As we raise a toast to the 25th episode of 'Finding Faith and Losing Sleep' and the dawn of a new year, we can't help but share a chuckle over the one that got away – that elusive extra episode we aimed to fit in last year. Life, with its endless demands, has a way of reshaping our best-laid plans, doesn't it? From the bottom of our hearts, we extend our gratitude to you, the listeners who have made this journey so rich and rewarding. Your engagement reminds us why we sit behind the mic – to foster conversations that not only resonate but also uplift.
This episode is less about resolutions and more about setting a course for continual growth, understanding that even if we fall short, the strides we make are what truly count. We grapple with the challenges of remote work and the isolation that comes with it, pondering how we can still foster meaningful connections in an increasingly digital world. It's a candid exploration of finding the right balance in our fast-paced lives, ensuring we don't just chase productivity but also embrace the restorative power of rest and spiritual prompts.
Diving further into the heart of our dialogue, we tackle the often tricky conversations around religion and the importance of open-mindedness. We recount instances of divine nudges leading to life-affirming interactions, and we navigate the nuances of faith from varied perspectives. Wrapping up, we stress the universal call to action – the simple yet profound joy of doing good in our communities. We're reminded that it's not just about the prayers we offer but the actions we take, echoing the sentiment that regardless of belief systems, we're united in the pursuit of making a positive impact. So here's to mutual prayer, support, and the ever-present promise of another episode just around the corner.
Email: findingfaith.losingsleep@gmail.com
Twitter: @FindingFaithPod
As we raise a toast to the 25th episode of 'Finding Faith and Losing Sleep' and the dawn of a new year, we can't help but share a chuckle over the one that got away – that elusive extra episode we aimed to fit in last year. Life, with its endless demands, has a way of reshaping our best-laid plans, doesn't it? From the bottom of our hearts, we extend our gratitude to you, the listeners who have made this journey so rich and rewarding. Your engagement reminds us why we sit behind the mic – to foster conversations that not only resonate but also uplift.
This episode is less about resolutions and more about setting a course for continual growth, understanding that even if we fall short, the strides we make are what truly count. We grapple with the challenges of remote work and the isolation that comes with it, pondering how we can still foster meaningful connections in an increasingly digital world. It's a candid exploration of finding the right balance in our fast-paced lives, ensuring we don't just chase productivity but also embrace the restorative power of rest and spiritual prompts.
Diving further into the heart of our dialogue, we tackle the often tricky conversations around religion and the importance of open-mindedness. We recount instances of divine nudges leading to life-affirming interactions, and we navigate the nuances of faith from varied perspectives. Wrapping up, we stress the universal call to action – the simple yet profound joy of doing good in our communities. We're reminded that it's not just about the prayers we offer but the actions we take, echoing the sentiment that regardless of belief systems, we're united in the pursuit of making a positive impact. So here's to mutual prayer, support, and the ever-present promise of another episode just around the corner.
Email: findingfaith.losingsleep@gmail.com
Twitter: @FindingFaithPod
It's time to wake up the prey up here on the Finding Faith and Losing Sleep podcast. Hey, we are on episode number one of the year 2024. It feels like forever here, michelle. I have. I said before, at the end of 2023, that we were going to squeeze in another episode, and I guess I'm a lying hypocrite I try not to be, but it just goes out of our control. We really wanted to, I really wanted to. I guess my desires were far heavier than my actual being able to do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, it's tough. You gotta think we're three individuals, we all got different schedules, different, you know, work things that pop up, personal things that pop up, and we were hoping to get another one before the the new year came in. This is actually like a milestone for us. Believe it or not, this will be our 25th episode, which is a milestone with podcasts. That's really cool. So it's the first one of the new year, so I think that's also fitting. So glad to be back in a thanks to all the listeners who have been patient with us.
Speaker 3:We made it before February.
Speaker 1:That's true, but like by an hour, by an hour.
Speaker 3:Yeah, when we post it, we're recording before February.
Speaker 1:We are, we are and we do want to get out these episodes. We try to, but we at the same time, there is life and stuff. It's basketball season we got our kids in basketball. It's dance season we got kids in dance. It's just all kinds of things going on. So we appreciate your patience here at the Finding Faith and Losing See podcast with us. We thank you so much, listeners, for listening to us. Tuning it in, sharing the podcast, which has been done quite often, is what I, what I understand, I, I, I really appreciate it. It's flattering, pierre. It's coming up on Valentine's Day and I'm flattered right now.
Speaker 2:It is, it's heartwarming. I know we started this we really wouldn't wasn't sure who would all listen to anyone. We've gotten some it's really good interaction. We've gotten some good feedback and it's not from like like family members and stuff that I kind of would expect, which it's kind of shocking. Like I'm kind of fending a little bit now thinking about it. My family isn't leaving, you know comments and reviews and stuff along those lines, but we're we're touching those that like we don't know. We got a recent comment came in this month actually it was from an MMDGP title was like being out of informal Bible studies.
