SPEAKER_03 0:01

Welcome to the sauce cast. Well, friends, welcome to the sauce cast. Thank you. Pretty exciting, right? So exciting. So we thought we would mix it up a little bit because we have so many male voices, which we love the men in our talk to your men in this. Yes, no, for real. No, seriously though. Listen, the last podcast that they put out for was it the Odyssey? Was that the last one? I think that was the last one. Oh, yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 0:28

Uh Saint Gillette. Yes. Yeah. Okay. The Odyssey one before that.

SPEAKER_03 0:31

I have okay. Whoops. I have not caught up. Last one I listened to. Okay. Last one I listened to was The Odyssey. Oops. Okay. So anyway, last one I listened to was The Odyssey, and I thought that I would not enjoy it. But I actually enjoyed it. Have you guys watched The Odyssey? I need to.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

No, I tried to go this weekend, and at this, I think I waited a little too long, and the time frames that they offer are weird. Oh, okay. And so I was I was gonna go on Saturday, but the showing was at like 7:30. Oh, yeah. And someone told me it's like a three-hour movie. Yeah. It is. Like, let me not. But I still want to see it. Yes, yeah, you guys go together. I feel like we need to see it in theaters. We've been told. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:13

So anyway, it was great. So we're saying that to say it's great to have men. Right. And it's I loved it. I thought I wasn't going to enjoy it, but I fully enjoyed it. I love listening to Garage Nights. Oh, yeah. Wadley. That's Wadley's podcast. He's a member of our church. He has a podcast that's specifically for men, and I love listening to it because it gives me, you know, perspective. It perspective. It changed like our my brain chemistry is solely female. So it's nice to hear another perspective. So we're hopeful that the men will also tune into this so we can all work together. Absolutely. As a happy family. I agree. Sound good? Absolutely. Yes. Alright, so how was your summer? How are we doing so far? I'm still in summer. So okay. True, true.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Listen, September 21st is when autumn begins. So I am riding the summer wave all the way through. Okay. Flip-flops until October.

SPEAKER_03 2:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

Just please let me have it.

SPEAKER_03 2:05

I understand that.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

They were already doing like back to school in the middle of July. I cannot. Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_03 2:10

As soon as 4th of July.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

But I love fall once I'm there. Yes. I'm just you're still in summer.

SPEAKER_02 2:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

Yes. I saw your pumpkin skin.

SPEAKER_02 2:18

I know, so that's like, unfortunately, I'm the dead opposite. Okay. And I'm like, the second that there's like a crispness in the air, like I went outside to my car today and there was a nice crispy brown leaf on it. And I was like, that's it. It's fall. See a summer. That's demonic. Well, except for it's a good one. The summer was fantastic, though. I mean, it was awesome. I would say probably my favorite summer since I've moved here by far.

SPEAKER_03 2:39

Oh, that's so great.

SPEAKER_02 2:40

Like by far.

SPEAKER_03 2:41

I didn't even introduce you guys. I'm sorry. Oh, that's okay. Okay, well, this is how it works. Okay. This is Jaleisa. That's me. Julisa has been part of the church for a few years now. She helps out in all of our kids' ministries. Yeah. Right? Everything. Well, young adult, kids ministry. Young adult, no, let's do order.

SPEAKER_01 2:59

Yeah, middle school. Yes. Youth. Young adult. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 3:03

And then whatever else is. And then whatever else. Yeah. Yes. You've been such a fun addition to the church. It's been so great having you. And then we have Jocelyn, who's part of our worship team.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

Also, who helps out with youth youth and young adults. And young adults. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 3:18

Not so cool middle because not middle school because that's Sunday and you do worship on Sunday.

SPEAKER_02 3:23

That's great.

SPEAKER_03 3:24

Right. And then Jocelyn moved here from Pennsylvania three years ago now.

SPEAKER_02 3:28

Yeah. Closer to four now, which is crazy.

SPEAKER_03 3:31

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 3:31

Right. Like I've been here. I have mass plates now, guys. And here you're a fish.

SPEAKER_03 3:37

Yeah. That's a New England. I can drive all one way and not be scared. She loves sweater weather. Sweat of weather. Sweat of weather. I know it's literally weather. I was born for it. Oh, that's so funny. Yes. Okay, so we're doing well. Yeah. So you are ready to stay. You want to stay in summer. You're ready to move out of summer.

SPEAKER_02 3:59

From a from a season standpoint, like I'm not a heat girl. I'm not like if I'm at the beach, I'm under an any covering. Like, don't let my skin touch the sun or I'm burned. There isn't a cute. I don't know why. I'm cute in the summer.

SPEAKER_03 4:14

There's no in between.

SPEAKER_02 4:16

It's not cute. I'm a fall season girl. But I to be honest, I sometimes dread summertime. I think maybe from like the practical, like I just don't like the heat. Okay. But truly, the summer was like one of the best. Like the best. And not even just because it was summertime, but I think just the activities and the things that we had going on here. Right. They were so well spaced out and then just so good.

SPEAKER_03 4:40

Right. Yeah. Like so good. Every event was top to bottom.

SPEAKER_02 4:43

Epic.

SPEAKER_03 4:44

That's so great. It's so true.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

And I try to think about like, well, what could we have done differently? But it's it really was. I don't know. Maybe we were just better prepared. Maybe I don't know. Well, let's talk about that then.

SPEAKER_03 4:57

Let's tell everybody what your what the summer looked like from a church standpoint because we're all involved at some level in our next generation ministries. Right. And so we had our VBS this year. And that was at the end of June. And we had 540 children that came. Thank you, Lord. Which was crazy over the course of four days from three years old up to 11, 12-ish. Then we had our youth camp.

SPEAKER_02 5:30

Yep. Legendary.

SPEAKER_03 5:31

That was the first week of August. We had 140 students come for that.

SPEAKER_00 5:36

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 5:36

That was incredible. And then we had our middle camp, which is the first time we done that one. Yes. Which was great. Because as our youth ministry grows, and you know, there's differences between a high schooler, like a senior in high school, and then a student that's going into seventh grade. Like we're in a completely different world. So we thought that that would be good to separate that. And it leaves room for growth for each age group. So we did that for the first time. And then we all had our hand in all three of those.

SPEAKER_02 6:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:07

And that was that was pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

Yeah, I feel like it's still hard to have words for it.

SPEAKER_03 6:11

Wait, also though. Yes. The youth internship. Oh my goodness, I forgot about that. Right. And so our youth interns, they were here for it was four, it was it four weeks. Yeah. Just before the month of July? Just the month of July. They were here Mondays and Wednesdays. And they had a book that they were reading together. They did a deep dive into that. They helped out with uh VBS. I feel like I I think they their hand was in it, not as much as probably we would want them to, like kind of going forward. That's something we're still working on, but they were helping with cleanup and the plays? Yes, the plays. It was really awesome.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

Yeah, they held that down.

