.
When the doctor said no, whosaid yes?

(58:17):
When they pronounced me dead,who said not yet?
When they called me dead, whosaid not yet?
When they called me dead, yousaid not, yet you called me our

(58:41):
next guest we have, and I callher Mama Myra.

Speaker 2 (58:45):
Her name is Myra Cook and I want you to introduce
yourself.
Tell people a little bit aboutwhy you chose to join the
waiting room devotional, alittle bit about what you wrote
about in the book and how peoplecan reach you.
Ok, my name is Myra Cook.
Can you hear me?
You wrote about in the book andhow people can reach you.

(59:07):
Okay, my name is Myra Cook.
Can you hear me?
So just click the icon at thetop.
They got the little man withthe headphones on.
Click that right above yourname and you should be able to
unmute.
I did, can you?

Speaker 4 (59:26):
hear me, it ain't working.

Speaker 2 (59:38):
It ain't working.
Can you hear me?
Okay, this ain't gonna work ifyou can hear me, myra, yes,
click the icon that's at the topor that's in the.
It might be in the middle foryou.

(59:59):
It's a man, it's a bald headman with some headphones on.
I did.
I need you to click that withyour finger and you should be
able to unmute.
Okay, so we lost Myra and whilewe wait on her to come back,
I'm going to play.

(01:00:23):
Let's see, believe for it.
So give me a second, you guys.
I'm gonna pull up believe forit and we're gonna play believe

(01:01:15):
for it.
Thank you, move.
They say these chains willnever break.
How you doing, mama Myra?
I'm doing great.
How are you?
Look, I'm blessed by the best.
I'm not going to speak nothing.
Okay, I'm not going to give itthe time.
You know how I am.
I don't want to say nothing,but I'm going through because I

(01:01:37):
will rebuke it.
In Jesus' name, put some oil onme, baby, and keep it moving.
I'm so glad you're on here.
I'm so glad I got you on here,girl.
How you been?
I've been doing good, justworking.

(01:01:59):
Yes, ma'am, yes, ma'am.
So I want you to give people alittle bit about who you are,
what it is you do, what it isthat you have done throughout
your life, and a little bitabout what you contributed to
the waiting room.
Okay, I'm Myra Cook.
I'll be 73 in October.
I'm retired from Unum InsuranceCompany after working 36 years

(01:02:26):
and I work part-time at TJ Maxx.
And what I wrote about was myjourney with narcolepsy
cataplexy I had, I grew up withit and, until I started working,
didn't know I had anything tillI went to the doctor and they

(01:02:52):
diagnosed me and and my parents,I said, well, that's what I
have.
My father said, well, I gotthat and my daddy had, and I
didn't know anything about itall these years.
Nobody said nothing.
I just thought it was a way oflife.
I slept all the time.
Wow, and that's what.

(01:03:18):
Why it's so important for us toknow our parents medical history
.
Yes, we go to the doctor allthe time and now, like these
modern days, they have it onthere with your families and you
know medical history and thingsthat your parents have and your

(01:03:41):
mom and your dad, but back inthe day they didn't have that.
Even for me that's somethingnew.
I went to the doctor and theysaid, ok, well, we need your
father's medical history, weneed your mama's medical history
.
I'm like, wait a minute, what?
Really I'll start doing that.
But that's because they need toknow what they had so they can
properly diagnose you.

(01:04:02):
Now, you know it's unfortunate,but you know my dad didn't talk
about that.
I mean, you know he ain't saidnothing.
Now, I know to say he slept,but you know I didn't pay that
much attention.
It was just, and when Iactually really saw, I mean they

(01:04:25):
said it was hereditary and Ihad just got married and you
know that means that it's goingto be passed on to my children.
But you know he ain't saidnothing.
It's not your children, it'll beyour children's children.
But I rebuke it in jesus name.
But yeah, that's usually howthat goes.

(01:04:45):
You know what I'm saying.
It's like, and it's like youfeel.
You know.
You know, in a sense you feel alittle betrayed because it's
like why?
Why couldn't you tell me Icould have tackled this?
sooner, you know I could haveprevented it.
Right, you, you have those.
So those were the thoughts thatwere in your mind while you

(01:05:07):
were in your waiting room.
Right, so it is.
But you know, I just, I, just Ijust lived with it and I needed
to know everything I could findabout narcolepsy and if anybody
else had it.
But you know, besides me, Ifound a lot of people that had

(01:05:28):
it, that went through a lotworse than what I went through.
Yes, ma'am went through, yes,ma'am, and there was a reason
for you to thank god, like allthese years.
For me, not to know means thatyou've been covering me that
you've been keeping me becauseif all I did was sleep a lot,

(01:05:52):
that's a blessing within itself.
That means, means you know whatGod, you protected me all this
time.
All this time I went throughthe world living and never knew.
I never suffered any symptomsfrom it, other than rest.
Yeah, because you know,whenever I got stressed or

(01:06:13):
whatever, my sleep was mymechanism, I would go to sleep.
Whenever I was stressed out orwhatever, I would go straight to
sleep, no matter what.
Wow, wow, wow.
As far as your contribution, Iwant to commend you on being so

(01:06:37):
transparent with your story inthis devotional, because this is
your first time writing.
Yes, yes, ma'am, how has theprocess been going for you so
far?
I'm anxious, but it's been.
It's a learning thing and youknow I've been writing a long

(01:07:03):
time, but this is my first everbeing published.
I never, you know.
I just write whenever I feellike it.
But this is my first thingbeing published and I'm so
excited and thankful that Icould tell my story.
Because, you know, one persontold me well, I just thought you

(01:07:25):
were saying something to besaying something.
You know I wouldn't wishnarcolepsy on anybody.
No, ma'am, and anybody that Imeet, I always tell them about
narcolepsy.
I'm sorry, I just talk about itall the time because, uh, it's

(01:07:46):
always somebody, they knowsomebody in their family they
got narcolepsy or they knowsomebody and I just like to know
, you know, I like to know so,with your contribution to the
devotional, what made you wantto join the devotional, and can

(01:08:09):
you give people a little morein-depth up to what you actually
wrote in the story?

Speaker 3 (01:08:16):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:08:20):
Well, this is my first time, this is my first
time writing, and I don't know.
I don't know.
Okay, so let me break it down.
When you first heard about the,the one when I did the call to
action for the devotional, whatmade the title of the, the
devotional, what made that standout to you to say that's

(01:08:43):
something I want to do or that'ssomething I believe in?
Well, it's the waiting room,because, you know, I waited all
my life on different stuff thatI didn't accomplish.
And, just to put it on paper, Idid accomplish a lot.

