December 1, 2025 • 11 mins
It's Day 2 of our ADHD-friendly Advent study, and you are NOT behind if you missed Day 1 - no one is ever behind here. This series is designed by an ADHDer for women with ADHD and anyone walking through a season of waiting, uncertainty, or refining fire while clinging to the hope of Jesus.
Today we're in Luke 1:1-7, looking at Elizabeth's story, barrenness, and what it means to carry a heavy, hidden burden while still living righteously before God. We talk about infertility, unanswered longings, the social weight of being childless in biblical times, and what it looks like to trust God when provision feels delayed or completely different from what you expected.
This week's song is "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" (I especially love the version by Josh Garrels but Skillet's new version is PHEMONEMAL). Pause this video, go listen to the song, and then come back to sit with Scripture, reflect, and let God meet you in the tension of sorrow and hope.
Download your FREE ADHD-friendly Advent workbook here: https://go.rachelgrit.com/social
It's designed to be low-pressure and flexible, with:
- A guided daily passage
- A simple prayer to invite God in and ask for fresh eyes
- Journaling prompts (like today's question: do you feel like God is holding back or silent right now in an area of your life?)
- A suggested schedule that you can follow or completely ignore - no guilt either way
If you're in a season of job loss, uncertainty, or ongoing refining, you are in the right place. This is a space for honest wrestling, real life, and anchoring to the hope of Jesus in the middle of it all—not after everything is tied up in a bow.
If this encouraged you:
- Download the free workbook: https://go.rachelgrit.com/social
- Hit follow/subscribe so you don't miss the daily Advent videos
- Share this with a friend who needs hope this Advent
- If you'd like to support this free study, you can "buy me a coffee" via the link in my bio
Social Media Links:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker:
It is day two of our ADHD
friendly advent study. (00:00):
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Speaker: You are not behind if you missed day one. (00:03):
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Speaker: No one is ever behind. (00:05):
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Speaker: That is the entire point of this. (00:06):
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Speaker: If you are new here. (00:07):
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Speaker: Hi, my name is Rachel. (00:08):
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Speaker: I am an ADHD er and I help women (00:09):
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Speaker: with ADHD seek, find and live (00:11):
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Speaker: the abundant life that Jesus (00:13):
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Speaker: offers to us and we are doing an (00:14):
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Speaker: advent study during advent (00:16):
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Speaker: season. (00:18):
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Speaker: It is free. (00:18):
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Speaker: You can hit, follow, subscribe all of the things. (00:19):
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Speaker: There's also a free workbook that goes along with it. (00:22):
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Speaker: You can find the link to that in my bio. (00:24):
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Speaker: With that said, let's get (00:26):
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Speaker: digging into the scripture for (00:27):
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Speaker: today. (00:29):
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Speaker: But before we do that, the song for this week. (00:30):
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Speaker: So each week of advent, we will (00:32):
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Speaker: be going through a different (00:33):
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Speaker: like Christmas song or hymn that (00:35):
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Speaker: is impactful. (00:37):
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Speaker: And this this week's song is oh come, oh Come Emmanuel, which is (00:38):
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Speaker: one of my absolute favorites. (00:42):
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Speaker: I really like the version by (00:44):
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Speaker: Josh garrels, I think is his (00:45):
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Speaker: name. (00:47):
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Speaker: It just screams Christmas to me. (00:47):
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Speaker: So pause this. (00:49):
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Speaker: Go listen to the song O come, O (00:51):
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Speaker: come Emmanuel and then come back (00:53):
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Speaker: here. (00:54):
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Speaker: I am also on day like thirteen of being sick. (00:55):
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Speaker: So please excuse my voice. (00:58):
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Speaker: And I've got like all kinds of honey in my tea right now. (00:59):
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Speaker: All right, go listen to the song and then come back here. (01:01):
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Speaker: Now that you have listened to (01:03):
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Speaker: the song, let's go ahead and (01:04):
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Speaker: read the scripture passage for (01:05):
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Speaker: today. (01:07):
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Speaker: We are in Luke one, verses one through seven. (01:07):
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Speaker: Inasmuch as many have undertaken (01:10):
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Speaker: to compile a narrative of the (01:12):
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Speaker: things that have been (01:13):
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Speaker: accomplished among us, just as (01:14):
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Speaker: those who from the beginning (01:15):
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Speaker: were eye witnesses and ministers (01:16):
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Speaker: of the word have delivered them (01:18):
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Speaker: to us. (01:20):
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Speaker: It seemed good to me also, (01:20):
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Speaker: having followed all things (01:22):
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Speaker: closely for some time past, to (01:23):
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Speaker: write an orderly account for (01:24):
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Speaker: you, most excellent Theophilus, (01:25):
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Speaker: that you may have certainty (01:27):
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Speaker: concerning the things you have (01:28):
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Speaker: been taught. (01:29):
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Speaker: In the days of Herod, king of (01:30):
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Speaker: Judea, there was a priest named (01:31):
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Speaker: Zechariah of the division of (01:33):
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Speaker: Abijah. (01:34):
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Speaker: He had a wife from the daughters (01:35):
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Speaker: of Aaron, and her name was (01:36):