Speaker 2:So I happened to find this podcast a few weeks ago, subscribed and I have been bench listening to all the episodes. I love listening to this group and their layman level discussions. I do follow a lot of other scholarly Bible podcasts by ordained ministers and other experts, ie Robert Jeffress, pathway to Victory West McAdams Bible Study podcast and Mark Gunger's Celebration Church and the Bible Reset podcast. But this one is like being around a table at an informal Bible study discussion with a group of friends. The discussions and speculations provide a lot of food for thought and ways of looking at passages which are unlikely to be expressed in quite the same way in a more formal podcast setting. Kudos to the host for providing interesting and stimulating discussions and perspectives. So it's really cool. That's a really cool. I think. While we all started this podcast, what we were hoping to do was hoping that would come across through the microphones that we're speaking through. So thank you, mmdgp, for leaving such an awesome feedback. We truly appreciate you listening and appreciating taking the time out of your day to leave that feedback.
Speaker 3:Yes, and, like Pierre and I were discussing, when we got that, we were just so humbled because, like he said, that is the exact reason why we started. This is because he and I were having conversations and we're like you know, we can't be the only people that have these questions and then, of course, wes, you give such great insight and like it, just that's. That's the whole point. So we're incredibly thankful and, you know, if we can make God proud, that's the biggest goal.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, kind of is. I'm the Nebuchadnezzar of this podcast. I did this to have fame and fortune. That's the reason why I did this, and that's fine. If I lose my gas or no, I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I'm kidding he did say host, not hosts.
Speaker 1:Right, it was plural Okay Well, no, I'm just kidding, I'm giving everybody a hard time. It is. We do appreciate that kind of comment and please, you know, guys, leave a comment if you want to. We don't want to peer pressure anybody into doing so. I don't like to do that necessarily. It does feel a little strange to be able to do that, but unless you're my family.
Speaker 2:You're getting peer pressure because this is crazy.
Speaker 1:Listen, you don't want my mother to leave a review. She swears like a Russian sailor. Okay, that's what you want. The honest truth, or not? Here on the Finding Faith and losing sleep podcast? Listen, we do appreciate that, though. Leave a review if you can. Leave, like, hit the stars around if you can. You know just whatever kind of reviews, ratings or anything you could do, it always helps the podcast. Get the algorithms up and get it out there. You notice that we don't put commercials on this. It hasn't reached that level yet.
Speaker 1:In peer I have talked about that and I know he's talked with Michelle about that. We're not after it for money. We're not after it for fame or anything. We're here to encourage people and to be encouraged ourselves, and let me tell you, those kind of comments, those kind of reviews, really do encourage us tremendously. Pierre shared that with me, I think, last year, sometime just right before Christmas or right after Christmas, and I was like, wow, that is something you never think, that you do something.
Speaker 1:We are not theologians here on this podcast. We are normal, average, everyday people. I am far from having any kind of theological degree. All I did was get a degree from the school of hard knocks that I still pay for every once in a while. Right, I get a bill in the mail, because I do end up going through life circumstances not only with Pierre and Michelle, but also just with you guys as well. So we do appreciate that and, michelle, pierre, I do appreciate you opening the opportunity for us to be able to talk about these things here on this podcast. Pierre, if they did want to get in touch with the show, how do they do that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you can email us at findingfafelosingsleepgmailcom. You can also find us over on Twitter slash X at findingfafepot, so two platforms there. You can also find us in the comments. You can leave comments like our other listener there and we can read them off on the air and touch base.
Speaker 1:Or not, or not, they could be anonymous, right? If you don't want it to be read, we don't have to read it, we don't have to give you a shout out. But if you'd like to just say something nice, that's fine. Address it to me specifically, if you don't mind that, one of the things that I always do at the beginning of the year. I'm not a big resolution guy, but I just want to try harder. But to me, that resolution could be done any time of the year, all the time.
Speaker 1:Today is Wednesday, we're recording on Wednesday, and so you know what I want to do Tomorrow. I want to do better than I did today. So I think that's what resolutions are like, is that you just want to do better than what you're doing. You want to set goals for yourself, no matter how high, no matter how lofty. You just want to get into life and do it a little better than what you did it before. I don't reckon that I ever set a resolution to do worse than what I'm doing right now. You know like I just I never wanted to go backwards. Did I get resolutions right on that?
Speaker 2:I think so. I mean, you've identified usually an area in your life that you feel like you're coming up short in. Oftentimes, I know it's like wait, you know that's a big one. To start the year. Folks wanna lose weight or just sometimes, in general, just be more healthy, get more healthy, live a healthier lifestyle. And the whole point is to really focus and lock in and work on achieving whatever goals you set out for yourself. And, as you mentioned, yeah, I don't recall anyone saying you know, I just kinda wanna be worse. You know this year I wanna get worse at this, I wanna be bad at this. That's not the thought process. You're not identifying something good and trying to tarnish it. You're trying to improve yourself within your life in one way or another.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you definitely don't ever say, hey, I think I need to lower the standard a little bit. For me, you know, I'm just trying hey, which you know. But that could be a realistic goal really if you think about it, that you don't need to be too hard on yourself if you don't get to reach all those goals that you set. But for me, like, I have to set the bar pretty high for myself and then I go for it and it's kinda like you aim for the moon and if you hit a star you do okay, michelle, that's kinda how I always think of things. Whenever I try to do that, I usually try to bite off more than I can handle, but it seems to end up okay because I did a lot better than I thought I could.