SPEAKER_03 6:48

Yeah, it was pretty great. So, from your perspective, because a lot of parents, you know, for the younger ones for VBS, the parents were able to kind of check in and see what was going on. But for a youth camp and for SoCal Middle, the parents were completely removed. So we they were left up to their own children saying, Hey, this is what happened at camp, which we all know isn't really going to happen. Yeah, it could get a little bit fuzzy. Yes, it does get fuzzy. So as a mom, you neither of you are parents yet. So from my perspective, I was lucky because I got to have my hand involved in it. But if I didn't, I would have had no idea. My boys would have come home and just been like, mom, it was awesome. And then, you know, my girls would probably have given me more information. But tell the parents a little bit, we'll start with we'll start with youth camp. Okay. Tell the parents a little bit what that was like.

SPEAKER_02 7:39

Oh my gosh. It's so funny because I just met with somebody, uh actually two girls over the last two weeks. And the second that they came in, they sat down and were like, so youth camp. Yeah. Like, how do I even begin to really unpack what happened there? It's almost like this was my third camp.

SPEAKER_03 7:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:57

So, you know, classic, like you think you know what you're you think you know what's gonna happen, or or you have like a general idea. And then this year, we've said it so many times, but it really was so different. And it it was like a we were on a whole different level uh when it came to faith, when it came to expectation, when it came to hunger for the Holy Spirit. And I felt like the students were so open this year. Like there there was from the rip, from the first night of worship in the way that they stormed the stage. I remember immediately looking at Pastor Elijah and being like, I can't hear you. Like I can't hear what you're saying, I can't hear your guitar. And like we haven't even started singing yet. Like we're there's just this roar. And this was night one. Night one, which out of how many nights? Well, four services, five five services, no, four service nights, yeah, but for their five days. Okay. That was service night one. Wow. That I went, oh whoa. Like the floor's shaking in this cabin chapel. Um, and so again, I mean, I'm sure, I'm sure you from your perspective as well, it it was just it was it was unlike it really is hard to put it in a word, it was unlike anything I expected, um, but yet so, so god, so holy spirit. Of course, of course he's gonna knock your socks off every time with with how he moved. And really what what left me was the hunger that those kids had.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

I think sometimes for youth camps, um because it's like this set apart thing, um, even for the students, there could be a possibility of like emotionalism. Oh, for sure. You know what I mean? Yes. Um, and I think that we do a great job as a church, like gassing up youth camp, you know. We really do.

SPEAKER_03 9:48

Um I don't know who loves youth camp more. Yeah, like people that are serving or the kids. Right, the team are right. Right, the team for the D.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

You don't understand how great this is gonna be long term, you know. Right. But I think also like from that first night, but what really um kind of made me recognize, oh, this is different was the next morning after. So you have these same 140 students at 7 a.m. in prayer, right? Um, and they're all there and they're all also engaged. And it's not just like, oh, I'm sleepy and I'm just here like listening to Pastor Dre. It was this alert, I have my notebook and my Bible. Wow, and whatever the prayer targets are or the directives are, like I'm leaning into that. And um that first night or that first morning, um, just to see the willingness to I think because everything in the world, you can just smell the inauth unauthenticity, is that the word? Yeah, but then when you come to church, you're like, oh, this is reality, this is what true freedom is, this is what it's like to just be myself in this space and I'm safe. And oh, it's so it's just so special. Right. It's so special when you see the kids come in on on the first day and they're nervous and anxious and they're not talking to anybody, right? And you know, the parent is like, You're gonna be okay, it's gonna be fine, and they're like, I hate you for signing me up. And then you see them by the second night, and all of a sudden you get this in worship. Oh, come on, or you get a hand clap, right? Or you see them laughing with the kids at their lunch table. It's like there's no better thing than seeing freedom unlocked.

SPEAKER_02 11:29

There was, I don't know if it was in your tribe, but there was one young lady who I know was like from the jump, I don't want to be here, and made it clear to anybody.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

She went on a hunger strike. No, she was not eating dinner or teenagers. There's bad. She was texting mom. I still have the text because to me it's a testimony now. Mom, you've got to pick me up. I don't know anyone here. I hate this. Like, and mom's like, I just want you to give it a chance. Like, please. Shout out to that mom. Stream. Her mom held it down for her daughter. Because after I saw the stream of text, well, because she used my phone while locked in a bathroom. Right. And so after I saw the stream of text, I texted mom, like, listen, I know this must be hard, but we're here to support you and your daughter. Like, I just want you to know the Lord is working. And then by that afternoon, I had commissioned some girls in our tribe. They said, You see this girl, she's depressed. Go make her happy. If anyone can do it, it's you guys. And they made it their mission. Totally. Oh my god. And they befriended her. It wasn't fake either. It was like, oh, we know this awkwardness. And they befriended her, and they started with friendship bracelets. And then by the end, this girl's whole personality came out, top-tier sass. Like she wanted to be front and center for the chant. Right. Like, she's like, she was. And she was like the main one for our chant. It was and she came up like at the on the last during the dance party. She came up and she just put her head on my shoulder. Oh, yeah. And it was just like, Yeah, this is winning. Like, we just won. Right. And she's still doing really well. She um came to youth a couple weeks ago, and we stay in touch through text, and she comes to church on Sunday, and she's still homies with everyone that's in her tribe. Like the group chat is popping off. So that's so good.

SPEAKER_02 13:22

Yeah, I remember that first night or that first day. I knew it was a tough one, but I I was able to see her from the stage during worship. And she was singing along, and she had the little like the Nemo hands that Pastor talks about. And I just remember being like, Gotcha. Yeah. Like you can put on the front all you want. But there's you're at least open. And I again I really think that was a huge part of what we saw in the students. Like it definitely was not easy with a lot. There was layers to a lot of them. Um, but when it came down to it, when we were in service, really when we came down to what mattered, yeah. Right. Which was the services and the you know, the worship, the word, and the altar, they moved and they engaged. And that's where I'm like, okay, then Lord, yeah, wreck 'em. Right. In the best way. Yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

And even in downtime, the conversations we were having, they were there was so much depth to them. It wasn't just like, what's your snap streak? You know what I mean? It was like, why do I have snaps? Everyone delete your snapstream. Yeah. And it was just, I don't know, it was so and then to see the way that the girls, at least in in from my perspective, to see the way that the girls were genuinely um, because every night we would have these debriefing sessions, and sometimes it would be just your tribe, and other times it was a mix of people. And so we'd be in the dorms late at night just talking about our takeaways. And to see the way these young ladies were encouraging each other and speaking life into each other, and oh me too, I deal with that too. And God said this during the session. It was just so cool.

SPEAKER_03 14:57

That's the stuff that really matters too. I think it's at those down times, the you know, the moments when you're just with your crew or your tribe rather in the dorm room and you're just having a conversation, and those real questions like, why do I have Snapchat? Like, why am I dating this guy? Why am I dating this girl?

SPEAKER_00 15:13

For real.