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Speaker: Elizabeth. (01:37):
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Speaker: And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly (01:38):
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Speaker: in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. (01:41):
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Speaker: But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both (01:44):
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Speaker: were advanced in years. (01:47):
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Speaker: And this is a story. (01:49):
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Speaker: We've all heard the Christmas story a million times, right? (01:50):
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Speaker: But the goal here is to kind of (01:53):
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Speaker: strip away those preconceived (01:55):
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Speaker: notions that we have, kind of (01:56):
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Speaker: take away those opinions that we (01:57):
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Speaker: already have of the story, and (01:58):
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Speaker: allow ourselves to see it with (02:00):
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Speaker: fresh eyes. (02:02):
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Speaker: And that starts with asking God to give us fresh eyes. (02:03):
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Speaker: So if you look in your workbook, I do have the prayer that I (02:06):
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Speaker: personally use when I'm starting my quiet time to kind of invite (02:09):
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Speaker: God in, ask him to strip away, you know, my own voice, bind the (02:12):
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Speaker: enemy so that he's unable to interfere, and just kind of (02:16):
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Speaker: focus myself on the spirit. (02:18):
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Speaker: So like I said, the link to that is in my bio. (02:20):
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Speaker: Go download that. (02:22):
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Speaker: And I would definitely recommend kind of taking a moment to like (02:23):
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Speaker: rest and center yourself and kind of just settle before you (02:27):
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Speaker: dig into Scripture or Bible study of any kind. (02:32):
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Speaker: There is also a journaling prompt for today, and that is so (02:35):
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Speaker: Elizabeth was living righteously, and yet God held (02:39):
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Speaker: back from her her heart's desire, which was a child. (02:42):
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Speaker: So is there an area of your life right now where you feel like (02:45):
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Speaker: God is holding back, or he is absent from your life? (02:49):
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Speaker: This passage, I'm the one who (02:52):
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Speaker: put this together, and yet I (02:54):
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Speaker: still got like a lot of value (02:55):
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Speaker: out of this, um, and kind of (02:57):
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Speaker: like going through and actually (02:59):
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Speaker: reading it and trying to, like, (03:00):
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Speaker: take away from the fact that I (03:01):
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Speaker: wrote this. (03:02):
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Speaker: And yet I'm like going through it. (03:03):
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Speaker: I was really struck by the fact that barrenness in the Bible is (03:04):
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Speaker: much more complicated and much more socially impactful than it (03:10):
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Speaker: even is now. (03:14):
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Speaker: Like, obviously, there's a lot (03:14):
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Speaker: of social implications even now (03:15):
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Speaker: for married couples who don't (03:17):
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Speaker: have kids. (03:18):
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Speaker: You know, I had the unfortunate experience of having someone ask (03:19):
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Speaker: me, so when are you an ex-husband going to have kids? (03:23):
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Speaker: As I was actively miscarrying? (03:26):
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Speaker: There's a lot of societal (03:29):
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Speaker: implications with being (03:30):
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Speaker: childless. (03:32):
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Speaker: Um, even just the decision to be childless is just not accepted (03:33):
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Speaker: by a lot of society. (03:36):
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Speaker: My husband and I have been asked when we're having more children (03:38):
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Speaker: and we're like, well, we're not. (03:40):
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Speaker: And also we can't, but that's another story for another time. (03:42):
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Speaker: But back in those days, not having children was not just, (03:44):
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Speaker: hey, you don't have kids. (03:49):
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Speaker: Children were your retirement plan. (03:50):
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Speaker: If you did not have kids, you had no one to take care of you. (03:52):
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Speaker: When you kind of aged out of being able to care for yourself. (03:55):
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Speaker: There also was, you know, the (03:59):
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Speaker: absolute heartbreak that comes (04:01):
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Speaker: with not being able to have (04:02):
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Speaker: children. (04:04):
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Speaker: I have friends who are wrestling with infertility and it is just (04:04):
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Speaker: a completely brutal experience. (04:08):
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Speaker: I even remember being so afraid to tell a friend of mine who had (04:09):
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Speaker: been wrestling with infertility for years when I had become (04:12):
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Speaker: pregnant because I didn't want to hurt her. (04:15):
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Speaker: It's just an absolutely heartbreaking experience. (04:17):
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Speaker: And number three, we do still see little bits of this with (04:20):
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Speaker: illness here in today's society, but especially back then, being (04:24):
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Speaker: barren was seen as punishment for having done something wrong. (04:28):
