Podcasts about Sis

When Jesus tells a story, you listen. When Jesus repeats 3 stories with the same meaning, you REALLY listen. Every story he told during his time here on Earth was of important purpose, but to repeat the same lesson 3 times in 3 ways tells us Jesus desperately wants us to get this message. Today’s parable is part of that trilogy teaching. The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin and the Lost Son. The teaching of the Lost Sheep was recorded by both Matthew and Luke, so we already looked at that teaching earlier in our series. But now as we look at the accounts of Luke, we see the remaining 2 stories taught back to back by Jesus to the same crowd of people. Who were these people in the crowd, and why would they so desperately need to understand this message? This was a mixed crowd of religious leaders, along with as Luke puts it, “tax collectors and other notorious sinners”. These were people who didn’t mix. Religious leaders of this day made very clear distinctions between who was considered acceptable and who was not—who was “clean” and who was “unclean.” And the people Jesus was attracting—the tax collectors and notorious sinners—were the very people the religious crowd believed should be kept at a distance. They didn’t mix. But as Jesus taught this trilogy of stories about the lost, the sinners came crowding in. The people who had been pushed to the edges were now pressing into the center—right there at the feet of Jesus. Why were the unclean and the sinners coming in? Because for the first time, they were being told they belonged, they mattered, and there was a path for them to be made clean. Up until then, as part of the unclean, they had been pushed to the edges. They were the people you avoided, the people you didn’t touch, the people you didn’t invite to your table. They couldn’t simply blend in with everyone else. Their reputation went ahead of them. Their past followed them. Their failures had become their identity. Imagine that for a moment. Or maybe you don’t have to imagine too hard because this is a story you continually tell yourself now. You don’t belong. You’re unworthy. No body wants you. You’ve felt like part of the “unclean”. For these people being constantly told that they’re not good enough, not acceptable, not clean, eventually they started believing it themselves. Maybe they had assumed God was only for the clean people. The religious people. And then Jesus came. And Jesus changed everything. Jesus didn’t stand on the other side of the crowd pointing at them. He moved toward them. He welcomed them. He ate with them. He touched the untouchable. He talked to the unacceptable. He gave dignity to people who had been reduced to their sin. And suddenly, these people who had been told, “You don’t belong here,” were crowding around Jesus because Jesus was telling them something completely different: You matter. You are wanted. You are worth finding. You are not too far gone. That is the setting for these three stories. And that is why Jesus tells them three times, in three different ways: God goes after what is lost. He tells the story of a shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to find one lost sheep. Then a woman who turns her house upside down to find one lost coin. And finally, a father who watches the road, waiting for his lost son to come home. Three stories. One message. God is not standing far away waiting for the lost to find their way back to Him. God is actively pursuing them. And Jesus wants these religious leaders—and every outcast listening at His feet—to understand something that would have been almost scandalous to them: The lost are not an inconvenience to God. They are His pursuit. The very people everyone else had pushed away were the people Jesus was drawing near to. What was literally happening in this moment was James 4:8, “Come close to God, and God will come close to you.” The unclean were drawing in close for the first time believing maybe this man Jesus was sharing the Good News with them, and as they came in close, God came in close to them. A message worth repeating 3 times! So today, we look specifically at “The Parable of The Lost Coin”. The short little story tucked in between the other 2 more popular stories of something that had been lost. Luke 15: 8-10 “Suppose a woman has 10 sliver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lot coin.’ In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.'” And here in the crowd were the sinners who were told they were unclean and unworthy of anything from God. They were written off and excluded. Now, Jesus is telling them, YOU ARE LIKE A LOST COIN THAT IS WORTHY OF BEING SEARCHED FOR! What does a coin have to do to be found? Absolutely nothing! The coin doesn’t crawl its way out of the corner. The coin doesn’t shine itself up to be found. No, the owner comes looking and will not quit until it is found! Notice what the woman does when she loses the coin – She specifically lights a lamp and sweeps the entire house in a careful search. This is precisely what God does when he comes looking for one of his lost children. One who has gotten lost in the darkness, swept to the side, fallen in the cracks and been left alone. First, HE SHINES THE LIGHT. What is this light? John 1:4-5, “In HIM was life, and that life was the LIGHT of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” But, the light doesn’t stop with God. Through Jesus, we become his light bearers. Matthew 5:14, Jesus says, “YOU are the light of the world.” Girls, this means for those of us with the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we carry the light that God uses to search for his lost coins. WE ARE PART OF THE SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM FOR LOST SOULS!!!!!! Are they unclean? Are they not to be touched? Are they to be avoided? NOT ACCORDING TO JESUS!!!!!!!!!! THEY ARE TO BE SEARCHED FOR! Jesus says with this light, the woman sweeps the entire house in careful search. GOD IS WILLING TO GO ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE LOOKING FOR A LOST SOUL. He will move the furniture. He will lift the rug. He’ll turn the sofa upside down. He’s not quitting the search for what is his. Here in the crowd, lost souls are hearing Jesus say that he will not stop caring about them. And here today, those within the sound of my voice are hearing Jesus still saying the same thing – HE WILL NOT STOP CARING ABOUT YOU. No matter where you’ve been hiding – no matter what darkness you’ve been stuck in – no matter how dirty you’ve become – HE WANTS YOU BACK!!!!!!!! You are his daughter. You belong to him. Nothing changes that. Just because the coin was lost didn’t mean the woman no longer claimed it. No, she said, “MY COIN”. It was hers when she held it, hers when it was lost, and hers when she found it. “I have found MY lost coin.” You’ve always been God’s girl. That’s not changing. Let yourself be found! Do you know what will happen when he finds you? A FULL BLOWN CELEBRATION!!!!!!!!! Literally Jesus says “There is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” The angels are throwing a party over every soul who is pulled up out of the darkness. Over every soul who is picked up and dusted off. Over every soul who is restored to the place where they belong. THERE IS JOY WHEN THE LOST IS FOUND! Not disappointment. Not condemnation. Not, “Well, look who finally came crawling back.” JOY! Jesus is painting a picture for these sinners sitting at His feet—and for the religious leaders standing there judging them—that would have been impossible to miss. THIS is how God feels about sinners coming home. And I think sometimes we forget that. We know how to feel guilty. We know how to beat ourselves up. We know how to replay our failures and remind ourselves of every place we’ve fallen short. We know how to tell ourselves that we should have known better, done better, been better. But Jesus tells a different story. He tells us that when we are lost, God searches. When we are in the darkness, God brings the light. When we are buried under the mess of our own making, God starts moving things around to find us. And when He finds us, He celebrates. Girl, let that sink in. God isn’t looking for a reason to reject you. He’s looking for you. You may have wandered. You may have messed up. You may have made choices you wish you could undo. You may feel like you’ve fallen so far into the cracks that nobody could possibly find you. But you are not forgotten. You are not disqualified. You are not too dirty. You are not too far gone. You are still His. The coin didn’t become worthless because it was lost. Its location changed. Its condition may have gotten dirty. It may have been sitting in a dark corner where nobody could see it. But its value never changed. And neither has yours. Let Jesus find you exactly where you are. Because He already knows where you are. He’s already looking. He’s already searching. And when He finds you, He’s not going to pick you up and say, “What a mess you are.” He’s going to say, “There you are. I’ve been looking for you.” And heaven will rejoice. If you’ve believed the lie that you’re unworthy, let Jesus tell you the truth. You are His. You have always mattered. You have never been too far away for His light to reach. And you are worth finding. Because that’s the message Jesus repeated three times so we would never forget it: The lost matter to God. The lost are worth pursuing. And when the lost are found, HEAVEN REJOICES. So, Sis, let yourself be found. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Today we will study a parable that seemingly has nothing to do with us. It’s easy to assume Jesus just told this story so the Pharisees who were in the crowd realized how bad they were. But haven’t we learned if Jesus told a story then, it applies to us today? Haven’t we discovered so far in our study of the parables that Jesus’ stories are layers and layers deep? So, as we read this next story, as yourself this question – “Am I faithfully tending what God has entrusted to me in this life?” Remember this is all on lease and God’s going to ask for it back. Even your very life! Matthew 21: 33-45 Now listen to another story. A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country. At the time of the grape harvest, he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop. But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. So the landowner sent a larger group of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same. Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.' But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let's kill him and get the estate for ourselves!' So they grabbed him, dragged him out of the vineyard, and murdered him. When the owner of the vineyard returns,” Jesus asked, “what do you think he will do to those farmers? The religious leaders replied, ‘He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest.’ Then Jesus asked them, “Didn't you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the LORD's doing, and it is wonderful to see.' I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit. Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on. When the leading priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. Okay, let’s pull out a few things and apply them to our lives today. The vineyard belonged to the landowner. The farmers were only leasing the vineyard. Notice how much work the owner did before the farmers ever touched the vineyard. He planted it. Built the wall. Dug the winepress. Built the tower. Then he LEASED it to the farmers. They didn’t create the vineyard. They didn’t buy the vineyard. They didn’t make the vines grow. They didn’t own the harvest. They were managers of something that belonged to someone else. And THAT IS US! Your life is a vineyard God has entrusted to you. Your body, your marriage, your children, your friendships, your home, your career, your money, your gifts, your talents, your time, your opportunities … None of it is ultimately yours. It’s been ENTRUSTED to you. Think about your children – are they really yours? Did you knit them together in your womb? Did you create them yourself? Did you design them? Is it you that breathed life into them? No, they are and always have been God’s. He’s entrusted that child to you to raise, to guide, to love. All of this is on lease. God has chosen you to steward what is HIS for the short span of your lifetime. So, Sis – how’s your stewardship going? We’re so quick to ask, “What do I want to do with my life?” But girl, this life isn’t even yours! You’re stewarding this time and these opportunities given to you by God. The question is, “God, what do you want done with what you’ve given me?” Jesus says the Kingdom would be given to those who would “produce the proper fruit.” God isn’t simply looking for people who hang out in the vineyard. He’s looking for fruit. You can be in church and produce no fruit. You can know Scripture and produce no fruit. You can have great success, look incredibly good, be totally impressive and produce no fruit. What fruit are we talking about? Ahhhh yes, remember back to our Fruits of the Spirit study together. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control. If you’re stewarding the vineyard of your life well, then girl, your life should look different! People should see evidence that Jesus is growing in you! We are not people riddled with anxiety and fear. We are not impatient, irritated, grouchy souls. We are not negative, impulsive or judgmental. NO – that’s not what Jesus grows. The world grows that, but we are called to be different, empowered by the Holy Spirit to produce a radically different fruit in our leased vineyard. My friend, your life is producing something. What is it? Now, this story takes a turn. A turn that is a personal conviction on our tendency to claim “mine.” The farmers eventually say: “Let’s kill the heir and get the estate for ourselves.” They didn’t want to just work the vineyard. They wanted to own it. Dang – don’t we do this? God gives us something to steward and we get all clingy and bratty claiming “mine”. This is my time. This is my money. This is my body. They are my children. These are my plans. This is my life. Here’s the real problem with that – when we start believing it’s OURS, we have a real problem when God asks for his share. And that’s the real heart issue Jesus is exposing in this parable. Where have you taken what God has temporarily entrusted to you, claimed it as solely yours, and now you want to maintain control over it? You’re essentially telling God to stay out of your vineyard, forgetting IT’S HIS! In Jesus’ story of the Evil Farmers, we see the vineyard owner repeatedly sends servants in to visit and collect his share. The tenant farmers reject the servants. So, the owner sends more messengers. Eventually he sends in his son. We read this and immediately know how this plays out. That’s our Jesus. They kill our Jesus. God always knew that would happen. But here we see his patience. He sends messengers and reminders, giving the tenant farmers more time and more opportunities. Oh how God repeatedly comes after us. He sends us just the right sermon when we need it. Just the perfect devotional at the right time. Just the right conversation with the right friend. He interrupts us with his presence. What’s really happening is God is trying to get your attention. He loves you so much that he’s coming at you in every way to send you the message about his vineyard. Hey, this life you’re living belongs to God and he expects you to produce fruit. Again and again, he shows you mercy. What has God entrusted to you that He is now asking you to surrender back to Him? Maybe it’s your time. Maybe it’s control. Maybe it’s your money. Maybe it’s a relationship. Maybe it’s your body. Maybe it’s a gift or a dream that started with God but has slowly become about you. God doesn’t ask you to give Him what He never gave you. He’s simply asking for the fruit from the vineyard He entrusted to you. The religious leaders rejected Jesus. But Jesus says the very stone they rejected becomes the cornerstone. A cornerstone determines the alignment of the entire building. That’s a beautiful picture for us. Jesus isn’t supposed to be an addition to your life. He’s supposed to be the thing your life is built around. Not: “Where can I fit Jesus into my plans?” But: “How do I build my plans around Jesus?” Not: “How can Jesus help me achieve my dream?” But: “Jesus, what dream are You building in me?” God doesn’t give you things so you can possess them. He entrusts things so you can steward them. Everything and everyone you have and love today is on lease from God. You have it for just a little bit of time to care for, nurture, and help grow. What does the owner want you to do with those things today? When you really consider what the owner wants, it changes how you parent. How you spend. How you work. How you respond. How you show up. How you make decisions. WHAT DOES THE OWNER WANT? TEND what God has entrusted to you. PRODUCE the fruit God is looking for. RETURN to God what already belongs to Him. SURRENDER your life to the Jesus. You are not the owner of the vineyard. You are the steward of it. Everything you have is something God has entrusted to you for a season. And one day, the Owner comes looking for His harvest. How different would your life look today if you truly lived like God owns everything and you’re simply his steward? If the Owner walked into your vineyard today and asked for His harvest, what would you have to give Him? Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Jesus has great news for us today: We can be screwed up and late to the game, but if we will simply be available and show up, God has grace for us, work for us to do, and a great reward in store. Matthew 20: 1-15: For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work. At nine o'clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day. So they went to work in the vineyard. At noon and again at three o'clock he did the same thing. At five o'clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven't you been working today?' “They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.' “The landowner told them, “Then go out and join the others in my vineyard.” That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. When those hired at five o'clock were paid, each received a full day's wage. When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day's wage. When they received their pay, they protested to the owner, “Those people worked only one hour, and yet you've paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.” He answered one of them, “Friend, I haven't been unfair! Didn't you agree to work all day for the usual wage? Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?” God is looking for absolutely anyone who is available. It doesn’t matter if you think you’re unqualified. It doesn’t matter if you feel you’re too late. It doesn’t matter if you’ve wasted years chasing the wrong thing and racking up a long record of losing. GOD WANTS YOU DOING HIS WORK IN HIS VINEYARD. The world all around you is his vineyard. Everywhere he has work to be done. All he has ever asked of you is to be available to him. If you are available, then you’re in! 1. You are never too late to get in the vineyard. Some were there at dawn. Others at 9. Others at noon. Others at 3. And some didn’t get invited to come and work until late in the day at 5 pm. There was barely any time in the day even left, but the landowner still said, “Come work in my vineyard.” And here’s what that means to you – Your past doesn’t disqualify your future. You may look at your life with regret and think you should have started sooner, you wasted so many years, you made too many bad decisions, and you don’t have enough time left. But let me tell you something – God isn’t intimidated by how much time you’ve wasted. He’s not asking “Girl, why weren’t you here at 8 am. He’s asking, “ARE YOU AVAILABLE NOW?!!!!!!” Look around and you’ll see others who are so far ahead of you – and that’s okay. There are some who have written 5 books already, turned there hardship around for good, and walking in a full harvest. Good for them. That doesn’t take an ounce of God’s light from you. You have light and there’s time for you to get to work! It’s never too late to become useful in the hands of God. Are you ready to get started now? 2. God doesn’t need you qualified. He needs you available. Notice what the landowner asked the people at 5 PM: “Why haven’t you been working today?” And their answer was basically, “Nobody hired us.” They weren’t saying, “We don’t want to work.” They were saying, “Nobody gave us a place.” And the landowner immediately gave them one. Sometimes we’re waiting for for the perfect opportunity, or more experience, or more knowledge, or more confidence – all while there is work to do right where we are. Sis, you don’t have to be impressive to be useful. You don’t have to have a platform to have influence. You don’t have to know everything to help somebody. You just have to say: “God, I’m available.” And then look around. Who needs encouragement? Who needs prayer? Who needs someone to listen? Who needs Jesus? Who needs what God has already put inside of you? There’s your work! 3. The vineyard is wherever God has placed you. Humans are funny in our pursuit of the perfect place. We think we have to have some sort of big spiritual assignment to be effective for God. All while we miss that the vineyard is your LIFE. It’s all around you. The work is here. Your home is a vineyard. Your marriage is a vineyard. Your friendships are a vineyard. Your workplace is a vineyard. Your neighborhood is a vineyard. Your children’s lives are a vineyard. The woman sitting next to you at the coffee shop may be a vineyard. You don’t have to go somewhere extraordinary to do God’s work. God’s work is happening in ordinary places through ordinary people who are willing to participate. Isn’t it wild to think the Creator of the universe is literally inviting you to come be part of his work with him? That Jesus, the savior of the world, has chosen YOU to be his partner. 1 Corinthians 1:9, “God has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” And then what’s really wild is to think that exactly where you are – where you live, where you work, where you drive every day – none of that is an accident. God has placed you exactly where you are in his vineyard, right where he wanted you, because there’s work there for you. How often we miss the vineyard so desperate for workers all around us, thinking we have to go somewhere else to partner with God in his mission. Girl, your home is a mission! Have you missed that? 4. Don’t waste today mourning yesterday. The workers hired at 5 PM couldn’t go back and reclaim the morning. They couldn’t say, “Give me the hours I missed.” They had one choice: Use the hour they had left. That’s us. You can’t go back and parent differently. You can’t go back and make the better decision. You can’t go back and say yes to the opportunity you missed. You can’t go back and recover the years you spent chasing the wrong things. But you can do something with today. You can’t change the hours you’ve lost, but you can surrender the hours you have left. If the landowner was willing to hire workers at 5 pm for the tiny amount of time left in that work day, then Jesus is telling us the little time we have left is of value too. You and I have time left. We don’t know how much time, but we have some. God is not hung up on where you’ve been until now – He’s asking if you’re available now. Yes – GREAT! 5. Don’t let comparison steal your gratitude. This is where the parable takes a sharp turn. The people who worked all day weren’t upset because they were cheated. They were upset because someone else was blessed. They received the payment they were promised, but when they saw those who worked far less than them receive the same pay, they were now unhappy. The landowner says: “Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?” Ouch. How often do we secretly resent God’s generosity toward someone else? “Why did she get that? – Why did God answer her prayer? – Why does her marriage look so good? – Why did she get that opportunity?” And Jesus essentially says: Why are you making somebody else’s blessing an insult to you? God’s goodness to her does not mean God’s goodness to you has run out. Someone else’s blessing is not evidence of your lack. 6. Don’t turn your obedience into a contract with God. The first workers had an agreement: A day’s wage for a day’s work. And they got exactly what they agreed to. But somewhere along the way, they began calculating. Here’s what that looks like in our heads: I worked more, I sacrificed more, I’ve been faithful longer, therefore I deserve more. God owes me. That’s dangerous spiritually! Does God really owe you? God is not our employer. We’re not earning God’s love through our performance. We’re not accumulating points with God. We’re not competing for a bigger piece of heaven. We are His. And everything he gives us is ultimately grace. I hope God doesn’t give me what I deserve because I don’t deserve heaven. I don’t deserve forgiveness. I don’t deserve his blessings. I certainly don’t deserve Jesus. I can only hope to receive his grace. Sometimes we want God to operate according to fairness. But if God gave us exactly what was fair, we’d all be in trouble. We want justice when someone else has wronged us. But we want grace when we’re the ones who have messed up. The message of Jesus isn’t that God gives everyone what they deserve. The message of Jesus is that God gives us what we could never deserve. That’s why the 5 PM worker is such good news. I’m the 5 PM worker over here getting what I don’t deserve simply because God is so good and generous. 7. Your reward isn’t based on how impressive your story looks. One woman may have followed Jesus since childhood. Another may meet Him at 70. One may have a dramatic testimony. Another may have a quiet one. One may preach to thousands. Another may faithfully love the five people God put around her. God doesn’t measure significance the way we do. The woman who spends decades faithfully serving God isn’t more loved than the woman who finally surrenders at the end of her life. And the woman who arrives late isn’t less valuable because she arrived late. The value isn’t in when you entered the vineyard. The value is in whose vineyard you’re working in. The workers who came at 5 PM didn’t know how much they would receive. They simply said yes to the invitation they had. That’s faith. God doesn’t always tell you what the assignment will produce. He just says, “Come work with Me.” And maybe that’s the invitation for us today: Stop calculating whether you’re late. Stop comparing your vineyard to somebody else’s. Stop worrying about whether you’re qualified. Stop mourning the hours you wasted. Stop asking whether there’s enough time left. The question isn’t, “How much time do I have?” The question is, “What will I do with the time I have?” Because if you’re still breathing, the Landowner is still calling. And if He’s still calling… there’s still work for you to do. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Sis, I want to talk to the YOU today - the woman listening who is exhausted. Exhausted from restricting. Exhausted from punishing yourself with endless workouts and never taking a day off. Exhausted from trying to shrink yourself while showing up as the leader in every other area of your life. You have it all together on the outside — you lead teams, manage budgets, raise humans, keep the whole household running. But when it comes to your body, you still feel like that confused little girl who learned her worth was tied to her size. That's the battle no one sees. And today, we're bringing it into the light. By the end of our time together, you'll understand how your body story got written — and you'll have a framework to start rewriting it, from shame to self-compassion. You didn't start out hating your body Here's the truth I need you to hear: you learned to. You didn't come into this world at war with yourself. Somewhere along the way — maybe at seven, watching your mom criticize her thighs in the mirror; maybe at ten, when someone commented on your changing body; maybe at thirteen, when the magazines promised happiness if you just looked a little different — you were taught that your body was a problem to be solved. You learned it from a culture that profits from your insecurity. From diet companies making billions convincing you your body is wrong. From a fitness industry that sold you the lie that more exercise equals more worth. Nothing was ever actually broken, sis. You were taught a story. And what was taught can be rewritten. The messages that built your prison These are the "body story" messages so many high-achieving women carry — see which ones you recognize: "Good girls don't take up too much space." You learned to make yourself smaller, literally and figuratively. "Your body is your responsibility to control." Enough willpower, enough discipline — and your body became a project instead of your home. "Thin equals healthy, healthy equals worthy, big equals bad." You learned the scale measures your value as a person. "Successful women have it all together — including their bodies." So controlling your body became one more item on the success checklist. "Your body exists to look good for other people." You learned to see yourself through everyone's eyes but your own. These messages worked. They kept you small, compliant, and constantly striving. And that same control that felt like freedom was actually building your prison — brick by brick, year by year. What this story has cost you Your energy — all the mental space spent calculating, planning, and worrying, that could have gone to your dreams and relationships. Your presence — the family moments missed, the social events avoided, the opportunities declined while you waited to "feel better" in your body. Your authentic self — the woman you are when you're not worried about food or exercise. She's creative, brave, vibrant, and magnetic — and she's been buried under years of body shame and food rules. Your physical health — the chronic restriction and over-exercising you think is keeping you "healthy" is actually putting real stress on your body. You have the power to rewrite it You're not that young girl anymore. You're a powerful, strong woman with wisdom and experience — and now you have a choice to choose differently. It starts with one decision, one meal, one moment of self-compassion over self-criticism. Your body story doesn't have to end with restriction and exhaustion. The best chapters are yet to come. A few lines from the episode "You didn't start out hating your body, sis. You learned to." "You learned from a culture that literally profits from your insecurity." "Your body became a project instead of your home." "That same control that felt like freedom was building your prison, brick by brick." "The woman you are when you're not worried about food or exercise? She is magnetic." "You're not too much. You're not too little. You're exactly enough, exactly as you are. It's okay to take up space." Your body story rewrite — try this week In the morning, before you critique anything in the mirror, thank your body for one thing it did for you yesterday — walked you through a long day, hugged your kids, kept your heart beating while you slept. Before you eat, ask: "What would really feel good and nourishing right now?" Trust that your body has wisdom you've been drowning out with food rules. Choose movement based on what feels good — a walk, yoga, stretching — not on calories to burn. When you catch the harsh self-talk, speak kindness instead. Kindness builds body trust. And journal on this: Who influenced my body story? When do I first remember believing these things? How can I rewrite it so I can stand in my truth and crush the next chapter? You don't have to rewrite it alone If you're ready to stop living as the perfect leader everywhere except in your relationship with your own body, I'd love to walk with you. My work isn't just about changing your relationship with food — it's about helping you discover who you are without the eating disorder in the driver's seat. Connect with Lindsey:

