Podcasts about Remind

Hi Mamas, Do you ever open social media for "just a minute" and somehow end up feeling like you're behind? Behind on motherhood. Behind on your goals. Behind on your housework. Behind on life. You're not alone. Today we're talking about the pressure of social media, the comparison trap so many moms fall into, and the powerful reminder that we are often comparing our real lives to someone else's carefully curated highlight reel. I share my own struggles with social media as both a mom and a coach, why healthy boundaries around technology matter, and how comparison can quietly steal our joy, confidence, and presence without us even realizing it. If you've ever found yourself questioning whether you're doing enough after scrolling social media, this episode is for you. In This Episode We Discuss: Why social media comparison is so common among moms • How comparison quietly steals joy and shifts our focus • The difference between real life and online highlight reels • Why even coaches and business owners struggle with comparison • The importance of creating healthy boundaries with social media • How to protect your peace and stay present in your own life • A simple mindset shift to help you stop feeling like you're falling behind This Week's Quote: "Don't compare your real life to someone else's highlight reel."

Walking through the aisles of a home décor store, surrounded by signs declaring "Peace," "Joy," "Hope," and "Strength" — it's a lovely sight, but Emily Rose Massey asks the question most of us don't stop to consider: are those words actually rooted in anything real? Because hope that isn't anchored in Christ is just a sentiment — beautiful to display, but powerless when the storms come. In this episode, Emily draws a clear and urgent distinction between the hollow encouragement the world offers and the true, anchored hope that only God's Word can produce in the hearts of His people. True hope, Emily reminds us, is not something we can conjure through positive thinking or a well-timed pep talk. It is a gift given by the Holy Spirit, cultivated through Scripture, and grounded in the unshakable faithfulness of God. Romans 15:4 tells us that everything written in the Word was written for our instruction — so that through perseverance and the encouragement of Scripture, we might have hope. That hope lifts our eyes above the chaos of our circumstances and fixes them on what is eternal. And it is that eternal perspective — the certainty of a heavenly home and the return of Christ — that fuels us to keep putting one foot in front of the other, no matter how dark things become. Today's Bible Verse "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." — Romans 15:4, NASB Ponder Today Hope rooted in anything other than Christ is empty. Decorative signs, motivational quotes, and self-encouragement have their place — but they cannot sustain you through real suffering. Only hope anchored in Christ holds when the storm hits. True hope is a gift from the Holy Spirit, given through Scripture. The more we fill our hearts and minds with God's Word, the more our capacity for genuine, sustaining hope grows. This is not passive — it requires intentional, daily engagement with the Bible. An eternal perspective is your greatest weapon against despair. When you remember that this world is not your home, the chaos around you loses its power to define you. Being heavenly-minded during earthly trials is what keeps hope alive. Your feelings of hopelessness are not the final word. As children of God, we are called to move beyond what we feel and remind our hearts of what is true. The Holy Spirit is ready to help us in our weakness — we simply need to ask. The hope you carry is meant to be shared. You have been given an anchor in a world that is desperately adrift. That message of hope in Christ is not just for you — it is good news for the lost and hurting people around you. A Prayer for You Today Dear Heavenly Father, You have given me the gift of faith in Your Son, and my hope is not built on what this world offers — fleeting and fragile — but on what is eternal and settled. Help me guard my heart when my circumstances tempt me to give in to despair. Remind me that the chaos of this world cannot cause me to sink, because I am anchored in the hope of the heavenly home that awaits me. May I carry that message of hope to the lost and hurting around me. In Jesus' name, Amen. Don't Miss an Episode If today's prayer helped anchor your soul in something deeper than circumstances, we'd love to stay connected. Subscribe to the LifeAudio newsletter at LifeAudio.com for daily prayers, devotionals, and more content to keep your hope fixed firmly on Christ every day. If you like this podcast, be sure to check out our sister podcast, Your Nightly Prayer - an evening Christian prayer podcast to help you end your day in conversation with God. https://www.lifeaudio.com/your-nightly-prayer/ Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Whom do you remind people of? At work or in society at large, is it evident that you are a Christ-follower? Jesus is always our supreme example for how to live a godly life in an ungodly world. Peter told us that we should submit to government as well as to management, and now he tells us why we should—because Jesus did and He's the one we follow.

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What happens at a PATH retreat? Let's pull back the curtain…In this special mini episode, your hosts share an inside look at the upcoming PATH retreat at Campovida in Hopland, California—and more importantly, the heart behind these experiences. If you've ever wondered, “Is a retreat for me?” or “What actually happens there?”, this episode is your invitation to explore, reflect, and maybe even say yes. What This Episode Is AboutThis conversation isn't just about logistics—it's about the why behind PATH retreats.At its core, a PATH retreat is a real-life extension of the podcast: Not just food, movement, or self-care But the intersection of all of it A living, breathing space to pause, reset, reconnect, and REMIND yourself what matters most The retreat is less about checking boxes and more about creating a menu of experiences—you choose what nourishes you. What to Expect (and What NOT to Expect)Let's demystify it: What it IS: A choose-your-own-adventure weekend A blend of:  Gentle movement (like yoga or walking the vineyards) Food + cooking experiences rooted in PATH conversations Breathwork, reflection, and workshops Community, connection and meaningful conversation A space where you can fully be yourself—no expectations  What it is NOT: Not a rigid schedule Not a forced participation environment Not a one-size-fits-all wellness experience Not about perfection (this is a “beautiful mess,” just like the podcast!)  You can participate in everything… or nothing. You can come energized… or exhausted. You can give… receive… or both.The Deeper InvitationAt its heart, this retreat is about the verb “to retreat”: Step away from the noise Reflect inward Reconnect with what you need Return to your life with renewed perspective It's about creating space to restore, reset, reclaim, reconnect, reMIND yourself. Even a short intentional pause can shift your perspective in powerful ways.It's Okay to Feel Hesitant. Many past attendees felt unsure, nervous, maybe questioning if they'd “fit”. And what happened/// They found their way - They chose what felt right.They left with greater ease, confidence, and connection.Sometimes the biggest growth starts by simply walking through the door.  A Glimpse of the ExperienceCampovida, Hopland, California November 13–15Expect: A welcoming Friday evening connection A full Saturday of optional experiences and exploration A grounding Sunday close Alcohol is completely optional, even in a winery setting. The focus is always well-being, not pressure.If something in this episode resonated with you, lean into that feeling.You don't have to “have it all figured out.” You don't have to be ready. Just be willing. Because sometimes, the most powerful thing we can do… is create space to come back to ourselves.Ready? You can apply here. Need more inspo? See the Magical Campovida 

Text: 1 Corinthians 12:4-14, 27 May 17, 2026 Foundry United Methodist Church – Washington, DC Rev. T.C. Morrow Good morning! My name is Rev. T.C. Morrow. For the last twenty-four years I have been blessed to be a part of the Foundry community - first while finishing seminary, then like many of you serving in a variety of ways through the years, and when I formally became a clergyperson in the United Methodist Church, on the extended clergy team. In July, I will be starting as Senior Pastor at The United Church, a joint United Methodist and United Church of Christ congregation in Foggy Bottom. I am looking forward to my next adventures, but I am going to miss this Foundry community. I cannot start naming individuals or that will take all of my time, but I give my thanks to the three senior pastors during my time here: Rev. Dr. Phil Wogaman, Rev. Dean Snyder, and Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli. I give thanks to God for their leadership, their guidance, their solidarity, and so much more. Today we are in the third week of a sermon series exploring foundations of Christian identity and discipleship. In a world full of competing messages about who we are, our purpose, and how we should live, we are returning to some of the core aspects of Christianity. We've already looked at our identity as beloved of God and how we are called to follow Jesus into a way of life shaped by God's love and grace. Today we're exploring the church and our belonging in it, the gathering in community of those seeking to grow in love of God and neighbor. Will you join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. As the U.S. nears its 250th anniversary, I've been thinking about some of the myths, like manifest destiny, that have shaped - or distorted – the direction of the country. As we gather this morning, not far from us, on the National Mall, others are gathering in what is ostensibly a day of prayer as part of activities marking the anniversary of the country. I looked at the speakers list. By all appearances, it is a Christian nationalist rally seeking to further solidify the myth that Christianity – a particular type of Christianity – is the only thing that will “save America.” I agree there is need for repentance in this country, but I think it is safe to say we deviate on specifics. I know that I do not need to repent for who I am as a lesbian and a beloved child of God. I do not need to repent for supporting my fellow trans Americans, and others who are being demonized and treated cruelly. But we do need repentance as a nation. Repentance from instilling fear and division. Repentance from greed and lies. Repentance from war mongering and violence. Repentance from the scapegoating of trans people, immigrants, non-Christians, and anyone who may be deemed “other.” Repentance from failing to uphold the common good. In today's scripture lesson, Paul names the reality of the diversity of the identities and the spiritual gifts of the community of Jesus followers in Corinth. Uniformity is not the goal; faithful interdependence is. Paul insists that there are indeed differences, and that it is only together, it is only collectively, that we are the body of Christ. Paul does not only acknowledge differences, he goes on to describe that we need the differences: “If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?” Paul describes the need for robust diversity for the fullness of the church. Honoring diversity is biblical. Twenty-four years ago, a young lesbian couple – two cradle United Methodists with parents very involved in the church – decided to find a church home together. Logan and I wanted a church home where we could belong, as our full selves. We looked at a few options, and decided we wanted it to be a United Methodist Church, and with only a few Reconciling congregations at the time – churches that have gone on the record in support of LGBTQ+ inclusion – we ended up at Foundry. Logan quickly joined Jubilate, the choir at the then-9:30 service. Logan went to the Women's Retreat in the first year or two after we started attending, and Peggy Simpson was assigned as her roommate. It was fitting when a few years later the law changed in DC and same-sex couples could get married that Peggy graciously opened her home for our legal wedding, and then we had a celebration at Foundry with a service led by Rev. Dean Snyder. I attended the 2012 General Conference of The United Methodist Church with Rev. Snyder and several other members from Foundry. When there was no forward movement on LGBTQ inclusion through legislative change, LGBTQ+ people and allies sang in peaceful demonstration to the denomination they love and to themselves from Micah 6:8: “What does the Lord require of you?” We walked around the communion table and sang. A table that symbolizes God's reconciling activity through Jesus Christ. In one of the loops around the table, this non-musical child of God standing before you heard a word amidst the cacophony of sounds in the Tampa convention center: Stop waiting for the denominations rules to change. Put yourself forward as a candidate for ordained ministry. We are here today, by the grace of God, with different rules on the books thanks to the tireless work of advocates including several who are in this room today. And after a roadblock or two, a Judicial Council ruling or two, I was commissioned in 2019 and ordained in 2022. While it was my name in deliberations by the Annual Conference or in news stories, I was there as the visible representative of this community that kept saying over and over to the broader church that it was getting it wrong on the treatment of gay and lesbian and bi and trans and other queer people. It was only through the support, love, strength, and organizing work of this community that I was able to go on the journey that was my ordination candidacy process in The United Methodist Church. Christianity is meant to be practiced in community. Some make a theological case for this based on the relational aspect of God in the doctrine of the trinity. Some point to Paul's articulation of the church as the “body of Christ,” where no one body part is sufficient on its own and each part depends on the others. I personally wonder – how are you going to have a potluck by yourself? You can make yourself a dozen deviled-eggs or the best jello salad, but the whole point of a potluck is that no one brings everything, NO ONE HAS TO DO EVERYTHING. Each person does their part. There are certainly spiritual disciplines that are done individually: personal prayer, scripture reading, meditation, reflection, individual acts of compassion and advocacy. But Christianity is not a solo spiritual self-improvement project. Christianity is meant to be practiced in community. There are spiritual practices that we undertake together: worship, sacraments of baptism and communion, serving together, learning together, mutual care, accountability, sharing joys, being there for each other in the tough times. In the midst of a culture that too often celebrates self-sufficiency and radical individualism, the church is a place of interdependence. Paul says to the church in Corinth: “Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit, and there are varieties of services but the same Lord, and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” For the common good. Not only for our personal betterment, but we are each given spiritual gifts for the common good. The interdependence is part of how God forms us. We learn generosity by sharing what we have, from a friendly greeting to our time to our resources. We learn humility by recognizing wisdom in unexpected places, including from a six-year-old giving a really good answer to Ms. Natalie during the children's message. We learn patience by working through differences and disagreements. Christian community is not always easy, but it is where we belong. This week I invite you to reach out to someone in the church – someone here at Foundry if you are a part of this community or of your own church community if you are visiting from another. I invite you to reach out to someone to check in with them. Maybe someone who you know has been having a particularly hard time lately, or someone you haven't seen at church in a few weeks or months. You might arrange a time for coffee or a meal, take a walk, or have a phone conversation. Plan brunch, schedule time for your kids to play together at the park, go to coffee hour with the intention of asking at least one person a few questions beyond the polite “how are you?” We live in a culture of curated images, quick fixes, and too often shallow connections. We need to make spaces where we can be our authentic selves. Where we can tell the truth about our lives. Where we can grow in love of God and neighbor. You might reach out to someone thinking that you are “helping” them, but I encourage you to be open to how God may be at work in that connection in ways you did not expect, shaping both of you. In the midst of increasing militarism and authoritarianism, in the midst of greed and lies, in the midst of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and so much more – our way through is together. There are days where we might want to do it alone. And rest and renewal are certainly important. And individual spiritual practices are important. But as Christians we belong together in community with other Christians to learn, to serve, to celebrate, to grieve, to remind each other that we are beloved children of God, no matter what anyone says. The body of Christ is not a collection of isolated spiritual consumers. It is a people learning how to belong to one another. I am looking forward to the next part of my adventure, but I am going to miss this community. I will carry with me so much and I give thanks to God for helping be a community that affirmed that I belong in the church, and that we all belong in the church. So #KeepShowingUp for each other. Give a wide welcome to those looking for a safe space to explore big questions and bring their full selves. Teach the children that God loves them. Let others care for you, and give that same care in return. Try out being an usher, or singing with the choir, or joining the prayer team, or helping out with Children's Worship. Join a small group. Participate in one of the ministries of care and justice. Be a vessel of hope in a world that desperately needs it. Remind each other that #GodIsYetAtWork in you and through you, Foundry United Methodist Church. And may it continue to be so. Amen.

