Episode Transcript
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Speaker:
We are on day six of our ADHD
friendly advent study, so let's (00:00):
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Speaker: go ahead and dig in. (00:03):
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Speaker: But real quick, if you are new here, my name is Rachel. (00:04):
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Speaker: I'm an ADHD and a Jesus follower and I help women with chaotic (00:07):
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Speaker: brains seek, find, and live the abundant life Jesus promises. (00:10):
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Speaker: This is a study that I am doing through the season of advent. (00:14):
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Speaker: You are not behind if you are just finding it. (00:17):
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Speaker: It's specifically designed to be low effort and high impact. (00:19):
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Speaker: There is a suggested schedule in (00:23):
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Speaker: the free workbook that's (00:25):
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Speaker: available at the link in the (00:26):
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Speaker: place where links typically (00:27):
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Speaker: live. (00:29):
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Speaker: Um, that is free. (00:29):
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Speaker: You can go grab that. (00:30):
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Speaker: That would be very, very helpful to you. (00:31):
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Speaker: So there is a suggested schedule in there. (00:34):
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Speaker: But if you prefer a little bit more free flowing of structure, (00:36):
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Speaker: if you're not a structure gal, that is totally fine. (00:39):
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Speaker: You can do it however you would like, but there is a suggested (00:41):
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Speaker: schedule if that is better for how your brain works. (00:44):
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Speaker: All right, let's go ahead and dive in. (00:47):
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Speaker: So we've got three items on the docket for today. (00:49):
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Speaker: We are rereading Luke one thirty seven, doing some listening (00:51):
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Speaker: prayer on that, which we will kind of talk through. (00:55):
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Speaker: Then we've got a journaling prompt. (00:57):
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Speaker: And finally there are some extra resources to go through. (00:59):
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Speaker: So the verse we are reading (01:03):
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Speaker: today is from yesterday's (01:04):
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Speaker: reading. (01:06):
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Speaker: We're still in Luke one, but we (01:06):
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Speaker: are in verse thirty seven, for (01:08):
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Speaker: nothing will be impossible with (01:11):
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Speaker: God. (01:13):
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Speaker: It is a short one. (01:13):
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Speaker: It is a sweet one, but it is (01:14):
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Speaker: also one that can bring up a lot (01:16):
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Speaker: for people. (01:18):
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Speaker: So what I would like for you to do now, and you can pause and (01:19):
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Speaker: take some time to do this and then come back. (01:21):
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Speaker: That is what I would recommend. (01:23):
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Speaker: Again, all of this is in the workbook. (01:24):
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Speaker: You can go download that at the (01:26):
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Speaker: link in the place where links (01:28):
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Speaker: live. (01:29):
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Speaker: Um, but we are going to do some listening prayer. (01:29):
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Speaker: If you are new to listening prayer that is a okay. (01:33):
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Speaker: Basically what I want you to do is grab your journal, grab your (01:36):
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Speaker: Bible, and find as quiet of a place as you can. (01:40):
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Speaker: This is not you know, this is (01:43):
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Speaker: not a place where you need (01:45):
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Speaker: perfection. (01:46):
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Speaker: You don't need a completely like (01:46):
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Speaker: stone quiet or stones quiet, I (01:48):
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Speaker: guess. (01:51):
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Speaker: So, uh, you don't need a (01:51):
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Speaker: completely silent room to sit (01:53):
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Speaker: in. (01:55):
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Speaker: Um, a lot of us have really busy, chaotic lives. (01:56):
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Speaker: Some of us have tiny little people running around screaming (01:58):
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Speaker: for our attention. (02:01):
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Speaker: Like whatever your specific situation is, find the most (02:02):
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Speaker: peaceful place possible. (02:06):
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Speaker: For me, that typically looks like somewhere in nature. (02:07):
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Speaker: This is my backyard, I love it. (02:11):
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Speaker: I love my backyard so much. (02:13):
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Speaker: Um, but it is just being (02:15):
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Speaker: surrounded by nature really (02:17):
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Speaker: helps me connect with God the (02:18):
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Speaker: best. (02:20):
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Speaker: So maybe there is a closet that (02:21):
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Speaker: you like to sit in when you need (02:23):
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Speaker: a moment. (02:24):
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Speaker: Honestly, maybe it's like sitting in the tub or on the (02:25):
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Speaker: bathroom floor with the door closed so the little people (02:28):
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Speaker: can't find you quite yet. (02:31):
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Speaker: Maybe it's in your car when you're coming home from work, (02:32):
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Speaker: and you do that thing where you kind of, like, sit in your car (02:35):
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Speaker: to decompress for a while. (02:37):
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Speaker: Don't get stuck. (02:38):
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Speaker: I get stuck there sometimes. (02:39):
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Speaker: But anyways, whatever realistic peace looks like for you today, (02:40):
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Speaker: whatever is going to be doable right now, I want you to go find (02:45):
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Speaker: that place and we're going to sit in silence. (02:50):
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Speaker: As much silence as we can manage. (02:54):
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Speaker: Again, it doesn't have to be perfect. (02:56):
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Speaker: And you're going to start with a prayer that essentially just (02:58):
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Speaker: opens your heart up to God. (03:01):
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Speaker: There I have my specific prayer that I use at the beginning of (03:04):
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Speaker: my listening prayer in the workbook, which I will pull up (03:07):
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Speaker: and read to you. (03:10):
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Speaker: Um, I pretty much just do some (03:11):
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Speaker: variation of this every time I'm (03:14):
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Speaker: going to do listening prayer, (03:15):
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Speaker: but it goes along the lines of (03:17):
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Speaker: Heavenly Father, I invite you (03:19):
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Speaker: in. (03:20):
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Speaker: Please silence any voices that are not yours and bind the enemy (03:21):
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Speaker: so he's unable to interfere. (03:24):
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Speaker: I ask for you to open my eyes and my mind and my heart to see, (03:25):
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Speaker: hear and obey your word as you would have me do it. (03:29):
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Speaker: Please bring anything to the surface, known or unknown, that (03:33):
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Speaker: is keeping me from being fully connected to you. (03:36):
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Speaker: That's pretty much it. (03:39):
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Speaker: So we're inviting God in. (03:41):
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Speaker: We're asking him to speak. (03:42):
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Speaker: We're asking him to open our hearts and our minds, and we are (03:43):
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Speaker: asking him to get things out of the way that need to be moved. (03:46):
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Speaker: That part can be painful, but (03:49):
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Speaker: that's another story for another (03:51):
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Speaker: time. (03:52):
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Speaker: So once you have taken some time to settle, then we're going to (03:53):
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Speaker: write out the verse. (03:58):
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Speaker: I just writing the word really helps me connect to it. (03:59):
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Speaker: Writing anything we know. (04:02):
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Speaker: Research tells us that writing (04:04):