Speaker 3:Well, I think it's baby steps, right, like just putting one foot in front of the other, and if you don't hit your goal, then maybe you just reassess. But, like you said, you don't wanna just necessarily go backwards. Like I think that's kind of the nature, our human nature and sin, right, so we're all sinners, we're gonna make mistakes. So you just have to reassess, refocus and repent and start back again. So same thing with goals, our personal goals and those sorts of things. Like you just have to reassess and restart, repent if you need to, for something along those lines. But yeah, I think you're right, wes.
Speaker 1:Sure, I think you do, and one of the things I always try to do and I'm very active at my job. My job is a very like physically demanding job. I deliver bread for a living, kind of similarly to Jesus. You know that, maybe not on the same plane, but I do it and I also think about these things, maybe not Well, I don't think I heard you.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna have to wait for after the podcast whenever it gets released actually no, maybe not there's no, maybe not going the same place, because you are not.
Speaker 1:I just mean I take. I not only take bread to places for a living, but I also try to be a minister in those places. Do you know what I mean? Like I don't want to leave the place empty handed or not thinking about maybe spiritual things. I don't want to leave them worse off than what I entered the building in. You know what I mean. Like I try to enter the building like I am being somebody that is delivering more than just physical bread. I'm also trying to deliver the bread of life at the same time. You're too bad. Does that make sense?
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure you have that ability because you're like out and I'm guessing you're interacting with people and things on those lines which we used to be able to do. But we currently both work from home now and it's a little tougher because you don't get the face to face interactions. You're chatting, you're emailing, You'll use some platforms to have some conversations, like Skype, like Teams, Zoom, things on those lines to have conversations, but at least for me conversations haven't been the same Like through a computer, through a microphone. Then they are being able to actually interact with people face to face. So it's gotten a little tougher to kind of deliver when it comes to the spiritual side of things. But it's a work in progress.
Speaker 1:That's for sure. I can only imagine because in social media world you lose the tone of people's voices and I'm sure if you're doing it remotely, maybe via a computer or maybe on the phone, having to do those things on a teleconference call or something like that I can imagine that you just can't see the facial expressions, you can't hear everything properly. That has to be tough, and then you don't get to build up those relationships with people either like you could if you did see them face to face or in the workplace. Pierre, if you had to work remotely, you may never have married Michelle.
Speaker 2:It's possible. You're right. We met at work face to face. I know we talked about her a lot, like him, so maybe I would have had a leg up. Honestly, to start, it wouldn't have been as difficult. But yeah, you're possibly right there.
Speaker 1:Now without having a father like I did not have. Whenever I was growing up, I really didn't have a dad or anything. So I never learned, like I won't say really strong work ethic, because my mother did a great job doing that. But you know, I never went out there and worked in the yard with my dad. I never went out there and worked on the house with my dad and I never learned those kind of traits from somebody and I never had anybody really show that to me. So I've had to learn those things on my own and the job that I have is a physical job.
Speaker 1:Delivering bread is a physical job and I have to think of ways to be able to do things, maybe a little bit differently than other people, because it all just clicks in my head a little bit differently than maybe it clicks in other people's heads on how to do things. And so I go to my heavenly father and I look in the Bible for different avenues of how to learn what God is trying to tell me, right, I try to do that. For instance, it's a lot of doing physical labor with my hands. Okay, I'm always moving with my hands. I'm always moving with my legs. I'm always walking real fast, I'm always doing stuff at a high rate of speed. Okay, that's just me, and if you can't tell that, by the way, I talk sometimes. But one of the things that I read one time and it just stuck out to me that it was gonna help me a lot on my bread route, and it clicked one day that what Jesus says in Matthew, chapter six, verse three and I'm totally taking this verse out of context, totally taking it out of context, but it helps me out a lot okay, he says, let's see, let's see, I gotta pull my glasses, but when you give alms, do not let your left hand or what your right hand is doing.
Speaker 1:So I spent a lot of time in this bread truck driving around by myself and I heard that maybe audibly, and or I read it out loud to myself and I was literally going over the Bible verses and stuff and just thinking about things and it just clicked hey, why does one of your hands have to sit idle while the other hand does something?
Speaker 1:Can you not keep busy with both hands next time you go into a store and I tried to do stuff like that or while I'm walking, I try to not allow my legs to dictate what my hands are doing, like while I'm walking out to the truck and stuff I'm mashing on my computer trying to get a ticket done, or while I'm working on my right hand side I might be fiddling with something on my left hand side. I'm just applying these kind of biblical principles to my workplace totally out of context. I don't know that that's what Jesus necessarily meant, but that's how I translated into my life. I don't know if that makes any sense to you guys. I don't know if you guys have Bible verses like that either, where you just like it clicks for a different reason than what it looks like it was actually intended to do in the Bible.
Speaker 2:But not that one for sure.
Speaker 1:It works for me.
Speaker 2:That's fine. That's fine if that works. I think I just maybe take it to the literal sense of basically not knowing or not caring about what you're supporting people with. So if you're like giving money, like basically not thinking about what you're giving, kind of being just open and giving freely, is kind of how I take it.
Speaker 1:Sure, that's what it means. Yes, but I mean, I got a different interpretation too than that one.