SPEAKER_03 15:14

Why do I smoke weed? Like, why am I rude to my mom? Those are the things that really matter because that's that shows you that they're having an experience with the Holy Spirit because you can we can teach them the knowledge, and that's what makes it challenging as youth ministers and and just ministers in period. You're teaching them the knowledge, but you can't make a heart transform. That's something only the Holy Spirit can do. So just to be in that place and setting the stage and setting the atmosphere for them to have that encounter with the Holy Spirit, you can't manufacture that. Yeah, so true. And so in services, you can kind of manufacture it, you know, because the music moves you and music is designed that way. And you know, when you preach, you want to engage them in a certain way. And it's not that any of it is fake, but it's just easy to get caught up in it.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 15:58

And I think that's for everybody, even more so for teens. So that's why we like camp because it's a whole atmosphere, right? Yeah, it's not just Sunday, I'm sorry, it's just not night services, right? It's everything. Yeah, and you guys have done such a great job of crafting the day where there's a lot of fun, but then there's a lot of pockets of seriousness, and every youth leader, you could tell they're doing the fun thing, but they weren't afraid to say, Hey, you're wrong for that.

SPEAKER_02 16:28

Totally.

SPEAKER_03 16:29

And that's what that's what they need. And that's what we need. Because you see yourself in them, right? Right?

SPEAKER_02 16:35

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 16:36

Isn't that the weirdest thing? It's like I'm telling them something.

SPEAKER_02 16:39

It is scary, it's really scary. It is because you're held accountable to them for it.

SPEAKER_03 16:44

I'm telling you not to do this thing.

SPEAKER_02 16:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:46

Well, like, guys, why are you on YouTube all the time? Like, why are you getting all of your information from TikTok? And then as you're saying it, at least for me, sometimes I replay like, oh my gosh, I absolutely, I absolutely did that recently. Yeah. Not not so not so long ago. Yeah. I was there. But it holds you accountable if you're really taking it seriously and you really love the next generation, it will hold you accountable to not do that because you once you see them changing and advancing, it's like you don't want to stop that. Oh my gosh, like that thought of being the cat. It's actually scary. Yes, yes, exactly. So, yeah, and that's what I love about this youth team, and that's what I've observed is that everybody is so serious about it, and they really, really, really, really love the kids. Like you guys really, really love my kids. Yeah. And so as a mom, nothing means more to me because I can I'm saying, you guys are saying the same thing that I'm saying at home, but when you say it to them, it hits way different.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

Yeah. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 17:48

And then when they come home and they say, Oh, Jalisa said this, or Pastor Dre said this, and you're like, Oh my god, you said it first. You know what I mean? But then it's also like, I don't know if I even get mad at it. I don't get upset with it. I don't feel like I'm the only one that can speak to my children. I actually feel a relief. Yeah. Like, because it's not fun to be the mom that or the parent that's always like, don't do this, do this, don't do this, do that, go left, go right. You have to, especially when they get into that teenage young adult, there's a lot of like, I gotta back off a little bit. Sure.

SPEAKER_01 18:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:26

And that's when I really rely on young adults, young adult leaders, youth ministry, kids' ministry to reinforce what I'm saying at home because it's sometimes it just doesn't work at home. And sometimes this is my new thing that I'm learning. So sometimes they just want you to make dinner and just like do the laundry and laugh with them. Sometimes I don't have to preach at them. Well, I have a lot of things I want to say. But it's not it's not always the time, and I have to be mom. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's not a bad thing, that's a holy thing.

SPEAKER_00 18:55

Sure.

SPEAKER_03 18:56

And so that's been that's definitely been an interesting like pivot in parenting.

SPEAKER_02 19:01

Right. Hopefully it takes a little a little bit of pressure off. Like to your point of knowing that there are people who you might feel like there's a lack of what you're giving, it's actually not you're able to be intentional in the mothering and building that relationship, knowing don't worry, they'll get smacked with this thing by one of the other ten strong leaders that are around them. That's yes, that's incredible. That's goals. It is goals. That's so cool.

SPEAKER_03 19:26

So to all the parents, the environment matters. Like totally make your kid come to youth, right? Sign them up for camp, like do all the things because the environment matters, and that's what we see at camp. They're kids again. Yeah, yeah. You know, they can actually be kids and just play. They don't have their phones and tied to their phones. It's not an option. Your phone isn't isn't an option. So you have to play dodgeball right now, whether you like it or not.

SPEAKER_02 19:49

And sometimes they did not.

SPEAKER_03 19:51

Yeah, for sure. I did see that. I watched one dodgeball game and there was like a cluster of girls in the morning with their balls like the way I raged.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

I actually think I thought you were standing there for the ball.

SPEAKER_03 20:05

Did I see that? I think maybe in the dark. Like the technical competitive.

SPEAKER_01 20:11

I'm so competitive. I'm so competitive. Like my first year of camp to now, though, the Lord has really done a work in me, I have to say.

SPEAKER_02 20:17

I used to be terrified of you in camp settings. I'm so sorry. Where I was like, because I'm not competitive by nature. Right. So then I'd have to be like, I have to dig down so deep to get something and don't like it. Don't put me against Julie. Don't put me against Julisa.

SPEAKER_01 20:33

Just like you realized. Thank you so much. You really think is it about the championship? Or is it about souls, man?

SPEAKER_03 20:41

Right, right. And you really got it.

SPEAKER_01 20:43

You know how it gets kind of lost. No, it really when I left camp my first year, I was like, Lord, I don't know if I'm saved.

SPEAKER_02 20:51

I think I was actually mad at you for like 11 minutes at camp. Like we might have actually almost fought my first year in camp.

SPEAKER_03 20:58

And then we were like, well, I actually not that I personally would have loved to see you Emma.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

It might have been Emma.

SPEAKER_03 21:04

Okay. Oh wait.

SPEAKER_02 21:06

It might have been.

SPEAKER_03 21:07

Yeah, Emma's just as bad as me. Love, love you, Emma. That's so interesting. Yeah. I actually, so my entire family, they are all super competitive. Yes, that's one of the reasons why I love them. I think that that might be why, like, top to bottom from Pastor Marco all the way through to Caleb. And I'm the one that's like, that's okay, you lost. You want to go, want to go get Chick-fil-A now? Are we gonna move on or no? You know, and it everyone's like, no, we're not moving on. What could we have done better? Yes. And it actually stresses me out a little bit because I'm like, everybody's mad. You can feel the tension in my house. Like you can cut it with a stinking knife. It is so intense. And you know what's so funny? My oldest is our daughter, and she will feel it with me. But here's the here's the kicker. You put her in a competitive situation, and I it's like, who are you? Sure. That's when I know, okay, we are actually different. Like you guys are all your father's children. I'm competitive five for five. Yeah. I'm competitive with myself. Yeah. Like I have to do better the next time. And I feel very strongly about that. You cannot convince me otherwise. But once it comes to competing with people and teams and sports, I'm like, um, this is nothing. Yeah. I do not like to lose. I hate that feeling. But I also, because I hate it so much, I have to twist it on its head, like flip it on its head and be like, it's not that big of a deal. Because I have to move on. I have to go home and do laundry now. Like I have to I can't stay here. Everyone else can stay and salt. I have to keep my house moving. So we all we have to move on. So you know what? If I'm the odd man now, it's okay because I keep my house moving. Do you know? Thank God for you. You win in other ways. I win in other ways. And this is what I mean. You know, that's what I mean. Okay. So that was Youth Camp. So Youth Camp was 15 out of 10. Oh, for sure. It was amazing. Yeah. Right. Off the charts. It was incredible. Yeah. Okay, let's talk about VBS.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

Safira.