The More Sibyl Podcast Presents: 한국 비자 | The Nigerian Passport Tax — The Stress of Getting a Korean Visa: Episode 6 (2026)If you've been with me for a while, you know how much I love South Korea. I spent a full year there with my mum and my kids, and that memory is one I'll always cherish. But loving a place doesn't mean staying quiet about the parts of it that aren't lovely at all.In this episode, I sit down with a guest I'm calling Sis. Her real name stays anonymous, because she's not alone in this, and a lot of people going through the same process right now are still afraid that speaking up could cost them their own application. Sis recently applied for a visa to visit Korea, where she now has family. She'd already been through other embassies before this one, so by every reasonable expectation, she assumed the Korean embassy in Lagos would be just as straightforward.It was not.Nine or ten visits. To an embassy that, on any given day, sees a handful of people, nothing close to the queues at the UK, US, Canadian, or Australian embassies. A checklist that changed depending on who was behind the desk, and sometimes even when it was the same person behind the desk. Staff who denied ever giving her instructions they'd given her days before. A two-hour drop-off window that assumes nobody applying has a job to get to. And in the end, her passport didn't land in her hands until the day of her flight, even though she'd booked that flight two months out specifically to give the process room to breathe.I bring my own family into this one too. My mother went through her own version of this: flown back to Nigeria for a TB test the embassy insisted on, even after we offered to have it done and verified locally. Seven trips to the embassy. Her visa finally came through the day before she flew out. Comparing notes with Sis made one thing painfully clear to both of us: this isn't a bad day at one counter. It's a pattern.This episode isn't really about Korea, the country I love. It's about a process that doesn't match the country everyone's currently falling for from a distance, and about the gap between the people running that system and what's actually happening to applicants on the ground. We talk about what we'd each fix if we could, and what we wish someone had told us before we started.This was a hard one for me to sit with, and an even harder one to put out. But if it reaches even one person going through this right now, or one person who can actually do something about it, it's worth it. If you've had a similar experience, at this embassy or any other, I want to hear it. Drop your story in the comments. Let's stop letting this stay in the shadows.

You have one. The relationship that's never worked, no matter how hard you tried to fix it, understand it, or earn your way into it. Is it Mom or Dad? Bro or Sis? Who are you stuck with? Nobody has their shit together, not even the gurus. What some people have is more awareness, and awareness isn't a badge you earn, it's honesty you can't hide from. That honesty means admitting you've spent years feeling responsible for a relationship that was never yours to fix. It means letting go of who you thought you were through someone else's eyes. Tracy shares three decades of trying to make an impossible relationship work, and how she finally became an audience member instead of a performer in it. Take the Cosmic Frequency Quiz at TracyCrossley.com — Survivor, Judge, Seeker, Dweller, or Oracle. It's free. -> Take the quiz at https://uncomplicatedstore.com/pages/cosmic-archetype

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon. Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the latest apparent change in the baseball’s behavior (this time it seems to be deader) and, in a tribute to Tommy John (11:35), retrace the timeline of his trailblazing surgery and his return to a major league mound 50 years ago through contemporaneous accounts and quotes. Then (55:58) they bring on top-tier Patreon supporter Jamie Verbrugge to discuss his podcast and baseball backgrounds before answering listener emails (1:05:02) about the upper bounds of a cup of coffee, a really entertaining but trophy-less season vs. a really boring championship season, an undercover baseball robot, whether Jefry Yan would celebrate a strikeout on an overturned ball call, whether fans are suggestible enough to be fooled by fake home run distances, an ultimate frisbee-style integrity rule for baseball, the value of Ron Washington, and the advisability of bringing the infield in, followed by Stat Blasts (2:01:49) about Pete Crow-Armstrong leading his league in offense and defense, every team in a divison having the same recent record, team games with high matching run, hit, and walk totals, pitchers who got a win, a loss, and a save in a single three-game series, team games with streaks of the same start to each offensive inning, bullpens where one pitcher out-WARed all the others combined, and strikeout-free shutouts. Audio intro: Beatwriter, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio interstitial: Sean .P, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Liz Panella, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to Sheehan on the ball Link to Savant drag dashboard Link to earlier ball analysis 1 Link to earlier ball analysis 2 Link to John’s statement Link to MLB.com on John’s statement Link to Reuters on John’s illness Link to Tommy John wiki Link to Frank Jobe wiki Link to Jaffe on John Link to career IP leaders Link to Grant on Posey/Avila Link to NanoNeedle article Link to Maness repair article Link to TJ timeline links Link to TJS database Link to Strom surgery article Link to Bordley surgery article 1 Link to Bordley surgery article 2 Link to Ben’s baseball/America course Link to Ben C. on Skubal and Detroit Link to Dickson on “cup of coffee” Link to Asimov’s Robot series Link to Super Baseball 2020 Link to Baseball Highlights 2045 Link to Data smell Reddit thread Link to Skenes photos Link to Yan game video Link to Yan box score Link to Yan Savant search Link to ultimate’s integrity rule Link to Arraez/Washington article Link to article on Wash in 2027 Link to SIS infield-in study Link to Ben on shifting vs. RHB Link to Stirnweiss SABR bio Link to PCA/Snuffy Blast spreadsheet Link to AL Central streaks image Link to 13-13-13 Stathead query Link to win/loss/save spreadsheet Link to leadoff streaks info Link to 2026 Guardians relievers Link to bullpen WAR gaps spreadsheet Link to Tigers-Guardians gamer Link to zero-K, zero-run games Link to listener emails database Link to MLB All-Century Team Link to BNS Jays play podcast Sponsor Us on Patreon Give a Gift Subscription Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Effectively Wild Subreddit Effectively Wild Wiki Apple Podcasts Feed Spotify Feed YouTube Playlist Facebook Group Bluesky Account Twitter Account Get Our Merch! var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source

Kesäkassit ovat saapuneet kotiin Suomi turneelta. Manu sai rypäleet. Sisäkasvit olivat loukkaantuneet kastelijasta huolimatta. Antti tyhjentää viimeisen Viikon kesäkassin. Antin matkan ollessa kesätauolla, Kesäkassit pitää meidät ajantasalla Antin retkistä. Tänä kesänä Antti matkustaa Suomessa. Pysähdyspaikkoina Sotkamo, Kuopio, Turku, Tampere, Salo, Lappeenranta, Lapua ja Savonlinna. * Tiedäthän, että tämä kuuntelemasi jakso on viime kesältä. Antin tuoreet, viikoittain julkaistavat minicast-jaksot löydät kesän ajan yksinoikeudella Podmelta, ja tietenkin ilman mainoksia eli osoitteessa podme.com.

I tried to take a step forward in my spiritual life, but the results were less than inspiring. Guys, this is my best effort right now. :) We also have a special surprise on the show, and: -- I show you the beautiful quilt that some of your fellow listeners made -- I give you some encouragement about your social media use   CORRECTION: In the last segment, I kept saying "SOS" when I meant to say "SIS." My brain is not fully functioning this week!   Watch this episode on Youtube, and follow my channel while you're there!  

The national security challenges to New Zealand have intensified over the past year against a backdrop of increasing geopolitical uncertainty. That's according to the Security Intelligence Service's fourth annual Security Report. It found the country's public and private sectors are being targeted by foreign states, as are diaspora community groups. John Campbell spoke to Director-General of the SIS, Andrew Hampton.

The Security Intelligence Service warns our national security challenges are intensifying as geopolitical tensions heat up. Its report finds public and private sectors are being targeted by foreign states attempting to access our critical assets. It also suggests Chinese military intelligence has been using job sites to target current and former government officials holding secrets. SIS Director-General Andrew Hampton told Mike Hosking our connections and innovations make us valuable to foreign powers. He says in the past year, wars have broken out and a range of countries are engaging in geostrategic competition, negatively impacting the threats we face. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of HFS Unfiltered, Saurabh Gupta, President of HFS Research, is joined by Anuj Krishna, Cofounder and President - Technology & Growth of MathCo, to discuss one of the least understood reasons enterprise AI stalls: the absence of context. The pattern is everywhere. Enterprises have sky-high AI ambitions, yet pilots multiply and almost none reach production, what Saurabh calls “death by a thousand POCs.” In research HFS and MathCo ran together, roughly two-thirds of enterprises admitted they don't know where their knowledge lives; it's trapped in people's heads, undocumented processes, and scattered data. Anuj's argument: organizations obsess over models when the real advantage lies in context, who they are, how they work, and the knowledge behind their decisions. The conversation goes deep on what context actually is, why it can't be static, and who should own it, including the shift toward a federated model with “context stewards” by function. Anuj also lays out how MathCo differs from the platform owners and SIs racing to be “context kings”: rent the tech ecosystem, but own the intelligence, because you can't own your intelligence unless you own your knowledge, and an organization's context is its personality. Saurabh closes with a sharp thesis: models and agents will become a utility, and neither will differentiate you, but context is your identity, and owning it is the only sustainable advantage going forward. Read the associated Take 5 Report, titled "Fund the context layer and close the 2.5x AI ambition gap," here: https://www.hfsresearch.com/research/fund-layer-ai-ambition-gap/ #EnterpriseAI #ContextEngineering #AgenticAI #OwnYourIntelligence #MathCo #HFSResearch #AIStrategy #DataGovernance #DigitalTransformation #FutureOfWork

Send us Fan MailOur picks when it comes to TV, Movies, TikTok, Instagram and all things entertainment.This week's episode covered the following (list below in no particular order):Ted Lasso Season 4 72 hours Ride or Die The Devil Loves Prada 2 Support the show

You've gotta be boots on the ground, doing it yourself first before you build out a team to help you sell. He needed to be the one selling, partnering, and figuring out the messaging before scaling the team.This episode of How We Got There, I am joined by Josh Koshy who is the VP of Sales at Appiphony. If you aren't aware of Appiphony, they are both a top PDO and an ISV after launching their first app a few years ago with Josh at the helm of GTM the whole time. Josh shares lessons learned from their own journey of building their own ISV, which they also bring to their projects on the PDO side where they are building apps for other companies on the AppExchange….mostly around GTM. Drive Connect was their initial product and now it's more of a suite of apps, including doc gen with esignature and storage of files in Salesforce from Google and Sharepoint. Their listings are excellent ones to check out on the AppExchange.Founders and admins tend to stumble onto your listing on the AppExchange, but larger deals come from motions outside of the AppExchange. Partnerships have really been a force multiplier that Josh and team have been leaning in, specifically SI partners. Now most qualified leads come from that channel, about half of their revenue comes from partners - SIs, resellers, and Salesforce. Their largest deals tend to come from Salesforce AE/SE referrals, even if the volume of deals is smaller than from SIs.Referral partnerships via SI partners is hard work to start but then gets easier as trust builds across successful projects. Some care about adding a competitive advantage with the ISV's solution set, some value referral fees, and some value footing the bill for Salesforce AE-focused events by helping the SIs stay in front of their Salesforce counterparts. A really unique approach that makes sense!One thing they overinvested in early was sponsoring events without a fully built out sales and marketing team, so the lesson learned here is perhaps waiting a bit longer before getting booths at those types of events. Josh and his team is an example for ISVs to learn from. He brings a beginner's mind to all of the gtm motions and is always willing to meet and share at events, make sure you say hi to him as you run into him at DreamforceThis episode is brought to you by ⁠ISV Accelerators⁠. ISV Accelerators is your inside guide to co-selling with Salesforce: activating the right reps, accelerating real pipeline, uncovering new revenue, and closing more deals together. Senior alliances leadership without the cost of a full-time hire, and speed to answers on whether that hire is even worth making. See what your Salesforce partnership could really do.⁠⁠#salesforce⁠⁠ ⁠⁠#isv⁠⁠ ⁠⁠#gtm⁠⁠ ⁠⁠#salesforcepartners⁠⁠ #appexchange 

Now Streaming!!!(Special guests this week: Sis. Heaven, LayLay K., Bro. Courtney)All things are possible, with GOD! We've been dancing for many generations. Meet them where they are and teach them about JESUS.Yes you can. Keep Going. #GoForthThe purpose of Teen Takeover is to connect with others, learn from different perspectives, and highlight the importance of God in our lives. It provides a space where teens can come together, share their personal stories and experiences, encourage one another, and build meaningful connections. Through honest conversations and faith, we hope to bring people closer to JESUS and remind everyone that they are not alone in what they are going through.- Youth Leader, Sasha. JESUSgirl.ENT Podcast can be streamed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Spotify for Podcasters, Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, YouTube, YouTube Music, Pandora, TuneIn, Fountain, Stitcher and many others!Link(s) to stream available in comment section.(I left some raw edits in so you all can get some behind the scenes convo lol. We pray this helps!)Yes You Can! #KeepGoing #GoForth✍