Speaker 2:I mean, I just say that, I just go to the literal sense. I know one that I struggle with, and I definitely struggle with it probably most at work is the slow to speak.
Speaker 3:I thought you were gonna say love your neighbor.
Speaker 2:Which is crazy, because I don't really like talking honestly. I believe it or not, I'm not one that likes to communicate True story. But the place of employment. I'm very appreciative of them. I've been there for 17 years I think now, but there's so many decisions that take place that I disagree with that.
Speaker 2:It's hard to keep quiet and I often feel like I have to be like an advocate for coworkers, for those that report up to me, et cetera. And the slow to speak is just really difficult and I'm like is that a literal be slow to speak? Should I really have to listen to some of the nonsense that comes down or that's communicated? And I think it's true. I often get myself in a bit of hot water when I'm really quick to respond, and I don't do that at home, Like Michelle would tell you.
Speaker 2:I like to walk away and kind of get my thoughts and think before I react, and I can't do that at work for some reason, like it. It just grinds my gears to the point where I just feel like I have to respond. I have to be the advocate for folks that aren't even asking me to be an advocate at times just to get my point across, and I really struggle with that verse. I wouldn't say I get angry, but I mean thinking about now it could be anger that bleeds into that as well, which is the other. You know, be slow to slow to anger is a part of that verse as well, and, James, so it's. It's really tough. That's a, that's a difficult one for me in the workplace and one that's hard to mean it right now.
Speaker 3:See, that's really funny about that is I am not slow to speak, pierre will tell you that but ironically, being working from home now has actually helped me with that and I think some of that in some ways is because I'm not in the middle of all of the quote unquote drama all of the time. So I'm not feeling, you know, I'm not feeding off of other people's feelings and emotions on those sorts of things. So typically the things that do come to me are a big deal or, you know, I'm hearing them for the first time versus the 50th time, and I'm not sitting in that. So it's helped me for that. But the downside of it is what we talked about in the beginning is being from working from home. I'm not.
Speaker 3:I don't have that downtime with people where you're hearing about their personal lives and you can help minister to them. And I actually my my oldest sister helped me to recognize this. We were having dinner when she was visiting and it really helped me to realize that some of the struggles I'm dealing with personally are because I'm not on site anymore and feeling very isolated and I feel less than so. Not only do I not have those people in my life like they're still in my life, but I don't have them daily like to to bounce things off of and to just have those conversations. But also I don't feel like I'm really helping people. So, you know, being able to minister to others and so this really helps, like for Pierre and I to be able to talk about things and to talk with you know, get your perspectives on things, why? So you know it's it's really helped me, so I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Well, Pierre, we started off the year with a banger. We got Michelle to cry already.
Speaker 3:I was close, but I did not.
Speaker 1:I like it when you cry, michelle, I, I, I, I. It's one of my goals at the beginning of every episode. No, but that, that that speaks to how your heart is. And I love what you said about not being able to be around people and you really kind of wonder to me.
Speaker 1:I wonder is this isolation done on purpose, not necessarily by your bosses or by your company or anything like that, where we work remotely from home? But you think about the psychological warfare that happened whenever all that whole COVID stuff ended up happening and everybody was locked in and secluded. Not only did it happen like in my neck of the woods, but it happened all over the country, it happened all over the world. And I just think about how, you know, satan is our enemy and what's one of the things that he would love to be able to do? He'd love to be able to separate us. He'd love to be able to take our power that we have together as a community, as a family of Christians, as affecting the world. You don't get to affect the world nearly as much whenever you're isolated from people, and I have seen so many different studies that come my way where you see the effects of having that isolation, that loneliness and, michelle, I heard it in your voice whenever you were talking about that, but it was whatever.
Speaker 1:I think everybody felt well, except for people that started podcasts. They felt, they felt one of them, but you know, it was one of those things. It's really hard, not only on adults, but just think of how hard that is on children. Now I remember during that time we didn't know what to do right, and I wasn't a big advocate of following every single policy or anything like that. I tried to follow policies as well as common sense, probably like a majority of people did, but it was a little iffy just to even allow my kids to go outside and play with other kids. All right, first, you know what I mean. It was just a little iffy and it's just really strange. It was really hard psychologically on everybody and I think we're still seeing some of those side effects today.
Speaker 2:Well, absolutely. I mean, you saw it in the Bible to open it up like Adam was isolated. Yeah, you know God left him, but you know God saw the situation. He's like OK, let's, let's get him a mate, let's get him a partner, you know, to pick him up when he falls down and vice versa. And that's that's the issue of isolation is folks, do you start to to feel alone.
Speaker 2:And I think feeling of loneliness really just takes people to a dark place. And even if they're not in a dark place, they get so caught up in that isolation that they don't want to interact with others. They don't want to, you know, perhaps let their guard down and open up. And, like you say, I think that's kind of where the devil himself can find a stronghold of all of us. You look at what the Bible says about where you know two or more gathered in my name, you know God's there. If you're in isolation, there's no two or more with you in that situation, it's just you by yourself. And it's even gotten worse. I feel like what the phones and social media like we talked about. The folks are just constantly face down on their phones, not interacting with those around them and just just seeing the impatience and things on those lines and kind of having a little insight myself into how people act when their phones stop working. It's chaos, man, and that's kind of what isolation has done. Makes yourself worth tank.
