Making Peace & Beyond Podcast

00:00:00:10 - 00:00:20:04
Speaker 1
Have you ever wondered how to make sense out of your messy life? Or how to live in peace in the middle of a stressful world? My name is Jamie Norton, and I want to welcome you to the Making Peace and Beyond podcast, where we talk about life struggles and how to live in the peace, joy and freedom that Christ died to give us.

00:00:20:07 - 00:00:46:10
Speaker 1
Hello. I'm just really happy to be here today with you and even more happy to be here today with Vanessa Alcantara. It's very hard to say as a Southern woman, but if I slaughter it down, deny. Is it a girl? Vanessa is the mother of three children and has a nonprofit called Soul Scan. And I want to hear more about that and more about you.

00:00:46:10 - 00:00:48:21
Speaker 1
Vanessa, would you tell us a little bit?

00:00:49:00 - 00:01:22:22
Speaker 2
Yes. Thank you so much for having me here. I have already enjoyed our morning and our chatter before recording. And yes, I my husband and I are the founders of an organization called Soul Scan, a not for profit and basically is a space that we create for women to help them deal, heal and grow from anywhere, from an emotional trauma and pain, to creating a space for community and just for women to come together and bond.

00:01:23:00 - 00:01:57:05
Speaker 2
The main thing that we have going since 2019, we've had a women's conference. We've got our minds have been blown already at how God has used this conference for women to come together and connect and build each other up and just grow in the Lord. So we actually have one coming up at the end of June. So June 30th and July 1st will be having Soul Scan Women conference here in Mansfield, Ohio, and we'll be featuring are yours truly.

00:01:57:05 - 00:02:10:22
Speaker 2
Jamie Naughton, on Saturday, July 1st. And we'll be doing a wonderful interview where I know that it will impact a lot of women. So yeah, that's a little bit of what we do and what's happening.

00:02:10:23 - 00:02:37:01
Speaker 1
You know, in this time of isolations, especially since COVID, there have been so many people that have not rejoined community or been in community. So I'm really excited about what you're doing and what that has to offer women. Women sometimes have a a really hard time connecting. Yeah. And to give an opportunity to do that, especially women who have been hurt and to really be honest about who you are and what you've gone through.

00:02:37:01 - 00:02:59:08
Speaker 1
And so this will be a lot of fun. I'll really look forward to be in with you. And I'm excited about all of that today. What we had talked about talking about is how to help people live where they are, to live in the present to. We have such a tendency to run so fast. We don't live in ourselves.

00:02:59:08 - 00:03:24:12
Speaker 1
We we are always worrying about things, always going somewhere, always trying to get to where we're not. And it's just really hard to stop and just be with God. To be with yourself. Mm hmm. And I know for me, I have a strong tendency to do that. I'm always going somewhere and always been somewhere. It's been. It's. It's just really hard to.

00:03:24:18 - 00:03:36:14
Speaker 1
To rest. Yeah. And when we were talking about what to talk about, that was one of the big topics that I think helps people to heal. We can't heal where we not we can only heal where we are.

00:03:36:14 - 00:03:37:09
Speaker 2
Yes.

00:03:37:11 - 00:04:04:21
Speaker 1
And and so tried to look at what is it that draws us out of ourselves. I mean, in the garden, you know, that was how that was Satan's ploy. Yeah. Where you are is not good enough. Where you are is not complete. You need something more than what God has given you in order to be okay. Yeah. And that was the temptation that said, you know, if only you had this other thing, you would be happy.

00:04:04:21 - 00:04:22:10
Speaker 1
You would be better, You would be more like God. You would be more powerful and in control. Mm hmm. And and that's been his ploy ever since, is to pull us out of being content in the garden that God has planted. Yeah. So would you speak a little to that in terms of how it is, how you think about it?