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Speaker: It was kind of believed that if (04:33):
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Speaker: God chose not to give you (04:35):
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Speaker: children, it's because you had (04:37):
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Speaker: done something to exclude (04:38):
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Speaker: yourself from being eligible to (04:41):
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Speaker: have children. (04:42):
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Speaker: And so barrenness was not just seen as a health issue. (04:42):
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Speaker: First of all, it was always blamed on the woman, and it also (04:46):
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Speaker: was seen as essentially a sign of moral failure. (04:50):
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Speaker: And so these all were things (04:54):
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Speaker: that Elizabeth and Zechariah, (04:57):
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Speaker: but mostly Elizabeth as this (04:59):
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Speaker: was, you know, a system that (05:00):
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Speaker: very much looked down on women (05:02):
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Speaker: and put the brunt of the (05:04):
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Speaker: childbearing, um, responsibility (05:05):
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Speaker: morally and otherwise, onto (05:08):
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Speaker: women. (05:10):
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Speaker: But we see that she is carrying (05:10):
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Speaker: an incredibly, incredibly heavy (05:12):
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Speaker: burden. (05:14):
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Speaker: And for me right now, my husband (05:15):
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Speaker: and I have been in a season of (05:17):
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Speaker: uncertainty really since before (05:19):
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Speaker: we met. (05:21):
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Speaker: Um, and he is in a season right now of looking for a job. (05:22):
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Speaker: Um, he was let go, I believe, unfairly, but that's another (05:25):
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Speaker: story for another time. (05:28):
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Speaker: Um, from the job that he'd had (05:29):
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Speaker: for almost ten years and has (05:31):
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Speaker: been hunting for a job for (05:33):
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Speaker: months now, and it's been it's (05:35):
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Speaker: been brutal. (05:36):
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Speaker: The job market is brutal right now. (05:37):
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Speaker: And most recently, there were (05:38):
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Speaker: three really solid opportunities (05:39):
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Speaker: that looked like one or even (05:41):
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Speaker: two, or possibly even all three (05:44):
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Speaker: of them are going to come (05:46):
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Speaker: through. (05:47):
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Speaker: And on the same day they all fell through. (05:47):
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Speaker: And so we have been in this (05:49):
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Speaker: season of waiting and wondering (05:51):
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Speaker: and hoping that God's gonna (05:53):
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Speaker: provide, knowing that he will (05:55):
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Speaker: provide, but maybe not in the (05:56):
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Speaker: way that we would prefer for him (05:57):
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Speaker: to. (05:59):
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Speaker: And it's just been really difficult. (06:00):
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Speaker: And so, you know, going through (06:02):
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Speaker: this question today, I wanted to (06:04):
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Speaker: be open and share about what I'm (06:06):
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Speaker: feeling right now and that I am (06:08):
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Speaker: in a season where it doesn't (06:09):
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Speaker: necessarily feel like God is (06:10):
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Speaker: absent. (06:11):
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Speaker: I'm very confident that God will provide. (06:12):
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Speaker: He has always, um, even when it hasn't looked how I would hope (06:14):
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Speaker: it looked or how I had planned for it to look. (06:19):
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Speaker: You know, I married my high school sweetheart when I was (06:21):
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Speaker: newly twenty years old. (06:24):
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Speaker: I had a baby, had my whole life (06:26):
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Speaker: planned out, and then became a (06:27):
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Speaker: single mom quite literally (06:29):
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Speaker: overnight when my son was four (06:30):
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Speaker: months old. (06:32):
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Speaker: So it's safe to say that, you (06:32):
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Speaker: know, I had my life all mapped (06:34):
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Speaker: out. (06:35):
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Speaker: I remember being very prideful (06:35):
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Speaker: about the fact that I had it all (06:37):
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Speaker: figured out. (06:38):
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Speaker: I had a wonderful husband, I had a wonderful extended family. (06:39):
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Speaker: I had this whole life mapped out and everything was coming up (06:43):
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Speaker: roses for me. (06:46):
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Speaker: We had enough money. (06:47):
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Speaker: We had a really nice house that I just absolutely loved. (06:48):
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Speaker: I had this baby and we were (06:52):
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Speaker: planning for another one, and (06:53):
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Speaker: then it was all completely (06:55):
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Speaker: ripped away. (06:56):
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Speaker: And honestly, as brutal as it was, it was the best possible (06:56):
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Speaker: thing that could have happened to me because it showed me that (06:59):