SPEAKER_03 23:06

The best you know, you know. So just to give you a little overview of what our VBS looks like, it's also four days. We have children from three years old all the way up to fifth grade going into sixth grade. Right. We have a play. And there's a theme for the play. Um this year it was Acts because that's what we're studying at church. Yeah. And then they go to their rooms and they have like a kind of like a crew. They go over the lesson, the play. There's worship. Right before the play, there's worship, and that pops off, which is so cool to see like three-year-olds.

SPEAKER_02 23:45

Sweatiest week of the year for me.

SPEAKER_03 23:46

Oh my gosh. They are so excited they're so excited. I actually wish we had a clip of that. We don't have that. So then after that, they have games and then they get picked up. It's two hours. It's actually two and a half hours because it takes us so long to get the kids settled. So we open at six and dismiss at 8:30. Wow. And it is incredible. From the first day, the first time that we did VBS, we put on a VBS. I actually distinctly remember feeling like God's hand is on this. Yeah. Like it was electric. And it was so like way less kids, but it felt electric in the room. So to see it go from I don't even remember what our first number was. It must have been it 200, maybe, maybe even under 200. Wow. And then to see four years later at 540 kids, it's like, what are we talking about?

SPEAKER_01 24:34

That's a church. No, absolutely. More people than my home church. That's more people than in your average like US church. Just kids. Yes. Just kids. Just kids. 540.

SPEAKER_02 24:44

That's no, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 24:45

So tell me, so from worship.

SPEAKER_02 24:47

Yeah. Oh my gosh. Man, I feel like we've called it like the Super Bowl of the summer. Yeah. And I honestly agree. Like it it VBS always sets the bar. And I think especially this summer, it set the bar for what this summer could look like. 100%. Because that's another one that really blew me away. You know? Um, worship as as high energy as it is, and I love that. I love that these kids have such a uh a freedom. I mean all the way down to like the three-year-olds. Right. That that they actually wreck me because they know every word. They're up on top of their seats, climbing on top of their teachers to like try to see, right? Um the energy that they have in the you know, the upbeat stuff, incredible. But what I pray will never leave me is the quiet moments singing, I have decided to follow Jesus. That mess me up. Yeah. Bye.

SPEAKER_01 25:41

Just like voices.

SPEAKER_02 25:44

Right. Yeah. You want to talk about the purity of Jesus, right? And what that what that faith of a of a child looks like. Seeing a room of 500 of them singing, I have decided to follow Jesus at the top of their lungs. Yeah. To me, it's like that's it. Then let me walk off here drenched in sweat, tired, who cares what else it is. That is burned into my brain. Right. Incredible. It's incredible. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:12

It was really, it was so special. And you know, I think that everybody has something to say about that. Like, you know, the the naysayers, like, well, they're just singing along, like they don't really know. We just don't believe that. Like we think that your words are so powerful, and whether they walk that out from you know, three years old all the way to their death. Absolutely. I think that even singing it at four, five, six years old, you will never tell me that at 16 they don't remember singing that.

SPEAKER_01 26:43

100%.

SPEAKER_03 26:43

Whether they're walking with the Lord or not, we believe that in the power of the Word of God, we believe in the power of worship and of community. And I just I you can't you cannot convince me otherwise because I grew up in it. Like I said yes to Jesus when I was six years old. Right. And I still remember those songs, and I still remember those moments. I don't remember everything, but I will never forget the teachers, the counselors that laughed with me, that told me crazy stories, that loved me, that believed in me. Absolutely. I'll never forget those things. So all of those things matter. So we fully believe that a three-year-old singing like I have decided to follow Jesus really, really matters. Agreed. It's not a small, it's not a small thing. Yeah. And then you were a part of the play. I was in the play. And you were hilarious.

SPEAKER_02 27:27

You were so.

SPEAKER_03 27:28

We actually wait, before you even say anything, we actually had vis visitors coming from other churches. And one of them actually came up to me and she said, the night that you were on, were you night three or four? Um, I think it was three. Two and three. Yeah. Two and three. She had come up to me and she said, those actors were amazing. Stop. No, I'm not kidding you. I'm not kidding you. One of them was like, like, what did she do for work? Send the Oscar nomination to 1331 Cobra. I know. I actually was like, I mean, what did you think she did for work? Like, I don't, I mean, I don't know. But they were floored by how well everybody performed. And I thought, oh my gosh. You know, for me, there was a little bit of a flux, like in the amazing people on the street. We can do everything. I didn't let that go too far because I'm humbled by the Lord always, so I don't want to go too far. But anyway, yes, she was so impressed by you.

SPEAKER_01 28:24

Wow. Well, when I was little, I used to take showers and I we used to have like telenovelas all the time on the TV. Yeah. And let her water my face. So now BB's placed. And the Lord would be everything. The Lord uses everything. Okay. He redeemed all the money. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:58

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 28:59

Okay, I was not expecting that to be an Antonio.

unknown 29:03

Antonio.

SPEAKER_01 29:04

Oh man. But even from that, from the play, okay, like on a more serious note. Oh, seriously. Like, what what an honor it is to like get to be a part of something where, like, Mariah is our kids uh director, right? Our kids ministry director. And she trusted Isaiah. She said, here's the idea, here's the vision, go run with it. Right. And then Isaiah puts this ragtag group of us together. Yeah. Straight up. And we have to figure this thing out. And it's like going to practice and being with them and working through the lines and the different scenes. Um, you don't understand how it's all gonna come together until literally maybe the night before. Right. Um, but it's just so cool that we get to be a part of something so much bigger than ourselves. Sure, yes, and we have so much um freedom, creatively speaking, to just try stuff. And if it doesn't work, okay, what else will work, you know? Right. And so to see it all come together really was such a blessing. But then when you're in the moment, also, why do I always get the roles of like treachery? Last year I was in. You told us why.

SPEAKER_03 30:18

It's it's all the training. You're right. Yeah, you're the training in your showers as a child.

SPEAKER_01 30:25

But it's like when you're on stage and you have these three-year-olds like booing you down. Oh my gosh. Because you're stealing, they don't you're stealing from the church. Re one of our little boys still asked me why were you a snake last year? Like he just remembers that I was the serpent. Wow. And so now I there's I gotta do damage control of my reputation with these kids.

SPEAKER_02 30:48

We can't all be Freddy and be Jesus every year.

SPEAKER_01 30:52

Someone's gotta be playing. No, literally. I vote that I'm married next year. But yeah, it's just so it's it's just one of the coolest things that this is my life. I get to watch these 500 kids boo me down because they know that I'm doing something wrong. Yeah, right. You know, like they know that I'm doing something against uh the word of God. Like that's just there's no greater feeling than that.