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Speaker: things helps it connect with our (04:05):
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Speaker: brain. (04:07):
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Speaker: It helps us understand. (04:07):
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Speaker: It helps us learn. (04:08):
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Speaker: So personally, I like to write the verse in cursive and then (04:10):
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Speaker: everything else in print. (04:13):
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Speaker: That's just like a fun little (04:14):
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Speaker: thing for me, and it feels like (04:15):
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Speaker: a little bit more of like an (04:16):
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Speaker: elevation. (04:17):
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Speaker: Since we're writing scripture, it's like, oh, it's fancy. (04:17):
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Speaker: It's it's cursive. (04:20):
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Speaker: You do not have to do that. (04:21):
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Speaker: That's just what I do. (04:22):
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Speaker: And from there, the question I always start with is, what do (04:25):
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Speaker: you want me to know today? (04:29):
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Speaker: And then you just sit. (04:32):
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Speaker: You allow the spirit to bring to (04:34):
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Speaker: the surface, whatever that may (04:37):
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Speaker: be. (04:39):
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Speaker: Now, there's a lot of questions that go into listening. (04:39):
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Speaker: Prayer. (04:41):
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Speaker: One of the biggest is, okay, how (04:42):
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Speaker: do I know if I'm just hearing my (04:43):
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Speaker: own thoughts, or if I'm hearing (04:45):
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Speaker: God's voice? (04:47):
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Speaker: And I'm going to make the argument that if you know God's (04:48):
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Speaker: Word, it doesn't really matter. (04:52):
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Speaker: Now, that might sound a little bit crazy. (04:55):
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Speaker: I do very much believe that I (04:57):
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Speaker: hear God's voice when I am doing (04:58):
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Speaker: listening prayer. (05:01):
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Speaker: But even if you are not sure (05:02):
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Speaker: about that, when you are (05:04):
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Speaker: operating from a place of (05:05):
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Speaker: authenticity, when you are (05:06):
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Speaker: engaging in God's Word, in good (05:08):
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Speaker: faith, when you are genuinely (05:10):
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Speaker: trying to get to know him, it's (05:11):
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Speaker: kind of like any friend that you (05:13):
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Speaker: have, right? (05:15):
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Speaker: If you know your friend really, (05:16):
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Speaker: really well, you can kind of (05:17):
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Speaker: know what their response to (05:19):
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Speaker: something would be or what they (05:20):
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Speaker: might say. (05:21):
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Speaker: For example, my mom's opinion of a lot of the things that I do is (05:23):
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Speaker: that it's fabulous. (05:27):
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Speaker: That's her favorite word. (05:28):
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Speaker: She's like, oh, that's fabulous. (05:29):
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Speaker: Oh, this bread is fabulous. (05:30):
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Speaker: Oh, this this is fabulous. (05:31):
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Speaker: And so if I do something that I know that my mom would have a (05:33):
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Speaker: positive reaction to, I can basically already know what (05:36):
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Speaker: she's gonna say, right? (05:39):
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Speaker: She's gonna go, oh, Rachel, that's fabulous. (05:40):
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Speaker: It's kind of the same concept with God when we know the word, (05:42):
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Speaker: when we are taking his Word in, when we are learning His word (05:46):
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Speaker: and studying his precepts, and genuinely trying to understand (05:50):
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Speaker: and know and learn his heart and imitate his heart. (05:53):
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Speaker: A lot of times we can know what he would say about something. (05:58):
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Speaker: And so especially if you are (06:01):
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Speaker: skeptical about this and it's (06:03):
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Speaker: totally fine if you are (06:04):
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Speaker: skeptical. (06:05):
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Speaker: The first time I heard of the concept of listening prayer, I (06:05):
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Speaker: was like, oh, oh, it's a cult. (06:08):
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Speaker: It's not a cult. (06:12):
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Speaker: I absolutely promise you, even (06:13):
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Speaker: if this is something that is (06:15):
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Speaker: really difficult for you to wrap (06:17):
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Speaker: your brain around, I want you to (06:18):
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Speaker: just think about it as a (06:19):
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Speaker: journaling exercise, where you (06:21):
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Speaker: are thinking through your (06:23):
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Speaker: knowledge of God and His Word (06:24):
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Speaker: and going, okay, what would (06:26):
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Speaker: God's response be in a situation (06:27):
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Speaker: like this? (06:28):
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Speaker: And then from there, when you have a prompt or when you have (06:30):
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Speaker: something that you are writing down, when you have an answer, (06:33):
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Speaker: then you can go back and pray over it and go, okay, God, I (06:36):
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Speaker: need you to direct me. (06:39):
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Speaker: Is this your voice that I'm hearing? (06:40):
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Speaker: You know, is this true? (06:42):
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Speaker: Is this what your response would be to something? (06:43):
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Speaker: And we've all experienced little nudges in our spirit, right. (06:45):
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Speaker: Whether you want to call that your conscience, whether you (06:49):
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Speaker: want to call that the Holy Spirit, whatever the case may (06:50):
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Speaker: be, we've all experienced a little nudge before, and it (06:52):
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Speaker: takes a lot of practice. (06:57):
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Speaker: But listening to those nudges while informing them with (06:59):
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Speaker: Scripture listening prayer is not in any way, shape or form a (07:02):
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Speaker: substitute for Scripture. (07:06):
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Speaker: It will never contradict scripture anything. (07:07):
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Speaker: If you hear something that's like completely contrary to (07:09):
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Speaker: Scripture and the nature of God and the nature of Jesus, that is (07:12):
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Speaker: not God talking to you. (07:16):
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Speaker: Um, but when you are genuinely operating in good faith, taking (07:18):
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Speaker: in the word, digging into God's Spirit and who he is, getting to (07:23):
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Speaker: know him, this can be a really wonderful way, even if it is (07:27):
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Speaker: just a thought exercise for you. (07:31):
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Speaker: Even if it is purely theoretical for you to go, okay, what would (07:33):
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Speaker: God say about this? (07:37):
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Speaker: There is so much value that can be found here. (07:39):
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Speaker: So I want you to take some time and do what we just described (07:41):
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Speaker: with Luke one thirty seven. (07:44):
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Speaker: You can use whatever version you would like. (07:46):
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Speaker: I always recommend looking at a couple different versions. (07:48):
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Speaker: There is no perfect version of the Bible. (07:51):
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Speaker: The Bible is a translation (07:53):
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Speaker: that's it's never going to be (07:55):
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Speaker: perfect. (07:56):
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Speaker: So looking at multiple translations and digging into (07:57):
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Speaker: the original text and the historical context is crucially (07:59):
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Speaker: important for understanding what Scripture actually says. (08:02):