Voisiko positiivisen ja inspiroivan Mintun saada paluuvierailulle? "Voiko koskaan puhua liikaa asunnoista" vastasi Minttu pyyntöön. Minttu Lehti aloitti asuntosijoittamisen tavoitteellisesti vuonna 2021 käytännössä pahimpaan mahdolliseen aikaan. Markkina kääntyi, korot nousi ja epävarmuus oli koko ajan esillä kaikkialla. Reilut 2 vuotta sitten Minttu Lehti oli vieraana jaksossa 304. Yksi paluuvierailujakson teemoista on, kuinka paljon parissa vuodessa saa aikaan, kun tekee päivittäin töitä sen eteen. Juttelimme: Positiivisen asenteen merkityksestä Kohteiden ostamisesta neuvottelutaitoja hyödyntäen Flippikohteen rahoittamisesta pankin hylkypäätöksen jälkeen Toiminnan kasvattimesta yrityksen kautta Apporttisiirrosta Valmentamisesta Lukemisen ja ajattelun tärkeydestä Palkkatöiden lopettamisesta  Insta minttu.lehti, vnvaurasnainen Lue Ostan Asuntoja Blogia Kiitos Ostan Asuntoja -sisällön mahdollistavalle sponsorille:   Asuntopehtoori on suomalainen perheyritys, joka tarjoaa asiakkailleen vuokravälitystä, sijoitusasuntojen hallinnointia ja asuntomyyntiä sekä isännöintiä ympäri Suomen. Huolenpitopalvelulla ulkoistat vuokrasuhteen hoidon Asuntopehtoorille, joka hoitaa asuntoon ja vuokrasuhteeseen liittyvät käytännön asiat puolestasi ja takaa vuokrat koko vuokrasuhteen ajan. Vuokravälityksen Asuntopehtoori hoitaa kilpailukykyisin kiintein hinnoin vuoden vuokratakuulla.  Asuntopehtoori Isännöinti tarjoaa nykyaikaista proaktiivista isännöintiä, jonka avulla pystytään parantamaan taloyhtiöiden arvoa. Lisätietoa asuntopehtoori.fi Vuokrasi 340 asuntoa vuodessa Tampereella Johanna Lehtinen – Ostan Asuntoja Podcast #404 Kasvutarina viidessä vuodessa 11 sijoitusasuntoon – Karoliina Peltola Osa 1 – Ostan Asuntoja Podcast #417 Lue Asuntopehtoorin blogia Kiitos Ostan Asuntoja -sisällön mahdollistavalle sponsorille:   Asuntosalkunrakentaja on asuntosijoittajalle arvoa tuottava kumppani.  Asuntosalkunrakentajan kriteeristön läpäisevien tukkuhintaan ostettujen kerrostalojen turhat kulut karsitaan, tarpeelliset remontit toteutetaan ja asunnot vuokrataan. Asunnot tarjotaan ostettavaksi alle markkinahintatason. Sisäpiiriläisenä saat kohteista tarkat tiedot ostopäätöksen tueksi. Liity tekemään sujuvia sijoitusasuntokauppoja - Asuntosalkunrakentaja.fi. Etukäteisvinkit uusista kohteista saa seuraamalla Asuntosalkunrakentajia Instassa, X:ssä tai Facebookissa Tutustu asuntosijoittajan oppaisiin Kiitos Ostan Asuntoja -sisällön mahdollistavalle sponsorille: On kuulopuheita ja luulopuheita – ja sitten on oikeaa tietoa. Tätä tietoa ja tukea tarjoaa yli 34 000 jäsenen Suomen Vuokranantajat.   Jäsenenä saat pääsyn muun muassa vuokranantajan työkaluihin, markkinatietoon, kattavaan tietopankkiin ja maksuttomaan lakineuvontaan. Luotettavaa osaamista.   Grahn, Parviainen, Karlsson, Huru – Kuukausipalaveri 33 – Ostan Asuntoja Podcast  #414 Lue Suomen Vuokranantajat blogia   Naapurikodit ostaa kokonaisia kiinteistöjä, jalostaa niistä viihtyisiä koteja ja jää omistajaksi nostamaan taloyhtiön arvoa. Osa asunnoista tarjotaan ostettavaksi. Haluatko asuntosijoittajana mukaan? Lue lisää naapurikodit .fi Kasvusta, yrittäjyydestä, Kuopiosta, Naapurikodeista – Anniina Parviainen – Ostan Asuntoja Podcast  #416 Seuraa Naapurikoteja Instassa   Taloyhtiösäästö etsii säästö- ja lisätulokohteita taloyhtiöllesi. Palvelulla on tulostakuu. Maksat vain toteutuneesta taloudellisesta tuloksesta. Katso lisää taloyhtiosaasto.fi   Uudistunut Vuokraovi on entistä houkuttelevampi vuokra-asuntojen markkinapaikka, jossa hyvää vuokrakotia etsivät vuokralaiset ja niitä tarjoavat vuokranantajat onnistuvat löytämään toisensa vieläkin helpommin. Vuokraovi.com   "Haluaisitko olla itsevarma asuntosijoittaja? Jo yli sata asuntosijoittajaa on käynyt Ostan Asuntoja Podistakin tutun Suvi Schwabin Asuntoasiaa -valmennuksen, jossa teoria muuttuu käytännön teoiksi henkilökohtaisen sparrauksen avulla. Lisätietoa viestimällä suvi@asuntoasiaa.fi tai Instassa Asuntoasiaa.   Seuraa Asuntoasiaa Instassa   Valvo on kotimainen pilvipalvelu, joka kokoaa kiinteistösi vedenkulutuksen, energian, sisäilman ja paloturvallisuuden tiedot yhteen helppokäyttöiseen näkymään. Valvo mittaa huoneistokohtaisen vedenkulutuksen etänä, automatisoi vesilaskutuksen ja havaitsee vuodot ajoissa. Anna valvon valvoa puolestasi.  Valvo.fi"   Marko Kaarto järjestää Tekninen Asuntosijoittaminen -valmennuksen 12.9.2026. Lisätietoa asuntosijoituskirja.fi/valmennukset. Alekoodilla HURU26 -50 %. Samasta paikasta löytyy kuvaus Harrin Sparraus -palvelulle. Alekoodilla HURU26 -50 % Asuntosijoittamisen lumipalloefekti -kirjan tilauspaikka on asuntosijoituskirja.fi. Alekoodi TAVOITE. Sinustako flippaaja? -kirjan alekoodi on FLIPPAA. E-kirjat saa luettavaksi heti.   Marko Kaarton esikoiskirja "Sijoita Asuntoihin! Aloita, kehity, vaurastu" löytyy samalta sivustolta. Koodilla ALOITA saat lisäalennuksen. Kirjat ja valmennukset ovat vuokratuloista verovähennyskelpoisia kuluja. Samalta sivustolta löytyy "Harrin privaattisparraus" -kuvaus ostanasuntoja@primal.net, Ostan Asuntoja X, Ostan Asuntoja Insta, Ostan Asuntoja FB, Ostan Asuntoja TikTok, Ostan Asuntoja Threads, LinkedIn

Episode 300, sis!

Does your caseload include kids who only want the piggy bank, the ball chute, or the same three dinosaur figures? This episode is a behind-the-scenes look at how I move children out of the cause-effect and sensory-toy stage and into richer, more complex play, without losing the relationship or the child's motivation along the way. I'm sharing a three-step bridging process I use to expand play repertoires, build executive function, and grow narrative and language skills, all while still honoring what the child already loves. What we cover: • Why variety matters: the research behind why a broader repertoire of toys and play experiences leads to better long-term outcomes • Step 1: Build rapport first: using a parent input form to learn a child's favorite toys, shows, and characters, and why front-loading relationship pays off • Step 2: Bridge, don't replace: three concrete ways to bridge high-interest and sensory activities into task-oriented movement activities: ◦ Blending sensory play (like a beans/mud bin) into a structured task ◦ Adding movement breaks to build attention and increase vocalizations ◦ Swapping the theme while keeping the structure the same • Step 3: Why task-oriented movement activities work: how they naturally build the problem → plan → action → check sequence of executive function, and lay the foundation for strong narrative skills (vocabulary, grammar, syntax, and verbal working memory) • A real example using 'The Little Blue Truck' activity from my SIS membership, including how I use songs, stickers, and movement to keep kids engaged • How to fade supports over time as kids get comfortable with the new routine Links Mentioned in This Episode

Episode DescriptionHave you ever looked at your life and thought, "This isn't how I thought my story would go?" Maybe you expected to be married by now, further along in your career, or living a completely different life. In this episode, we're talking about the timelines and expectations we've created for ourselves, and why it may be time to lovingly let some of them go. It may be time to simply trust God's timing. Sis, revising the plan isn't giving up; it's making room for the life God is still writing. If you've been feeling behind, lost, or like you're failing, this conversation is for you.Keywords: Christian single women, Christian women over 50, trusting God's timing, God's timing, feeling behind in life, life didn't go as planned, revising the plan, finding purpose, purpose after 50, redefining success, letting go of expectations, unmet expectations, midlife transitions, Christian encouragement, faith and purpose, Happy Single Ladies Podcast, Raquel R. James.

Hey there, homemakers: why serve your hungry brood another dreary, bare-faced supper when the smart modern cook can tuck beef, chicken, ham, veggie dogs, Cyclospora-laden lettuce, and even yesterday's leftovers into a snug little blanket of golden, buttery, feather-flaky pastry? With one gay whirl of the rolling pin, you can turn an ordinary Tuesday meal into an Atomic Age taste sensation that makes Junior clean his plate, Sis sit up straight, and your hard-working hubby forget the traffic, the boss, and that third highball with his mistress at Grand Central Station. So wrap it, crimp it, pop it into the oven, and serve your family a piping-hot parcel of domestic triumph, because nothing says “Welcome home, dear!” like concealing an entire dinner inside several hundred calories of shortening. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The internet is buzzing right now about Ariana Grande — her stepping back from public life, and her message asking people to stop commenting on her body. And underneath this whole conversation is something every one of us needs to hear, because it goes straight to the heart of recovery. Today, with a whole lot of grace, we're talking about the word "healthy" — and how it can become one of the most slippery slopes in all of recovery. I'm not here to speculate about anyone's private health (that's actually part of my point). I'm here to name the lie our culture keeps selling us: that thinner automatically means healthier. Sis, it doesn't — and the science agrees with me. The part she got so right For years, Ariana has asked people to stop commenting on her body, recently re-sharing that message as a "loving reminder." And she's right. There's a comfortability in our culture with narrating other people's bodies, faces, and weight — and it's dangerous for everyone. We have to stop this. Stop the "did she lose weight," stop the "is she okay, she looks so thin." You never know who's in recovery. You never know whose daughter is listening. You never know what your words land on top of. Where the fire got lit in me Somewhere in this conversation came the idea that an older, fuller version of a body wasn't "the healthy one." That may be completely true for any given person — only they and their care team could know. But that exact sentence — "my old body wasn't the healthy one" — is a sentence I told myself. It's one I've heard from a hundred women in this community. And it's one of the most slippery sentences in recovery, because the eating disorder is a master at wearing the costume of wellness. It doesn't say "let's be destructive." It says "let's just be healthy, let's just be clean, let's just be disciplined." When "healthy" is actually the disorder talking Let me be clear, because I lived it: Eating very little and calling it clean Only eating foods with five ingredients or less and calling it healthy Cutting whole food groups and calling it a lifestyle Being so consumed by "wellness" that you can't sit at the family table, can't travel without a plan, can't be spontaneous, can't live That is not health. That's a disorder in a wellness costume. And the hardest part? When you're in it, you believe your own lie. For a long time I fully believed I was just "making healthy choices." It felt like virtue. It felt like discipline. That's what makes the distortion so dangerous — from the inside, it feels like truth. The lie our culture keeps selling We're in a moment where thinness is loudly celebrated again — and our teens, our tweens, the young women who idolize who they follow are absorbing the message that thinner automatically equals healthier and better. The science says otherwise. In the large studies on weight and mortality, being underweight carries a significantly elevated risk of death — roughly one and a half times higher in many studies, and several times higher in some populations. Meanwhile, the category our culture panics about — "overweight" (a BMI of 25–30, without obesity) — is consistently not linked to higher mortality, and in a number of large studies is associated with slightly lower risk than "normal" weight. Let that land. The body our culture tells you to fear is often not the dangerous one. The body our culture applauds can be hiding real danger. Thin is not a synonym for healthy. It never was. We also don't get to pretend we see nothing Here's the nuance, held with honesty: "stop commenting on bodies" is true — and love sometimes notices. When people express genuine concern for someone they can see is struggling, that isn't always cruelty. Sometimes it's the same instinct that makes a mother knock on a door. The problem isn't caring — it's consuming: the speculation, the spectacle, strangers turning a real person into content. So here's the line: we don't get to narrate, diagnose, or gossip about anyone's body. But those of us who love someone up close, in the flesh? We can gently, privately say "I love you, and I'm here." That's not commenting on a body. That's loving a person. You are not your body If you take one thing from today: your body is the least interesting thing about you. You are your kindness. Your humor. Your faith. The way you love your people. The dreams only you carry. The calling on your one and only life. The fact that our whole culture talks about a brilliant artist's body instead of her art is exactly the sickness we're naming. You were never meant to be scrutinized as a body — you were meant to be known as a soul. A few lines from the episode "The eating disorder is a master at wearing the costume of wellness." "That is not health. That's a disorder in a wellness costume." "When you're in it, you believe your own lie. From the inside, the distortion feels like truth." "Thin is not a synonym for healthy. It never was." "The problem isn't caring — it's consuming." "Your body is the least interesting thing about you." Your invitation this week One: Catch yourself before you comment on any body — anyone's, including your own. Notice it, and choose not to. Starve the habit. Two: Question the word "healthy" every time it shows up in your head this week. Ask honestly: Is this actually health — or the disorder wearing health's clothes? Would this choice let me live my life, or does it shrink it? That one question is a powerful flashlight. Ready to stop doing this alone? Connect with Lindsey:

This episode of "

We were so delighted to hear that our sister-in-Christ, Sis. Azryah (Artist name: truthb3_told) from the United Kingdom

Join us as we gear an incredible testimony and prayer from Sis. Rachel Carson.