SPEAKER_02 31:17

When I tell you, every kid I asked going through the halls of the week of EBS, like, what's your favorite part? And you know, it's like my pride is like they're gonna say worship. Yeah, not a one, not one, not one. Every, almost every single kid. If it wasn't the games, it was immediately the play, the play. That's my favorite part. And so, yeah, to your point, like they're they'll remember, they'll remember maybe the humor of it, but like I think as they grow and as they age and as they read the Bible more, right? As they stay in the house and they continue coming to classes and sitting in services, like all those little funny stories start to come alive. Oh my gosh, wait, this is that VBS play. Right. That's what we're like, that's what we're sewing into. Right. Is the the moment that it all clicks when they're reading their word as a young person, yeah, and go, oh yeah, I remember, remember that crazy lady? Yes, Jalisa, but like how cool is that?

SPEAKER_01 32:14

Yeah, and every year I think they've said that.

SPEAKER_02 32:16

It's like I love the play, I love the play. I don't care about the job.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

Wait, also though, for VBS, tell us we have baptisms at the end of the world. Oh, destroyed, wrecked, annihilated by our baptisms because again, it's just you get to see this is the reward for us as leaders, right? Kids, young people making a decision for Jesus, not caring what the world has to say, right? Not even caring about some of the families that they come from. Right. They are deciding for Christ and creating this new family legacy like for themselves. That is just, I don't know, nothing to me. I was a mess. I was bawling the whole time. And it's again, you see these kids week after week, Sundays and Thursdays, and a lot of times it's the real amount of time we get with them is like 15 minutes. Like if we're lucky enough, you know? That's true. And so then to see like them making their choices for the Lord, it's there's no uh uh there's no greater joy, there's no greater honor, nothing else I'd rather do with my life.

SPEAKER_03 33:24

That's so good. And just to give everyone just a quick little backdrop on baptism, so uh we baptize people at our church starting at age 12 because we feel like that's the age of reasoning. So anything lower than 12, we don't we we as a church won't do just because we really want our kids to be able to really make a decision. So we decided to do the baptism on those at the end of VBS because we have a church that is full of people that are brand new to faith. And it is incredible. So many people, the stories that they have, like the story of God restoring their lives from being an addict from divorce, from depression. I mean, we've had people that have said, like, I was adopted, I've been from foster home to foster home to foster home, and now I really finally feel loved and I have a home. Like, I mean, just the stories that we've he that we hear. And we started to think, like, man, we don't want our kids to feel like they have to have a crazy story to be baptized. Yes, come on. That part. And so that was where that was where we started to think, could we do baptism at the end of VBS? And it gives them a place to feel like I don't have to compete and say, like, I once was and now I am. That's so good. They have a space to say, man, Jesus has been with me and I love him, and I want to decide to follow Jesus. I don't have a crazy story, but yeah, I know that I love him and I know that this is what I want and this is my decision. So that's kind of where that started, and it's been it's actually been such a blessing, I think, to parents too, just to see their kids at a young age. And it feels like a not more contained, but I think it feels a little bit safer for them to just be able to say, like, they they're not coming after that testimony, right? Yeah, right. That's so true. So yeah, the intense one, the intense one, yes. Yeah, yeah. So that's that. Yeah. All right, so cool middle. What do you got? So cool middle is so sweet.

SPEAKER_01 35:24

So sweet. Well, soco middle is we love so middle.

SPEAKER_03 35:30

So middle is our has my heart. Through eighth graders, yes.

SPEAKER_01 35:34

Right. So sixth through eighth grade, you're basically like a mini maniac. Yes, with and you're learning your senses. Yes, you know what I mean? Yes. Um, I I Soko Middle was the first ministry that I was a part of in this uh church, and it just completely has my heart. These kids are so smart, but also like you know, they're kids, yeah. They're babies, and and it's like even though they know so much, they don't know a whole lot. Yeah, you know what I mean? So it's um it's a really cool position to be in with them. But so go middle camp, this was our first one ever. We like I said, we have so much hype around the youth camp, and um I find that sometimes it's easy for them to be like, but I want to do that too. Like I'm mature enough, I can handle it. And um, but having this space just for them, it was only for three days, right? But what God did in three days, you we don't need the whole week. Right, like, and that was incredible to see. And coming off fresh off of youth camp because it was back to back this year, it there was this um like a cautioning that I needed to have of don't compare these two. Don't expect what happened in youth camp to happen here, it's gonna be something different. But the sense of you know, the kids that were super nervous to go, they never left home before. Yeah, you know, they never slept out, and now they're sleeping outside well in a cabin out in the woods, you know. Um, it was there was a lot of like fear around the unknowns. Um, but to see them get there and the first night be a little bit stiff, but then by the last night, they're at the altar, they're like crying with their friends. Like, I remember with Carly, like she was really emotional and like, Are you okay, friend? And she's like, I don't know what's happening to me. And I was like, Yes, Lord, like it was just because they're having their own encounters with Jesus. And I got saved at a youth camp when I was in middle school. So that's awesome. It does. So it's like to see it happening in real time and to be able to have a hand in it, it's just like, wow, Lord, like you really do hear the prayers of your people, irrespective of age. Yes, and to put them in a place where they can have fun with their friends and have shaving cream wars and do slip and slides in the grass and be on a bouncy house and do all those things, and also have these holy sacred moments of solitude or of quiet. Like when we also did the morning prayer, early morning prayer with these kids. Wow. They all showed up for prayer. Wow. And like I would just have a little scripture and have them read it, and I'd sit in awkward silence for about 10, 12 minutes while they're reading it, and then talk about what this scripture actually means, and then now you're gonna pray about that and ask the Lord to help you apply it to your life. And they are locked in and taking furious notes, and it's just like come on, uh, that was so that's so cool. It was incredible, and I'm so like grateful that we are able to do this. Like, churches want to do stuff like this, right? Right, but they're not in the place to, and we can, and I'm just so grateful that the like our leadership sees the vision and takes advantage of every opportunity to sew into the next generation because again, like what we're building in in VBS is gonna transfer into so cool middle, and the the solid foundation that happens there is gonna transfer into youth, into young adults, into healthy communities and healthy families. Like, so awesome is the work.

SPEAKER_03 39:19

Yes, and it's so cool, it's so cool that we get to be a part of it. And I think I think even thinking about like our so-co-middle kids, it's such a tender age. It's so awkward. They're they know they're coming into you know adolescence, yeah, and they don't know what to do with themselves, like they don't know what to do with their body, it's very clunky. That's like long limbs, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:45

Like don't know what to do with them.

SPEAKER_03 39:46

Like the two like the T-Rex, like like my like my hands don't fit my arms because huge legs though. It's true, it's clunky. It is, it is. And I think to have a space that's just for them to kind of just explore it and to be weird and to feel kind of awkward, like my body is changing, but I still love Barbie dolls, and you know, I still love Hot Wheels and Legos, and you know, and I still miss my mom. And you know what I actually loved as a parent? When I got the email, it's so funny because it's like I'm the I'm like the brains behind the whole thing, but then I'm also the parent in it. Yeah, yeah. So, but still when I read the emails, uh, we got an email from one of the uh directors for SoCall Middle, and um, and she said, you know, we know that this is for some of your kids their first time away. If they have anything that they want to bring from home, especially for nighttime, they should bring that. And I thought, yes, right, like they're babies. Right. Yeah, some of them still use their stuffy, and that's okay. It's okay to still be a kid.