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Speaker: I am not the one in control. (07:02):
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Speaker: And it broke something in me that very much needed to be (07:03):
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Speaker: broken in order to allow God to really be the Lord of my life. (07:06):
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Speaker: And it still feels like that (07:11):
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Speaker: season is ongoing of just (07:13):
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Speaker: uncertainty and refining fire, (07:15):
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Speaker: really. (07:17):
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Speaker: And so wherever you are at right (07:18):
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Speaker: now, if you are struggling with (07:19):
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Speaker: a similar season, Um, I can (07:21):
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Speaker: absolutely relate. (07:23):
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Speaker: And you are in the right place. (07:24):
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Speaker: This is not me coming from a place of, like, nothing wrong (07:25):
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Speaker: has ever happened to me. (07:28):
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Speaker: And so I know God is good. (07:29):
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Speaker: Like I'm still in a season where it's a conscious choice to go, (07:30):
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Speaker: okay, God, I'm gonna trust you. (07:34):
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Speaker: There's constantly stuff going on. (07:36):
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Speaker: I swear my therapist will get on our our calls and go, all right, (07:38):
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Speaker: lay it on me. (07:42):
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Speaker: What happened this week? (07:42):
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Speaker: Because it's always just insane stuff that's going on. (07:43):
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Speaker: And it's it's a lot of it is very, very heavy stuff. (07:46):
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Speaker: So all of that to say I am wrestling in this season right (07:50):
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Speaker: now, like Elizabeth is in these verses of, okay, God, I don't (07:54):
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Speaker: know how you're gonna provide. (07:58):
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Speaker: It looked like you were gonna provide. (08:00):
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Speaker: And then that was taken away. (08:01):
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Speaker: So I don't know what the future is going to look like, but the (08:03):
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Speaker: entire purpose of advent is that we have hope. (08:07):
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Speaker: The entire purpose of advent is anticipation of something (08:10):
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Speaker: incredible and wonderful, and God being so beautifully (08:13):
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Speaker: glorified through, even through an incredibly dark season. (08:16):
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Speaker: And think about it, Israel was (08:20):
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Speaker: in an incredibly dark season, (08:23):
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Speaker: even after Jesus was born and (08:24):
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Speaker: had his ministry and was (08:27):
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Speaker: crucified because they were (08:28):
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Speaker: still under oppression by the (08:29):
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Speaker: Roman Empire. (08:31):
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Speaker: So unfortunately and fortunately, our redemption does (08:32):
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Speaker: not always look like our troubles, just going away. (08:37):
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Speaker: We serve an incredible God, a God who understands that our (08:40):
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Speaker: lives are multi-layered and we truly function best when he is (08:44):
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Speaker: the Lord over all of our lives. (08:49):
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Speaker: And so redemption and release from the refining fire in one (08:50):
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Speaker: area does not always mean that that is the case in all other (08:54):
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Speaker: areas of our lives, or that difficult seasons are all going (08:56):
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Speaker: to end just because we see redemption in one area. (09:00):
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Speaker: So with that, I would love to (09:03):
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Speaker: invite you to go download your (09:05):
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Speaker: workbook, read the passage for (09:06):
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Speaker: today for yourself, listen to (09:08):
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Speaker: the song, and then just kind of (09:10):
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Speaker: sit in God's presence and allow (09:13):
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Speaker: him to show you what he has for (09:14):
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Speaker: you today. (09:16):
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Speaker: And once you've read the passage, uh, and done your (09:18):
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Speaker: journaling prompt, I would encourage you again to just sit (09:21):
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Speaker: with your eyes closed and listen to the song. (09:24):
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Speaker: I love kind of the juxtaposition of these very hopeful lyrics, (09:26):
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Speaker: but also this very melancholy sound in the music. (09:31):
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Speaker: It's very, very interesting and I feel like it paints a really (09:34):
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Speaker: beautiful picture of, you know, what Israel was going through at (09:37):
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Speaker: the time, what we are going through in our own lives and how (09:40):
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Speaker: there can be so much sorrow. (09:42):
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Speaker: But God has so much hope. (09:45):
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Speaker: My my son, who's four, we were all kind of messing around. (09:47):
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Speaker: We have a couple ukuleles. (09:50):
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Speaker: Um, and so this past weekend, my (09:52):
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Speaker: four year old had the ukulele (09:54):
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Speaker: and was just kind of like (09:56):
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Speaker: strumming it and started kind of (09:57):
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Speaker: like softly singing and just (09:58):
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Speaker: like sang for like three (10:00):
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Speaker: minutes. (10:01):
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Speaker: It was the cutest thing. (10:01):