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Speaker: There are plenty of examples of verses that, when looked at in (08:05):
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Speaker: plain English, seem very clearly to mean one thing. (08:08):
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Speaker: But when you look at them with (08:10):
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Speaker: the context, with the original (08:11):
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Speaker: language, all of that good (08:13):
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Speaker: stuff. (08:14):
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Speaker: It is a completely different meaning. (08:15):
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Speaker: So take some time. (08:17):
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Speaker: Pause. (08:19):
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Speaker: Go do some listening prayer on Luke one thirty seven and then (08:20):
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Speaker: we will move on. (08:24):
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Speaker: Once you're back. (08:24):
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Speaker: Go do it. (08:25):
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Speaker: I'm serious. (08:25):
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Speaker: Go do it. (08:26):
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Speaker: Okay. (08:27):
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Speaker: Did you do it? (08:27):
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Speaker: If not, here's one more chance to pause. (08:28):
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Speaker: Go do some listening prayer or some journaling, if that's what (08:30):
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Speaker: you want to call it. (08:33):
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Speaker: Whatever you want to do to (08:34):
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Speaker: engage with this verse on a (08:35):
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Speaker: deeper level. (08:36):
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Speaker: Go do that and then come back. (08:37):
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Speaker: Okay, let's move on for real this time. (08:39):
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Speaker: There are a couple extra resources that I pulled for you (08:42):
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Speaker: while you're going through this process, while you're going (08:45):
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Speaker: through this study. (08:47):
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Speaker: Those links are available in the workbook, which again is at the (08:48):
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Speaker: link in the place where go over to my profile. (08:51):
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Speaker: You'll see it. (08:54):
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Speaker: Um, but those links are in there. (08:55):
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Speaker: There is an article from the Bible Project. (08:57):
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Speaker: I'm a huge fan of the Bible Project. (09:00):
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Speaker: They are fantastic. (09:01):
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Speaker: They. (09:03):
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Speaker: Their hearts are so beautiful. (09:04):
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Speaker: They have such an intense, deep knowledge of the Word of God and (09:05):
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Speaker: of the original context and of the original language. (09:08):
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Speaker: It's phenomenal. (09:11):
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Speaker: And everything over there is free. (09:12):
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Speaker: So definitely go check out the Bible Project, go support them. (09:14):
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Speaker: But they have a really fantastic article that outlines and dives (09:17):
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Speaker: deep on what is advent and what can we learn from it. (09:20):
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Speaker: There are a couple highlights that I pulled from it that I (09:24):
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Speaker: will be sending out. (09:27):
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Speaker: I do a weekly newsletter called The Sabbath Edit that gets sent (09:28):
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Speaker: out on Sundays. (09:32):
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Speaker: You can probably guess. (09:33):
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Speaker: Um, but if you want to sign up for that and receive that (09:34):
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Speaker: newsletter every week, that'll have kind of what I'm learning (09:39):
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Speaker: that week, some podcast episodes or some articles or things that (09:41):
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Speaker: I found really interesting, a couple things that I'm really (09:45):
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Speaker: enjoying that week and that gets sent out on Sunday. (09:48):
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Speaker: So if you want to join that, you can head over to the link in my (09:50):
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Speaker: profile as well. (09:53):
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Speaker: Um, but I would very, very strongly encourage you to go (09:54):
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Speaker: read the article about advent from the Bible Project. (09:57):
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Speaker: And if you don't want to go pull the link from the workbook, you (10:00):
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Speaker: can just Google search it, Advent Bible Project and you (10:03):
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Speaker: should be good to go. (10:07):
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Speaker: The sun got real intense, so I pulled the shade down. (10:08):
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Speaker: I just have the workbook pulled up here on my iPad, which again (10:10):
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Speaker: go download it. (10:14):
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Speaker: It is free. (10:15):
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Speaker: Um, so journaling prompt number five for the scripture portion (10:16):
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Speaker: this week is Luke one thirty seven tells us nothing will be (10:20):
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Speaker: impossible with God. (10:24):
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Speaker: What feelings, thoughts, (10:25):
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Speaker: memories, or ideas rise to the (10:27):
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Speaker: surface when you read this (10:28):
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Speaker: verse? (10:29):
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Speaker: Now what I want you to do. (10:30):
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Speaker: This is another point where I'm going to tell you to pause. (10:31):
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Speaker: Go do some journaling on that particular question. (10:34):
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Speaker: You can rewind it as many times as you need to, but pause here, (10:37):
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Speaker: go do the journaling portion and then come back. (10:40):
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Speaker: Did you do it? (10:44):
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Speaker: Did you pause it? (10:45):
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Speaker: Did you go journal? (10:45):
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Speaker: If you didn't go do it and then we'll continue. (10:47):
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Speaker: Oh, cool. (10:49):
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Speaker: I recorded the entire rest of (10:50):
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Speaker: the video and then it got (10:51):
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Speaker: deleted. (10:52):
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Speaker: All right. (10:53):
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Speaker: Well, anyways, so what I would like to do, I am just going to (10:53):
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Speaker: go ahead and read what I got. (10:58):
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Speaker: Um, you know what came to my heart when I was doing this (11:00):
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Speaker: scripture prompt today? (11:03):
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Speaker: And now I'm trying to remember what I have already said that (11:05):
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Speaker: got recorded in the video. (11:07):
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Speaker: Um, and what didn't. (11:09):
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Speaker: So if I end up repeating myself, (11:11):
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Speaker: I'm sorry, but, you know, I try (11:13):
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Speaker: to be as authentic as I can on (11:14):
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Speaker: this channel. (11:16):
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Speaker: It's not published. (11:16):
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Speaker: My podcast episodes, uh, the long ones are quite a bit more (11:17):
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Speaker: polished, but especially here on this particular platform. (11:20):
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Speaker: I like to just keep it real. (11:23):
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Speaker: So, you know what? (11:24):
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Speaker: If I repeat myself, I repeat myself. (11:25):
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Speaker: Um, so be it. (11:28):
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Speaker: But I have been. (11:29):
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Speaker: I've tried to be as vulnerable as possible here on this (11:30):
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Speaker: channel, um, that it's been a very, very difficult season and (11:32):
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Speaker: a very long, difficult season. (11:35):
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Speaker: Um, even before my husband and I met, um, I've talked quite a bit (11:37):
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Speaker: about our story, but long story short, we both went through our (11:40):
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Speaker: own brutal divorces. (11:43):
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Speaker: Um, and then he was diagnosed with brain cancer. (11:44):
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Speaker: Actually, the brain cancer diagnosis happened earlier, but (11:48):
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Speaker: that's a whole thing. (11:50):
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Speaker: Um, and then when we found each (11:51):
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Speaker: other and got married less than (11:53):
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Speaker: two months into marriage, more (11:54):
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Speaker: cancer. (11:57):