00:04:22:11 - 00:04:52:10
Speaker 2
Oh, yeah. I think that is that the enemy is always at work, just as God is at work. But he's always trying to find a way to pull us away from that Eden, from that place, that sacred place where we. Where we are able to connect with our vine and where true fruit can come to life can come out of that space.

00:04:52:12 - 00:05:20:16
Speaker 2
But if if he can suck, suck us into that hamster wheel of busyness and that constant need of doing something, I feel like it's his trap. Because not only are we distracted from our true vine and our relationship with Christ, I feel like it becomes a space where he it's an open door for him to confuse us as far as where our identity really stems from.

00:05:20:18 - 00:05:43:11
Speaker 2
It's not now, it's not from Christ. Now all of a sudden it's we we find value in what we do and what we're busy involved in. We find distraction from. We don't want to sit. If we stop, then we find ourselves sitting with a whole bunch of stuff that we're not really feeling like. I don't really have time for this.

00:05:43:13 - 00:06:05:04
Speaker 2
I don't have time to sort through all this. I don't want to sit in this lush and and then you find something to do. I find that some women, sometimes in men as well, that deal with loneliness, they don't want to sit in that. So instead of taking advantage of that time of solitude and really diving deeper and relationship with Christ, it's like, Whoa, I don't want to deal with the loneliness.

00:06:05:04 - 00:06:16:10
Speaker 2
So let me go and volunteer here, here, here, here, and say yes, yes, yes, yes. You know, and when we say yes to all of these things, we kind of say no to.

00:06:16:12 - 00:06:17:03
Speaker 1
Ourselves.

00:06:17:03 - 00:06:17:19
Speaker 2
Ourselves.

00:06:17:19 - 00:06:24:15
Speaker 1
And to real relationships. Yeah. As nothing lonelier than being in a crowd, being a human doing and not a human being.

00:06:24:15 - 00:06:25:05
Speaker 2
Exactly.

00:06:25:06 - 00:06:43:05
Speaker 1
To be able to stop the things that pull us away from God, also pull us away from each other. You know, so I think that is something to really, really ponder. And I tell people sometimes God does not love you in the future. He does not love you. In the past. He's in the future and in the past.

00:06:43:05 - 00:07:04:20
Speaker 1
But you're not you. So he can only love you where you are. So keep your head and your body in the same place. You know, because we do have a tendency to never experience our experience. Mm hmm. And we just don't. We don't really allow ourselves to be present with the person. I start to think about myself. And what is it that pulls me away?

00:07:04:21 - 00:07:29:19
Speaker 1
Mm hmm. And one of the big things is greed, you know? I mean, I am, you know, greed and performance and greed and expectations. Yes. And, you know, that whole perfectionism thing and the whole accomplishment thing. We live in a world that defines success in a way of accomplishment. You're you're you know what? What you do becomes important rather than who you are.

00:07:29:21 - 00:07:53:02
Speaker 1
And but I am so wanting to do everything, yet I want to be involved. Oh, that sounds like fun. This sounds challenging. I really want to help over there, you know, and and it's all about wanting to be more than human and not really looking at what I can truly do. And I've practiced lately trying to think things through.

00:07:53:04 - 00:08:11:14
Speaker 1
I happen to be in a community that is extremely active and does a lot of good stuff and a lot of fun stuff, and I want to be a part of it all. And I'm old and I'm pretty limited when it comes to all this stuff. So, you know, I need to think it through before I say yes.

00:08:11:14 - 00:08:33:13
Speaker 1
Can I really deliver? Can I do justice to more that I'm already doing? And actually, most of the time the answer to that is no. Even with friendships, I mean, I think, you know, deep friendships take time. Yeah. And, you know, we have God given boundaries that we keep trying not to have. Right. You know, we're limited by a physical body.

00:08:33:13 - 00:08:56:21
Speaker 1
We're limited by time we lived here by space. You know, we just really can't do more than we can do. And, you know, we talk about boundaries a lot. But what I find is that people don't recognize that we have two kinds. We have God given boundaries and choice. Boundaries. Yeah. And within our God given boundaries, we can make choice.