SPEAKER_00 40:48

Right.

SPEAKER_03 40:49

And so it's so it's so sweet, it's so special.

SPEAKER_00 40:52

I love that.

SPEAKER_03 40:53

And then we get to they go from SoCal Middle into youth. Right. So it's a short window that you have in SoCo Middle. Yeah. You have a long window in kids' ministry, a pretty short widow window for SoCal Middle, and then a little bit of a longer one into youth, right?

SPEAKER_00 41:08

Right.

SPEAKER_03 41:08

And so I actually have a reaction video because this is what our kids are going to, our so-called middle kids are going to be coming into.

SPEAKER_02 41:15

Right.

SPEAKER_03 41:15

And so I got this last week. We had a guest speaker come, um, and she sent me this video, and I watched it about eight times. The first time I couldn't, I was like, what is going on? And then I had to rewatch it.

SPEAKER_01 41:28

So if you want to play that crazy, maniacal. Oh yes. The pregame and the clap, yes. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_03 41:59

The where are the rest of my friends? Yes. So if you're listening and you were not watching, what it is, it's a shot of the guest speaker from the stage and doors open for youth night. Right. And the kids just come running in. Truly story. So the first time that I watched it, I thought it was a game because she had told me I'm gonna do some kind of game. Right. And I thought, oh, this is the game. Yeah, I didn't know. This was them just coming in.

SPEAKER_02 42:24

Wow. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So what's what's funny is before we opened doors, she was kind of in one of the aisles. Yep. And I I said, Hey, you're gonna want to move because when those doors open, they are gonna charge in here at full speed, and you will get taken down. And so she was like, Oh, okay, and moved. And then I just got to see her like from the corner, and I see her with her phone up and just the biggest smile as these kids absolutely now sprint.

SPEAKER_03 42:53

Here's my question, because this is the first time I've seen it, and I've I've spoken at youth before. No one has rushed in like that. So this is a new thing. The last time I spoke at a youth night was probably a year. Okay. It was a year ago, actually, because it was before our youth sanctuary was opened.

SPEAKER_00 43:08

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 43:09

So when I saw that, I was shocked. Now my question is, is it like that every week? Do we need to sign uh medical waivers? Like someone gonna get trampled.

SPEAKER_02 43:18

It is it is like that. It's it started when we we were temporarily in the in the main sanctuary because the youth sanctuary was being built. Yep. Um, and really I think that time away, like where we knew God really did something in those few months. And even from like the services were very stripped back because the building itself was still in construction and so we didn't have all of the sound equipment up yet, like we were kind of forced to you know, exp uh stretch like with everything. And God did something in those those few weeks and months. Thank God. I think unintentional by us, but there it was like a light switch went off in them, and there was A hunger again to just get in the room. It was back when we shortened the hangout time. Yes. Yeah. To just like, hey, come in, hang out for like 30 minutes and let's get to it. Let's get to the service. That was the best move that you could have given us, really, because that was honestly, I think, when it started, that they were sprinting in from the main sanctuary.

SPEAKER_00 44:18

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 44:19

And if you'd be like, whoa. But then once we moved to the youth sanctuary, now it feels way more because it's a little bit smaller of a space. That they, if you don't get those double doors open, I mean it's like a borderline ahead.

SPEAKER_01 44:32

No, you can't even I couldn't open. Like take off the stanchion. Like I they just they're chomping up a bit. The stanchion. Like, and I just got out of the way. Like I needed to save myself in that moment. I was like, I love it. Protect your children. Right. No, it actually is. They want to stay in the front row. I think the other thing is too, because it's um in the youth sanctuary, it's like their space. Yeah. You know, like they are really ownership. Totally. And even now that we have um Soko Middle or the uh on Sunday service, the kids going into the youth sanctuary for worship, they're now starting to take ownership of that space. Wow. They're going to the altar to worship, they're kneeling at the altar before we leave for the prayer. And so it's just it's their space, get out of the way. Right. They're here to worship the Lord.

SPEAKER_02 45:19

And it's and I can say a year ago at least, I would be on stage like tapping my foot, looking at my phone, because the way that they would like slow motion walk, right? Like saunter and I'm like, hello, that would take five minutes at least. And you'd be on the mic, like, come on, guys, come on, get in, get in. Now it's the opposite. Now you're kind of like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, right, right. But how cool is that though, right? And it's not even just like an immediate they do that and then they stop. Because you saw in the video, they come in, they get the front row, and then they get to the front of the stage for worship and they're amped. Right. Wow. Like, can't wait. Wow. That whatever the song is that's playing, they're singing it already. That happened a couple weeks ago. We were we didn't even start worship because we all just were singing. I think it was Thank God I'm free, and they all started singing onto the track. We sang like the whole song before we even turned before we even actually did our worship. They they were they did it, not us. Yeah, wow. They let it. Like there's a switch for sure that's gone off in them. And and I'm excited to see through this new year, this school year, a lot of it's like those the sophomore, like freshman sophomore, there's something in them, and I think it's almost like it still might not be refined, but that's the coolest part about it. Yeah, it's not refined and they might not know what they're doing, but they know that they want something, yeah. And that's what I can't wait to see what the heck the Holy Spirit's gonna do with that.

SPEAKER_03 46:42

That's incredible. I had no idea that this happened on a Thursday, and I think it's such a beautiful picture. Like after I watched it a few times, and I was like, Am I slow? How come I'm not getting this? After I watched it a few times, though, it was like I saw like the deeper message behind it. Like God was saying, No, these kids are rushing into the house of God. Like open that, like open the doors wide open, find any way to get these kids in because they're rushing in. And I don't know, then that just made me, you know, then that makes my brain go like, do I have more ideas? What else can I do? God, what else do you want to do? And I just feel like it's limitless. Yeah. And it's so cool because they have that, they have that hunger and they're young and they're not afraid and they're not ashamed. It's so much different when you're an adult. You know, on Sunday, you're just like coming into church. Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_02 47:32

We get to see that that change from youth to young adult age. You do kind of clam up, right? You know, that that it's like, oh, now I need to be cool. Right. And I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_03 47:42

Or an adult.

SPEAKER_02 47:42

Yeah, like, oh yeah, like I need to be more whatever it is. I don't know what they think it is, right? But they need to be something. But I love that that again we're seeing we're seeing this confidence coming out in them and this desire to run to Jesus. That I hope these are the kids that in a couple of years, when we get them in our young adult cruise, or they start showing up to young adult one nights, right? That that they'll change the temperature of those as well. I think we're already seeing it with the seniors that just graduated and them coming in, and it's intimidating because now you're bottom, you're bottom of the barrel again, you know, and you have all the older ones around you, but they are still bringing their own authenticity in worship and bringing some of that youthfulness that like don't forsake that right because I'm a young adult now. Right to your point about middle school, it's like, hey, you're still a kid. Well, hey, 18-year-old that just graduated two months ago, you're also still a kid. So true. It's okay. It's okay. Like, don't rush that.