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Speaker: Uh, he wasn't even finished with treatment for the first one yet. (11:57):
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Speaker: Then he ended up losing his job. (12:00):
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Speaker: Uh, which is a whole thing, which was a very, let's say, the (12:02):
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Speaker: word unfair situation. (12:06):
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Speaker: We'll just say it was an unfair situation. (12:07):
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Speaker: Um, and he has been looking for another job for quite a while (12:09):
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Speaker: now, and it's just been a very long season of uncertainty. (12:12):
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Speaker: There's still so much to be incredibly grateful for. (12:15):
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Speaker: We are still very privileged (12:17):
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Speaker: people to be in the position (12:19):
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Speaker: that we are, even with the stuff (12:21):
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Speaker: that we have dealt with, and (12:22):
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Speaker: there is so much to be grateful (12:23):
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Speaker: for. (12:24):
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Speaker: But it's also really freaking heavy sometimes. (12:25):
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Speaker: And so I just want to read to you the prompt, uh, or what came (12:27):
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Speaker: to my heart when I was journaling through this prompt. (12:31):
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Speaker: And there's, there's a point once we kind of get to the (12:33):
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Speaker: middle, that's what I really, really want to talk about. (12:35):
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Speaker: So it's a mix of trepidation. (12:37):
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Speaker: Well, let me read the question one more time. (12:39):
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Speaker: Sorry. (12:41):
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Speaker: We're a little it's a little chaotic today. (12:41):
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Speaker: But like I said, we're going with authentic over polished, (12:44):
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Speaker: particularly on this platform. (12:46):
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Speaker: Uh, so the prompt one more time (12:48):
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Speaker: is Luke one thirty seven tells (12:49):
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Speaker: us nothing will be impossible (12:51):
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Speaker: with God. (12:52):
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Speaker: What feelings, thoughts, (12:53):
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Speaker: memories or ideas rise to the (12:54):
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Speaker: surface when you read this (12:55):
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Speaker: verse? (12:57):
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Speaker: And so here's my answer. (12:59):
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Speaker: It's a mix of trepidation, hope, excitement, and discomfort. (13:00):
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Speaker: I'm still struggling with how difficult it's felt in this (13:03):
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Speaker: season of refinement. (13:06):
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Speaker: And here's here's what I really want to get into. (13:07):
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Speaker: Perhaps the hesitation is (13:10):
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Speaker: actually contributing to (13:12):
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Speaker: Ungratefulness. (13:14):
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Speaker: These feelings are in the way of (13:15):
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Speaker: giving as much glory to God as I (13:16):
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Speaker: can. (13:18):
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Speaker: They're a distraction and I need to surrender them. (13:18):
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Speaker: I've talked quite a bit, even especially during this study, (13:21):
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Speaker: about how when God gives me a yes, when a prayer is answered, (13:24):
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Speaker: when I receive something I've been hoping and praying for, it (13:28):
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Speaker: almost causes an anxiety reaction in me. (13:31):
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Speaker: I start to kind of question, okay, this is great, but when is (13:34):
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Speaker: the other shoe going to drop? (13:37):
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Speaker: When is it going to come in? (13:38):
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Speaker: What the the lesson is, where is (13:39):
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Speaker: the refinement that's going to (13:41):
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Speaker: come? (13:43):
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Speaker: Because of course with anything (13:43):
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Speaker: good, there's also going to be (13:44):
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Speaker: bad. (13:46):
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Speaker: And I almost like brace for impact. (13:46):
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Speaker: And I didn't realize until I was (13:49):
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Speaker: journaling on this this morning (13:51):
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Speaker: that because I'm going through (13:53):
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Speaker: this as you are, I'm going (13:54):
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Speaker: through the study in real time (13:55):
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Speaker: alongside you. (13:57):
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Speaker: And I started to realize that maybe this bracing for impact, (13:58):
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Speaker: maybe this hesitation to just embrace what God is giving me (14:02):
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Speaker: with joy Is standing in the way of giving as much glory to God (14:07):
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Speaker: as I can, which then in turn is getting in the way of (14:11):
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Speaker: experiencing as much joy as possible from what God is giving (14:15):
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Speaker: me at any given time. (14:20):
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Speaker: And two things can be true at the same time, right? (14:23):
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Speaker: Something can be really hard, but also really good. (14:25):
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Speaker: That's actually something God (14:29):
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Speaker: said to me while I was doing (14:30):
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Speaker: listening prayer on Luke one (14:31):
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Speaker: thirty seven this morning, he (14:32):
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Speaker: said, good and hard are never (14:34):
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Speaker: mutually exclusive. (14:36):
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Speaker: What you think you want will always pale in comparison to (14:37):
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Speaker: what I have for you. (14:40):
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Speaker: When you trust me. (14:40):
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Speaker: Come deeper still, daughter. (14:42):
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Speaker: There's so much more to see, to experience, to taste, to grasp. (14:43):
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Speaker: And I think this morning is (14:46):
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Speaker: actually a perfect example of (14:47):
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Speaker: that. (14:48):
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Speaker: So for those who don't know, um, I co-parent my son with my (14:49):
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Speaker: ex-husband as well as, um, my husband's kiddos with his ex. (14:53):
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Speaker: And this morning I had to drop my little guy off. (14:57):
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Speaker: He's four. (15:00):
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Speaker: I dropped him off at school and we do exchanges at school. (15:01):
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Speaker: That's just easier for him. (15:03):
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Speaker: And so it's the end of my week (15:05):
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Speaker: with him, so I won't see him (15:06):
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Speaker: again until I pick him up next (15:08):
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Speaker: Friday. (15:10):
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Speaker: And being a co-parent is a really wild thing. (15:12):
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Speaker: Uh, because, you know, on one hand, tonight we are kid free. (15:16):
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Speaker: My husband and I are kid free. (15:20):
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Speaker: We get to eat what we want. (15:21):
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Speaker: We get to watch what we want. (15:22):
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Speaker: We get to do whatever we want. (15:23):
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Speaker: And that can be really exciting. (15:25):
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Speaker: You know, we've we've kind of trained ourselves to look at the (15:27):
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Speaker: time away from our kids as time to be just Rach and Cam instead (15:29):
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Speaker: of mom and dad. (15:34):
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Speaker: And so that was that's intentional. (15:35):
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Speaker: Like it especially in the early (15:39):
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Speaker: days, you know, giving my son (15:41):
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Speaker: over to my ex felt like losing (15:43):
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Speaker: part of my body for a little (15:45):
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Speaker: while. (15:47):
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Speaker: Um, and so this has been a very (15:47):
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Speaker: intentional mindset shift that (15:49):
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Speaker: we've made. (15:50):
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Speaker: So on one hand, we're like, okay, cool. (15:51):
