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Diana revisits a former interview with the late Dave Ebert, who went to be with Jesus in July 2024. His wife, Bobbie Ebert, joins the conversation to discuss their unique ministry. The couple uses improv comedy as a tool to help survivors of sex trafficking rediscover their voice, improve communication, and build confidence. Bobby shares her personal story of overcoming abuse and finding faith, while Dave discusses their journey into full-time ministry and their goal of creating a residential facility to support survivors. The episode also touches on the importance of laughter and joy in the healing process and provides details on how listeners can support their mission. 00:00 Introduction: Comedy and Sex Trafficking? 00:23 Sponsor Message: 7 5 3 Academy 01:11 Welcome to The Wounds of the Faithful Podcast 01:42 Introducing Dave and Bobby Ebert 02:12 The Power of Improv Comedy in Healing 04:48 Dave's Ministry Journey 07:50 Bobby's Testimony and Healing Journey 15:38 How Dave and Bobby Met 24:16 A Surprise Proposal 25:29 The Significance of the Ring 26:07 Life After Marriage 27:11 Transition to Full-Time Ministry 28:11 Using Comedy to Heal Trauma 29:24 The Missionary Journey 32:16 Fundraising and Support 32:48 Future Plans and Goals 35:06 The Power of Laughter 41:17 Final Thoughts and Call to Action The website is still up after his passing. Bobbie may be keeping the ministry going in his place. www.gifts4glory.com   Website: https://dswministries.org Subscribe to the podcast: https://dswministries.org/subscribe-to-podcast/ Social media links: Join our Private Wounds of the Faithful FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1603903730020136 Twitter: https://twitter.com/DswMinistries YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxgIpWVQCmjqog0PMK4khDw/playlists Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dswministries/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DSW-Ministries-230135337033879 Keep in touch with me! Email subscribe to get my handpicked list of the best resources for abuse survivors! https://thoughtful-composer-4268.ck.page #abuse #trauma Affiliate links: Our Sponsor: 753 Academy: https://www.753academy.com/ Can't travel to The Holy Land right now? The next best thing is Walking The Bible Lands! Get a free video sample of the Bible lands here! https://www.walkingthebiblelands.com/a/18410/hN8u6LQP An easy way to help my ministry: https://dswministries.org/product/buy-me-a-cup-of-tea/ A donation link: https://dswministries.org/donate/   Dave and Bobbie Ebert [00:00:00] What does comedy and sex trafficking have to do with each other? It's not what you think. We have my guest, Dave Ebert on the show again from the first season of the show to talk to us about his ministry once again. So find out the answer to my question next on The Wounds of the Faithful podcast. Special thanks to 7 5 3 Academy for sponsoring this episode. No matter where you are in your fitness and health journey, they've got you covered. They specialize in helping you exceed your health and fitness goals, whether that is losing body fat, gaining muscle, or nutritional coaching to match your fitness levels. They do it all with a written guarantee for results so you don't waste time and money on a program that doesn't exceed your goals. There are martial arts programs. Specialize in anti-bullying programs for kids to combat proven Filipino martial arts. They [00:01:00] take a holistic, fun, and innovative approach that simply works. Sign up for your free class now. It's 7 5 3 academy.com. Find the link in the show notes. Welcome to the Wounds of the Faithful Podcast, brought to you by DSW Ministries. Your host is singer songwriter, speaker and domestic violence advocate, Diana . She is passionate about helping survivors in the church heal from domestic violence and abuse and trauma. This podcast is not a substitute for professional counseling or qualified medical help. Now here is Diana. Hello friends. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm so glad to be here with you. We have a great show for you. More Dave Ebert. If you didn't hear Dave's first interview, please go back and listen to it. It was excellent. He told his personal [00:02:00] story and then how he started his ministry. He's gonna bring his wife tonight because they're doing this together. So you wanted to get the answer to the question that I posed in the beginning. The power of improv comedy in healing and growth. Reverends Dave and Bobby Ebert are on a unique mission to minister to survivors of sex trafficking using the power of improv comedy. With their help survivors find their voice, tap into their creativity, improve communication, and rediscover confidence as US missionaries. They use their unique calling to help those in need and bring light to the darkest of situations. So there areas of focus on their webpage here. Use comedy to break down walls and find the good soil for the seeds of God's word to be [00:03:00] planted. Rebuild confidence through fun, creative games and challenges. So these survivors are better prepared to reenter society. Provide a needed respite from the challenges of healing and recovery by creating a safe, fun, and laughter rich environment. Demonstrate the love of the father and share the redeeming power of Christ to encourage forgiveness of those who inflicted the unimaginable trauma. So I think you're gonna really enjoy Dave and Bobby. I mean, what, what could go wrong with comedians, right? I know that you're going to be blessed with their stories and their vision to help sex Traffick victims to heal. So without delay. Here's my conversation with Dave and Bobby Ebert. Please welcome back to the [00:04:00] show, Dave Ebert, and we also have his wife Bobby, on the show with us tonight. Welcome both of you guys. Thank you, Diana, for having us back or having me back. And then first time guest, long time listener. Bobby, thanks for having us. This is gonna be great having, uh, comedians on the show again, and you're on episode 12 of season one. So I definitely wanna see what you've been up to since then and you have some updates for us today. Yeah, absolutely. Did you want us to start? There's, there's a lot to cover. Yeah. Just remind the folks what you do, and then I'll have Bobby tell the folks a little bit about herself and what role she plays in the ministry you have there. Awesome. So for the last, decade, I've, run an improv ministry based here in Chicago where we sp spring the, light of Christ into various rooms using comedy to bring people together. [00:05:00] Most of our shows have been either ministry to the homeless or it's been fundraisers where we've raised funds for everything from animal care shelters to people who lost part of their home in a fire. To camps for foster kids, and it's all about bringing people together and uniting them in laughter. 'cause I truly believe that laughter is a gift from God because he knew that things would get stressful and science bears out that laughter is such a stress reliever, such a healthy benefit for the body that there's no way that happened by accident. God designed laughter as a gift to help us, kind of deal with, the things that are stressful and help us forget the things that really aren't our burdens to carry. And part of that ministry included for the last four and a half years have been working at Salt and Light Coalition in Chicago, working with survivors of sex trafficking, using improv as a way to kind of break down the walls that they've had to put up to just to survive because mm-hmm. Frankly, they've [00:06:00] been through hell on earth. And to survive you've gotta develop some calluses and around their heart, around in inside, there's just so many calluses and walls that are up and the gift of laughter kind of unlocks that and allows them to really advance in their healing. Mm-hmm. I'm such a big supporter of what you do, Dave, and, um, when you talk about. Oh, God created humor. I, I really wished in scripture there was more of like Jesus laughing or Jesus telling jokes, don't you? Yeah, I would think that the human experience would tell you that you get 13 men just camping out, walking the water in wilderness. They're gonna crack some jokes. They're gonna make some funny things like James and John teased Peter, oh, help me Lord, I'm drowning. Help me. And he would fire back, Hey, at least I got out of the boat. And the whole, the verse where, Jesus is talking about is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle. To me, that's. [00:07:00] That could be taken as a sarcastic moment, like just Jesus in front of everybody, just like making this comment, which is so ludicrous. It could easily be interpreted as being of a funny comment. Like, I mean, camel obviously can't pass through a needle. So I think that there are moments you can find in scripture that, that are funny. It wasn't his focus. Mm-hmm. But. Proverbs 17:22 says, Lightheart is like good medicine. Some translations say laughter is like good medicine. So I think mm-hmm. If it's covered at least once, then we can stick to it. 'cause the Bible is true from front to back. But yeah, it would be kind of fun to hear like open night in Jerusalem, open mike night. Yeah. That's awesome. So Bobby, why don't you tell the folks about your background and how you met the Lord maybe, and how you met Dave. Yeah, so [00:08:00] I am Bobby Ebert, Dave's wife. We've been married for eight years and. My testimony starts in my childhood is through a series of abuse growing up all the way from junior high all the way through high school. Um, it became pretty serious. The police ended up being, getting involved and just a wide variety of things that happened with. All of that and being severe trauma, the Lord revealed to me in a vision, my sinful nature. And so how that happened was I was in a counseling session at a crisis center, and it was in the middle of that crisis center session that. The Lord gave me this vision of a Santa Claus list where it has one size, all naughty and then a nice, but instead of it being naughty and nice and who's on that list, and it was all of my sins and I could read [00:09:00] them and I just remember like staring off in this what would look to other people as if a day I was in a daydream and I was just feeling mortified. About myself and the counselor had no idea what was going on. I was just looking off and the car ride home, I was just very silent. I was staying with my best friend and her family, and so they were my transportation, obviously, and I would just start repenting and just like asking Jesus to forgive me for salvation and. So one thing that I had a hard time wrapping my mind around was how does the blood of Jesus actually cleanse us? That is a dirty substance. How does that actually cleanse us? And I could not wrap my mind around that until that moment of [00:10:00] salvation and that veil was, it came right off and I just had like this instant understanding. So that was pretty amazing. And fast forward through. A few more years of going through like hope and healing and some other counseling sessions like the Lord did a really huge work in my heart and in my spirit, and even in my mind, like just completely renewed me and healed me. There is one Wednesday night I went to a church service where I was attending at that time. Happened to be at the back of the subdivision where I grew up and my dad still lived. In our childhood home at that time and on the way to church that Wednesday night, the Lord convicted me and told me three times, forgive your father. Mm-hmm. And I said, no, I am not. And after that third time I said, fine Lord. I will forgive him [00:11:00] if I drive by his house. I see the lights are on and he is up and awake. So after service, I drove by and I pulled in front of the house, and of course all the lights are on, doors are open, windows are open. He is watching tv. So I'm like, Ugh. So I arrived unannounced. And he let me in and we chatted and I had no idea why I was there. And finally I get up to excuse myself so I can travel home. It was a 45 minute ride to where I was living 'cause I had since moved in with another family member. And as I'm walking out the door. I literally have my body half in and half out of the door. And I turned and I said, I forgive you. And I was walking out that door and he says, hold on a minute. You get back in here there bubble. [00:12:00] And he says, what is this a 12 step program you're going through? So I came back and I sat back down and I just told him I could give you everything that has ever happened in my childhood, everything that you've ever done, and all the, I went on and he is like it created this special moment where he opened up and started talking about his childhood and the trauma and different things that he experienced, and he was still very unrepentant. Still is to this day, still denies everything that has. Ever taken place mostly 'cause he is protecting himself and from being vulnerable and having to actually repent. But it created this beautiful moment that had I disobeyed God, my dad to this day would [00:13:00] not be open. To hearing about Jesus. He doesn't always wanna hear it from me, but he'll ask me questions. He'll ask me questions, and he'll ask Dave questions and Dave has his. Unique way of being able to create this bond with my dad, where my dad's more open to speak with him versus me. And that's okay. Yeah. Uh, because he's still gonna get the gospel. Totally. So I'm glad that he's open and he's been. Open for 15 years now, and now he is just starting to do a Bible study with a friend. So God will use anybody and it doesn't have to be me. I planted, I watered seeds, but God gives an increase and he'll use anybody and I just pray, Lord. I don't care who it is, I just pray for his salvation. Mm-hmm. And he's, really into the chosen. And the chosen brings the word to life in a way that ma most people [00:14:00] haven't even thought of before. And so the chosen has been really powerful and getting him closer and closer to taking that final step and like, yes, Lord, I'm yours. So it's been really exciting to see over the last eight years to see, her dad really grow in that way. And, get closer and closer. He's in a crockpot right now. Yes. And a few more hours he'll be ready. Wow. I've talked about the chosen on the show before and some of the guests, and I don't necessarily like some of the liberties they take with some of it, who am I? If the show is getting people to get in the Bible? Mm-hmm. To come to church or to start asking questions. Or renew their relationship with Jesus. So I just let God do what God does, right? Yes. And I think that's a healthy place to be, is that you don't have to think that they're getting everything perfect or doing it right. I, and you know, there are times that we've looked at each [00:15:00] other like, maybe they could have done it differently, but like you said, it is getting people excited about the word and prayerfully people are not forming their entire doctrine and faith based on a TV show, but at least getting their appetite wet for more of the living word. Yes. Awesome. I really just love your story, Bobby, and that you are obedient to what God had called you to do, even though it maybe you were a little afraid to approach your father, but it looks like God's blessing you in that way, and even the healing from the trauma that you've gone through, that's a journey too. Now, how did you meet Dave? I was previously engaged and after that engagement broke off, I was like, Lord, like it's just you and me. And some of that was just a couple years of healing and being able to move on from that previous engagement. [00:16:00] 'cause it was a long-term relationship. We were together for over five years, so. I've been told by a counselor in the past that when you have something happen, you count how many years you've experienced that, divide it in half, and that's about how long it takes to like be able to move on from that, to heal from that. And it was probably about that halfway mark that I really felt like I was ready to move on and I. The Lord was blessing me to move on and to be open to dating again. And there's a few people who presented themselves, and Christians and non-Christians and the non-Christians. I was like, well, you're gonna be wasting your time and you're gonna be wasting my time. Mm-hmm. Yeah. But. Even the Christians who presented themselves, they weren't, they still weren't the right ones that God wanted for me.[00:17:00] And I am grateful because the Lord really showed me to be more discerning. So fast forward, I one day was like, I've always been against. Online dating, meeting people through dating websites and stuff. But I was like done. I was tired of being single and crying my eyes out in my pillow every night and I said, Lord, I don't care I doing this. So I signed up for Christian Mingle that night, and the next day I met a friend of Dave's and we got together and. We kinda. Tested things out for a couple of months and it wasn't a right fit to. But during that time I met Dave. He was actually dating somebody else that he had met, ChristianMingle. And actually I met her on Plenty of Fish. [00:18:00] Oh, sorry. Free site. Well, you were on Christian Mingle though, so the free version. I paid. Alright anyway, so we would all hang out as a group of friends and his relationship ended. My relationship ended with his friend and. Fast forward about three, four months. It's December, and the guy I was dating, he was having a Mark Schultz concert at his church and he needed help and I was like, you need some help. So I'm like, I volunteered to help as concert because he really. Volunteers. And so it was when we were there that Dave in showed interest in me and inquired like, so what is going on between the two of you? And he gave his blessing for Dave to make his move. And whoa, Dave and I [00:19:00] was, he friended me on Facebook along with some other people I met at the church that night. So I was like, okay, whatever. It's just people that I've met. Friending me on Facebook. But then we would start chatting on Messenger for hours on end, and he would try flirting with me. And I was like, Dave, stop. You're like, you're flirting with me. Stop. And I would use his cheesy line, be like, Hey, I can't help it. I'm a Libra, I'm a hopeless romantic. What would you say, Dave? Give us one of your best lines here. I would just say she had a nice smile, just simple, flirty stuff, trying to make her laugh through Facebook Messenger. Yeah. I don't really even remember any of my deadlines. I honestly don't remember either. But fast forward, come March, he asks me to go to a concert. Oh, he is asking me out on a date, and I wasn't for that. And so I assume like a bunch of your guy friends are going and he is like, well, actually mm-hmm. [00:20:00] It's just one friend of mine, my sister, and I'm asking you, and I was like, crap. So I agreed to go and it was so awkward. How do I connect with these people? His sister ended up not going, so it was just me and his friend that he had started to improv the group with. And finally after the concert, his friend started talking about. Moody Radio, moody Church here in Chicago. Okay, here's a point of connection. Here's something to strike up a conversation. And so we started to converse about that and Dave was freaking out thinking, oh no, they're connecting, but we really weren't connecting like that. So he walks me to the train after I protested. 