00:08:56:21 - 00:09:02:15
Speaker 1
But I keep trying to make God, you know, choose more than God gave me. Yeah. You know, Yeah.

00:09:02:17 - 00:09:13:10
Speaker 2
I think we live in a society and culture today that says at least for millennials and this generation, that you can do it all.

00:09:13:12 - 00:09:14:16
Speaker 1
You know, like.

00:09:14:18 - 00:09:46:00
Speaker 2
You got to go. Go after it. You hustle, you, you grind, you, you know, you can do all and be all that you can be. Because when you do, you get blank. Fill in the blank. When you achieve this, you will have like everything you've ever wanted. You'll have happiness, you'll have peace. And all of this outcome is counterfeit to what really we have available to us.

00:09:46:00 - 00:09:52:01
Speaker 2
If we kind of scale back and really get our source from.

00:09:52:03 - 00:10:11:17
Speaker 1
I think I think the economy is really good at tempting us to go after what we already have. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we already have security. Yeah, we already have an amazing identity as a child of God and created in his. We always we already have all of the fruit of the spirit available to us. Right. Love, peace, joy, goodness, patience, loyalty, self-control.

00:10:11:17 - 00:10:37:22
Speaker 1
We already have all of that. And yet we're told we don't. Yes, you have to go after it. And it does it it does it ever please us. You know, if we seek it on our own, I think that would be my source of happy joy. Whatever God only can give us. Then it never. I mean, I remember even as a child, you know, oh, I'll just want a bicycle.

00:10:37:22 - 00:10:54:08
Speaker 1
I'll be happy if I have a bicycle. And I would anticipate and that would be the exciting part, and then I'd get it. And at first it was very, very relieving. And yes, yes, look at it. I've got it. And then a couple of days later, it's like, I don't I don't want to play with that. Or maybe it's a wrong bike.

00:10:54:12 - 00:11:19:14
Speaker 1
Yeah, it didn't give me what I thought it would. Right. And what we know now is that the anticipation is what where we get sort of a dopamine rush, you know, and then when we get it, that's accomplished. And then we get depleted and then we go after something else. So it really is a pretty snazzy kind of plot on the enemies part to make us never satisfied.

00:11:19:14 - 00:11:52:08
Speaker 2
Exactly. I think we find that being constantly driven by busyness, it produces fatigue. But if you're constantly driven by being connected to the vine, that is what produces fruit, that brings life, that brings actual nourishment to our souls. I remember seeing a diagram of a health in the health world where they say, you know, you are what you eat.

00:11:52:10 - 00:12:13:14
Speaker 2
And that has that diagram of the body and has the chicken legs in like burgers and fries, all the yummy stuff. And then it has the other diagram of the body which like fruits and broccoli and vegetables and all these other things. And it's like, okay, well, if you depending on what you have inside of your body, it's fueling you or not fueling you.

00:12:13:15 - 00:12:38:21
Speaker 2
And I think it's the same way spiritually, you are what you consume. So if we're constantly consuming busyness and doing and getting our values from that and even what we're listening to, even what we're watching, I think a lot of times we numb out by saying, you know what, I just need to unplug. Okay, I do need a break, so I'm going to relax and I'm going to just binge on Netflix.

00:12:38:23 - 00:13:11:15
Speaker 2
I'm going to watch my favorite show. And then you get this addicted like compulsion of like, okay, just one more episode, just one more episode. And you call that relaxing, you know, and like unplugging. Like if you're going to gain a sense of relief and relief of stress and ultimately you're not you're you've just you've just consumed some intoxicating things that are still slowing you down and it's not giving you that fruit that you actually want the piece you miss out what's available to you in the present.

00:13:11:17 - 00:13:31:09
Speaker 1
Yeah, I think one of the things I've learned to pay attention to is how my body is feeling. You know, when I start to feel anxious or afraid or tired, it's like, stop right where you are. Take two mental steps backwards and breathe and cry spirit, because you just outran your faith and then you do the next rate thing.