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Speaker: And he finishes up and he looks (10:02):
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Speaker: at me and he goes, that song was (10:04):
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Speaker: about hope. (10:06):
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Speaker: Jesus is hope. (10:08):
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Speaker: And it was just this moment (10:09):
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Speaker: where my heart completely (10:11):
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Speaker: exploded. (10:12):
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Speaker: It was so sweet. (10:13):
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Speaker: But it's like, yes, Jesus is our hope. (10:14):
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Speaker: And even in the absolute darkest (10:16):
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Speaker: seasons, whether this is purely (10:18):
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Speaker: a joyful Christmas season for (10:19):
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Speaker: you, which I'm very glad for (10:21):
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Speaker: you. (10:22):
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Speaker: If that's the case, or whether this joy of the season is mixed (10:22):
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Speaker: with a lot of darkness from your own personal life, you are in (10:26):
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Speaker: the right place. (10:30):
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Speaker: We know that we can find our hope in Jesus and I am glad that (10:31):
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Speaker: you are here. (10:34):
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Speaker: So again, head over to my bio. (10:35):
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Speaker: You can download the free workbook. (10:37):
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Speaker: This is a study that I'm doing (10:38):
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Speaker: completely for free, but if you (10:39):
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Speaker: would like to buy me a coffee, (10:41):
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Speaker: the link to do that is in my bio (10:42):
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Speaker: as well. (10:44):
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Speaker: So make sure you hit follow so you get updates. (10:45):
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Speaker: There will be another video tomorrow with that day's work. (10:48):
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Speaker: How I have it set up. (10:51):
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Speaker: It's not structured. (10:52):
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Speaker: You can choose to kind of go through the work in one day if (10:54):
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Speaker: that's how you prefer to work. (10:56):
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Speaker: There is a suggested schedule. (10:57):
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Speaker: I'll kind of scroll through the workbook here on the screen so (10:59):
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Speaker: you can see what it looks like. (11:01):
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Speaker: There's a suggested schedule if (11:03):
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Speaker: you are more of a structured (11:04):
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Speaker: person. (11:06):
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Speaker: If you are, I highly envy you. (11:06):
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Speaker: Um, but it is. (11:08):
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Speaker: It is designed to be accessible for everyone, not overwhelming. (11:10):
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Speaker: Just to add a little bit of food (11:13):
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Speaker: for thought, add some scripture, (11:15):
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Speaker: and add some celebration into (11:16):
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Speaker: your daily life here in the (11:18):
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Speaker: advent season. (11:19):
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Speaker: So again, it's specifically designed for people with ADHD or (11:20):
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Speaker: who have chaos in their brains, because that is definitely me. (11:24):
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Speaker: Um, but make sure you download the workbook. (11:27):
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Speaker: Share this with a friend who needs to hear it. (11:29):
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Speaker: Buy me a coffee if you feel so (11:31):
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Speaker: inclined and I will see you (11:32):
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Speaker: tomorrow. (11:33):
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Speaker: Bye. (11:34):
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Speaker: You are not behind if you missed day one. (00:03):
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Speaker: No one is ever behind. (00:05):
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Speaker: That is the entire point of this. (00:06):
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Speaker: If you are new here. (00:07):
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Speaker: Hi, my name is Rachel. (00:08):
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Speaker: I am an ADHD er and I help women (00:09):
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Speaker: with ADHD seek, find and live (00:11):
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Speaker: the abundant life that Jesus (00:13):
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Speaker: offers to us and we are doing an (00:14):
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Speaker: advent study during advent (00:16):
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Speaker: season. (00:18):
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Speaker: It is free. (00:18):
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Speaker: You can hit, follow, subscribe all of the things. (00:19):
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Speaker: There's also a free workbook that goes along with it. (00:22):
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Speaker: You can find the link to that in my bio. (00:24):
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Speaker: With that said, let's get (00:26):
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Speaker: digging into the scripture for (00:27):
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Speaker: today. (00:29):
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Speaker: But before we do that, the song for this week. (00:30):
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Speaker: So each week of advent, we will (00:32):
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Speaker: be going through a different (00:33):
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Speaker: like Christmas song or hymn that (00:35):
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Speaker: is impactful. (00:37):
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Speaker: And this this week's song is oh come, oh Come Emmanuel, which is (00:38):
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Speaker: one of my absolute favorites. (00:42):
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Speaker: I really like the version by (00:44):
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Speaker: Josh garrels, I think is his (00:45):
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Speaker: name. (00:47):
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Speaker: It just screams Christmas to me. (00:47):