'cause the train was literally right across the street. I could walk myself and. It is Chicago is late at night. At night, [00:21:00] and you're not letting her walk by herself to the train. Mm-hmm. No. I've been to Chicago, but I'm not afraid of the city. So I've had plenty of experiences on my own and as a young kid in the city in some rough neighborhoods. So I am pretty confident. But anyway, I let him walk me to the train, and I have this anxiety about making sure I'm on the trains right away. And so I'm not missing my trains. So I get on this train and he's literally like, what? No hug. All right. So for context, I walked her all the way to the platform of the train. We're talking, and as soon as the doors opened, like literally as soon as they came apart, she was gone. No. So the lamest of lame ploys, I'm like. What, no hug. So she came back out, gave me the side bro hug, and then came back to the train. And here I am leaving this date thinking like, [00:22:00] man, I am in the friend zone. And then know what the friend zone is. So the next day we are talking on the phone and we're talking about this. Concert and what happened, and so to give some back info, the movie Courageous, if everyone has seen that at the end, they're doing the Father's Day speech and they're listing off all the I will declarations that they will do as fathers and men of the home and husbands. When that movie came out and I saw it, I was like, okay, Lord, whoever I marry really has to follow all of those declarations. And so we're on the phone discussing this date and at the, towards the end of the conversation, he starts saying all of these declarations. And he had never seen the movie. And so it was like literally God [00:23:00] was slapping me upside the head and I literally was on my couch like. Oh my. This is my husband. Well, okay Lord. So then it went from there. We dated for seven months, got engaged and got married seven months after our engagement. And now here we are eight years later. I propose at the end of church service. Yes, I had coordinated with, our pastor and I asked him to say, set it up as like a testimony stay. 'Cause it was two weeks before Thanksgiving, set it up as like, do you have any Thanksgiving testimonies? So a couple people shared and then when I realized that nobody was gonna go after, go next, I, that's when I started my testimony and then stood up to the platform and proposed and I was like, wow. Yeah, so, but it's funny though, because he stood up in his seat, well, not on his seat, from his seat, [00:24:00] and started to talk to the congregation, introducing himself and stuff. Okay. But then when he moved up to the front of the church, oh my gosh, Dave, this is not one of your comedy shows. You don't have to stand in front of everybody. You had no clue, huh? Yeah. And so one of the men in the church, he kind of thought it was funny too, and he is like, well, what is this? Like some kind of proposal happening. And as soon as he said that, I started backing up. 'cause I'm on the platform as part of the worship team. I interpreted. The worship in ASL. So I literally was backing up to the wall as far as I could go, and he starts his proposal and you hear the gasps and stuff, and I'm like, oh my goodness, because I'm not. Usually comfortable being center of attention and all [00:25:00] eyes were on me and I was no pressure freaking out. Were you happy that he proposed? Yes. And he will tell everybody that when he. I asked, will you marry me? That I never said yes, but I did several times with my head buried into his shoulder and in his ears. But what is true, I did not give her the ring. She snatched it out of the box. I did. But this is what is really cool. And so God ordained is the ring that he proposed with is his mom's ring. But it also happens to be the same exact ring that I used to look at in the old Sears and service merchandise catalogs when I was a kid. When I was a kid. Mm-hmm. So it was a sign that, yes, this really is of God and this, it really is your [00:26:00] husband. I've never heard that before. That is, yeah. That is something else. Yes. Wow. Years later, and I don't remember. You don't have any children, right? Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Okay. We're working on it. Not right now though. Yeah. That'll drive up the ratings, the tmmi ratings, because it's been a few years. I didn't wanna assume, but sorry. No, we just go with it here. Yeah. And yeah, I can't make this stuff up. Right, right. Now you were doing the comedy, the improv, like part-time, right? And you were pastoring, weren't you, Dave? We were co children's pastors and have been together basically since we got married. And so that was, that's part-time unpaid volunteer here. [00:27:00] 'cause we've been at small churches. Mm-hmm. And building up rewards in heaven. Yes. Yeah. The economy was part-time and we get paid every once in a while, but it was never an income generator. So I've had a few different jobs that paid the bills, but what's different now is in October of 22, I got laid off and the Lord showed us through several circumstances that it was time to get into full-time ministry. And so this September we went through missions training and we are now a US missionary candidate. And we'll be doing what I've been doing in salt and light full time, which is working with survivors of trauma, using comedy and improv to unlock their creativity and their communication skills and remind them that it's okay to laugh, it's okay to, mm-hmm. Let your guard down and find joy in life. Yeah. So we've been working with specifically trafficking survivors, and the need is [00:28:00] they need to know that. There's hope for them and there is a future for them, and that their hope is in Jesus and that their future is in Jesus as well. So through the comedy, what we do is like the improv workshops with them, and through that we're able to break down the walls in their hearts and turn stone hearts into hearts of clay, and we're able to share the love of Jesus with them. And what's really awesome and was the unwritten benefit and the unwritten aspect is that I, I am a man coming in with these women who survived being abused and just put through literal hell on earth by men. So they're getting a chance to see that, number one, there are. Healthy men that you can trust. Mm-hmm. And also because we're married, Bobby's been able to come to a few of the workshops now, and they're [00:29:00] able to see that there is a possibility of a healthy marriage. And we get to model those things while we're also having fun and seeing God really break down a lot of walls. You lost your job in 2020. I lost my job in 2022 also. It's just amazing how God moves us in a different direction and it's definitely changed my life. And you might remember from our first conversation, Dave, that I was a missionary for 13 years Baptist ary as a church planter. Now that process of becoming a church planter, it's probably different than the process that you're going through to become missionaries, or you just went through candidate school and what does that look like? So it started in January with the application very in depth, had to find 10 references, which to me was like they're serious because especially for guys, we don't have that many close people. We're [00:30:00] just like, we have, Jesus had like really three close people. Mm-hmm. Then he had the 12 disciples, but he had three. And it's like, how am I supposed to have three times as many friends as Jesus, but we got the re re it calling people. Right? And this is Dave, um, Dave Ebert? Yeah. Yeah. The comedian. Oh no. Yeah, that, that's me. And so it was kind like trying to find a groomsman for the wedding. Calling up people from third grade, Hey, uh, what are you doing this weekend? What's your dad doing this? I heard from him for 10 years. Right. And usually when you hear somebody out of the blue after 10 years and they talk really friendly, usually they're trying to get you in some MLM. Right, right. Hey, hey, you wanna buy my tell you about what I'm doing? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. doTERRA unto others as you would have doTERRA unto you. But, so there's application [00:31:00] process and there were interviews with the head of missions, then interviews with the people who would be over my specific department. Several testing a lot of forms that fill out Yeah. Psych tests. Psych tests, psych tests, and then, yeah. Yeah. Make sure that. We can at least lie well enough to, no, I'm kidding. No, to make sure that we're ready because Yeah. When you walk out into full-time ministry, especially with missions where you're responsible for your own fundraising and support raising. It takes a toll and you have to be healthy. You have to be in a good position also. You have to be in a place where you're not like escaping the world to say, oh, I'm just gonna be a missionary and get away from stuff. Mm-hmm. So they do a very good job of vetting and making sure that you're healthy and ready. Yes. And then the candidate school, the orientation was six, 10 hour days of. Learning about fundraising, about how to, honor the [00:32:00] gifts that people give, and also the different rules and regulations that we have to follow because we are accountable to our home church, to our home district as well as to the national assemblies. So a lot of training, a lot of prep, a lot of numbers. And now we're hitting the road calling every pastor we know. The churches that we visited for fundraising with the comedy team, we're connecting with them and just asking them for support. Because what we're gonna do is we're serving organizations that don't have a budget to hire an improv coach. So we wanna go and serve them free of charge and just rely on the body of Christ to make sure that our cats don't go homeless. The goal is to also eventually open our own facility. Wow. So like a home, like a residential home? Yeah, like a residential facility for survivors, men, women and children. And to offer [00:33:00] them a comprehensive therapy as well as job training skills and things to get them on their feet so that once they're on the, in this place where they're ready to start over. If they're ready to start over and start building a life, instead of many trafficking victims when they come out of trafficking, unless they have an organization that walks in hand in hand, they either fall back into drugs, they fall back into that lifestyle again. Or worse, they fall into depression and impossible suicide because. They end up escaping, but they have a record. Yeah, because they're, they've probably been picked up by the police several times. They've also probably got a drug record because either the people that they were quote unquote working for or by their own desire to survive, they. End up on drugs, just trying to cope. Mm-hmm. In many cases, and courts really don't care why you're being arrested for being intoxicated or on drugs. [00:34:00] They just know that you are. And so that makes their lives really hard once they escape, because who's gonna help them? They've got a rap sheet, they've probably got no place decent to stay. Mm-hmm. They might have kids that are now in the system, so they have a lot stacked against them when they get out. We want to be another or be an organization that gives them all the tools they need to not only escape and survive, but to actually start to thrive. Mm-hmm. They can leave their past behind and it will be just a beautiful testimony to share of God's goodness that no matter what you're going through, God can redeem it and heal it. And, we wanna do our own facility here in Illinois and we also wanna reproduce what we're doing because. We believe it's valuable and it's unique, and it helps kind of fill in some of the gaps that traditional therapy might leave. Mm-hmm. Because a lot of the times these survivors have felt betrayed or felt like they can't trust people, [00:35:00] and so traditional therapy doesn't always work. It doesn't always help them free themselves from their past. Yeah. So when comedy is entered into the picture. We can kind of till that soil a little bit so that now therapy is a little bit easier because now the, some of the calluses and the walls are torn down. Yeah. So then you open doors for other types of healing methods once you get through that big block wall. Right. It's been amazing 'cause we've seen women open up publicly for the first time and share their stories where. Traditional therapies may not have worked in that way, if that makes sense. They find more freedom when they start to laugh. When you laugh in a room with other people, there's like this bond that happens where you feel safe because now you have all admitted something about yourselves. If you go to a comedy show and you hear a group of 500 strangers laughing, they're not strangers when they leave that comedy show because in the midst of that, [00:36:00] they laughed and admit they have something in common. And when you admit that you have something in common with 500 other people, now you don't feel alone. Now you feel a little bit of safety and we've seen these women, , find that they are, feel safe enough to share their story for the first time in any kind of a public setting. And as once you shed light on your pain and shed light on what you're struggling with, it doesn't seem quite as big and as daunting and shedding light on it allows you to give it to God and let him finish the healing. Like you say, the laughter is so powerful because it makes you feel good, and then the laughter makes you feel better because all those endorphins and the serotonin levels are. Where they're supposed to be. And you look on the world in a different perspective. It's crazy. Like I, 10 minutes ago I was depressed and now I think I'm gonna make it. And here's something I like to talk about is. When you laugh, when you have like a deep [00:37:00] laugh and you're like truly just enjoying the moment, you naturally lift your head up and automatically your eyes are lifting up. Mm-hmm. It's almost like it's a form of worship when you have a good laugh. Wow. Because you're looking up to where your help comes from. Wow. And. It's just a beautiful sign because when you're laughing you just, you're letting this energy go, whether it's stress or it's just, you're even fatigue. When you let it go, suddenly your shoulders lift up. Suddenly your blood pressure drops and you're reminded that there's more than what's here right in front of you. You lift your eyes up and you realize there's so much more, and that's just a beautiful thing to see. Let's also think about it. God is our father, and what good father doesn't take joy in laughing with his kids. And when you see a healthy father and child relationship, they have moments of giggles and cackles and tickle fights. So [00:38:00] what Good father him doesn't take joy in laughing and enjoying the presence of his kids. So I think that when we laugh. In those moments of where it's pure and it's just joy. He laughs with us. And I think that those, like I said, are moments of worship in a way because we're reminded of his goodness. Yes. God give us a gift. I think that. People outside the Christian community, they, they view us as fuddy daddies and stuffed shirts and that we don't ever have any fun. And we're serious all the time and we're about reading our Bibles and praying all the time and that we don't have any fun. But I like your perspective. Of showing the world that it is a gift from God. And we do have fun. And like I said earlier, talking about Jesus and the 12 disciples, you get a group of guys together that they're gonna goof off, they're gonna laugh. And the adoration that the disciples have for Jesus less Judas is [00:39:00] scar, the adoration. That does not happen when it's just a militant leader saying, thou shalt, there has to be moments of levity, moments of bonding, and pure joy. That's more than just. A rabbi teaching his students the love that they had, the love that they felt for him to be willing to die for him for his name. That doesn't happen in a military setting that happens in relationship where there's moments of levity and laughter, and I can't wait to eventually be and be in heaven and hear Jesus tell some jokes. That'd be amazing. Like why did you really call them Sons of Thunder? Right. Probably farting around the campfire. Ah, yes, exactly. Jesus. Pull my finger. Some people have like checked out at this point. Oh [00:40:00] man. Love it. I'm so glad you're gonna create a center as a goal in the future after the show, I definitely wanna give you some folks to connect with that. I know I've got a lot of connections, but we have the Dream Center here in Phoenix. Okay. And I've gone to a few of their fundraisers and they're an incredible place. They have this center for trafficked women and. And men, and we're very close to Mexico, so we get a lot of trafficked people here in Phoenix. And there'd be somebody to connect with for sure. 'cause they could show you how to create the facility and what not to do, and what to do and what they've learned. They create like apartments for these girls. They're like designer rooms. They're not just like bunks and dorms and stuff. I've seen these rooms. They're incredible. They treat the girls like they're princesses. It's really. Wonderful. And they do teach the skills of how not to go back on the streets and finding your worth in Jesus and your [00:41:00] value. You're not just a piece of meat to be used, you are a daughter of the king. And so yeah, I'll definitely give you their contact information. Do you know Mark Sowersby? Oh yeah. Mark. He's, he's been, uh, on my podcast before. He's a survivor. Yeah. Big time. So. I know that we talked about a lot of different things. Was there anything that we didn't cover today that you wanted to share with the audience? Yeah. So if the Lord is leading you and you feel like, feel like the Lord's saying, support this ministry and uh, give us the opportunity and the tools to go out and reach more survivors of trafficking. 'cause we're working in Chicago right now. And there, there's a plenty of harvest there, but there's also other places that we want to serve as well. Yes. You can go to, partners.gifts fork glory.com and that'll take you right to the, ag website where our, page is. And you can log in and, or you can sign in as a donor. And if you can do one time gift, [00:42:00] if you can do a monthly gift, or if you wanna do the faith promise, which is just your promise between you and the Lord of what you're. Willing to commit to support us. Anything is gonna help us get there. The website is partners.gifts for glory.com and whatever the Lord puts on your heart is gonna be, well appreciated and is gonna be used to serve many survivors. And you know, part of what we're doing is also doing podcasts. 'cause we wanna raise awareness that this is an issue. Mm-hmm. And we are hoping that between working with survivors. Doing advocacy by going, on podcasts or media that eventually we'll work ourselves out of a job and that there will be no more trafficking, there'll be no more slavery. That would be the biggest blessing of all is if we could work hard enough and the Lord would move enough that we would see an end to it. Mm, amen. Yeah. Even if you don't have the money right now to support. Dave and Bobby, you can definitely share this episode. Tell your friends [00:43:00] about the ministry. I definitely have that in the show notes, and we're gonna share the podcast episode like crazy and anything else you wanted to share. If you're listening or watching, be sure to subscribe to the wounds of the Faithful. Check every episode out and I'll go back and see how much I've changed in the last two years since the first time I was on. Yeah, I'm gonna put the episode of Dave's testimony, his story in the show notes, so you guys can just click on that and listen to that. This was great. Had a lot of fun and laughter and learn some things, and you guys are always welcome to come back on the show and give us an update. Absolutely. To see how you're doing and when you open your center up in the future someday. Then I'm gonna come and cut the ribbon. Absolutely. I've been in Chicago a few times. It's a nice city, so God bless you guys, and we wish you the very best. Thank you so much for having [00:44:00] us. Yes, Diana, thank you so much for having us. We love you and we love the show. Love you guys too. Thank you for listening to the Wounds of the Faithful Podcast. If this episode has been helpful to you, please hit the subscribe button and tell a friend you could connect with us at DSW Ministries dot org. Where you'll find our blog, along with our Facebook, Twitter, and our YouTube channel links. Hope to see you next week.    