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Speaker: We get just some us time tonight. (15:53):
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Speaker: We get a we get a break from kids, from being mom and dad. (15:54):
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Speaker: We get to just like be ourselves (15:57):
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Speaker: and not be responsible for (16:00):
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Speaker: anyone. (16:01):
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Speaker: But at the same time, you best believe every time I drop that (16:02):
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Speaker: little guy off on Fridays, I get in my car and I cry. (16:06):
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Speaker: And I've tried to be open with him. (16:09):
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Speaker: I'm like, wow, baby. (16:11):
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Speaker: Like, I'm so gonna miss you. (16:12):
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Speaker: I'm so glad you get to go see Daddy and Mommy. (16:13):
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Speaker: Cali, I'm so glad you get to go see your sisters. (16:16):
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Speaker: I'm gonna miss you, but I'm so glad you get to go and do that. (16:19):
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Speaker: And so for both of us, he gets to go see his other family who (16:23):
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Speaker: loves him so much, who he has so much fun with. (16:27):
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Speaker: He's the oldest over there, and he's the youngest over here, and (16:30):
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Speaker: sometimes the only child. (16:34):
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Speaker: It's like a whole thing. (16:35):
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Speaker: But for him, it's so good because he gets to see people (16:36):
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Speaker: he's been missing for a week. (16:40):
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Speaker: But it's also really difficult. (16:41):
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Speaker: He hates going back and forth, (16:43):
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Speaker: and he misses me when he's gone (16:45):
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Speaker: from me and he misses his dad (16:47):
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Speaker: and his mom, his other mom and (16:49):
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Speaker: his other sisters when he's not (16:50):
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Speaker: with them. (16:52):
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Speaker: And it's the same for me. (16:53):
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Speaker: I enjoy getting to spend one on (16:54):
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Speaker: one time with my husband, but I (16:57):
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Speaker: also miss my kids when they're (16:59):
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Speaker: not here. (17:01):
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Speaker: Um, and so something can be really difficult, but really (17:02):
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Speaker: good at the same time. (17:05):
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Speaker: And what I want to encourage you to focus on today along with me, (17:07):
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Speaker: like I said, I am doing this along with you. (17:10):
undefined
Speaker: I'm doing this study along with you. (17:12):
undefined
Speaker: I haven't, you know, gone through and done these before. (17:13):
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Speaker: I'm going through all of this material for the first time at (17:15):
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Speaker: the same time you are. (17:17):
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Speaker: And so this was the first time (17:19):
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Speaker: that I ever really thought about (17:20):
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Speaker: this. (17:22):
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Speaker: And I want to encourage you today to focus on this with me. (17:22):
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Speaker: Where could you be stealing joy from yourself and glory from God (17:25):
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Speaker: primarily glory from God? (17:30):
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Speaker: Where could you be stealing (17:31):
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Speaker: glory from God, but also in turn (17:32):
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Speaker: stealing joy from your own (17:34):
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Speaker: experience because you are (17:36):
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Speaker: focused on what is difficult (17:38):
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Speaker: about a situation instead of the (17:39):
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Speaker: good. (17:43):
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Speaker: Now I want to be super clear. (17:43):
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Speaker: That does not mean adopting a mindset of toxic positivity. (17:44):
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Speaker: Things are hard and it's okay (17:48):
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Speaker: that they're hard, and it's (17:50):
undefined
Speaker: healthy to acknowledge that they (17:51):
undefined
Speaker: are hard. (17:53):
undefined
Speaker: But there is a difference between going, wow, this is (17:53):
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Speaker: incredibly challenging, and I would very strongly prefer not (17:56):
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Speaker: to be in this situation and just pretending it's not a bad (17:59):
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Speaker: situation at all. (18:02):
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Speaker: Those are two very, very different things, and it's a (18:03):
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Speaker: very important nuance to make. (18:05):
undefined
Speaker: So we are being realistic about our circumstances, but we are (18:07):
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Speaker: also choosing to embrace the joy of what God is giving us. (18:10):
undefined
Speaker: So that would be a great journal prompt. (18:14):
undefined
Speaker: If you would like to break out your journal for a little more (18:16):
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Speaker: time today, or you can just think on it. (18:17):
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Speaker: Whatever the case may be, I would love to hear your thoughts (18:19):
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Speaker: in the comments. (18:21):
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Speaker: Uh, these videos also get uploaded on as podcast episodes (18:22):
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Speaker: on my podcast, The True Grit Podcast with Rachel Grit. (18:25):
undefined
Speaker: You can find the link to that where the links live as well. (18:28):
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Speaker: Um, please make sure you like this video. (18:32):
undefined
Speaker: Share it! (18:33):
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Speaker: You can tag a friend, email it to a friend, post it on social, (18:34):
undefined
Speaker: whatever the case may be. (18:37):
undefined
Speaker: Um, I am doing this for free, so (18:39):
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Speaker: if you would like to support me, (18:41):
undefined
Speaker: support the study and buy me a (18:42):
undefined
Speaker: coffee. (18:44):
undefined
Speaker: You can do that at my link over in the link place as well. (18:44):
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Speaker: Um, make sure you download your workbook. (18:47):
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Speaker: Uh, there will be an updated (18:50):
undefined
Speaker: version of the workbook this (18:51):
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Speaker: coming weekend. (18:52):
undefined
Speaker: I am working on that today, and every week we'll be rolling out (18:53):
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Speaker: the content fresh for the next. (18:57):
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Speaker: This was week one. (18:59):
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Speaker: There will be three more weeks after this one. (19:00):
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Speaker: Um, and that will also, uh, get (19:03):
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Speaker: sent out in the Sabbath edit, (19:05):
undefined
Speaker: which is the newsletter that I (19:07):
undefined
Speaker: talked about. (19:08):
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Speaker: So. Okay, I will see you tomorrow. (19:09):
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Speaker: Bye. (19:11):
undefined
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Speaker: go ahead and dig in. (00:03):
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Speaker: But real quick, if you are new here, my name is Rachel. (00:04):
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Speaker: I'm an ADHD and a Jesus follower and I help women with chaotic (00:07):
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Speaker: brains seek, find, and live the abundant life Jesus promises. (00:10):
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Speaker: This is a study that I am doing through the season of advent. (00:14):
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Speaker: You are not behind if you are just finding it. (00:17):
undefined
Speaker: It's specifically designed to be low effort and high impact. (00:19):
undefined
Speaker: There is a suggested schedule in (00:23):
undefined
Speaker: the free workbook that's (00:25):
undefined
Speaker: available at the link in the (00:26):
undefined
Speaker: place where links typically (00:27):
undefined
Speaker: live. (00:29):
undefined
Speaker: Um, that is free. (00:29):
undefined
Speaker: You can go grab that. (00:30):
undefined
Speaker: That would be very, very helpful to you. (00:31):
undefined
Speaker: So there is a suggested schedule in there. (00:34):
undefined
Speaker: But if you prefer a little bit more free flowing of structure, (00:36):
undefined
Speaker: if you're not a structure gal, that is totally fine. (00:39):
undefined
Speaker: You can do it however you would like, but there is a suggested (00:41):
undefined
Speaker: schedule if that is better for how your brain works. (00:44):
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Speaker: All right, let's go ahead and dive in. (00:47):
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Speaker: So we've got three items on the docket for today. (00:49):
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Speaker: We are rereading Luke one thirty seven, doing some listening (00:51):
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Speaker: prayer on that, which we will kind of talk through. (00:55):
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Speaker: Then we've got a journaling prompt. (00:57):
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Speaker: And finally there are some extra resources to go through. (00:59):
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Speaker: So the verse we are reading (01:03):
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Speaker: today is from yesterday's (01:04):
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Speaker: reading. (01:06):
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Speaker: We're still in Luke one, but we (01:06):
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Speaker: are in verse thirty seven, for (01:08):