Introduction: What About Spiritual Gifts? (1 Corinthians 12:1-11) Spiritual Gifts are FROM God and FOR Every Believer. (1 Cor 12:4-6) Spiritual Gifts Are to Be Used to BLESS the CHURCH. (1 Cor 12:7) Spiritual Gifts Come in Many FORMS. (1 Cor 12:8-10) 2 Corinthians 12:12 - The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. Hebrews 2:4 - while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. Wisdom Knowledge Faith Healing Miracles Luke 9:1 – And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases Prophecy Distinguish between spirits Tongues Interpretation of tongues Spiritual Gifts Are Given at the HOLY SPIRIT'S DISCRETION. (1 Cor 12:11) SEEK God. Consider the INTERSECTION. Take an ASSESSMENT. Take the Spiritual Gifts Test! Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Questions and Answers: What About Spiritual Gifts? Jeff Miller Download Audio Transcript 00:38Open up your Bibles with me, please, to the book of 1 Corinthians 12.00:45While you're turning there, let's just pause for a second, and I'm going to ask that you would please pray for me00:53to be faithful to communicate God's Word accurately and clearly as I should.01:01And I will pray for you to be open to receive what it is that God said. All right, let's pray. Father, sometimes we come to your word and I guess some passages seem to hit some of us more than others. And we're about to enter into a section that according to your word literally is for every single one of us. So I pray.01:31That Your Spirit would be the power behind the wisdom of Your Word and that You would continue to conform us into the image of Your Son, not just individually, but as a church body. Father, glorify Your name as we immerse ourselves into Your Word now. We pray in Jesus' name and all of God's people,02:02Amen. Look at 1 Corinthians 12, verse 1. Paul says,02:07Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.02:18This section of 1 Corinthians has been a big Q&A section.02:25They had sent Paul questions and he was responding with answers.02:28And up to this point, we've mainly been dealing with earthly matters. We've been talking about liberty and marriage and gender. And now we're on to more, I guess you could say, spiritual matters. And he says, concerning spiritual gifts, look at that verse 1, I do not want you to be uninformed. I don't want you to be ignorant about spiritual gifts.02:58Spiritual Gifts. Wow, that's a phrase that really describes the church today. Right? Because as always, church, we will go to either side of the extreme. When we talk about spiritual gifts, immediately you're going to have some people on one end of the spectrum that just completely neglect or ignore them. And think, oh, that's just like,03:28Goofy, charismatic stuff, but we're like sober-minded people. You completely dismiss the role that the Holy Spirit has in the work of the church. They're just neglected. And we do church according to human intellect and creativity. And then you have people on the other end of the spectrum that don't neglect the gifts. You could say they misrepresent the gifts of the Holy Spirit.03:58And over on the other extreme, people are doing all kinds of goofy things in church saying that it's a work of the Holy Spirit. We're slain in the Spirit and we're hooping and hollering and barking and howling. It's a gift of the Spirit. Excuse me. Absolutely essential in your work for Christ. Absolutely essential04:28in the health of the church, in the health of this church, you have to understand what spiritual gifts are, and you have to use your spiritual gift in the church. All right, look at verse 2. He says, you know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to mute idols. However, you were led. What he's doing here is he's setting up a contrast.04:58by idols.05:00And we're going to see this as we go throughout this section,05:03but the Corinthians in their former pagan lifestyle05:07learned a lot of bad methods of worship.05:11Pagan methods of worship.05:13And they brought those into the church.05:15Like, I guess this is how we worship.05:17And Paul here is making the contrast.05:20Like, look, no, no, no.05:22You used to be led by idols.05:24Now, now you are led by the Holy Spirit of God.05:30The Holy Spirit. Somehow, despite how essential His role is in the church, He just doesn't seem to get the press that the other members of the Trinity get, right? I mean, we talk about Jesus a lot. His sacrifice on the cross for our sins. His resurrection from the dead.05:58We talk about God the Father a lot. But God the Holy Spirit, just is essential. The Bible says that every Christian, every born-again Christian receives the Holy Spirit. That's Romans 8 and 9, among other places. That's God's presence abiding in you. Why? Why does God's Spirit live in you? Well, there's two main reasons. One is for character, right?06:28The Holy Spirit manifests the character of Christ in you. That's the fruit of the Spirit. That's Galatians 5. That's love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That's what the Holy Spirit does in the life of the believer manifesting those characteristics. So it's character. The other reason the Holy Spirit lives in believers is for service.06:58And that's what we're talking about in this passage today. Every believer is given a spiritual gift to be used in the church. And you're like, wow, you know, how do I know that I even have the Holy Spirit? Well, look at verse 3. Paul says, therefore, I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says,07:28Jesus is accursed. And no one can say, Jesus is Lord, except in the Holy Spirit. So how do you know you have the Holy Spirit? Here's a foundational test. How do you regard Jesus? And I don't just mean what do you say about Jesus here in church on Sunday morning or at small group. I mean in your heart, in your innermost being privately,07:58How do you regard Jesus Christ? In your heart, is Jesus Christ everything to you? Because your true heart disposition towards Jesus is manifest by the Spirit. If you're born again, Paul says, you cannot curse Jesus. And apparently some of that stuff was happening in the Corinthian church. That's a whole other study for another time.08:28Paul says, if you have the Holy Spirit living in you, you absolutely will regard Jesus Christ as your Lord. The Holy Spirit. He's not just for preachers and missionaries, by the way. The Christian life, every Christian's life, is a Holy Spirit-led and empowered life. So the question that Paul's getting into here, and Pastor Taylor's going to be talking about this more next week, here's the question on the table.08:58They asked. He's answering, so what about spiritual gifts? I mean, what are spiritual gifts? And how is it that the Holy Spirit uses spiritual gifts in the church? So on your outline, what about spiritual gifts? What about them? Paul's giving us a great foundational teaching on Holy Spirit gifts.09:28Number one, write this down. Spiritual gifts are from God and for every believer. Look at verses four through six. He says, now there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit. And there are varieties of service, but the same Lord. And there are varieties of activities,09:58is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. He says there's many kinds of spiritual gifts, but notice he says they all come from God. And he really wants to make that point clear because you notice he mentioned every member of the Trinity as being the source of spiritual gifts. You notice that? He talks about the Holy Spirit in verse 4. He talks about Jesus Christ, the Lord, in verse 5. He talks about God, the Father,10:28in verse 6. Spiritual gifts are gifts that come from God. Now, understand that spiritual gifts are different than talents. Okay? Like a skill that you have to play an instrument or to paint a mural. Spiritual gifts are different, but listen. I can show you biblically, and that's a study for another time.10:58come from God. Absolutely.11:03But here we're talking about ministry gifts.11:06Church ministry must be Spirit-powered, not done in the flesh.11:15Why?11:19Because if we're just doing ministry in our power, in man's power,11:25we're going to get man's results.11:27But when ministry is done in God's power, we get God's results. So which do you want? At the end of the day, I want to see what God can do in this church, not what I can do. But you notice the end of verse 6, beginning of verse 7, to everyone, to each. Listen, because every Christian possesses the Holy Spirit, all Christians, all Christians are given a spiritual gift.11:59It's so fascinating because every gift is a characteristic of Jesus Christ Himself. You realize He had everything perfectly. Think about that. Jesus, God in the flesh, who embodied every characteristic perfectly. You see the Holy Spirit giving us a spiritual gift. What's going on here? Here's what's going on. The church is called the body of Christ.12:29And each member is given a gift so that collectively, we as the body of Christ become a sort of representation of Jesus Christ himself. It's absolutely mind-blowing. But God wants the church to be Christ-like, and this is how it happens. We each use our spiritual gift. We're collectively built up in all of the characteristics that Jesus Christ possessed perfectly in the Incarnation.12:57So, spiritual gifts from God for every believer. All right, number two, spiritual gifts are to be used to bless the church. Look at verse 7. He says, to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For the common good.13:28It's kind of funny when you think about it. You're given a spiritual gift, right? But in a real sense, the spiritual gift given to you isn't even for you. Isn't that strange? God's given you a gift, but He goes, oh, that's not for you. That's for everybody else. You see, my spiritual gift is supposed to benefit you.13:57benefit me.14:01And that's why we believe in every member of ministry at Harvest Bible Chapel.14:05If you're attending here, if you consider this your church,14:09we're not shy about asking where do you want to serve.14:15Not because we're like, we need help.14:18We do need help.14:21But that's not the primary reason.14:24It's because if you're part of the church, God has gifted you to bless the church. Right? So I have to ask you, how is God using you in this church? How's God using you? If you've been given a gift that's for the common good, how is that working in your ministry?14:55Now look, I've got to tell you, we are so blessed at this church. We were talking about this not too long ago, but we have a crazy high percentage of people who are actively serving in this church in so many ways. We're not there yet, but that number needs to be 100%. And if you're attending this church and you're not serving, please hear me.15:26I just want to lovingly tell you that God hasn't called anyone to warm a seat. Nobody's spiritual gift is attendance. We need you to be using your spiritual gift for the common good. All right? So spiritual gifts are from God for every believer. Number two, spiritual gifts are to be used to bless the church.15:54And number three, spiritual gifts come in many forms. Here's where we need to spend some time. In this section here, Paul lists nine spiritual gifts. Now, this list is not exhaustive, okay? Actually, we're not going to look there today. We're going to stick in this passage as is our custom. But you can see also Romans chapter 12. You can see Ephesians chapter 4. There are other gifts than the ones that are listed.16:24here. This isn't exhaustive. This is more just representative. Spiritual gifts come in many forms. Let's look at verses 8-10. Paul says, for to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit.16:54To another, faith by the same Spirit. To another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit. To another, the working of miracles. To another, prophecy. To another, the ability to distinguish between spirits. To another, various kinds of tongues. To another, the interpretation.17:24of tongues.17:27Alright, so with spiritual gifts there are two categories.17:31There are speaking gifts and there are serving gifts.17:35But there are also two kinds of gifts.17:38There are permanent gifts.17:40There are gifts that were given that will be active in the church until our Lord returns.17:46And there are gifts that are temporary that were only for a time and purpose.17:51And this is where we get controversial.18:00Because this is where a lot of people have a lot of different opinions. But are you ready to go to Sunday school for a few minutes? Three of you? Okay. Thank you. Tristan always has my back. Always. And some of you are like, I don't know if I want to get out of here.18:23this road. Well, we're going through 1 Corinthians. This is next. And we receive God's Word as presented, right? So let's do it. But I want to talk about temporary gifts. And please hear me out before you storm out. That door's hard to slam, but it can be done. Before you storm out, before you throw anything at me, I would like you to please hear me out for a few minutes, all right?18:53Because this isn't my opinion. This is what the Bible says if you read it straightforwardly. Temporary gifts, sometimes they're called sign gifts. Those are the more miraculous type gifts. Please hear me because this is where I'm going to be misquoted, but not you. Listen, those gifts are not normative today.19:23Do I believe that they still happen? 100% I do. But they are not normative. Okay? So if somebody's like, well, what is Jeff's position on some of these sign gifts? I do not believe that they are normative today. I'm going to show you why. Can God do them? Yes. But, listen close. These sign gifts, are these spiritual gifts19:53that are possessed by people in the day of Paul and the apostles. And the answer is no. They're not possessed by people as they were in Paul's day. God still does them on occasion, not normative, but they're not possessed by people. I want to talk about miracles for a moment. Pastor Taylor and I were talking about this last week.20:23I think when we read the Bible, we get this idea that miracles were just like happening all the time, right? Like Moses woke up and like before his oatmeal, he like fired off five miracles. Boom. Not a man a meal, not oatmeal. But actually miracles in the Bible were actually very rare.20:53And apart from Moses' day, and apart from the day of Jesus in the apostles' ministry, miracles performed through men were actually very rare things. So why did we see so many miracles, especially in Moses' day, and especially in Jesus' and the apostles' day? Because this is why.21:21God performed miracles through people to verify or prove when new revelation was given. That's why it was normative in Moses' day. That's why it was normative for the apostles. Because God was giving new revelation, and that was the way He verified it. Any knucklehead can run around and say,21:51this is the new word of the Lord. And like, how can you prove that? Anybody can say that. God would verify what is actually revelation from him by backing it up with people who were giving not just this message, but performing these miracles. That's why you see that in Jesus. Why did Jesus perform so many miracles? Why did Jesus perform miracles? He's putting on a show, right?22:21He wanted to dazzle people, right? Hey, check this out. Check out what I can do. Anybody got two fishes, five loaves? Let me show you a trick. No! Jesus wasn't an entertainer. Why did Jesus do all the miracles? Actually, He referred to them as signs. Why? Because they were done to prove He is who He said He is. He's like, I'm God in the flesh. And of course, you're going to have people that were like, pfft.22:51I'm not buying that. But when you see this man raising the dead, healing the sick, feeding multitudes, you're like, there's something more to him. Right? Jesus' signs proved he is who he said he is. You're like, awesome, but what about spiritual gifts? Well, same principle here. Listen, to back the apostles'23:21while the New Testament was completed, was being completed, God authenticated the gospel with sign gifts. That's what the Bible says. You're like, where does the Bible say that? Many places. I'll give you a couple. Okay? Like 2 Corinthians 12. Look, the signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience with signs and wonders and mighty works. You see?23:51the true apostles were performing miracles. It was to authenticate the gospel message. Same thing in Hebrews 2.4. It says, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will. Same principle as God was giving us the New Testament. You see, in those days, they didn't have the New Testament completed yet.24:21was being worked on by the Holy Spirit. So when somebody got up and said, let me tell you this message from God, how do we know it was from God? He backed it up with miracles. That's why when you go through the book of Acts, you see miracles less and less and less and less as you go through the book of Acts. We spent like three years in Acts, and that's what you see. In 1 Corinthians here, the book that we're studying, it was one of the earliest24:51written. So sign gifts were still very much a thing when Paul wrote this, but they were on their way out and they were ending as normative spiritual gifts when the New Testament was completed. That's why in none of the other epistles you see any talk about the spiritual gifts of miracles or healings or tongues or interpretation of tongues. You don't see that in any other25:21book in the New Testament.25:25Because it was phasing out.25:28We have God's word complete in written form,25:31so we don't need to verify it with a miracle.25:35God wrote it all down for us.25:37All right?25:39So, with that backdrop, I'm going to go through these quickly.25:44Each one of these could be a sermon,25:45and that's not the intention.25:49Interestingly, Paul does not explain them. He just lists them. I want to give you a little definition for each, a little understanding. So look at your spiritual gifts here, starting in verse 8. The first one is wisdom. What is wisdom? That's just skill in applying the Word of God. Do you know who typically possesses this gift are people that are counselors, whether it's formally or informally, people that are able to say, I understand how to incorporate God's truth.26:19into my life.26:21I can help you incorporate God's truth into your life.26:23It's applying the Word of God.26:24That's wisdom.26:26Next is knowledge.26:30That's understanding the Word.26:34It's somebody that can see Bible facts and knows how they fit together.26:39You know what's amazing?26:40Did you ever see these Christian authors?26:43They take like one subject and they write a whole book about it.26:46That's always amazing to me.26:48Like, how do they do that? They wrote a whole book about one subject? Well, I think a lot of them have the gift of knowledge. Right? Next is faith. Gift of faith. Now, obviously, this is faith beyond believing to get saved, because every follower of Christ has that kind of faith. Right? But you ever notice that there are some Christians that you meet that just seem to have a deeper,27:20Confidence in the Sovereignty of God. You know what I'm talking about? There's some Christians you meet, they could be going through just the worst trials a human being can go through, and they're just like, you know what? God's in control. He's got this. And they're just completely unflappable. They have the gift of faith. Those people are typically the best prayers. Right? Next on the list.27:48is healing.27:51Now again, I believe that this is one of the gifts27:55for people that was phasing out at this point.28:01But what is healing?28:02Well, it's just supernaturally healing a physical illness.28:12I wish I had that gift.28:14I wish it was still a thing.28:17And you might say, well, Pastor Jeff, I think it is still a thing. Because I saw this guy on TV. He was slapping people on the head deaf and they were getting up with full hearing. Interesting about those people, they never go to the cancer ward or the children's hospital. I mean, if I had the gift to heal people, that's the first place I'd go. You're like, oh, so you don't believe in healing? Oh, yeah, yeah. Look, listen.28:47Let's be clear. God still heals. I believe that 100%. And I have seen in this church God miraculously heal people. I believe that God heals. I'm not convinced that Benny Hinn ever did. All right? So next is miracles. Miracles. Like, wait a minute. What's the difference between miracles and healing? I'm not going to bore you with the long systematic Thompson Chain reference.29:17But here's the thing. That word for miracles, when you trace it through the New Testament, was most often connected with casting out demons. That's the difference. That's the distinction. See, that's what Jesus was talking about. Look at Luke 9.1. We'll have it on the screen. It says, and he called the twelve together, look, and gave them power and authority, here it is, over all demons and to cure diseases. So miracles.29:47In the New Testament referred to casting out demons. Again, I believe that was an apostolic era. Do I believe God still does that 100%? Absolutely, yes, He does. Normative? That a person has the gift and is running around doing that? No. All right, next is prophecy. Prophecy. Now, when we think prophecy, when we hear that word, what's the first thing we think of? Like future stuff, right?30:17Tell us the future. Well, sometimes, actually rarely, that's part of it. But you realize that's not what prophecy literally means at all. Do you know what the word prophecy is? It literally breaks down to a compound word that means speak before. You're like, speak before what? Speak before an audience. That's what prophecy is. It's somebody that stands in front of a group of people and says things.30:47Before Them. That's prophecy. It's the public speaking of God's truth. That's what happens when I get up here, Taylor or Brian or Justin or whoever stands up here proclaiming the Word of God. That is prophecy. We are speaking before. Right? Next is distinguishing between spirits. If you're interested, we did a whole sermon series on this.31:17A couple years back, this is what we more commonly call discernment. It's the ability to evaluate if something is from God or not. And in that sermon series, I'm not going to preach it all now, but I'd just like to remind you that that is something that we are all called to do. We are all called to discern what is from God and what is not from God. And again, I'll remind you that we live in a day that it is more crucial than ever because we live in a day where we have access to more information.31:47than we've ever had. You open up your phone, you're going to have 10,00031:51preachers giving you contradictory31:54message about31:55thus saith the Lord. How do we know31:57what God actually said? Discernment32:00is the gift to be able to32:01tell, he's not saying what God32:03said, but this guy definitely is, right?32:05Right?32:10Some people have that gift.32:13Alright, next gift is tongues.32:18Next gift is tongues.32:21You're like, are tongues for today?32:26People ask that, are tongues for today?32:31Yeah, tongues are for today.32:32How would you eat your ice cream otherwise, right?32:38Listen, I'm not going to go too far into this.32:42Oh, you're scared? No, not at all.32:43We're actually going to be doing a very deep dive in this. We're spending four weeks on this subject. But what is tongues biblically? Tongues is the ability to speak in a foreign language unknown to the speaker. It's a known language, by the way. It's not gibberish. It's somebody speaking an already existing language that that person doesn't know. They're just speaking it. Like I said, we're going to spend so much more time on this. And then interpretation of tongues is just simply that.33:13a person that was gifted with the ability to translate what the tongues speaker says. Many forms. One spirit. Oh, speaking of the Holy Spirit, number four. Spiritual gifts are given at the Holy Spirit's discretion.33:47Look at verse 11.33:52He says,33:54All these are empowered by one in the same Spirit34:01who apportions to each one individually as He wills.34:09As He wills.34:11The Holy Spirit, in His sovereignty, determines who does what. That's the Holy Spirit's job. Understand, as your pastor, I did not get to choose your gift. Like, oh, you want to be a part of our church? All right. Prophecy. Okay, how about you? You want to join the church? All right. Healing. You're like, you totally didn't listen to that sermon, did you? I don't get to determine that gift.34:41get to determine that gift. You know what? Preaching looks like a lot of fun. I think I'm going to ask the Holy Spirit for the prophecy gift. He is the one who determines the gift. It is a gift. And the gift giver determines the gift that he wants to give you. The gift giver determines the gift35:12that he wants to give you.35:19And I know this is a hard sell in our day.35:23I mean, Murph, you get it. You go back. We get it.35:27The gift giver determines the gift he wants to give. We get it. The younger people don't get that.35:33Like, why not? Because you know what we do in our day?35:38You know what we do in our day? We have a big event.35:42We have a baby shower, a wedding, little Joey's birthday party. He's turning five. Going to have his party at the Chuck E. Cheese. Do you know what we do today? We tell people what gifts we want, don't we? We do that. Little Joey's turning five. He's registered at Target. Right? Right?36:10Or, yeah, I'm getting married. Yeah, I'm getting married. Yeah, I'm registered at Target. We tell people the gifts that we want. I'm getting married. I want this toaster. I want this knife set. I want this vacuum. And then, I mean, we've done it. Aaron and I will go and be like, okay, this is the vacuum they want.36:40and we buy it and we wrap it up. And then they act surprised when they open it. They open it up and they're like, oh, you got me exactly what I was asking for. Oh, you shouldn't have. But you go back a generation, the gift giver determined what gift you got. Don't try that with the Holy Spirit, okay? You're baptized.37:11I'm registered at Target.37:15Well, we don't get a say in it.37:17It's His gift, right?37:19It's His gift.37:19Do you think I would have signed up for this?37:25Oh no.37:26Oh no.37:30He'll make a better choice than we would anyways.37:33Alright.37:35That's all well and good.37:36But that's really not the question37:39that we're asking right now.37:40The question that we're asking right now is how do I know what my spiritual gift is right I mean it's clear he's given all of us each of us a gift to represent the body of Christ and we're to use it in the common good we saw the kinds and you're like awesome what is my spiritual gift how do I find out what my spiritual gift is all right I'm going to give you three things we're going to close with this three things how do I know what gift I've been given letter A seek God38:10You're like, that sounds like a cop-out. No, look. If you make your life about on-your-face praying and in the Word and just get serving in the church, the Spirit's going to do what the Spirit does. He's going to be at work through you. You're going to figure that out real quick. So just don't worry about seeking a gift. Seek the gift giver. He'll do what He does.38:40That's what he does. Seek God. All right? Letter B. Consider the intersection. Like, what's the intersection? I was studying for this this week. I came across something. I thought it was super helpful. It's one of those diagrams where everything intersects. What do they call that? A Venmo diagram?39:10Venn. Not Venmo.39:20What's a Venmo?39:23Oh, that's giving money.39:26Also a spiritual gift. Right!39:30So you could Venmo your...39:31Alright.39:33I just feel like I had like an inception moment here.39:37Alright.39:38Consider the intersection.39:39Yeah.39:40All right. So I came across this Venn diagram. And I thought it was helpful. I'm going to try to recreate it here. But there's three things here. First of all, this circle here, we're going to call that, we're going to call this one ability. We're going to call this one ability. What is it that you seem, not complicated,40:10You seem like you're able to do this. Right? Of all the gifts. You're like, you know what? That's something that I seem like I'm able to do. I mean, I'm not boasting or anything. It just seems like something that I'm able to do. Okay? And then, with this one, we're going to call this one affinity. That's an idea. Okay. That's affinity. Like, well, that's an idea. Like, what do40:40I enjoy doing.40:42If somebody was like, you can do whatever you want in the church, whatever you enjoy most,40:46what would be the line I get to the front of first?40:50What's my affinity?40:53And then the third thing here, my circles are getting less and less circle-y, but I think you get the idea.41:01This one we're going to call affirmation.41:12You know, you have people maybe in your small group or other people in the church that are, they say to you, you know what? You seem like you have a real gift for teaching. You really seem like you have a gift for praying with people. So the point is this. Consider the intersection right here.41:39This is very likely your spiritual gift. I would say extremely likely. What you're able to do, what you love doing, and what people affirm that it seems like God has equipped you to do, that is very likely your spiritual gift. All right? Then letter C, assessment. Seek God, consider the intersection or assessment. We have a QR code.42:10Go ahead, take your phone out and give that a scan. Pastor Rich sent this along. But this is an online assessment. And really, I think between seeking the Lord, considering the intersection, doing the online assessment, I think that's going to get you all on your way to giving you a deeper understanding of what your spiritual gift is. So go ahead. Go ahead, do the...42:41Either scan that or Venmo me some money. Since you have your phone out and I just learned what Venmo is. Do I have a Venmo? Never mind. Aaron says I don't have a Venmo. All right. Our worship team would make their way up. While they're coming, you know, when I was in high school, I played soccer.43:11In my junior high year of playing soccer, the coach didn't like me. Why? Because I was unlikable. So I sat on the bench most of the season. Now, I knew I had the ability.43:39senior year, we had a new coach, and I didn't sit for one minute that entire season. In fact, I was co-captain of the team. But I got to tell you, I think back to that junior year of playing soccer, and I just remember feeling incredibly frustrated because I felt incredibly useless. You know, you put your shin guards on, you put your cleats on, you put your44:09your soccer uniform on.44:12And you just, I just sat there and watched the whole season.44:16Just sat there.44:21So many times I thought, why am I even here?44:25Why am I even here?44:26What am I doing?44:29I want to tell you, you don't have to worry about that with God's team44:34because there are no bench warmers.44:39God doesn't tell any of His children, you know what? You're nice and all, but you go sit over there. We don't really need you. Or you just wait, and if we decide there's a place we can squeeze you in, we'll see if we can do that. No, no, no, no, no. God's Word has made it very clear that He has called and He has gifted every single one of you.45:08this church. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, so often we get a gift and we don't say thank you, but Father, we thank you not just for the gift of your Holy Spirit himself who lives within us, but the gift that he has given each of us to serve you and your church. For some people here, Father, this is probably brand new teaching.45:38Never really considered this. And for some people here, Father, maybe we've known this and have sort of strayed from it. But I'm asking today, Father, that your Spirit would grip every heart in this church and grip the church collectively so that we truly, as the body of Christ, might represent the person of Christ.46:08as these spirits are at work in us. So Father, I pray for the person here who maybe has been coming to this church but just hasn't stepped up. Remind them, Father, it's not just a matter of the elders and pastors and ministry team would value your input. Remind them, Father, that you have equipped them to serve your church.46:38We do so to your glory and honor. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Small Group DiscussionRead 1 Corinthians 12:1-11What was your big take-away from this passage / message?What does it mean that spiritual gifts are for the common good (1 Cor 12:7)?Are sign gifts such as healing and miracles still possessed by people today? Why or why not?Why is it important to understand that the Holy Spirit is the One Who chooses what gifts believers receive (1 Cor 12:11)?How do you know if a ministry is done by the power of the Holy Spirit, or done in the flesh (that is, just by “human power”)?BreakoutPray for one another.

For Edge God in Podcast Edge God In Podcast 322 The Book of Joshua: “Courage to Possess the Promise.” EdgeGodIn.com | Host: Estella Chavous Championing Human Potential in Christ Download Bible Study Template Learning Objective: By the end of this lesson and series participants will be able to understand how wholehearted love for God and intentional obedience to His Word shape emotional, spiritual, and daily decision-making, and apply these principles through the EIC (Emotional Intelligence in Christ) lens to cultivate trust, faithfulness, and consistent spiritual growth. Scriptures: Joshua 1:8-9 | Philippians 4:13 | James 1:22 | Isaiah 41:10| The book helped them understand five key areas: Courage in times of transition Faith and obedience to God Victory through God's guidance Possessing God's promises Prayer: Heavenly Father,Thank You for being faithful to every promise You make. As we begin this study of Joshua, teach us how to walk in courage, obedience, and trust. Help us move beyond fear, doubt, and hesitation so that we may fully possess the purpose and inheritance You have prepared for us. Strengthen our faith when obstacles seem overwhelming. Remind us that Your presence goes before us and that victory comes through dependence on You. Give us hearts that are committed, obedient, and willing to follow wherever You lead. Teach us to lead with wisdom, live with integrity, and stand firm in seasons of transition. May this study deepen our confidence in Your faithfulness and inspire us to choose You daily in every area of our lives. As for us and our households, we will serve the Lord. In Jesus' name,Amen. Support Resources: Books & Resources: Understanding and Acting on Behaviors that lead to Christ-Filled Relationships: Designed to uncover the key behaviors that influence how you relate to Christ-Awareness, Discernment, Emotion, and Renewal. Situational Meditation Theory and Practice: Finding this space and learning to engage in meditation, contemplation and reflection. Situational Meditation Journal: A companion to the book, cultivating a lifestyle of presence and full engagement in the moment. Emotional Intelligence in Christ Project: Book, 6-Week Study Guide & Course

Watch the Devotion Based on Acts 2:21 Remember the Fallen with Resurrection Hope Last month I was in our nation’s capital, and I took some time to walk around the National Mall. When I reached the Vietnam Veterans memorial, I walked around the statue of the three service members. As I stood behind the statues, I noticed that their gaze is fixed on the black granite wall upon which are etched the names of their fallen comrades in arms. Just then a group of men in wheelchairs rolled up. They were a group of Vietnam veterans on their Honor Flight. Some took pictures. Others just sat there with their hands folded, remembering…  This made me think ahead to this weekend. On Memorial Day weekend we remember those who have died in service to our country. But we do not grieve the dead the way that the rest of the world grieves because we have hope. We know that Christ is risen and that he lives. Those who died while serving our country and died clinging in the risen Lord Jesus, they also live!    The apostle Peter quoted the prophet Joel in his Pentecost Day sermon in Acts chapter 2 and he said this: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21).  My prayer for you is that when you take time to remember this weekend – whether you do that on Monday at 3:00 PM local time, the National Moment of Remembrance, or you do that by sticking a flag in your yard, or hanging it on your garage, or laying a wreath on a tombstone – my prayer is that your soul is comforted with Jesus' resurrection promise that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”   Jesus promised the one who was crucified with him, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” This promise confirms that those who died in service to our country clinging to Jesus as their Savior – their souls are with Jesus right now in heaven. I pray that you are comforted with the knowledge that because Christ's tomb is empty that one day their tombs and their urns will be empty, too. Their bodies will rise from the dead and they will live forever remember. The one who died and rose again never to die again did so, so that those who call on his name will never die and that includes you. Prayer: Lord Jesus, as we remember those who gave their lives in service to our nation, comfort hearts that still carry grief and loss. Remind us that death is not the end of those who call on your name. Because you died and rose again, your people have the sure hope of eternal life. Strengthen those who remember the fallen with the promise of your empty tomb. Lord, through the blood and sacrifice of those who have perished you continue to bless our nation with freedoms, most notably, the freedom to proclaim your truths. Prevent further shedding of blood. Grant us peace so that your Word flourishes among the citizens of this great country. In your name I pray. Amen.    Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

One hilarious family dinner story turned into a powerful reminder of what really matters most. In this Friday edition of I'll Do Better Tomorrow, Justin and Kylie share the chaos, laughter, and connection that unfolds around their Sunday night family dinners — including the unbelievable lengths one of their daughters went to in order to save money on petrol. But the episode takes a deeply emotional turn when a listener from the UK shares how the Happy Families Podcast helped her leave an abusive relationship and create safety, stability, and healing for her four children. This episode is funny, raw, heartbreaking, and deeply hopeful — a reminder that small moments of connection can shape a family forever. If you've ever wondered whether family traditions really matter, or whether gentle, connected parenting makes a difference, this conversation will stay with you long after it ends. KEY POINTS Why simple family traditions create lifelong connection The hidden power of sharing stories around the dinner table How emotional safety helps children heal from trauma The parenting principle that helped one mum escape abuse Why connection must come before correction The importance of creating calm, stable spaces for children How parents can become a “safe base” for their kids The reminder every parent needs about gratitude and presence QUOTE OF THE EPISODE “They aren’t giving me a hard time. They are having a hard time.” RESOURCES MENTIONED The Parenting Revolution by Dr Justin Coulson Happy Families ACTION STEPS FOR PARENTS Start one small weekly family tradition and protect it consistently Create device-free moments where everyone can simply talk and laugh together Focus on connection before correction when emotions run high Respond to difficult behaviour with curiosity instead of anger Remind your children regularly that they are safe, loved, and supported Look for opportunities to build calm, stability, and trust inside your home See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daily Dose of Hope May 20, 2026   Name of God:  Jehovah Shalom – The Lord Is Peace Scripture:  Judges 6:11-24   Prayer:  I come before you today, laying down my anxieties, my fears, and the heavy burdens of the day. Lord, you know the exact situations and unseen battles that are causing turmoil in my heart. Right now, I invite Your presence into my mind, my body, and my home. Forgive me for the times I have allowed the noise and chaos of this world to distract me from Your unwavering faithfulness. I ask that You quiet my spirit and replace my restless thoughts with the perfect peace that passes all human understanding. Guard my heart and mind. Remind me that you are in control and help me to surrender my need to figure everything out on my own. In Jesus' Name, Amen.   Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Church daily Bible reading plan.  We are currently in a study on the names of God in the Old Testament.  Remember, names held a great deal of significance in the ancient world, indicating aspects of someone's identity, character, and purpose.  Certainly, it is the same with God.  God has many different names, all of which demonstrate one aspect of His character.  Today, we are focusing on Jehovah Shalom, which means the Lord is Peace.   The title Jehovah Shalom occurs only once in the Bible, in Judges 6.24, Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace [Jehovah Shalom].   As we know, the name Jehovah means God or Lord, while the term shalom refers to soundness, completeness, harmony and the absence of strife. It is best described by our English word, peace.   Judges is such a hard book to read.  The boundaries and guardrails that God put in place were ignored and things were violent and chaotic.  The time of the Judges was a 350 year period in Isreal's history when people did what was right in their own eyes.  That never works out well.  We are too selfish.  Our inner compass fails us.  We need direction, specifically God's direction.    During this time, God's people were worshiping other gods and sinning against the Lord and other people.  When things got really, really bad, God would lift his hand of protection and the people would be conquered by a foreign power.  That foreign power would oppress Israel and make things absolutely unbearable.  Then, the Jewish people would cry out to the Lord and He would send a judge.  The purpose of the judge was to save the people and defeat the foreign power.  Once the foreign power was defeated, Israel had peace.  They remembered God.  And this lasted as long as the judge was alive, but after the judge died, the whole cycle began again.  At this particular juncture, Israel was oppressed by the Midianites, who left them hiding in caves, without food, livestock, or working tools. Hungry and terrified, they cried out to God for help. He reminded them that their disobedience caused their troubles, but He also sent them a judge, Gideon. Although the Lord commissioned Gideon to save Israel, he felt weak and incapable. Because of his lack of confidence and fear, Gideon asked for a sign. Witnessing the food he prepared for the angel miraculously consumed by fire, Gideon was filled with even greater fear.  He had seen the Angel of the Lord face to face!  The immediate divine response was this, Peace be to you. Do not fear, you shall not die. As a result of these words, Gideon's heart was filled with confidence and courage. He experienced peace in the truest sense. Building an altar to the Lord, he called it Jehovah Shalom or the Lord is Peace. His encounter with the God of Peace had taught him that he was not alone. We live in a world in which peace is often elusive.  There is war, conflict, and division.  We are plagued by depression, grief, anger, or anxiety.  We are all Gideon hiding from the Midianites.  The truth is that the only way to experience true peace is through God.  Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, offers us a peace that passes understanding.  Even in the midst of the most difficult of circumstances, we can experience an inner peace that defies worldly explanation.  Jesus' presence = peace.  Spend some time praying to Jehovah Shalom today.  Where are you lacking confidence?  Where do you need peace? Blessings, Pastor Vicki  