00:13:31:09 - 00:13:43:10
Speaker 1
Because all we can ever do is a next rate thing, right? And we're sort of, you know, but if we're in our body and I've noticed even in the grocery store, like you go to the grocery store and and you're in a.

00:13:43:10 - 00:13:44:12
Speaker 2
Hurry, of course.

00:13:44:17 - 00:14:01:13
Speaker 1
Know, you go in as fast as you can so people become an interruption. And anybody else's needs become an interruption, because I already got my day full. Right. And so I'm in the grocery store and I'm in the checkout line and I've gotten into the shortage checkout line to try to get out of there quickly as.

00:14:01:14 - 00:14:02:16
Speaker 2
I can't see anybody.

00:14:02:16 - 00:14:29:19
Speaker 1
The person in front of me has 800 coupons and I see those coupons come out and I'm like, angry. Yeah, how dare you? Don't you know who I am? I am busy, you know, Get out of my way. Yes. Because I'm going somewhere. And if I stop right there and take those two metal steps backwards and breathe in Christ spirit and get back in my body.

00:14:30:00 - 00:14:32:15
Speaker 2
Mm hmm.

00:14:32:17 - 00:14:59:14
Speaker 1
And do the next rate thing, then the whole vision of the place changes. You'll see somebody cute, baby. You'll see. Yes, You'll have compassion for the poor little clerk who's having to deal with all those coupons. You'll see, you know, you'll see the sunshine, you'll see something different, because now you're in the present and you're in your body and you can be where you are and you'll still be getting out at the same time.

00:14:59:16 - 00:14:59:23
Speaker 2
Right?

00:15:00:02 - 00:15:06:09
Speaker 1
But your mental and physical state when you get out of there is going to be totally, totally different.

00:15:06:11 - 00:15:30:23
Speaker 2
You know, as a mom, I hear that and I hear you loud and clear. And even right now, I think I think of moments where it's absolutely chaotic. I have an 11 year old and then I have a five year old and then I have a three year old. We have age and tremendous age gaps. And they all have different needs and they're all in different stages.

00:15:31:01 - 00:15:50:02
Speaker 2
And it feels chaotic when my oldest wants help with her homework and then my five year old is fighting with the three year old and they all want my attention. And Mommy, Mommy, there's mommy. They know I was talking first. You know, like it's like, you know, how in the world can I find my sense of peace right then and there?

00:15:50:06 - 00:16:18:21
Speaker 2
Like it sounds like a dream to say, okay, Vanessa, go to the bathroom and gather yourself. Sometimes it's like, is that really what it's going to take for me to recenter myself and who I am in Christ or does that kind of demand in my life require intentional time for me to pull away? And sometimes going to the bathroom doesn't cut it, Sometimes taking one minute doesn't cut it.

00:16:18:23 - 00:16:49:23
Speaker 2
So I find that I think of even Jesus in the Gospels where he was out doing all these miracles and doing all these things, but he will pull away. It says, Look, 516 that he will pull away from the multitude and spend time in solitude, and he will constantly do that. Why? It's because he knew that he needed to meet with his father and connect to the vine to regain the strength that he needed to go back.

00:16:50:04 - 00:16:56:22
Speaker 2
And I feel like I my desire is to constantly imitate that. I'm not good at it.

00:16:57:00 - 00:16:58:15
Speaker 1
Not yet. But it's just.

00:16:58:17 - 00:17:28:08
Speaker 2
Yeah, but like the pulling away from the multitude, the pulling away from the tasks, the pulling away from the demands, the people that are in your life that you lovingly pour into you love them, you know, the family, the friends, and maybe clients and all that you love doing that brings you life. But I feel like we have to be intentional about pulling away and looking at what's in front of us.