Don’t get left behind on AWS! Don’t get left behind on AWS! Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://theultimatepartner.com/ebook-subscribe/ Check Out UPX: https://theultimatepartner.com/experience/ In this episode, we go deep inside the AWS Marketplace with Louise Strandoo, who spent nearly a decade building AWS’s marketplace business from the ground up and now leads partner development for AWS’s data, analytics, and storage practice. Louise unpacks COST, the six-pillar framework her team built by studying what actually separates hypergrowth startups and billion-dollar sellers from partners who treat marketplace as a side project. We break down why operational excellence has to be in place before you ever enable your sales team, why executive sponsorship from the top of the organization is what keeps a marketplace strategy from collapsing into a single point of failure, and why product-led growth is no longer optional now that buyers, and increasingly AI agents, expect to try, buy, and deploy software without waiting on a human to close the loop, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwyAP7yVy3I Key Takeaways Success on AWS Marketplace requires a comprehensive framework like COST, not just a simple checklist of tasks. Your product must be something customers actually want to buy, not a subpar offering used merely to test the waters. Operational excellence is required to ensure your marketplace motion has the sustainability to scale globally. Product-Led Growth (PLG) is essential for enabling frictionless procurement, especially as buyers shift toward agent-driven AI solutions. Executive sponsorship is critical; building a strategy without leadership buy-in will prevent it from gaining real traction. Sales alignment ensures reps are appropriately compensated and friction is removed, preventing them from avoiding marketplace transactions. If you're ready to lead through change, elevate your business, and achieve extraordinary outcomes through the power of partnership—this is your community. At Ultimate Partner® we want leaders like you to join us in the Ultimate Partner Experience – where transformation begins. Key Tags AWS Marketplace framework, COST methodology, product-led growth, agentic procurement, hyperscaler ecosystem, operational excellence, revenue friction, private offers, co-sell acceleration, strategic collaboration agreements, resilient architecture, cloud commitments, organizational transformation Key Tags Louise Strandoo Audio Episode [00:00:00] Louise Strandoo: Salespeople, rightly so. They don’t wanna introduce something that’s going to add a complexity to the deal. They’re like, why would AWS wanna be involved? [00:00:11] Vince Menzione: You can feel it happening. The ecosystem is shifting beneath us, the way Hyperscalers are partnering, how AI’s remaking the channel and what it means to win in 2026. [00:00:22] Louise Strandoo: Welcome to the Ultimate Partner Podcast. I’m Vince Menzi. Own [00:00:26] Vince Menzione: your host. And each week I sit down with leaders at the intersection of technology, partnerships and outcomes. The voices shaping how ecosystems actually work. We talk about what’s real, what’s changing, and what it takes to lead in this era where the partner channel isn’t just part of the strategy. [00:00:45] Vince Menzione: It is the strategy because being in the room changes everything. Let’s start. [00:00:53] Louise Strandoo: And Louise Strand, come on out. Come on up. Uh, our first, our first [00:00:59] Vince Menzione: Amazon executive at, at this session. Not our first ever, but our first at this session. [00:01:06] Louise Strandoo: Happy to be [00:01:07] Vince Menzione: thrilled to have you. I, why don’t we sit down on an, um, I’ll have you sit here and, you know, you get, take one of the ultimate partner pillows with you since you’re a first assignment attend. [00:01:15] Louise Strandoo: Wonderful. [00:01:16] Vince Menzione: Uh, [00:01:16] Louise Strandoo: good [00:01:17] Vince Menzione: to hear. So great to have you. I thought maybe we’d start, maybe, uh, with you, uh, explaining your role. Then we can start talking about costs, which is the subject is like near and dear, and we’ll talk about that, about what that is. But I want to keep people on their pins of their seats right now. [00:01:33] Vince Menzione: So tell us, tell us more about you and your role and your journey at AWS. [00:01:37] Louise Strandoo: Yeah, well thanks for having me. Good to see everybody in the room. Um, so my name’s Louise. I have spent the better part of the last nine and a half years at AWS and I spent almost that whole time, probably around eight years. In AWS Marketplaces business Development organization, um, I joined to help startups figure out how to scale their business on the marketplace. [00:02:00] Louise Strandoo: And from there, I grew into a number of different roles, helped ISVs figure out how to scale their marketplace business of all sizes. Um, I worked with some of our top sellers on the marketplace, figure out how to really scale their revenue through the marketplace. Today I am actually the lead of the data analytics and storage partner development team. [00:02:20] Louise Strandoo: Nice. Within the US Tech partnerships organization. So it’s been a really cool transition to go from like all marketplace focused. And throughout that time, marketplace kind of became the center of partnerships. Yep. Within our partner program. Um, so now I manage PDMs and partners and we still talk a lot about marketplace. [00:02:40] Louise Strandoo: Also everything else that we do as a partner. So it’s, um, it’s been a fun journey. [00:02:45] Vince Menzione: And we were talking about this earlier, like you started with Marketplace and then moved out where all the other organizations started from partnership and moved into marketplace. Mm-hmm. Almost the other up. And you have built a framework costs [00:02:59] Louise Strandoo: mm-hmm. [00:03:00] Vince Menzione: Characteristics of successful sellers. And I have a set of operating principles about successful partnering. So I’m really intrigued about this conversation. I was hoping you could walk us through it, like what are these characteristics and where do most partners fall short in terms of characteristics? [00:03:18] Louise Strandoo: Yeah, so, um, like all really good things, cost was an effort that I built alongside a bunch of other really smart people. And we started to have this conversation about what does, uh, you know, what does success look like? We we’re focused in the beginning, in my marketplace journey on getting. Partners to sell on the marketplace, getting them to list and adopt the features. [00:03:41] Louise Strandoo: And of course they’re like, why would we do this? And we’re like, that’s a great question. Let’s figure out like really what the why of this whole thing is. And as we started to get partners who were startups and some of our really large partners activated, we started to see all kinds of value and how marketplace was helping co-sell and all this good stuff. [00:03:59] Louise Strandoo: And we needed to figure out like how do we identify what is like the lightning in the bottle? So we looked across some of the most, uh, hypergrowth companies on the marketplace. Mm-hmm. Some of those startups that had really propelled into major success stories. And then some of those like really scaled enterprise sellers, the one [00:04:17] Vince Menzione: that got to a billion dollars. [00:04:18] Louise Strandoo: Exactly. The market, our billion dollar market market. Billion dollar sellers. Right? Yep. And we looked at what are the common characteristics that all of those partners embody. Yes. And how do we kind of. Define a framework that is not a checklist because a lot of us were doing that at the time. Here’s all the things that you should do to make it work well. [00:04:34] Louise Strandoo: It doesn’t really work from partner to partner. Everyone has a unique go-to market strategy. Yeah, so we developed costs to kind of be this overarching tool that partners can use to say, do we have the right kind of fundamental approach to how we’re going to market with AWS and how we’re thinking about the marketplace. [00:04:51] Louise Strandoo: Do we have the right tools to like bring our overall go-to-market strategy to A AWS and to the marketplace so we’re not doing two separate things. That was sort of the genesis of the idea. Makes [00:05:02] Vince Menzione: a lot of sense. [00:05:04] Louise Strandoo: So, um, the characteristics, there’s six of ’em. I won’t go into detail about every single one. [00:05:11] Louise Strandoo: Oh, [00:05:11] come [00:05:11] Vince Menzione: on. We’ll do that one. Yeah. We have some people in the room that are gonna be intrigued by this. Go ahead. [00:05:16] Louise Strandoo: So, um, the first pillar is. Partnership with AWS, you can’t do marketplace without figuring out what, what’s your overall partner strategy, right? So how are you using the partner programs to drive differentiation in your business? [00:05:30] Louise Strandoo: Yep. How are you using our funding programs to elevate the parts of your business that you really wanna accelerate? Um, and how are you thinking about your partner strategy with AWS overall? [00:05:40] Vince Menzione: Interesting. [00:05:41] Louise Strandoo: The second one is, uh, selection on AWS marketplace. [00:05:44] Vince Menzione: Product selection. [00:05:45] Louise Strandoo: That’s right. [00:05:45] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:05:46] Louise Strandoo: You gotta have a product on the marketplace that your customers wanna buy. [00:05:49] Louise Strandoo: I think the biggest thing that partners have done wrong over the years is they think, let’s do crawl, walk, run. We’re gonna put something up there that we’re not, you know, really excited about, but we’ll see how it does and then we’ll try to invest from there. [00:06:03] Vince Menzione: Mm-hmm. [00:06:04] Louise Strandoo: If you put something out there that nobody knows how to sell, then that you’re not excited about, your customers aren’t probably excited about it either. [00:06:09] Louise Strandoo: There’s no reason it’s gonna do well in the marketplace. [00:06:10] Vince Menzione: Yeah. It makes no sense to me. [00:06:12] Louise Strandoo: Yep. So you gotta have something good. You gotta have your marquee product, and then you wanna use features that are gonna help buyers actually access that product in a way that’s frictionless. Yeah. The third one is operational excellence. [00:06:25] Louise Strandoo: So that’s looking at how are you structuring your organization and investing in all the right processes that you need to scale the business. Reporting at a global scale, understanding how to recognize revenue and thinking about all of the in-between moments of. Being on the marketplace, creating an offer, how does your sales team gonna get in touch with you when you need to send that offer out? [00:06:47] Louise Strandoo: And how are you making sure that an alliance person isn’t trying to find an outlet in a random corner of an airport to send a private offer to a customer? All of that structural stuff to make the, the motion scale. [00:07:00] Vince Menzione: So we’re talking product led growth versus. One off or [00:07:04] Louise Strandoo: all of it? All of it. Okay. No matter what kind of partner you are, you have to have operational excellence. [00:07:08] Louise Strandoo: Yeah. To make sure that your marketplace and your partnership motion has sustainability and scale. The next two, I’ll kind of go through fast. There is, yeah. Um, partner commitment to marketplace revenue. So what do you really want Drive from a revenue perspective, right. How do you get your leaders bought in on that, and how do you set a goal that dictates what you’re doing? [00:07:28] Louise Strandoo: And then how do you define sales alignment? From a structural perspective to say we’re gonna remove friction that could get in the way of the field selling this thing. We’re gonna remove things that are, um, negating reps from wanting to go through marketplace because it’s impacting their comp. Yeah. Or it’s really hard. [00:07:46] Louise Strandoo: All of that kind of structural stuff goes into the sales alliance. [00:07:49] Vince Menzione: So there’s, yeah. I wanted to take this apart a little bit too, if you don’t mind. No [00:07:52] Louise Strandoo: problem. [00:07:53] Vince Menzione: Because I think about this a lot. So when you start talking about an organization, you’re talking about what this, we’ll call it an ISV Sure. Or an si, but. [00:08:00] Vince Menzione: You know, ISPs primarily is where it all started. They need to get their internal operational excellence. Right, exactly. Which means their, their ops piece. Yep. And their sales execution. They’re gonna to market all those things. The sales alignment side. Is that their sales teams [00:08:18] Louise Strandoo: correct. [00:08:19] Vince Menzione: Are compensated properly so that they don’t go around the systems. [00:08:22] Vince Menzione: Exactly right. They’re aligned. They’re aligned to go drive the right results. [00:08:25] Louise Strandoo: Exactly. [00:08:26] Vince Menzione: Because they’ve made commitments as well. [00:08:28] Louise Strandoo: Yeah. [00:08:28] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:08:29] Louise Strandoo: And I always talk about marketplace, like it is transformation. It’s different. It’s not what you’re doing today. [00:08:35] Vince Menzione: That’s right. [00:08:35] Louise Strandoo: Salespeople, rightly so. They don’t wanna introduce something that’s gonna add a complexity to the deal. [00:08:43] Louise Strandoo: They’re like, why would AWS wanna be involved? Stay away. So if that is already there and then on top of that Mm, they don’t get paid as much when they go direct. [00:08:53] Vince Menzione: Right? Right. [00:08:54] Louise Strandoo: They’re not gonna go through the market nice. [00:08:55] Vince Menzione: No, they’re not. [00:08:55] Louise Strandoo: They’re not gonna bring anything to you and the partnership team saying like, Hey, we really wanna figure out how to make this engine work with AWS So we have to do as much as we can to remove that friction from the experience. [00:09:06] Vince Menzione: So, you know, you mentioned private offers, which made me think about like product-led growth versus private offers. ’cause it’s, it feels like marketplace from the beginning. It’s changed. It [00:09:15] Louise Strandoo: has, [00:09:16] Vince Menzione: you’ve been doing this for a number of years. You were first to market with a marketplace. There was, I’ll call a lot of friction because there was channels and other, other routes to market direct selling. [00:09:27] Vince Menzione: Tell us, take us through some of those experiences. Yeah, yeah. Like what was that like? And then obviously you built cos because you had a lot of field engagement with these organizations trying to get them to go do it the right way. [00:09:38] Louise Strandoo: Right? [00:09:39] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:09:39] Louise Strandoo: So it’s interesting actually, when we built the marketplace. [00:09:42] Louise Strandoo: It was completely like a product-led growth motion, as in let’s just figure out a way to let AWS customers find amis in the marketplace. Developers are gonna go get it, and they’re just gonna buy it without any additional push from the field or like co-sell. That doesn’t need to happen. Then we heard from customers, Hey, this is great. [00:10:02] Louise Strandoo: But what we really want is also to be able to buy bigger contracts. We wanna customize our contracts, we wanna negotiate price when we’re buying this on behalf of, you know, large organizations. We’re not just buying what’s on the shelf. We need something more custom. So we introduced this concept of private offers to make sure that we could bring all of that customization into the process. [00:10:23] Louise Strandoo: And then we heard from customers saying, uh, we want to purchase from our preferred channel partners. We really wanna make sure that we’re, you know, not losing that source of, um, engagement with our really critical partners. So we had to figure out, hey, how can we make it so that we’re not competing with the channel? [00:10:41] Louise Strandoo: ’cause we’re not really a channel at all. Right. So we had to go and build our platform that allowed for channel partners to sell through the marketplace and augment that private offer piece to say, Hey, if you want, you can have a channel partner resell your product through the marketplace. So today we kind of see all of those as just different routes to market and different ISVs are gonna embrace different routes to market. [00:11:04] Louise Strandoo: First, the really important thing about costs is that it’s. Pushing partners to think about bringing their go to market strategy that works outside of the partnership to the marketplace. Mm-hmm. So if you’re an ISV that doesn’t sell with channel today, don’t start with channel partners on the marketplace. [00:11:21] Louise Strandoo: Right. If you don’t do product-led growth today, probably figure that out before you start doing it on the marketplace. Yeah. But if you’re doing those things, if you’re not doing those things, you should look at why not, and could we be doing those things and then we have the ways to bring it into your strategy with AWS marketplace. [00:11:38] Vince Menzione: So what separates the partners who kind of build this flywheel of success that you describe from those who treat it maybe as a side project? And do you, do you see less and less of that today too? I wanna, I wanna ask you. [00:11:50] Louise Strandoo: No, I think, um, the more mature the marketplace gets [00:11:57] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:11:58] Louise Strandoo: The more obvious some of the, uh, characteristics of success become and the more important. [00:12:06] Louise Strandoo: Embodying that framework becomes for partners as they grow to become the next billion dollar seller, right? And become the next a hundred million dollar seller. Um, I think a couple things come to mind for me. The first thing is that like at AWS overall, we talk a lot about like resilient architecture. We talk a lot about what does it look like to drive successful transformation. [00:12:29] Louise Strandoo: All of that has to happen in the partnership. Partners that have really strong marketplace motions with AWS, they do not have single points of failure. They are not expecting an alliance lead to manage everything and then have the business collapse if they leave. [00:12:46] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:12:46] Louise Strandoo: They figure out how to delegate and get buy-in from leadership so that they have multiple folks invested in the strategy for multiple angles so that there’s scalability and sustainability. [00:12:58] Louise Strandoo: Without that. You could do all the things right with costs and if there’s res, if there’s no resiliency, if there’s, if there’s a single point of failure, it doesn’t scale and it doesn’t last. [00:13:09] Vince Menzione: It’s so funny ’cause you haven’t seen my seven principles of, of successful partnering, but we talk about growth mindset, we talk about executive commitment and then clarity on your vision and what you’re hoping to achieve. [00:13:21] Louise Strandoo: Yeah. [00:13:22] Vince Menzione: Like that’s your internal victory. You’ve gotta get those things right. That’s exactly what you just said. A hundred [00:13:26] percent. [00:13:26] Louise Strandoo: And you can’t, you, you know, like if you don’t have that executive sponsorship, [00:13:30] Vince Menzione: yeah, [00:13:32] Louise Strandoo: great. You’ve done the cost framework, but where are you gonna go with it? [00:13:35] Vince Menzione: And it’s not just the sponsorship, it’s. [00:13:38] Vince Menzione: Up in, from the top of the organization all the way down to the selling floor. Completely. Right? [00:13:42] Louise Strandoo: Completely. [00:13:42] Vince Menzione: Everybody has to be aligned. Resources, investments all need to be aligned to this. Mm-hmm. [00:13:47] Louise Strandoo: Mm-hmm. [00:13:47] Vince Menzione: We’re speaking the same language earlier. A hundred percent. I love it. I love it. I love it. Um, so what does, we talked about product-led growth, but I want to maybe jump in here a little bit more. [00:13:58] Vince Menzione: Because I think it’s, it’s becoming more prevalent today, isn’t it? Yeah. It’s like, you know, we talked about private offer. It was really private offers, at least my perspective was a few years ago, I wanna buy something from you. Oh, you have a cloud commitment. I can access the cloud commitment. [00:14:13] Louise Strandoo: Yeah. [00:14:14] Vince Menzione: And so it was always the private offer thing that was going on behind the scenes, which required a lot of internal resources to go drive. [00:14:19] Louise Strandoo: Yep. [00:14:20] Vince Menzione: Let’s talk about product led growth. ’cause that becomes a fly more of a flywheel that’s automated Yeah. And allows you to sell while you’re sleeping kind of thing, you know? [00:14:28] Louise Strandoo: Totally. [00:14:29] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:14:30] Louise Strandoo: So I think, um, we have heard a lot from customers saying, okay, when we really need to negotiate and we need something custom, we wanna be able to do that. [00:14:40] Louise Strandoo: But we also wanna be able to purchase things quickly. We don’t wanna have to go out to dinner every time we need to upgrade, uh, like our licenses and get a new contract. We wanna be able to experiment and pick the things that resonate best with the line of business users that are, you know, increasingly taking some of that buying power. [00:14:59] Louise Strandoo: And I think especially now that we’re entering into, you know, the unprecedented, unprecedented times, it’s everything is AI like. There is more, um, pressure than ever to have users quickly figure out, does something add value to me and my business right now? And if it does, then I’m gonna keep using it, and if it doesn’t, I’m gonna go to the next thing. [00:15:22] Guest: Right. [00:15:22] Louise Strandoo: Product led growth is really about eliminating some of that I would say. Paperwork at the start of the process and putting the power in the hands of the user to say, can this product solve your challenge? And as more and more buyers are looking at Agen solutions, they wanna be able to try something, see if it works, and then quickly buy it without having to go through a whole bunch of steps because they have work that needs to be done right now. [00:15:54] Louise Strandoo: So the marketplace, that was our roots, like we started with this PLG motion. So we have all of that foundation to do it, and we’ve spent a lot of time over the last two, three years, like really investing in that from our engineering and roadmap perspective to build a whole bunch of features and capabilities that support product-led growth. [00:16:11] Louise Strandoo: We have things like free trials request, demo request, a private offer if you want to. Um, we introduced something, you know, last year that was an express private offer experience. Hey, you know, you want custom pricing. Request it and we’re gonna give it to you right away because the vendor has populated rate cards. [00:16:26] Louise Strandoo: Right? So all of those things I think are really important right now to say, yeah, when your customers like, wanna get going, now let’s stop. Putting barriers in the way and let your product actually show its value immediately. [00:16:38] Vince Menzione: And you were actually putting buttons or making buttons available Yeah. For people’s websites. [00:16:42] Vince Menzione: Exactly. So they could just say, click here and [00:16:43] Louise Strandoo: buy. Absolutely. We buy with a Ws. You can click from your own website, your own marketing pages to route them to the marketplace. If that’s the preferred way to transact, [00:16:50] Vince Menzione: yeah, why not? [00:16:51] Louise Strandoo: Yeah. [00:16:52] Vince Menzione: So you mentioned ai. We talked a little bit, I call it the tectonic shifts. [00:16:56] Vince Menzione: We, we’ve seen this incredible transformation happening so fast. And now we’re talking about agents. Right. And, uh, John Yo was over here from, uh, earlier from Sugar talking about like, what happens if the buyer is an agent? [00:17:08] Louise Strandoo: Totally. [00:17:09] Vince Menzione: Let’s talk about that. [00:17:10] Louise Strandoo: Yeah. I mean, I think that PLG and like is the right thing to enable a agentic procurement. [00:17:18] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:17:19] Louise Strandoo: If, um, you know, like in the, uh. 2019 when private offers were like, that was the big boom. We were like getting people to sign up on the marketplace. All we were focused on was private offers. So many sellers would have products on the marketplace where you’d click and purchase it and it would just say, thanks for buying, and it’d be like, we’ll get in touch with you and like a 24 hours and then we’ll figure it out. [00:17:42] Louise Strandoo: No worries. Thanks for buying. If that doesn’t work. If you’re an agent, it doesn’t work. An agent would be like, okay, this is like a dead end, right? Yeah. Agents are gonna look for products that they can purchase and begin using instantaneously. So yeah, product-led growth is like a really good, um, strategy that ISVs can use to future proof their business and make sure that they’re not just catering to an evolved. [00:18:06] Louise Strandoo: You know, procurement persona who maybe is looking for that faster transaction, but also preparing for that agent persona. Yeah. That is gonna be helping make software procurement scale. [00:18:17] Vince Menzione: So what do the partners in the room need to do to rethink how they think about this? [00:18:22] Louise Strandoo: I think there’s a couple things. I think you know, number one, you can look at the cost framework and start to use it as a jumping off point to evaluate your business. [00:18:31] Louise Strandoo: You can look through a bunch of resources that we’ve put out around costs, and one of the first blogs that I wrote has a Buzzfeed style quiz. You can go through and be like, where are we at? And if you realize after you run through that exercise that you’re farther away from where you wanna be in terms of partnering with AWS, it’s a really good dump like starting point to be like, great, here’s the challenges. [00:18:56] Louise Strandoo: But the biggest message I would relay to the partners is. Do not wait to try to go build this and then bring it to your executives and say, look what I built. It’s not gonna go anywhere. You need to go and use that as the cry to your leadership team. Like escalate. Now here’s the opportunity that we have with AWS. [00:19:17] Louise Strandoo: Let’s look at all of the awesome studies that we and our partners have put out over the years. Look at your competitors that are in the marketplace, your competitors that are partnering with AWS, and start there by saying, we’re. Behind or we’re missing in these areas. We could be doing, you know this, to make our product more a ag agentic ready. [00:19:37] Louise Strandoo: We could be doing more in marketplace to ensure that we’re capitalizing on the private offer business, and we need to figure out how we’re gonna drive commitment now so we can go and build this if you try to build it. Then show the value later. It’s gonna be really hard to then be pushing that boulder up the hill. [00:19:55] Louise Strandoo: So the more that you can lean into getting the sponsorship early on, you’re gonna have a much easier time then navigating, you know, all the hard work that comes with partnership co-sell, um, and, and everything kind of fun that we get to do once we get to go to market with our partners. [00:20:10] Vince Menzione: Do you have one piece of advice for each one of the. [00:20:13] Vince Menzione: Conditions or characteristics for, for, for this group to follow or [00:20:17] Louise Strandoo: think about? I think that, um, the, we didn’t talk about the last one, which is a good one to end on, which is enablement. [00:20:22] Vince Menzione: Yes. [00:20:23] Louise Strandoo: Enablement starts with like most of the time, ISVs in particular, and this, it goes for channel partners as well. [00:20:30] Louise Strandoo: They’re like, we gotta enable the field go and enable all the salespeople why they should do all this stuff. You have to do these things like in some sequence though. So if you go and enable the field, everybody do marketplace and they’re like, how? Where do we go, right? Do we send you the leads? Are we slacking you? [00:20:47] Louise Strandoo: Like are we emailing? Like what do we do? You have to then go back and be like, actually, our operational excellence isn’t sorted out. We need to do that first. And who needs to be enabled from that side of the house? Like don’t forget to enable your rev ops teams, your deal desk teams, all of the teams that are kind of essential to making your partnership with AWS Hum need to be enabled in the way that is relevant for their business. [00:21:10] Louise Strandoo: So when you, you know, think about like what do you need to do across all the pillars? It’s gonna be different depending on what your go-to-market focus is. If you’re a hundred percent focused on selling through SIS today and through channel, maybe product-led growth is not the top priority, but then you need to go and figure out, okay, so how have we. [00:21:28] Louise Strandoo: Figured out which partners we wanna work with on AWS and how have we enabled them and have we communicated that enablement to our salespeople? Are we removing unnecessary barriers to them transacting? That’s what you really gotta figure out. So it’s really about looking at how you execute outside of marketplace, outside AWS, figuring out what that, what are the strongest pieces that you do in your business today, across those pillars, and then asking to replicate that with your partnership with AWS. [00:21:56] Vince Menzione: Nice. So to the room here is, um, if someone in this room doesn’t, does one thing differently on the marketplace, what should it be? [00:22:08] Louise Strandoo: There’s so many things I can think about. I think like first [00:22:12] Vince Menzione: you’re coaching ’em [00:22:13] Louise Strandoo: individually, [00:22:13] Vince Menzione: by the way. Just think about it that way. [00:22:15] Louise Strandoo: One of the first things like, it depends on where you’re like, where you’re at in your journey. [00:22:18] Louise Strandoo: So like, quick show of hands, who is, um, a partner that is like using the marketplace today? [00:22:26] Vince Menzione: There’s quite a few actually. [00:22:27] Louise Strandoo: Okay. Awesome. Thank you for helping drive the marketplace. So for those of you that raised your hands, like my sentiment to you all would be figure out how you are incorporating marketplace as the center of your strategy with AWS. [00:22:44] Louise Strandoo: We are increasingly using marketplace as the point of scale for all things about partnership. All things funding are like increasingly requiring some hook into marketplace. So we can actually provide more funding and scale increase like more. So think about like how do you use marketplaces that like center of your partnership, um, for those of you that are not on the marketplace today and are thinking like, is this something that is valuable to me? [00:23:15] Louise Strandoo: Is this something that I should think about and do? You should absolutely. Go look at who are your competitors? Who are the folks that are already out there on the marketplace and, and why aren’t you there? And then you should start to look at what are the characteristics of successful sellers to map out What could we do and what’s the kind of order of operations that we should take to figure out like, how do we get there? [00:23:40] Louise Strandoo: How do we have a plan from the beginning to get buy-in for our partnership with AWS so that we’re not going about it, expecting that it’s gonna just like drive a bunch of leads to the business. It’s not what it does well, but it is gonna help accelerate the way that you co-sell with AWS, which can be a tremendous value add when done appropriately. [00:23:58] Louise Strandoo: So I think, yeah, like figure out the right way that it’s gonna unlock business value depending on what’s most important to your priority. Um. Today [00:24:08] Vince Menzione: we have about three and a half minutes, and I, I’m eager to see if there’s any questions. I, I, um, I, John’s right here with the mic and I love that. I love the, want to get the interaction here in the room. [00:24:19] Louise Strandoo: Yeah, [00:24:20] Vince Menzione: it’s a great group. [00:24:25] Guest: Oh, [00:24:29] Vince Menzione: can they light up that mic? Maybe [00:24:33] Louise Strandoo: Good. [00:24:37] Vince Menzione: There you go. That’s fine. There you go. It’s working. Alright. [00:24:41] Guest: Thank you so much. This is a really great presentation, first of all. I love it. Um, I’m actually part of the, uh, the GSI, so I work cognizant. My name is Ana Hill, um, and I’m manage alliances with ServiceNow. Um, our goal is in the really near future to really engage with all the hyperscalers in sell. [00:25:00] Guest: So that’s one thing. But my interesting, my question is how do you, how, how does AWS measure success? Of the partners who are on your platform, what are the metrics? How do you determine which partners are actually successful and what other partners can use to learn from that? [00:25:19] Louise Strandoo: Yeah, that’s such a great question. [00:25:21] Louise Strandoo: So, um, something that I think is like super helpful that you bring up is cost is not a, um, a scorecard that says everybody that does all these things is a good partner. It’s basically inputs that we have come up with that are supposed to help with the partnership outcomes. Um, so partners, we measure a whole bunch of different things. [00:25:47] Louise Strandoo: I think PDMs and my team carry goals across like seven different categories. There’s a couple of big things that we look at. We look at the revenue that you drive through the marketplace, so whether that’s through private offers or through your self-service business or through. Selling through a reseller, or if you are the reseller, like what is that resell business or driving? [00:26:05] Louise Strandoo: Um, we look at what are the opportunities that you’re bringing and sharing with AWS and that you’re launching. So through our lead sharing mechanism. Not only what are you launching, but what are you sharing with us that is qualified that you’re bringing the field into? Um, we look at things like migrations and migration, realized revenue. [00:26:25] Louise Strandoo: How are you helping drive customers to the cloud? And how are you helping customers not just get everything set up, but you start actually using it. Um, so we really are gonna look across like a multitude of those metrics and when we look at like which partners are kind of leading the way. We’re gonna start to look at the revenue in those buckets, right? [00:26:44] Louise Strandoo: Like who’s sharing and bringing and growing with us? Who’s bringing more opportunities to engage before it happens on the marketplace? Who’s actually completing that transaction? And then who are helping who, who are the partners? Kind of like leading those big types of transformations, migrations, and, and realize revenue. [00:27:00] Louise Strandoo: This is really great. Yeah. Yeah. [00:27:04] Vince Menzione: Thank you. Any other questions? Come on. We’ve got 30 seconds left. We have time for that one last question. Run over there. John. Come on. [00:27:17] Guest: Thank you again, a great, uh, presentation. One question I had is, uh, this morning, right Jay from, uh, oia, right? He identified a whole bunch of, uh, companies that are doing. [00:27:28] Guest: More than a billion dollars in revenue with AWS. [00:27:30] Louise Strandoo: Mm-hmm. [00:27:31] Guest: What would you say are one or two top qualities among these companies that help some drive? I can give [00:27:36] Louise Strandoo: six. And they’re all of these. Yes. [00:27:39] Vince Menzione: The cost, [00:27:40] Louise Strandoo: but like, I think, um, so I love it. Yeah. My, my team we’re working on some content to better capture, like Yeah. [00:27:48] Louise Strandoo: You, you’ve gotten there, you’ve done the six basic things. Now what happens when you’re a billion dollar business? What does it look like there? It’s a lot of the same stuff, right? Like billion dollar billers on the marketplace. They embody that resilience, for example, in their operational mechanisms. [00:28:03] Louise Strandoo: They’re moving beyond the point of there being like one person that creates private offers and they’re like just part of the partnership team. They activate their, um, their deal desk to really manage private offers and marketplace business at scale. They’re integrating their pipeline to share deals proactively through their CRM system and they have really targeted enablement that is. [00:28:24] Louise Strandoo: Really pushing to the field to make sure that every person in their team understands the value of cloud value of AWS and how marketplace accelerates the pipeline. So the more mature that you become as a marketplace seller, like the more that cost is relevant to help keep you on track and be that kind of north star to say like, you could do a cool bunch of stuff with us, but here’s really where you wanna check and see, like what can you do to evolve the business to the next stage? [00:28:49] Vince Menzione: What you’ve said is so like impactful and we have some experts in the room that do this. They help these organizations better understand it’s really getting into your field organization to help them understand how to. How to show up for meetings with AWS re, like how to, how to, uh, co-sell together, how to think about going after these opportunities. [00:29:09] Vince Menzione: What, when you’re, when you’re talking to customers, potential customers about their cloud commitments, like what are the right questions to ask in the pro? There’s so many things, like I’m sure the costs six has like 150 each [00:29:21] Louise Strandoo: Easily [00:29:21] Vince Menzione: steps. Yeah. You know, to it. [00:29:24] Louise Strandoo: Yeah. And I think like, just to follow on that. [00:29:26] Louise Strandoo: Um, we have partners who have gone and they’ve been like, okay, we’re getting a strategic collaboration agreement with AWS. We’re getting funding, and if they don’t have this, it doesn’t work. It doesn’t work. It fails. So this is really like, yeah, it’s about building that resilient architecture to say, if we go big, do we have the execution plan to succeed? [00:29:47] Louise Strandoo: You can’t start with a plan to say, give us a bunch of funding and we’ll go do it. Your salespeople will say. Know what that is. Don’t care. Yeah. So you have to put all of that, you know, all of those building blocks in first to make sure that we can actually execute. [00:30:01] Vince Menzione: You need alignment from the executive suite down to the selling floor. [00:30:05] Louise Strandoo: A hundred percent. [00:30:06] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:30:06] Louise Strandoo: Yep. [00:30:06] Vince Menzione: That’s really what it’s all about. [00:30:07] Louise Strandoo: Yep. [00:30:08] Vince Menzione: Louise, thank you so much. It’s been incredible. So great to have you join us. Thank you [00:30:15] so [00:30:15] Louise Strandoo: much. Yes, thank [00:30:16] Vince Menzione: you. [00:30:16] Louise Strandoo: Thank you, [00:30:16] Vince Menzione: thank you. Thanks for listening to The Ultimate Partner Podcast. If today’s conversation resonated. Share it with a partner leader in your network. [00:30:26] Vince Menzione: Subscribe where you listen, and head over to the Ultimate partner.com for show notes related content and the resources for this episode. And if you haven’t already, now’s the time to register for the Ultimate Partner Live event in Reston, Virginia, October 26th through October 28th. Until next time, keep showing up in the rooms that matter because being in the room changes everything.