Why Your Plans Never Work. This is AI generated podcast from my notes below. pretty fancy! Experiential constancy. What if the baseline of your experience of life is already set? There is an experience that we have that stays relatively constant because the stimulus required to get there changes as you evolve. If you're unaware, you can go through a lot of bad stuff and you have a particular experience: relatively happy, relatively sad, relatively angry, and so on. As you evolve, you notice more of the junk in life and correct many mistakes. In doing so, you become more sensitive to your stimulus around you. Even though you're cleaning up your world, so to speak, you retain the same experience and equilibrium, a pre-set equilibrium that stays the same as you do the work to change your surroundings. So changing your surroundings won't make you happy, because the more you change it, the more sensitive you get. The smaller amount of what you do not want gives you a bigger reaction because you are more sensitive and in tune, and it keeps you in the same baseline experience. So instead of trying to change the world and change yourself, work on just being happy, exactly as you are. Work on being peaceful, exactly as everything is. Be content right now. There's nothing else to do. You can try to make a difference so you can be content another time. Wherever you go, there you are. It won't work. All you have is now. Might as well do it now. Might as well be content now. What if life did not get better than it is right now, ever? What if this is it? Would you find contentment now? If None of those pursuits matter or can end state can be changed by changing the external stimulus, then contentment now is the Highest goal and the highest state. As an example, let's say you live a selfish life and you have some sort of epiphany that your selfish desires won't make you happy, and so you switch it up and decide that loving service delivers contentment and it is a much better life. You decide, however, now that you are concerned for others and you desire service for others instead of taking for others for your selfish gain. You start to become aware of everyone else's needs and the suffering outside of yourself.This new awareness creates a new level of suffering because you've actually cared for these people that are suffering. It can't change. We realized you can't change other people's experiences, even if you give them what they say they want. It's a bit of a trap, thinking that satiating your desire will create less desire. You realize that feeding desire when it wants it only creates more desire. This is true if your desire is for selfish gain or if your desire is to serve someone else's desires. It becomes clear that to be content, you must free yourself from desire in general. How do you do that? By accepting that all of life, as it is and as it's coming to you, is perfect and that you want nothing else. You want only what you have. You want only who you are. You want only what others have and are.Only wanting what is, as it is now, is only possible if you can see past the small character that so many of us think we are: our small ego, this tiny, constrained bit of awareness that is within a tiny mind. That's called a personality that we optimistically is inside a body. If we think we are that and we think others are that, we will never be free from desire. The reason for this is that the whole Ego's Mantra is: "Seek but do not find." It wants you to keep searching because it has to create separation boundaries between them and us, boundaries between me and God, boundaries between what I have and what I want. There have to be boundaries, or else the made-up separations would start to fall apart. Once that starts falling apart, the made-up separation of a separate special self would also eventually fall apart. Even though we suffer because of it, we cherish our separate special self because we think it's us. To lose it would be like dying, like annihilation, and even though we suffer, we think it's better to suffer than to be annihilated.So how do I get out? The only way is to increase my awareness. I have to expand my view past the blinders that I put up to keep me within a tiny separate personality in a tiny brain, all supposedly in a tiny body. When I expand my vision, I realize that I can look upon this tiny personality and tiny body in order to be able to observe something from the outside. It presupposes that there's something outside to be able to do the observing. I would not be able to watch myself do painful things unless there was something outside that self that is doing the watching. This watcher is a bigger part of myself. What is it? Is it consciousness? Is it my soul? Are they ethereal or astral bodies? I'm not sure what it is, but I know it's bigger than this little personality. I know it's a bit comforting because the personality seems to be set at a certain level of happiness, but that bigger self is free from that. This self that is able to watch and be indifferent to anything that happens is free already and is content already. This bigger self cannot gain or lose. This self that watches cannot be hurt. This self that watches cannot be born and cannot die. This self that watches is already in the state that I want to end up being. It is already content, as the ego is set in its experience and can't move. It can't really get more content than it already is, no matter what it desires. The self that watches is almost so set, it is set in contentment, it is set in peace. So my goal is not to achieve desires or help other people or be anything or achieve anything or help anything, any of that. My goal, if I want to be content is to relate more with the self that watches than the self that is constrained. The more I relate to the self that watches and the less I relate to the ego, the small personality, the more content I will be.There's nothing to do to achieve this shift in intention. That's all it is. Do I intend to be an ego that isn't seeking and achieving, or do I intend to be aware that I am the self that watches? That shift changes my world instantly. That shift freezes all. That shift is salvation. That shift transforms me into an eternal with no boundaries, no wants, nothing that has to be achieved, no goals that will add, or failures that will take away. How do I do it? The first step that you have to do to start to shift your intention and awareness is just to start to watch. Watch yourself choose being the ego that suffers. Watch yourself choose being the goals that are achieved and you get momentary relation, or are lost and you get suffering, frustration, anger, all the lower frequency experiences. The more you watch yourself the more you can see when you start to choose, separation versus choosing one missing connection. The ego needs separation to keep the distinctions between this and that me and them the distinctions and the boundaries are necessary and a scarce world with one thing is valuable, and one thing is not those distinctions and separations is the root of my suffering because the goal mark is continually removed and it's designed but even if I get there it's instantly moved to another goal, so I will always seek but never find. I've watched myself, and it will soon be comical that you do this to yourself over and over, even though it becomes quite obvious that it will only end in suffering and frustration and anger and fear. It is even sad once you see the game you've been playing, because the promise the ego has been giving you your entire remembered life is a lie.Instead, watch and release the impulse as it comes that the new goal will make you happy and complete and content. Remind yourself that it will not. There's nothing wrong with pursuing goals. The body has nothing much else to do. Just remember that if you're attached to the result of the goal, you will be disappointed and you will suffer. If you are attached to something not happening or attached to something happening, you will suffer and you will not achieve contentment. If you pursue goals and need nothing different to happen, then things could be fun.Make life a game. Play it like you would play with a kid where you want the kid to win. Play the game so that you understand the strategy and get the intricacies and learn how it works. I don't need an outcome. In fact, you can play the game like I often do with my kids and my wife, so that you hope the other person will win. That way the other person will have some joy and happiness because they think they achieved something that they lacked, while you know that no achievement will ever bring you contentment. You can just enjoy playing a game with another supposedly separate person. There is much joy in that. It cannot be taken away.Put your effort and your attention in the things that cannot be taken away. That you cannot lose, that you cannot gain. Anything that could be gained or lost will eventually be gained or lost in a repeated cycle that can never be stopped. Anything that cannot be lost, or cannot be gained, you can never lose, will always be yours so intricately that it is actually you, not a possession. The reality, in the end, is that you are the contentment that you seek. The quote "Know thyself" is this age-old pursuit to find who you have always been. It's easier than we think. It's like looking for water standing in a clear river and looking for sand lost in the desert, or the way of looking for the ocean. The only thing that separates us is our definition and separate ideas. Our judgments that this is this and that is that keep us separate. That's all it is. I made up ideas and I made up judgments. The wave is not separate from the ocean unless I call it a wave and the thing below it an ocean. Now suddenly there are two things, but this is not reality.How do I be happy? How do I be content? I must give up all my pursuits. I must give up even my pursuit of being me, or at least the separate me that is a personality, that has a name, that was born and will die. But again, give up what you never were, and that is not much of a loss. Who are you? You are closer to the one who watches. At least it's a way out of this trap, the ego trap, the separate world trap. This is classical enlightenment, but it is not the end. But it is simple, so why wouldn't we not do it? I'm not sure. It seems that they want the experience and fun time feeling like we were suffering and in danger and scarce.Just like we watch movies with drama, they will not watch a movie with no drama, no suspense. Joseph Campbell's hero's journey is this classic arche that human's love, starting in obscurity I'm moving to some kind of failure and being thrust into an adventure when I didn't want to, and finding the hero within, and then achieving some kind of crazy other failure and relying on some kind of outside source mentor that helps them become who they never thought they could be, and then coming back, getting some side of success then get into even deeper trouble when everyone thinks all is lost, and at the very end they step into their full power and save the day. This is the hero's journey, and we love it. We love the drama, we love the pain. We want the arc from obscurity to newfound power to supposed failure, to retribution and success. When we're done, we like to start over somewhere else. This is the ego. It's what it loves to do. So, don't be mad at the ego for doing what it does.Just shift your awareness to your bigger self and watch the ego do what it does. Just like a good movie, you might even start to enjoy the show. The only reason you wouldn't is if you think you are that ego or that body. But the ego is stuck. That part of you that has a name will not get to the end it thinks it's going to. It will always fail. It has to, to stay alive. Good news though, that's not you. You are the watcher. Once you see there's nothing to do and all there is to watch, all of life can be a game. Be content now. Play the game and make the risks. Why not? It's fun. Add a little drama. You can't lose. 

In the third message of “The Seers” series, we revisit the healing of the blind man in John 9 as a picture of spiritual sight and salvation. This teaching centers on a simple but powerful prayer: “God, remind me of the blind me.” Through the story, we're reminded that we were spiritually blind from birth, yet Jesus saw us before we could ever see Him. The message explores how God uses even painful or broken parts of our story to display His glory, and how the process of transformation may be messy, but still deeply effective. The healed man's testimony—“Though I was blind, now I see”—becomes a model for every believer, especially in the early stages of faith when that one truth is enough to change everything. Drawing from 2 Peter 1:9, the sermon warns against forgetting what Christ has done, because spiritual forgetfulness leads to dim vision. As we remember who we were, gratitude grows for who God has made us, and we're challenged to use our new spiritual sight with purpose and clarity.

In this episode, Bart Egnal speaks with executive, author, and leadership expert Barry Moline about what it takes to create authentic human connection in an increasingly disconnected world. Drawing on decades of leadership experience, including mediating high-stakes conflicts and leading organizations through crisis, Barry shares the lessons that inspired his book Connect: How to Quickly Collaborate for Success in Business and Life. From rebuilding trust as a young CEO to helping groups find common ground during conflict, Barry explains why connection is the foundation of influence, collaboration, and effective leadership. Bart and Barry explore practical ways leaders can foster stronger relationships at work, including “connection before content,” intentional conversations, and helping teams connect to a shared purpose. They also discuss why authentic connection matters more than ever in the age of AI, remote work, and digital overload. Whether you lead a team or simply want stronger relationships in your work and life, this episode offers actionable insights on how anyone can create true connection. Learn more at barrymoline.com Show Notes: 00:35 Show intro 01:13 Introducing Barry 01:52 Bart introduces the idea of “connection” 02:24 Barry's story of how he got to this topic 03:33 Early CEO mistakes 03:47 You're either with me or against me 04:43 Different culture than he was used to 05:42 Key advice from senior staff: build relationships! 08:16 2017 origin story for why he wrote the book 09:02 Working on a utility solution as an outside consultant 10:06 Does anybody get along anywhere? 11:11 Why doesn't someone write a book about collaboration? 12:23 Isn't it the CEO's job to bring everyone together? 13:01 It's not the facilitator that is important 13:57 Case study: California's referendum on gay marriage 14:53 Understanding why people voted “no” 16:05 Door-to-door conversations and outreach 19:03 Bart reflects on the campaign 20:17 What is “connection” and what does it mean for leaders? 20:40 Enter connection lightly 21:19 Using icebreakers 22:17 Specific questions that help create connection 23:14 Avoid “How are you?” completely and go to an icebreaker 23:56 How to move beyond to deeper connections 24:09 Where to find a list of workplace-appropriate icebreakers 24:42 Understanding purpose 25:01 Example of a plumber and their importance to society 25:34 Tell employees what they do is important and why 26:27 Remind people why their work is important 27:01 Managers need to be respectful and caring 27:17 Find out what people really want to do in life 27:48 Example of an aspiring filmmaker and communications leader 29:52 Bart reflects on the example 31:10 Bart plays devil's advocate 31:41 As an employee, how do you protect yourself while opening up about your interests? 33:44 Both sides of the conversation need to be judicious 34:18 Story and example of an engineer 36:47 What is the state of connection today? 37:04 Connection has gotten worse 37:24 Connection before content 37:51 You have to be intentional about connection 38:31 10 out of 10 times it will work 38:56 It will take 3 months of consistent effort 39:22 Example of hurricane response 41:40 Bart summarizes the importance of the topic 42:27 Where can people go to find more? 43:00 Thank-yous 43:13 Outro

Let me begin by describing what a toxic person is. Toxic means poisonous, dangerous, harmful, and persistent. So, a toxic person is one who can poison an atmosphere, and their actions and words are harmful and repetitive. Not just a once-in-awhile bad day, but a recurring unhealthy and hurtful behavior. Here are some signs that a person is toxic: They talk more than they listen. They are always right—never admit to being wrong. They are drama queens or kings—drama seems to follow them everywhere. They lack tact and general courtesy. They often lie to make themselves look good or to get what they want. They exhibit controlling behaviors. They love to talk about other people—to gossip. They are in general very negative people. Here's the first thing I want to remind you, as we talk about dealing with toxic people. They are people that God loves, just as much as he loves you. I remember long ago when I worked for a boss who was anything but pleasant; I just found it hard to even be around him. But I remember clearly one day when the thought came to me, no doubt from the Holy Spirit, that God loved him just as much as he loved me. I had to sit down and think about it. How could God love someone so unlovable? But it's true, because God is love, that he loves that toxic person in your life just as much as he loves you. And secondly, that person is not in your life by accident. God is allowing it—not approving of their behavior, mind you—but allowing that person in your life for some good reason. It could be to help you grow in grace, as you learn to deal with them. It could be for the good influence you could have on that toxic person—it could be both. But trust me, God has some good reason for this person being in your life. We are told in Scripture: If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone (Romans 12:18). That's our assignment for dealing with toxic people. Others may live by more commonly accepted relationship principles, such as, Look out for number one! Don't take any guff! Stand up for your rights! They may have no motivation to live at peace with everyone, but we are called to this Christ-like objective. It is a lofty one; it is often out of step with the world's wisdom; it is often not appreciated or valued by others. But as disciples of Jesus Christ, it is our guiding principle. And for sure, when we can respond to toxic people with more patience, more kindness, and less anger than others, we are demonstrating the love of Jesus, and it won't be missed. Your coworkers may not believe in God. They may never go to church. They may even think you are some kind of religious fanatic, but they cannot escape the difference in the way you respond to toxic people when you allow God's Spirit to empower you to respond like Jesus would. I think your first challenge is to get your own attitude and reactions to toxic people under control. Learn to do some things that will keep you from—as we say—going crazy. Here are four practical things you can do to protect yourself when you're dealing with a truly toxic person. Don't let your thoughts and mind dwell on them all the time. When dealing with such a disruptive and irritating person—on a regular basis, no less—it's very natural to let their behavior occupy your mind and your thoughts way too much. So, if you find you're dwelling on their behavior and you're giving them too much thought time, you need to firmly and swiftly boot the person out of your head. Refuse to let them take over your mind. Philippians 4 tells us to think about things that are lovely, pure, noble—and that pretty much excludes that toxic person. So, stop giving them time in your mind. And how do you do that? You do it by replacing thoughts of them with good thoughts, thankfulness, reciting your blessings, and focusing on God's goodness. That's what it means to bring every thought into captivity and make it obedient to Christ, as we read in 2 Corinthians 10:5. This is a spiritual discipline that will make a huge difference in your life. If you have not already discovered this truth and learned how to take wrong thoughts captive, I recommend a book I've written on it, entitled Think About What You Think About. So, as you head out to work each day, ask the Holy Spirit to remind you to boot those wrong thoughts out of your mind, to help you refuse to allow this toxic person to occupy your thoughts. That is a very important first step. Distance yourself from them as much as possible. You've heard a lot about setting boundaries, I'm sure. The Bible teaches us to set boundaries. For example, these two passages from Proverbs: Proverbs 4:14 – 15: Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way. Proverbs 16:17: The highway of the upright avoids evil; those who guard their ways preserve their lives. And Philippians 4:7 tells us the peace of God will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. So, we have to be wise about distancing ourselves from people who would fill our minds with evil and try to bring us down emotionally. You may not be able to distance yourself from a toxic person physically, if they are a coworker, but if that is not possible, learn to distance yourself mentally and emotionally. Pray each day that God will protect your mind and teach you how to literally tune them out when you can. You know, if you can wear headphones where you work, you could use that as a buffer between you and that toxic person. Even if you don't listen to anything on your earphones, just wearing them creates some distance. Seek relationships at work with uplifting people. Hopefully, there are constructive people in your workplace. Spend time with them, not talking about the toxic person, but talking about fun things, happy things. Uplifting people are a great counterbalance to toxic people. I remember when one of our pastors answered one of my emails with one of his funny quips. It was on a day when I felt like the world was closing in on me—you've had those days, I'm sure. When I read his funny email, I just laughed heartily and thanked God for a friend like him who can always lift my spirits. I've known him more than 25 years, and he has this wonderful gift of finding what I call the “happy spot.” I hope you have people you work with who can always lift your spirit. Look for them and spend time with them as an antidote for the toxic people around you. Watch your self-talk. Don't be your own worst enemy by talking to yourself in discouraging ways. You know, we all talk to ourselves, and typically we believe what we tell ourselves, don't we? So, watch out for your self-talk and use it for good in your life. Talk to yourself on a regular basis with good news. Don't allow your thoughts to linger in negative territory. You can control what you say to yourself! Listen to how the Psalmist talks to himself: Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God (Psalm 42:11). Well, there are four practical things you can do to protect yourself from the toxicity of coworkers who may be causing discord and disharmony where you work. This attitude change toward toxic people has to be a God-thing or it will never be a reality. The good news is as Christ-followers, we have the power to put these into practice, because we have been given God's Spirit, indwelling us and empowering us. And it begins, as so much does, by prayer. Daily praying something like this: “Lord, whoever I deal with today, help me to see them the way you see them. Remind me that you love them and their real need is to know you.” In his book, Reaching for the Invisible God, Philip Yancey advises that it is easier to act your way into feelings than to feel your way into actions.[1] In other words, do what you know is right to do and let the feelings follow, if they will. If you wait on your feelings to kick in before you do what you know you should do, you'll be in waiting mode many days, if you're like me! John wrote: God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him (1 John 4:16b). Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth (1 John 3:18). This kind of love is an action, not a feeling. It is a decision not a desire. Sometimes the feelings and desires are present; sometimes they are not. Either way, if we live in God, we must live in love. One of the greatest indications that we truly “live in God” and are new creations in Christ Jesus is our willingness to extend this God-love to people who would have no claim on our love otherwise. After all, these toxic coworkers can't expect you to love them, can they? It's not in your job description, and no one can demand it from you. Therefore, when you choose to love in actions and truth, you show a loveless world a little sample of what Jesus is like. You become the love of God reaching out to them, unconditional love, which cannot be explained or ignored. It is powerful in its implications and effects on the relationships of our lives. One small verse in 1 Corinthians 13 reminds us that Love never fails. When nothing else works, try love. When there seems to be no way to improve a relationship, try love. Love never fails. Just as a reminder, tell yourself frequently that workplaces will be workplaces. In most cases, you have a lot of different personalities thrown into one cauldron during working hours. Drama, power struggles, and office politics are often inevitable, at least to some extent. Try to keep yourself as far removed from all this as possible. Concentrate on your own work and excellence and let people be people. — [1] Yancey, P. (2000). Reaching for the invisible God : what can we expect to find? Zondervan.

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Get your Hosea Scripture Journal now. Our shout-out today goes to Jeffrey Mattson from Woodland Park, CO. Thanks for your partnership in Project23. Our text today is Hosea 1:7-9. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen." When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. And the Lord said, "Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God." — Hosea 1:7-9 What happens when a people who belong to God stop living like they belong to him? That question sits at the center of today's passage. After the birth of Lo-ruhamah—"No Mercy"—another child is born. This time, God commands Hosea to give the boy a name that would have stunned the nation. Lo-ammi. The name means "Not My People." To understand how shocking this would have been, we have to remember the covenant language God used with Israel for centuries. When God rescued Israel from Egypt, he declared: "I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God." — Exodus 6:7 That phrase defined Israel's entire identity. They were the people of God. But now, because of persistent rebellion and idolatry, God declares something unthinkable. "You are not my people." The statement does not mean God stopped being sovereign over them. Instead, it reveals that the covenant relationship had been broken by their unfaithfulness. Israel had chosen other gods, other loyalties, and other sources of security. In effect, they had already walked away from the relationship. Yet tucked inside this warning is an important contrast. In verse 7, God says he will show mercy to Judah, the southern kingdom. And their deliverance will not come through military strength—no bow, sword, army, or horses. Their salvation will come from the Lord himself. This reminds us of a powerful truth: security never ultimately comes from power, politics, or military strength. It comes from God alone. Israel trusted alliances and armies. Judah would soon learn that their protection depended on God's intervention. And the same lesson still applies today. People often place their confidence in systems, leaders, wealth, or national strength. But God repeatedly reminds his people that real security does not come from human power. It comes from him. So today, take a moment to examine where your trust truly rests. Is it placed in things that feel strong and reliable—or in the God who holds history in his hands? Move your confidence back where it belongs. DO THIS: Identify one area where you tend to place your trust in human strength instead of God—and intentionally place that concern into God's hands today. ASK THIS: Why do people often trust systems, power, or security more than they trust God? What does it practically look like to place your confidence in God rather than in human solutions? Where in your life do you most need to trust God right now? PRAY THIS: Father, help me place my trust in you rather than in human strength or security. Remind me that my true confidence rests in you alone. Amen. PLAY THIS: "In Christ Alone"

Mike Johnson, Ali Mac, and Beau Morgan continue to react to and give their thoughts on the Atlanta Falcons 2026-27 schedule release video, continue to react to and give their thoughts on the Falcons 2026-27 schedule, and discuss who they think will be the toughest quarterback the Falcons will face in the first four weeks of the season.