(01:09:07):
Yes, you did that.
I just, you know, never reallyreally thought about it.
And my granddaughter read itbefore I turned it in and she
said I didn't know you wentthrough this, I didn't know you
did this and you know.
And so I said, well, at leastI'm contributing to let people

(01:09:31):
know how to you know to rely ongod, because that's all I could
do, because I could have gotfired from my jobs that I had,
because, even though it'ssupposed to be an equal
opportunity employee, I'm gonnalet you guys know something

(01:09:51):
right now they will find a way,if you're disabled, to get you
up out of there, withoutmentioning the fact that it's
due to your disability.
Yes, they should.
I know that for a fact.
So go in.
They say, oh, because I used towork in human resources, I used
to work in employee rights,employee rights I used to work

(01:10:22):
in, you know, I was actually anHR generalist and HR specialist
for quite a while and I used tosit in board meetings where
they'd be like, oh, you know, wehave a perfect candidate and
they'll say, oh, she's tooexperienced, so you know, we're
not going to hire her becauseshe's too old.
Well, again, that's against thelaw.
But or they'll say, oh, thisperson, they got asthma, they

(01:10:43):
got cancer, so we're not goingto hire them because that's
going to cost us too much tobring on somebody like that.

Speaker 1 (01:10:51):
You know and even with me.

Speaker 2 (01:10:53):
I got to let go of a lot of jobs and they would blame
it on my attendance or theywould blame it on certain things
, but the truth of the matter isis that they didn't want me
there because I had thyroidcancer or because I had
fibromyalgia.
So my health insurance and youknow my insurance premiums if
you're getting free insurance byyour employer, that premium

(01:11:17):
that they're paying for it coststhem more to keep you on.
So be mindful of those thingswhen you speak into people who
have disabilities and can't worka nine to five.
Everybody don't have the healththat you may have and you don't
know how many jobs that theyhave been through in their life

(01:11:38):
and none got fired because ofwhat they suffer from.
So you know we have to beempathetic about those type of
things.
So of course you didn't know,because you match those things

(01:12:09):
so you can keep your employment.
Yeah, that's true.
You know I'm just going to giveeverybody their money back and
I'm going to move on.
But then I think about yourstory of narcolepsy and your
story of what you carried allthese years while you were in
your waiting room.
And if you have faith in God toget through that, then why
can't I have faith in God to getme through this To help other

(01:12:30):
people know about you and aboutyour story?
That's why I'm so glad that youjoined me on this platform
today, because people can readabout you, right, yeah, we can
read about you all day long andstill not know who you are.
It's the intimacy of your voicefor people to hear you tell
your story.

(01:12:50):
You tell who you are.
That gives people a sense ofwho you are and it makes the
audience more intimate with you.
So tell people where they canfind you on social media and
make sure, when you get off,mama Myra, I want you to put in

(01:13:10):
the comment section your cashout so the people who are in
support of you can purchase thebook directly from you, okay,
okay, well, I'm on Facebook andInstagram, but I can't tell you
what they are.
My Facebook is Myra Cook,m-y-r-a Cook, c-o-o-k, and it's

(01:13:37):
the same on Instagram.
Myra Cook, I've got to help whenI can.
Okay, thank you, because Icertainly don't know and my
granddaughter not here to tellme.
But and what else did you wantme to say?
I wanted you, when I take youback down off the platform, oh,

(01:14:00):
yeah, to put your cash app in.
So if you are in support ofMyra and her contribution to the
devotional, I want you to cashapp her for your preorder.
It's $25.
Cash out her for your pre-orderis $25.

(01:14:24):
I want you to cash out Myra andshe's going to put her cash out
tag in the comment section.
What's your cash out, mama Myra?
It's $51.
Myra Cook 51.
It's in the comment sectionhere.
I want you guys, if you are insupport of Myra Cook, pre-order

(01:14:47):
the waiting room devotional fromher for $25.
Her cash out is in the commentsection.
Thank you so much, mama myra,and we're gonna get back to
believe for it by cc winans.
Oh yeah, that's my favoritesong.
That's your favorite.
So much, oh, thank you, Iappreciate you and I love you.

(01:15:09):
Know, I love you, mama myra.
You know I got you.

Speaker 3 (01:15:12):
You know I got you, thank you all right so the next,
all right, so the next person.

Speaker 2 (01:15:16):
Love you too.
The next person that we gotcoming on is actually Natasha
Higgins.
So while we're waiting onNatasha, we're going to I mean
right after Believe For it.
We're going to have anotherco-author who is near and dear
to me, and her name is NatashaHaggins.
We heard the tide will neverchange.

Speaker 1 (01:16:01):
They haven't seen what you can do.
There is power in your name, somuch power in your name.
Move the unmovable, break theunbreakable.

(01:16:24):
God, we believe God, we believe.
From the impossible we will seea miracle.
God, we believe God, we believefor it.
We know that hope is never lost, for there is still an ending

(01:16:58):
race.
God, we believe, no matter what, there is power in your name.
So much power in your name.

(01:17:19):
Move me and move along.
Break me.
I'll break alone.
God, we believe God, we believefor it.
Hold me and hold so long We'llsee your name in the Lord.
We'll see your name again, god,we believe God, we believe for

(01:17:45):
it.
You have a light when thereseems to be no light.
We trust in you.
Don't you have a final say?
You are the way when thereseems to be no way, yes, you are

(01:18:09):
, we trust in you.
Don't you have a final say?
You are the way.
Move me into the Lord, take meon way to the Lord.
God, we believe God, we believefor you From the impossible.

(01:18:33):
We'll see your name in the Lord, god, we believe God, we
believe God, we believe God, webelieve.

Speaker 2 (01:19:00):
God, we believe for it.
We believe for it.
I, just, I, just, you know,cece can't do no wrong In my
eyes, y'all, that is my girl,that's my auntie in my head.
How you doing, natasha?
How are you?
Hello, hello, how are you?
How are you, jackie?
You know you, my girl, you knowhow to come out.

Speaker 4 (01:19:21):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (01:19:22):
I'm with Cece.
I got to get the party started,girl.
Yes, yes, yes, it's always aparty on the Listen Linda show.
Yes, it is.
Look.
I just love this lady's spirit.
Let me tell y'all how I foundher.
It was so crazy.
I was just scrolling throughFacebook one day, divine
Connections it was a DivineConnections.

(01:19:45):
She said I just want to publishmy book, I just want to write, I
just want to write, I want totell how God has blessed me.
I said, well, girl, I got anauthor call, I got this going on
and she jumped right on.
And when I tell you guys thatshe's been ten toes since then
promoting this project,promoting my project, the

(01:20:07):
anthology, she's been, you know,whatever it is, she sees that
I'm doing.
She's so supportive and I justwanted to make sure I had to
drag her on in here.
Y'all.
You gotta be able to know you,because people, yeah, know you.
I was scrolling and and I'msorry, you guys, because this is

(01:20:28):
this is not off topic, thoughthis is actually right on topic
I was scrolling the other dayand she did a four part um,
guess what happened to me today,type of thing, and I listened
to all four parts and she.
She visited the church and shewas consoling someone and the
people at the church that shewas visiting and told her she

(01:20:50):
was out of place because and shewas out of line for consoling
somebody else in the churchbecause she wasn't a member at
the church.
And so these are the attacksthat you're going to get when
you're doing what you'resupposed to do and you're
working in your ministry, right?
So again, I want to tell you,sister, you did nothing wrong.