Russia's principal security service says a Russian citizen has been detained in the country's far East. The man is accused of spying for New Zealand's SIS. Jack Tame sits down with Russia's Ambassador Stanislav Krans at the Russian Embassy in Wellington to ask more about the case. And nearly four and a half years into the military invasion of Ukraine, and following 35 rounds of New Zealand sanctions against Russia, he asks about the relationship between Russia and New Zealand. Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that matter. Made with the support of NZ on Air.

Outspoken former Children's Commissioner cut short in role Dr Claire Achmad was given around five weeks' notice that she would be exiting her role of Children's Commissioner. First appointed to a five-year term to advocate for young people in New Zealand, that became a one-year term in 2025, and when she signed off on Friday July 31st, she left office two years earlier than she'd expected. She says that she has been a "fair and balanced critic" of Government policy when it comes to child poverty, and that she has not been told by the Minister for Social Development, Louise Upston, why she wasn't brought back. Dr Achmad sat down with Jack Tame in her final week in the role. Spy allegations: NZ's relationship with Russia in focus Russia's principal security service says a Russian citizen has been detained in the country's far East. The man is accused of spying for New Zealand's SIS. Jack Tame sits down with Russia's Ambassador Stanislav Krans at the Russian Embassy in Wellington to ask more about the case. And nearly four and a half years into the military invasion of Ukraine, and following 35 rounds of New Zealand sanctions against Russia, he asks about the relationship between Russia and New Zealand. Most people want fewer cars, Dutch academic says Twenty years from now, people will look back on high speed limits we have in cities now and find them just as unbelievable as smoking indoors - a relic of the past. That's the dream of a visiting Dutch academic. Professor Marco te Brömmelstroet holds the Chair on Urban Mobility Futures at the University of Amsterdam and spoke at the Public Transport Association conference at Te Papa this week. While there, he caught up with Jack Tame. "Discriminatory" law focus of Green MP's bill Migrant families can be split apart when family members are denied visas on the basis that their disability would be a burden to New Zealand's health system, a Green MP says. Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan's members bill would remove the ability to discriminate and carve out a way for affected families to challenge these decisions: by making a complaint to the Human Rights Commission. Join Jack Tame and the Q+A team and find the answers to the questions that matter. Made with the support of NZ on Air.

We talk all the time about the fear of failing in recovery. But today I want to name the fear almost no one says out loud — the fear of actually succeeding. What if I do recover? Then what? Who am I without this? What would my life even become? Sis, that quiet terror is one of the biggest reasons high-achieving women stall out in recovery and never quite go all in. So today, on the heels of a reflective walk, we're talking about perfection, success, surrender — and a completely different way to measure whether you're "winning" at this. My biggest struggle in recovery Wanting it to be perfect. Flawless. Honestly? That perfectionism is what entrenched me in the eating disorder in the first place. Before I ever started recovering, I stayed in denial even longer because it felt safer — I couldn't fail if I stayed stuck. Then once I started the work, the story just shifted from "I'll be like this forever" to "I should be further along by now." And underneath both was fear. Not just the fear that I'd never get better — but the fear of the opposite. What would it mean for my life if I actually succeeded at this whole recovery thing? That's the question I want to ask you: what would it mean for your life if you quit playing small? If you fully surrendered to the process — knowing it doesn't have to be perfect, because you are perfectly flawed? The two sides of the same coin Fear of failure: What if I don't recover? What if this is just who I am? → leads to doubt and discouragement. Fear of success: What if I do recover? Then what? → the fear nobody names, and often the one keeping you stuck. Both are cultivated in control and in fear. And that very thing controlling you is exactly what you have to release to gain real freedom. Redefining success Society hands us a definition of success built on achievements, status, appearance, financial worth, influence — scroll Instagram and you'll feel it instantly. But I want you to shift the whole frame: From what you accomplish → to who you become in the process. Success does not equal full recovery. Success does not mean you checked every box today or "were good." Success equals becoming your best self. That simple. Constant growth leads to contentment — and that's the success you're actually after. So ask yourself: if I'm putting one foot in front of the other, growing my character, softening old behaviors… isn't that success? There's no gold medal for healing Here's the humbling, freeing truth: there's no PhD for recovery. No gold medal. Nobody's clapping (well — maybe your people, and your coach who sees how far you've come). You don't heal "better" than anyone else. It's the daily choices you make when no one is watching that lead to your success. It's not shiny. It's not applauded. It's yours. So if you say you want freedom — what are you actually doing to reach for it? Are you feeding the lie that it's just not available to you? Or are you making the quiet, unglamorous, pro-recovery choice again today? The most valuable thing you can make is a mistake You can't learn a thing from being perfect. It's your failures, your hard days, your challenges that hand you the momentum to bounce back. A client came to me this week and said, "Yesterday was awful. I didn't show up for myself. I let the disorder take over." And I asked her: "Do you want me to sit in that pity party and tell you how bad you were? Or do you want me to ask — where do we go from here? What's next?" She said, "You're right. I just need to put this down and start over. Tomorrow's a new day." The more you surrender and let be, the higher you rise. You weren't called to be perfect. You were called to be better. Let God be perfect — you're allowed to be perfectly flawed. The power of surrender The thing that's controlling you is the very thing you have to release to gain real freedom. Research on surrender in recovery has suggested that people who let go — who anchor their trust in something bigger than their own control — experience greater personal empowerment, more happiness, and stronger recovery outcomes. Courage, acceptance, and trust are required in recovery. So check where your trust is anchored. Is it in you being perfect? In checking every box? In getting it all exactly right today? That's the grip we have to loosen. A few lines from the episode "I couldn't fail if I stayed stuck." "Shift from defining success by what you accomplish to who you become in the process." "Success doesn't equal full recovery. Success equals becoming your best self." "There's no PhD for healing. It's the choices you make when no one is watching." "The most valuable thing you can make is a mistake — you can't learn anything from being perfect." "You weren't called to be perfect. You were called to be better. Let God be perfect." "The more you surrender and let be, the higher you rise." Your reflection this week What does success actually look like for you in recovery? Not materially — in character, in growth, in who you're becoming. Where do you spend your time and energy — inner-focused on becoming better, or outer-focused on looking better? What would it mean for your life if you succeeded? Sit with that one. It's often where the real fear hides. Where is your trust anchored — in your own perfection, or in something bigger than you? Measure the small wins this week, sis. That's the whole game. Ready for support? Connect with Lindsey:

Last week we talked about valleys and mountains. Valleys being those dreaded low places in life, and mountains being those beautiful highs. We all want to stay in our mountaintop experiences, but we can’t. Do you remember why? Because nothing grows on top of a mountain. If you go high enough, the view is breathtaking, but the air is too thin for anything to grow. And that’s the way we are. The highs are beautiful, but we’re not growing when we’ve reached the pinnacle. God wants His girls continually growing. Don’t you realize there is so much more potential in you? God loves you so much, He won’t allow you to remain in a place where that potential becomes stagnant. So, to the valleys we go. The valley is where everything grows. Down here, sis, in these trenches, is where you grow. God’s greatest desire isn’t simply for you to be happy or comfortable. It’s for you to know Him, trust Him, and become the fullness of who He created you to be. Can you see that? Your valley isn’t evidence that God has forsaken you—it’s often evidence that He hasn’t. He loves you entirely too much to leave you standing on that mountaintop. Where would I be if I hadn’t struggled with my health and faced death? Where would I be if I hadn’t gone through financial disaster and lost it all? Where would I be if I hadn’t been crushed on this journey to the point of wanting to quit? Where would I be if my family hadn’t endured seven years of division and separation? Would I be happier? Actually, no. Would I be further along? Absolutely not. Without those hardships, those struggles, and those deep valleys, I wouldn’t have discovered I could really trust God. I would still be so full of myself—convinced my success was something I had earned. I would think the house I owned, the car I drove, and the clothes I wore defined me. I would have missed the miracle of waking up to another day of life. I would still be standing on my mountain, looking down on those who were struggling, quietly assuming they must have done something wrong while I had somehow done everything right. Thank You, Lord, for not leaving me there. Because on that mountain, I would have missed the sweetness of humility. I would have taken so much for granted. I would have remained trapped in my performance, my striving, and my self-importance. And perhaps most tragically of all, I would have walked through this life with knowing ABOUT God, but not really KNOWING him, not really TRUSTING him, not really LEANING on him, not really changed by him, and not really truly LOVING him. Here, in the middle of those struggles and hardships, I found something I never would have discovered on the mountain: He didn’t leave me here. He’s growing me here. So why am I coming back around to this valley teaching? Quite simply, because that’s exactly where the Holy Spirit led me this morning. And I believe this message isn’t just for someone out there—it’s for someone listening right now. Here’s what He put on my heart… Someone woke up today feeling incredibly alone. Someone is dealing with people who are exhausting, difficult, and beyond their ability to change. Someone is married to an unbeliever and wondering how much longer they can carry the weight of that burden. Someone is watching their aging parents face decisions they never wanted to make, navigating circumstances where every option feels impossible. Someone is crying out for their prodigal, wondering when they’ll finally come home. Someone is facing financial devastation and doesn’t know how they’re going to make it. Someone is standing in the middle of a mess they cannot fix, no matter how hard they try. Someone is walking through the darkest wilderness season of their life and quietly wondering, “Am I ever going to get out of this?” Sis, if that’s you, I want you to hear this clearly: You are not forgotten. You are not abandoned. You are not stuck in a place where God cannot reach you. The same God who meets you on the mountaintop is the God who walks with you through the valley. And maybe, just maybe, this valley isn’t where your story is falling apart. Maybe it’s where God is growing something in you that could never grow anywhere else. So for you, my sweet sister, God knew you would be listening today. And for you, He asked me to remind you once again of the growth in the low places. The fruit you will produce because of your time in the valley. Remember those fruits: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Yes, here in the valley of loneliness. Here in the valley with difficult people. Here in the valley with an unbelieving spouse. Here in the valley with aging parents. Here in the valley with your prodigal. Here in the valley with no money, messes you can’t fix, and this dreaded wilderness—God is drawing closer and closer to you. Why? Because it’s here that you realize you need Him. It’s here that you hit your knees. It’s here that you draw near to Him because He is your only way, your only refuge, and your only hope. And James 4:8 promises, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” This is the valley of closeness. This is the valley of abiding. This is the valley of dependence. This is where your prayers change from rushed and routine to desperate and real. This is where His Word becomes more than words on a page—it becomes your daily bread. This is where worship becomes your warfare and peace becomes your victory. This is where you stop asking, “Lord, how do I get out of this?” and begin asking, “Lord, what are You growing in me here?” This is where you discover that Jesus really is enough. And isn’t that what we’ve wanted all along? Not merely a better life, but a deeper one. Not merely God’s blessings, but God’s presence. Not merely a mountaintop experience, but a relationship so intimate that we can whisper, “Whether I’m on the mountain or in the valley, it is well with my soul.” Sis, don’t waste your valley wishing you were somewhere else. God has fruit growing here that couldn’t grow anywhere else. One day you’ll stand on another mountaintop and realize you didn’t get there in spite of your valley – you got there BECAUSE of it. Yes, what’s growing in you HERE will take you to greater places next than you’ve ever imagined. This is where you learn a deep abiding faith and trust that creates a HOLY YES to God’s next invitation. An invitation you would dismiss if you didn’t first grow here in this valley. An invitation to higher ground which you would have been to afraid to accept if you wouldn’t have see the hand of God in this low. Grab your Bible and open it to 2 Corinthians. This is a book written by Paul as he was suffering greatly. He was being beaten, being imprisoned, facing constant turmoil and threats, all because he knew Jesus, he loved Jesus, and he was spreading the teaching of Jesus. He’s not writing about these things for pity, he’s sharing of his valley because he’s personally experiencing the growth and change within. Chapter 1, verse 8-9, Paul writes, “We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure and we thought we would never live through it.” Okay – let’s pause right there. Is that how you feel? Are you questioning how you’re going to live through this? Do you feel crushed? Do you feel overwhelmed? Do you feel you simply don’t have the ability to continue in what you’re going through? Yes? KEEP READING!!!!!! The next thing Paul says is “BUT AS A RESULT …” Underline that. Highlight it. Circle it. Draw arrows to it. Paul is saying this horrendous valley he went through, uncertain he could even make it through produced a result. It caused something in his life. It wasn’t meaningless. It was all for a purpose. What resulted? “AS A RESULT, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.” And what this says is if God can raise the dead, if he can defeat the most final of all finals which is death itself, then he can bring life, bring hope, bring light back to whatever hard, dark, overwhelming, and too far gone thing you’re dealing with. Through this valley, through this hardship, through this thing you question if you’re going to be able to even make it through, something is going to shift and you’re going to change. That change is you will STOP RELYING ON YOURSELF AND LEARN TO RELY ONLY ON GOD. Jesus says in Matthew 19:26, “For with God, all things are possible.” Not without him. You’ve tried that. BUT WITH GOD – have you tried that yet? WITH GOD, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. This is you learning to rely only on God. I love to study different translations of a scripture to really understand it. Using the Bible app, I have my preferred translations set to NLT, NIV, TPT, and MSG. Then, when reading a specific scripture in the app, I can just hold down on it, then hit “compare” and it will show me that exact verse in all those different translations. If you’re not using that tool, try it. So, for example, that same scripture, 1 Corinthians 1:9 in the MSG translation says this, “As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. WE WERE FORCED TO TRUST GOD TOTALLY.” Well doesn’t that explain this season of your life? This wilderness, this hardship, this struggle. This isn’t because God has forsaken you here – this is because God is working here. He’s growing you. He’s literally allowing the best thing that could ever happen. What’s that … he’s allowing you to experience first hand that you can trust him totally. God knows most of us wouldn’t just naturally trust him totally. God knows we will have to experience that impossible situation for ourselves, come to the very end of ourselves, sit in the mess without a way to fix it, and then call out to him. And when we call out to him, he comes running! He comes running with power that can strengthen you, give you peace, and bring every dead thing back to life. And then you know – YOU CAN TRUST GOD TOTALLY. As a result of your low valley, you are learning more about God than any class could ever teach you. And perhaps the greatest gift of all won’t be what God DID FOR you in the valley. It will be what He did IN you. HE GREW YOU! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

还在用“How do you do”和外国朋友尬聊？这份超实用口语宝典，一次性整理好家庭称呼和日常短句的标准说法与地道口语对照——老公叫Hubby，家人说Fam，没辙了就喊Beats me。收藏这篇，让你轻松切换口语模式，开口就像本地人，自然又亲切！家庭/人物单词标准表达：Father /ˈfɑːðər/口语表达：Pops /pɑːps/爸爸（口语）Pops taught me how to ride a bike.老爸教会了我骑自行车。标准表达：Mother /ˈmʌðər/口语表达：Ma /mɑː/妈妈（口语）Ma, can I go out to play?妈，我能出去玩吗？标准表达：Husband /ˈhʌzbənd/口语表达：Hubby /ˈhʌbi/丈夫，老公（口语）Her hubby is a doctor.她的老公是一名医生。标准表达：Wife /waɪf/口语表达：Wifey /ˈwaɪfi/妻子，老婆（口语）His wifey likes to cook.他的老婆喜欢做饭。标准表达：Brother /ˈbrʌðər/口语表达：Bro /broʊ/兄弟，哥们Hey bro, what's up?嘿兄弟，怎么了？标准表达：Sister /ˈsɪstər/口语表达：Sis /sɪs/姐妹，姐姐，妹妹Don't worry, sis, I'll help you.别担心，姐/妹，我会帮你的。标准表达：Child /tʃaɪld/口语表达：Kiddo /ˈkɪdoʊ/小家伙，孩子（昵称）Good job, kiddo!干得好，小家伙！标准表达：Baby /ˈbeɪbi/口语表达：Babe /beɪb/宝贝（昵称）I missed you so much, babe.我好想你，宝贝。标准表达：Friend /frend/口语表达：Buddy /ˈbʌdi/伙伴，哥们Thanks for your help, buddy.谢谢你的帮助，哥们。标准表达：Family /ˈfæməli/口语表达：Fam /fæm/家庭，家人（口语）I love my fam very much.我非常爱我的家人。口语短句标准表达：I agree. /aɪ əˈɡriː/口语表达：Totally. /ˈtoʊtəli/我同意。/ 完全同意。A: This plan is perfect. B: Totally.A: 这个计划很完美。 B: 完全同意。标准表达：I disagree. /aɪ ˌdɪsəˈɡriː/口语表达：No way. /noʊ weɪ/我不同意。/ 没门。A: Let's walk home. B: No way!A: 我们走回家吧。 B: 没门！。标准表达：Really? /ˈriːəli/口语表达：For real? /fɔːr riːl/真的吗？/ 当真？A: I'm moving to Paris. B: For real?A: 我要搬去巴黎了。 B: 当真？标准表达：I don't know. /aɪ doʊnt noʊ/口语表达：Beats me. /biːts miː/我不知道。/ 难倒我了。A: Where are my keys? B: Beats me. -A: 我的钥匙在哪儿？ B: 难倒我了。标准表达：I'm sorry. / I apologize. /aɪm ˈsɑːri/ /aɪ əˈpɑːlədʒaɪz/口语表达：My bad. /maɪ bæd/对不起。/ 我的错。Oops, I stepped on your foot. My bad.哎呀，我踩到你脚了。我的错。标准表达：It's awful. /ɪts ˈɑːfəl/口语表达：It sucks. /ɪt sʌks/太糟糕了。/ 糟透了。The weather is awful. It really sucks.天气太糟糕了，真是糟透了。更多卡卡老师分享公众号：卡卡课堂 卡卡老师微信：kakayingyu002送你一份卡卡老师学习大礼包，帮助你在英文学习路上少走弯路

Your cloud ERP holds the keys to your entire business: finance, HR, supply chain. But who actually controls the locks? This episode exposes the identity access gaps most organizations never see coming, and why AI is making them more dangerous than ever.=====Identity and access management (IAM) is often misunderstood. But getting it wrong can cost millions. EY's Joe Surmeier breaks down IAM in cloud ERP: from the most common mistakes organizations make during migration, to navigating the shared responsibility model between vendors, SIs, and customers. The conversation also explores how AI is reshaping both threats and defenses, and shares three actionable priorities for any organization starting its cloud ERP journey, and why cybersecurity must have a seat at the table from day one.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Download Episode Transcript⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Useful Links: ⁠⁠SAP Cloud ERP⁠⁠Follow Us on Social Media!SAP S/4HANA Cloud ERP: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠=====Guest 1: Joe Surmeier, Senior Manager, Cybersecurity at Ernst & Young LLPJoe Surmeier has spent more than a decade at the intersection of cybersecurity, business transformation, and risk management. He works with organizations to integrate security into complex transformation programs, helping leadership teams navigate evolving cyber risks while accelerating innovation, compliance, and operational resilience.Host 1: Richard Howells, SAPRichard Howells has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP's ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability.Follow Richard Howell on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Host 2: Oyku Ilgar, SAPOyku Ilgar is a marketer and thought leader specializing in SAP's digital supply chain and ERP solutions since 2017. As a marketer, blogger, and podcaster, she creates engaging content that highlights innovative SAP technologies and explores key topics including business trends, AI, Industry 4.0, and sustainability.Follow Oyku Ilgar on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SAP Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

We just got back from a few days at the lake, and I came home with something on my heart I have to share with you — especially if you're the woman who has already tried. You've done the therapy. Maybe more than once. You've read the books, listened to the podcasts, worked the treatment programs. And you're still here, still struggling, carrying a specific kind of heavy: "If I've done all this… why am I not better yet? What's wrong with me?" Sis, nothing is wrong with you. And in today's quiet, reflective episode, I want to hand you the truth that surfaced for me in the stillness by the water — the one that sets that shame down for good. For years, I did not know how to pause. Before recovery, I was going, and going, and going — always chasing the next destination, the next thing to control. And if I'm honest, I dragged that same energy into recovery. Even healing became a race. Am I there yet? Am I better yet? What's the next box to check? Here's what the lake taught me: you cannot expect to know your right next step if you're unwilling to sit in the pause. The answer doesn't come in the sprint. It comes in the stillness. The quote that undid me: "You must forgive yourself for not knowing earlier what only time could teach." If you're the woman who's tried everything — including therapy — you're carrying so much shame that it didn't "work" yet. I did the hard thing. I showed up. Why am I still struggling? But hear me: your attempts were not failures. Some things can only be understood after — after you grow, after you go through it, after time quietly teaches you what you simply couldn't have known before. Every round of trying wasn't wasted time. It was the living that was growing the truth in you. You weren't behind. You weren't failing. You were becoming. I'm a woman of faith, and I believe stillness is where God finally gets a word in edgewise. But the science backs it up, too. When you're in constant motion, your nervous system lives in fight-or-flight — and a body stuck in stress doesn't heal well or think clearly. The part of your brain that figures out your "next right step" actually dims under chronic stress. So of course the answer won't come while you're sprinting. Here's the study that convinced me: researchers ran a huge experiment — over 2,000 people across 37 sites, and these weren't monks, they were total beginners — compared against people doing another calm activity (listening to stories). They found that even a single mindfulness exercise, done one time, measurably lowered stress. Not after ten years. One pause. One time. As a beginner. You don't have to be good at this, sis. And it compounds: in a separate ten-week program, more than 8 in 10 people showed a real drop in stress by the end. (Fun note — globally, women are nearly twice as likely as men to reach for this kind of stillness. We already know we need it.) The going-going-going isn't just wearing you out. It's keeping the wisest part of you switched off. The pause turns her back on. The proof, sitting at a lake: Here's the part that made me teary in my chair by the water. I looked at my life on this trip and realized I was living the exact thing I never believed was possible for me. I ate normally. With other people. I planned meals with my family every night and had what was served. I didn't panic, didn't calculate, didn't restrict the day before or promise to "make up for it" after. I sat at a lake, in my body, and felt not one second of unease. Not one flicker of regret about my weight. I was just there — present with my people, at peace in my skin. Ten years ago I'd have sworn that woman wasn't in me. But she was. The whole time. I just hadn't yet lived the years that would grow her. And if she was in me, sis — she is in you. A few lines from the episode "You must forgive yourself for not knowing earlier what only time could teach." "Your attempts weren't wasted time. They were the living that grew the truth in you." "You weren't behind. You weren't failing. You were becoming." "The pause isn't lazy. The silence isn't wasted time. It's where the knowing lives." "Even one small moment of stillness moves the needle. You don't have to be good at it. You just have to begin." "You are not behind. You are right on time." Find your own version of the lake. It doesn't have to be a trip — it can be ten minutes in your car before you walk inside, a morning coffee with no phone, a walk with no podcast (even mine). Just you, the pause, and the silence. Remember, the research says even one small moment counts. You don't have to be good at it. You just have to begin. And while you're there, say this out loud if you can: "I forgive myself for not knowing earlier what only time could teach me." Let that be enough for today. If you're ready to stop sprinting alone - let's work together sis! If part of what you're realizing in the stillness is that you don't want to keep doing this by yourself — that the thing that's been missing isn't more trying, but the right support walking beside you — I'd be honored to be that person. Connect with Lindsey:

Os serviços secretos portugueses enfrentam uma crise de segurança sem precedentes: operações de rotina começam a falhar e alvos com ligações à Rússia parecem saber sempre quando estão a ser vigiados. A conclusão é óbvia: existe uma toupeira infiltrada no SIS. E a confirmação vai chegar pela mão dos americanos da CIA, que vão trazer, escrito numa folha, o nome de um dos espiões mais antigos do serviço. Suspeita-se que este veterano esteja a vender segredos vitais da NATO à Rússia de Putin e isso é absolutamente intolerável. Está lançada uma operação ultra-secreta para isolar o traidor — e apanhá-lo em flagrante. "A vida dupla do espião traidor" é o novo Podcast Plus do Observador. É narrado por Ivo Canelas e tem banda sonora original de Bruno Pernadas. Pode ouvir semanalmente os episódios de "A vida dupla do espião traidor" na playlist própria do podcast na Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube ou outras plataformas de podcast. Os assinantes standard e premium do Observador têm acesso exclusivo e antecipado a todos os episódios em observador.pt. Pode assinar aqui.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Os serviços secretos portugueses enfrentam uma crise de segurança sem precedentes: operações de rotina começam a falhar e alvos com ligações à Rússia parecem saber sempre quando estão a ser vigiados. A conclusão é óbvia: existe uma toupeira infiltrada no SIS. E a confirmação vai chegar pela mão dos americanos da CIA, que vão trazer, escrito numa folha, o nome de um dos espiões mais antigos do serviço. Suspeita-se que este veterano esteja a vender segredos vitais da NATO à Rússia de Putin e isso é absolutamente intolerável. Está lançada uma operação ultra-secreta para isolar o traidor — e apanhá-lo em flagrante. "A vida dupla do espião traidor" é o novo Podcast Plus do Observador. É narrado por Ivo Canelas e tem banda sonora original de Bruno Pernadas. Pode ouvir semanalmente os episódios de "A vida dupla do espião traidor" na playlist própria do podcast na Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube ou outras plataformas de podcast. Os assinantes standard e premium do Observador têm acesso exclusivo e antecipado a todos os episódios em observador.pt. Pode assinar aqui.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Os serviços secretos portugueses enfrentam uma crise de segurança sem precedentes: operações de rotina começam a falhar e alvos com ligações à Rússia parecem saber sempre quando estão a ser vigiados. A conclusão é óbvia: existe uma toupeira infiltrada no SIS. E a confirmação vai chegar pela mão dos americanos da CIA, que vão trazer, escrito numa folha, o nome de um dos espiões mais antigos do serviço. Suspeita-se que este veterano esteja a vender segredos vitais da NATO à Rússia de Putin e isso é absolutamente intolerável. Está lançada uma operação ultra-secreta para isolar o traidor — e apanhá-lo em flagrante. "A vida dupla do espião traidor" é o novo Podcast Plus do Observador. É narrado por Ivo Canelas e tem banda sonora original de Bruno Pernadas. Pode ouvir semanalmente os episódios na playlist própria do podcast na Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube ou outras plataformas de podcast. Os assinantes standard e premium do Observador têm acesso exclusivo e antecipado a todos os episódios em observador.pt. Pode assinar aqui.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Send us Fan MailEps.4 S3 Faith, Free Speech, and the Cost of Speaking TruthThe hosts draw powerful parallels between Kirk's assassination and historical political murders, noting how figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy met similar fates for speaking truths that challenged the status quo. They examine how mainstream media has selectively quoted Kirk to vilify him while ignoring the nuance of his positions, including his refusal to accept funding offers from political powers.Eps 5 S3 Brothers ReflectThe conversation weaves through personal reflections on loss, with powerful memories of their parents' passings and how those experiences transformed their emotional landscape. "My emotions are different after our parents passed away," one brother admits, highlighting how profound loss reshapes our perspectives on life. Their planned visit to their grandmother takes on special significance as they acknowledge it may be "unfortunately for the last time," while still hoping for more time together.Eps 6 S3 Spiritual Warfare in a Divided WorldThroughout our conversation runs an undercurrent of spiritual warfare—the sense that today's events reflect not just political or cultural struggles but a deeper conflict between good and evil. Eps.7 S3 A Conservative TalkFrom there, we widen the lens and tackle the mess of the moment: a grim Texas headline, claims of police stand‑downs, and the way leadership and media shape what we fear and what we ignore. We argue about the government shutdown, funding fights, and how outrage becomes a script. Then we crash straight into culture wars with a spicy take on the Super Bowl halftime debate and the Bad Bunny backlash—who gets the biggest stage, who decides, and why the choice feels bigger than music.Eps.8 S3 Everything Is Bad NewsEd Gein's crimes shaped Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Silence of the Lambs, and talk about what the series gets right: the psychology, the casting, and the uneasy line between truth and myth.Eps.35 S3Saturday Night FeverA bad day of Uber driving, tips, and not wasting gas • Banking fraud scare, cancelling a card too fast, and getting stuck at Walmart checkout • Claims of political corruption, investigations that go nowhere, and distrust in accountability Eps 37 S3 A Hot Summer Talk, Work and Media ScandalsJoe buys two lottery tickets and if he wins, he will buy a house for Thee Gooch, Sis, Remo and pay for being in the show and partial for the family, and Thee Gooch will built his own houseEps 38 S3 WIFI Technical Difficulties And Media Thee Gooch's having trouble login in the showJoe describing Thee Gooch audio dropping Thee Gooch is getting annoyed with his Wi-Fi Thee Gooch notifies Joe that he wont be on the podcast next weekJoe explains he was tired from work, he ate and drank 3 beers he fell asleep and threw up while he was sleeping and woke up choking and couldn't breathe and was coughing.Thee Gooch explains why are you eating while you go to sleep, there's people that die from that cause.Support our podcastTip us : http://paypal.me/theetalkerspodcasthttps://www.patreon.com/c/theetalkerspodTip us: https://buymeacoffee.com/theetalkers4uTip us : https://cash.app/$TheeTalkers