Watch the Devotion Based on Ephesians 1:15-23 Who's in charge here? I don’t know how many movies and TV shows that I’ve watched where there was some military situation and someone bursts through the door or storms onto a battlefield and demands, “Who’s in charge here?!” It’s almost laughable because all that individual would need to do is to look at the rank on the uniform of the war fighters that are standing right in front of them and they would know that this guy or this gal is in charge. But that’s Hollywood.   We ask this question in our own lives, don’t we? Deployed war fighters have reached out to me and asked, “Chaplain Horn, could you please pray for peace, wisdom for our leaders to make good decisions, for an end to this conflict, and strength for us because we’re awfully tired. We’ve been going nonstop since we got out here.” They’re not complaining. They’re just saying, “Here’s where we’re at and really… who is in charge here because there doesn’t seem to be an end to this.”   You don’t have to be deployed to ask that question. We look at rising gas prices, the economic struggle that many of us face, the uncertainty with all of the things going on in our life and we even ask God this question, too, “Like who’s in charge here?”   This past Thursday the Christian Church celebrated the Festival of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ's ascension answers our question, “Who’s in charge here?”   The apostle Paul talks about this in his letter to the Ephesians. In chapter one he offers this prayer on behalf of the Christians in Ephesus and says that he wants the eyes of their hearts to be enlightened so that they see the power of God for us who believe (Ephesians 1:18-19). And then he explains that power, “That power is the same as the mighty strength he asserted when he raised Christ from the dead” (Ephesians 1:19-20). No one else has that kind of power – not President Trump, not Putin, no one in this world has that kind of power to raise someone from the dead. Only God does. Paul says, “I want you to know that power.”   And not only did he raise Christ from the dead but then he goes on to say this: “and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 1:20). God raised Christ from the dead. Forty days later he ascends into heaven – not to be distant from us. Not to abandon us. Not to make us wonder, “Who’s in charge here?” But to answer that question. Paul says, “He is there far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church” (Ephesians 1:21-22). Jesus ascended into heaven to rule and reign over all things. Even when it looks like he’s not reigning, even when we wonder, “Who is in charge here?” Jesus ascended into heaven to prove to us that he has all rule and power and authority, yes even over death and the grave, over your sin, over war, over all things – and to rule for your benefit because you are his church.   Praise God that Jesus is ascended into heaven. Praise God that he is ruling and reigning for your benefit. Believe it. Trust it. Let’s pray about it.  Prayer: Lord Jesus, King of glory, you ascended far above the heavens, and at God's right hand you rule the nations. Leave us not alone, we pray, but grant us the Spirit of truth that, at your command and by your power, we may be your witnesses in all the world. Be present with our nation's war fighters who are deployed. Remind them of your almighty power at work for their eternal benefit so they may be at peace no matter what their circumstances. In your name I pray. Amen.   Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

Chris Holman welcomes back Shelia Scott, Community Financial Education & Business Development Officer, West Lansing Branch, LAFCU Headquarters. Welcome back, Sheila. Remind us about April being Financial Literacy Month? You recently wrapped up an 8-month class with a graduation. Tell us about that? $2500 is to be awarded to teachers soon. Tell us about that? Congratulations, LAFCU, for winning the statewide innovation award for tackling financial instability at its roots? » Visit MBN website: www.michiganbusinessnetwork.com/ » Watch MBN's YouTube: www.youtube.com/@MichiganbusinessnetworkMBN » Like MBN: www.facebook.com/mibiznetwork » Follow MBN: twitter.com/MIBizNetwork/ » MBN Instagram: www.instagram.com/mibiznetwork/ LAFCU to award $2,500 in grants to Michigan teachers Five $500 grants to support classroom needs; applications now open LANSING, Mich. — LAFCU is once again accepting applications for its Teachers Grant Contest, providing financial support to educators across Michigan to help enhance their classrooms and student learning experiences. The credit union will award five $500 grants, totaling $2,500, to Michigan teachers. The funds are intended to help cover the cost of classroom supplies, resources and other educational needs—reducing the out-of-pocket expenses many educators face. Michigan pre-K through 12th-grade teachers are encouraged to apply online at www.lafcu.com/teachersgrant through May 15. Applicants will be asked to briefly describe how the grant funds would benefit their classroom and students. Applicants do not need to be LAFCU members but must be legal residents of Michigan and actively teaching during the 2026-2027 school year. “Teachers consistently go above and beyond for their students, often purchasing supplies with their own money,” said Shelia Scott, LAFCU community financial education and business development officer. “Grants like this one help ease that burden by providing extra support for classroom tools and resources that enhance learning and student engagement.” Up to two grants may be awarded per school building. For more information or to apply, visit www.lafcu.com/teachersgrant. LAFCU also supports education through its Innovation for Education (LIFE) Grant, which awards $10,000 to one Michigan school annually for a project that enhances learning, creativity and student well-being. Schools have until May 1 to apply for the LIFE Grant here: www.lafcu.com/life. About LAFCU Founded in 1936, LAFCU (pronounced laugh-cue) is a not-for-profit, member-owned credit union open to all who live, work, worship or attend school in Michigan, and to Michigan businesses. LAFCU serves more than 74,000 members and holds over $1 billion in assets. With a particular focus on serving people of modest means, LAFCU is committed to enhancing its members' financial well-being and creating long-lasting positive change across generations. Awarded the prestigious Dora Maxwell Social Responsibility Community Service Award, LAFCU is known for its people-helping-people mission, which has led to award-winning financial literacy programs for all ages. A three-time honoree as a national ‘Best Credit Union to Work For,' LAFCU has also been recognized as a Best Place to Work for Women and an Inclusive Workplace and is recognized globally for its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Learn more at www.lafcu.com. # # #

Chris Holman welcomes Tim Klont, Chief Operating Officer, MSHDA, Lansing, MI. Welcome Tim. Remind the Michigan business community about MSHDA? You're the head of the planning committee for a big event MSHDA is hosting soon. Tell us about it? So, the 2026 Building Michigan Communities Conference (BMCC), features networking, educational sessions, and policy discussions. What's a highlight for this year? We've visited this before, and Cinnaire often plays a big role. Speak about their commitment to community housing? » Visit MBN website: www.michiganbusinessnetwork.com/ » Watch MBN's YouTube: www.youtube.com/@MichiganbusinessnetworkMBN » Like MBN: www.facebook.com/mibiznetwork » Follow MBN: twitter.com/MIBizNetwork/ » MBN Instagram: www.instagram.com/mibiznetwork/ A Must-Attend Second Plenary Added BMCC is thrilled to announce a fresh new take on the typical plenary experience: Building SHP 2.0 Together: A Statewide Working Session Get an inside look at the progress of Michigan's Statewide Housing Plan and help shape what comes next. This won't be a typical plenary. After a quick update on what's working (and what we've learned), we'll roll up our sleeves for a hands-on session where your voice matters. Using a mix of interactive techniques that mirror the engagement strategies of the broader SHP 2.0 process, attendees will: Share challenges and regional differences across Michigan's housing landscape Contribute insights drawn from experience See their input reflected in real time and connected to emerging statewide strategies This is your chance to directly influence SHP 2.0 and be part of building an action-focused, responsive, and implementation-ready SHP 2.0 housing blueprint for Michigan. The plenary will be hosted by: Kyle Smith headshot Kyle Smith is a national subject matter expert in housing supply, local housing planning, and zoning reforms. For ICF, he leads teams developing innovative housing solutions for regions, states, and cities, and has provided technical assistance for HUD, FHWA, the Chicago-area Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, and other organizations. For five years, he served as director of the Chicago-area Homes for a Changing Region program, which provided technical assistance to municipalities to produce local housing policy plans, and he provided technical assistance on housing and transportation affordability strategies at the Center for Neighborhood Technology. He serves as Project Manager for Michigan's Statewide Housing Plan 2.0. Courtney Barthle headshot Courtney Barthle is a senior people and project leader, published author, expert facilitator, and recognized speaker and coach. She leads project teams working to develop equitable solutions for dismantling systems that limit economic mobility and self-determination for marginalized families. A research-to-practice expert with decades of experience in human-centered design and multimodal stakeholder engagement, she leads ICF's Poverty Solutions practice and advises across multisector equity-focused program offerings. She is honored to be leading the community engagement elements of Michigan's Statewide Housing Plan 2.0 effort. Explore Tracks BMCC features 80+ sessions across five learning tracks plus two bonus tracks, offering practical tools and new perspectives you can bring back to your community. Asset Management Community & Economic Development Homeownership Finance & Development Preventing & Ending Homelessness Rental Finance & Development CHECK OUT SESSIONS

Nick Jeffery and John Granger sat down last weekend to discuss John's post, The Literary Alchemy of Hallmarked Man: What Do the Structural Models Tell Us? They'd talked about this subject briefly before John had written it up and he came to rather different conclusions in the process of writing and preparing slides for the post, all of which are rolled out in this inquisition.The questions Nick asked are below after the links in the post in case you want to follow up on what is said above about literary alchemy, the sequence of colors and symbols, and about the structural models for understanding the Strike series, especially Extended Play and Tetractys Theory.Enjoy!Links for Follow-Up and Easy Reference: Strike Alchemy* Literary Alchemy – A Primer for Those Interested in J. K. Rowling's Artistry* ‘Literary Alchemy' Pillar Post* Metallurgical, Literary, and Psychological Alchemy: Is Jung a Good Guide for Understanding J. K. Rowling's Artistry and Meaning?* The Literary Alchemy of Hallmarked Man: What Do the Structural Models Tell Us?* , ‘The Connection of Ring Composition and Literary Alchemy in the Layout of the Seven Book Harry Potter Series.' (William Sprague)* ‘Parallel Series Idea' Pillar Post* Robin Ellacott and Reverse Alchemy: Transformation Through the First Three Strike Texts (Louise Freeman)* ‘Troubled Blood: Strike's Transformation'* ‘Water, water everywhere: Baptism, baths, rivers, rain and showers as unifying themes in The Running Grave' (Louise Freeman)Seven Structural Theories for Strike Ten Book Series* (1) straight up Decalogy, no structural connection between books;* (2) Big Ring Composition, Double Wedding Band (Louise Freeman);* (3) Seven book series with Trilogy finale (Nick Jeffery, John Granger);* (4) Extended Play theory (John Granger per ‘Kathleen'),* (5) Sonnet Corona Form (Robyn Gomillion);* (6) Tetractys theory (Evan Willis with back-up explanations here, follow-up from Evan here); and* (7) Celtic Cross (John Granger) scroll down to bottom).Tetractys Theory in Depth:* Alastair Fowler's Triumphal Forms* Why the Cormoran Strike Novels are a Ten Book Series: Mythological Clues and Tetractys Parallelism with a Touch of Tarot Reveal the Strike Series Structural Echoes with Rowling's First Ten Book Set [Evan Willis, 10 July 2023]* Is Tetractys Theory the Best Explanation of Why the Cormoran Strike Series is Ten Books in Length? First Thoughts on Evan Willis' Numerological Exegesis of Rowling's Two Ten Novel Series and the Meaning of This Structure [John Granger, 18 July 2023]* Evan Willis: Running Grave Review In which the Tetractis theory is revisited in light of Strike 7 and the Theory is Updated [Evan Willis, 30 September 2023]* See The Literary Alchemy of Hallmarked Man: What Do the Structural Models Tell Us? for excerpts from and discussion of each.* The Tetraktys Tarot Card Spread!The Charts!The Ten Questions and John's Answers (notes!)1. So, John, you finally got the alchemy post you promised an age ago; what was the hold-up?· Tried to put too much into the posts…· Changed my mind several times as I was writing them!· had to relearn Tetractys ideas!2. You start off this Alchemy of Hallmarked Man discussion with a review of the literary alchemy of the first three Harry Potter novels; why did you have to reach that far back?· Because of the Parallel Series Idea, not alchemy at all, oddly enough.· Rowling seems to be writing Strike decalogy in parallel with Potter to include its alchemical sequences so I reviewed the ‘Reverse Alchemy' theory, how that worked for Strikes 1-3 but broke down at 6 and 7· To get Hallmarked Man‘s alchemical stage right, I wanted to figure out why Ink Black Heart and Running Grave weren't the alchemical stages we'd expect3. Some of our listeners may not have the literary alchemy three stages firmly in mind; can you go over what they are and why they're important in Rowling Studies?· Black, White, Red stages: what each represents in metallurgical and literary alchemy;· Rowling's one interview comment about alchemy, her PotterMore notes about colors;· Rowling's use in Harry Potter‘s last three books, fourth book, and first three books;· Galbraith's use in Strike series' first three books, fifth book, and six and seven;· Ward on astrology in CSL's Narniad ('Donegality'); similar use of alchemy in Rowling-Galbraith4. So the alchemical parallelism seemed to stop at Ink Black Heart but the other correspondences continued?· That's right, the first seven books paralleled their Harry Potter apposite numbers in structure, plot points, and some symbolism but the last two broke from the alchemical pattern;· I decided that the best place to look for a way that the new pattern could be explained would be looking at the seven theories about the Strike-Ellacott series structure;· If a specific structure had a very clear idea about the alchemical stage sequencing in the books, then I'd have a real head-start in what to look for in Hallmarked Man.5. The Seven theories -- last time we talked it was six! Remind me what they are and what each says about the alchemy...· No structure, Big Ring/Double Wedding Band, Septology and trilogy combo, Extended Play, Corona Sonnet, Tetractys, and Celtic Cross (see links above!);· Only Extended Play and Tetractys theories had clear theories about the alchemy; and· Oddly enough, they both explained why Hallmarked Man had to be considered an albedo or white novel even though they disagreed about what Ink Black Heart and Running Grave were...6. We've got slides here that help make what seems hopelessly nerdy something you can see. We'll start way back with the ring structure of The Harry Potter series and work our way toward Evan Willis' Tetractys ideas.· Harry Potter series, Sprague/Thacker ‘Reverse Alchemy:' Slides 1 and 2 (see above)7. And via the Parallel Series Idea we should see those same relationships that were found in the Potter books in the Strike series?· Extended Play idea: Slides 3 and 4 (see above)· Where it breaks down -- Running Grave like Troubled Blood an “aquatic Nigredo“8. And you think the Tetractys idea is better. We really need to have Evan on the show to talk about where he learned about this figure, its use in English literature prior to Rowling, and why he thinks Rowling is writing her second ten book series. Can you summarize his two Hogwarts Professor posts on this subject and why Rowling Readers will benefit from learning about this ancient ten point peg board model?· See Tetractys pyramid slides above;· Four levels: meaning of monad, dyad, triad, quaternity symbolism; (first Evan Willis post above)· Pyramid to climb, something akin to four levels of reading and knowledge; [Fowler, Triumphal Forms]· Benefit to Rowling Readers: Willis thinks the second Quaternion parallels Rowling's first -- and the differences explain the alchemical stage of Running Grave;· It also was used to predict three things about Hallmarked Man: it was all about silver, it would be an albedo or White stage novel, and it would parallel The Ickabog9. Three bullseyes with a special merit badge for figuring out the silver part before the title was announced. Let's go to the Tetractys slides for the Potter and Strike series:· All above!10. Both the Extended Play and Tetractys theories, then, have Hallmarked Man as an albedo. How will that influence your examination of Strike 8 for its alchemical symbols and sequences as well as your interpretation of them?· I'll be looking for the alchemical signatures of the second stage, leukosis or the ‘whitening,'· I'll be looking for evidence that contradicts the albedo dyad idea, and· I'll be researching if alchemical ideas, as in, say, incest, ‘Jason and the Medea,' and ‘dog and b***h,' are best read as white stage tokens This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hogwartsprofessor.substack.com/subscribe

I need those NOW!

#płatnawspółpraca | Zapraszamy na czwartkowe "Onet Rano.", w którym gośćmi Joanny Górskiej będą: Adam Gomoła, Polska 2050; Michał Tracz, "Fakty" TVN; Bartłomiej Derski, wysokienapiecie.pl; Tatiana Mindewicz-Pułacz, psychoterapeutka. W części "Onet Rano. #WIEM" gościem Magdaleny Rigamonti będzie prof. dr hab. Wojciech Kulesza, psycholog społeczny.