(01:21:14):
Honey, a lot of people get so intheir egos and so behind their
titles and so defensive when itcomes to this is my thing.
We cannot get caught up in thisis my thing.
We have to let God work and ifGod is in the room and he's
telling God to speak through you, you better go ahead and speak

(01:21:34):
in the waiting room.
Okay, you're right, you'reright telling God to speak
through you, you better go aheadand speak in the waiting room,
okay.
You better go ahead and do whatyou're supposed to do while
you're over here on the platform.
That's why I love opening myplatform.
I love being a vessel.
That's why I don't call myselfa visionary.
I don't call myself the face ofthis.

(01:21:55):
You are the face of this.
That's why there's no face on,if you notice, yeah, on the
cover of the books, even withthe whole podcasting and the
promotion.
I allow my authors to come on.
I allow the authors becausethey're not mine, I don't owe

(01:22:16):
but I allow the co-authors tocome on and interview me.
I give you guys that chance topromote yourselves because I
want to help uplift you and liftyou up in what you're doing as
well.
So I appreciate you coming on.
I'm going to pass the mic.
I'm going to let you tellpeople who you are, your

(01:22:40):
contribution to the.
You know what they can expectfrom your contribution to the
devotional.
But also what drawed you in?
Because I could have proposedthis to you and you could have
been like you better, get out ofmy face.
That ain't nothing I want.
So what made you decide thatyou wanted to be in a devotion?
Because, at the end of the day,that was your choice to make.

(01:23:02):
So let's just give people alittle bit more background about
who you are my name is natashahagins.

Speaker 4 (01:23:08):
um, I started writing in 2017 after I had a nervous
breakdown because I wantedpeople to hear my voice and
other people's voice that don'tseem like they cannot be heard.
So I started writing poetry in2017.
I wrote my first poem calledSisters, hold on Tight to the

(01:23:30):
Rope in an anthology at mychurch and it's called Women in
All Circumstances and Deaths.
And when I was in the, when Iwas in a psychiatric ward and
after I left, I said I want tocontinue to reach out to those

(01:23:54):
who seem like they don't have avoice and we just keep things
bottled up inside and we'restressed and this is the outlet
for me.
Writing it's my ministry, mypassion.
So I just started writing in ajournal and I started writing
poems and poetry and I createdit into a book called Rebirth

(01:24:14):
Unfolding of the Mind, which Ipublished in 2020.
And I went on to write threeother books.
I wrote a book called PrettyWings is for domestic violence
the virus because I went to ateenage empowerment workshop for

(01:24:36):
young girls and it justastonished me how many young
people are in silence aboutdomestic who are, who have been
in domestic violence situationsat a young age.
So I wrote a book for thevictims and survivors of
domestic violence and I have ajournal called I Am a Butterfly,

(01:24:59):
because I want women tounderstand and know that in all
stages we're just like themetamorphosis of the caterpillar
, where we're growing and we canbe in a cocoon stage where we
just don't know what's going onin our lives, but we're just

(01:25:21):
there and we can grow into abeautiful butterfly.
And this book is just.
This journal is just for you towrite and write anything that
you feel that comes up in yourlife.
You feel that comes up in yourlife and, um, my last book I

(01:25:45):
wrote is called Uncaged umButterflies.
It's just poems where I get moreinto my, more into my poetry,
more into getting getting peopledeeply to know where I stand
and and where I stand and myemotions and the way the world
is and stuff like that.
So that's how.
So I wrote four books of poetrybooks and a journal so far.

(01:26:11):
Yeah, hello.

Speaker 2 (01:26:15):
Oh, oh, you're here.
We hear you.
Yes, so to write poetry.
How was that different fromwhat you've contributed to the
waiting room and what made youdecide?
You know what I want to be apart of that.
That's something that I want todo.

Speaker 4 (01:26:36):
I've been in anthologies, but this one, just
like you said, we've talked yousaid earlier it was just a
divine connection on Facebookbecause I just wrote, um, that
all I want to do is write,that's my passion, and for you
to reach out to me.
That's just a divine.
That was just a divineconnection from God to me.

(01:26:59):
That's how I take it, and Iwant people that deal with
mental in this anthology.
I mean in the devotional thatI'm writing for my part, it's
called Breakthrough, From abreakdown to a breakthrough.
It's called Breakthrough From aBreakdown to a Breakthrough.

(01:27:19):
I just want to advocate forpeople that have dealt with
mental breakdowns to know thatthey are not alone and that you
can push through.
Just advocate for yourself andhave the right people around you
, write people around you, andthat's basically.

(01:27:41):
It was different between poetryand that is.
I'm really getting intimatewith you guys about some parts
of my life so you can get toknow me better.
But in poetry it's I write inimagery and I like to write in
imagery and thoughts of in myhead.
I can write about anything withpoetry, but and um, and writing
this devotion I'm I'm diggingdeeper into myself.

(01:28:05):
That's what's the difference.

Speaker 2 (01:28:08):
That's what I the difference in writing in this
devotional and my poetry so toget a little bit more in depth
um, mental wellness and mentalhealth um is something that's

(01:28:29):
spoken a lot about in thisdevotional um.
You may not know it because youhaven't lived it, but listening
to even this podcast tonightand you hear about other people
who are dealing with those typeof things like you got a Sade
void and people have to grab thebook to see others but there

(01:28:50):
are a few others who are dealingwith these type of things,
things and you just hear thatother people are going through
the same thing that you go, thatyou're going through or that
you went through or that you mayhave experienced in the past.
How, how does that help you to?
What does that?
What does that feel like to you?

Speaker 4 (01:29:10):
it feels like I'm not alone.
So if I have a voice, othershave a voice.
We can impact so many peoplethat just don't talk about it.
You know what I'm saying?
So we're advocating for peoplewith mental health issues and
we're talking about it, and Ifind that in my community, in

(01:29:33):
the black community, we don'ttalk about it enough.

Speaker 2 (01:29:35):
So to be able to write about it and to talk about
it to me is a big step, is abig step well, I want you to
tell people where they can findyou, how they can reach you, and
make sure that if you support,if you're in support of of

(01:29:57):
Natasha's chapter in the storyand the devotional, she's going
to put her cash out or her tagin the comments on how you can
pre-order the devotionaldirectly from her.
So, natasha, tell people wherethey can find you so they can
follow you on social media andthen, just like everybody else,

(01:30:21):
put your information in thecomments section.
Okay, Okay.