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Speaker: nothing will be impossible with (01:11):
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Speaker: God. (01:13):
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Speaker: It is a short one. (01:13):
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Speaker: It is a sweet one, but it is (01:14):
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Speaker: also one that can bring up a lot (01:16):
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Speaker: for people. (01:18):
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Speaker: So what I would like for you to do now, and you can pause and (01:19):
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Speaker: take some time to do this and then come back. (01:21):
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Speaker: That is what I would recommend. (01:23):
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Speaker: Again, all of this is in the workbook. (01:24):
undefined
Speaker: You can go download that at the (01:26):
undefined
Speaker: link in the place where links (01:28):
undefined
Speaker: live. (01:29):
undefined
Speaker: Um, but we are going to do some listening prayer. (01:29):
undefined
Speaker: If you are new to listening prayer that is a okay. (01:33):
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Speaker: Basically what I want you to do is grab your journal, grab your (01:36):
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Speaker: Bible, and find as quiet of a place as you can. (01:40):
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Speaker: This is not you know, this is (01:43):
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Speaker: not a place where you need (01:45):
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Speaker: perfection. (01:46):
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Speaker: You don't need a completely like (01:46):
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Speaker: stone quiet or stones quiet, I (01:48):
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Speaker: guess. (01:51):
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Speaker: So, uh, you don't need a (01:51):
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Speaker: completely silent room to sit (01:53):
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Speaker: in. (01:55):
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Speaker: Um, a lot of us have really busy, chaotic lives. (01:56):
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Speaker: Some of us have tiny little people running around screaming (01:58):
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Speaker: for our attention. (02:01):
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Speaker: Like whatever your specific situation is, find the most (02:02):
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Speaker: peaceful place possible. (02:06):
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Speaker: For me, that typically looks like somewhere in nature. (02:07):
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Speaker: This is my backyard, I love it. (02:11):
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Speaker: I love my backyard so much. (02:13):
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Speaker: Um, but it is just being (02:15):
undefined
Speaker: surrounded by nature really (02:17):
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Speaker: helps me connect with God the (02:18):
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Speaker: best. (02:20):
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Speaker: So maybe there is a closet that (02:21):
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Speaker: you like to sit in when you need (02:23):
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Speaker: a moment. (02:24):
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Speaker: Honestly, maybe it's like sitting in the tub or on the (02:25):
undefined
Speaker: bathroom floor with the door closed so the little people (02:28):
undefined
Speaker: can't find you quite yet. (02:31):
undefined
Speaker: Maybe it's in your car when you're coming home from work, (02:32):
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Speaker: and you do that thing where you kind of, like, sit in your car (02:35):
undefined
Speaker: to decompress for a while. (02:37):
undefined
Speaker: Don't get stuck. (02:38):
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Speaker: I get stuck there sometimes. (02:39):
undefined
Speaker: But anyways, whatever realistic peace looks like for you today, (02:40):
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Speaker: whatever is going to be doable right now, I want you to go find (02:45):
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Speaker: that place and we're going to sit in silence. (02:50):
undefined
Speaker: As much silence as we can manage. (02:54):
undefined
Speaker: Again, it doesn't have to be perfect. (02:56):
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Speaker: And you're going to start with a prayer that essentially just (02:58):
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Speaker: opens your heart up to God. (03:01):
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Speaker: There I have my specific prayer that I use at the beginning of (03:04):
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Speaker: my listening prayer in the workbook, which I will pull up (03:07):
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Speaker: and read to you. (03:10):
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Speaker: Um, I pretty much just do some (03:11):
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Speaker: variation of this every time I'm (03:14):
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Speaker: going to do listening prayer, (03:15):
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Speaker: but it goes along the lines of (03:17):
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Speaker: Heavenly Father, I invite you (03:19):
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Speaker: in. (03:20):
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Speaker: Please silence any voices that are not yours and bind the enemy (03:21):
undefined
Speaker: so he's unable to interfere. (03:24):
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Speaker: I ask for you to open my eyes and my mind and my heart to see, (03:25):
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Speaker: hear and obey your word as you would have me do it. (03:29):
undefined
Speaker: Please bring anything to the surface, known or unknown, that (03:33):
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Speaker: is keeping me from being fully connected to you. (03:36):
undefined
Speaker: That's pretty much it. (03:39):
undefined
Speaker: So we're inviting God in. (03:41):
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Speaker: We're asking him to speak. (03:42):
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Speaker: We're asking him to open our hearts and our minds, and we are (03:43):
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Speaker: asking him to get things out of the way that need to be moved. (03:46):
undefined
Speaker: That part can be painful, but (03:49):
undefined
Speaker: that's another story for another (03:51):
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Speaker: time. (03:52):
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Speaker: So once you have taken some time to settle, then we're going to (03:53):
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Speaker: write out the verse. (03:58):
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Speaker: I just writing the word really helps me connect to it. (03:59):
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Speaker: Writing anything we know. (04:02):
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Speaker: Research tells us that writing (04:04):
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Speaker: things helps it connect with our (04:05):
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Speaker: brain. (04:07):
undefined
Speaker: It helps us understand. (04:07):
undefined
Speaker: It helps us learn. (04:08):
undefined
Speaker: So personally, I like to write the verse in cursive and then (04:10):
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Speaker: everything else in print. (04:13):
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Speaker: That's just like a fun little (04:14):
undefined
Speaker: thing for me, and it feels like (04:15):
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Speaker: a little bit more of like an (04:16):
undefined
Speaker: elevation. (04:17):
undefined
Speaker: Since we're writing scripture, it's like, oh, it's fancy. (04:17):
undefined
Speaker: It's it's cursive. (04:20):
undefined
Speaker: You do not have to do that. (04:21):
undefined
Speaker: That's just what I do. (04:22):
undefined
Speaker: And from there, the question I always start with is, what do (04:25):
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Speaker: you want me to know today? (04:29):
undefined
Speaker: And then you just sit. (04:32):
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Speaker: You allow the spirit to bring to (04:34):
undefined
Speaker: the surface, whatever that may (04:37):
undefined
Speaker: be. (04:39):
undefined
Speaker: Now, there's a lot of questions that go into listening. (04:39):
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Speaker: Prayer. (04:41):
undefined
Speaker: One of the biggest is, okay, how (04:42):
undefined
Speaker: do I know if I'm just hearing my (04:43):
undefined
Speaker: own thoughts, or if I'm hearing (04:45):
undefined
Speaker: God's voice? (04:47):
undefined
Speaker: And I'm going to make the argument that if you know God's (04:48):
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Speaker: Word, it doesn't really matter. (04:52):
undefined
Speaker: Now, that might sound a little bit crazy. (04:55):
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Speaker: I do very much believe that I (04:57):
undefined
Speaker: hear God's voice when I am doing (04:58):
undefined
Speaker: listening prayer. (05:01):
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Speaker: But even if you are not sure (05:02):
undefined
Speaker: about that, when you are (05:04):
undefined
Speaker: operating from a place of (05:05):
undefined
Speaker: authenticity, when you are (05:06):
undefined
Speaker: engaging in God's Word, in good (05:08):
undefined
Speaker: faith, when you are genuinely (05:10):
undefined
Speaker: trying to get to know him, it's (05:11):
undefined
Speaker: kind of like any friend that you (05:13):
undefined
Speaker: have, right? (05:15):
undefined
Speaker: If you know your friend really, (05:16):
undefined
Speaker: really well, you can kind of (05:17):
undefined
Speaker: know what their response to (05:19):
undefined
Speaker: something would be or what they (05:20):
undefined
Speaker: might say. (05:21):
undefined
Speaker: For example, my mom's opinion of a lot of the things that I do is (05:23):
undefined
Speaker: that it's fabulous. (05:27):
undefined
Speaker: That's her favorite word. (05:28):
undefined
Speaker: She's like, oh, that's fabulous. (05:29):
undefined
Speaker: Oh, this bread is fabulous. (05:30):
undefined
Speaker: Oh, this this is fabulous. (05:31):
undefined
Speaker: And so if I do something that I know that my mom would have a (05:33):
undefined
Speaker: positive reaction to, I can basically already know what (05:36):
undefined
Speaker: she's gonna say, right? (05:39):
undefined
Speaker: She's gonna go, oh, Rachel, that's fabulous. (05:40):
undefined
Speaker: It's kind of the same concept with God when we know the word, (05:42):
undefined
Speaker: when we are taking his Word in, when we are learning His word (05:46):
undefined
Speaker: and studying his precepts, and genuinely trying to understand (05:50):
undefined
Speaker: and know and learn his heart and imitate his heart. (05:53):
undefined
Speaker: A lot of times we can know what he would say about something. (05:58):
undefined
Speaker: And so especially if you are (06:01):
undefined
Speaker: skeptical about this and it's (06:03):
undefined
Speaker: totally fine if you are (06:04):
undefined
Speaker: skeptical. (06:05):