There are seasons when the voices around us — and sometimes within us — speak so loudly that we begin to forget who we truly are. Guilt whispers that we have strayed too far from grace. The words of others write a story over us that feels more real than what God says. Failure leaves us feeling untethered, and we begin to walk not as beloved children of God, but as people weighed down by an imposed identity of unworthiness and shame. In those moments, we desperately need someone to speak our name and remind us of what is true. 1 John 3:1 does exactly that. The Apostle John does not say we will one day be called children of God, or that we might be if we try hard enough. He says we are — right now, in this moment, with all our imperfections and all our doubts. And as if anticipating our disbelief, he adds a quiet but stunning clarification: and so we are. This is not a self-proclaimed identity we talk ourselves into on good days. It is a reality declared by the Father Himself, rooted not in anything we have earned but in the great love that compelled Him to bring us near, adopt us, and call us His own. When other aspects of life — our failures, our relationships, our sins — try to define us, we can return to this truth again and again. He knows our name. He has declared who we are. And He will keep calling us by that name until we finally believe it. Today's Bible Verse "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are." — 1 John 3:1, ESV Ponder Today Our identity as children of God is not self-proclaimed or conditional — it was declared by the Father Himself, rooted entirely in His love and not in anything we have earned or deserved. Guilt, shame, and the words of others will always try to write a false narrative over our lives — but the Sovereign of all has already spoken the definitive word about who we are. John's quiet addition — "and so we are" — is one of the most grounding statements in all of Scripture, a simple but stunning confirmation that our identity in Christ is a present reality, not a future hope. We are not distant individuals straining to reach God — we have been brought near, adopted, and welcomed into the family of God through the love that sent Jesus to lay down His life for us. Even when we forget or struggle to believe who we are, God does not — He knows our name, He calls us His own, and He will keep speaking that truth over us until it takes root in our hearts. Today's Prayer Great God, You are the One who names the stars and spoke the world into being — and You are the One who has already declared who I am. Yet I so easily forget when warring narratives come my way or failure leaves me feeling untethered. Remind me again, gracious Father, that I am Your child — beloved not because I am perfect or have earned Your favor, but simply because of Your love. It was love that sent Your Son, love that led Him to lay down His life, and love that sustains and keeps me today. Help me walk in that love as Your child, living from the truth of who You say I am rather than the lies that try to define me. In Jesus' name, Amen. Enjoy Today's Prayer? If this episode encouraged you, we'd love to stay connected! Subscribe to the LifeAudio newsletter at LifeAudio.com for daily prayers, devotionals, and faith-filled content delivered straight to your inbox. Don't miss an episode — subscribe and share with someone who needs encouragement today. If you like this podcast, be sure to check out our sister podcast, Your Nightly Prayer - an evening Christian prayer podcast to help you end your day in conversation with God. https://www.lifeaudio.com/your-nightly-prayer/ Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Brett records an episode without Christina and Jeff and chats with Melissa Davis (The Mac Mommy) about her start as a mommy blogger and longtime Mac podcaster, her tech-support work, and the strange lack of closure when online friends disappear. They trade mental-health and chronic-illness updates, Adderall vs. Vyvanse, difficulty finding curious doctors, and being labeled “worried well.” Don’t worry, they nerd out on mechanical keyboards, Karabiner, and remapping keys. GrAPPtitudes include Bartender 6 Pro, Sortio for AI tagging, Sketch Party TV, and Karabiner. Sponsor OneSkin improves your skincare routine with science-backed skin care products. With over 10,000 five-star reviews and validation from clinical studies, OneSkin has made a name for itself in the skincare industry. If you’re interested in trying OneSkin for yourself, you can get 15% off your order with the code OVERTIRED at oneskin.co/OVERTIRED. Chapters 00:00 Meet Melissa Davis 00:56 Early Podcast Days 02:20 Tech Support Seniors 05:52 Digital Legacy Work 06:50 Sponsor: OneSkin 08:14 Mental Health Check In 08:34 Insomnia And Focus 13:19 Doing Time Tracker 16:04 Suspenders And Stenosis 20:18 Mobility And Home Hacks 22:10 Melissa Health Update 23:25 ADHD Meds And Mutations 25:25 Curious Doctors Matter 27:59 Vyvanse Vs Adderall 30:26 Tracking Mood With Data 32:27 Cane And Somatic Therapy 36:09 Somatics For EDS 36:50 Yoga Modifications 38:19 Polycystic Liver Shock 39:20 Fatphobia In Healthcare 40:56 Pole Dancing Reality Check 41:55 Mechanical Keyboard ASMR 45:56 Nail Art And Picking 49:09 Keyboard Layout Rabbit Hole 01:00:59 Shortcuts And Muscle Memory 01:03:12 GrAPPtitude App Picks 01:14:07 Karabiner Power Tips 01:17:30 Wrap Up And Thanks Show Links hEDS Doing Timing Royal Kludge Keyboard Gamakey Silent Linear Switches EPOMAKER Switch Benefit Section EPOMAKER AegisSil Keycaps Set SketchParty TV Karabiner Sortio Bartender Pro Day One Join the Conversation Merch Come chat on Discord! Twitter/ovrtrd Instagram/ovrtrd Youtube Get the Newsletter Thanks! You’re downloading today’s show from CacheFly’s network BackBeat Media Podcast Network Check out more episodes at overtiredpod.com and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Find Brett as @ttscoff, Christina as @film_girl, Jeff as @jsguntzel, and follow Overtired at @ovrtrd on Twitter. Transcript Nails and Keys with Melissa Davis (The Mac Mommy) [00:00:00] Meet Melissa Davis Brett: Hey, this is Brett Terpstra. I am without my usual cohorts, Christina and Jeff. Um, so I, I wanted to, you know, get a, get an episode out for all of you listeners, and I reached out to Melissa Davis, known as The Mac Mommy. Um, I don’t, I, I don’t know if they’re still known as The Mac Mommy, but in m- in my lifetime they have been. Um, Melissa, why don’t you introduce yourself, let people know, like, M-Ma- long time, like Mac personality, podcaster. Tell us where you came from. Melissa: Where did I come from? Outer space. Uh, I came from being a mom. I, I, I will admit, this is hard to admit, But I will admit I started out as a mommy blogger. That’s, like, kind of a bad word nowadays. Brett: back, back, yeah, this is way Back when Melissa: [00:01:00] Yeah. Early Podcast Days Melissa: so we’re talking, like… Well, my oldest is gonna be 20, Brett. My oldest is gonna be 20 this summer. End of, end of June he’ll be 20 years old. So that’s about how long I’ve been doing podcasting. I mean, I started, I started, like, when… Well, you know what? I started listening to Adam Christianson’s The MacCast Brett: But you know what? I started Sure. Like one of the very first podcasts, Yeah. Melissa: still, I still listen to him on the Mac Geek Gab. Like, his voice is just so soothing to me. I used to… Like, that was the f- Back when I had, I had, I remember I had, like, an old G4, uh, Quicksilver Mac, and in the stinky little back room of our old house. And I used to, I used to download the podcasts, burn them on a CD, put them in my Walkman, ’cause I didn’t have an iPod yet at the time. I wasn’t that… I was never really that cutting edge. And I’d burn them on a CD, I’d put the CD in my Walkman, and then I would sit and nurse, I would nurse my baby. I, [00:02:00] and I would have to tuck the, uh, the headphones, you know, I’d have the ear- the, the wired, kinda like I have now, uh, and tuck it behind my back, like, behind my shoulder, because otherwise he’d, like, yank on the cord. And I would just listen to podcasts while I nursed. And I… And then, uh, then I met Victor Cajiao, and I started just kind of being, like, a serial podcaster, showing up here and there, and then it just kinda grew from there. Tech Support Seniors Melissa: Um, and I do… So I do tech support. I’m an IT tech s- tech support person. I… People call me their computer guru. I mostly work with, uh, the senior population, our, our vintage people, which I, I’m slowly becoming one of them. We’re all, we’re all gonna go that way. Brett: I feel like anyone who does Mac tech support deals with probably an, a, a population that skews older. Melissa: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it’s actually, it’s actually more– I will say it’s actually more difficult to work with somebody younger. Like, especially people my age or people [00:03:00] that are like, say, in their sixties I consider pretty young, 70 even. Uh, yeah, so but it’s, you know, the people are so, so interesting. You can learn so much. I love working with this population because they’re like encyclopedias, and the stories they tell you and the things you learn, it’s pretty amazing. And I could just, I could just spend– I have actually spent all day with some of them. Some of us just have really great chemistry and, you know, it’s… They– I, I’m also– I have ADHD, that’s no secret. And I think when you get older, um, not– it doesn’t affect everybody, but I do see a lot of what could be either they, they have ADHD or it’s like a– Brett: they have Melissa: of creeps in and it’s just a natural process of aging, cognitive decline. So, yep. Brett: have a lot of patience. Sure. S- some of my, some of my most interesting relationships over the last 10 years have been with, uh, Mac users in their late 70s, [00:04:00] 80s. And, uh, like they’ve been– They’re very– Like, they’re definitely… The people that I’ve known have been technically capable and very interested in learning. That’s why they follow me. That’s how I meet them, right? They’re like, they read my blog, which is just all nerd stuff. And, and so they’re, they’re technically competent, and they’re doing things that I can only aspire to be doing in my 70s and 80s. Um, I had a guy who was writing his memoirs at, in between like mountain bike rides. And so here’s the thing, though, is when you, when you know someone online and they’re in their 80s and you stop hearing from them for a Melissa: Yes. Yes. Brett: you have to assume that they have passed on. and that is sad, and you never really get any closure because you don’t know their friends or family. You [00:05:00] never get like a notice, an obituary. You don’t, you don’t know where these people go, um, and you don’t know how to check in on them once your normal channels of communication are severed. Melissa: Yeah, we’re at that age where we probably start reading the obituaries. Like, I haven’t heard from so-and-so in a while. Let me check the obits." Brett: I had, I had– Before NVUltra went on for, what’s it, like five years now, uh, without a release, um, I had a project called BitWriter with David Halter. And Melissa: remember you mentioning that, yeah. Yeah, and you wondered. Mm-hmm. Brett: he stopped responding. Melissa: you find out any at all? Any, Any, concrete… Brett: Nothing. I have put feelers out everywhere I can think of. I have no idea what happened to him. Melissa: went Richard Simmons, huh? Brett: yeah. Yeah. With less Melissa: No contact. No contact. Aw. Digital Legacy Work Melissa: I, I’m lucky that, uh, in my line of [00:06:00] work, I do typically hear from the family if they’ve passed on, because I form kind of a bond with a lot of people. I, I typically don’t lose clients unless they die, so… Brett: and you have some, like, in real life connections to Melissa: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I do, I do both. I do… I have some clients where I’ve never met them in person, I’ve only ever done remote. Uh, and then, but most of my clients are, are local, the majority of them. But I, I still s- see them remotely too, so yeah. I’ve, I’ve actually been hired by some people, um, mostly I’ve had two male clients who they got a terminal illness, they knew they were terminal, and they followed me online and they pretty much hired me to take care of their surviving spouse. So that, that was… that’s a difficult thing, but I’m just honored that they chose me to, to help them out with that. So I’ve kind of been a bit of a digital undertaker in that regard. Sponsor: OneSkin Christina: I want to take a moment to share something that has significantly improved my skincare routine, OneSkin. [00:07:00] So we all have those days when our skin doesn’t feel its best, and I’ve certainly been in that boat, especially recovering from surgery. And I was tired of navigating through endless products that promised results, but often fell short. And that’s when I discovered OneSkin. It was founded by scientists dedicated to longevity, and this brand stands out for its commitment to real science over marketing hype. 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Thank you for supporting our show by checking them out Mental Health Check In Brett: Um, so do you wanna do a mental health Melissa: Sure. Brett: I, I know, I know you’ve listened to the show before. I know you know how this works. Melissa: how this works. Brett: Would you like to start? Melissa: I think I would like to hear you start, and then I’ll, I’ll add on Brett: that sounds good. Insomnia And Focus Brett: Um, so sleep continues to be a major issue for me. Um, I actually for four days in a row last week, I got eight hours of sleep a night, which was insane. I felt so good. Um- The first night… So I take [00:09:00] Lamictal for bipolar, and if I miss my evening dose, I crash and I sleep in the next morning, and I sleep soundly. Like, it’s the best sleep I can get. And then I wake up and all of a sudden the withdrawal kicks in, and then I’m shaky and dizzy for half an hour after I take the dose. Um, but that’s after, like, a solid night of sleep, and it never works two nights in a row. And, like, I’ve tried, like, maybe if I take Lamictal in the mornings instead of the evenings, maybe I’ll sleep through the night. It doesn’t work after that first missed dose. Um, but then I just, without making any changes in my lifestyle, started sleeping, and I thought finally after, like, two years of insomnia, I had turned a corner, because I can’t remember the last time I got eight hours of sleep for more than two nights in a [00:10:00] row. And then it ended, and then I was up. I’ve been up since 2:30 today. Melissa: I wondered, yep. Brett: I mean, I went to bed at 8:00, so that’s still nine, 10, 11, 12, 11, Melissa: I actually dozed off on the couch around 8:30. Like, if only I could just be in my bed right now, just be, like, transported. Yeah. Oh. Brett: Oh, I, I wish. If I could go back to bed… Like, sometimes I’ll, I’ll lay back down around 7:00 or 8:00 and get, like, another half hour of sleep, but it’s really that, like, uninterrupted block of deep sleep that I need, not… I take naps during the day, and I can usually fall asleep for half an hour, um, given that I’m usually functioning on five hours of sleep anyway. But anyway, um, I– That, that’s just kind of par for the course for me, so, like, any, any of our listeners know that that’s gonna be the first thing I report. Melissa: are you, [00:11:00] like, kinda competing? Like, are you trying to get eight hours because that’s what’s prescribed? Have you ever thought about Brett: be- actually, what works eight and a half, like I’ve, I’ve… Back when I had the option to sleep more than five hours, like, I did a lot of kind of experimentation and Melissa: know where your sweet spot is. Brett: Well, it… See, the sweet pot- spot changes as you age, though, and you need less sleep as you get older. So, so I can’t say for sure that eight and a half hours is still my sweet spot. Um, and I think honestly, if I can sleep seven hours, I feel pretty good, and I consider seven hours a good night’s sleep. Melissa: Yeah, ’cause mine’s like between four and six. Brett: really? Yeah. See, Melissa: feel Brett: I don’t function well. Oh, I don’t function well on anything less than seven hours. Melissa: I just have a love-hate relationship with sleep. I just don’t– I just hate to sleep. I just would rather be doing other things. Life is [00:12:00] just too interesting. Brett: I get that. I– get that. I– as someone who’s bipolar and has had like manic episodes where I’m up for five days straight, like I, I love not sleeping. Um, w- when, when I have the mania to give me energy and back it up. It’s when I’m just dragging all day and feel like a zombie. The thing– The, the plus side to it is the more tired I am, up to a certain point, the better I can focus. Like my brain slows down and it’s really easy for me to get into hyperfocus. And like most mornings I’m up at, you know, 2:30, 3:00 and I just start coding. And I can not only hyperfocus, but I can switch focus between three or four different projects like simultaneously. I hit compile on one, I move on to the next one, and I can rotate [00:13:00] through them and like keep track of all of it. And then right around 10:00 AM, my ability to do that ends and suddenly I like flip to a project and I cannot for the life of me remember what I was doing, which is why I’ve spent my life building note-taking apps and, and time tracking tools. Melissa: Yep, same thing. Doing Time Tracker Brett: dude, h- d- I don’t… You might not be familiar with my project Doing. Melissa: N-no, but I– you alluded to something. that’s not what you’re working on with Dan though, is it? Brett: No, no, that’s gonna be Melissa: Dan on that too. I, I, don’t know what it is yet, but yeah, I’m, I’m Brett: Oh, it’s… Yeah, it’s gonna be cool. Melissa: that’s so exciting. Brett: no, Doing is a command line tool where you can type things like, “Doing now podcasting with Melissa,” and it starts a timer for like what I’m doing now, and then I can ask it if I leave and come back, I can say, “What was I doing?” And it’ll tell me, [00:14:00] “You’re podcasting with Melissa.” Obviously, that’s a weird example ’cause I’m not gonna leave in the middle of this. But then it can give you like totals, time, tag-based time totals, uh, for your week and everything. It can show you like what you finished yesterday. Um, it’s not so much a task tracking app as it is a tool for keeping track of what you’re doing in the moment. Um, for, for people like me who switch between four projects at once, it’s really handy. And some guy, some fucking guy Melissa: Some fucking guy. Brett: it, rewrote it in Rust, and it is really good. it is really good. Uh, he like, I- Oh yeah, I use Melissa: Okay, ’cause Brett: This is, this is separate. this is this is a little more ‘ intentional than Timing. Um, I use both. They kind of work together, and Doing can actually import Timing’s JSON exports. So you can turn your, you can turn [00:15:00] all your Timing data into command line, uh, readable Doing files. Um, but anyway, this guy rewrote it in Rust with my permission, and he gave me full credit on the page. And I think I’m switching ’cause Doing is written in Ruby, and Ruby is slow, and Rust is fast. And like my Doing file where it stores all of my current projects, like my Doing items, gets so big that it can take Doing like up to five seconds to respond when I ask it, “What was I doing today?” Which is five seconds is a long time on the command line. Um, and his Melissa: pretty instantaneous. Brett: his version is like 100 milliseconds. Boom. But anyway, Melissa: It’s almost like you built your own little AI thing. Like, what was I doing? What Brett: kinda, kinda, yeah. Melissa: you doing, Dave? Brett: This is, this [00:16:00] was built long before AI was a common thing, but the other thing that’s contributing to my mental health Suspenders And Stenosis Brett: is suspenders. Melissa: Ah, yes. Brett: So I have I have gained 100 pounds, um, not, n-not of my own choice, but like I had rapid weight gain and I recently got a stenosis diagnosis, which I hate the Melissa: telling you, I’m telling you, we’re like 23 and me here. I’ve got that too. Brett: apparently during one of my, like when I gained 50 pounds in like six weeks, my body was looking for places to store all the new fat and decided my spine might be a good place for that. Um, so I have fat in my spine and I have degrading discs. This is separate from my love of suspenders, so I’ll get back to [00:17:00] that. I, um, Melissa: Wait till you get it in your eyeballs. Brett: Oh, for real? Melissa: Yeah, you can have… I have, um, what’s it called? Cholesterol. Yeah, if you look at your eyes really close, if you see like a white kind of w- ridge around your irises, that’s cholesterol. Brett: Oh, wow. Yeah, I hope, I hope that hasn’t happened yet, but who knows? Um, Melissa: Brings out Brett: I– So I have all this, I have all this extra weight and I had a lot of trouble with belts. A, belts hurt ’cause they dig into my, my gut, and they don’t really work. I, every, every time I stood up, my butt crack showed and I had to like wiggle my pants up. And then I I tried a pair of suspenders and it was like a l- a switch had been flipped. All of a sudden my pants just stayed up without any constriction around my waist, just like they just stayed with me wherever I went. And now I can, [00:18:00] I can tuck my shirts in and it actually looks kinda cool when you got the suspenders look going on. Which means, so like for a long time I only wore one brand of shirt, um, and because they, it was, it fit my belly and it was long enough and like it wasn’t, wasn’t baggy around the top and didn’t hang off my belly like a muumuu. Melissa: Mm-hmm, Brett: And like, so I, I, I only wore this brand of shirt and I own like 15 of them, and I would just cycle through Melissa: dresses, they’re just your Walmart $10 cotton tank dress. Love it. Brett: Yeah. But now that I can tuck my shirts in and feel okay about it, I can buy those extra large nerd shirts, ones with funny slogans and stuff on them. And normally those would hang straight down off my belly, and I hate the way that looks. But now I can tuck those in, which means I can get back to wearing funny, [00:19:00] ironic T-shirts, and it, it’s like opening up a whole new world of possibilities Melissa: That is a bonus for mental health. Brett: every day now I put on my suspenders and it makes me happy. Um, Melissa: wonderful. It’s almost like a, like a mobility aid. Brett: Kinda, yeah. Melissa: yeah. Brett: of, I– So I, I have a monopod, um, like a tripod that folds up into a walking stick, and it’s nice and light and it is an adjustable height ’cause it’s designed to be used as a camera tripod. Um, and I’ve started walking with it Melissa: yeah. kinda like you’re Brett: I c- yeah. Yeah. Like one of my fat friends has s- literal like ski poles. They’re like half height ski poles and they walk with them and it helps them a ton, and I Melissa: Yeah, hikers use those. Brett: try that out. But a walking stick [00:20:00] really does help with my stenosis, but I can still, even with a stick, I can only walk for about five minutes, which is about .3, Melissa: Yeah. Brett: 3, .3 miles. Um, and then I have to stop and sit, and it’s been a real pain, literally. Mobility And Home Hacks Melissa: And is standing difficult, too? Brett: standing is worse than walking. Melissa: thing, yeah. Standing’s worse. Brett: Yeah. Like if I am in the kitchen and I’m at the stove cooking, before the onions start to brown, I have to sit Melissa: Yeah. Yep. Brett: Uh, so we now have a stool in our kitchen, Melissa: Do you have one in the shower? Brett: yes. Well, our shower, our shower has a nice, like the back of the tub is a seat. Melissa: Oh, okay. Yeah. Brett: I don’t know if this house was designed by old people or not, but, um, but it’s certainly everything is relatively [00:21:00] accessible in that way. Um, but the stool in the kitchen means I can cook dinner. Emptying the dishwasher is the worst for me. That just like bending over, picking stuff up, and then just moving back and forth, like the five feet across our kitchen. My– I, it takes me three stops, three rests to get a dishwasher emptied. Um, and then I’m kind of ruined after that. I hate it. And I hate that I Melissa: stress mat? Brett: What’s that? Oh, you mean Melissa: mat to stand on? Gotta get, gotta Brett: think that would help? Melissa: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I have Brett: used to have one Melissa: and one in front of the kitchen, and I don’t even, I don’t even, do the cooking. Brett: Ha. I used to, I used to have one of those in front of the stove when I w- when I didn’t have pain, but just because I was really getting into cooking and I was spending a lot of time, and I was starting to feel it in my knees. Um, yeah, maybe I should do Melissa: I think it’s a fatigue [00:22:00] mat, I think they call it. Brett: Yeah. Melissa: Yeah, Brett: That sounds Melissa: plus they look cool if you get little designs on them and stuff. Yeah. Oh, we could spend the day talking about just mobility aids and ergonomics and all that kind of stuff. Melissa Health Update Brett: Well, it’s your turn. Talk about whatever you like. Melissa: Yeah, you give me some ideas to talk about. Um, yeah, I struggle with a lot of the same things that you do. Um, I’m always like kinda comparing notes every time you post something. I’m like, "Oh No, ‘Cause you talked about Have you … You haven’t started the injections yet, have you? Brett: No, and they just delayed those. I don’t get them until like June 20th or something. Melissa: nervous about those for you, because I’ve had those and I’ve decided to just swear off them, so I’ll just kinda give you just a heads-up. I mean, it does raise your blood sugar, so that’s not great, and, um, it can give you the roid rage, kinda make you angry, so that’s something to watch out for, and more weight gain, so …But it’s like one of those things where you just have to kinda try [00:23:00] it and see if it works, because if it does work, then you could be more mobile and then maybe drop a few pounds and get some of that weight off of your spine. But if it doesn’t work, just know that that can happen, Brett: my doctor did not mention any of those side effects, so good to Melissa: Yeah. Yeah. It’s, it’s the chronic life, so that’s, that’s what, that’s what, uh, affects my mental health, so I’m, I’m really good at faking it. I am actually … I will say I’m actually feeling a little bit more even. ADHD Meds And Mutations Melissa: I’m on, uh … I love when you talk about different prescriptions and stuff. Uh, I just mentioned, so I’m taking Adderall. That is, ugh, it’s a mixed bag. Um, I wanted to ask you about Vyvanse, cause that’s the next thing for me, but it’s, like, super expensive, so I’m trying to make Adderall work as best I can, but I’m, I’m in the process of playing with the dosage. But I think she told me, like, the highest was 30. The thing is, uh, I’ve had genetic testing done, and [00:24:00] I have this condit- not a condition, but it’s a I’m a mutant. It’s a genetic mutation called, it’s, it’s just initials. It’s MTHFR, lovingly known as Brett: you process your, your, chemicals twice as … fast. I have Melissa: Yes, faster processing in the liver. So that’s when she told me, ’cause she started, uh, me out on methylphenidate, and I was like, “Well, what about Adderall?” Because it, I see it work for my kids, you know? The kids are chip off the old block, right? And so I’ve had them tested too, and all three of us are positive for that. It’s lovelin- lovingly known as the motherfucker gene mutation. Um, yeah, so, and it is. It’s, it’s quite a bitch, um, ’cause it causes a whole bunch of other problems. And of course, we’ve talked about Ehlers-Danlos, so I have, uh, hypermobile Eh- Ehlers-Danlos. I’m having a hard time … I’m just having a hard time with that in general, mental health wise, because there’s just not enough awareness about it, enough people, and doctors, doctors and nurses. And you know, I’ll, I’ll say I wanna, I would love to be able to get [00:25:00] to a point where I can just say, “I have H-E-D-S,” or heads or what- however they’re gonna pronounce it, and, like, somebody know what that is when I go in for an appointment. But I still have to explain it, you know? And then that, that cuts into my time. ‘Cause they only … When you’re, when you’re our age, they only give you, like, 15 minutes, if that. When you’re much older, ’cause I’ve had to take, I’ve had to take family members to the doctor, they get a whole lot more time. But, uh, you know, it’s like, "Oh, you’re, you’re too young to be this sick. You’re too young to be this old," Brett: Right. Yeah. Curious Doctors Matter Brett: Um, I did– I found that doctor for me that knew exactly what all those acronyms meant, knew exactly, like, not only did they know what POTS was, they knew like seven different kinds of POTS and what tests to use to narrow it down. And then she got called up to National Guard Melissa: Oh, I wondered, I wondered, what happened to that doctor, ’cause it sounded so Brett: I waited. I was on a, I was on– I w- I had an appointment scheduled that was gonna be six months from the time she [00:26:00] left. Um, and I had it scheduled, and it was on July 7th. And then I got a letter in the mail saying that her Guard duty had been extended, and now I can’t see her again until September. And, like, I’ve, I’ve tried seeing other doctors that work with her, but none of them have the knowledge she has, and it was such a relief Melissa: Is this the curious one? Okay. I always think about you whenever I’m either looking for a provider or in the, in the midst of, of getting, you know, shuffled around to a new provider. I’m like, “I hope they’re curious,” ’cause that made– that meant so much to me when you explained about how a doctor needs to be curious. I’m like, “That’s what I need.” I need somebody… Or even just my therapist. I have a new, a new therapist that I see, and she’s really curious, and I really, really like that about her. That’s something that helps with mental health, is when somebody’s curious, ’cause I’m Brett: it goes h- it goes hand in hand with credulousness. Like, [00:27:00] first they have to be willing to believe you, and like, especially when it comes to invisible issues like EDS. Like, you have to be willing to believe a person and then be curious enough to look for answers. Like, the first step is believing, and the second step is curiosity. Melissa: Yes. I’ve already had my patient record marked as… Have you ever heard this one? Worried well. Brett: No. Melissa: I looked it up. It’s basically hypochondriac. Brett: Yeah, that’s what I was gonna guess. That Melissa: Yep. I actually– I was proud of myself because I actually did confront the doctor about it and I said, “What does this mean?” I said, “I, I looked it up and it kinda concerns me ’cause it makes me look like a hypochondriac.” And she said, "Oh, no, no, that’s just a, a code that we use when we don’t have something else to assign to it so that insurance will pay." Bullshit. Brett: Yeah, right? I feel like that’s exactly the kind of [00:28:00] thing insurance doesn’t pay. Melissa: Mm-hmm. so Vyvanse Vs Adderall Brett: what do you wanna know about Vyvanse? Melissa: Um, a- and I know it’s different for everybody, but I just kinda wondered what your take was on it. Um, how– can you compare it to Adderall at all for me, Brett: Yeah. Melissa: no comparison? Brett: it’s basically a non-abusable, I would call it lower lying version of, of Adderall. Like, it’s in the same family of stimulant as Adderall, but it can’t– It isn’t processed or it’s… I don’t remember how the mechanics of it work, but you can’t snort it basically. Like, it doesn’t, it doesn’t do anything Melissa: Which I wouldn’t wanna do anyway ’cause there’s nothing up here. Brett: Sure. Sure. And then, yeah, I’m not suggesting that was gonna be a problem for you. Um, but it’s also, like, it’s way, um, for me anyway, it’s way calmer. [00:29:00] Um, and there are people that say it doesn’t do anything at all. Um, especially a lot of people, a lot of people say the generic version doesn’t do anything, um, and that the name brand version does, but I haven’t found that to be true. Like the generic, which you’re correct, still costs like 200 bucks a month, um, for the generic. Um, but it is– It’s not my favorite. Melissa: I wondered why– what made you stop taking it. Did it just not work for you? Brett: No, I still take Vyvanse. Um, yeah. Um, I used to take, um, Focalin, which I loved. Melissa: That really worked for my kiddo, yep. Brett: but it also triggered my mania, Melissa: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Brett: so I was always walking this line of like, do I wanna be super productive and manic with like weeks of depression in between, [00:30:00] or do I just wanna be somewhat productive and stable? Um, which is why I’ve stuck with Vyvanse, and my doctor loves it enough for me that she won’t, she won’t prescribe anything else for me at this point. Like, I’ve asked about switching. I’ve asked about moving back to Adderall and things like that, but, Melissa: It seems like you’re, like you’re kinda on an evening out. Brett: Yeah, I haven’t had a manic episode for a couple years now. Tracking Mood With Data Melissa: Do you track it? Do you– Like, have you ever seen those– I keep seeing these ads for it ’cause, you know, the algorithm feeds us the stuff for wearables that are, um, called– I think it’s called Visible, so it makes your symptoms more visible instead of invisible. Like, do you track it? Do you Have you nerded out on your own data? Brett: like my mania and depression? Melissa: Yeah, like do you track it and look at graphs or anything like that to Brett: See, I’ve never had to use an external tool because I can just look at GitHub contribution graphs, and I can look at [00:31:00] my RSS feed, and I can see exactly, like for a period of like eight years, I can pinpoint exactly where my manic episodes were, um, because that data is historically preserved out there on the internet for all to see. Um, it’s, yeah, it’s– Well, and that’s, like I built tools that gathered that, those various sources of data. Um, and then there was a, a tool called, um, I forget. Melissa: cool, though? Hmm. We’ll think Brett: But it could pull, it could pull in all that data. Um, Bell Beth Cooper, Hello Code, I can’t remember the name of the app. Melissa: Yeah, it’ll come to you eventually. Brett: sure. Uh, but it could pull in like your GitHub, uh, commits along with like what the weather was at the time, how many songs you listened to that Melissa: Oh, day one sorta does that, yeah. Brett: Does it now? Melissa: A little bit, yeah, your locations, [00:32:00] um, if you turn on some of those things. Like not– I don’t think it does the music and things like that, but Brett: I haven’t used it for a while. I haven’t used it for a Melissa: I was gonna switch to the journal app. I was actually really… I held off on upgrading to Tahoe for the longest time, but that one kept nagging at me ’cause I thought, oh, you know, maybe. I mean, as much as I love Day One, I, I thought about, I thought about actually switching over, but no. I tried it. I’m, I’m gonna stick with Day One. Brett: Cool. All right. Cane And Somatic Therapy Brett: Um, so did you have, did you have more to add to your Melissa: Oh, I was gonna, I was gonna add on to what you were talking about with the suspenders. I did start… I think you probably… Well, yeah, you commented on it. Um, I started using a cane, and that I have mixed feelings about that. Um, I should have brought it in here so I could show you. I’ll show you later, ’cause, uh, anyway, it’s, it’s purple. I did get a pimp cane. That’s what my husband calls it. I thought, damn it, if I’m gonna use, like, a cane, then it’s gonna be [00:33:00] purple, and I’m gonna like looking at it, as much as I hate to use it, so. So I’ve been trying to use it. I… What you were talking about with, uh, with finding a curious doctor, I do have new physical therapist, um, so I’m really happy about that. Same kind of thing where she’s super booked. I think that’s just how it is. Like, the really good ones, they’re good, and, you know, it shows because it’s, it’s hard to get in to see them. So yeah. So I’m, I’m looking forward to that. We’re gonna be doing… Have you heard of somatic therapy? Brett: Yeah. Melissa: Yeah. So ha- have you tried it? Do, do you like it? Okay. That’s, that’s what I’m embarking on. Brett: I actually have a friend who teaches classes in it. Melissa: Oh, Al probably knows about that. Brett: y- yeah, Melissa: Yeah, I’ll, I’ll Brett: and it is, it is amazing how hard just doing things, doing motions you’re used to, but doing them very slowly and intentionally. It is like you– Just like, Just like, doing y- like a clamshell where you drop your knee, you’re [00:34:00] on your back and you drop your knee down to the side and bring it back up. Like that motion, most of us, even infirmed people can do that okay. You try to take… You try to do that and take like five breaths in each direction, and you’ll start shaking. It’s very Melissa: Ah, uh-huh. Yep. Brett: Yeah, but it’s good. Like it’s g- it really retrains your muscles. It really, it strengthens, retrains, and helps with, uh, finer motor control. Melissa: Oh, that’s interesting. Yeah, I, I’m, I’m a little bit on the skeptical end of it, so that’s why I’m, I’m glad that, that you, you vouch for it too. It’s like I know that it works, but I just… I guess I wanna understand the science of it a little bit more. Like, for example, I’ve tried, uh, acupuncture, and I just didn’t feel like it did, did anything for me. I think you have to be, like, a believer, and I just Brett: think so. Melissa: I, I, I even did that on purpose knowing that I kinda felt like it wasn’t gonna work. I was like, well, what if I just go into this? ‘Cause, [00:35:00] ’cause I talk to people and they’re like, "Well, you have to believe in it." I’m like, but what if I don’t? I just don’t, you know? I’m, I see it Brett: it’s not medicine if you have to believe in it. Melissa: Yeah. I mean, I see it work for other people. I know there’s, you know, such a thing as placebos and things like that, and I don’t know, it’s, it’s woo-woo and I, I, I like woo-woo stuff. I, it just, it didn’t do anything for me, so… It’s not to say that it doesn’t work for other people, but it just did not work for me, and I, I kind of, I, maybe I just, uh, did that on purpose when I, I try- probably just tripped myself up going into it thinking, well, I just don’t believe it, so if it works, then there must be science behind it. And then, then, I’ll believe. But it didn’t work out, so. So the, I’m a little bit on the fence about the somatic thing, but the, the, the gal that I’m working with is just so, she has EDS herself, and like, like what you were saying, like, she, she knows all about it and she could even, you know, tell me the, the type that she has, and I was like, I met, I met, actually last week I met two zebras in one week. [00:36:00] You, you’re familiar with the, the zebra mascot? If you, uh, the saying goes, if you hear hooves, think horses. But we’re not horses, are we? Yeah, so Yeah, so that’s, that’s our, our Somatics For EDS Melissa: EDS Brett: somatic– somatics you don’t have to believe in for them to work. Melissa: Okay, that is Brett: it’s an actual physical therapy method that trains the finer muscles, um, that surround your larger muscles and, and strengthens those, and it– Yeah, it’s for real. It’s, yeah, it’s not like a… It’s soma- I think, Melissa: w- totally Brett: ’cause I I had the same reaction when someone said somatics, ’cause I think, “Oh, that’s some holistic idea of the body, um, of soma,” and it’s… No, it’s, it’s got legit physical therapy behind it. Melissa: And, Yoga Modifications Melissa: you used to do a lot of yoga too, so that probably makes Brett: I still do. Melissa: Yeah? That’s [00:37:00] wonderful. Brett: it’s gotten really hard. Um, I can’t, I can’t– So I get dizzy Melissa: Yeah. Brett: going from sitting to standing, um, and my back gives out if I am in, like, horse or warrior two for more than a couple minutes. Um, and I can’t do cobras because I have a belly like a nine-month pregnancy. Um, so I have to do, like, prenatal yoga, um, which is actually a thing. Melissa: that’s a good idea. I’m glad you brought that up. I should look Brett: a- and I do chair yoga, um, where I I take the class that everyone else takes, but I modify it to work with… Like, there, there are defined moves that you do with a chair instead of. Instead of doing down dog, you do, like, a 90-degree down dog holding the back of a chair. Um, and you put, like, a knee on the chair to do warrior two, so you’re actually [00:38:00] resting. And Um, and you can do it fully seated too and get at least the arm exercises out of it. So I’ve been trying to maintain, maintain flexibility and some endurance. I’m not doing yoga the way I used to do it, but I am still Melissa: I’ve seen some of your poses. It’s pretty impressive. Brett: Yeah, back in the day. Melissa: W- when you could be upside down. Polycystic Liver Shock Melissa: I should look into that because I, you know, although I’m done having babies, like far done having babies, I have… You probably know about this too, I have polycystic liver disease, which is a really rare type of liver disease, and it’s not fatty liver. Oh my God, I have to keep telling doctors that. That’s the other thing. It’s like, it is not fatty liver. It is not. It- they’re cysts. It’s a totally different thing. I’m basically full of bubbles. So I… But it feels like that’s why I went in to get it. I didn’t actually get that checked. I found it accidentally when I went in for an heart, for a heart CT. That’s when they found it, and for a, a breast MRI, so [00:39:00] both those, those types of scans caught it. The other parts were fine, so my heart’s fine, so that’s a relief. But yeah, so this was a bit of a shock. And so I don’t know exactly what it means moving forward, um, but my entire liver is, like, engulfed in cysts, so. Right? But my blood work is, is fantastic right now, so I’m just gonna keep Brett: That’s good. Melissa: hoping it stays that way. Brett: That’s something. Fatphobia In Healthcare Brett: Um, I I have heard for a long time about, um, doctors being fatphobic and, and always assuming that, um, always assuming that your health i-issue is because you’re fat and not even looking for underlying issues, which has been an interesting experience for me because that really never happened to me. Melissa: Mm. Brett: Um, at least not once I switched to Gundersen from, like, a local clinic. Then I realized that it’s not just being fat that gets you [00:40:00] stigmatized, it’s being a fat woman. Melissa: Mm, I was gonna say try having a uterus and being Brett: yeah. Yeah. Um, like I talked to one of my best friends, April, who he’s, has been on Melissa: by, women doctors. Brett: Yeah. Yeah. And that’s, that’s what April tells me. She tells me all these horror stories. Even after finding care she trusted, she still has to deal with people saying, “Well, if you just lost some weight.” Like, she’s been fat her whole life. She’s in better shape than most skinny people Melissa: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Brett: I mean, she does sit-ups with 50-pound plates and does, like, five, 10 miles at a time on her, like, on her bike and, like, she’s in great shape and still has to walk with the ski poles, and she’s getting her second knee replaced this week. And, like, it, it’s just infuriating to hear the way that doctors dismiss Melissa: You know what the problem is, Brett? Brett: goes through [00:41:00] when Pole Dancing Reality Check Melissa: Not enough doctors have watched fat pole dancers. That is the problem right there. They need more education. Brett: Um, yeah. There’s, there are a couple of, um, queer burlesque shows Melissa: shows, yes. Brett: in my area that almost always include a plus-size pole dance, and it is amazing to Melissa: Oh, it’s mesmerizing. It should be an Olympic sport. Remind me to send you the, the link to, unless you’ve already seen it, have you seen the Deadpool pole dancer? Brett: No, I don’t think Melissa: you are in for a treat. We might just have to put that in the show notes, but I don’t know, I don’t know if your listeners are that, are into that It’s fully clothed, but it’s, there’s even blue Crocs involved. Brett: So this is nobody that you’re seeing on the Melissa: I wondered, yep. I wondered, yeah. Aw, he looks so soft. Mm. Mechanical Keyboard ASMR Brett: So you’ve [00:42:00] gotten really into mechanical keyboards. Melissa: have, I have. In fact, uh, I was gonna, I was gonna see how this might sound, but I, I brought my little box of key caps to show you so that I could say, welcome to my ASMR channel. Brett: That would… is is that a thing? I bet there are ASMR, like, key switch testing. Melissa: yeah, yeah. I’ve run across a couple of videos where, you know, they’ll have a hashtag ASMR in there, and that’s, that’s what it is. Do you experience ASMR yourself? Brett: No. Melissa: No? So when you listen to those videos you don’t get like the s- the tickling of the spine and stuff? Brett: No. Melissa: I do. It actually, it goes, it… I forget. I always forget what the acronym stands for, but it, you know, has something to do with the meridian. So if you can i- imagine your brain like split in half, and I feel it right on this side. It goes, it goes like the, down the back of my head, behind my ear, and down into my shoulder. It [00:43:00] is the funkiest feeling, and I love it. I love it so much. Even when we were talking about animals in the, in the beginning and I even had a cat that would come and just like kind of lick my ear and, oh, I just, I love that. Most people cannot stand that sound. They have the opposite condition where they can’t handle somebody chewing gum. My grandfather had that. Um, some, some kinda, it ends in a tonia. Misatonia or something like that, um, where… I don’t know. Do you have any of those like sound sensory issues? I have a lot of Brett: really don’t. I’m very, I’m very, like, sound Like, I like loud, heavy music. Like, that does something for my psyche. Um, but general sounds, they neither bo-bother me nor stimulate me. Melissa: imagine what that’s like. I just can’t. I’m So bothered, and my kids too, and you know, ugh, God, Brett: So El Melissa: has been problematic. Brett: El is, El is, definitely sensitive to sound, um, in a way that Like, even my [00:44:00] mechanical keyboards can’t be, can’t be on the same floor of the house as Elle. We pretty much live in silence, and that’s fine for me most of the time because, like, it just doesn’t affect me either way. So, like, keeping things quiet is easy, and I focus well in silence. And then when Elle’s gone, I blast my music, and w- when I’m in the car, I blast my music, and then the rest of the time I live in the quiet place. Melissa: Mm-hmm. In The Quiet Place. Brett: Yeah. Melissa: Yeah, we have- something a little similar, but m- my husband and I have, uh… We have our his and hers kind of setup here in, in the, in our den, in our inner study. So he’s got his side and I’ve got my side. So we’re together, and he does a lot of grading papers, and he’s really good about putting his, his earbuds in and just tuning the whole world out. He’s… It’s fascinating to watch that man just [00:45:00] execute. I mean, I just am so envious of people who can just execute. But the, the, the, yeah, the sensory, it’s all about the sensory stuff for me when it comes to keyboards. I actually thought about… I don’t know how popular it would be, but I also thought about making a podcast, a video podcast, that would highlight the intersection of nail art and mechanical keyboards. Because I’ll tell you, that’s actually what… I’ve always loved mechanical keyboards, but yeah, the, the one that I had, someone had given me a, a Matias, and oh, it’s, it’s so loud, but it’s like high-pitched. It’s kinda sharp. And it was even kind of annoying to me after a while. And then it does not, it’s not a mechanical keyboard in that you can’t pull the switches out, so you’re kinda stuck with what you got. Like, you might be able to change the key caps if you could find them, but couldn’t change the switches. And something happened to the S key, and I was like, “All right, it’s over,” so. But I can’t get rid of them either, so one of these days I wanna have like a display of, of keyboards. [00:46:00] Nail Art And Picking Melissa: But what got me, what got me into saying, “Okay, I’m finally, I’m just gonna invest in a keyboard because it’s ergonomically important to me,” is I have… And I can’t pronounce it, so I’m not even gonna try, but there’s a condition, and it’s a self-diagnosed thing. But I, I am a picker. I pick my skin a lot. Um, I think it’s called derma something Anyway, so I wasn’t gonna try to pronounce it. But, uh, I’ve always had that condition since I was a kid. I didn’t even know it was a thing. I just thought everybody get, uh, picks. But then during the pande- during the pandemic, it got super bad. Like, I had, I had, um, some panic attacks and, you know, as a lot of probab- people probably did. But it got so bad to the point where I had picked my fingers and they were bleeding and they were throbbing and they were hurting. And I said to one of my kids, I said to my youngest, I said, “Can you just, like, if I, if I’m picking, can you just let me know?” And then I regretted doing that because then he took it on as this, like, full-time job, you know? And it kinda [00:47:00] gave him anxiety, and I thought, “Oh, okay, that, that was a bad thing to do.” So I s- I let him off the hook. I said, “No, you don’t have to tell me anymore.” Um, because, yeah, ev- even if I went to, like, just kinda, like, clean under my nail or something. So it was actually causing a real problem for the family that I was just picking so much. And it’s not just my fingers, it’s, like, other parts of my body. So I thought to myself, “Well, what can I do about this?” And so I started putting fake nail tips on. And I hate to be all, like… I don’t know, I’m not, I try not to be, like, a very vain person, but I really started kinda falling into the nail art side of things, and I, I just recently learned how to do gel and work with, um, uh, what’s it called? Uh, not resin. So I… Oh, that’s another ASMR thing. Do you like to watch resin pours? Brett: I do, actually, yes. Melissa: that’s… Okay, so if you like resin pours, if you like to watch the viscosity and the way the, the chemicals, like, form together and when they, when they mix colors in and stuff, [00:48:00] that’s what it’s like with nail art but on more of, like, a macro level because it’s, you know, you’re working with small stuff. Like, just, just recently I learned how to do… So I’m showing Brett this on, on camera, but I recently learned how to do the kind of nail polish that you take a magnet and you run the magnet along it, and it makes this, like, a cat’s eye. Brett: Yeah, that’s cool. Melissa: I love it. So, so that, so combining nail art then, and I thought, “Well, now I’ve got these long nails,” but all of my keyboards have been these flat, really low-profile keyboards. And, you know, I just, I started to dread it. So then I was kinda caught between a crossroads. Like, either I leave nails off and I can type really, really fast and have high accuracy with no nails, but then as soon as, as soon as I get, like, a little snag or something, then I start picking and then it’s just, it’s all over then. Or I try to find a way to work with these nails. So that’s what I started thinking, “Well, maybe if I had higher keys.” And so then I just, yeah, rabbit hole. [00:49:00] Went down the rabbit hole, and I’ve, I’ve just kinda been there ever since. And, uh, it really, I think, uh… Let’s see. How long ago did this start? It’s only been about maybe like six months or something like that, so. Keyboard Layout Rabbit Hole Melissa: But in that time so I’ve started, um, building a collection of switches. So I’ve been really interested in both the key caps and the switches. Um, I’ve got my baseboards. I like my Royal Kludge the best. This is… I’m gonna show Brett my Royal Kludge. So, so this is what it’s looking like right now. Brett: Yeah. Melissa: It is very purpley. Um, I did post some pictures. I can… I don’t know if you do pictures in show notes, but I could take some pictures for you It’s got a knob. It’s got, um… Let me see if I can do it real Brett: Do you use the knob. I have a couple keyboards with knobs and even a joystick, and I never actually use them Melissa: Good question. Um, I, I use it, I try to use it for volume at [00:50:00] times, and that’s probably what I use it for the most. But this one does have a… Let’s see if I can get this into focus here, backwards and upside down. It’s gonna be upside down, but you see how you can put, you can put your logo Brett: Oh, yeah. Nice. Melissa: got my The Mac Mommy little logo on there. Otherwise, it gives you the time in military format, so that’s kind of handy to have. Um, but yeah, it’s… To be honest, I, I love the, I love this Royal Kludge because it’s nice and heavy, and I love the form factor. It’s got a number pad, um, because I’m, because I am a grown-ass adult and I need a number pad. Um, but it’s nice and heavy. It doesn’t, it doesn’t move around my desk a lot. I kind of have to type, like, kind of crooked, ’cause that’s just the way my neck goes to the wrong way and stuff like that. So I like being able to fit it on my desk. I have a, I had a larger one made by Red, uh, what is it? Redragon. This is the one that I started [00:51:00] out with. Gonna make lots of noise here. But as you can see, this one is way bigger. And it was, as much as I liked it, I mean, I fell in love with it, but what was happening was my accuracy was, like, really thrown off because I fe- I kept feeling like it just needs to be, like, a couple centimeters to the right or a couple centimeters to the left. It just wasn’t centered very well. So this one, my husband gets all the hand-me-downs, so that one went over onto his desk. Uh, and then I also have a baby keyboard here, and this is another Redragon. This is my little mini one. Brett: that’s, that’s the kind of keyboard I mostly use, like a 70% keyboard. Melissa: Yeah, I think this one’s even 60. Um… Brett: My– The one I’m using right now is, uh, 60. There’s no, there’s no function row, there’s no arrow, there’s no keypad or, like, arrow pad. Um, Melissa: No [00:52:00] arrows? How do you live without arrows? Oh, do you, you mapped your keys to something Brett: so it looks like this, Melissa: nice. I love the Brett: that the, the space bar is split in two. Yeah, my, my, my partner says it looks like, uh, gay ’80s. It’s all pink and blue and purple. Um, but the, the space bar is split, and the right half of mine functions as something called a mod key, and when I hold that down, then my I, J, K, and L keys become arrow keys. Melissa: Oh, wow. Brett: once you get used to it, you never have to take your hand off the home row. Melissa: Oh my God, that must be amazing. Brett: It– Yeah, once you get used to it, it, it’s so… Like, g- moving to a keyboard that doesn’t have that is kind of tortuous. On my MacBook Pro, I have remapped it using Karabiner so that Melissa: [00:53:00] That’s what I’m using. Brett: if I hold, the semicolon down with my pinky, then H-I-J-K-L become, Melissa: Oh, nice. Brett: become arrow keys, so I still don’t have to move my hand all the way down and to the right. Like, that’s such a inefficient movement that then I have to, like… Because I don’t have great feeling in my fingers, so finding, on a low-profile keyboard, finding the, the homing buttons again Melissa: Oh, do you use the humming buttons? See, that’s the thing, I was never taught that. I mean, I took like a ty- I took like a typewriting class back in high school, and I just didn’t like it. I, I just taught myself. I just… I’m an autodidact that way, so I just taught myself. Brett: my dad, back in 1984, we had a typing program on our PCjr, and I Melissa: It wasn’t Mavis Beacon, was it? Brett: remember. I don’t remember. All I know is, like, It taught you touch typing, and it would give you [00:54:00] these lessons, and you would basically just mirror what was on screen. And at the age of seven, I was typing at about 68 words per minute on an, on an old IBM PCjr keyboard. Um, got a lot faster through high school and everything. But yeah, I was, I was, from day one, I was raised to be a touch typist, and, and I took all the classes they had in school. Melissa: But you still touch Brett: labs. Yeah. Melissa: Uh-huh, yeah. So you don’t do the home rows. Brett: No, that is touch Melissa: Oh, touch typing, so you do feel… for the bumps. Brett: Yeah, I feel for the bumps, and then I just, like, my f- my key, my fingers never really leave the Melissa: Oh, yeah. See, I wish I could do Brett: centered home row. Yeah. It’s, it, it’s good. Um, Melissa: And you’re using the split, so my gosh. Brett: What– You get used to that too. Um, like, [00:55:00] I can’t do it with the split far apart. I’ve seen people use, like, splits, like, way out to the sides, and I can’t, my, my brain doesn’t do that. Like, my hands have to be within, like, six inches of each other. Melissa: I always thought, it would be so cool to have something where you could have it, like, raised up like this, right? And use your hands sideways. Brett: Yeah. Well, that’s I mean, that’s essentially, I have, on the bottom of this keyboard, I have these risers. Melissa: Oh, uh-huh. Oh, Brett: So it sits, right now I have it at about a 45-degree tent, tent, tent. Um, but it can go up to more like an 80-degree tent, where you’re actually Melissa: Wow. Brett: uh, almost like you’re clapping, you’re typing. Um, I don’t Melissa: of that. I have a, a, handshake mouse. Brett: Vertical mouse. Melissa: You like… Is that what you have for a mouse too? Brett: no, I, I love Melissa: Trackballs. Oh, trackpads. Oh, okay. Brett: Apple’s Magic Trackpad changed my life. I’ve never used– I’ve never gone back to a [00:56:00] mouse since the first Magic Trackpad came out. Melissa: So you’re all about the gestures then? Brett: yeah, Melissa: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. That’s great. Brett: Bet- bet- better touch tool for the win. Melissa: You know what it is for me, is because of the type of work that I do, and this is very much true for both of us, you do these things because of the type of work that you do. The type of work that I do, I’m in everybody’s homes, so I have to ty- I have to be able to type and use their mouse and, I mean, it’s actually a very dirty job. So I keep hand wipes with me everywhere. Um, that, that was why during the pandemic I was like, “I am not coming to your house and I am not touching the stuff that you just picked your nose and…” Yeah, mm-mm. But, so, so i- it’s been kind of keeping me almost like a purist in a way as far as keyboards have gone all these years. I, I finally just kind of let go and embraced this recently, th- which is why I’m so excited and why I’m just kind of nerding out on it, because when, when I worked [00:57:00] in, like, I’ll call it the industry, um, I got my f- my start in prepress. So I worked in prepress, I was a typesetter, and we had… That’s what I kind of miss. We had the old clunky beige keyboards, and I had my muscle memory such that I think my o- my Option key would have, like, the indentation of my nail on it. You know? ‘Cause I had, just like you have, keys that are programmed. I could… I was a Quark queen. I don’t know if you’re familiar with QuarkXPress? Brett: Oh, yeah. Yeah. I was a graphic designer. I I know Quark. Melissa: Yeah, I loved it. I was… And, and I used it back in the OS 9 days, OS 7 really, is when I started out. Uh, I did not like the OS X vers- OS 10 version of Quark. Did not like it at all. Brett: No, but that’s Melissa: it was slow. Brett: Adobe came out with, what was, what was Adobe’s… InDesign. Yeah. By the time I had started, by the time I had started my own ad agency, we were all InDesign. Melissa: Oh, [00:58:00] nice. Okay. I mean, it was a Brett: and none of the, none of the print shops expected Quark files Melissa: Yeah. Oh, it was so expensive. I remember I had to buy it when I was in college, and I remember it cost, like, $800. I’m probably still paying for that, damn it, in interest. Yeah, so that, that’s how I got my start originally, and that’s how I was doing… I, I went to… So I have, I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts. I went to college in order to be a designer. I wanted to be a designer designer, and that’s what I, what I thought I was good at and thought that I liked doing, ’cause, you know, “Oh, you’re a girl. Go to art school. You like to draw.” You know? I’m always bitter about that because I really wish that I would’ve been able to go… I mean, this was, you know… I’m, I’m 51, so this was back in the day where girls, girls don’t do computers and girls don’t do coding. G- girls don’t do computer science. They didn’t even call it computer science. They didn’t even call it graphic design back then. It was commercial art. Um, so I studied that and, you know, I liked it ’cause I thought, “Well, this is what I could, I could take my art and make [00:59:00] a living into it.” And then fast-forward, um, I just started to fall in love with the technical troubleshooting side of things. So as, as good as I was at the technical typesetting and the technical, like, putting prepress things together, you know, um, uh, key sheets and s- you know, things like that. Do you remember, was there, uh, did you ever use a program called Quick Keys? That was one of the ones Brett: familiar. Melissa: you could map your own keys to things. So w- when I was in prepress and doing typesetting, I used that program and I, I mapped all my keys, and I had all these quick keys and stuff so I could go really, really fast, you know? So when they wanted something done fast, they gave it to me, and I could just fly through documents with this. But then as people learned that I was good at this kind of stuff and troubleshooting, they’re like, “Oh, hey, Roger needs, you know, has a problem. Can you go help him?” So I’d go over to his cubicle, I sit down, and he’s got nothing. You know, he’s got [01:00:00] no quick keys, no nothing, and you just kinda get lost because your muscle memory just adapts to it. And I couldn’t help people the way… And, and that was what it was about for me. I really liked more helping people and troubleshooting and the technology side of things than the actual design process. So I kind of went to the other side with it. And so I just kind of, like, vowed that, okay, I’m not gonna do any kind of, like, customization on my own workstation because then I’ll, my, my muscle memory will map to it, and then when I go to sit down to help somebody else, I won’t… You know, I’ll be so much in my own world that I won’t be able to help them. And so I just kind of, like, remained a, a pu