Speaker 3:I can tell you that yeah.
Speaker 1:If your phone doesn't work, or isolation oh, no isolation.
Speaker 3:Happens to me.
Speaker 1:My phone doesn't work too, and my self-worth is just like tanking. I'm thinking. It's kind of the opposite, though, of what biblical stuff was in like second Thessalonians. We're talking about isolation and not doing things, and I guess that's what Paul was writing about in second Thessalonians as well. But you had people going around being busy bodies at that time, which you know. You're not really doing much of anything but being a busy body, making yourself look like you're always busy but never really accomplishing much, kind of like a car tire or a car stuck in the mud, or something where your tire just goes around in one place, looks like you're busy but you ain't going nowhere, right? And he says let's see.
Speaker 1:I guess in verse 10 there, second Thessalonians, chapter 3, for even when we were with you, we used to give you this order If anyone will not work, neither let them eat, for we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all but acting like busy bodies. Now, such persons, we command and exhort, in the Lord Jesus Christ, to work quiet. Oh, hold on. Let me read 12 again. Now, such persons I wrote down all kinds of little notes around verse 12, and it makes it really hard to read no such person.
Speaker 1:We command and exhort, in the Lord Jesus Christ, to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.
Speaker 1:So he's encouraging people to take those busy bodies off to the side by themselves and just encourage them to work, instead of kind of leaning on other people to get all the stuff done and leaning on people to feed them and stuff like that, because maybe they were just busy bodies right. And I think that may take effect today too, where we might find some people in our lives that aren't busy bodies but are just not doing much of anything, but being locked up in a house or being cooped up. Maybe they don't get out much. Maybe it's up to us to do what Paul says here and kind of put it in the 20th century. If we're in the 20th century I've always get confused on what's going through we're in. But maybe it's up to us to be able to reach out to them and include them in our lives or in other things, just to get them in a pattern of doing stuff, to working, to finding some kind of spiritual food out there to fill them up and sustain them.
Speaker 2:Well, I think it's double-sided, and so the reason I say that is, yes, you don't want anyone to be in isolation, you want them to be out, to be active, to be engaging with other, like human beings. But on the flip side, we had our last episode before this and we discussed hurry and the funnier, I guess, irony about that that was one of our shortest episodes because we were in a hurry as we were going over it, because we all had things to do, and I think that's something to be cautious of. Yes, you have busy bodies, but is it production or are you just in a hurry to do so much? And sometimes being away from that hurry is exactly what you need, and that doesn't necessarily mean isolation, but sometimes just not being in a hurry and taking time out to be in peace helps you to find more time for God, to find more time for yourself, which I think is what our culture really struggles with these days.
Speaker 2:Everyone's in a hurry. We talked about it the phone's just a second ago, with how everything's so instant. And again, if you're in isolation, you're in a hurry. It's great to involve someone or ask them to be involved, but you also don't want to drag them into your hecticness, so it's a worry, maybe causing them to be in, you know, stressful type of situations that they wouldn't have been in when they were isolated by themselves.
Speaker 1:True, there's a definitely a balance, michelle, that you got to meet in your life of being too busy or not being too. I know you talked last episode about feeling guilty if you're not doing anything, and I don't think that we have to feel guilty if we rest or anything like that. But you know you ask yourself that I do enough, that I do enough today, that I do enough for Somebody else today, and I think that's where we can get a lot of fulfillment is by doing things for others, and will always be fulfilled.
Speaker 3:I think you're right, because I mean the answer to Do I still feel guilty when I'm not doing something Absolutely. Am I not getting enough rest? No, I'm not. But I think you said something really Important right there, west, like I think I'm focusing Maybe too much on what I'm not doing or what I need to do versus what I need to do for others. So maybe instead of Thinking of the 50 things that have already waited a month right, or a year or whatever, that I can think of at least one person that I need to reach out to to just say, hey, how you doing today, you know if they cross my mind and I need to do better about that and be more intentional, and then maybe some of my self-worth comes back and then I can tackle those things that you know I've been struggling with. So I think that was really important and I thank you for that, west.
Speaker 1:I'll have to listen back to what I said, because a lot of times I speak without thinking yeah, we've talked a lot before and past episodes and listen. Those episodes, I want to say, are a little organic, where you can get a lot of value out of me, can binge, listen to them, like that guy did BDM, d, pbrq, whatever his name was maybe it was a woman West.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's true. That's true. Blew my mind there, michelle, but the the I forgot the point of what I was going to say. It was going to be so much better than anything I'd said all show to binge.
Speaker 3:Listening is what you said.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, we talked about a lot. Oh yeah, I got a guy. We talked. We talked a lot before about how, like that, the Holy Spirit talks to you, how does the Holy Spirit work in you.