As read by George Hahn. P.S. You can pre-order Notes on Being a Man here. It will be available Nov 4. https://www.profgalloway.com/friending/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tech Bro NonsenseFormer Google CEO Tells Congress That 99 Percent of All Electricity Will Be Used to Power Superintelligent AIbillionaire tech tycoon and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt comments to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce: "What we need from you is we need the energy in all forms, renewable, non-renewable, whatever. It needs to be there, and it needs to be there quickly.""Many people project demand for our industry will go from 3 percent to 99 percent of total generation... an additional 29 gigawatts by 2027 and 67 more gigawatts by 2030. If [China] comes to superintelligence first, it changes the dynamic of power globally, in ways that we have no way of understanding or predicting.”Meta Says It's Okay to Feed Copyrighted Books Into Its AI Model Because They Have No "Economic Value"In the ongoing suit Richard Kadrey et al v. Meta Platforms, led by a group of authors including Pulitzer Prize winner Andrew Sean Greer and National Book Award winner Ta-Nehisi Coates, the Mark Zuckerberg-led company has argued that its alleged scraping of over seven million books from the pirated library LibGen constituted "fair use" of the material, and was therefore not illegal.Meta's attorneys are also arguing that the countless books that the company used to train its multibillion-dollar language models and springboard itself into the headspinningly buzzy AI race are actually worthless. Meta cited an expert witness who downplayed the books' individual importance, averring that a single book adjusted its LLM's performance "by less than 0.06 percent on industry standard benchmarks, a meaningless change no different from noise." Thus there's no market in paying authors to use their copyrighted works, Meta says, because "for there to be a market, there must be something of value to exchange," as quoted by Vanity Fair — "but none of [the authors'] works has economic value, individually, as training data." Other communications showed that Meta employees stripped the copyright pages from the downloaded books.Tellingly, the unofficial policy seems to be to not speak about it at all: "In no case would we disclose publicly that we had trained on LibGen, however there is practical risk external parties could deduce our use of this dataset," an internal Meta slide deck read. The deck noted that "if there is media coverage suggesting we have used a dataset we know to be pirated, such as LibGen, this may undermine our negotiating position with regulators on these issues."Lauren Sánchez in Space Was Marie Antoinette in a Penis-Shaped RocketKaty Perry Boasts About Ridiculous Rocket Launch While NASA Is Scrubbing History of Women in Space“It's about a collective energy and making space for future women. It's about this wonderful world that we see right out there and appreciating it. This is all for the benefit of Earth.”Last month, the Orlando Sentinel first reported, NASA scrubbed language from a webpage about the agency's Artemis missions declaring that a goal of the mission was to put the first woman and first person of color on the Moon; just a few days later, NASA Watch reported that comic books imagining the first woman on the Moon had been deleted from NASA's website.A webpage for "Women at NASA" is still standing, but pictures of women and people of color — astronauts, engineers, scientists — have reportedly been removed from NASA's real-world hallways amid the so-called "DEI" purge. Per Scientific American, the word "inclusion" has been removed as one of NASA's core pillars. And as 404 Media reported in February, NASA personnel were directed to remove mentions of women in leadership positions from its website.OpenAI NonsenseOpenAI Is Secretly Building a Social NetworkOpenAI has been secretly building its own social media platform, which The Verge reports is intended to resemble X-formerly-Twitter — the social media middleweight owned by CEO Sam Altman's arch-nemesis, Elon MuskOpenAI updated its safety framework—but no longer sees mass manipulation and disinformation as a critical riskOpenAI said it will stop assessing its AI models prior to releasing them for the risk that they could persuade or manipulate people, possibly helping to swing elections or create highly effective propaganda campaigns.The company said it would now address those risks through its terms of service, restricting the use of its AI models in political campaigns and lobbying, and monitoring how people are using the models once they are released for signs of violations.OpenAI also said it would consider releasing AI models that it judged to be “high risk” as long as it has taken appropriate steps to reduce those dangers—and would even consider releasing a model that presented what it called “critical risk” if a rival AI lab had already released a similar model. Previously, OpenAI had said it would not release any AI model that presented more than a “medium risk.”Saying 'please' and 'thank you' to ChatGPT costs OpenAI millions, Sam Altman saysBeing nice to your AI chatbot requires computational power that raises electricity and water costsAltman responded to a user on X (formerly Twitter) who asked how much the company has lost in electricity costs from people being polite to their models: “Tens of millions of dollars well spent — you never know,” the CEO wrote.AI models rely heavily on energy stored in global data centers — which already accounts for about 2% of the global electricity consumption. Polite responses also add to OpenAI's water bill. AI uses water to cool the servers that generate the data. A study from the University of California, Riverside, said that using GPT-4 to generate 100 words consumes up to three bottles of water — and even a three-word response such as “You are welcome” uses about 1.5 ounces of water.Antitrust NonsenseTrump DOJ's plan to restructure Google hurts consumers, national security, says exec: 'Wildly overbroad'Kent Walker, Google's president of global affairs: "We're very concerned about DOJ's proposal. We think it would hurt American consumers, our economy, our tech leadership, even national security. The proposed reform from DOJ "would result in unprecedented government overreach that would harm American consumers, developers, and small businesses — and jeopardize America's global economic and technological leadership at precisely the moment it's needed most."8 revelations from Mark Zuckerberg's 3 days on the witness stand in Meta's antitrust trialThe FTC alleges Meta "helped cement" its illegal monopoly in the social media market with its acquisition of Instagram and the messaging app WhatsApp more than a decade ago.8 revelations:Antitrust worries surfaced years agoTwo years before the FTC initially sued Meta over allegations that it violated US competition laws, Zuckerberg considered breaking Instagram out into its own company to avoid potential antitrust scrutiny, according to a 2018 internal email revealed by the government at trial."I wonder if we should consider the extreme step of spinning Instagram out as a separate company," Zuckerberg wrote in the email to company executives. "As calls to break up the big tech companies grow, there is a non-trivial chance that we will be forced to spin out Instagram and perhaps WhatsApp in the next 5-10 years anyway." If a break up were to happen, Zuckerberg wrote, history showed that companies could end up better off.Asked about this view at trial, Zuckerberg said, "I'm not sure exactly what I had in mind then."A 'crazy idea' to boost Facebook's relevanceZuckerberg's "crazy idea" for Facebook in 2022 involved purging all users' friends. The CEO — fearful that Facebook was losing cultural relevance — made the proposal in a 2022 email to the social network's top brass."Option 1. Double down on Friending," Zuckerberg wrote in the message. "One potentially crazy idea is to consider wiping everyone's graphs and having them start again."Sheryl Sandberg wanted to play Settlers of CatanZuckerberg once offered to give Sheryl Sandberg, the former COO of Meta, a tutorial in the board game Settlers of Catan.The lesson offer came up in 2012 messages in which the two discussed the fresh $1 billion purchase of Instagram, partially redacted missives presented by the FTC during Zuckerberg's testimony showed."We would love it. I want to learn Settlers of Catan too so we can play," Sandberg told Zuckerberg in the message. He responded: "I can definitely teach you Settlers of Catan. It's very easy to learn."Meta's rivalry with TikTok has only just begunDuring his testimony, Zuckerberg hammered home Meta's argument that the tech giant faces massive competition from other apps, especially TikTok."TikTok is still bigger than either Facebook or Instagram," Zuckerberg testified. "I don't like it when our competitors do better than us. You can sort of bet that I'm not going to rest until we are doing quite a bit better than we are doing now.”Facebook Camera app struggles were a source of worryInstagram's early rise shook Zuckerberg. As his company struggled to mount its response with the Facebook Camera app, the CEO began to lose his patience."What is going on with our photos team?" Zuckerberg wrote in a 2011 message to top executives, as revealed by the FTC in court. Zuckerberg then described a number of individuals, whose names were redacted, as being "checked out." He added another person didn't want "to work with this team because he thinks this team sucks."In May 2012, Facebook launched a photo-sharing app called Facebook Camera, which aims to make it simpler for the social network's users to upload and browse photos on smartphones. Only weeks after Facebook spent $1 billion on a similar photo-sharing app called Instagram. Zuckerberg tried to buy Snapchat for $6 billionZuckerberg's failed bid to buy Snapchat was highlighted by the government to bolster its argument that Meta sought to maintain its dominance in the social media market through acquisitions rather than competition.Facebook isn't really for friends anymoreWhile under questioning by the FTC, Zuckerberg said that Facebook had greatly evolved since he launched the platform more than 20 years ago and that its main purpose wasn't really to connect with friends anymore.The FTC argues that Meta monopolizes the market for "personal social networking services.""The friend part has gone down quite a bit," Zuckerberg testified. He said the Facebook feed has "turned into more of a broad discovery and entertainment space."Not impressed by WhatsApp cofounderZuckerberg wasn't too impressed with one of WhatsApp's cofounders after a 2012 meeting he had with company leadership."I found him fairly impressive although disappointingly (or maybe positive for us) unambitious," Zuckerberg wrote in an email to colleagues after the meeting, it was revealed at trial.Jan Koum and Brian Acton cofounded WhatsApp in 2009. Zuckerberg said in his testimony that he thinks he was referring to Koum. Asked about his email, Zuckerberg seemed uneasy. He said that Koum was clearly smart but that he and Acton were staunchly opposed to growing their messaging app enough to be a real threat to Facebook. Zuckerberg would go on to buy WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion.Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms adds former Trump advisor to the board days before an antitrust showdown with the FTCMeta Platforms is further boosting its lineup of heavy hitters with the additions of Stripe CEO Patrick Collison and Dina Powell McCormick to the mix. Powell McCormick was the former Deputy National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump during his first term. Married to Republican Senator Dave McCormick, former CEO of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world's largest hedge fundsStakeholder/shareholder activism NonsenseBP suffers investor rebellion at first AGM since climate strategy U-turnBP suffered an investor rebellion on Thursday after facing shareholders for the first time since abandoning its climate strategy at a meeting marred by protest.About a quarter of shareholders (24.3%) voted against the chair, Helge Lund, which marked the first time in at least a decade that more than 10% of BP's shareholders voted against the re-election of the chair.The outgoing chair told shareholders that the company had “pursued too much while looking to build new low-carbon businesses” but that “lessons have been learned”.BP's CEO Murray Auchincloss (2.7% against), repeated his previous claim that BP's optimism in the global green energy transition was “misplaced”, and that the board's “one simple goal” was to “grow the long-term value of your investment”.Mark Van Baal, the founder of the green activist investor group Follow This, said shareholders had “made it clear that weakening climate commitments is unacceptable”. He added: “This historical result serves as a wake-up call to BP's board and emphasises investor expectation for robust governance mechanisms and genuine leadership on ESG issues.”Starbucks CEO faces major backlash after details of his work routine are revealed: 'Ill-conceived decision'A press release from the National Center for Public Policy Research reported on the hypocrisy of Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol's transportation practices when considering the company's public commitment to eco-friendly practices.Niccol travels regularly from his home in Newport Beach, California, to Starbucks' headquarters in Seattle, Washington, via private jet. Each 2,000-mile round-trip commute releases nearly nine tons of carbon dioxide.The National Center for Public Policy Research's Free Enterprise Project's director Stefan Padfield pointed out the discrepancy of policy and practice during his presentation of Proposal 8 requesting an annual report on emissions congruency. He noted that each round trip made by Niccol "is roughly the annual energy-consumption footprint of the typical American household."This analogy paints a vivid picture of the hypocrisy between Starbucks' public environmental commitments and the practices of the CEO. Gaps are apparent. Target CEO Cornell meets with Sharpton to discuss DEI rollback as civil rights leader considers boycottCEO Brian Cornell met with the Rev. Al Sharpton in New York on Thursday as the retailer faces calls for a boycott and a slowdown in foot traffic that began after it walked back key diversity, equity and inclusion programs, the civil rights leader told CNBC Wednesday.The meeting, which Target asked for, comes after some civil rights groups urged consumers not to shop at Target in response to the retailer's decision to cut back on DEI. While Sharpton has not yet called for a boycott of Target, he has supported efforts from others to stop shopping at the retailer's stores.“You can't have an election come and all of a sudden, change your old positions,” Sharpton told CNBC in a Wednesday interview ahead of the meeting. “If an election determines your commitment to fairness then fine, you have a right to withdraw from us, but then we have a right to withdraw from you.”IBM Informs Staff of DEI Retreat as Trump-Era Scrutiny GrowsEmployees were told of the changes earlier this week, in a memo that cited “inherent tensions in practicing inclusion.” Legal considerations and shifting attitudes to DEI were among the factors for the company. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna discussed the changes in his monthly video update to employees Thursday.Anti-DEI activist Robby Starbuck said he first contacted the company in February to question its policies. IBM confirmed it discussed its changes with Starbuck.The company (-10% gender influence gap) also disbanded a diversity council that represents the views of employee groups as part of its reevaluation.Exxon Faces No Shareholder Proposals for First Time in 25 YearsThe absence of requests in Exxon's proxy statement comes a year after the company sued two climate-focused investors to remove what it described as their “extreme agenda.” It also tracks with the US Securities and Exchange Commission's decision to back guidelines that make it easier for corporations to block votes on shareholder resolutions at their annual meetings.Exxon said in a statement late Monday that it received only one proposal this year and the SEC agreed it should be discarded because “it tried to micromanage the company.”Occidental Petroleum Corp., Valero Energy Corp. and Dow Inc. are other companies with no shareholder proposals up for vote at this year's annual meetings.Exxon said this year marks “the first time in recent history that our proxy includes zero proposals from activists.” It was just four years ago that a small fund scored a victory over Exxon, placing three directors on the company's board.Climate activist shareholder group Follow This pauses big oil campaignClimate activist shareholder group Follow This said on Thursday a lack of investor appetite has forced it to suspend its nearly decade-long campaign seeking stronger commitments from major oil and gas producers to emission cutsHarley-Davidson slams activist investor, saying its campaign is messing up its CEO searchIn early April, H Partners' Jared Dourdeville, who had been a Harley director since 2022, abruptly resigned from the board, saying among other things that Harley had “cultural depletion” because of its work-from-home policies and the exit of several senior leaders. And that was not his only point of contention with the rest of the board.Investment firm H Partners, a major investor with 9.1% of Harley's shares, in an open letter filed on Wednesday, urged fellow shareholders to remove three longtime directors from Harley's eight-member board at its annual meeting in mid-May by withholding votes for them. H Partners said the board had not held Harley CEO Jochen Zeitz accountable for what it called his repeated “strategic execution failures” and “severe underperformance.”CEO/Chair Zeitz (2007, 30%)Lead DIrector Norman Thomas Linebarger (2008, 13%)Sara Levinson (1996, 20%)"We believe Mr. Zeitz, Mr. Linebarger, and Ms. Levinson should be held accountable for the destruction of shareholder value,"Harley's bylaws stipulate that directors who win less than 50% of votes in an election must tender their resignations.Harley announced last week that Zeitz, CEO since 2020 and board member for 18 years, would resign but stay in his role until a successor is found. H Partners wants him out now.That followed a letter issued a day earlier by Harley-Davidson, which accused H Partners of “publicly campaigning” against it and saying that those efforts are also “adversely impacting the CEO search process and ongoing execution of the Hardwire strategic plan,” referring to a turnaround plan it launched in 2021.Harley said that it began a CEO search late last year after Zeitz expressed interest in retiring and has interviewed three potential CEOs, including one supported by Dourdeville, but declined to offer any the job. The company has also said that Dourdeville had cast only one vote against the majority during his time as a director and that as recently as November 2024 he had expressed support for Zeitz.Harley-Davidson faces board fight from H Partners amid calls for CEO to exit soon