The big question for today is, can we find contentment in things? Have you ever listened to a very successful person complain about the fact that his wealth doesn't make him happy? How the success of life has left him or her empty? Of course, you have. We've all heard stories like that, but pay attention to that—because it's really important. Watch people roll their eyes when they hear those stories. Why do they do that? Because they're thinking, “Yeah, just give me some of that emptiness. I'd like to live on that side of town for a while,” but that attitude misses the point that's trying to be made. From the past to now, there have been at least multiple millions of these stories, these laments from very successful people who would trade it all to be content. Millions and millions of successful, but unhappy people. It's when we're confronted with numbers like that, that we should say to ourselves, “Wait a second…I need to think that through. Maybe having things and fame and success really doesn't satisfy.” It's then we start walking the right road to contentment. April Motl is a writer in California who works with her husband in ministry. Recently, she made a fascinating point. She said, “About six months ago, my husband said he thought the Lord was trying to teach him to be content with mediocrity. ‘Mediocrity? Never! We should always be striving for the best,' I thought to myself. But in light of a few life lessons of my own, I think I now understand what my husband was saying. It's easy for us to want the best life has to offer, but sometimes ‘the best' is learning to be content with what we have.” Hebrews 13:5 says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have. Because God has said, never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you.” You don't actually need to hear another story of unfulfillment from someone you've admired to know that stuff doesn't ultimately satisfy. You have only to think about your own life and realize that what God has given you materially is not the ultimate prize. It's only when you're in harmony with Him that you begin to know a life of contentment. Let's pray. Father, we know in our hearts that things don't bring fulfillment. That fact is plain to us, no matter how much we have. Help us be mindful that in you alone, we find the desires of our hearts. Remind us daily not to pin our hopes for the future on what we can acquire today. In Jesus' name, amen. Change your shirt, and you can change the world! Save 15% Off your entire purchase of faith-based apparel + gifts at Kerusso.com with code KDD15.

Do you or your spouse make excuses for having an affair? Remind yourself that your marriage is a covenant with your spouse. The responsibility rests upon both you to confront, repent and restore your marriage.Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/lovelanguageminuteSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we look at the letter R in SHARE, we'll be reminded of who Jesus is and all He has done for us. Jesus is with us, and He alone satisfies our hearts with Living Water. This week, we'll learn how to remind people of who Jesus is in the midst of everyday life and conversations.

He Still Speaks to the Storm#RTTBROS #Nightlight"And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." — Mark 4:39I want to tell you about a little girl named Clara. She couldn't have been more than five years old. Her family lived in tornado country in the Oklahoma panhandle, and one spring evening a storm rolled in fast and mean, the kind that rattles the windows and turns the sky a color that makes your stomach drop. Her older brothers ran to the basement. Her mother hurried to close shutters. And Clara stood in the kitchen, absolutely frozen, her little face white as a sheet.Her father walked in, took one look at her, and just knelt down and took her hand. He didn't explain the meteorology of the storm. He didn't hand her a book on weather patterns. He just took her hand, looked her in the eyes, and said, "I've got you." And something happened in that little girl. The storm didn't stop. The thunder kept rolling. But Clara was no longer afraid, because she was holding onto someone who she believed, with her whole heart, could handle whatever that storm brought.The disciples had a moment just like that on the Sea of Galilee. These weren't timid men, several of them were seasoned fishermen who had worked those waters their whole lives. But this storm was something else. The waves were crashing over the sides of the boat, and they were convinced they were going to die. And Jesus was asleep. Asleep! That detail has always fascinated me. Here's the Son of God, resting peacefully in the middle of a storm that had professional fishermen absolutely beside themselves with fear.They woke Him, crying out that they were perishing, and Jesus stood up and did something that still gives me chills after all these years in ministry. He didn't explain the storm. He didn't calm the disciples first. He spoke directly to the wind and the waves. "Peace, be still." And the Bible says the wind ceased and there was a great calm.Friend, Jesus has authority over every storm in your life, physical, financial, relational, every one of them. And here's what I want you to hold onto tonight. He is in your boat. He may seem quiet right now. You may be wondering if He even notices how hard the waves are hitting. He notices. He is there. And when the moment is right, He will stand up and speak, and the storm will obey Him, because everything in creation answers to its Maker.You don't have to understand the storm. You just have to hold the hand of the One who can calm it.Let's pray: Lord Jesus, You are Lord over every storm we face. Help us to trust Your presence even when the waves are high and the night is dark. Remind us that You are in our boat, and that is enough. In Your name we pray, Amen.#ScripturalWisdomGuidance #ChristianWisdom #Faith #TrustGod #DailyDevotion #BiblicalWisdomTeaching #SpiritualGrowth #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbrosSHOW NOTESEpisode Title: He Still Speaks to the Storm | Nightlight with RTTBROSScripture Reference: Mark 4:39Full Transcript: [See devotion text above]Reflection Questions:What storm are you facing right now that feels like it's about to swamp your boat? Have you told Jesus about it in specific, honest prayer?The disciples asked, "Carest thou not that we perish?" Have you ever felt that way with God? What does it mean to you that Jesus was in the boat the whole time?How does knowing that Jesus has authority over your circumstances change the way you approach your fear today?Be sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

Have you ever wondered if the people you've lost are still with you somehow? My guest this week, Mark Anthony, known as the Psychic Lawyer, is a fourth-generation psychic medium AND a practicing attorney. Such a fascinating combo, right?  We talk about the electromagnetic nature of the soul, what near-death experiences actually tell us about consciousness, and the heart-touching work he does with Helping Parents Heal. Fair warning: some of his stories gave me full-body goosebumps, and I was in the middle of a peri-menopause hot flash.