Speaker 1:And I know I've said, you know, in the story before about being up in the room and I hear somebody said I hear I hear a Voice say don't go play basketball. You have to go back and find that episode. I don't know what episode it was asked me or what episode it was. He could tell you. But you know and I wanted to make sure people did understood that I wasn't like hearing this voice. But I, I Heard a voice. You know I didn't. It wasn't an audible voice, it was just something inside of my spirit that was stirring, that told me not to go play basketball. Then I had a conversation with a young lady about something and she had to be baptized at night. Just wonderful, I'm awesome, awesome. You know I heard the spirit. That's what I want to say. I heard the spirit. I listened to the little, still small voice that was inside of me.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm and you mentioned being talking or reaching out to somebody whenever they cross your mind. Mm-hmm, right, you, you ever do that? You just have this random thought about somebody that maybe you haven't talked to in years. Just a random thought out of the blue, guess what. Guess what. My theory is that's the Holy Spirit, yeah.
Speaker 3:I'm telling you what my best friend and for years, almost as many years as I've known her, that least that she shared with me probably her whole life God speaks to her in special ways and Like it's almost always through her dreams. So If she dreams about someone, she always reaches out to them and I'm telling you like it I can't even count how many times. Nearly every time it's something Significant has happened. So if she tells me she's dreamed about me, I'm always like, oh, but I mean it's, it's really incredible, like how he speaks to her and uses her. So I firmly believe that, you know, the Holy Spirit does speak to us like that and it's just up to us to recognize it and to listen to how the Holy Spirit speaks to us.
Speaker 1:And that goes back to what you were saying, pierre. We've got to be quiet enough to be able to hear something like that. You know, it doesn't always happen and and you may want it to happen, it just can't happen. You can't force something like that. But I'll say this if, if a thought crosses your mind, it may be hey, I need to go to Walmart after work. Go to Walmart after work and see what happens, right and and keep a log on those things. See, see what happens. If you go there, do you meet anybody? There's something strange happened, but for the full of the furtherness of God's kingdom, that did, did somebody cross your mind and and you felt like you needed to give them a call or send them a text or something. Keep a log of it and just see what happens. And that's the exciting stuff.
Speaker 1:Everybody, if you, if you don't do that stuff, christendom if I, that's a word Christendom can get boring. You can get lax, you can get lazy. You can, you can not, you can feel like I don't even know I'm a Christian. Well, it's because you're not listening, you're not acting, you're not being spurred on by the spirit. Maybe that's what's going on. So, keep a diary, keep a keep something I keep.
Speaker 1:I keep little notes in my my Bible that people have written me over the years, and whenever I forget about some of these things, I just go to the front of my Bible. I pick out one of these things and I read it and I look at it and I'm like, oh, that's why you do this. Well, that's why, that's why you you look foolish to some people, because some people need you to look foolish. Right, that's why you open up your mouth and put yourself in strange situations. Because some people need you to do that, west, that's you. You do that stuff because you don't understand the severity of the situation that's going on in that person's life. So that's why you do it, west. And yes, I talked to myself in the third person quite often.
Speaker 2:And so we mentioned being still and listening for the, the Holy Spirit. I think Just listening to others is also just very impactful. I know Michelle Benson perspectives earlier and I think that's key in the workplace also. I got folks in Canada. I got folks in the US that I interact with. A lot of those in Canada are honestly not from Canada themselves. They're from, you know, elsewhere and they have different. You know beliefs and you still got to hear them out, especially if you're wanting to, to have a conversation and open up some dialogue on you know, your faith versus their faith.
Speaker 2:Inserting situations and I think it was Matthew seven has that that common that you usually hear. You know, treat people the way you want to be treated. That's how I've always heard it. Matthew seven twelve says do to others whatever you would like them to do to you, which is kind of that same concept. And with that, you know, I think being willing to listen to others perspectives is what I would like folks to do with me.
Speaker 2:I know we've had situations with, like the kneeling Colin Kaepernick back in the day when he took a knee. Like I had different opinions and a lot of people because I've I've dealt with different things you know in my life. You know, I've I've watched, like atheists. So I'm just curious, like what it thought process is and some of the things they think is is interesting. I think it was. Ricky Gervais is a popular celebrity and his, his thought process was that you're born an atheist and you have to be taught, you know, basically to believe in God, which I I could sense that to some extent. But I also have had situations where you're not, you're not taught God like you found him on your own. What certain people like they didn't go to church, you know, and get taught God. They weren't raised, you know, by Christian parents and they still found God. So I kind of feel like he's a little off when it comes to that. But I still, I'm still intrigued, I still want to hear different sides of things.
Speaker 2:When it comes to that, it's I don't know, it's tough to think about. So I know, like with atheism, like they don't, they don't ever explain like where they're coming from. I feel when listening like morality, they don't have an explanation. They basically just want to tell you why you're wrong, but they can't really explain why they're right. And I think that's where the perspectives come from, as you got to be willing to sit down and hear out both sides.
Speaker 2:One of the good questions I heard someone asked was are you tolerable? Before they open up a conversation on religion, before they open up a conversation on something they're going to disagree with, it's just to ask that person Are you a tolerable person? And if they answer yes, then you can continue with that conversation and then point out the fact you said you were a tolerable person, so you should be able to tolerate my opinion. In return, I'll tolerate your opinion and I think that is a good baseline to kind of open up on perspectives for things that we don't agree with and help us to again be, be slow, be slow to talk and you know, really just listen and hone in on where other people are coming from and and being able to retort to that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I remember a Bible study I was at one time and I was teaching and it was I don't it was, it was fine is with a two, two different couples and I was teaching where I think I was in first Corinthians and and our second Corinthians, and I was just, we just work, walking our way through the Bible, answered some questions that they had and so I was going through there and the people who invited me man, they were, they were listening.