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Speaker: So pause this. (00:49):
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Speaker: Go listen to the song O come, O (00:51):
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Speaker: come Emmanuel and then come back (00:53):
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Speaker: here. (00:54):
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Speaker: I am also on day like thirteen of being sick. (00:55):
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Speaker: So please excuse my voice. (00:58):
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Speaker: And I've got like all kinds of honey in my tea right now. (00:59):
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Speaker: All right, go listen to the song and then come back here. (01:01):
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Speaker: Now that you have listened to (01:03):
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Speaker: the song, let's go ahead and (01:04):
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Speaker: read the scripture passage for (01:05):
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Speaker: today. (01:07):
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Speaker: We are in Luke one, verses one through seven. (01:07):
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Speaker: Inasmuch as many have undertaken (01:10):
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Speaker: to compile a narrative of the (01:12):
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Speaker: things that have been (01:13):
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Speaker: accomplished among us, just as (01:14):
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Speaker: those who from the beginning (01:15):
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Speaker: were eye witnesses and ministers (01:16):
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Speaker: of the word have delivered them (01:18):
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Speaker: to us. (01:20):
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Speaker: It seemed good to me also, (01:20):
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Speaker: having followed all things (01:22):
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Speaker: closely for some time past, to (01:23):
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Speaker: write an orderly account for (01:24):
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Speaker: you, most excellent Theophilus, (01:25):
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Speaker: that you may have certainty (01:27):
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Speaker: concerning the things you have (01:28):
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Speaker: been taught. (01:29):
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Speaker: In the days of Herod, king of (01:30):
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Speaker: Judea, there was a priest named (01:31):
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Speaker: Zechariah of the division of (01:33):
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Speaker: Abijah. (01:34):
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Speaker: He had a wife from the daughters (01:35):
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Speaker: of Aaron, and her name was (01:36):
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Speaker: Elizabeth. (01:37):
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Speaker: And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly (01:38):
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Speaker: in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. (01:41):
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Speaker: But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both (01:44):
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Speaker: were advanced in years. (01:47):
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Speaker: And this is a story. (01:49):
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Speaker: We've all heard the Christmas story a million times, right? (01:50):
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Speaker: But the goal here is to kind of (01:53):
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Speaker: strip away those preconceived (01:55):
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Speaker: notions that we have, kind of (01:56):
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Speaker: take away those opinions that we (01:57):
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Speaker: already have of the story, and (01:58):
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Speaker: allow ourselves to see it with (02:00):
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Speaker: fresh eyes. (02:02):
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Speaker: And that starts with asking God to give us fresh eyes. (02:03):
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Speaker: So if you look in your workbook, I do have the prayer that I (02:06):
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Speaker: personally use when I'm starting my quiet time to kind of invite (02:09):
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Speaker: God in, ask him to strip away, you know, my own voice, bind the (02:12):
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Speaker: enemy so that he's unable to interfere, and just kind of (02:16):
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Speaker: focus myself on the spirit. (02:18):
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Speaker: So like I said, the link to that is in my bio. (02:20):
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Speaker: Go download that. (02:22):
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Speaker: And I would definitely recommend kind of taking a moment to like (02:23):
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Speaker: rest and center yourself and kind of just settle before you (02:27):
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Speaker: dig into Scripture or Bible study of any kind. (02:32):
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Speaker: There is also a journaling prompt for today, and that is so (02:35):
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Speaker: Elizabeth was living righteously, and yet God held (02:39):
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Speaker: back from her her heart's desire, which was a child. (02:42):
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Speaker: So is there an area of your life right now where you feel like (02:45):
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Speaker: God is holding back, or he is absent from your life? (02:49):
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Speaker: This passage, I'm the one who (02:52):
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Speaker: put this together, and yet I (02:54):
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Speaker: still got like a lot of value (02:55):
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Speaker: out of this, um, and kind of (02:57):
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Speaker: like going through and actually (02:59):
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Speaker: reading it and trying to, like, (03:00):
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Speaker: take away from the fact that I (03:01):
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Speaker: wrote this. (03:02):
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Speaker: And yet I'm like going through it. (03:03):
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Speaker: I was really struck by the fact that barrenness in the Bible is (03:04):
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Speaker: much more complicated and much more socially impactful than it (03:10):
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Speaker: even is now. (03:14):
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Speaker: Like, obviously, there's a lot (03:14):
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Speaker: of social implications even now (03:15):
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Speaker: for married couples who don't (03:17):