There are endless ways to make friends as an adult, and today we're diving into one I have never covered before: speed friending.To some of you, this will sound terrifying at first, but stick with me, because it's actually pretty brilliant! Today's guest is Georgia Huntley, founder of Friends of Friends, who  is doing something really special in the friendship space.Georgia hosts speed friending events that are designed to make meeting new people feel fun and effortless. In today's episode, we'll cover what actually happens at these events and what to do if you're sitting there thinking this sounds terrifying. Her advice if you ever attend an event like this? Take some pressure off and practice the art of being both interested and interesting. Have a little fun, learn something new, and approach your experience with curiosity. (Which is also great advice for making friends in general!)In this episode you'll hear about:The origin of Friends of Friends, which started as an online community and evolved into in-person events (its third iteration had 85 people!)The bar that asked Georgia to host a speed-friending event because staff noticed people weren't socializing inside like they used toThird places, how they're disappearing, and what impact this has on making friendships as an adultThe setup of a typical speed friending event, why they have been so effective, and how you might mimic something similar where you areAdvice on how to attend an event like this, from being curious to taking pressure offResources & LinksFollow Georgia on Instagram!. Listen to Episodes 38 and 39, which go deep into third places.Like what you hear? Visit my website, leave me a voicemail, and follow me on Instagram and TikTok!Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!