Your kids aren't just listening to what you say about Jesus — they're watching how you live it.LINKS:Download How to Pray God's Word for Your ChildrenFollow Everyday Prayers @MillionPrayingMoms A Prayer for Geniune Faith by Nicolet Bell In today's episode, we're taking a hard look at Matthew 23 and what Jesus had to say about the gap between teaching truth and actually living it. Spoiler: he didn't go easy on the religious leaders who got it wrong.The good news? We don't have to be perfect. We just have to be genuine — and the Holy Spirit fills in the rest. Reference: Matthew 23:1-12 Prayer: God, it's a shame to have the right words but the wrong heart. Remind me always of who you want me to be. Please help me to always be honest with myself and others and to keep my heart in the right place. I pray that I would have the strength to continually step down to lift other people up and help me to help my children do the same. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Have you ever gotten into a disagreement with your brothers or sisters? So did Joseph. But even with trouble at home, Joseph still dreamed big!JOSEPH FORGIVESHey parents! Use these questions as a guide to talk over this week's Bible story called Joseph Forgives with your child after they've listened to this week's story. Remember the Big Idea: God has an important job for me.What was your favorite part of the story we just heard?Who was mean to Joseph and threw him into a pit?His brothers. They were jealous of Joseph because their dad loved Joseph the most.What happened when people thought Joseph did something wrong?They put him in jail.Who was always with Joseph, even when bad things kept happening?God!Is God always with you?Yes! We know God is always with us when we believe in him because he tells us in the Bible, and he helps us through the Holy Spirit. He helps us be brave and gives us what we need.Take some time to pray with your child. You might pray something like this:Dear God, thank you for always being with me. Help me remember you are with me when I am scared or when bad things happen. We love you! Amen.Parent Devotional Hey parents! We have something just for you to enjoy this Bible story for yourself. We encourage you to read over this devotional sometime this week as a way to reflect on the Bible story your child saw from Church at Home. We love you!DownloadEarly Childhood Craft – Joseph Story OrderColor the Joseph story cards and help your child test their memory of the Bible story as they put them in the right order. Remind them that God was with Joseph in every part of his story, and God is always with us.DownloadEarly Childhood Activity – God is With Me Pretend PlayYour child is learning that they can believe God is with them. As they play pretend, they will act out different things as a reminder that God is with them no matter what.DownloadEarly Childhood Activity Sheets Each week we have activity pages for your child to remember the week's lesson. They include new coloring pages and activity sheets for your child to enjoy!DownloadNavigating ParenthoodHey parents! Saddleback Parents has great training, tips, and tools to help you win. Check out http://saddlebackparents.com/ for resources to help guide you as you do the challenging and worthy work of raising brave, loving, kind kids who love God and others!Download

What SONG reminds you of your mom?

Want peace with people? Remind yourself of what drew you together in the first place instead of focusing on differing opinions. You will gain peace for yourself and a loving tolerance towards others. Inspired by Philippians 2:2-4 (Originally recorded May 12, 2013)

Chris Holman welcomes back Natalie Chmiko, Incoming CEO, LSCP, Lake Superior Community Partnership, Marquette, MI. Welcome back, Natalie. Remind the Michigan business community what Lake Superior Community Partnership is and does? As you step into the CEO role, what are your top priorities for sustaining and growing Marquette County's economic momentum? How will your experience at Michigan Economic Development Corporation shape your approach to leading the Lake Superior Community Partnership? » Visit MBN website: www.michiganbusinessnetwork.com/ » Watch MBN's YouTube: www.youtube.com/@MichiganbusinessnetworkMBN » Like MBN: www.facebook.com/mibiznetwork » Follow MBN: twitter.com/MIBizNetwork/ » MBN Instagram: www.instagram.com/mibiznetwork/ Lake Superior Community Partnership Announces Natalie Chmiko as Next Chief Executive Officer Marquette County resident and Michigan economic development leader to assume role following structured transition. MARQUETTE COUNTY - The Lake Superior Community Partnership (LSCP) today announced the selection of Natalie Chmiko as its next Chief Executive Officer. Chmiko, a Skandia resident and seasoned Michigan economic development professional, will begin a structured CEO-designate transition on April 20, 2026, working directly with outgoing CEO Christopher Germain before assuming full leadership responsibilities in May. Chmiko brings more than 12 years of economic development experience to the role, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Culture and Collaborative Operations at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), where she oversaw strategy, organizational development, human resources, and other cross-functional operations. During her time at MEDC, she advanced from an entry-level analyst to a senior executive position, leading strategic initiatives, securing significant state and federal investment, and building collaborative teams that supported Michigan's small business, manufacturing, and community development efforts. Germain, who has led LSCP since 2022, announced earlier this year that he would be stepping down voluntarily to relocate with his family. His decision set in motion a deliberate, board-led search process focused on identifying a leader who could sustain and build on the organization's momentum. “I am so excited for Natalie to step in and continue the momentum we've built together at LSCP. The energy in this organization is real, and it isn't going anywhere. Natalie's depth of experience across Michigan's economic development ecosystem, and her genuine connection to this community, means we're in great hands. She will keep this work moving forward and find new ways to build on what our team and partners have accomplished.” - Christopher Germain, Outgoing LSCP Chief Executive Officer Chmiko and her family relocated to Marquette County in 2023, a decision she describes as intentional and rooted in a long-time love for the region. “My family and I have been drawn to this part of the U.P. for years. The people, the nature, and the sense of community is hard to find anywhere else. I am eager to get to work alongside the talented LSCP team and our incredible network of partners and investors. The organization is in a strong position, and I look forward to building on that by deepening relationships, enhancing what's already working, and helping Marquette County continue to grow.”— Natalie Chmiko, Incoming LSCP Chief Executive Officer During the transition period, community members and partners will have ample opportunities to meet Natalie at LSCP events and through direct outreach. Partners and community members are encouraged to join LSCP at its Annual Dinner on April 16 at Northern Michigan University's Northern Center, Natalie will be introduced ###

It has never been easier to consume someone else's faith. With a podcast in our ears, a devotional feed on our phones, and a favorite teacher's voice filling our commute, we can absorb an enormous amount of Christian content without ever spending quiet, personal time with God ourselves. And slowly, almost imperceptibly, our spiritual lives begin to look less like deep-rooted plants and more like transplanted flowers — imported from someone else's garden, struggling to survive in soil that was never their own. Paul saw this same tendency in the church at Corinth. Believers were forming camps around their favorite teachers — Paul, Apollos, Cephas — as though the worker was responsible for the growth. Paul was quick to correct them: the teachers were only servants. God was the One making things grow. And the only foundation that could ever truly hold was Jesus Christ Himself. That warning speaks directly into our age of faith influencers, online pastors, and Christian celebrities. Their insights can be genuinely helpful — but they cannot replace what only a personal relationship with Jesus can give. Second-hand faith will only take us so far. If we want to thrive rather than wither, we need roots that go all the way down into Christ Himself — the One who died to give us life, and in whom alone we are invited to truly boast. Interested in creating something new with us!? Take Our Newsletter Survey! Bible Verse "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ." — 1 Corinthians 3:11, NIV Ponder Today Consuming Christian content is not the same as communing with Christ — no teacher, pastor, or influencer, however gifted, can substitute for a personal and growing relationship with Jesus. Paul's warning to the Corinthians applies directly to us today — when we align ourselves too closely with a human worker, we risk placing our trust in the servant rather than the One who causes all growth. Second-hand faith — borrowed from the experiences and practices of those we admire — will eventually begin to wither, because it was never rooted in our own encounter with the living God. Teachers, authors, and pastors can be genuinely helpful tools in our growth, but they are only ever planting seeds or watering — God alone is the One who makes things grow. Jesus Christ is the only foundation that can hold — His death and resurrection are not just the starting point of our faith, they are the center around which everything else must be built. Today's Prayer Lord, I confess that I sometimes spend more time listening to what others say about You than I do communing with You personally. As helpful as many teachers and pastors are, their words are not what bring true growth — only You deserve that glory. When I am tempted to build my faith around a favorite voice rather than around You, redirect my heart. Remind me that You are the reason I am saved, the foundation that cannot be moved, and the only One in whom I should boast. Deepen my roots in You, Lord, so that my faith is my own — grown in the soil of a real and personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In His name, Amen. Enjoy Today's Prayer? If this episode encouraged you, we'd love to stay connected! Subscribe to the LifeAudio newsletter at LifeAudio.com for daily prayers, devotionals, and faith-filled content delivered straight to your inbox. Don't miss an episode — subscribe and share with someone who needs encouragement today. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Audio Transcript Today. And I’m going to be preaching a message from the Bible in order that we would hear God speak to us. So the passage that we’re going to be studying is First Thessalonians. So if you have a Bible, go ahead and open up to the Burke, the book of first Thessalonians. It’s like right in the middle of the New Testament. So there’s Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and there’s first and second Philistines, Thessalonians. And if you don’t have a Bible, there should be some blue Bibles in, around on the chairs. You can grab one of those and open up. Because I’m just going to be reading through this passage verse by verse as I preach through it. So first Thessalonians, chapter 5. I’ll be reading verses 1 through 11. Here’s what the word of the Lord has for us today. Says now, concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying there is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman. And they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. And we are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet. The hope of salvation for God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him. Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up just as you are doing. Please pray with me and we’ll get started. God, thank you that you speak through your word, even through the folly of man like me. God, I pray. Please keep me from error and help. Help me to speak what you have for us this morning. And I pray, Lord, that you would give each person here a heart to receive your word and ears to hear what you are saying. And so God meet with us here as we look at your word and study it together. In Jesus name we all pray. Amen. Okay, so before I jump into this passage, on the day of the Lord, I’M going to read to you two different poems that are written in the 1800s concerning the return of Christ. And each of these are from two different perspectives of when Christ returns. So just listen to these poems. This first one is called the Advent by Christina Rossetti. It says, watchmen, what of the night? The stars are dim and the morning is at hand and we must watch for him. Watchman, what of the night? The night is long Wait till the day star arise with shout and song. Where are the lamps? They are trimmed and burning bright. Where is the bridegroom? He cometh in the night. Is there a cry? Yes, there is a sudden cry the bridegroom is at hand, his hour is nigh the bridegroom comes, he comes to claim his own. The winter is quite past and the flowers are blown the time of singing birds is come at last the night is wearing out and the day is past. It’s the first poem. Here’s the second poem. That’s called the Food. Foolish Virgins by Alfred Tennyson. Here’s what it Late, late, so late and dark the night and chill Late, late, so late but we can enter still Too late, too late, ye cannot enter now, no light had we for that we do repent and learning this the pride groom should Surely we’ll relent Too late, too late, ye cannot enter now no light so late and dark and chill the night O let us in, that we may find the light. Too late, too late, ye cannot enter now have we not heard? The bridegroom is so sweet O let us in. Though late to kiss his feet no, no, too late, ye cannot enter now now both of these poems speak of the sobering event that is the day of the Lord. Some will be found awake in the light with their lamps burning bright, but others will be found asleep in the dark. And these poems reflect the somber reality of the parable of the Ten virgins that Jesus. Jesus teaches concerning his coming. And it also reflects what our passage is speaking about today. And when the Son of Man comes, what will he find? Which will you be? When the Lord returns and when we have to give an account for our souls, will you be sober and awake in the light, or will you be drunk and asleep in the dark? My hope is that studying this passage this morning will give you the answer as we study this passage. So that being said, look with me at First Thessalonians, and before I do that, I’m going to give you a little bit of context concerning this passage. So First Thessalonians was written to the new believers in Thessalonica, only a few months after Paul and Timothy had to leave due to persecution. The church at Thessalonica was very young and they were without any leaders. And therefore Paul wrote this letter to encourage the Thessalonian church, to remind them that sanctification in the midst of persecution was God’s will for their lives. And he desired to clear up any confusion about the Lord’s second coming. So about a month ago, I preached on 1 Thessalonians 4, 4 verses 13 through 18, concerning the state of those who die in the Lord, and about Jesus’s second coming, when he will bring his people to himself. The Thessalonian believers at the time were confused about what was happening when a believer died and if they would experience the Lord’s second coming or not. And so in our last passage, Paul affirmed the Thessalonians that, yes, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep, and those who are alive will not precede those who have fallen asleep at the coming of Christ. Rather, the Lord himself will descend with a shout and with a sound of the trumpet. The dead in Christ will be raised first, and then those who are alive will be caught up together with them to always be with the Lord. And so, after clearing up this confusion, Paul now has more to say in chapter five concerning the day of the Lord. And so, before I get into this, I’m just going to mention that some Christians view this passage as a separate event from the gathering of God’s people that is talked about in chapter four, which is known as the Rapture. And so those that view this as two separate events, this is called dispensational premillennialism. And other Christians view the gathering of God’s people in chapter four. And then what we’re about to read here in chapter five as the same event. And this view would be called historical premillennialism. Or there’s also other views that take these two events to be the same one. And so all of these views, both of these arguments that are made from historical premillennialism and dispensational premillennialism, they both have reliable theologians that back behind them with strong biblical arguments. I personally tend to think that this is the same event when Christ returns, based on what Paul describes in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2. But I also find myself going back and forth at times. So regardless of your eschatological view, your end time view on this, the main point is that Jesus will return on the day of The Lord, which is what our passage is looking at here. So look with me at verses one through two. God’s word says now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, which side note, brothers here is referring to brothers and sisters in Christ at Thessalonica. Brothers and sisters, you have no need to have anything written to you, for you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. The day of the Lord mentioned here is referring to the great day of God’s judgment upon all mankind. And this will be after the tribulation, when all the earth will be judged and God will melt the elements of the earth in his wrath in order to wipe it clean of all of its evil and make all things new. Second Peter 3:10 says this. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise and the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed for the wicked and the ungodly. This will be a terrifying day, for God is holy and he is a consuming fire against all unrighteousness. But for the righteous who have faith in Christ, the day of the Lord will come with rejoicing and praise to God as justice is established on the earth once and forevermore. And so concerning the times and seasons, that our passage begins with the day of the Lord, Paul says he has nothing more to write to these Thessalonians about this. And this is likely because Paul already taught the Thessalonians that no one knows the times or the seasons when the day of the Lord will occur. Not even the Son of God knows. Only the Father knows when Christ will return and when finality will come to the earth. And so Paul had also taught the Thessalonians that when the day of the Lord comes, it would be like a thief in the night. And so these are chilling words meant to wake up everybody who hears them. And so Jesus himself said that he would come like a thief in the night in the Gospels. And so Matthew 24:40,44 says this. Then two men will be in the field, one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken and one left. Therefore stay awake, for you do not know on the day that the Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready for The Son of man is coming at an hour that you do not expect. So Jesus compares his second coming to that of a thief breaking into a home in the middle of the night. When a person least excited, and this is how the majority of the world will experience the second coming of Christ. It will be sudden and completely unexpected and it will leave each person empty handed before the judgment seat of God. And just as the poem I read to you at the end, there will be a sober reflection that it is too late to now enter in to God’s kingdom with Christ when He comes. And so verse three gives us more insight onto this saying. While people are saying there is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman and they will not escape. Here we learn that there will be a false sense of peace and security before the day of the Lord’s coming. And this sense of peace and security, it will not come from the Lord, but it will be found in the world through one’s possessions or through a trust in the government, or trust in a world leader. It will be a misplaced peace and security. And Jesus taught that just as people were eating and drinking and marrying in the days of Noah, on the day when the flood came and swept them away, so will be when the Christ returns on the night the thief arrives. The world’s false sense of peace and security will not be able to keep them from the hour that their souls must give account to the living God. Our passage says sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains. Just as labor is inevitable once labor has begun, so the sudden judgment of God will inevitably come upon the earth and there will be no escape. These words are terrifying to hear. Just as the words in the poem that I read a couple weeks ago. We had a major storm that rolled through in the area with warnings of severe hail and multiple destructive tornadoes that could roll through the area. And at one point as this storm was going over all of Dane county and all throughout the Midwest, in the middle of the dark clouds and the continuous booming thunder which I think many of you here experienced, there was sirens that began to sound in the middle of the storm and echo across the Madison area, warning that a tornado has been sighted and to seek shelter immediately. Immediately. These verses and others like it that we’re reading here, it’s like the sound of tornado sirens. They are warning all who will listen that impending destruction is coming like a thief in the night, and if one is not prepared and ready for his coming, there will be no escape which is Deeply chilling and sober words in this passage. But to take a shift from this heaviness, we get to verse four. In verse four, we get to some very much so needed Good news. Verse 4 says, but you believers in Thessalonica, you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief, for you are all children of the light, children of the day. We’re not of the night or of the darkness. So here Paul brings some much needed clarification. The day of the Lord is not going to surprise believers as it will surprise the rest of the world. And this is because the Thessalonian brothers and sisters are not in darkness, but instead they are children of the light. Now, what exactly is Paul saying here? 2Nd Corinthians 4, 6, I think gives us a pretty clear understanding of what Paul is saying. And here’s what it says. For God, who said, let light shine out of darkness, he has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So what Paul is saying is the same God who said, let there be light has now brought light into man through faith in him, and Jesus himself is the light of the world. When a person places their faith in Jesus, the light of Christ is made manifest within them as God gives them a new heart and new desires to follow God’s word. Through faith, God’s people become children of the light that they may walk in good works, that the Holy Spirit enables them to do, works that reflect Christ and bring spiritual light upon the earth. And in contrast, the world is described as living in darkness, and this represents spiritual darkness. As people live in rebellion against God and unable to walk in godliness and unable to understand the truth of God’s word. In the darkness, the world rejects God and seeks pleasure without him by living for their passions of the flesh, which results in sin and death. But children of the light, they do not live this way because they have seen Christ and they have come to the knowledge that Jesus is the Lord. And they devote their lives to following Christ and from putting away darkness and putting away sin. Sin hides itself in the dark, but righteousness shines brightly in the light of day. God’s people are not of the night or of the darkness any longer. They have turned from darkness and now live in Christ’s glorious light. And because God’s people live in the light, they know Christ and they know Jesus is going to return. Therefore, God’s children will not be surprised or caught off guard when Christ arrives. They will be ready with lamps burning in the night, and they’ll be ready to meet their groom and be brought to his side. Those living in darkness, they ignore the warnings and do not expect or desire the day of the Lord to come, which is why it surprises them. But God’s people, they hear the tornado sirens and they turn to Jesus for shelter by the grace of God. So children of the light live in the day where they expect their Savior to return, and their hearts long for his coming to make all things new, where darkness and sin will rule no longer. And so, that being said, my first application from this passage for believers here is, live as children of the light. If you have faith in Christ, the light switch, the spiritual light switch in your life has been flipped on. No longer do you live in darkness where sin is your master, Jesus is your master, Jesus is your guide in this day. His Word is a lamp to your feet that you may walk in a different way from how the world walks and stumbles in darkness. Because you are children of the light, you’re gonna look different. And that is actually okay. Jesus wants us to live differently and to shine our light bright so that others may see our good works and glorify our God who is in heaven. The time for dwelling in darkness is over for the believer, and the time for living for Christ in the light has just now begun. So, so, fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, just like the Thessalonians, live as children of the light, for you no longer live in darkness. You are free to walk in the light of Christ and good works that glorify him. Moving on to verse 6, it says so then 6 and 7 says so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and sober. For those who sleep, they sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. And so if anybody here is already starting to fall asleep a little bit, this is to you, go ahead and wake up, be sober. Don’t let my sermon put you to sleep. No. So Paul here, he’s like, further emphasizing the difference between believers who are children of the light and then non believers who are living in darkness. Paul says that those who are living in the dark spend their time sleeping at night and getting drunk at night. What’s important here is that Paul isn’t talking about what physical sleeping and drunkenness does. He’s actually using these as metaphors to communicate that unbelievers are spiritually asleep and drunk. And as they live in darkness, so those living in the darkness without God and without the light of Christ, spend their time spiritually asleep at the wheel. Sleep and drunkenness are both states where reality is distorted and one is not able to fully understand what is going on around them. Unbelievers are oblivious to spiritual truth that is found in God’s word through faith in Christ. They have no awareness of what God’s will is for their lives or any true understanding of that Jesus is going to return and demand an account for their soul. Instead, they live in sin and drown out God’s truth through being intoxicated with what the world has to offer. But Paul, as already pointed out, that’s not who we are referring to. Believers. We are not of the night or spiritually asleep at the wheel. Rather, God’s people are alive and are awake. Therefore, let us not hit snooze on the things of God and sleep spiritually as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. Highlight underline Circle this in your Bibles because I think this is the most important application in our passage today. Keep awake and be sober Because God’s people are children of the day and understand the will of God and they understand the will of God and that Jesus is going to demand an account for the way that we live. So we must keep spiritually awake and remain spiritually sober. As I said before, the day of the Lord being related to a thief in the night is meant to sound the alarm in our minds and nudge God’s people to stay awake and to be alert. Time and history is moving towards one end and that is the day of the Lord. Today, if you find yourself distracted by things of the world or just like kind of living on autopilot going from day to day, then hear the word of the Lord to you this morning. Keep awake and be sober. God has work for you to do today to honor him and to point others to Christ so that they may turn from darkness into light. Be aware of God’s will for your life and be ready for Christ to return so that when he does, you may hear him say these good words that are well done, my good and faithful servant. And when I say understand God’s will, I mean his revealed will through His Word applied to each day. So what Christ asks us to do and the ways he calls us to love one another and to love God. If the day of the Lord changes nothing about how you live day by day, you may be spiritually asleep at the wheel and drunk on the world. While I was working at a collegiate ministry in New Mexico called the Christian Challenge, back when I was a young Buck. Shortly after I’d graduated, there was a staff meeting where I was working at this collegiate ministry, and we had to make some big decisions on where we were going to send college students on summer mission trips with our partner missionaries. And one of the partner missionaries actually got kicked out of the country only months before the trips are going to happen. And so, as this happened, there were some other providential opportunities that had presented themselves, but were certainly a large pivot from what the ministry had originally planned for. And so in the middle of our meeting, the director named David, who was sort of a mentor to me, he said something that I will not forget. He said, what is God doing through all this? He didn’t say it out of anger or out of doubt, but he said it in, like, curiosity and in wonder, like, what is it that the Lord is doing among us? In this unforeseen pivot is the Lord closing one door, one partnership, and now opening another to proclaim the Gospel to another nation? And as David asked these questions to all of us in our staff meeting, it kind of just like snapped me out of my narrow focus where I was just thinking, how do we fix this? Where do we send students? But David, he was thinking, what is the will of God in this circumstance? And what is it that God is doing today in my life? What is it the Lord is doing here that we may keep in step with him and his plans so that he would be glorified? Therefore, just as David was awake and sober of the situation, we too should keep awake and be sober and pondering, what is it that the Lord is doing in my life today? For the Lord is among us, and he is preparing to come on that great and mighty day. Do we perceive it or are we asleep? Moving on to verse eight, it says, but since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. Here Paul gives some practical applications for us on how God’s people are to remain sober before the day of the Lord. They do this by putting on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet that is the hope of salvation. Here Paul attaches these virtues to pieces of armor similar to the armor of God that’s found in the book of Ephesians. And so faith and love are to be central to a believer’s life, like a breastplate and hope of salvation protects one’s mind from fears or doubts, knowing for certain that they are saved in Christ. And so Paul communicates that these pieces of armor keep a believer soberly aware of God’s will and his truth in their lives. These three virtues are mentioned together in other letters as vital virtues that work together in one’s life as they walk with Christ. For one’s faith angers oneself to Christ, bringing salvation and sanctification that results in good works. One’s love grows their affection for God and for their neighbor to fulfill the greatest commandment. And one’s hope of salvation spurs them on towards what lies ahead, knowing salvation is guaranteed through the finished work of Christ on the cross. Each of these virtues are a gift from God, and each of them keep a believer soberly fixed on Christ and on his return. So moving to verses 9 through 10, God’s word gives us an incredible truth to end on. So verse nine look with me in your Bibles it says, for God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with Him. Now, talking about God’s wrath is generally an uncomfortable topic. Therefore, the day of the Lord is not an easy day to process, and this passage is not easy to process. For the day of the Lord is when God’s wrath is poured out on all ungodliness and wickedness on the earth. But throughout this passage, Paul again and again affirms God’s people that the day of the Lord will be different. For those who have found in Christ, the day of the Lord won’t surprise them like a thief in the night. You are not children of darkness or of the night. You are not asleep or drunk on the world. You are alive, awake and sober. Children of the light. Why? Verse answer gives us why. For God has not destined his children of wrath. Sorry, his children of the light for wrath, but he has destined us for salvation through Jesus Christ who died for us and now is alive. This is such a sweet assurance to hold onto. It is a verse that you could memorize and really meditate on day by day because its promise is so sweet to God’s people. And it is my last application from this passage Christian remember, you are not destined for wrath, but for salvation through your Lord Jesus Christ. Even when life is difficult or you’re enduring something that is really heavy or difficult in your life. Hear God tell you this morning I have not destined you for wrath, but for salvation in Jesus Christ. For God’s people who believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, judgment and wrath are not what God has in store. Instead, a beautiful inheritance awaits God’s people, forgiveness of sin, new hearts that beat for God, new lives that are restored and made whole, a new glorified body, joy in the presence of Christ, peace that endures, love that never fails, and eternal life with God and with his people that will never end. That, Christian, is what you are destined for through faith in Christ. Verse 10 also affirms what Paul had previously said in chapter 4, that those who are asleep, which Paul is now no longer talking about, the same sleep as those in darkness, but those who have died with faith in Christ, those who have died and are now asleep as believers, they are also destined for salvation. This means that whether you are awake with faith in Christ or asleep from death with faith in Christ, you will live with Christ in His presence. Death cannot change what God has done for his people. Whether awake or asleep, you are destined to live with Christ in the end when he returns. And if you’re here and you know you are walking in darkness apart from God, then I have some really, really good news for you. All people are born into this world, living in darkness, asleep to the things of God and drunk on the distractions and pleasures of the world. All of us here in this room begin this way. We are separated from God and deserving God’s just wrath that deals with evil, evil that is within us. Yet a light has dawned on the earth in the form of a man. And this man was God himself. He performed many signs and wonders in fulfillment of the scriptures. And he lived a perfect life without sin and with his pure and righteous life. This God man willingly love. He laid down his life for you and for me on the cross. He endured the wrath of God so that all who believe in him by faith could be brought from darkness into light. He bore our sins. He paid our penalties on the cross so that man could be reunited with a holy God and become children of of the light. This God man, this is Jesus the Christ who has died for us. And if anyone, including today, anyone here, turns away from their sin and believes in Jesus as the Lord of their life for the forgiveness of their sins, they will be forgiven and new life will begin in the the light. That’s what happened to the Thessalonian believers when they turned from idols to serve the living God. And it can happen for you if you will believe. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Our passage then ends on verse 11 that says, Therefore encourage one another and build one another up just as you are doing so. My final encouragement to you from this passage is the exact same thing. Red Village Church Continue to encourage one another here that the day of the Lord is coming near and keep encouraging one another to stay awake and to be sober. Keep building one another up through faith and love and hope that is found in the salvation we have in Christ. Remind one another that God has not destined us for wrath, but for salvation in Christ. Keep sharing the gospel, keep gathering as the family of God at church. Keep reading your Bible and keep praying to the Lord about all things. Live as children of the light together that God’s kindness and love may be put on display so that many who put their faith in him may be ready for the day of the Lord when he returns. That being said, please pray with me, Lord, this passage is sobering and thinking about your coming. And yet there is great hope that is found in Christ through your finished work on the cross, offering forgiveness and a place of shelter from the wrath that we poured out on the great day of the Lord. And so I pray for everyone here. God, help us to be ready to be awake, to be sober. Help us Lord, to continue in doing the things you call us to for your will and for your glory. And God, if any here do not know you, I pray that today would be the day that they would turn from their sin and put their faith in Jesus as their only hope of salvation and as a means of new life to walk in your marvelous light. And God, I pray, be glorified with the rest of our time as we gather here this morning. In Jesus name we all pray. Amen. The post The Day of the Lord – 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-11 appeared first on Red Village Church.