undefined
Speaker: The first time I heard of the concept of listening prayer, I (06:05):
undefined
Speaker: was like, oh, oh, it's a cult. (06:08):
undefined
Speaker: It's not a cult. (06:12):
undefined
Speaker: I absolutely promise you, even (06:13):
undefined
Speaker: if this is something that is (06:15):
undefined
Speaker: really difficult for you to wrap (06:17):
undefined
Speaker: your brain around, I want you to (06:18):
undefined
Speaker: just think about it as a (06:19):
undefined
Speaker: journaling exercise, where you (06:21):
undefined
Speaker: are thinking through your (06:23):
undefined
Speaker: knowledge of God and His Word (06:24):
undefined
Speaker: and going, okay, what would (06:26):
undefined
Speaker: God's response be in a situation (06:27):
undefined
Speaker: like this? (06:28):
undefined
Speaker: And then from there, when you have a prompt or when you have (06:30):
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Speaker: something that you are writing down, when you have an answer, (06:33):
undefined
Speaker: then you can go back and pray over it and go, okay, God, I (06:36):
undefined
Speaker: need you to direct me. (06:39):
undefined
Speaker: Is this your voice that I'm hearing? (06:40):
undefined
Speaker: You know, is this true? (06:42):
undefined
Speaker: Is this what your response would be to something? (06:43):
undefined
Speaker: And we've all experienced little nudges in our spirit, right. (06:45):
undefined
Speaker: Whether you want to call that your conscience, whether you (06:49):
undefined
Speaker: want to call that the Holy Spirit, whatever the case may (06:50):
undefined
Speaker: be, we've all experienced a little nudge before, and it (06:52):
undefined
Speaker: takes a lot of practice. (06:57):
undefined
Speaker: But listening to those nudges while informing them with (06:59):
undefined
Speaker: Scripture listening prayer is not in any way, shape or form a (07:02):
undefined
Speaker: substitute for Scripture. (07:06):
undefined
Speaker: It will never contradict scripture anything. (07:07):
undefined
Speaker: If you hear something that's like completely contrary to (07:09):
undefined
Speaker: Scripture and the nature of God and the nature of Jesus, that is (07:12):
undefined
Speaker: not God talking to you. (07:16):
undefined
Speaker: Um, but when you are genuinely operating in good faith, taking (07:18):
undefined
Speaker: in the word, digging into God's Spirit and who he is, getting to (07:23):
undefined
Speaker: know him, this can be a really wonderful way, even if it is (07:27):
undefined
Speaker: just a thought exercise for you. (07:31):
undefined
Speaker: Even if it is purely theoretical for you to go, okay, what would (07:33):
undefined
Speaker: God say about this? (07:37):
undefined
Speaker: There is so much value that can be found here. (07:39):
undefined
Speaker: So I want you to take some time and do what we just described (07:41):
undefined
Speaker: with Luke one thirty seven. (07:44):
undefined
Speaker: You can use whatever version you would like. (07:46):
undefined
Speaker: I always recommend looking at a couple different versions. (07:48):
undefined
Speaker: There is no perfect version of the Bible. (07:51):
undefined
Speaker: The Bible is a translation (07:53):
undefined
Speaker: that's it's never going to be (07:55):
undefined
Speaker: perfect. (07:56):
undefined
Speaker: So looking at multiple translations and digging into (07:57):
undefined
Speaker: the original text and the historical context is crucially (07:59):
undefined
Speaker: important for understanding what Scripture actually says. (08:02):
undefined
Speaker: There are plenty of examples of verses that, when looked at in (08:05):
undefined
Speaker: plain English, seem very clearly to mean one thing. (08:08):
undefined
Speaker: But when you look at them with (08:10):
undefined
Speaker: the context, with the original (08:11):
undefined
Speaker: language, all of that good (08:13):
undefined
Speaker: stuff. (08:14):
undefined
Speaker: It is a completely different meaning. (08:15):
undefined
Speaker: So take some time. (08:17):
undefined
Speaker: Pause. (08:19):
undefined
Speaker: Go do some listening prayer on Luke one thirty seven and then (08:20):
undefined
Speaker: we will move on. (08:24):
undefined
Speaker: Once you're back. (08:24):
undefined
Speaker: Go do it. (08:25):
undefined
Speaker: I'm serious. (08:25):
undefined
Speaker: Go do it. (08:26):
undefined
Speaker: Okay. (08:27):
undefined
Speaker: Did you do it? (08:27):
undefined
Speaker: If not, here's one more chance to pause. (08:28):
undefined
Speaker: Go do some listening prayer or some journaling, if that's what (08:30):
undefined
Speaker: you want to call it. (08:33):
undefined
Speaker: Whatever you want to do to (08:34):
undefined
Speaker: engage with this verse on a (08:35):
undefined
Speaker: deeper level. (08:36):
undefined
Speaker: Go do that and then come back. (08:37):
undefined
Speaker: Okay, let's move on for real this time. (08:39):
undefined
Speaker: There are a couple extra resources that I pulled for you (08:42):
undefined
Speaker: while you're going through this process, while you're going (08:45):
undefined
Speaker: through this study. (08:47):
undefined
Speaker: Those links are available in the workbook, which again is at the (08:48):
undefined
Speaker: link in the place where go over to my profile. (08:51):
undefined
Speaker: You'll see it. (08:54):
undefined
Speaker: Um, but those links are in there. (08:55):
undefined
Speaker: There is an article from the Bible Project. (08:57):
undefined
Speaker: I'm a huge fan of the Bible Project. (09:00):
undefined
Speaker: They are fantastic. (09:01):
undefined
Speaker: They. (09:03):
undefined
Speaker: Their hearts are so beautiful. (09:04):
undefined
Speaker: They have such an intense, deep knowledge of the Word of God and (09:05):
undefined
Speaker: of the original context and of the original language. (09:08):
undefined
Speaker: It's phenomenal. (09:11):
undefined
Speaker: And everything over there is free. (09:12):
undefined
Speaker: So definitely go check out the Bible Project, go support them. (09:14):
undefined
Speaker: But they have a really fantastic article that outlines and dives (09:17):
undefined
Speaker: deep on what is advent and what can we learn from it. (09:20):
undefined
Speaker: There are a couple highlights that I pulled from it that I (09:24):
undefined
Speaker: will be sending out. (09:27):
undefined
Speaker: I do a weekly newsletter called The Sabbath Edit that gets sent (09:28):
undefined
Speaker: out on Sundays. (09:32):
undefined
Speaker: You can probably guess. (09:33):
undefined
Speaker: Um, but if you want to sign up for that and receive that (09:34):
undefined
Speaker: newsletter every week, that'll have kind of what I'm learning (09:39):
undefined
Speaker: that week, some podcast episodes or some articles or things that (09:41):
undefined
Speaker: I found really interesting, a couple things that I'm really (09:45):
undefined
Speaker: enjoying that week and that gets sent out on Sunday. (09:48):
undefined
Speaker: So if you want to join that, you can head over to the link in my (09:50):
undefined
Speaker: profile as well. (09:53):
undefined
Speaker: Um, but I would very, very strongly encourage you to go (09:54):
undefined
Speaker: read the article about advent from the Bible Project. (09:57):
undefined
Speaker: And if you don't want to go pull the link from the workbook, you (10:00):
undefined
Speaker: can just Google search it, Advent Bible Project and you (10:03):
undefined
Speaker: should be good to go. (10:07):
undefined
Speaker: The sun got real intense, so I pulled the shade down. (10:08):
undefined
Speaker: I just have the workbook pulled up here on my iPad, which again (10:10):
undefined
Speaker: go download it. (10:14):
undefined
Speaker: It is free. (10:15):
undefined
Speaker: Um, so journaling prompt number five for the scripture portion (10:16):
undefined
Speaker: this week is Luke one thirty seven tells us nothing will be (10:20):
undefined
Speaker: impossible with God. (10:24):
undefined
Speaker: What feelings, thoughts, (10:25):
undefined
Speaker: memories, or ideas rise to the (10:27):
undefined
Speaker: surface when you read this (10:28):
undefined
Speaker: verse? (10:29):
undefined
Speaker: Now what I want you to do. (10:30):
undefined
Speaker: This is another point where I'm going to tell you to pause. (10:31):
undefined
Speaker: Go do some journaling on that particular question. (10:34):
undefined
Speaker: You can rewind it as many times as you need to, but pause here, (10:37):
undefined
Speaker: go do the journaling portion and then come back. (10:40):
undefined
Speaker: Did you do it? (10:44):
undefined
Speaker: Did you pause it? (10:45):
undefined
Speaker: Did you go journal? (10:45):
undefined
Speaker: If you didn't go do it and then we'll continue. (10:47):
undefined
Speaker: Oh, cool. (10:49):
undefined
Speaker: I recorded the entire rest of (10:50):
undefined
Speaker: the video and then it got (10:51):
undefined
Speaker: deleted. (10:52):
undefined
Speaker: All right. (10:53):
undefined
Speaker: Well, anyways, so what I would like to do, I am just going to (10:53):
undefined
Speaker: go ahead and read what I got. (10:58):
undefined
Speaker: Um, you know what came to my heart when I was doing this (11:00):
undefined
Speaker: scripture prompt today? (11:03):
undefined
Speaker: And now I'm trying to remember what I have already said that (11:05):
undefined
Speaker: got recorded in the video. (11:07):
undefined
Speaker: Um, and what didn't. (11:09):
undefined
Speaker: So if I end up repeating myself, (11:11):
undefined
Speaker: I'm sorry, but, you know, I try (11:13):
undefined
Speaker: to be as authentic as I can on (11:14):
undefined
Speaker: this channel. (11:16):
undefined
Speaker: It's not published. (11:16):
undefined
Speaker: My podcast episodes, uh, the long ones are quite a bit more (11:17):
undefined
Speaker: polished, but especially here on this particular platform. (11:20):
undefined
Speaker: I like to just keep it real. (11:23):
undefined
Speaker: So, you know what? (11:24):
undefined
Speaker: If I repeat myself, I repeat myself. (11:25):
undefined
Speaker: Um, so be it. (11:28):
undefined
Speaker: But I have been. (11:29):
undefined
Speaker: I've tried to be as vulnerable as possible here on this (11:30):
undefined
Speaker: channel, um, that it's been a very, very difficult season and (11:32):
undefined
Speaker: a very long, difficult season. (11:35):
undefined
Speaker: Um, even before my husband and I met, um, I've talked quite a bit (11:37):
undefined
Speaker: about our story, but long story short, we both went through our (11:40):
undefined
Speaker: own brutal divorces. (11:43):
undefined
Speaker: Um, and then he was diagnosed with brain cancer. (11:44):
undefined
Speaker: Actually, the brain cancer diagnosis happened earlier, but (11:48):
undefined
Speaker: that's a whole thing. (11:50):
undefined
Speaker: Um, and then when we found each (11:51):
undefined
Speaker: other and got married less than (11:53):
undefined
Speaker: two months into marriage, more (11:54):
undefined
Speaker: cancer. (11:57):
undefined
Speaker: Uh, he wasn't even finished with treatment for the first one yet. (11:57):
undefined
Speaker: Then he ended up losing his job. (12:00):
undefined
Speaker: Uh, which is a whole thing, which was a very, let's say, the (12:02):
undefined
Speaker: word unfair situation. (12:06):
undefined
Speaker: We'll just say it was an unfair situation. (12:07):
undefined
Speaker: Um, and he has been looking for another job for quite a while (12:09):
undefined
Speaker: now, and it's just been a very long season of uncertainty. (12:12):
undefined
Speaker: There's still so much to be incredibly grateful for. (12:15):
undefined
Speaker: We are still very privileged (12:17):
undefined
Speaker: people to be in the position (12:19):
undefined
Speaker: that we are, even with the stuff (12:21):
undefined
Speaker: that we have dealt with, and (12:22):
undefined
Speaker: there is so much to be grateful (12:23):
undefined
Speaker: for. (12:24):
undefined
Speaker: But it's also really freaking heavy sometimes. (12:25):
undefined
Speaker: And so I just want to read to you the prompt, uh, or what came (12:27):
undefined
Speaker: to my heart when I was journaling through this prompt. (12:31):
undefined
Speaker: And there's, there's a point once we kind of get to the (12:33):
undefined
Speaker: middle, that's what I really, really want to talk about. (12:35):
undefined