SPEAKER_03 48:41

Right. Yeah. I hope that us parents can take that cue from our kids, like to rush to the house of God, you know, on Sunday to come in expectant and come in ready and come in excited. Like they had no idea what the word was gonna be that night. None. Right. It didn't matter. They were just like, I need to be there. Yeah, you know, it's pretty awesome. So speaking of Sundays, we have to. I know this is gonna be a quick left turn, but we have to quickly not I don't know if we can do it quickly, but we have to for the sake of time. But I think it would be really good to just kind of touch on what happened here on Sunday. Pastor Marco preached a message um about it was called the The War of Worldview. Um, he preached um the first part, and then this upcoming Sunday we'll have the second part. You have to watch it. You have to go if you haven't seen it, you have to watch it unless it's been flagged on YouTube and taken down, which I don't think so. But it's not as of yesterday. As of yesterday, it was not. Okay, great. Um, but we have to talk about one of the things that he talked about specifically was about radical feminism. And he was just talking about the trussian horses of this day and age, like you know, compassion and um what was the other word, tolerance. He had talked a lot about that, inclusivity and things like that. And I thought it would be really cool from woman, because that's a man that's talking, that's speaking about radical feminism. And I think that some woman can automatically get turned off if you're a feminist, like, oh, it's a man again. Here we go again, patriarchy, blah, blah, blah. Sure. We all have we're all in different stages of life of life. We all have uh different backgrounds and different histories. So I thought it would be pretty interesting. I'd love to hear what your take was on that that part of the message.

SPEAKER_02 50:30

My gosh, you just confidently looked right over at me. Um reverse. Okay. No reverse.

SPEAKER_01 50:38

Um I think that one of the things that Pastor Marco said was radical feminine feminism is a thing because of the idea that there's an oppressor and you're the oppressed. And I agree with that. I also think that radical feminism is such a has infilt infiltrated culture and especially the house of God, because women don't understand their identity in Christ. I really think it's more of an identity crisis than it is oppressed and oppressor. Because when you understand your identity in Christ, when you are fully submitted to his lordship, then it's easy to submit to healthy leadership or to a to a husband. And the other the other like f part of this is that because of the way culture and society is structured now, because he used the term boss lady, I was a boss lady. Like, and I like I loved being like top tier, climbing the corporate ladder, um, accumulating as much wealth and material as possible. But again, it was because I may I needed that to be my identity because I didn't know who I actually was. And um, I think also that it just doesn't feel safe um as a woman, um, or as a single woman anyway, we have a lot of single moms in our church too. Like, you feel like you have to carry the load, you have to carry the weight because who else is gonna do it?

SPEAKER_00 52:14

Right.

SPEAKER_01 52:15

But again, when you come under the covering of Christ and you sit under him, you realize wait, I do have a father that cares for me, I do have someone who provides for me, I do have someone that fights my battles, so I don't have to be loud, I don't have to fight for my place in society, I don't have to fight for all these rights because I'm seen by the one who matters.

SPEAKER_00 52:37

Right.

SPEAKER_01 52:37

And so I I was really I really appreciated his perspective because I think that we don't talk about it enough and that when we do talk about it as a church, we talk about it in a way that is almost submissive of women. Um, he like if you spend any time with Jesus, come on, right, you'll see all the different ways that he elevates women, puts them in positions of leadership, positions of authority, right? You know, and and also covers them. Right. And so that's the thing. I think it's like a matter of understanding like who you are as someone who belongs to the Lord, right? And then because you belong to the Lord, you have this covering, and so you don't have to fight for yourself. Right. And then you can move and operate in the way that God created you to be free, right? You know, without having to like crawl and scratch and grind your way to some to some I don't know, position or or yeah, like, and and also you don't have to push other people down in the process. You're able to appreciate your brothers, your other you're able to appreciate leadership and their vision because it's like honestly, pressure's off now. Yeah, there's people here to help me. I don't have to be the decision maker. What do you need? I can help with that because I was created to help. Right. I was created to come alongside and and push the mission forward. Right. But like, thank you for like carrying the weight, man of God. Yes. That's so real. Amen. That's so real.

SPEAKER_02 54:17

Yeah, so I um one of the things that pastors I I don't know, I'm sure it's not the first time that I've heard it, but it it really like hit me was when he was talking about um Adam and Eve in the garden and making the the point that the serpent didn't just happen to go to Eve first, right? But that Adam he wasn't ruling his garden, or he wasn't, he wasn't, he wasn't locked in, you know, and and he went that so the serpent was able to go and whisper to the woman first, and and we're seeing that today still, that that it's like this isn't a new thing, right? Where you're seeing kind of that dichotomy really, really standing out. Um and that I heard that and it it immediately brought me to what uh radical feminism looks like in the church. Come on, come on, that's where I kind of like in my seat start spiraling and and and and getting convicted, you know, uh like till next Thursday for sure. Um so that's that's where I've camped since was this idea, which and Pastor himself even on Sunday, like the the push at men in the church, right? Um we're hearing that a lot. And we're seeing that I think it's it's what it's echoing, unfortunately, what we're seeing in society, right, where men are stepping down, or you know, you're seeing that that that I rebuke it in Jesus' name, but that that weakness or me, you know, like to kind of step away. And if it's been happening for years, women have now started to be like, to your point, of okay, well then if no one's gonna, if no one's gonna do it for me, I'll do it for myself. What's terrifying is that is really prevalent in the church, American church as well, for sure, that I had to rebuke and I had to get on my knees before the Lord on Sunday and say, forgive me that I have I've bought into that a little bit of like, well, here I am, you know, and sure, say what, say what we want to say, but but my reality is like, but who am I submitted to ultimately? Right, right. Is it all because if it's just for the gain of a man, then good luck with that once you do get it, because it will fall short, you know, and and I I'm grateful for that perspective that that God reminded me of in that moment of like it's me. It's always it's always going to be me. Can I can I can I find enough? Can I find enough comfort and and allow the Lord to really rule my life and guide me and be that that man that's gonna give me my next steps and not lean into the church lady mindset, single woman mindset that is like, well, the men just need to rise up. And the men just need to figure it out. And and do they? Sure. For sure.

SPEAKER_03 57:04

But it's also like, but do you?

SPEAKER_02 57:06

But do you and do you maybe need to maybe do a little less actually? Are you even giving them space? Like, are you even giving them space to to lead you again? It's it's not one or the other. That's that pendulum swing, those extremes that we get so caught up in of like, oh, now I'm doing too little, so now I have to do too much. And it's like the the gospel's like, nope, smack in the middle. Right. It's grace and truth. Right. It's not either or, it's both. And you know, and so I was really grateful for that, that you know, the rocking of the boat that is that topic really helped me to be like, hang on, Holy Spirit, still the waters. First of all, my bad.

SPEAKER_00 57:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 57:47

Thank you for for checking me and opening my eyes to really what's happening right around me in my life. How can I start with like the girls in my crew, right? The single boss ladies that I'm around, that I can be like, nope, checked.