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Speaker: have kids. (03:18):
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Speaker: You know, I had the unfortunate experience of having someone ask (03:19):
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Speaker: me, so when are you an ex-husband going to have kids? (03:23):
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Speaker: As I was actively miscarrying? (03:26):
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Speaker: There's a lot of societal (03:29):
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Speaker: implications with being (03:30):
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Speaker: childless. (03:32):
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Speaker: Um, even just the decision to be childless is just not accepted (03:33):
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Speaker: by a lot of society. (03:36):
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Speaker: My husband and I have been asked when we're having more children (03:38):
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Speaker: and we're like, well, we're not. (03:40):
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Speaker: And also we can't, but that's another story for another time. (03:42):
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Speaker: But back in those days, not having children was not just, (03:44):
undefined
Speaker: hey, you don't have kids. (03:49):
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Speaker: Children were your retirement plan. (03:50):
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Speaker: If you did not have kids, you had no one to take care of you. (03:52):
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Speaker: When you kind of aged out of being able to care for yourself. (03:55):
undefined
Speaker: There also was, you know, the (03:59):
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Speaker: absolute heartbreak that comes (04:01):
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Speaker: with not being able to have (04:02):
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Speaker: children. (04:04):
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Speaker: I have friends who are wrestling with infertility and it is just (04:04):
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Speaker: a completely brutal experience. (04:08):
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Speaker: I even remember being so afraid to tell a friend of mine who had (04:09):
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Speaker: been wrestling with infertility for years when I had become (04:12):
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Speaker: pregnant because I didn't want to hurt her. (04:15):
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Speaker: It's just an absolutely heartbreaking experience. (04:17):
undefined
Speaker: And number three, we do still see little bits of this with (04:20):
undefined
Speaker: illness here in today's society, but especially back then, being (04:24):
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Speaker: barren was seen as punishment for having done something wrong. (04:28):
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Speaker: It was kind of believed that if (04:33):
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Speaker: God chose not to give you (04:35):
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Speaker: children, it's because you had (04:37):
undefined
Speaker: done something to exclude (04:38):
undefined
Speaker: yourself from being eligible to (04:41):
undefined
Speaker: have children. (04:42):
undefined
Speaker: And so barrenness was not just seen as a health issue. (04:42):
undefined
Speaker: First of all, it was always blamed on the woman, and it also (04:46):
undefined
Speaker: was seen as essentially a sign of moral failure. (04:50):
undefined
Speaker: And so these all were things (04:54):
undefined
Speaker: that Elizabeth and Zechariah, (04:57):
undefined
Speaker: but mostly Elizabeth as this (04:59):
undefined
Speaker: was, you know, a system that (05:00):
undefined
Speaker: very much looked down on women (05:02):
undefined
Speaker: and put the brunt of the (05:04):
undefined
Speaker: childbearing, um, responsibility (05:05):
undefined
Speaker: morally and otherwise, onto (05:08):
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Speaker: women. (05:10):
undefined
Speaker: But we see that she is carrying (05:10):
undefined
Speaker: an incredibly, incredibly heavy (05:12):
undefined
Speaker: burden. (05:14):
undefined
Speaker: And for me right now, my husband (05:15):
undefined
Speaker: and I have been in a season of (05:17):
undefined
Speaker: uncertainty really since before (05:19):
undefined
Speaker: we met. (05:21):
undefined
Speaker: Um, and he is in a season right now of looking for a job. (05:22):
undefined
Speaker: Um, he was let go, I believe, unfairly, but that's another (05:25):
undefined
Speaker: story for another time. (05:28):
undefined
Speaker: Um, from the job that he'd had (05:29):
undefined
Speaker: for almost ten years and has (05:31):
undefined
Speaker: been hunting for a job for (05:33):
undefined
Speaker: months now, and it's been it's (05:35):
undefined
Speaker: been brutal. (05:36):
undefined
Speaker: The job market is brutal right now. (05:37):
undefined
Speaker: And most recently, there were (05:38):
undefined
Speaker: three really solid opportunities (05:39):
undefined
Speaker: that looked like one or even (05:41):
undefined
Speaker: two, or possibly even all three (05:44):
undefined
Speaker: of them are going to come (05:46):
undefined
Speaker: through. (05:47):
undefined
Speaker: And on the same day they all fell through. (05:47):
undefined
Speaker: And so we have been in this (05:49):
undefined
Speaker: season of waiting and wondering (05:51):
undefined
Speaker: and hoping that God's gonna (05:53):
undefined
Speaker: provide, knowing that he will (05:55):
undefined
Speaker: provide, but maybe not in the (05:56):
undefined
Speaker: way that we would prefer for him (05:57):
undefined
Speaker: to. (05:59):
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Speaker: And it's just been really difficult. (06:00):
undefined
Speaker: And so, you know, going through (06:02):
undefined
Speaker: this question today, I wanted to (06:04):
undefined
Speaker: be open and share about what I'm (06:06):
undefined
Speaker: feeling right now and that I am (06:08):
undefined
Speaker: in a season where it doesn't (06:09):
undefined
Speaker: necessarily feel like God is (06:10):
undefined
Speaker: absent. (06:11):
undefined
Speaker: I'm very confident that God will provide. (06:12):
undefined
Speaker: He has always, um, even when it hasn't looked how I would hope (06:14):
undefined
Speaker: it looked or how I had planned for it to look. (06:19):
undefined
Speaker: You know, I married my high school sweetheart when I was (06:21):
undefined
Speaker: newly twenty years old. (06:24):
undefined
Speaker: I had a baby, had my whole life (06:26):
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Speaker: planned out, and then became a (06:27):
undefined
Speaker: single mom quite literally (06:29):
undefined
Speaker: overnight when my son was four (06:30):
undefined
Speaker: months old. (06:32):
undefined
Speaker: So it's safe to say that, you (06:32):
undefined
Speaker: know, I had my life all mapped (06:34):
undefined
Speaker: out. (06:35):
undefined
Speaker: I remember being very prideful (06:35):
undefined
Speaker: about the fact that I had it all (06:37):
undefined
Speaker: figured out. (06:38):
undefined
Speaker: I had a wonderful husband, I had a wonderful extended family. (06:39):
undefined
Speaker: I had this whole life mapped out and everything was coming up (06:43):
undefined
Speaker: roses for me. (06:46):
undefined
Speaker: We had enough money. (06:47):
undefined
Speaker: We had a really nice house that I just absolutely loved. (06:48):
undefined
Speaker: I had this baby and we were (06:52):
undefined
Speaker: planning for another one, and (06:53):
undefined
Speaker: then it was all completely (06:55):
undefined
Speaker: ripped away. (06:56):
undefined
Speaker: And honestly, as brutal as it was, it was the best possible (06:56):
undefined
Speaker: thing that could have happened to me because it showed me that (06:59):
undefined