00:17:28:10 - 00:17:50:12
Speaker 1
I think part of that intentionality is recognizing that the initial response is to try to control what we cannot control. So when your kids are all demanding things, the temptation is to do something to control the chaos. And so we get pulled out. And when we try to control what we cannot control, then it starts to control us.

00:17:50:14 - 00:18:12:04
Speaker 1
And then we become more and more irritated and we become actually, you know what we hate? You know, we don't like it that they're yelling and screaming and fighting, and yet we end up yelling and screaming and fighting. And, you know, they're going to they're going to pull us out. And so if we are not intentional about noticing that we're at the end of ourselves.

00:18:12:04 - 00:18:45:10
Speaker 1
Yeah. You know, and and pull it back a minute and taken that breath, then you're still going to have screaming kids. But the way you respond is differently. You stop being a reaction to their action. You start being able to respond. I mean, responsibility is just the ability to respond, right? And so what we're doing is pulling back and and say, these are children, you know, the world's not going to end because they're mad.

00:18:45:12 - 00:19:05:23
Speaker 1
Yeah. I mean, it's like I look back now that I'm old, I look back on a lot of things, but just I mean, you see all of those things that were so important were really important. And especially in jobs. I mean, you know, it's not your job that's going to take care of you when you're old. It's not your it's not your job.

00:19:06:04 - 00:19:35:21
Speaker 1
This going to care anything about you within six months after you leave, you know, and and yet we all put more energy into the job and give it priority over the very people, the children and the and and the partners a spouse that has it is is it's there with you. And we take for granted that those people will still be there when I get done.

00:19:35:23 - 00:19:41:23
Speaker 1
And that's one of the things that comes into my office a lot is people that took people for granted.

00:19:42:01 - 00:19:43:00
Speaker 2
Regrets.

00:19:43:02 - 00:20:12:15
Speaker 1
And just assume when I get done with my life, you're going to still be there to meet my needs. You know, and that does it work really well, right? So it's it's really loving the people. God, our ministry, I believe, is everyone that God brings into our presence. Yeah, it is right where you are. We tend to think as visionaries as I got to go overseas or shop there to be doing God's work, you know, you get up in the morning and the first person you see is your ministry.

00:20:12:17 - 00:20:14:03
Speaker 2
Yeah, I love that.

00:20:14:04 - 00:20:20:18
Speaker 1
And, and that's true all day. And when we forget that, then we start discounting people.

00:20:20:20 - 00:20:22:06
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00:20:22:08 - 00:20:29:00
Speaker 1
Or making them less important than who we think we would be if we were serving somewhere else. Right?

00:20:29:00 - 00:21:00:07
Speaker 2
Yeah, right, right. I think that's absolutely right. I think of a time in my life where I just had a lot going on. It was around 2015 and I was we were campus pastors at our our then church and we were leaders and I was mentoring, I was coaching, I was working with the dean of students. I had a full time job working at our and that college where we went to college.

00:21:00:09 - 00:21:02:04
Speaker 1
I didn't realize you went to Nyack.

00:21:02:04 - 00:21:02:16
Speaker 2
Yes.

00:21:02:17 - 00:21:05:03
Speaker 1
Yes. Great school.

00:21:05:05 - 00:21:23:08
Speaker 2
Yes. I was a psych major in Bible, a minor in Bible. And yes, I'm wife, I'm a mom, I am a friend. I'm doing all of these things. And then 2016 happens and we transition and move to the big.

00:21:23:10 - 00:21:25:13
Speaker 1
Oh eight.

00:21:25:14 - 00:21:56:04
Speaker 2
So high. And I found myself with none of those roles. All of the sudden I went from being extremely busy doing all these things. Oh, may I add, I was freelancing, doing hair and makeup at weddings and like all of these extra things. And I came to Ohio and for the first time ever, I'm a stay at home mom and I'm finding myself with all of this time and space and realizing I was I had to grieve.