LESSON 122Forgiveness Offers Everything I Want.What could you want forgiveness cannot give? Do you want peace? Forgiveness offers it. Do you want happiness, a quiet mind, a certainty of purpose, and a sense of worth and beauty that transcends the world? Do you want care and safety, and the warmth of sure protection always? Do you want a quietness that cannot be disturbed, a gentleness that never can be hurt, a deep, abiding comfort, and a rest so perfect it can never be upset?All this forgiveness offers you, and more. It sparkles on your eyes as you awake, and gives you joy with which to meet the day. It soothes your forehead while you sleep, and rests upon your eyelids so you see no dreams of fear and evil, malice and attack. And when you wake again, it offers you another day of happiness and peace. All this forgiveness offers you, and more.Forgiveness lets the veil be lifted up that hides the face of Christ from those who look with unforgiving eyes upon the world. It lets you recognize the Son of God, and clears your memory of all dead thoughts so that remembrance of your Father can arise across the threshold of your mind. What would you want forgiveness cannot give? What gifts but these are worthy to be sought? What fancied value, trivial effect or transient promise, never to be kept, can hold more hope than what forgiveness brings?Why would you seek an answer other than the answer that will answer everything? Here is the perfect answer, given to imperfect questions, meaningless requests, halfhearted willingness to hear, and less than halfway diligence and partial trust. Here is the answer! Seek for it no more. You will not find another one instead.God's plan for your salvation cannot change, nor can it fail. Be thankful it remains exactly as He planned it. Changelessly it stands before you like an open door, with warmth and welcome calling from beyond the doorway, bidding you to enter in and make yourself at home, where you belong.Here is the answer! Would you stand outside while all of Heaven waits for you within? Forgive and be forgiven. As you give you will receive. There is no plan but this for the salvation of the Son of God. Let us today rejoice that this is so, for here we have an answer, clear and plain, beyond deceit in its simplicity. All the complexities the world has spun of fragile cobwebs disappear before the power and the majesty of this extremely simple statement of the truth.Here is the answer! Do not turn away in aimless wandering again. Accept salvation now. It is the gift of God, and not the world. The world can give no gifts of any value to a mind that has received what God has given as its own. God wills salvation be received today, and that the intricacies of your dreams no longer hide their nothingness from you.Open your eyes today and look upon a happy world of safety and of peace. Forgiveness is the means by which it comes to take the place of hell. In quietness it rises up to greet your open eyes, and fill your heart with deep tranquility as ancient truths, forever newly born, arise in your awareness. What you will remember then can never be described. Yet your forgiveness offers it to you.Remembering the gifts forgiveness gives, we undertake our practicing today with hope and faith that this will be the day salvation will be ours. Earnestly and gladly will we seek for it today, aware we hold the key within our hands, accepting Heaven's answer to the hell we made, but where we would remain no more.Morning and evening do we gladly give a quarter of an hour to the search in which the end of hell is guaranteed. Begin in hopefulness, for we have reached the turning point at which the road becomes far easier. And now the way is short that yet we travel. We are close indeed to the appointed ending of the dream.Sink into happiness as you begin these practice periods, for they hold out the sure rewards of questions answered and what your acceptance of the answer brings. Today it will be given you to feel the peace forgiveness offers, and the joy the lifting of the veil holds out to you.Before the light you will receive today the world will fade until it disappears, and you will see another world arise you have no words to picture. Now we walk directly into light, and we receive the gifts that have been held in store for us since time began, kept waiting for today.Forgiveness offers everything you want. Today all things you want are given you. Let not your gifts recede throughout the day, as you return again to meet a world of shifting change and bleak appearances. Retain your gifts in clear awareness as you see the changeless in the heart of change; the light of truth behind appearances.Be tempted not to let your gifts slip by and drift into forgetfulness, but hold them firmly in your mind by your attempts to think of them at least a minute as each quarter of an hour passes by. Remind yourself how precious are these gifts with this reminder, which has power to hold your gifts in your awareness through the day:Forgiveness offers everything I want.Today I have accepted this as true.Today I have received the gifts of God.- Jesus Christ in ACIM

LESSON 122Forgiveness Offers Everything I Want.What could you want forgiveness cannot give? Do you want peace? Forgiveness offers it. Do you want happiness, a quiet mind, a certainty of purpose, and a sense of worth and beauty that transcends the world? Do you want care and safety, and the warmth of sure protection always? Do you want a quietness that cannot be disturbed, a gentleness that never can be hurt, a deep, abiding comfort, and a rest so perfect it can never be upset?All this forgiveness offers you, and more. It sparkles on your eyes as you awake, and gives you joy with which to meet the day. It soothes your forehead while you sleep, and rests upon your eyelids so you see no dreams of fear and evil, malice and attack. And when you wake again, it offers you another day of happiness and peace. All this forgiveness offers you, and more.Forgiveness lets the veil be lifted up that hides the face of Christ from those who look with unforgiving eyes upon the world. It lets you recognize the Son of God, and clears your memory of all dead thoughts so that remembrance of your Father can arise across the threshold of your mind. What would you want forgiveness cannot give? What gifts but these are worthy to be sought? What fancied value, trivial effect or transient promise, never to be kept, can hold more hope than what forgiveness brings?Why would you seek an answer other than the answer that will answer everything? Here is the perfect answer, given to imperfect questions, meaningless requests, halfhearted willingness to hear, and less than halfway diligence and partial trust. Here is the answer! Seek for it no more. You will not find another one instead.God's plan for your salvation cannot change, nor can it fail. Be thankful it remains exactly as He planned it. Changelessly it stands before you like an open door, with warmth and welcome calling from beyond the doorway, bidding you to enter in and make yourself at home, where you belong.Here is the answer! Would you stand outside while all of Heaven waits for you within? Forgive and be forgiven. As you give you will receive. There is no plan but this for the salvation of the Son of God. Let us today rejoice that this is so, for here we have an answer, clear and plain, beyond deceit in its simplicity. All the complexities the world has spun of fragile cobwebs disappear before the power and the majesty of this extremely simple statement of the truth.Here is the answer! Do not turn away in aimless wandering again. Accept salvation now. It is the gift of God, and not the world. The world can give no gifts of any value to a mind that has received what God has given as its own. God wills salvation be received today, and that the intricacies of your dreams no longer hide their nothingness from you.Open your eyes today and look upon a happy world of safety and of peace. Forgiveness is the means by which it comes to take the place of hell. In quietness it rises up to greet your open eyes, and fill your heart with deep tranquility as ancient truths, forever newly born, arise in your awareness. What you will remember then can never be described. Yet your forgiveness offers it to you.Remembering the gifts forgiveness gives, we undertake our practicing today with hope and faith that this will be the day salvation will be ours. Earnestly and gladly will we seek for it today, aware we hold the key within our hands, accepting Heaven's answer to the hell we made, but where we would remain no more.Morning and evening do we gladly give a quarter of an hour to the search in which the end of hell is guaranteed. Begin in hopefulness, for we have reached the turning point at which the road becomes far easier. And now the way is short that yet we travel. We are close indeed to the appointed ending of the dream.Sink into happiness as you begin these practice periods, for they hold out the sure rewards of questions answered and what your acceptance of the answer brings. Today it will be given you to feel the peace forgiveness offers, and the joy the lifting of the veil holds out to you.Before the light you will receive today the world will fade until it disappears, and you will see another world arise you have no words to picture. Now we walk directly into light, and we receive the gifts that have been held in store for us since time began, kept waiting for today.Forgiveness offers everything you want. Today all things you want are given you. Let not your gifts recede throughout the day, as you return again to meet a world of shifting change and bleak appearances. Retain your gifts in clear awareness as you see the changeless in the heart of change; the light of truth behind appearances.Be tempted not to let your gifts slip by and drift into forgetfulness, but hold them firmly in your mind by your attempts to think of them at least a minute as each quarter of an hour passes by. Remind yourself how precious are these gifts with this reminder, which has power to hold your gifts in your awareness through the day:Forgiveness offers everything I want.Today I have accepted this as true.Today I have received the gifts of God.- Jesus Christ in ACIM

We've got some great questions in this week's Morning Pitt Mailbag. If Cam Corhen could come back to the Pitt basketball team, how much would he help? Which Pitt quarterback is a good comparison for Mason Heintschel? And are first downs a good goal for Kade Bell's offense? Answers to those questions and more in the Morning Pitt Mailbag.

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Dr. Kurt Jones. Purpose of the Interview The conversation aims to highlight the importance of mental health and wellness, particularly in the Black community, elite sports, and entrepreneurial spaces. It focuses on mental resilience, confidence building, and strategies for handling stress and setbacks, while introducing Dr. Jones’ methodology and his mission through Play 21 Wellness Academy. Key Takeaways Mental Health in the Black Community Historically stigmatized; seen as weakness or negativity. Today, awareness is improving, but significant work remains. Customized Approach Dr. Jones does individualized analysis and treatment plans for athletes and business professionals. Rejects “cookie-cutter” solutions—tailors strategies to personal circumstances. The Shelving Method A mental organization system with four shelves: Immediate Shelf: Urgent tasks within 24 hours. Active Shelf: Important but less urgent tasks. Holding Shelf: Items to revisit later. Elimination Shelf: Thoughts/tasks to discard permanently. Helps clients focus on the present and avoid dwelling on past mistakes. Confidence & Setbacks Confidence can collapse after major losses or failures. Strategy: Remind clients of their greatness, review past successes, and rebuild momentum. Consistency and adaptability are key to sustaining success. Play 21 Wellness Academy Founded in memory of Ben Wilson, a top basketball player and Dr. Jones’ best friend. Mission: Support youth athletes, address issues like parent/teacher abuse, and provide mental health resources. Operates as both a nonprofit and for-profit entity. Broader Client Base Works with elite athletes, entrepreneurs, and high-level professionals. Mental clarity and emotional control are critical for success in any field. Health & Balance Encourages regular medical checkups, stress management, and work-life balance. Advocates for self-reward and stepping out of comfort zones while maintaining wellness. Upcoming Projects Book: Chi-Town Blueprints (personal story and mental resilience). Workbook on the Shelving Method for schools, universities, and professionals. Notable Quotes On Mental Health Stigma:“When people talked about mental health, the first thought was negative.” On Focus:“You can’t take the last play to the next play.” On Success:“Mental thinking is a huge part of success.” On Confidence:“Remind yourself of what got you to the point where you were winning.” On Consistency:“You’ve never seen a Brinks truck behind a funeral car—the graveyard is the richest place because people die with million-dollar dreams.” On Purpose:“Walk in your purpose. When you walk in your purpose, there’s no stopping you.” #SHMS #STRAW #BESTSteve Harvey Morning Show Online: http://www.steveharveyfm.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome on in, today the Cardslingers tackle the 6 of Cups. The Smith Waite deck shows two children having fun. Lis reminds us that the guard in the back is keeping the kids safe. Standard meanings are nostalgia, safety, and enjoying communion. Remind yourself how important you are to those around you, with what you pass on to them. And thanks to the live crew for sticking around.   Homework: Make yourself a “Happy File” or an “I Am Loved” folder on your computer, tablet, or phone and fill it with images and snippets of conversations from folks you've impacted.   Jaymi is teaching a class at the Cascadia Mystic Convergence on March 21, 2026. Tickets can be purchased at https://www.thistledewtarot.com/product/cascadia-mystic-convergence.   Melissa now has a Patreon! Check it out at https://www.patreon.com/cw/Melissacynova. She's teaching classes and checks in regularly through Patreon live streams. It's a hoot!   Catch Hilary and Melissa on Instagram for live readings. Follow them both and get a quick reading.   Shoutouts Susan Chang of Tarotista https://www.etsy.com/shop/Tarotista  Jenna of Moonlit Faye Bags and Clutches https://www.moonlitfaye.com/shop   Our stuffed animals who keep us safe at night   Go support your favorite (and local) artists by buying art   Resources Mentioned Melissa: Tarot Chimera by Nitasia Roland and art by Odilon Redon https://bookshop.org/p/books/tarot-chimera-83-full-color-cards-and-200-page-full-color-guidebook-nitasia-roland/7753f22e3e242196?ean=9781578638406&next=t   Jaymi: Triple Goddess Tarot by Jaymi Elford and Franco Rivolli https://bookshop.org/p/books/triple-goddess-tarot-franco-rivolli/996f97dea338d262?ean=9780738753799&next=t   Tarot of Tides by Steven Hutton https://bookshop.org/p/books/tarot-of-tides-the-adventures-of-a-duck-named-bob-unique-78-card-tarot-deck-and-164-page-guidebook-imaginative-storytelling-fantasy-artwork-toy-du/31777ec2ee21a67f?ean=9781646712779&next=t   Hilary: The Divine Feminine Tarot by Cocorina (pre-order) https://www.cocorrina.com/collections/tarot-rune-decks/products/divine-feminine-tarot-deck

The mirror used to be my enemy. Now it's where I remind myself who I am. Love My Colors is that journey. Link in bio. https://www.amazon.com/Love-Colors-Cleanne-Lynn-Johnson-ebook/dp/B07XB1SFBQ/ref #selflovebook #healingjourney #selfworth #innerchildhealing #shadowwork #believeinyourself

Most of us grew up in a world that had a quiet but persistent message running underneath everything: be more, achieve more, become someone better than who you currently are. Somewhere along the way, the simple truth that you are worthy of love exactly as you are got buried beneath a pile of comparisons, expectations, and the nagging sense that you are not quite enough. It is a heavy thing to carry — and it is not what God says about you. Ephesians 2:10 uses a word that stops us in our tracks: poiēma — translated as handiwork, workmanship, or masterpiece. You are not a rough draft that God is still embarrassed by. You are His artwork, created intentionally in Christ Jesus, with good works planned specifically for you before you ever drew your first breath. No one else can do what God uniquely prepared for you to do, which means the world needs you to be fully, unapologetically yourself — not a lesser imitation of someone you wish you were. God does not love the version of you that you are striving to become someday. He loves you right now, exactly as you are, with an everlasting love that does not waver based on your performance or your progress. Today is an invitation to receive that truth, to let it settle into the places where doubt has taken root, and to walk forward in the quiet confidence of someone who knows they are deeply and deliberately loved by their Creator. Today's Bible Verse "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." — Ephesians 2:10 Ponder Today You are not a rough draft — you are God's masterpiece, intentionally and carefully crafted by a Creator who makes no mistakes and holds no regrets about how He made you. God has prepared good works specifically for you — works that only you can do, which means the world needs you to be fully yourself rather than a copy of someone else. The cycle of striving to be smarter, wealthier, or more successful in order to feel worthy is a lie — our worth is not earned by achievement but declared by the One who created us. God's plans for your life are unique to you — you don't need to compare your path to anyone else's, because His purposes for you were prepared long before you arrived. God loves you with an everlasting love right now, not someday when you have it all together — receiving that truth is not arrogance, it is the beginning of walking in the freedom He intended for you. Today's Prayer Dear God, it has been challenging for me to accept myself as I am. I have often longed to be someone smarter, more capable, or more put-together than I feel. Help me to know that I am accepted, beloved, and cherished exactly as I am in Your eyes. Guide my heart to the comfort of knowing that I am Your handiwork — a masterpiece You created with purpose and intention. Remind me that there is only one me in the world, and that the good works You prepared for me can only be done by me. Thank You for believing in me even when I have doubted myself. All praise and glory belong to You. In Your Son's name, Amen. Enjoy Today's Prayer? If this episode encouraged you, we'd love to stay connected! Subscribe to the LifeAudio newsletter at LifeAudio.com for daily prayers, devotionals, and faith-filled content delivered straight to your inbox. Don't miss an episode — subscribe and share with someone who needs encouragement today. If you like this podcast, be sure to check out our sister podcast, Your Nightly Prayer - an evening Christian prayer podcast to help you end your day in conversation with God. https://www.lifeaudio.com/your-nightly-prayer/ Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

The actor and comedian is keenly aware of humanity's limitations, but he's not giving up. Thoughts? Email us at theinterview@nytimes.com Watch our show on YouTube: youtube.com/@TheInterviewPodcast For transcripts and more, visit: nytimes.com/theinterview   Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The actor and comedian is keenly aware of humanity's limitations, but he's not giving up. Thoughts? Email us at theinterview@nytimes.com Watch our show on YouTube: youtube.com/@TheInterviewPodcast For transcripts and more, visit: nytimes.com/theinterview Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There is a particular kind of weariness that comes from feeling stuck — when you have tried every solution you can think of, waited longer than feels reasonable, and still find yourself in the same place, wondering if anything will ever change. In those moments, it is tempting to conclude that you have simply reached the end of what is possible. But what if the end of your possibilities is precisely where God's begin? Jeremiah 32:17 is a declaration that refuses to be contained by our circumstances: the God who made the heavens and the earth by His great power and outstretched arm is the same God who is present in your stuck place right now. Nothing — not your complicated relationship, your unanswered question, your closed door, your exhausted imagination — is too hard for Him. The obstacles that loom so large in our vision are remarkably small compared to the power of the One who spoke galaxies into existence. He is not intimidated by what you are facing. And He is not finished. New possibilities do not always arrive as dramatic breakthroughs — sometimes they come as a quiet nudge, a fresh perspective, a creative idea that hadn't occurred to you before. But they come. Keep your eyes open, keep bringing your questions to God, and keep trusting the One who can do what you cannot. Something new may be closer than you think. Today's Bible Verse "Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you." — Jeremiah 32:17, NIV Ponder Today Feeling stuck is not the same as being without hope — the God who created the heavens and the earth is never limited by the circumstances that feel impossible to us. When we focus first on God's greatness rather than our problems, our perspective shifts — the obstacles are still real, but they are suddenly much smaller than the power available to us. New possibilities don't always arrive dramatically — sometimes God moves through a fresh idea, a subtle nudge, or a creative solution that opens a door we hadn't noticed before. God doesn't expect us to figure everything out on our own — He invites us to bring every question and uncertainty to Him, and to ask for guidance at every step of the way. God's timing may look different from ours, but He is always at work — even when we cannot yet see results, new possibilities are forming beneath the surface of what is visible to us. Today's Prayer Dear God, You are the Creator of heaven and earth, and Your love and power are unlimited. You see exactly where I feel stuck, and I confess that I sometimes focus more on the size of my problems than on the greatness of You. Help me trust You to bring new possibilities into my life. Open my eyes to solutions, ideas, and opportunities I might be missing. When I don't know what to do next, guide me step by step. Remind me that nothing is too hard for You, and give me patience when Your answers don't come right away. I trust that You are at work, creating something new. Thank You for walking with me. Amen. Enjoy Today's Prayer? If this episode encouraged you, we'd love to stay connected! Subscribe to the LifeAudio newsletter at LifeAudio.com for daily prayers, devotionals, and faith-filled content delivered straight to your inbox. Don't miss an episode — subscribe and share with someone who needs encouragement today. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

It is a subtle thing, pride. It rarely announces itself. It creeps in quietly — in the way we measure ourselves against others, in the quiet satisfaction we feel when we believe we have gotten it right, in the distance we keep from those we have decided are beneath us. And all the while, we may believe we are simply being discerning, or faithful, or righteous. But God sees the posture of the heart. In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, Jesus draws a portrait of two men at prayer — and the one who goes home justified is not the one with the longer list of religious achievements. It is the one who could not even lift his eyes to heaven. The one who simply said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. That prayer, so short and so stripped of pretense, was the one that moved the heart of God. There is a freedom that comes when we stop managing our image before the Lord and simply come as we are. When we release our grip on the comparisons, the tallying, the quiet pride in how far we have come — and return to that place of open-handed dependence. It is not a place of shame. It is the very place where grace meets us. Tonight, He is not asking for your record. He is asking for your heart. Come low. Come honest. And find, as so many have before you, that it is in that humble place where the Savior draws nearest. What You'll Take Away Discover why the most dangerous prayers are the ones that are really just conversations with ourselves You'll learn how pride blinds us to our own need for grace — even while we are in the act of worship Discover the freedom that comes from releasing self-righteousness and approaching God with open, honest humility You'll learn why the shortest, simplest prayer in Scripture — "God, have mercy on me, a sinner" — remains one of the most powerful prayers any of us can pray Discover how true humility is not self-deprecation, but a sober, grace-filled awareness of who we are before a holy God Tonight's Scripture "For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." — Luke 18:14, NIV "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you." — Romans 12:3, NIV "There is no one righteous, not even one." — Romans 3:10, NIV Your Evening Prayer Holy God, You see what we so often hide from ourselves. Tonight we come not with a list of what we have done right, but with open hands and bowed heads. Forgive us for the moments we have measured our worth against others, or taken quiet pride in our faithfulness. Remind us that every good thing in us is a gift from You — nothing earned, nothing deserved. Meet us in this humble place. Have mercy on us, sinners that we are. And let that mercy be the ground we stand on, now and always. In Jesus' name, Amen. Want More? Continue your journey at https://www.lifeaudio.com/your-nightly-prayer/ Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

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