Speaker 4 (01:30:26):
Well, you can find me on Facebook at Natasha Higgins
and on Instagram at NatashaHiggins as well, and I'll put in
the comments cash app is umdollar sign, natasha hagens.

Speaker 2 (01:30:40):
yeah, well, I appreciate you, sweetheart, so
much for coming on.
Uh, for you know, um, you know,answering the call, honey, you
always you answer the call toaction, every time you don't
miss a beat, and I appreciatethat so much.

(01:31:00):
I appreciate that so much fromyou.
Okay, thank you.
So, before we move on to ournext guest, I'm going to play.
Is there a song you would liketo hear?

Speaker 4 (01:31:17):
Is there a song you would like to hear?
And um God, you're Not Alone.
By um.
What's his name?
I forgot, you Are God.

Speaker 2 (01:31:28):
Alone, you Are God Alone.
Yes, okay, so we're going toplay Marvin Sapp.
Yeah, marvin Sapp, marvin Sapp,you're sap.
Yeah, marvin sap.
Yeah, marvin sap.
You're okay, god alone.
We're gonna play marvin sap,you are god alone.

(01:31:50):
And then we're gonna get todorian evans.
So dorian evans is next up.
Okay, thank you.

Speaker 4 (01:31:57):
You're welcome.

Speaker 8 (01:32:17):
There's no question of your greatness, nor searching
of your power.
Oh, the wonder of your glory.
To you, forty years is but onehour.
Your knowledge is allencompassing.

(01:32:41):
To your wisdom, there is.
You are God alone.
Your mercy is everlasting.

(01:33:13):
Your truth is here always.
You are he who was and is andis to come.
Who is he that can number yourdays?
You flood the sun to burn inspace, and the night's moon

(01:33:38):
powers light from day.

Speaker 1 (01:33:44):
Oh, you alone.

Speaker 8 (01:33:48):
You're God, you're God, elohim, you're everything I
need.

Speaker 1 (01:33:55):
You are God.
Oh Lord, come to the King, cometo the King, turn on In hearts
of Invisibility.
The only wise God, the onlywise God, the only wise God, the

(01:34:20):
only wise God, the only wiseGod, the only wise God.

Speaker 8 (01:34:34):
No one else can minister Lord.

Speaker 1 (01:34:40):
But God alone.

Speaker 8 (01:34:44):
Now unto the King.

Speaker 1 (01:34:48):
Eternal Turn upon In my town.
In this world, the only one God, the only one God, you are my

(01:35:11):
God, my God.
No one else can touch me.
Our God, our God, our God, ourGod, our God, our God, our God,
our God, our God, our God, ourGod, our God, our God, our God,

(01:35:37):
our.
I know, I know, I know, doeverything that I need for you,
for you, my God.
I know, I know he hold me and Itold him and I'll work it

(01:36:05):
forever and honor to me and workforever and ever.
I'm in the old glory and honor.

Speaker 8 (01:36:31):
Oh, he deserves all the praise and honor.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, oh, Ihave the Lord.
I want to get to minister tohim.

Speaker 1 (01:36:38):
Lord, hallelujah, oh yeah, come on, begin to minister
to him tonight Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen,
amen, amen and power.
Forever and ever.
Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen,amen, amen, amen, amen, amen,

(01:37:06):
amen, amen, amen, amen, amen,amen, amen, amen, amen, amen,
amen, amen, amen, amen, amen,amen, amen, amen, amen, amen,
amen, amen, amen, amen, amen,amen, amen, amen, amen, amen.
I will forever and ever Amen.

(01:37:58):
We are sorry and heartbroken,and our power forever and ever
Amen.

Speaker 8 (01:38:24):
Amen.
You are God alone.
You're my Jehovah China.
You're my Jehovah Nissi.
You're my Jehovah Elyon.

(01:38:47):
You alone are God.

Speaker 1 (01:38:57):
You are God, you are God, you are God, you are God,
you are God.
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
You're into my life, oh, oh, oh, oh.

(01:39:22):
Minister, to my heart, open upyour mouth and give me a little
bit of faith.
You're into my life, you know.
Now, I know my.

Speaker 8 (01:39:34):
God, no one else compared to you.
Come on, let's just begin tospeak to our Father.
I'd like to hear the fruit ofyour lips right now, the fruit
of your lips.
Open up your mouths right now.
You're on holy ground.

(01:39:56):
Come on, come on, come on,press on in, press on in.

Speaker 3 (01:39:59):
I wish.

Speaker 8 (01:39:59):
I had somebody that would help me Press, press.
Come on, let's go into theholies of holies.
Come on, let's minister to himright now.
God, we worship your name today.
God, we give you glory andhonor, hallelujah.
God.
There is none like you.
There is none like you.
I, there is none like you.
I just had a few folks thatwould open up their mouths and

(01:40:20):
just begin to bless you.
Come on, open up your mouths.
Everybody, open up your mouths.
Lift up those hands.
Lift up those hands.
Come on, begin to minister tohim.
I want to embrace you.
I want to show you how much Ilove you.
Come on for about 30 moreseconds.

Speaker 2 (01:40:34):
Come on, bless you, hallelujah you in the room, girl
, you back in the room.
She ran away.
I have to bring her back,looking and screaming hey y'all,
hey, how y'all doing tonight.
Hey girl hey girl, everybodymiss darmian.
Girl, everybody, where'sdarmian?

(01:40:57):
We?
I had to go faster, y'all hadto find her, like I found sade
chad had to find her, y'all yes,yeah, the chat is like slap me
around a little bit come on, thedevil is a lie.
I can't slap her from Illinoisnow, not, not not physically,

(01:41:20):
but you know you know, sometimeswe have to do that for
our friends.

Speaker 3 (01:41:24):
Yes, exactly there's some things so, and I love who
you are so that's right.

Speaker 2 (01:41:31):
I love you, we love you, we adore.
You know you are a friend ofthis podcast.

Speaker 3 (01:41:37):
Yes, I love you too.
I love you guys all.
Yes, yes.

Speaker 2 (01:41:47):
So, other than being bullied into this devotional,
yes, ma'am, because you're myfriend and you're going to be in
my project.
No, seriously, what made youdecide?
Because you could my friend andyou're going to be in my
project no, seriously, what madeyou decide?
Because you could have said no,you could have been like nope,
I ain't about to do it.
I got too much going on.

(01:42:07):
Life be life, and I ain't gottime to write that and I ain't
going to do it.
What made you?
First, I want you to remindmaybe some of my new followers,
or people who don't know you,who you are.
Give them a little bit more, uh, in depth, of who you are, um,
some of the work that you'vealready done as far as
literature, and tell them, uh,what made you decide?

(01:42:30):
You wanted to because I'm gonnagive you the floor, so that's
why I'm giving you, you know,assignments.
So I want you to tell thepeople who you are a little bit
about why you decided to jointhe devotional, other than the
fact that you're a friend ofmine and what you know some of
the work that you already havedone and what you have going on

(01:42:53):
and then a little bit about yourcontribution into the devotion
have going on, and then a littlebit about your contribution
into the devotion.