00:21:56:06 - 00:22:19:20
Speaker 2
I had to grieve who I was then and ask the Lord, Well, then what is in front of me now? I feel like I don't see anything because I think yes is right in front of us and all these. But I think sometimes we don't see it. We don't see it because we're blind, blinded by all the like realizations of like, wow, I probably really found my value in all of these things.

00:22:19:22 - 00:22:40:00
Speaker 2
And not in Christ or man. I feel so far removed from the richness of my relationship with Christ, and now I have nothing. Who am I now? Oh, am I just a mom? Oh, why am I thinking of it? Just a mom. There's something wrong with me. You know, like you just are going and spiraling. And I found.

00:22:40:00 - 00:23:11:05
Speaker 2
And that Jesus was inviting me into this journey of just knowing him, knowing him, and from that, knowing what would come out of that would birth out of that. Oh, my goodness. Was life. I have the Scripture. Would you mind if I read this quick? Go right ahead. Would you mind? Let me see. It is Philippians 310 and it says, But whatever word gains to me, I now consider the loss for the sake of Christ.

00:23:11:07 - 00:23:33:07
Speaker 2
What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ and I found that in that space.

00:23:33:09 - 00:23:53:14
Speaker 1
It it is as I as I grow older, I find more and more that I'll live out of the spirit. You live out of your soul. You know that It's like there's a central part of us that doesn't grow older is not connected to time and space. It's the same part that experienced your childhood, that experience, your teenage years, that experience, everything else.

00:23:53:16 - 00:24:19:03
Speaker 1
And it's it's where the Holy Spirit is and it is who you are. And in essence and everything else, all experiences, relationships and everything else just kind of come along and go away and come along and go away, you know? And one of the things about growing older is it is a process of let go of everything. And I'm learning to hold everything in everyone very lightly because my friends are dying, my family is gone.

00:24:19:03 - 00:24:42:04
Speaker 1
I'm like the oldest person alive in my family. Other than a couple of people who are having difficulty with thinking. And it's and so, you know, I'm the matriarch. My cousin said, Well, welcome to the launching pad. Oh, great. It's like, but but there is but a fan that is like the knowledge that the only thing that is permanent in our life is Christ.

00:24:42:09 - 00:25:00:23
Speaker 1
The only thing that is that we got to go out of here with is Christ. And, you know, our loved ones can usher us to the door, but they can't go through it with us. And so there is a need to to really hold on to what is important. Yeah. And to me, it's like a crisis, like an umbrella in the storm.

00:25:00:23 - 00:25:24:15
Speaker 1
There is a rainstorm going on, life is full of storms, but there's an umbrella that we can see the storm, but we don't have to be of the storm. We don't have to be in the storm. You know, we can. We can walk through it. Yeah. With peace and safety and and comfort and and really be able to help others find that umbrella.

00:25:24:15 - 00:25:42:12
Speaker 2
Yeah. Yeah. And I think busyness is the thing. The number one weapon, if I may say that the enemy uses to distract us, pull us right out from under that umbrella. No, but here, like, if you get on this side, you can create your own power.

00:25:42:14 - 00:25:59:09
Speaker 1
So what we do is we try to go out in the storm and get all the plants and all the people involved in all the everybody else in. We're trying to control the storm, trying to fix the storm and rather than invite people under the umbrella, you know, and Christ invited us, he didn't go out and try to fix it.

00:25:59:11 - 00:26:26:12
Speaker 1
You know, he didn't say, I'm going to change your world. I'm going to make it good. I'm going to give you the the the one thing that I hear more people say, you know, when they get ready to do something stupid is I'm just not happy. He didn't say I'm going to make you happy. He said, I'm going to give you joy because when you are in my presence, you can see me smiling at you with a twinkle in my eye because I love you and I want you to be with me, right?

00:26:26:14 - 00:26:34:01
Speaker 1
You know, And so when you when you get over yourself and you get finished, I mean, the whole word ego is about edging God out.

00:26:34:01 - 00:26:35:22
Speaker 2
Yeah, I love that to me. Yes.