Speaker: I am not the one in control. (07:02):
undefined
Speaker: And it broke something in me that very much needed to be (07:03):
undefined
Speaker: broken in order to allow God to really be the Lord of my life. (07:06):
undefined
Speaker: And it still feels like that (07:11):
undefined
Speaker: season is ongoing of just (07:13):
undefined
Speaker: uncertainty and refining fire, (07:15):
undefined
Speaker: really. (07:17):
undefined
Speaker: And so wherever you are at right (07:18):
undefined
Speaker: now, if you are struggling with (07:19):
undefined
Speaker: a similar season, Um, I can (07:21):
undefined
Speaker: absolutely relate. (07:23):
undefined
Speaker: And you are in the right place. (07:24):
undefined
Speaker: This is not me coming from a place of, like, nothing wrong (07:25):
undefined
Speaker: has ever happened to me. (07:28):
undefined
Speaker: And so I know God is good. (07:29):
undefined
Speaker: Like I'm still in a season where it's a conscious choice to go, (07:30):
undefined
Speaker: okay, God, I'm gonna trust you. (07:34):
undefined
Speaker: There's constantly stuff going on. (07:36):
undefined
Speaker: I swear my therapist will get on our our calls and go, all right, (07:38):
undefined
Speaker: lay it on me. (07:42):
undefined
Speaker: What happened this week? (07:42):
undefined
Speaker: Because it's always just insane stuff that's going on. (07:43):
undefined
Speaker: And it's it's a lot of it is very, very heavy stuff. (07:46):
undefined
Speaker: So all of that to say I am wrestling in this season right (07:50):
undefined
Speaker: now, like Elizabeth is in these verses of, okay, God, I don't (07:54):
undefined
Speaker: know how you're gonna provide. (07:58):
undefined
Speaker: It looked like you were gonna provide. (08:00):
undefined
Speaker: And then that was taken away. (08:01):
undefined
Speaker: So I don't know what the future is going to look like, but the (08:03):
undefined
Speaker: entire purpose of advent is that we have hope. (08:07):
undefined
Speaker: The entire purpose of advent is anticipation of something (08:10):
undefined
Speaker: incredible and wonderful, and God being so beautifully (08:13):
undefined
Speaker: glorified through, even through an incredibly dark season. (08:16):
undefined
Speaker: And think about it, Israel was (08:20):
undefined
Speaker: in an incredibly dark season, (08:23):
undefined
Speaker: even after Jesus was born and (08:24):
undefined
Speaker: had his ministry and was (08:27):
undefined
Speaker: crucified because they were (08:28):
undefined
Speaker: still under oppression by the (08:29):
undefined
Speaker: Roman Empire. (08:31):
undefined
Speaker: So unfortunately and fortunately, our redemption does (08:32):
undefined
Speaker: not always look like our troubles, just going away. (08:37):
undefined
Speaker: We serve an incredible God, a God who understands that our (08:40):
undefined
Speaker: lives are multi-layered and we truly function best when he is (08:44):
undefined
Speaker: the Lord over all of our lives. (08:49):
undefined
Speaker: And so redemption and release from the refining fire in one (08:50):
undefined
Speaker: area does not always mean that that is the case in all other (08:54):
undefined
Speaker: areas of our lives, or that difficult seasons are all going (08:56):
undefined
Speaker: to end just because we see redemption in one area. (09:00):
undefined
Speaker: So with that, I would love to (09:03):
undefined
Speaker: invite you to go download your (09:05):
undefined
Speaker: workbook, read the passage for (09:06):
undefined
Speaker: today for yourself, listen to (09:08):
undefined
Speaker: the song, and then just kind of (09:10):
undefined
Speaker: sit in God's presence and allow (09:13):
undefined
Speaker: him to show you what he has for (09:14):
undefined
Speaker: you today. (09:16):
undefined
Speaker: And once you've read the passage, uh, and done your (09:18):
undefined
Speaker: journaling prompt, I would encourage you again to just sit (09:21):
undefined
Speaker: with your eyes closed and listen to the song. (09:24):
undefined
Speaker: I love kind of the juxtaposition of these very hopeful lyrics, (09:26):
undefined
Speaker: but also this very melancholy sound in the music. (09:31):
undefined
Speaker: It's very, very interesting and I feel like it paints a really (09:34):
undefined
Speaker: beautiful picture of, you know, what Israel was going through at (09:37):
undefined
Speaker: the time, what we are going through in our own lives and how (09:40):
undefined
Speaker: there can be so much sorrow. (09:42):
undefined
Speaker: But God has so much hope. (09:45):
undefined
Speaker: My my son, who's four, we were all kind of messing around. (09:47):
undefined
Speaker: We have a couple ukuleles. (09:50):
undefined
Speaker: Um, and so this past weekend, my (09:52):
undefined
Speaker: four year old had the ukulele (09:54):
undefined
Speaker: and was just kind of like (09:56):
undefined
Speaker: strumming it and started kind of (09:57):
undefined
Speaker: like softly singing and just (09:58):
undefined
Speaker: like sang for like three (10:00):
undefined
Speaker: minutes. (10:01):
undefined
Speaker: It was the cutest thing. (10:01):
undefined
Speaker: And he finishes up and he looks (10:02):
undefined
Speaker: at me and he goes, that song was (10:04):
undefined
Speaker: about hope. (10:06):
undefined
Speaker: Jesus is hope. (10:08):
undefined
Speaker: And it was just this moment (10:09):
undefined
Speaker: where my heart completely (10:11):
undefined
Speaker: exploded. (10:12):
undefined
Speaker: It was so sweet. (10:13):
undefined
Speaker: But it's like, yes, Jesus is our hope. (10:14):
undefined
Speaker: And even in the absolute darkest (10:16):
undefined
Speaker: seasons, whether this is purely (10:18):
undefined
Speaker: a joyful Christmas season for (10:19):
undefined
Speaker: you, which I'm very glad for (10:21):
undefined
Speaker: you. (10:22):
undefined
Speaker: If that's the case, or whether this joy of the season is mixed (10:22):
undefined
Speaker: with a lot of darkness from your own personal life, you are in (10:26):
undefined
Speaker: the right place. (10:30):
undefined
Speaker: We know that we can find our hope in Jesus and I am glad that (10:31):
undefined
Speaker: you are here. (10:34):
undefined
Speaker: So again, head over to my bio. (10:35):
undefined
Speaker: You can download the free workbook. (10:37):
undefined
Speaker: This is a study that I'm doing (10:38):
undefined
Speaker: completely for free, but if you (10:39):
undefined
Speaker: would like to buy me a coffee, (10:41):
undefined
Speaker: the link to do that is in my bio (10:42):
undefined
Speaker: as well. (10:44):
undefined
Speaker: So make sure you hit follow so you get updates. (10:45):
undefined
Speaker: There will be another video tomorrow with that day's work. (10:48):
undefined
Speaker: How I have it set up. (10:51):
undefined
Speaker: It's not structured. (10:52):
undefined
Speaker: You can choose to kind of go through the work in one day if (10:54):
undefined
Speaker: that's how you prefer to work. (10:56):
undefined
Speaker: There is a suggested schedule. (10:57):
undefined
Speaker: I'll kind of scroll through the workbook here on the screen so (10:59):
undefined
Speaker: you can see what it looks like. (11:01):
undefined
Speaker: There's a suggested schedule if (11:03):
undefined
Speaker: you are more of a structured (11:04):
undefined
Speaker: person. (11:06):
undefined
Speaker: If you are, I highly envy you. (11:06):
undefined
Speaker: Um, but it is. (11:08):
undefined
Speaker: It is designed to be accessible for everyone, not overwhelming. (11:10):
undefined
Speaker: Just to add a little bit of food (11:13):
undefined
Speaker: for thought, add some scripture, (11:15):
undefined
Speaker: and add some celebration into (11:16):
undefined
Speaker: your daily life here in the (11:18):
undefined
Speaker: advent season. (11:19):
undefined
Speaker: So again, it's specifically designed for people with ADHD or (11:20):
undefined
Speaker: who have chaos in their brains, because that is definitely me. (11:24):
undefined
Speaker: Um, but make sure you download the workbook. (11:27):
undefined
Speaker: Share this with a friend who needs to hear it. (11:29):
undefined
Speaker: Buy me a coffee if you feel so (11:31):
undefined
Speaker: inclined and I will see you (11:32):
undefined
Speaker: tomorrow. (11:33):
undefined
Speaker: Bye. (11:34):
undefined
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