In this enlightening episode of "Crafting Your Meaningful Life," host Mary Crafts welcomes Marla Mervis-Hartmann for a deep dive into developing a loving relationship with one's body. Marla, an expert in body image and self-love, shares her personal journey of overcoming disordered eating and explains concepts from her book, "Be-friend Yourself." The conversation revolves around how societal norms shape our views on health and wellness, and how we can transform these ideas into self-empowerment. Mary and Marla explore the profound impact of befriending oneself, emphasizing the importance of listening to one's body. They discuss the detrimental effects of shame and how society's portrayal of the "ideal body" can lead to harmful behaviors. Through personal anecdotes and professional insights, Marla explains how identifying and healing from past wounds can change one's relationship with food and body image. Together, they highlight strategies to transform self-criticism into self-compassion, encouraging listeners to prioritize mental and emotional well-being.   About the Guest: Marla Mervis-Hartmann is an accomplished author, coach, and Reiki Master specializing in body image empowerment and self-love. She is celebrated for her book, "Be-friend Yourself: Finding Freedom with Food and Peace with Your Body," which documents her journey of overcoming disordered eating and body image issues. As a coach, Marla focuses on helping individuals heal inner wounds, boosting self-worth, and embracing a healthy relationship with food and their bodies through spiritual and psychological methods. Key Takeaways: Understanding the root of body image issues often requires exploring and healing past traumas. Befriending your body involves prioritizing self-care and listening to both your physical and emotional needs. Reclaiming your body's autonomy and rejecting diet culture leads to authentic self-empowerment. Transitioning from self-criticism to self-compassion is key in transforming one's relationship with food and health. Recognizing and reframing societal beauty standards allows for a more inclusive and holistic view of body positivity.   Resources: Marla Mervis-Hartmann's Book: Befriend Yourself: Finding Freedom with Food and Peace with Your Body Follow Marla Mervis-Hartmann's work on her official website  Follow Marla On Instagram Follow Mary Crafts: Listen On iTunes Follow Mary on Instagram Follow Mary On Facebook Tune into this episode for an inspiring conversation that may redefine your relationship with your body and well-being. Stay tuned for more episodes of "Crafting Your Meaningful Life" to continue your journey toward personal empowerment and authentic living.