Speaker 3 (01:43:03):
Okay, all right, so my name is Dorian Evans and I am
an author.
Um, I have authored one book onmy own.
Uh came out last summer, and itis understanding my assignment
um my journey on raisingchampions, trusting the process
and finding myself or redefiningmyself on who I am.
I am a child of God.

(01:43:24):
I am a mother to four wonderfulchildren, three sons that are
fully grown and out of my house,and I have a 15 year old
daughter left.
Um, it's like raising threepeople all over again.
Uh, just her by herself.
And um, I am a.
I am a teacher, um.

(01:43:45):
So I don't just say that I haveyou know, for I say I have like
125 kids, or I could say I have230 kids, because I um started
with these children, uh children, their freshman year, just
finished their sophomore yearwith them, and I will carry them
through, or I will be with themthrough their junior and senior

(01:44:06):
year, so they really are mykids.
So I have 300 kids, fourbiologicals, and I absolutely
love what I do.
Um, I really pour into my kidsat school.
I pour into my children who are, you know my biological

(01:44:27):
children.
Um, you know, I always said, ifthat was my purpose here on
this planet, if that is why Godput me here, then I want to
please him and I want to do itto the fullest and, um, and I
love it.
So that is just a little bitabout me.
Um, I do have a.

(01:44:49):
I have the book out.
I also have a understanding theassignment or understanding my
assignment journal out.
Um, they're both available onAmazon.
The book is available on Amazon, barnes Noble through Archway
Publishing.
It basically is a memoir of,you know, just raising my

(01:45:10):
children.
I went through a divorce.
It's a weekend read.
It's not a long book.
You can pick it up and start inany chapter and my biggest
thing is just to be relatable topeople.
I feel like everybody's so busytrying to show you know the
world and project things thatthey really aren't or they're

(01:45:33):
trying to project this image andit's like, you know, I don't
need to do that.
I just need to be, you know,authentically me.
I need to be who God created meto be and, you know, spread
love that way.
So I wrote the book to bewhatever it is that you know,

(01:45:53):
the reader who picks it up,needs it to be, whether it's.
You know, I show a lot ofvulnerability in the latter
chapters because I am figuringout who I am again, after being
a mom and a wife.
For I think at the time in thebook I was about 23 years, a mom
and I had ended, you know, a 12year marriage.

(01:46:15):
So, you know, you lose.
As women, we always loseourselves to whatever cause,
whatever, you know, our,whatever mission is out there,
whatever cause, we always puteverything before us and before
our needs a lot of the time.
So just trying to figure out,you know, know, who I am and

(01:46:37):
what else I do other than workwith kids and be a mom is, it
was important to me, um,especially with just having one
left and she's, you know, goingto be flying the nest to go off
to college um is my hope soon.
So, um, I just didn't want tobe sitting here looking at four
walls, kind of like who am I?
Um, I also was part of um, theanthology.

(01:47:07):
Um, that is how I met missjackie phenomenal, we've been
buddies ever since, ever since,yes and just I mean to meet the
women that I met.
I love doing the anthology, um,because I was able to meet so
many women and they were able toshare their stories and just be

(01:47:29):
vulnerable.
So you, you know, it's alwaysthat for me, I always try to say
I don't, I'm not going goingthrough anything just to go
through it.
I'm going through something tohelp someone else come through
it as well.
So when times get rough, I tryto remind myself you know what

(01:47:49):
is the lesson, and one day, lord, I know, I'll be able to touch
somebody.
So, you know, just help me tokeep that in mind that I'm not
going through this just to gothrough it.
I'm going through it for apurpose.
So, um, yeah, that's, that'spretty much it.
Um, I have a website.
Um, you know, you can find allthings the Dorian Evans um

(01:48:11):
Instagram, I'm just Dorian Evans.
On Facebook, on X D DorianEvans.
So that's me, that's what I do,that's who I am.

Speaker 2 (01:48:27):
And she is who she is , and very well.
And now we're going to talkabout your contribution to the
devotional yes ma'am, about yourcontribution to the devotional
yes ma'am.
So how was writing that andwhat can people expect from your
contribution?

Speaker 3 (01:48:54):
So I always write from a very real place or a very
.
Sometimes I usually end upwriting when I'm going through
something.
Um, this particular time, I hadjust spoken to, uh, miss
Jacqueline on the phone andshe's like no, I want you to be
part of this.
I'm like I don't even know whatI'm gonna write, like I don't
really have anything tocontribute and, you know, just

(01:49:16):
have a little bit of a pityparty for myself.
And she's like I don't care,you're going to do it.
It's only this many words,you're going to do it.
And I was like, okay, okay, andI agreed to it and I really
didn't have a topic.
And you know, maybe a coupleweeks later was it a couple

(01:49:40):
weeks, two weeks weeks,something like that I sent her
my submission and, um, it'ssimply titled in amazing grace
and it just talked about thegrace that God gives us and you
know, when going throughsomething, he's still our father
.
Sometimes we have to come out ofour comfort zone and look for

(01:50:02):
help, because I know I'm aperson that I don't ask for
anything from anyone.
So I think God is dealing withme or working with me on that a
little bit.
Um, I just always speak from myheart, I and I always say I'm.

(01:50:26):
You know, I'm still, I'm stilla Christian.
I'm still perfecting myself andmy faith.
And am I perfect?
No, absolutely not, um, but Imost definitely try and strive
every day to be who God hascalled me to be, to be, like,
you know, jesus as much as Ipossibly can.

(01:50:46):
Some days are harder thanothers, but, you know, I feel
like if we talk about it, wetend to get through it better
and we don't feel so alone inthis world.

Speaker 2 (01:51:04):
Yes, if anybody know that I'm the one to talk to, I
am the one I will talk you down.
But just like I'll talk youdown, I will listen as well.
And the, the, the, her titleamazing grace.
Um, it really, it speaks toeverybody because it takes you

(01:51:26):
back to a place even with that.
You know that that that gospelhymn, right, amazing grace, how
sweet the sound.
Um, a lot of people have madepoetry entitled Amazing Grace,
because it really is a propheticword Amazing Grace, how Sweet
the Sound.
That saved a wretch like meJust hearing those words.

(01:51:49):
So when I read the title, I waslike Dorian knew she had this in
the tunnel.
She knew what she was doing togo send me this Like girl.
You know I got me this.
Like I girl, you know I gotnothing.
You know you knew you hadsomething.
You knew you had something.
And when I say that it is, it isso profound and it really
embodies who she is as a womanof god.