Os serviços secretos portugueses enfrentam uma crise de segurança sem precedentes: operações de rotina começam a falhar e alvos com ligações à Rússia parecem saber sempre quando estão a ser vigiados. A conclusão é óbvia: existe uma toupeira infiltrada no SIS. E a confirmação vai chegar pela mão dos americanos da CIA, que vão trazer, escrito numa folha, o nome de um dos espiões mais antigos do serviço. Suspeita-se que este veterano esteja a vender segredos vitais da NATO à Rússia de Putin e isso é absolutamente intolerável. Está lançada uma operação ultra-secreta para isolar o traidor — e apanhá-lo em flagrante. "A vida dupla do espião traidor" é o novo Podcast Plus do Observador. É narrado por Ivo Canelas e tem banda sonora original de Bruno Pernadas. Pode ouvir semanalmente os episódios de "A vida dupla do espião traidor" na playlist própria do podcast na Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube ou outras plataformas de podcast. Os assinantes standard e premium do Observador têm acesso exclusivo e antecipado a todos os episódios em observador.pt. Pode assinar aqui.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Os serviços secretos portugueses enfrentam uma crise de segurança sem precedentes: operações de rotina começam a falhar e alvos com ligações à Rússia parecem saber sempre quando estão a ser vigiados. A conclusão é óbvia: existe uma toupeira infiltrada no SIS. E a confirmação vai chegar pela mão dos americanos da CIA, que vão trazer, escrito numa folha, o nome de um dos espiões mais antigos do serviço. Suspeita-se que este veterano esteja a vender segredos vitais da NATO à Rússia de Putin e isso é absolutamente intolerável. Está lançada uma operação ultra-secreta para isolar o traidor — e apanhá-lo em flagrante. "A vida dupla do espião traidor" é o novo Podcast Plus do Observador. É narrado por Ivo Canelas e tem banda sonora original de Bruno Pernadas. Pode ouvir semanalmente os episódios de "A vida dupla do espião traidor" na playlist própria do podcast na Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube ou outras plataformas de podcast. Os assinantes standard e premium do Observador têm acesso exclusivo e antecipado a todos os episódios em observador.pt. Pode assinar aqui.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We hope you are blessed listening to our podcast and we would love to hear from you. If you have a prayer request, please send to our page or write us a letter. Address is Fellowship Temple Church 300 Weldon Ave Madisonville, Ky. 43431. We would love to hear from you. We are on Facebook on Saturday nights and Sundays during our weekly service. Thanks so much for listening and May God bless you! Sis. Karen Cox singing"That same Spirit"

Performed by Sis. Hannah Barnett

Sis, today we're talking about escaping excessive exercise — because rest is required in recovery. If you never miss a Monday… if you work out every single day… if you alter your vacations around getting a workout in… if you carry insane guilt and punish yourself later when you miss one… if you skip social plans to exercise, or your routine is affecting your marriage and your family… if you restrict your food on the days you move less — this episode is yours. I've been exactly where you are, and I'm proof you can lay this down. My clients are proof. And sis, you can be proof too. Why this happens (and why it's not your fault) This is so common for women struggling with disordered eating. Why? Because you've learned to cut corners. Cut calories. Take away. Survive on less in every way possible. You've manipulated your food to do it — and you've manipulated your body and your movement to do it, too. I didn't start out working out twice a day. I didn't start out doing compulsive movements on my bedroom floor just to burn a little more. None of it happened overnight. The disorder built it over time while I ran on fumes. I was a cardio queen who genuinely believed she loved that life. Letting it go was one of the hardest parts of my recovery — and what saved me was discovering movement that had nothing to do with burning anything. Mindful meditation. Yoga. Experiencing my body for the first time without a calorie counter attached. And I've watched a client go from 7 days a week at nearly two hours a day… to 3 days a week at 30 minutes. If that feels impossible to you right now, stay with me. 5 steps to release excessive exercise 1. Get real with your current routine. Write it out. How much, how often, how long? Then write out the feelings — what comes up when you don't get a workout in? What's the anxiety like around when you'll fit it in? What rises up in you at the mere suggestion of cutting back? Awareness has to come before change. 2. Understand the power of permission. You must grant yourself permission — with exercise and with food. So much of the panic around cutting back is really about permission you've never given yourself. What you give your mind power over is what will have power over you. Voice the permission out loud: "I've run my body ragged for years, and I can choose to live differently." 3. Picture your future recovered self. How much does she exercise? Does she really want to be on a treadmill every single day — or is she at brunch with her family? For me, the honest answer was: I want to meditate. I want yoga. I want to relax. Some days I want to do nothing at all. Ask yourself honestly: is my current routine enjoyable, or is it an obligation driven by fear? (And be ready — there's an identity shift in this one. "I'm just someone who loves the gym" was a badge of honor for me until I got honest about it.) 4. Pick one tangible, small goal. Get off the treadmill five minutes early. Replace Monday's workout with journal time. Then actually put your rest days on the calendar — society tells you to pen in your gym time, so do the reverse and pen in your rest. Planning in advance sets positive intent, which builds momentum, which gets you the result. 5. Progress, not perfection. If you decide in advance to rest and then catch yourself scheming a workout anyway — that's not failure, sis. That's awareness. That's growth. You're going against diet culture and beliefs you've held as truth for years. Give yourself grace. It's okay to not work out today It's okay to rest if… Your body is telling you to slow down You're trying something new with your time Life is overrun with work, family, and obligations You're sick You're not nourishing your body enough You're hurting or injured You're struggling with body image today You're making time to fill your own cup or chase a dream True happiness is making peace with what's no longer serving you — and creating a healthier version of it. A few lines from the episode "Rest is required in recovery. It's a non-negotiable." "What you give your mind power over is what will have power over you." "None of it happened overnight — the disorder built it over time while I ran on fumes." "This workout isn't going to matter in five years. It isn't going to matter in two weeks." "That's not failure — that's growth, awareness, evolving, learning." "If you're listening to me right now on the treadmill… get off of it. This is your permission." Your permission slip this week Choose the days you're not going to work out — and put them on the calendar like an appointment. Then pick something purposeful to fill that time: a coffee date with someone you love, a phone call, a journal session, or absolutely nothing at all. There's no right or wrong way to do this. Gradual works. Cold turkey works. What matters is honoring yourself and your body. Connect with Lindsey:

July 21, 2026, | Sis. Beverly Martin To watch the video: https://youtu.be/t98GoWY2UT8 To help support this ministry, donate by texting to the number: 704-445-5353, or online using the "Tithely" App: https://get.tithe.ly/ & give to "First Church Charlotte", or by going to the website link: https://firstchurchclt.com/give Breakthrough on Mondays at 7pm: https://meet.google.com/ppj-surc-zvt Stay Connected Women's Bible Study on Tuesdays at 7pm: https://meet.google.com/zss-cuin-buw Connect on Wednesdays at 7pm: https://meet.google.com/cds-mmwh-tzk?pli=1 House to house On Thursdays at 7pm: https://meet.google.com/vnq-txun-ozr If you are in the Charlotte, NC area, allow us to host you at: 4929 N Sharon Amity Rd. Charlotte, NC 28205 (704) 535-1000

We are back in the studio! With a brand new episode featuring Evelyn and Emily and it is a horny one! They come on share some sugar daddy stories and much more. Plus Evelyn tells us a kinky story where even have to mute the mic! Follow us on social media @AaronScenesAfterParty

On the pod today, we're discussing a question from a sweet listener who wrote in and asked: "I know in order to find peace with food and fully embrace recovery, I must increase my food intake and my portion sizes. However, I'm truly anxious and scared every time I think about this. How do I stick with it and make it a habit that builds momentum?" Sis, I adore this question — because I have been right there. If you're terrified to even think about increasing your portions, or you feel like you're already at capacity, I want you to know: you are right where you need to be listening to today's episode. It's okay to be afraid — you're about to do something brave We've been programmed by a culture where less is more. Dressing on the side. Don't drink your calories. You don't need those carbs. Everything is elimination, elimination, elimination. So of course it feels scary to go the other direction. When my dietitian first handed me my meal plan, I looked at it and thought, there is no way in H-E-double-hockey-sticks. Every fear flooded in. But here's the truth: it's okay to be afraid, because you're about to do something that is going to bring you future joy. This takes courage. And your future self is looking back at the you sitting here right now saying, "Yes, girl. You're going to rock this recovery thing." Step 1: Understand your resistance When you think about adding more to your day, what actually comes up? Fear of weight gain? Anxiety that you'll lose control and never stop? A flood of old rules — when would I fit that in, what would I choose, I can't have this if I have that? That's just your brain spinning. See yourself in that place without judgment — because the resistance shows up precisely when you're about to embark on something amazing. It's okay to be scared and still do the dang thing. Fear is what keeps the cycle going: heaviness → restriction → overwhelm → shame → right back where you started. The way out is building new dominant pathways in your mind — and that starts with what you practice on repeat. Step 2: Know the truth about nourishment Don't just tolerate the idea that eating more is "better" — coach yourself on why. Adequate nutrition supports healing for your organs, your muscles, your skin, your hair. It fuels the basics — breathing, circulation, digestion. It regulates hormones that directly impact your mood and health. It armors up your immune system and protects your bones for the long haul. This isn't about shame for lost time, sis. It's about the reframe: "This is what I'm doing for my future self, because my body deserves this level of healing." And swap the mindset: instead of more food = weight gain, try "I'm finally supporting my body's natural regulation. My body is learning to trust me, and I'm learning to trust it." Food is medicine. It's a non-negotiable — stop making it optional. Step 3: Practical ways to gently increase Work with a dietitian. I'll say it plainly: I'm a certified health coach, not a dietitian — and the single best move for portions and meal planning is a professional who specializes in this. They can help with visual aids, adequate-meal guidance, and the "plate distortion" that makes it hard to even know what a normal portion looks like. If you don't have one yet, finding one is worth it. Go gradual and small. Don't overhaul every meal at once. Pick one small, consistent addition and honor it — then build week after week. Small steps compound. Make it a game. Can I add a little more of this? A little something extra there? Each tiny win proves to your mind that you're capable — and that empowered feeling builds real momentum. Add variety. If your meals or meal times are rigid, gently challenge it. Try a different lunch. Add something new in a gap in your day. What's one thing you could commit to this week? Create a mindful eating environment. Eat where you feel safe, supported, and connected — not rushed, watched, or on the go. Set healthy boundaries where you need them. Get accountability. Tell a loved one your plan for tonight and ask them to hold you to it. Or let someone you trust support you at mealtimes. This is also exactly what a coach is for. A few lines from the episode "It's okay to be afraid, because you're about to do something that is going to bring you future joy." "Fear will keep you stuck in the cycle. Courage — small, gradual courage — breaks it." "My body is learning to trust me, and I'm learning to trust it." "Food is medicine. Stop making it optional." "It's okay to not be feeling it — and it's still okay to do it." Your one thing this week Decide on your increase. Ask yourself: "What is the one thing I'm going to choose that will prove to myself that I'm capable?" Then go do it — gradually, small, and committed. Ask "how can I care for my body today?" and follow through. Connect with Lindsey:

The novelist Graham Greene ranks at number 6 on Tim Shipman's infamous Best Spy Writers list — and yet we haven't given him enough airtime on the podcast. Time to put that right. Graham Greene didn't just write about spies — spying was the family business. His uncle founded Naval Intelligence. His sister recruited him into SIS. And Greene himself walked out of the Service the day before D-Day. Why? The answer may involve his boss and drinking companion: Kim Philby. Guest host Matt Hurst debriefs Professor Kevin Ruane — Greene scholar and Director of the Graham Greene International Festival — on the novelist's secret double life. In this episode: The Greene family spy business: an uncle in Naval Intelligence, a sister in SIS, a brother running black ops in Malaya, and another spying for three countries at once (badly) Why Greene quit SIS on the eve of D-Day — and the Philby theory "Recreational espionage": how Greene's letters reveal decades of meetings with "the old firm" before trips to Vienna, Cuba, Poland and Vietnam The Quiet American: the 1955 novel that predicted the Vietnam War, and why journalists like David Halberstam and Neil Sheehan carried it in their knapsacks Was Greene spying in Vietnam? The "Catholic solution" and the hunt for a third force The 1958 film Greene called a travesty — and his fan letter to Sean Connery for a remake that never happened Greene vs le Carré: the endorsement that made le Carré's name, and the letter that said "you're not my friend" Why Greene would love Slow Horses This is the first of what we hope will be many episodes exploring the great spy novelists — subscribe to Spybrary so you don't miss what's coming. The Graham Greene International Festival runs 24-27 September in Berkhamsted, UK — 30 minutes from London Euston. Spy highlights include Ben Brown's play A Splinter of Ice, Robert Verkaik on The Writer and the Traitor, and le Carré biographer Adam Sisman on Greene and le Carré. Tickets at grahamgreenebt.org  All links at spybrary.com/306

Hey girl — if you're in the thick of a hard season right now, this one is for you. If you're exhausted from fighting the same thoughts every single day… if you're so tired of trying to do this whole recovery thing by yourself… if you're scared to death of letting go of control but you know you desperately want to stop carrying this burden alone — I created today's episode just for you, sis. We're doing something a little different: seashells, ocean currents, and the imagery of my happy place. But don't let the beach vibes fool you — this is one of the most important truths I've ever shared on this show. Because you are closer to shore than you think. Picture this with me: You're standing at the ocean. Way off in the distance is a beautiful, peaceful shoreline — that's your recovery. Your freedom. Your life without the constant mental chatter. But between you and that shore is a massive current pushing against you. Every stroke toward healing, the eating disorder voice pushes back. That current is made of everything that feels impossible right now: the fear of weight gain, the voice saying you can't have that yet, the terror of losing the thing that's made you feel safe even while it's been destroying you, and the sheer exhaustion of fighting every single day. And somewhere in the middle of it, you get tired. You start thinking, maybe I should just stop swimming. Here's what I need you to know: every single woman who has found freedom from an eating disorder has had to swim against this same current. And you are stronger than the current trying to take you under. __________________ My son spent our beach trip hunting for the "perfect" shells to bring me — the smooth ones, the whole ones, no holes, no rough edges. And it hit me: we were looking at it all wrong. The pressure, the tumbling, the tossing — that's exactly what creates a shell's strength and its beauty. Every line and curve comes from surviving another storm. And here's the part that gives me chills: after all the chaos, the shells wash up complete. Children collect them. People treasure them. They become symbols of the ocean's power to create beauty from something that got tossed around and slammed to the ground. The broken ones tell a story. And nobody actually wants the "perfect" ones anyway — those are the little baby shells that have never been in the deep waters. Sis, this is your story. Every hard day, every moment you choose your meal over your fear, every time you resist the scale — you're forming another layer of strength. You're not broken because you're in the storm. You're in the process of becoming a treasure. _______________ I know what you're thinking: "I'm terrified of letting go. What if I lose control?" Truth bomb, sis: you're not actually in control right now anyway. Your eating disorder is controlling when you eat, what you eat, how much you exercise, what you wear, where you go, your thoughts from the moment you wake until you sleep. That's not control — that's a false sense of safety that's keeping you fighting the current. Or worse, drowning in it. And stepping into faith? I'm not talking about a giant leap where you suddenly trust everything perfectly. I'm talking about one stroke toward shore instead of treading water in the same spot: Eating your snack when the voice says you don't need it Choosing rest when your body is exhausted Reaching out for support instead of figuring it out alone Trusting that putting yourself first isn't selfish — it's necessary Even the strongest swimmers need a lifeguard I know you. You're the woman who thinks she has to do everything herself — believe me, I am her. You've been managing your recovery, your food, your kids, your husband, your whole life all by yourself, and beating yourself up when you get tired. But here's the hardest truth: the hardest thing isn't doing it perfectly. The hardest thing is admitting you can't do it alone. Your eating disorder has been stealing the oxygen from your lungs. Putting yourself first means finally putting on the oxygen tank. And when you do — when you stop treading alone — something beautiful happens: you become the calm in somebody else's storm. Every woman who finds freedom becomes a lighthouse for the women still fighting the current. Your daughter watches how you talk about your body. Your friends see how you handle stress. Your healing creates a ripple effect far beyond you. A few lines from the episode "You are stronger than the current that is trying to take you under." "The broken shells aren't broken at all — they tell a story." "That's not control — that's a false sense of safety." "Faith looks like one stroke toward shore instead of treading water in the same spot." "Even the strongest swimmers need a lifeguard." "Recovery isn't selfish. It's wise." "Every woman who finds freedom becomes a lighthouse for the women still fighting the current." "You are not too far out in the current. You are not the exception to healing." Stop swimming in circles. Stop treading water. Reach your hand up for the lifeguard — not tomorrow, not next week, not when you feel ready. Now. Because when you get support, the current doesn't disappear — but you're not fighting it alone. The waves don't stop coming — but you learn to ride them like a surfer instead of being crushed by them. Ready to stop swimming alone? If this message inspired you, don't wait until you're "ready." Head to www.herbestself.co and fill out a client application — I would be honored to be the one swimming next to you, helping you navigate the waves I've already been through.