Speaker 1:They weren't intent on listening, this one, that the lady in the other couple. So there's two couples. So the man, the one lady, got up and she left and I watched her leave. I was like, well, she really got to go to the bathroom because she left in a hurry, right, that's why I was like it and the guy would check daughter, and like a couple of minutes, and he went. He just went back there somewhere, I don't know where they went, and he came back out and she came out a minute later and they stopped me and they said listen, I hear you talking, I hear you teaching, but you obviously have the gift of teaching, but you're telling us things that that aren't necessarily what we've always thought.
Speaker 1:And my mother is a prophetess and she, she would hate this right now and I can't keep listening to this. And I was listening to this girl telling me this and I and I I went well, okay, so what, what again? What, what's what? What am I doing wrong? She said, well, you, you have the gift of teaching and I was going well, if I have to get the teaching that, why aren't you listening?
Speaker 1:You know what, what? Where's the gift thing come into play if you're saying that I have this gift of this and and your mother's a prophet it was. It was just a really strange occurrence to me, but I had an open mind and I listened to them and I appreciated them listening to me and inviting me over to their house. We left on, I guess, good terms. I don't know. I never got another phone call to come back over there, but it was. It was a strange thing to where we're just not always going to be able to agree on everything but at the same time, here we do have to keep an open mind like that to be able to hear what they're saying and hear what I'm saying, and it is one of those things.
Speaker 2:If we can't talk about religion, if we can't talk about politics, I don't know, maybe a couple of things that are bigger than those things to talk about, you know yeah, I mean, it's true, and you usually find that situation where someone's like a constant interrupt and when you you have some of the interrupts to me, that's just them not not being tolerable of anything but their opinion.
Speaker 2:And so in workplaces, if I come across that situation where you know I'm coaching someone or or trying to train someone and they're just constantly interrupting and they don't want to learn, and so I kind of just I shut them off at that point like I'll still be polite, I'll still be professional, but you basically just prove to me that you, you only care about your, your own opinions. And I feel like you, you gotta be willing to again listen and take in the other perspective. Again, you may not agree, they may not agree with the, the way you were teaching, even though they felt like you had the gift of teaching, but for them to still sit through and let you finish, I mean that's, that's important, that's respectful, and I feel like we need to do that really as a society, whether we're talking faith, whether we're talking politics, whether we're talking sports, which is something I can talk all day but he's got to be able to take in other accounts of perspectives and be respectful to those situation is he low key saying that?
Speaker 1:I interrupt him all the time? Michelle is that?
Speaker 3:what's saying hi key, that I do all the time.
Speaker 1:I hear your clucking, pier, I hear your clucking chicken.
Speaker 3:Here's what happens when here and I have a conversation. He will say things. He'll seem like he's stopping, so I'll start to talk and they say I can't finish my sentence. I'm like I thought you were done, and then it starts to pull a thing. So no West, you do great look, look, look, look you guys.
Speaker 1:I am telling you I can play the same recording from here at my house of what my wife tells me. It is crazy how opposites attract, you know. I mean it is just crazy how that happens. I'll be sitting there listening to my wife and I really think I I do damage in our relationship with my wife. I'm sure I do, but I mean I try to figure out ways to be able to do better. I listen to podcasts on like one point, one point six speed or one point eight speed. I don't ever listen to them on one speed. You know what I mean? Like I listen to them really fast and so if there's and it sounds normal to me so then whenever I have to listen, whenever I get a chance to listen to my wife talk, it sounds like it's going and I'm like, oh, that's my fault, I can't listen to podcast that fast anymore. She has to learn to talk faster.
Speaker 3:I don't know which one hey, but you can't listen to ours on a faster speed West, because when we do, yours is really fast.
Speaker 1:I think I sound normal.
Speaker 3:You probably sound like one of the chip months I think we were playing at one time here. Had it turned up, I was like what is going on? Why does this sound so funny? I didn't know. He added on a higher speed.
Speaker 1:I think I sound so much smarter at one point, eight speed to do, because I think I'm like, hey, back to it, back to make it an impact in this world for Christendom, making a make. Just, you know, trying to listen to that spirit, trying to be led by the spirit, trying to do things. I'm going to take another verse out of context. Beer, you don't have to tell me what this actually means. Okay, I'm telling everybody right now I'm taking this completely out of context and I'm going to apply it to what I want to apply it to, but I don't think I'm doing evil. Okay, as long as I tell everybody that I'm taking out of context. And you know, you can apply these things in different ways a little bit, but don't do it for your own sordid game. But this spurs me on to do a good work. In Proverbs, chapter 6. It talks about the ant. Right, go to the ant, oh, slugger, to observe her ways and be wise. Which, having no chief officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provisions in the harvest. It, the ant, doesn't have anybody telling it what to do, it doesn't have anybody given it orders, doesn't have a boss over it's. You know, standing over it all the time going come on, work, work, work, work, work. That's the same thing for, like me, a small business owner who works for myself, I have to tell myself that I have to be spurred on myself. I have to dig in every once in a while and just tell myself you got to get this done, man, stuff like that. And ant does the same way. You can learn those lessons from the ant, but for a Christian it's the same way. Nobody's gonna be. Pastors can encourage you, a buddy can encourage you. You can listen to a podcast to encourage you to get out there and make an impact in this world, but really that ultimately has to become from you somewhere to want that excitement, to want that zeal to, to, to want to go out there and just live that exciting Christian life instead of you know if that's what you want to do now? Look, there's people who may not want to do that because they just can't. They don't feel like they're led, they want to work behind the scenes and that's absolutely cool, but it's still getting behind the scenes, being led by the spirit to do things and to see that impact that you make in somebody else's life by doing things that aren't out there in the public eye, or doing things like that. I think of things one way, because I think that's where my talent lies I'll get out there and I'll take a ditch too. It doesn't matter to me, it's just, it's a matter of going out there and doing something right.