(01:52:11):
I, I'm so in awe of you andwhat you have been through and
what you continue to surviveevery day.
It's not easy, sweetheart, andthat's why it's important you
guys, when you have friends andyou have those connections with
people.
Don't let the devil come in andtry to break that, because he's

(01:52:35):
going to try whatever he canand he can't get through to me
because I know it's tricks.
I'm already ready for him andI'll be waiting.
I'll be like you think you'regonna come, you ain't gonna
break this one.
Nope, you're not gonna do this.
So when we allow not just togive other people grace, but to
give ourselves grace enough toknow that God is going to handle

(01:52:59):
whatever we are going through,it makes life so much easier.
And I don't think you were onhere when I said this, dorian,
so I'm going to say it again.
I have adapted this thing in mylife right when I say the last
10 minutes of my life will notbe in vain.

(01:53:20):
I will make sure, because wedon't hold the hourglass of our
life, we don't know when ourlast 10 minutes are on this
earth and I'm not gonna spend mylast 10 minutes crying,
depressed, stressed, worrying.
The last 10 minutes of my lifewill be in full bliss.
So I wanted, I want to tellthat to you.

(01:53:44):
I want to tell that to some ofmy speakers who who may have
come on late or who have joinedus late.
Don't let the last 10 minutesof your life be regretful.
Amen, spend the last 10, becauseyou don't know whatever minute

(01:54:05):
that's coming up after this, onemay be your last 10 minutes.
God say the same.
That won't happen, but what I'msaying is that we have no
control over that.
So make sure the last 10minutes of your life you're
doing whatever it is that makesyou happy, and worry about the
judgment when you get at thegate.
Just make sure whatever you'redoing, you're doing something

(01:54:30):
that won't compromise yougetting to the gate.
Okay, amen.
So, with that being said, herchapter in the devotional is
amazing.
Grace.
She's going to leave her umwebsite in the chat and can you
also tell people where they canreach you so they can order the
book?
If you guys are connecting withdorian and you want to

(01:54:53):
contribute to her chapter andbuy directly from her a signed
copy of the devotional from her,tell people how they can do
that.

Speaker 3 (01:55:04):
Absolutely so, evansdoriancom, you can log into
my website, um, it will beupdated monday, um by monday for
to have the devotional on thereif you want to order a copy of

(01:55:25):
that.
Um, again, everything is the ev.
Um, so, yeah, that's that's howyou can reach me, um, and I

(01:55:47):
will put my uh cash up in there,so that way, if you want to
purchase it, you know, just justput on there that you're
purchasing signed copy ofdevotional and I will make sure
I get it to you I appreciate youso much, dorian, for coming on
and um letting everybody know ummore about your chapter in the

(01:56:11):
devotional.

Speaker 2 (01:56:12):
You guys, this my friend y'all.
Like she said, I had to get ontogether, but that's okay, I did
it out of love, honey.
Then I did it out of love.
Okay, I love you so much.
I'm going to always be yournumber one cheerleader.
You know how I rock with yourgirl from right and left, so God
bless you.

Speaker 3 (01:56:40):
And what's the song that you want me to play before
the next person?
The last person comes on, so Iwould like for you to play uh,
don't want to leave by israelnewbreed.
It is one of my absoluteall-time favorite songs.

Speaker 2 (01:56:48):
And don't want to leave yes, okay, I gotta see if
I have it.

Speaker 3 (01:56:55):
So it's called, don't want, don't want to leave, or I
still love you slash, I stilllove you got it.

Speaker 2 (01:57:06):
I got it, so I'm gonna play.
Don't want to leave slash.
I still love you by israel andnew breed as we bring in our
last but not least, final guestfor tonight, which is elena
maria.
Thank you so much, durian.
I appreciate you, sweetheart, Iappreciate your ministry.
Go buy her books.

(01:57:28):
You guys understand in myassignment.
Um, she say yes to herselfunapologetically and pre-order
the devotion, a signed copy ofthe devotional from her.
Use the Cash app.
It will be updated toTheDorianEvanscom.

(01:57:50):
Thank you so much, sweetheart.
Thank you, love you.
Love you too.

Speaker 1 (01:58:06):
Don't want to leave this holy place, don't want to

(01:58:34):
miss the smile on your face,right where you are.
I long to be safe in your arms.
You're telling me, telling methat everything will be alright.

(01:59:02):
You see every tear I cry downon my bended knee.
Lord, I don't want to leavethis holy place.
Say you don't want to leave.

(01:59:38):
Don't want to leave this holyplace.
Don't want to leave Smile onyour face, right where you are
now, right where you are, righton me, right where you are.

(01:59:58):
Hold on to me, Saving your own.
You telling me, telling me thateverything will be alright.
You see every tear I put downon my bending knee.

(02:00:26):
Down on my bending knee, lord, Idon't want to leave this holy
place.
Play, play, play, play, play,play Down on my business knee,

(02:00:52):
lord, I don't wanna leave Allthat you have for me, lord, I
receive.
Heal my infirmity, restoreevery shattered dream.
You're the soul when I cannotsing.

(02:01:15):
You're the words when I cannotsee.
You're my comforter in thenight, help in my troubled times
.
That is why I don't want toleave.

(02:01:35):
I'm on want to leave.
That ain't what.
I don't want to leave.
I, I, I'm on my 15th knee, downon my 15th knee, lord, I don't
want to leave.
Lord, I don't want to leave.
Oh yeah, lord, let me have thething.
Oh yeah, let me see.
If you kill me, kill me, youwill be saved.

(02:01:58):
God, I need you.
If you kill me, you will be sostarved.
You're the song when I cannotsing.
You're the word when I can'tspeak.
You're the sweet love you putup in the night.
You're the song when I can'tsing.
You're the song when I can'twant to leave now.

Speaker 2 (02:02:27):
This holy place.
I don't want to leave now.
This holy place.
Yes, don't Wanna Leave byIsrael and New Breed.
That is a now.
That was a tearjerker.

(02:02:48):
I had to get on off of it.
That put me in a place ofworship.
I would be over here.
I wouldn't have been able toget through it.
Elena, how you doing tonight,sweetheart?
I'm doing great.
How are you?
Oh, god bless, I am blessed andblessed by God.
I'm so, so blessed to have youon the platform.

(02:03:09):
I thank God for you and yourmessage and your ministry is
remarkable.
God works, god works.
He works Because I show withprayer child, because I know you
be busy, you be busy.
It's hard to get a life ofy'all, but when she come through

(02:03:30):
, she always come through for me.
You guys, and I just appreciateyou so much.
I just want to give you yourflowers and let you know I
appreciate you so much.
I appreciate all the women inthe anthology who came and
showed their support tonight.
Who else do we have in theaudience?
We have Gentry's Journey, wehave Melanie, we had Dr Audrey

(02:03:53):
Ann in here a little while ago,so I just want to make sure that
I shout out all the women ofthe waiting room anthology who
always come in, and we might goahead and hand you in the
anthology you show up so much.
Elaine, I just appreciate youso much in everything you do.
So for people who do not knowwho you are, give a little bit

(02:04:17):
about yourself, about your pastprojects, what you have going on
now, what made you decide tojoin the devotional, and a
little bit about yourcontribution.