Speaker: So it's a mix of trepidation. (12:37):
undefined
Speaker: Well, let me read the question one more time. (12:39):
undefined
Speaker: Sorry. (12:41):
undefined
Speaker: We're a little it's a little chaotic today. (12:41):
undefined
Speaker: But like I said, we're going with authentic over polished, (12:44):
undefined
Speaker: particularly on this platform. (12:46):
undefined
Speaker: Uh, so the prompt one more time (12:48):
undefined
Speaker: is Luke one thirty seven tells (12:49):
undefined
Speaker: us nothing will be impossible (12:51):
undefined
Speaker: with God. (12:52):
undefined
Speaker: What feelings, thoughts, (12:53):
undefined
Speaker: memories or ideas rise to the (12:54):
undefined
Speaker: surface when you read this (12:55):
undefined
Speaker: verse? (12:57):
undefined
Speaker: And so here's my answer. (12:59):
undefined
Speaker: It's a mix of trepidation, hope, excitement, and discomfort. (13:00):
undefined
Speaker: I'm still struggling with how difficult it's felt in this (13:03):
undefined
Speaker: season of refinement. (13:06):
undefined
Speaker: And here's here's what I really want to get into. (13:07):
undefined
Speaker: Perhaps the hesitation is (13:10):
undefined
Speaker: actually contributing to (13:12):
undefined
Speaker: Ungratefulness. (13:14):
undefined
Speaker: These feelings are in the way of (13:15):
undefined
Speaker: giving as much glory to God as I (13:16):
undefined
Speaker: can. (13:18):
undefined
Speaker: They're a distraction and I need to surrender them. (13:18):
undefined
Speaker: I've talked quite a bit, even especially during this study, (13:21):
undefined
Speaker: about how when God gives me a yes, when a prayer is answered, (13:24):
undefined
Speaker: when I receive something I've been hoping and praying for, it (13:28):
undefined
Speaker: almost causes an anxiety reaction in me. (13:31):
undefined
Speaker: I start to kind of question, okay, this is great, but when is (13:34):
undefined
Speaker: the other shoe going to drop? (13:37):
undefined
Speaker: When is it going to come in? (13:38):
undefined
Speaker: What the the lesson is, where is (13:39):
undefined
Speaker: the refinement that's going to (13:41):
undefined
Speaker: come? (13:43):
undefined
Speaker: Because of course with anything (13:43):
undefined
Speaker: good, there's also going to be (13:44):
undefined
Speaker: bad. (13:46):
undefined
Speaker: And I almost like brace for impact. (13:46):
undefined
Speaker: And I didn't realize until I was (13:49):
undefined
Speaker: journaling on this this morning (13:51):
undefined
Speaker: that because I'm going through (13:53):
undefined
Speaker: this as you are, I'm going (13:54):
undefined
Speaker: through the study in real time (13:55):
undefined
Speaker: alongside you. (13:57):
undefined
Speaker: And I started to realize that maybe this bracing for impact, (13:58):
undefined
Speaker: maybe this hesitation to just embrace what God is giving me (14:02):
undefined
Speaker: with joy Is standing in the way of giving as much glory to God (14:07):
undefined
Speaker: as I can, which then in turn is getting in the way of (14:11):
undefined
Speaker: experiencing as much joy as possible from what God is giving (14:15):
undefined
Speaker: me at any given time. (14:20):
undefined
Speaker: And two things can be true at the same time, right? (14:23):
undefined
Speaker: Something can be really hard, but also really good. (14:25):
undefined
Speaker: That's actually something God (14:29):
undefined
Speaker: said to me while I was doing (14:30):
undefined
Speaker: listening prayer on Luke one (14:31):
undefined
Speaker: thirty seven this morning, he (14:32):
undefined
Speaker: said, good and hard are never (14:34):
undefined
Speaker: mutually exclusive. (14:36):
undefined
Speaker: What you think you want will always pale in comparison to (14:37):
undefined
Speaker: what I have for you. (14:40):
undefined
Speaker: When you trust me. (14:40):
undefined
Speaker: Come deeper still, daughter. (14:42):
undefined
Speaker: There's so much more to see, to experience, to taste, to grasp. (14:43):
undefined
Speaker: And I think this morning is (14:46):
undefined
Speaker: actually a perfect example of (14:47):
undefined
Speaker: that. (14:48):
undefined
Speaker: So for those who don't know, um, I co-parent my son with my (14:49):
undefined
Speaker: ex-husband as well as, um, my husband's kiddos with his ex. (14:53):
undefined
Speaker: And this morning I had to drop my little guy off. (14:57):
undefined
Speaker: He's four. (15:00):
undefined
Speaker: I dropped him off at school and we do exchanges at school. (15:01):
undefined
Speaker: That's just easier for him. (15:03):
undefined
Speaker: And so it's the end of my week (15:05):
undefined
Speaker: with him, so I won't see him (15:06):
undefined
Speaker: again until I pick him up next (15:08):
undefined
Speaker: Friday. (15:10):
undefined
Speaker: And being a co-parent is a really wild thing. (15:12):
undefined
Speaker: Uh, because, you know, on one hand, tonight we are kid free. (15:16):
undefined
Speaker: My husband and I are kid free. (15:20):
undefined
Speaker: We get to eat what we want. (15:21):
undefined
Speaker: We get to watch what we want. (15:22):
undefined
Speaker: We get to do whatever we want. (15:23):
undefined
Speaker: And that can be really exciting. (15:25):
undefined
Speaker: You know, we've we've kind of trained ourselves to look at the (15:27):
undefined
Speaker: time away from our kids as time to be just Rach and Cam instead (15:29):
undefined
Speaker: of mom and dad. (15:34):
undefined
Speaker: And so that was that's intentional. (15:35):
undefined
Speaker: Like it especially in the early (15:39):
undefined
Speaker: days, you know, giving my son (15:41):
undefined
Speaker: over to my ex felt like losing (15:43):
undefined
Speaker: part of my body for a little (15:45):
undefined
Speaker: while. (15:47):
undefined
Speaker: Um, and so this has been a very (15:47):
undefined
Speaker: intentional mindset shift that (15:49):
undefined
Speaker: we've made. (15:50):
undefined
Speaker: So on one hand, we're like, okay, cool. (15:51):
undefined
Speaker: We get just some us time tonight. (15:53):
undefined
Speaker: We get a we get a break from kids, from being mom and dad. (15:54):
undefined
Speaker: We get to just like be ourselves (15:57):
undefined
Speaker: and not be responsible for (16:00):
undefined
Speaker: anyone. (16:01):
undefined
Speaker: But at the same time, you best believe every time I drop that (16:02):
undefined
Speaker: little guy off on Fridays, I get in my car and I cry. (16:06):
undefined
Speaker: And I've tried to be open with him. (16:09):
undefined
Speaker: I'm like, wow, baby. (16:11):
undefined
Speaker: Like, I'm so gonna miss you. (16:12):
undefined
Speaker: I'm so glad you get to go see Daddy and Mommy. (16:13):
undefined
Speaker: Cali, I'm so glad you get to go see your sisters. (16:16):
undefined
Speaker: I'm gonna miss you, but I'm so glad you get to go and do that. (16:19):
undefined
Speaker: And so for both of us, he gets to go see his other family who (16:23):
undefined
Speaker: loves him so much, who he has so much fun with. (16:27):
undefined
Speaker: He's the oldest over there, and he's the youngest over here, and (16:30):
undefined
Speaker: sometimes the only child. (16:34):
undefined
Speaker: It's like a whole thing. (16:35):
undefined
Speaker: But for him, it's so good because he gets to see people (16:36):
undefined
Speaker: he's been missing for a week. (16:40):
undefined
Speaker: But it's also really difficult. (16:41):
undefined
Speaker: He hates going back and forth, (16:43):
undefined
Speaker: and he misses me when he's gone (16:45):
undefined
Speaker: from me and he misses his dad (16:47):
undefined
Speaker: and his mom, his other mom and (16:49):
undefined
Speaker: his other sisters when he's not (16:50):
undefined
Speaker: with them. (16:52):
undefined
Speaker: And it's the same for me. (16:53):
undefined
Speaker: I enjoy getting to spend one on (16:54):
undefined
Speaker: one time with my husband, but I (16:57):
undefined
Speaker: also miss my kids when they're (16:59):
undefined
Speaker: not here. (17:01):
undefined
Speaker: Um, and so something can be really difficult, but really (17:02):
undefined
Speaker: good at the same time. (17:05):
undefined
Speaker: And what I want to encourage you to focus on today along with me, (17:07):
undefined
Speaker: like I said, I am doing this along with you. (17:10):
undefined
Speaker: I'm doing this study along with you. (17:12):
undefined
Speaker: I haven't, you know, gone through and done these before. (17:13):
undefined
Speaker: I'm going through all of this material for the first time at (17:15):
undefined
Speaker: the same time you are. (17:17):
undefined
Speaker: And so this was the first time (17:19):
undefined
Speaker: that I ever really thought about (17:20):
undefined
Speaker: this. (17:22):
undefined
Speaker: And I want to encourage you today to focus on this with me. (17:22):
undefined
Speaker: Where could you be stealing joy from yourself and glory from God (17:25):
undefined
Speaker: primarily glory from God? (17:30):
undefined
Speaker: Where could you be stealing (17:31):
undefined
Speaker: glory from God, but also in turn (17:32):
undefined
Speaker: stealing joy from your own (17:34):
undefined
Speaker: experience because you are (17:36):
undefined
Speaker: focused on what is difficult (17:38):
undefined
Speaker: about a situation instead of the (17:39):
undefined
Speaker: good. (17:43):
undefined
Speaker: Now I want to be super clear. (17:43):
undefined
Speaker: That does not mean adopting a mindset of toxic positivity. (17:44):
undefined
Speaker: Things are hard and it's okay (17:48):
undefined
Speaker: that they're hard, and it's (17:50):
undefined
Speaker: healthy to acknowledge that they (17:51):
undefined
Speaker: are hard. (17:53):
undefined
Speaker: But there is a difference between going, wow, this is (17:53):
undefined
Speaker: incredibly challenging, and I would very strongly prefer not (17:56):
undefined
Speaker: to be in this situation and just pretending it's not a bad (17:59):
undefined
Speaker: situation at all. (18:02):
undefined
Speaker: Those are two very, very different things, and it's a (18:03):
undefined
Speaker: very important nuance to make. (18:05):
undefined
Speaker: So we are being realistic about our circumstances, but we are (18:07):
undefined
Speaker: also choosing to embrace the joy of what God is giving us. (18:10):
undefined
Speaker: So that would be a great journal prompt. (18:14):
undefined
Speaker: If you would like to break out your journal for a little more (18:16):
undefined
Speaker: time today, or you can just think on it. (18:17):
undefined
Speaker: Whatever the case may be, I would love to hear your thoughts (18:19):
undefined
Speaker: in the comments. (18:21):
undefined
Speaker: Uh, these videos also get uploaded on as podcast episodes (18:22):
undefined
Speaker: on my podcast, The True Grit Podcast with Rachel Grit. (18:25):
undefined
Speaker: You can find the link to that where the links live as well. (18:28):
undefined
Speaker: Um, please make sure you like this video. (18:32):
undefined
Speaker: Share it! (18:33):
undefined
Speaker: You can tag a friend, email it to a friend, post it on social, (18:34):
undefined
Speaker: whatever the case may be. (18:37):
undefined
Speaker: Um, I am doing this for free, so (18:39):
undefined
Speaker: if you would like to support me, (18:41):
undefined
Speaker: support the study and buy me a (18:42):
undefined
Speaker: coffee. (18:44):
undefined
Speaker: You can do that at my link over in the link place as well. (18:44):
undefined
Speaker: Um, make sure you download your workbook. (18:47):
undefined
Speaker: Uh, there will be an updated (18:50):
undefined
Speaker: version of the workbook this (18:51):
undefined
Speaker: coming weekend. (18:52):
undefined
Speaker: I am working on that today, and every week we'll be rolling out (18:53):
undefined
Speaker: the content fresh for the next. (18:57):
undefined
Speaker: This was week one. (18:59):
undefined
Speaker: There will be three more weeks after this one. (19:00):
undefined
Speaker: Um, and that will also, uh, get (19:03):
undefined
Speaker: sent out in the Sabbath edit, (19:05):
undefined
Speaker: which is the newsletter that I (19:07):
undefined
Speaker: talked about. (19:08):
undefined
Speaker: So. Okay, I will see you tomorrow. (19:09):
undefined
Speaker: Bye. (19:11):
undefined
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