Patience is actually NOT something you lack when the Holy Spirit dwells within you. Patience is something that naturally grows within you and is produced in your life. It’s a byproduct of the presence of God. Just as an apple tree naturally grows apples, as God’s girl, you naturally grow patience. So why do you feel like you’re lacking it? Why do you still get frustrated in the waiting? Why do you still rush and push and force? Did you not get patience? The Spirit produces; but we still participate. Yes, the Holy Spirit changes our desires and empowers obedience, but God’s Word also repeatedly calls believers to “LET the Holy Spirit guide your lives” (Galatians 5:16) and to “FOLLOW the Spirit’s leading” (Galatians 5:25). If you’re not letting the Holy Spirit guide you and if you’re not actively following His leading, then you’re simply not experiencing everything He wants to grow in you. If an apple tree refused to drink the water provided through the rain, do you think it would produce the fruit it was created to grow? Of course not. So girl, you have a role in this. As you surrender to the Spirit, stay connected to God, and choose His way over your old patterns, you’ll find His fruit growing in your life. God’s job through the Holy Spirit is not to completely override your personality. His work is to transform you into the fullness of His image as you walk with Him in that transformation. You still have a choice. Sometimes, you may still choose your old impatience. Here’s the great news: Even when you’re impatient, God is not. He is patiently extending the next invitation for you to depend on Him rather than your own strength. Again and again, He offers you a better way and lovingly waits for you to choose it. God will out-wait your stubborn era. He’ll out-wait your striving. He’ll out-wait your need to control the outcome. He’ll out-wait your fear that if you don’t make something happen, nothing ever will. And really, when you boil it all down, isn’t that how you feel? You seriously think you have to make something happen or nothing will ever happen for you. You think you have to somehow get control. You think you’re going to force this. Oh sweet girl, you’re simply not that powerful. God is not anxious about your timeline because He’s not limited by time. Time is a human constraint, not a Godly constraint. When God says in Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega – the beginning and the end. I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come.” – well, he actually means that. He has always been in every yesterday and he’s already in every tomorrow. Yes, he’s already there. He has always held the entire future in his hands. We’re stuck in today, but God is not. Peter probably explained it best when he said in 2 Peter 3:8, “But you must not forget this one thing: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.” My friend, TIME IS NOT A PROBLEM FOR GOD. Your timeline is self-imposed, God is above your timeline. Even in the moments when he saw the very beginning of this for you, he was already at the very end of it too. God can do in 1 day what you and I could not do in a thousand years. And in God’s time, a thousand years is like a single day. Is God in a rush? Not at all? Has he called you to be? Not in the slightest. He has allotted your time on this Earth in advance. he knows precisely the number of days you have in this life. He has held every one of those days since the beginning of time. And as you live, he’s been teaching you to trust his timing. Can you look back and see how his timing is always perfect? Can you see how he moved mountains, opened doors, changed hearts, opened eyes, and collided worlds precisely in the best timing? Yes? He’s proven you can trust him with the timing of what is next too! But if you’ve been waiting for a while, you’re likely feeling a little anxious questioning when it’s going to happen. Your mind has likely been running off into ways you can just make things happen on your own. Don’t miss this, Sis – every delay becomes another opportunity to trust him. Every moment of waiting becomes another chance to let the Holy Spirit produce what you could never manufacture on your own. So the next time you catch yourself rushing, forcing, or growing frustrated, recognize the invitation. Pause and ask, “Holy Spirit, what would it look like to follow Your pace right now?” Woah – that’s powerful. Would you try that? Today, when you realize you’re rushing – when you realize you’re frustrated waiting in line – today when you’re trying to force things to move faster ask the Holy Spirit what it would look like to follow his pace. I bet you will feel a sense of calm rush over you. I bet all that tension in your forehead will release and your eyebrows won’t look so angry. I bet you’ll suddenly feel fresh breath fill your lungs and remind you of God’s presence. That’s what patience feels like. Patience isn’t something you’re trying squeeze out of yourself. It’s not a posture you’re trying to contort yourself into. You don’t have to beat yourself into patience. Patience is someone you’re learning to surrender to. That’s right, patience is a surrender to God’s unique way of working in the details and timing of your life. And the more you walk with Him, the more you’ll discover that patience isn’t just what He asks of you—it’s what He faithfully grows within you. I’ve always heard you should never pray for patience. Why? Because you’ll be given a dumptruck load of crap that goes wrong and takes too long so that you’re forced to be patient. Show me where that is in your Bible – it’s not there. But also notice this – Scripture never tells us to pray, “God, give me patience.” Instead, it tells us to walk with the Holy Spirit, who produces patience in us. The goal isn’t to chase the fruit – it’s to stay connected to the One who grows it. The growth of fruit happens slowly, not overnight. Apple trees don’t suddenly wake up one morning and say, “Woah, look at that full grown apple that appeared on my branches while I slept.” No, the growth happens ever so gradually and continually. That’s the way fruit grows. Patience is a slow-growing fruit. Perhaps it’s been growing so slowly in you that you haven’t even noticed it’s development. But look back and see the evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Do you recover more quickly than you used to? Wow – that’s the fruit of patience growing in your life. Do you now pray instead of exploding? Yip – that’s the fruit of patience growing in your life. Do you actually apologize now? Hey girl, that’s growth right there! Do you trust God more deeply that you once did? Oh yeah, there’s the fruit of patience growing! Scripture is filled with faithful people who had to wait. Waiting for freedom. Waiting for a baby. Waiting for change. Waiting for victory. Waiting for healing. Faith doesn’t erase the experience of waiting. It changes HOW we wait. May you wait more like a girl who trusts the God who is in complete control. May you wait more like a girl who trusts her good, good Father. May you wait more like a girl who knows that what God has promised, He will be faithful to fulfill. May you wait with peace instead of panic, with expectation instead of anxiety, and with open hands instead of clenched fists. Because waiting isn’t wasted when you’re waiting with God. He’s working in the waiting. He’s shaping your heart in the waiting. He’s growing something in you and preparing something for you in the waiting. So don’t rush what God is asking you to trust. Don’t force what God has asked you to surrender. His timing has never been late, and His plans have never needed your panic to come to pass. Wait well, sweet girl. The God who holds your future is holding you, too. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

The fruits of the spirit are the direct results of God’s presence in our lives. It’s the natural byproduct produced from within us when God’s Holy Spirit lives in us. Today we study the 3rd evidence that grows like fruit on a tree. Galatians 5:23, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, PEACE …” Peace. In Greek, Jesus would have often used the word ‘shalom’. It means completeness, wholeness, everything being as God intended it to be – nothing missing and nothing broken. So when Paul says the Holy Spirit grows peace, he’s not talking about someone who simply doesn’t get upset. He’s talking about a soul that has been made WHOLE by God. This is not a guarantee of an easy life. This is not peace that comes through an absence of trouble. Oh no, Sis. This is a peace that remains regardless of the trouble. This is a divine calm in the storm and a guard for our heart in the heat of the battle. The world says, “I’ll have peace when…” When the bills are paid. When the diagnosis changes. When my kids finally straighten up. When the relationship gets better. When life slows down. But the Holy Spirit says, “You can have peace now.” Not because everything around you is settled, but because the One within you is settled. Before facing the cross, Jesus tells his disciples that he is about to die and would no longer walk with them, but God would give them another Advocate who would never leave them. He is the Holy Spirit. God’s presence to live within them, teach them and guide them. Further describing this divine internal presence that’s so hard to understand, Jesus says in John 14:27, “I’m leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. There’s absolutely nothing you can do to produce this peace for yourself. There’s no meditation or deep breathing that brings this peace. There’s no soundtrack for this, no magical place on a mountaintop or hidden away in the woods. No, this peace isn’t found in the world or in yourself. It is ONLY through the presence of the Holy Spirit. You don’t have to work for it, you simply have to abide in Christ and this unspeakable peace grows. Peace isn’t pretending everything is okay. It’s knowing that even when everything isn’t okay, God still is. As I mentioned last week, while at our Lake Retreat, one of our really special BIG Life girls received the phone call that her husband had died. While her whole world is absolutely shattered and she has walked through this unimaginable and unexpected loss for the past week, something remarkable has happened. She has literally felt God strengthening her. When she can’t catch her breath, she says she can feel God breathing into her. In this time where nothing makes sense, not even the time of day, there is a settled peace living inside of her. My friends, that is the Holy Spirit. Have you ever experienced that level of peace? Peace that Philippians 4:7 says, “exceeds anything we can understand. Peace that will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” It’s a settled knowing from within when everything else is spinning out of control. It’s an anchor for your soul that holds you steady when the waves come crashing against you. But this peace isn’t reserved for times of trouble. This peace can be your constant. On the bad days and the good days. In the highs just as much as in the lows. You know when you need the peace of the Holy Spirit? … in the battle and in victory. In the storm and in the blissful sunshine. The truth is, without God’s peace, you can be sitting in the most beautiful day of life and be radically upset. Without God’s peace you can miss the goodness of the moment and be all stirred up about things that aren’t even a real threat. Are you in a reasonably good season of life right now? Did you wake up today without crisis or deep grief? Pause for a moment and think about that. You’re okay today. Your people okay are today. Let your mind settle in peace. You don’t have to manufacture the next thing to worry about. You don’t have to busy yourself. You can sit here in this peace and let it wash over you. PEACE CAN BE YOUR CONSTANT. When the Holy Spirit is living inside of you, this level of peace naturally grows in your life. You wake up with this peace. You walk in this peace. You are held steady in this peace. You move forward in this peace. You rest in this peace. And you know what else you do – YOU BRING PEACE TO EVERY TABLE YOU SET AT. Girl, that’s what your family needs! That’s what your office needs. That’s what your neighborhood needs. They don’t need you to be the one with all the answers and solutions. They don’t need you to be the one that takes charge and creates radical change. Actually what they need is for you to bring the gift Jesus brought to his disciples on the night before the cross. THE GIFT OF PEACE. Think about that – how can you offer the gift of peace today? It is a gift you can give because it’s growing in your life. Have you ever seen an apple tree straining and groaning trying to push out apples? No. It simply stays rooted. The fruit is evidence of the life inside it. That’s our job too. Stay rooted in Jesus. The Holy Spirit grows the fruit. If I’m an apple tree growing apples, I can easily offer you an apple. I can’t offer you a ribeye steak because that’s not what’s growing on my limbs. But as an apple tree, I can always give you an apple. And it’s really that simple. As God’s girl with the very presence of God within, you’re growing peace on your limbs. Peace during the good and peace during the bad. Peace in the storm and peace in the calm. You can always offer peace. It’s not your calling to bring the freak-out. Freak-out doesn’t grow in the life of a girl carrying around the Holy Spirit. It’s not your calling to bring the negativity. Negativity doesn’t grow in the life of a girl carrying around the Holy Spirit. It’s not your calling to bring the drama. Drama doesn’t grow in the life of a girl carrying around the Holy Spirit. It’s not your calling to spread fear. Fear doesn’t grow in the life of a girl carrying around the Holy Spirit. Your calling is to bring the peace. PEACE GROWS IN THE LIFE OF A GIRL CARRYING AROUND THE HOLY SPIRIT! Peace in your home. Peace in your office. Peace in your neighborhood. Peace in your car. Peace everywhere you go. Don’t be a thermometer that only reflects the temperature of the room. Be a thermostat that changes it. When everyone else is anxious, you stay steady. When everyone else is panicking, you stay prayerful. When everyone else is arguing, you stay peaceful. Why? Because you’re carrying the Holy Spirit. Every room you walk into has an atmosphere. Some rooms feel tense. Some feel fearful. Some feel angry. Some feel rushed. But because the Prince of Peace lives in you, every room you enter has the opportunity to become more peaceful simply because you showed up. Show up today and bring PEACE WITH YOU AS YOUR PLUS ONE! Hey girl, it’s me, plus PEACE today! I interrupt your chaos with God’s peace. I interrupt your stress with God’s peace. I interrupt your worry with God’s peace. Don’t confuse peace with being passive. Jesus had perfect peace—and He still walked straight toward the cross. Peace doesn’t make you weak. Peace makes you unshakable. Imagine what would happen if every daughter of God decided today: “Wherever I go, peace goes.” Into my marriage… peace goes. Into my parenting… peace goes. Into my workplace… peace goes. Into the waiting room… peace goes. Into the hard conversation… peace goes. Into the celebration… peace goes. Why? Because I carry the Holy Spirit. I don’t have to manufacture peace. I don’t have to chase peace. I don’t have to wait for peace. I carry Peace Himself. And wherever the Spirit of God lives, the fruit of peace grows. You are a soul who has been made whole by God, so you have PEACE. SHALOM. With God, everything is as it should be. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Tom breaks down Billionaire investor Jeremy Grantham latest Diary Of A CEO Interview. You know how everyone keeps saying, “You can't time the market,” but deep down you're terrified everything you've invested could vanish overnight? Or maybe you've felt the hype and FOMO about AI stocks, crypto, and housing — but you also have that pit-in-your-stomach feeling that none of it's real? Sis, this episode is a MUST for your future self.Jeremy Grantham — yes, THE Jeremy Grantham, legendary investor, founder of GMO, and the guy who literally predicted multiple market crashes — joins us for an unfiltered, no-holds-barred breakdown of what's actually driving the markets right now. We're talking about narrative-driven bubbles, why everyone blindly trusts the S&P, and how emotional contagion (not logic!) has most of us acting wild with our money. We also get brutally honest about why US stocks may be the most dangerous play on the table, and how the next economic collapse could wipe out everything you thought you understood about investing. Buckle up, because the warning signs are flashing everywhere.What's up, everybody? It's Tom Bilyeu here:If you want my help...STARTING a business: join me here at ZERO TO FOUNDER: https://tombilyeu.com/zero-to-founder?utm_campaign=Podcast%20Offer&utm_source=podca[%E2%80%A6]d%20end%20of%20show&utm_content=podcast%20ad%20end%20of%20showSCALING a business: see if you qualify here.: https://tombilyeu.com/callGet my battle-tested strategies and insights delivered weekly to your inbox: sign up here.:https://tombilyeu.com/**********************************************************************If you're serious about leveling up your life, I urge you to check out my new podcast, Tom Bilyeu's Mindset Playbook —a goldmine of my most impactful episodes on mindset, business, and health. Trust me, your future self will thank you.**********************************************************************FOLLOW TOM:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tombilyeu/Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tombilyeu?lang=enTwitter: https://twitter.com/tombilyeuYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TomBilyeuTruemed: Check your eligibility and start saving at https://truemed.com/impactEthos: Get a free quote at https://ethos.com/impactIncogni: Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code IMPACT at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/impact Ketone IQ: Visit https://ketone.com/IMPACT for 30% OFF your subscription orderShopify: Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://shopify.com/impactATT Business: Switch to AT&T Business at business.att.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Galatians 5:22, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: LOVE …” God isn’t asking us to manufacture love. This isn’t about trying harder. God invites us to connect with him and grow in him, and as we abide in him, his love naturally flows through us. Jesus says “Apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) This is why some people are incapable of loving well or loving at all – they don’t have the love of Jesus flowing through them. It’s like expecting the limb of the apple tree lying on the ground to keep producing apples. Of course it can’t – it’s disconnected from it’s source of life so no fruit will grow. When we are detached from our source, we are incapable of loving well. We don’t need more effort, we need more connection to our source. Every detail of God’s word is specific. The order here is important. Love comes first on the list of fruits because every other fruit grows out of love. Think about it: Joy is love rejoicing. Peace is love resting. Patience is love enduring. Kindness is love serving. Goodness is love acting. Faithfulness is love staying. Gentleness is love responding. Self-control is love choosing. Love is the root. The other fruits are expressions of it. So doesn’t it make sense that the enemy goes to work on our ability to love and be loved? If he takes away our love, he takes away every other fruit in our lives. For this reason, love in this world gets twisted. It becomes lust. It becomes self-serving. It becomes pain. Love is like the weapon taken right out of our hands and pointed at us by the enemy of our soul to destroy us. Loving like Jesus will defeat the enemy, but when that love is turned on us and twisted, the enemy nearly destroys us. If you watched the news at all yesterday, you likely saw a man and woman dressed in black illegally climb the Empire State Building yesterday. On the very top of the building, towering 1400 feet above New York City, they flew a flag that boldly proclaimed, “WHEN THE POWER OF LOVE BEATS THE LOVE OF POWER, THE WORLD KNOWS PEACE.” So true – but only when we remember this – 1 John 4:8, “GOD IS LOVE.” Love can get twisted, God cannot. God is strong and steady throughout the history of the universe. He is the same today, tomorrow and forever. His love is pure, and when his pure love flows through us, the world is radically changed. When God literally lives in us through his Holy Spirit, our nature is changed. We become a vessel of his love and it flows so naturally. Jesus teaches us that he is the vine and we are the branch. We aren’t created to survive without him. We aren’t created to grow without him. And we’re certainly not created to produce any type of goodness in our lives without him. Jesus says, “ABIDE IN ME.” (John 15:4) This means stay connected. Stop trying to do this on your own. Stop seeking the answer somewhere else. Fruit will grow because we stay connected to the vine of Jesus. Our job is abiding. God’s job is producing fruit. Have you been trying to produce fruit and will yourself into loving better instead of focusing on staying connected to Jesus? That’s exhausting and disappointing isn’t it? Trying to love someone better without a life-giving connection to Jesus will leave you absolutely depleted. You are trying to give what you cannot self-produce. You’re not capable of loving them enough on your own. You’re not the vine they need, Sis. Sometimes it’s humbling to realize you can’t love them enough to change them. BUT JESUS CAN! The more you get to know Jesus, the more you will naturally overflow in love. It’s not something you have to work for, it’s something you have to stay connected for. Love is like the electrical energy that flows through an extension cord when plugged in to the outlet. Unplug it and there’s no flow. Unplugged the extension cord has absolutely nothing to give. Plugged in, the energy is continually available. Honey, you’re not a power generator. You’re not the source. You’re the extension cord. LOVE FLOWS THROUGH YOU, BUT ONLY WHEN YOU’RE CONNECTED TO THE SOURCE! Love doesn’t come from you first – no, first you receive LOVE, then love flows through you. Jesus tells us that we will be known as his disciples through our love. Not through our memorized scriptures, not through our long wordy prayers, not through our church attendance – nope, through our love. When asked what the most important commandment was, Jesus replied in Matthew 22: 37-40, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law is based on these two commandments.” It all boils down to LOVE. It started in LOVE, “For God so loved the world” and it continues in LOVE, “Now you go love.” But some people are really hard to love, aren’t they? Do you have some of those people in your life? I do. And some people are so easy to love. It’s easy to give them our best. Which one are we commanded to love? BOTH! It’s not always easy, but you don’t love under your own power – you love through the power of the Holy Spirit. This isn’t your love you’re giving, this is God’s love. Romans 5:5, “God has given us the Holy spirit to fill our hearts with HIS love.” You don’t have to produce this love, you simply have to let it flow through you. Sometimes we create a dam within our own hearts and keep his love from flowing. We decide to withhold love thinking it will teach a lesson or it will protect our hearts. Instead all it does is create a blockage within our own selves. Have you heard of the Dead Sea? The Dead Sea is called dead because nothing will grow in it. Do you know why nothing grows in it? Because it is so filled with nutrients and minerals that it’s become toxic. It has an inlet, but no outlet. So everything just sits within the Dead Sea and evaporates, leaving this dense, hardened water that nothing can live in. That’s really the picture of our hearts when we dam it up with self-protection or restriction. We become toxic to our own selves. You need an outlet. Let me tell you who is worthy of LOVE today – EVERY SINGLE SOUL YOU COME IN CONTACT WITH! Yes, every one of them – starting with that hard to love person in your own home, perhaps. Ask the Holy Spirit to love them through you today. Ultimately, here’s the goal – YOU BECOME MORE AND MORE LIKE JESUS. Jesus didn’t hang on the cross and say, “This is for the nice people, but all you mean people get none of my blood.” He didn’t say, “This is for the ones who act right, but all you jackwagons get none of my love.” No, he did it for every single one of us, even in our jackwagon era. As we become more and more like Jesus, we allow that kind of love to flow through us. Love isn’t becoming a nicer version of yourself, it’s Jesus becoming visible through everything you do. Faith without love becomes cold. Truth without love becomes harsh. Power without love becomes dangerous. Love is the life-changing power of God that flows through us. What the world most needs is precisely what we have in our connection with God! So here’s how love works in 4 parts: 1. The Father is the source of love (“God is love.”) 2. The Son perfectly reveals that love in His life, death, and resurrection. 3. The Holy Spirit pours that love into believers’ hearts and forms Christ’s character within them. 4. The believer abides in Christ by faith, and love emerges as fruit rather than as self-generated effort. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com