Speaker 1:And the writer of Proverbs goes on. He says how long will you lie down? Oh, sluggered, when will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little somber, a little folding of hands to rest, and your poverty will come like a vagabond and and your your need, like an armed man. We can get lazy, we can become a sluggered and we can get in those habits and those routines that make us ineffective in any kind of walk of life.
Speaker 1:I know I always talk about being a Christian. I always talk about doing that out there and making an impact in the world for God. It impacted the world for Christ, but it's just making people's lives better. You know it doesn't. You don't have to do it in the name of God if you don't believe in that kind of thing, if you don't believe in that, you don't have to do that for that reason. Do it for your neighbor's reason, do it for that struggling person that's out there. Do it for their reason. Don't do it for you to be lifted up. Do it for the other person all the time. And if we don't get in the habit of doing those things, we get in the habit of maybe not doing it and having idle hands, becoming a sluggered, and I think the Bible always teaches us to keep trying to work. That doesn't mean not resting when it's time to rest, just means being at work, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's a bit caution or just self motivation, and it's sometimes like that selfishness can be the benefits of others. So even take this like podcast. So it would have been a lot easier to just talk about doing this podcast one day than then actually doing it. And just, you know, instead of waiting for you know perfect timing, waiting for us to have more wisdom, more knowledge, now just go out and do it and see if it helps someone. And that's the same in you know, everyday life. You feel a tug, or you know, you're just feel like you can help someone in some way. Just go help and you're going to feel better yourself, even if they don't appreciate the help. You still feel better from serving or for assisting. And so I just encourage everyone to just kind of take that jump. That has to be big, like you can dream, small, as one of the songs you know don't buy a lie, you got to do it all. Just let Jesus use you where you are. And I think that's really important.
Speaker 2:You know, in our own communities, our own neighborhoods, sometimes under our own roof, there are ways that we can make a difference by just acting versus thinking about it. You know, sometimes thinking about it enough, you got to go into action. Same thing on Sundays. Yeah, you can go to church, you know, on Sundays. But if you don't take anything and put it into action, then you're not really making a difference, regardless of how often you go to church, you send it. All right, that's the episode.
Speaker 1:That's it. Is this a new record for how long we've gone, is it? No, it's pretty short, it's pretty short, no.
Speaker 1:Michelle, it's amazing how God brought us all together, Three different kinds of personalities, and we all get together and talk about things, and we do hope that it hits the listeners ears in a very pleasant way. We hope it does stir you up to love and good works, just like getting around other people. And we do appreciate the comments that were left. We hope to have that kind of atmosphere where we are sitting around a table just talking about things and having that kind of discussion and, pierre, I appreciate you being the chief editor of this podcast, because I know that it's got to be hard labor.
Speaker 2:Hey, I appreciate you not saying anything that I needed to edit out.
Speaker 3:I can start.
Speaker 1:We have the last couple of minutes here Okay.
Speaker 2:Do unto others what you want to do.
Speaker 1:But leave over to you. If you can, let us hear from you. We'd like to include you into our lives as well. And, as I always say or try to always say I don't always remember to say it, but I do mean it my wife corrected me last time. I said it y'all. I don't know if I said it wrong or if this is how I say it, and I just say it wrong all the time. The listeners can help us out too, like if you ever hear the Holy Spirit talking to you. I want to hear those kind of stories. That'd be encouraging for me. I love to hear those kind of cool stories like that.
Speaker 1:But also, if I say stuff wrong, that's fine. Tell me I say stuff wrong. I'm always trying to grow. I'm always trying to get better at these things. But I usually say you pray for us and we'll pray for you. My wife's like you need to be praying for them no matter what. Don't pray for them only if they pray for you. You pray for them all the time and I was like you're right. I know you're right, it's just you got to think about podcast terms. You pray for us, I know you can't bless, yeah, well, I mean it comes off the tongue easy. You pray for us and we'll pray for you. How am I supposed to say I'll pray for you?
Speaker 3:You're not saying it as an if you pray for us, then we'll pray for you. You're saying please pray for us and we will also pray for you.
Speaker 1:Michelle, don't argue with my wife. I'm telling you, it is a fruitless effort. She is a great debater, she is a great arguer, she will win every single time, but she's not wrong, I'm just saying.
Speaker 2:I bet she didn't say it that fast.
Speaker 1:We appreciate you all listening. You pray for us and we'll pray for you.