Beth interviews Jeff Martin (Simpsons) for a few minutes. The gals eat Donut Friend. 

Today's podcast is entitled - FRIENDING.     To watch our entire service or to learn more about Kinmundy Christian Church, please visit our website at kinmundycc.org. Thank you for joining us.

Sermon: Casey McCormickCommunion Meditation: Ellie Koranek

Sermon: Casey McCormickCommunion Meditation: Annette SowersMentioned Music: "No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus" (Steffany Gretzinger) 

Last week, Pastor Kyle spoke on the need for forgiveness from God and that we should be offering forgiveness to those who have sinned against us as well. Today he touches on how we should put the action of forgiving others into actual practice – another step in making us more like Christ.

Forgiveness is a central tenet of the Christian faith. What does it REALLY mean to forgive someone? Listen in as Pastor Kyle explores the ramifications of forgiveness between us and others – and us and God. Hint: It's more than what our culture thinks.

Mindy (and Carl) talk about recent road trips, how the FI community has influenced their travels, and best tips for road trips.LinksMMM HQ: https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/hq/Our local Meetup group: https://www.meetup.com/NoCoMustachians/Best Buddies: https://www.bestbuddies.org/Kristen Knapp on MOM: https://mindyonmoney.com/s1/29Eric Cooper on MOM: https://mindyonmoney.com/s1/30FatFIRE: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fatfireMindyOnMoney: https://www.mindyonmoney.comMindyOnMoney facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mindyonmoneyFinTalks cruise: https://www.amberlygrant.com/cruiseFarm Toy Museum: https://www.nationalfarmtoymuseum.com/Choose FI groups: https://apps.choosefi.com/local-groups/Thanks for listening!

Not Today with Jenn Sterger and Eddie Pence discusses why Jenn wore the hat that she wore that she didn't knew she wore... if that makes sense.  Sometimes Jenn's ADHD signs her up for things that her Austism doesn't know about. Daily stress can build up and explode all over you like a volcano. Plus, Jenn's inner salesmen doesn't really help her in her long term relationships, because sometimes she's not the "Cool Girl" he sold her as. Should you be nest friends with your kid and if so should you tease them to toughen them up?  Also, Florida Man Friday!

Instagram Engagement dropping? Trying a new strategy and freaking out seeing the views fall away? As coaches who help our clients with content every day we see exactly what works, exactly what scares the heck out of our clients and exactly how to help you cool the scaries, get back in the drivers seat of your biz and keep making sales! Tune in if the IG algo is eating up way too much of your energy! If you want the content and messaging MAGIC that's getting us sales no matter what engagement looks like, access Phoebee's free messaging mini course to learn the S.P.I.C.Y content formula and snag yourself a month of content prompts too! Click here for free access: https://www.phoebeewalpole.com/spicy-content-workshops Or if you're a naturopath, healer or praccie tryna stay BOOKED & BUSY, check out Hannahs free upcoming Masterclass Fully Booked to learn how to market yourself online, sign up here: https://hannahann.activehosted.com/f/17

***Munchies' Choice***For our 200th episode, the Munchies let the sword of Damo-Kim drop. That's right folks, this week we watched the episode that introduced the most dysfunctional sibling in the entire SVU universe, Kim Rollins. We are also treated to a "never let your teen daughters go to New York" A-plot, which postulates that there are hordes of child pornographers hanging out in hotel lobbies across the city, ready to pounce on unsuspecting teens who are sick of museums. This was much more fun than expected, enjoy!Music:Divorcio Suave - "Munchy Business"Thanks to our gracious Munchies on Patreon: Jeremy S, Jaclyn O, Amy Z, Nikki B, Diana R, Tony B, Zak B, Barry W, Sara L, Drew D, Nicky R, Stuart, Jacqi B, Natalie T, Robyn S, Isabel P, Christine L, Amy A, Sean M, Jay S, Briley O, Asteria K, Suzanne B, Tim Y, Douglas P, John P, John W, and Elia S - y'all are the best!Be a Munchie, too! Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/munchmybensonFollow us on: BlueSky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Post, and Reddit (Adam's Twitter/BlueSky and Josh's Twitter/BlueSky/Letterboxd/Substack)Join our Discord: Munch Casts ServerCheck out Munch Merch: Munch Merch at ZazzleCheck out our guest appearances:Both of us on: FMWL Pod (1st Time & 2nd Time), Storytellers from Ratchet Book Club, Chick-Lit at the Movies talking about The Thin Man, and last but not least on the seminal L&O podcast …These Are There Stories (Adam and Josh).Josh debating the Greatest Detectives in TV History on The Great Pop Culture Debate Podcast and talking SVU/OC on Jacked Up Review Show.Visit Our Website: Munch My BensonEmail the podcast: munchmybenson@gmail.comNext Week's Episode: Season 18, Episode 6 "Broken Rhymes"Become a supporter of this podcast to get access to older episodes behind the paywall (with ads--ad-free content is only available at our Patreon): https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/munch-my-benson-a-law-order-svu-podcast--5685940/support.