Speaker 6 (02:04:30):
Okay, well, thank you , I am Elena Maria.
Elena Maria I'm a multi-genreauthor, singer, songwriter,
international motivationalspeaker, and I'm also a

(02:04:51):
screenwriter.
As far as books, I've writtenseveral books, 13 so far.
I have a 10-part Healing fromJournal series, a two-part
surfer circle, early educationalchildhood books and my first
urban fiction novel calledMariah, and that book will serve
as my debut as a screenwriterand executive producer.
So we are preparing to makethat movie.
So I'm just really excited forall the wonderful opportunities.

(02:05:13):
So that's Elena Maria in anutshell.
As far as an artist, as far aswho I am as a person, I am a
woman of God.
I'm a woman who loves people.
I am a proud mother.
I am a woman who just enjoysconnecting, building, growing
and encouraging people.

(02:05:34):
As a motivational speaker, mymain topic is absolute joy to be
able to travel and speak andshare my message both on the US
soil and internationally.
As far as the devotional, theWaiting Room, the title, the

(02:06:00):
Waiting Room just spoke to mewhen I saw the call for the
devotional.
So often us women, we havetestimonies or things going on
and we sit on it, but I feel alot of times when we go through
things it's meant for us toshare and encourage others.
So I didn't want to silence myvoice and share my story,

(02:06:22):
hopefully to be able toencourage other mothers like
myself who has lost a child.
As we know, as a mom you loveyour babies to life, and to lose
a child unexpectedly in the waythat I lost my son it literally
almost drove me insane.
The grief was almost notpalpable but through the help of

(02:06:44):
God the one that I turned myback on because I was hurting so
bad but through his help I wasable to deal with the grief,
walk through the process and,even though my humanity is still
my humanity and I have a rightto grieve, but I was able to,
you know, grieve appropriatelyand I find a place to put that
grief and realize that I stillhad life left to live.

(02:07:05):
So to continue on the journeyand not allowing that grief to
cause me to fold into myself butin essence, bloom from it and
become and again to be able toshare my testimony to other moms
who've lost children.
As we know, the naturalsuccession of things is the
parent, the child buries theparent, not the other way around

(02:07:25):
.
So when that order is disrupted,it is a difficult, difficult
task, but at the end of the day,I'm grateful to have this
opportunity to share you know myjourney and encourage, uplift,
build, fortify and providesupport for other mothers who
have lost a child, and namely,in my case, a six-month-old

(02:07:46):
infant.
So I went through a crazywaiting room just trying to
figure out how to live, how tobreathe without it hurting,
hurting, how to navigate lifeknowing that my son is in the
grave and I'm yet walking theearth.
So that was a hard thing tostomach but through the grace of
god, his goodness, mercy andhis kindness, I am still here in

(02:08:09):
my right mind um yet becomingand growing and building.
So thank you so much, jackie,for the opportunity um to be a
part of this wonderfuldevotional and to be able to be
connected with such wonderfulwomen, to read their stories, to
be empowered and, you know,just to be joint with women on a

(02:08:30):
powerful tip no drama, nonegativity, but just beautiful
women sharing their stories,connecting, learning, growing,
gleaning and becoming together.
So thank you again for thisopportunity.

Speaker 2 (02:08:43):
Thank you for answering the call to action.
You are someone else who I'vehad the pleasure of.
You are a friend of thisplatform.
You've come on to speak aboutMariah, one of my favorite books
.
I was so in tune with Mariahwhen she told me that she was

(02:09:04):
coming out with the movie.
Look, go back.
If you are a fan of Listen,linda, I want you to go to
iHeart or whatever platform thatyou use.
Go back into the vault.
Okay, she was here before wewere talking about Mariah.
Mariah is so good.
If you guys do not have Mariah,find it on Kindle.

(02:09:27):
Go to her website, www.
No, it's not www, no more.
It's not wwwno more, it's https.
Colon slash slash.
Elanamariacom.
I want you to go to thatwebsite.
Look at the books that she hasand grab a riot and get you a
signed copy of that, becausewhen they hit the box office

(02:09:49):
it's going to blow up and you'regoing to wish you had that
signed copy at the price thatshe got it for right now.
Okay, go to her website, grabthat book.
When I tell you when I read,when I read mariah because I
read from cover to cover Icouldn't put it down before she
came on my show and it read likea movie.
Every character.

(02:10:11):
I was in tune.
I was telling her you shouldget this person to play this
person.
I was so in tune with the book.
I'm a fan okay, I'm a fan, thislady.
When I say somebody who got apen got it.
This lady is anointed.
This lady is a prophet.
This lady can take you placeswith her voice, with her music,

(02:10:35):
with her poetry.
That a lot of people can't do,and it's not that they can't do
it, but they have to practice it.
It has to become a skill tothem.
This lady has been blessed withit.
It's a gift from God and he hasgiven her so many different
gifts, so much oil, that she'smultifaceted.

(02:10:57):
And that is what I love abouther, because she remains so
humble and willing to just shareand root for other people,
while still being who she is andbeing confident in who she is.
And like with me, I kind ofsuffer from imposter syndrome.

(02:11:18):
It may seem like I'm realconfident, but I'm not sometimes
, and sometimes I question thatand she's somebody that I can
call and be like.
Well, I don't know, you know, Imight be, you know, and she'd
be like girl.
Are you kidding me, we talkingabout you.
So I just want to say thank you.
You are a true friend.
So I just want to say thank you, you are a true friend, you are
a true talent, you are ablessing from God, like one of

(02:11:41):
the wonders of the world.
Right here, we got right here inthis book and I just I'm in awe
and I'm inspired, trulyinspired, about your dedication
and your contribution to thisdevotional.
And your contribution to thisdevotional, what you wrote about

(02:12:02):
I haven't met anybody elseother than myself.
That's so open and transparentas to what that feels like.
Right, Because you were in awaiting room with your baby for
six months, every day.
You know what I'm sayingWatching them, and for that to
happen and I'm saying Watchingthem and you know for that to

(02:12:25):
happen, and I'm not going to gointo debt because you got depth
of to what her story is about,because you got to get the book
from her and purchase it fromher to get her to sign it, you
know.
But what I will tell you guysis that this devotional is mind
blowing and for you to be ableto trust me to help you get that
story out.
I truly appreciate you for that.

Speaker 6 (02:12:46):
Absolutely and, again , I always echo that sentiment.
I'm so grateful for the, youknow, the camaraderie, the
sisterhood, the friendship, theopportunities.
You, you know the things youpoured into me.
Um, you know no gatekeeping.
You know, um, just workingtogether.
Hey, I see this opportunity.
I'm gonna tag you going backand forth.
You want this.