SPEAKER_01 58:01

Right.

SPEAKER_02 58:02

We're not gonna buy into that culture. Right. We're gonna be soft and we're gonna slow down and we're gonna be humble before the Lord and wait on him no matter what that's gonna look like. And I'm still trying to like I don't have that figured out. Ongoing. Right.

SPEAKER_03 58:15

It's just very ongoing because soft doesn't mean weak. Correct. Hello, yes. I think that that's where we're getting it really, really messed up. That soft does not mean weak. Right. And you know, you had said something, it's always gonna be Jesus. Yeah, he's always gonna be the Lord of your life, whether you're married, single, divorced, mom, widow, um, a widow, it doesn't matter. He's always gonna be Lord of your life. And I think that um it is a challenge. It's certainly a challenge, especially when God has allowed you a platform at whatever level it is. And I've had to kind of like I've had to kind of work through some of that because there is a part of me that is like I know.

SPEAKER_02 59:03

Yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_03 59:04

And you know, if you know my husband, it's like I'll have the I know and then I'll have the I know more. You know? But not but it's not in a it's not ever in a disrespectful way. He always hears me, he always listens, but he always has a pushback to challenge, not to demean. Right. Wow, and so what this is the part that is actually messed me up the most is now that I have sons.

SPEAKER_02 59:31

Oh Lord.

SPEAKER_03 59:32

I mean, you want to talk about something wrecking you in radical feminism, it's having a son. And me using my feminism and my I am woman, hear me roar to put him down. I mean, I it's a whole that's a whole other thing. And it's in small things. That's what that's the other part. It's me letting my sons, because I have an 18-year-old, a 15-year-old, and a 10-year-old. I'll give you a quick example. My 10-year-old always opens the door for me. We're in the car. And as soon as the car, as soon as I put the car in park, he he jets out of the car, he goes around to open it for me. And I w he's just has started to do this on his own. And a few times I wanted to say, Caleb, you don't have to do that. Like, I can open the door. And then I Holy Spirit was like, let him.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:28

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:28

He's learning to be a man and to protect you.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:30

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:32

And I thought, he's 10. I protect him. We went for a walk one time, and I was I wanted to protect him by putting him inside and not on the outside. Wow. And he came around me and he walked on the outside of me. And I thought, okay. So I saw it with him first, sadly. It's sad to say, but I actually saw my 10-year-old first.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:55

Shout out to Kaylee.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:56

I noticed it with him first. And then I start to I start to see my boys, my older boys, your young men, for sure. They want to do manly things. And I thought, you know, you have that like, but I'm your mom, I want to protect you, I want to do the things. And then at some point, you still are, you're still like their covering, and you still do protect them, but it's in a different way. Yeah. And you have to kind of let them lead. And I'm seeing it with my sons. Like, if I keep doing the feminism thing, it's teaching them how to be weak. It's not teaching them how to make a decision, how to make a mistake.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:31

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:32

In your own decision. You have to do that because they want to lead. My boys want to do those things. Like, we're in the doctor's office the other day, and there were a few chairs, and I stood up because they had their exam. So I was like, I'll stand up. And then my my 15-year-old was like, No, mom, you sit down, I'll stand. And again, I was like, You just had a surgery. Like, I'll use it. But then I thought, oh, let him thug it out. He can stand up. It's not a big deal. It's not, it's not a big deal, but it's reinforcing not what I want to do, what God wants to do. That that's what they want.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:07

Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:07

And I, you know, it's it's small things like let them bring in the groceries, like let them open the door. Sometimes I just say, hey, I I actually don't want to carry this thing. Can you carry it? Now can I carry it? Of course I can. Yeah. I work out, guys. Yes. I work out. Of course I can. Trying to trying to work on my bone density. This is not the time. I'll do that in the gym. Like let the kid, let me do it. Let them lead. Let them be the man. And then I have I honestly I have to say, I know that for some women it's hard because they've had men in their life that are not good men. Yeah. That have done those things, that have that have abused their position. And so to them, you know, I I understand how they got there, but it's still wrong. Yeah. And that's just the reality. And that's something that you have to bring to the Lord and say, like, God, I do want to submit. It's something small, like, let your son carry the groceries or let that guy open the door for you. Or, you know, let him pay if you're going on a date. Let him pay. No, you better pay. Yeah. Listen, we have told our daughter.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:11

And you know how that's even a conversation. It is a conversation. We can't even believe that it is. It is a conversation. While it's not even with me.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:18

Yes. I didn't even bring it. Right. So we get it. Listen, when my dining in Dash is like, you want to not buy it? Yes. Even when I'm with my husband, we have the same, we have the same card, we have the same account. We go to G. It's like, no. You've taken out my wallet.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:34

Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:35

I know it's coming from the same place, but it's just the fact that you're not even principle. And it doesn't feel good. That can't feel good for a man, for your girl to be like, nah, I got this.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:43

Or split it. What is that? What are these conversations? Do you want to split it? There's the door. Get out. Yeah. Actually. I'll give you something to split.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:53

We've told our kids, we've told our daughter, listen, if he, the first date, first date, if he says, split the bill or anything like that, I told her is like you pay and you drive yourself home and you can tell that guy, miss me. Because I am not. That's the first and last time you see my face. Without a doubt. No questions asked. I don't care what kind of smoke we get for this, I could care less. Correct. That actually did happen to me. Yes. No.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:23

Yes. That did happen to me once. And and and while I didn't drive to the location because I couldn't, the minute I was out of that car, it was delete my number. Yeah. Yes. Please don't ever speak to me to be a good one. Don't talk to me again. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:37

Yes. Like it's what are we? What are we doing? What are we doing? Right. But I think that there's something about, and I think men want that. I think they want to pay. I think that they want to show up with these things. I think that they want. So just like a woman wants to feel protected, a man wants to protect.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:54

Yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:55

You want to feel loved. A man wants to love you. The right man, the godly man wants to love you. So everything that you kind of innately feel, whether you want to admit it or not, you want to be loved. I don't care. I want somebody, I want somebody to save the day. Yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:11

Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:12

If there's if a if something happens in a store and something goes left and my husband's with me, yes, please fight him. Shoot him. I don't know what you're doing. Do what you have to do. But like, I don't want to touch that thing because it I it's not it's not in me to do it. Now, if it's just me with my kids, you better be scared because I will absolutely do everything I can to protect my kids. But if my husband is there, I will automatically like. He's got us. Yeah. Yes. And a man wants that. The right man wants it. That's something that is it's so it's so countercultural. But I think that if you're a woman of God and you're really like, listen, I love Jesus. He's changed my life, he's transformed me from the inside out. That's also a piece that he wants to transform because he wants things right in order. For sure. And he will. That's part, and he will. He's done it with you. Yeah, right, right. He will do it.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:00

That's so good. So that's so good.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:02

So great. This was a great conversation, ladies. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:05

This was great. Sitting yes all day long.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:08

I know too, but we couldn't have lunch. Forget we would have been here for four more hours. All right. Thank you guys for tuning in.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:15

Thank you. Thank you.