Brittany Furlan Lee and Brittany Schmitt talk Ozempic, psychics, ghosts and share their own worst friendship breakups while reacting to YOUR most traumatic friENDings. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Stay connected and follow us: • Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thisistheworstpod/ • TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thisistheworstpod • Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thisistheworstpod/ What's YOUR worst? Want our BADvice? Email us at thisistheworstpod@justmediahouse.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- Powered by: Just Media House -- https://www.justmediahouse.com/ Hosted and Executive Produced by: Brittany Furlan Lee and Brittany Schmitt Studio: Kandoo Films -- https://www.kandoofilms.com/ Edited by: Shane Danahy -- https://instagram.com/shanedanahy Time Stamps: 00:00:00 - Limp Bizkit and Worst Friend Breakups 00:05:39 - Debunking Kim Kardashian's Breast Implants 00:11:14 - Weight and Body Image Discussion 00:17:07 - Twinflame & Psychic Stories 00:23:01 - Fry's Rebellion and Hauntings 00:28:44 - The Haunted House 00:34:37 - A Friend's Psychotic Breakdown 00:39:55 - Dealing with a troubled friend 00:45:27 - A Toxic Roommate Situation 00:51:16 - Friend's Promiscuity and Betrayal 00:57:26 - Betrayal and Repercussions 01:03:48 - Dealing with Harassment and Stalking Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The plaintiff says she and the defendant are longtime friends. She loaned her pal some money, but she hasn't been repaid, so she's suing. The defendant says the money was a gift and claims the plaintiff's son even threatened her. The plaintiff says he hired the defendant to install his 65-inch TV on the wall, but the man cracked it. He has it on video, and the defendant still refuses to pay for it. The defendant says he's being framed, and claims the TV was nine months old. He says it was already damaged. The plaintiff says she agreed to rent an apartment from the defendant, but he couldn't get the previous tenants to move out and it fell through. Still, the man refuses to return her deposit or cover her storage costs, so she's suing. The defendant says he warned the plaintiff he might have trouble getting the tenants out, and he insists the deposit was non-refundable. Don't forget to rate and subscribe so you never miss an episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We got a question in for our American Mamas...Dear Mamas, how do you know when it's time to stop being friends with someone you've been friends with for a long, long time?

Listeners give their opinions as to when it's appropriate to friend someone on social media when you've begun dating them...You can hear Staci & Hutch LIVE 2-7pm on 94.5 KS95!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Listeners give their opinions as to when it's appropriate to friend someone on social media when you've begun dating them... You can hear Staci & Hutch LIVE 2-7pm on 94.5 KS95!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's episode hosts Aviv and Matt celebrate their 300th episode by viewing and reviewing season 15 episode 6 of SVU - Friending Emily! Holy shit, can you believe these idiots have reviewed 300 eps of SVU and are still sane (sorta?) The guys point out how appropriate it is for the 300th episode that this is a plot that has literally been done on this show about 3 or 4 other times. Of course the older guy is the creepiest most dangerous dude at this party. Who all is in on this plot to kidnap this girl? Is it a young Katherine Heigle? What the fuck is happening? All this and more!Give us a rate and review wherever fine podcasts are sold, tweet at us @svupodcast (which we cannot stress enough is the official Twitter handle of Law and Order SVU, and you can take that to the bank, the blood bank senator!) and for longer or weirder stuff, or tweet sized emails because fuck Elon Musk, send us an email specialviewingunit@gmail.comThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5621744/advertisement

In this episode, DJ invited Maureen Michele, M.D. to the show to discuss her own personal journey of parenting a chronically ill child. Maureen is not only an MD, she is an accomplished general pediatrician, allergist, immunologist, and now life coach. Stay tuned to hear how Maureen learned to cope, make time for self-care, find positivity and how that led her to become a coaching expert, helping parents of chronically ill children navigate their own mental health and well-being.Maureen Michele, MD is an award-winning leader, life coach, and physician. As a general pediatrician and allergist/immunologist, she has spent her career caring for patients with a variety of acute and chronic health problems. She is a military veteran and has enjoyed using her story-telling talent to teach young physicians the art of medicine. She is an accomplished life coach who helps parents of chronically ill children regain control of their lives and thrive at fulfillment. Maureen is the mother of three amazing children and has first-hand experience with being a parent of a child with long-term health issues.TIMESTAMPS• [5:15] Maureen shares her personal journey of becoming a pediatrician and caring for her daughter with cancer then type 1 diabetes, highlighting the challenges of balancing career and family. • [14:51] Dr. Michele discusses how parents of chronically ill children must prioritize self-care to avoid burnout and maintain hope for their child's future.• [23:41] “It takes a little bit of courage sometimes for a parent of a chronically ill kid to actually ask for help… Get the courage and ask for it because you cannot do this alone.”• [37:23] “Make sure that your child is well aware of what their strengths are… and there is a lot of science behind gratitude and self love, because it builds confidence.”For more information on the Imperfect Heroes podcast, visit: https://www.imperfectheroespodcast.com/Connect with Us!DJ Stutz: Website: https://www.littleheartsacademyusa.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/littleheartsacademy/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/littleheartsacademy/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOpphCRklDJiFXdS76U0LSQDJ Stutz Booking Link: https://bookme.name/ImperfectheroespodcastCICERONE MASTERS Link: https://www.littleheartsacademyusa.com/courses/cicerone-mastersONE ON ONE COACHING Link: https://www.littleheartsacademyusa.com/courses/one-on-one-coaching-bundleMaureen Michele M.D.Website: https://maureenmichelemd.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/maureenmmd/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maureenmichelemd/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maureenmichelemdLinkedIn: https://www.facebook.com/maureenmichelemdAmazon - Reclaiming Life: A Guide For Parents of Chronically Ill Children: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BNKXF3VQEpisode with Clarissa Nelson mentioned in the podcast: https://www.imperfectheroespodcast.c

Just another good reason to HAVE NOT boarded the Tit an.Prigozhin is going to die real soon I'll bet!Folks certainly seemed to have lost ALL values! They'll just roll over for anyone these days, including thieves!JAMIE FOXX UPDATE KIND OF!Divorce Costs Kev Costner because he wasn't first to file for divorce!Russia's nuclear arsenal! WHAT DO WE REALLY KNOW and IS IT WORTH IT?the new SELF TITLED 'republican' party is the LARGEST COLLECTION OF PUSSIES THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN!BOK IS RANKED 29TH GREATEST CONCERT VENUE IN THE WORLD!

Today, Lace and Katherine interview the super funny comic and country singer, Jessica Michelle Singleton! JMS knew she made her first mistake when she fell in love with a drummer. However, when the pandemic started, she and ol' boy still moved in together. Once in their beautiful new home, she started to catch him over and over and over again sexting, meeting up with and Words with Friending with many different women. He had an excuse for each and every interaction, but Jessica Michelle was just "too f*cking smart" for him to get away with it. Listen to find out how Steve Jobs helped get her rid of this idiot for good. FOLLOW OUR GUEST ON IG: Jessica Michelle Singleton FOLLOW US ON IG: CHEATIES PODCAST | Lace Larrabee | Katherine Blanford SHOP FOR GIGGLE GLOSS HERE HAVE YOU CHEATED, BEEN CHEATED ON OR BEEN A SIDEPIECE IN A RELATIONSHIP? CALL TO LEAVE A VOICEMAIL TEASING YOUR STORY & YOU MIGHT JUST END UP ON AN EPISODE OF CHEATIES! 888-STABBY-8 (888-782-2298) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Would you like to build your network and grow your business? Using social media platforms, such as Facebook, is one way to accomplish this. You can increase your chances of getting more leads by friending other people on Facebook. Facebook, however, has so many users that it can be challenging to decide who to friend and who not to. You can, however, take some simple steps to set yourself up for success.Make sure you only accept friend requests from people whose profiles and intentions seem valuable to you before accepting them. Are there any common interests between you and them? Do they have any mutual connections? You may want to decline their friend request if they don't seem to add any value to both of you. Once you accept a friend request, don't stop there. For the relationship to continue, you need to start a conversation. This does not mean sending a copy-pasted cold message.The key to social media interaction is to approach it as if you were in person. Introduce yourself, ask them questions, and try to establish a connection. As a result, they will remember you and choose your products and services when they need them. Friending people on Facebook is a great way to grow your network and generate more leads. However, it's essential to be selective about who you accept friend requests from and to focus on creating genuine conversations with potential leads. By following these tips and avoiding being spammy tammy, you can leverage the power of social media to build your business and achieve greater success.Connect with Emmy on the GRAM  @theheyheyemmy or hang out on Facebook.Grab my Exclusive FREE Two-Part Training- How to Build a Successful Personal Brand from Scratch.  This is a must if you want to make money online by creating a brand that attracts your ideal clients.  GRAB THE TRAINING HEREReinvent your Homorone Story: ORDER NOW A new innovation for women.  A first-of-its-kind approach for delivering intuitive nutrition for optional normal healthOrder the Menstrual Formula-Synched to the phases of your unique cycle.Order the Menopausal Formula-Featuring proprietary Estro-OS (TM) Complex to help improve normal symptoms of menopauseAs always, this episode is brought to you by my favorite Liquid Collagen. Check out my fave duo to help you tone, tighten and feel good from the inside out. CLICK HERE Use code “3324349” at checkout to get $10 OFF your first order

Sometimes, forgiveness is about second chances. On this week's episode Lisa's lifelong friend, Jennifer Sanders Rigby, joins the podcast to reminisce on their childhood and hash out the problems that led to their 11-year friendship hiatus. Listen as they reflect on their hardships and share how a long awaited apology, via Linkedin, rekindled their flame. This episode is a reminder that old friends can still be good friends. Be open to exploring new chapters, but know when to close the book. To learn more about Just Go F Yourself visit www.justgofyourself.com.