(02:13:06):
Look at this, look at that,just just trying to, you know,
support each other and and thatit's so refreshing and wholesome
and healthy, um, it just feelsgood to be, you know, be
connected to people who justwant to win together, because we
you know what was the saying?
People who just want to wintogether, because we you know
what was the saying I'm amovement by myself, but I'm a
force for we, together.
Come on, now we can adopt that,you know, that mentality across

(02:13:27):
the board.
We can take over this world andmake a big impact.

Speaker 2 (02:13:31):
Amen, amen.
And with that being said, letus let the people know, because
I already put your website outthere.
Look, I'm like it's not WWW, nomore, but it's this.
You know, I know.
So you know.
With that being said, tellpeople where they can reach you,
how they can preorder a signedcopy directly from you, as well

(02:13:55):
as how they can find you onsocial media, and then tell me
what song you want me to play.
Or if you want to just take usout with prayer, that can work
too.

Speaker 6 (02:14:06):
Okay, well, as she said, you can reach me at
elainamariacom that'sA-L-L-A-I-N-A mariacom and
across social media, I'm author,elena Maria, on all social
media platforms.
I would love for you to followme, chat with me.
I would love to communicateback with you.
I'm all about loving andgrowing and gleaning.

(02:14:29):
So thank you again for thisopportunity and if you would
like a signed copy, you go to mywebsite, elainamariacom.
There's an inquiry button.
Go ahead and tap that inquirybutton.
Let me know you want topurchase a signed copy and I'll
make sure to reply to yourrequest and we'll get everything
processed from there.
And, as she stated, we'll closeout with a word of prayer.

(02:14:52):
Heavenly Father, we thank youso much for this wonderful day
that you have made.
Thank you for everyone whowe've crossed paths with today,
everyone we've had theopportunity to speak with.
We thank you for the ability ofthe things we take for granted
to be able to see, to be able tohear, to be able to move our
limbs.
God, we thank you so much foreverything.

(02:15:13):
Everything we give your namethe praise.
Now we ask you, in the name ofJesus, that the words that we
put out in this journal, theydon't return void, but they go
and accomplish the missions thatthey're sent out to do.
Help them to be able to healthose who are broken.
Give encouragement to those whoare struggling To illuminate
the light, to someone whothought it was just darkness

(02:15:34):
ahead, but show them there islight on the other side of this.
Whatever that, this is God.
We thank you so much for theassignments you've given us in
the earth and we don't take themlightly.
Help every woman in theanthology and the devotional to
make sure that we let our lightso shine, god, that they may see
you and glorify you.
We thank you, god.
Help us to stay humble beforeyou.

(02:15:56):
Help us to be ever gracious inour gifts.
Oh God, as you elevate us, helpus to always remember you and
keep you on our mind.
Help us along the way in ourpath as we journey through life.
Help us to be the examples thatyou want us to be.
Now, god, we ask you to toucheach and every hearer that hears
this prayer.
Touch them from the crown oftheir heads to the sole of their

(02:16:23):
feet.
Let peace, love, joy and lightfollow them all the days of
their life.
And we give your name thanks,glory, honor and praise.
It's in your matchless name.
We do pray.

Speaker 2 (02:16:28):
Amen, amen, amen, and we're going to leave you guys
with what we prayed for.
Thank you, gentry Journey.
Thank you, melanie Johnson.
Thank you, myra Cook.
Thank you, natasha.
Thank you Sharon Denise.
Thank you Dorian Evans.
Thank you Elena Maria.

(02:16:51):
Thank you Audrey Ann.
Thank you, dr Velma.
Thank you everybody from allover the globe who's going to
catch this on the replay.
I appreciate you all.
Thank you to my audienceoverseas, especially my UK
people and my Nigeria people andmy Jamaica people.

(02:17:13):
You guys come heavy in myanalytics so I know you guys are
listening.
Thank you so much.
If you want to know more aboutme, what I'm doing, follow me on
social media Facebookespecially.
I have upcoming events that arecoming up, but the anthology
will be out the first week ofJune.

(02:17:36):
The devotional will be out thethird week of June.
Keep following me.
Jacqueline CoxJ-A-C-Q-U-I-L-I-N-E Cox.
On Facebook.
That is where I post the most,but of course, I'm on Instagram
spiritualsunbeam2020.
I'm on TikTok,spiritualsunbeamthreads

(02:18:00):
spiritualsunbeam2020.
I love you all.
If you're on the replay, if youhear someone that you connect
with and you want to supportthem and get a signed copy from
them, go to their cash app.
Come on to station head.

(02:18:20):
Look in the comment section.
Their cash apps are there orfollow them on social media.
They will have their cash appsavailable or their websites.
Support the authors.
Of course, grab the pre-orderfor 99 cent when it comes out
right.
But if you want a signed copyof the person that you feel that

(02:18:44):
you connect with the most,support the actual author by
going to their website orordering it from them personally
.
I love you all, like Christ,love the church, and God bless
you all.
And we're ending this with AshB.
Pray for her.

(02:19:04):
Have a blessed night, you guys.

Speaker 1 (02:19:15):
We know the man that I prayed for.

Speaker 5 (02:19:26):
Not wishing with no man.
That wasn't made for me.
See, this love, we have gottabe tailored.
Big question with no man?
That ain't no fit for me.
Do you pray, cause I pray?
You want kids, I want eight.
Are you faithful?
Oh wait, tell me, can you senda ring?
You a king, I'm a queen.
We require certain things, andthat's what I pray for.

(02:19:50):
So that's what I wait for.
Dear God, come when you'resinning.
I'm gon' be for.
Dear God, you're in your center.
I'm gon' be ready.
Dear God, you do this for me.
I won't forget it.
My heart, I've been through somuch and I just wanna feel your
love for once.
And, dear God, I hope he'shappy Already here, but if

(02:20:10):
you're sending me, I know he is,I know he will be God.
That's what I pray for.
So that's what I wait for, andI vow to be everything you need,
share my life with you, on theright, with you, and I promise

(02:20:31):
to support all your dreams, butI gotta know that you were made
for me.
Do you pray, cause I pray?
You want kids, I want a name.
Are you faithful?
Oh wait, tell me, can you senda ring?
You a king, I'm a queen.
We require certain things, andthat's what I pray for.
So that's what I wait forno-transcript.

Speaker 1 (02:26:58):
Yes, there are 11 minutes.
You want me to go check now,right?

(02:27:36):
All right, okay, let's go aheadand have him turn on the light.
I thought that was something todo.

Speaker 7 (02:27:43):
He's going to turn on his light and say put me down,
let's go ahead and try this.
All right, so he's running,nothing's happening.

Speaker 1 (02:27:52):
He's Stay down.
Okay, thank you, the, the, the,the, the, the, the, the, the,

(02:29:24):
the, the, the, the, the, the,the, the, the, the.
No-transcript.

Speaker 2 (02:32:48):
It's been a start.

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