If you are a podcaster that wants to use your show to grow your business, but you also do NOT want to engage in high pressure sales situations.....this episode is for you! One of the things I struggled with most early on in my podcasting career was learning how to effectively close a sale when I was talking with a prospect. I tried all of the "bro sales" techniques that you see marketed online and nothing felt good to me and I couldn't execute them effectively.  Eventually I developed my own sales style that centered around relationship building and what I now call "Friending people into submission." If you want to use your podcast to ramp up sales, but you don't want to use hard sales techniques or feel all salesy, check out episode 357 of Podcasting Business School.  *********************** Get signed up for a Podcast Profit Potential Discovery Session: https://www.podcastingbusiness.school/

The plaintiff purchased some rare furniture from the defendants, but he says a year has passed, and he still hasn't received anything, so he's suing for a refund. The defendants tried shipping the furniture, but they claim the plaintiff couldn't agree on a shipping company, and the furniture has been sitting in their warehouse. Then, the plaintiff hired the defendant to ship his Toyota pickup truck to Belize, but he claims the truck arrived damaged, so the plaintiff is suing for the repairs. The defendant says he is not responsible for the damages because all he did was drop the vehicle off in Florida before it was shipped off to Belize. Plus, the plaintiff and his former friend agreed on renting a lake house together. The plaintiff says he gave a portion of money to the defendant to pay for the trip, but the defendant switched the intended rental location, and the plaintiff was no longer interested. The defendant won't return the money, so the plaintiff is suing. The defendant alleges he and 30 people got together to rent the house, and the plaintiff just tried to back out the last minute. Case #30357 #PeoplesCourt #RealityTV #Court Don't forget to rate and subscribe so you never miss an episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the cold weather looming, this week we are talking about the greatest meteorologist in town, crisis pregnancies in a post-Roe v. Wade world, Awaken Wichita Falls 2023, and wrapping up our Friending series talking about relational poverty and refrigerator rights. Links From The Episode Jesse Thomas's Facebook The Center To sign up for The Center's Texting Prayer Team just send CenterPrayer to 940-322-4883. Did you miss Sunday? Before you listen to this episode, catch up with our weekly gathering at any of these places: Colonial Website Facebook YouTube Got questions or feedback? Join the conversation by emailing us at podcast@colonialchurch.com and don't forget to subscribe and leave a review!

It is Un-Friending Day. Here is what you need to know

Matt's wife texts Bob... Bob did Matt "DIRTY"! National un-friend day... why have you un-friended someone? What are your favorite Thanksgiving cocktails and sides?Support the show: https://www.klbjfm.com/mattandbobfm/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Chelsea and Taryn play their first round of fictional character speed-friending! Listen as they discuss which characters from a variety of books they think would be friends (or just combinations they think would be funny to witness) and go on a variety of off-topic tangents. Did you have some fun combos come to mind? Send them a message so they can post it to their story! Support a local bookstore (and us): https://bookshop.org/shop/checkedoutandoverdue Do you have a book you would like the hosts to review? Submit your ideas to checkedoutandoverduecontact@gmail.com, or message them on Instagram @checkedoutandoverdue --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/checked-out-and-overdue/support

https://amzn.to/3fh4xifEmily Francis is a high school ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher at Concord High School in Concord, North Carolina.  Her experience as an immigrant from Guatemala and English Language Learner inspired her to become an ESL teacher and equipped her with a deep understanding of the challenges her immigrant students must overcome to find success.  Cabarrus County Board of Education's Teacher of the Year in 2016, she serves as a professional development facilitator, motivational speaker, and board member for the Carolina TESOL. https://inspiringenglishlanguagelearners.weebly.com/ https://www.instagram.com/mrs.francisesl/ https://twitter.com/emilyfranesl     Affiliate Link to If You Only Knew on Amazon https://amzn.to/3szKLl4   Family Fun: Looks like soccer games and enjoying their daughter play.  Cheer loudly and have fun outside in nature.  Emily finds things that her daughter likes to do she plans activies that make her daughter happy. Self-Care: Read!  She is currently reading   The Daughter of Doctor Moreau  by Silvia Garcia.  https://amzn.to/3gSdRtv We Are Not From Here from Jenny Sanchez.  https://amzn.to/3fh4xif   You are exactly the right mom for your kids.  I am so glad to know you.  Find me on Instagram at @everyday_runner_christy Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to this podcast Don't forget to leave a rating or review.  Email me Play4life.Christy@gmail.com  Want to share a family play idea?  Want to give Christy feedback?   Leave a message here.

We all know fight or flight, some of us know freeze—but did you know about fawning? It's a whole new way to respond to trauma (weeeee!). It usually starts in childhood when we learn from our parents or caregivers that it isn't safe to say no, assert our needs, or fight back. Then we bring it into adulthood and—lo and behold—we can't stand up to people, even people who abuse us (*collective "fuuuuckkkk"*). In this episode, I'm joined by psychotherapist Liz Marks to talk about healing the fawning trauma response. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thepatraumaparty/support

Life can be hard, so when someone stands firm, their life is inspiring. That describes those persecuted for being a friend of Jesus – and we have a chance to friend them by hearing their stories. On this episode Kim Wier is joined by Todd Nettleton, host of Voice of the Martyrs Radio and author of When Faith Is Forbidden.  Kim is the author of The Art of Friendship.

Dr. Tom Howley discusses his Ethical Moment article "Friending" on Social Media. Hosted by Alex Mellion. Please see a full link to the original article at- https://jada.ada.org/article/S0002-8177(19)30259-4/pdf

A good book can be like a friend – but THE Good Book is an actual Friend written by a Friend. So why is the Bible so intimidating and difficult to understand? On this episode Kim Wier is joined by Bible teacher Jodie Niznik to explore how to make friends with the Bible and the Author of the Bible – and it is simple enough for anyone to interact with. Jodie is the author of Real People Real Life Bible Studies. Kim is the author of The Art of Friendship.   Kim Wier is a speaker, radio talk show host, Bible teacher, and author of the book, The Art of Friendship and other titles.   The Art of Friendship Podcast is part of Hope On Demand!

Pastor Mike McKelvey

On this week's episode, Liza and Kara talk SVU's “Friending Emily” (Season 14, Episode 16), break down the crimes of Corey Gallisdorfer, the kidnapping of Jessyca Mullenburg, and chat with actor Lindsay Pulsipher. SOURCES:FBIWRALABC NewsAP NewsUnsolved Mysteries WikiDel Mar TimesWXII 12Next Generation CommunicationsWHAT WOULD SISTER PEG DO:FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted - https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten Next week's episode will be “Decline and Fall” (Season 18, Episode 9).See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

33 years in real estate, $1.6 million in gross commissions in 2021, 2,200 homes sold, a team of 5 (2 agents, 3 admin). [FREE Online Masterclass Training] The 3 Step Lead System To Close Your Next 6 Figures in GCI (From Leads You've Never Met)

Pastor Bob began a new series on relationships and the importance of friends. The quality of life is determined by the quality of friends. With the current lack of friends for many people and the importance of friends, we need to look at Jesus and the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37 (NKJV)) to see how we can learn Friending Like Jesus.Did you pray that prayer of salvation with us today? Take your next step and connect with us here: https://bit.ly/3j0da03Notes ------------ https://bit.ly/3uygMfqStay connected:Website: https://www.lifechurchww.com​​​Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lifechurchww​​Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifechurchww​​Vida Music: https://www.vidamsc.com​​

Melissa Neagles was Mel Rose's first friend. They met in Kindergarten. After Melissa moved away in second grade, the two tried to keep in touch but life got in the way. Social media and email didn't exist back then. WILD! Imagine. The good old days right? Well, fast forward 20 whole years. Both were looking for each other. Melissa got married at 22 and had a different last name and Mel changed her first name to Mel Rose. No luck. Then Mel went and did some crazy stuff called Reality TV. And luckily Melissa saw Mel on TV and thought to look her up as she seemed familiar. She realized it was her old friend by the love of artichokes on one of her pages..not one of the fake wannabe Mel Rose's. And there were many. Mel is grateful she took the time to search through all of them! The rest is history. They picked up right where they left off and their friendship hit it's 10 year mark with this episode! Melissa is an occupation therapist. Curious what that job is? Listen in! It is a field that combines mental and phsyical wellness and creativity to get people back to functioning normally. Melissa explains it better than we do. Melissa went through a lot to get to the point of knowing exactly what she wants to do with her life. That happens to be a CHT. That stands for Certified Hand Therapist. Mel stumbled upon this career path by accompanying her mother to an OT appointment for her trigger finger. We hear it a lot on the podcast. That many people just happen to find that thing that calls to them by living their life. Melissa is an inspiration and goddess all around. She is also the best friend anyone could ask for and Mel is grateful for her to be back in her life! Mel2 as we like to call these besties covered a lot of topics. One was how being stagnant in your daily routine is toxic, see this article for the danger of not getting physical activity daily. Also, just in case you cared, People who work out have more and better orgasms. Just saying. The thing is about OT as a career is that it is complex. It merges physical with mental and is a very diverse and creative field. Which is why it is so hard for people to understand what it is. What we know is that Melissa is going to be a game changer in this field, we just know it. When you mix genuine care with high intelligence and a willingness to want to grow and evolve your industry, you have magic and Melissa has all of this. We cannot wait to see what she manifest in the Goddess Circles! The other topic that the ladies touched was Sensory Thresholds which will be our topic in our Goddess Circle on Januray 13th at 4pm ESt. Join in at www.seastargodddess.com for more info. Try using Overdrive to read for free. All you need is a library card! Write down and download all the book recommendations in this podcast for continued listening and exploration of this topic. Also head over to melrosemoney for the financial blog on this topic as well. Blog post numbers align with Podcast episode number.