00:26:35:22 - 00:26:53:23
Speaker 1
And and and when you when you can begin to really just rest in me and I'll bring into your life, he goes before us, you know, if I cut my leg, I don't know about the cut until about 4 seconds later. I didn't create the cut. I am not the author of truth, but I can become aware of truth when I stop.

00:26:54:03 - 00:26:54:11
Speaker 2
Yes.

00:26:54:15 - 00:27:14:22
Speaker 1
And really allow him to bring into my life the things that I need and take away from my life. The things that are not within his plan for me. Right and right. And that is that is just been I mean, is I don't do it well that world still better than I used to be. We die that progress and that perfection.

00:27:14:23 - 00:27:16:12
Speaker 1
Right.

00:27:16:14 - 00:27:41:14
Speaker 2
Right. Yeah. You know, if I can be vulnerable, I for a long time struggled with feeling in certain circles, whether it's family or friends, feeling like I am. This sounds funny. Like a Jesus freak.

00:27:41:16 - 00:27:42:03
Speaker 1
You know.

00:27:42:09 - 00:28:16:07
Speaker 2
And, like, struggling, like, okay, I like you so, like, extra spiritual with the Christian ese and all this stuff. And I if I am extremely honest and I have these conversations with myself, I, I just love, I love the presence of God. I love being in his presence. I love what I gain by sitting with him and and just gleaning from the spirit.

00:28:16:09 - 00:29:03:15
Speaker 2
Because I know that in my flesh and in my own trash, all my own is garbage, you know? But when I let go of all those other things and I just intentionally, intentionally set aside time to be with him, sometimes I get crazy, and even though I'm a mom of three, I love getting up at 5 a.m. You know, even when I mentioned that in certain circles, they're like, Oh my gosh, it sounds like, oh gosh, you're 5 a.m. girl, you know, okay, but I've found that I get what I get from that is just I regain a new strength, a new level of strength, and I engage with the true Prince of peace.

00:29:03:17 - 00:29:23:08
Speaker 2
When I engage with the true prince of peace, what comes out of me is peace. What comes out of me is love and patience and kindness towards my kids instead of yelling at the top of my lungs, you know, So what I gain from that, I can't I can't replicate it anywhere else. I think I want to give that away.

00:29:23:13 - 00:29:40:15
Speaker 1
I think it takes real trust. I mean, that's the that's the key. Do we really trust God has our best interest? I know my daughter says, you know, she has two things she always relies on. God is sovereign and God is good. And I have to say, when God loves me, because for a long time I thought I was unlovable.

00:29:40:17 - 00:30:08:23
Speaker 1
And to know that that I have a good God who loves me, gives me the ability to trust, to trust that he has my best interests at heart because I don't know my best interests. Every time I try to figure that out, I've been fed up. But to to to not worry about the future, to not I mean, Mark Twain said one time, I've had horrible experiences in my life, 95% of which never happened, because worry takes us out into our own understanding is our world we create.

00:30:08:23 - 00:30:28:09
Speaker 1
Yeah, you know, we'll think, Oh my goodness, that's terrible. If that happens, then this is going to happen and it's going to be awful. And we catastrophize. And so we're drawn out into trying to control what we cannot control. We're out in the rain. We're And so to pull it back and say, you know what, God, you know what's going on, you know, I don't know what's going on.

00:30:28:09 - 00:30:45:08
Speaker 1
And I really hope this is a short chapter because it's not fun. This is your story is not over yet. Yeah. And so let me just rest in you and do the next thing and trust you with where it goes. Yeah, because I don't know. You can't control what your children are going to become. He, you know, they have free will.

00:30:45:08 - 00:30:55:23
Speaker 1
God loves us with a perfect play and he gives us a perfect love, but he leaves us free will. And I'm sure that sometimes he regrets that. But it's like.

00:30:55:23 - 00:30:56:18
Speaker 2
Oh, there you go.

00:30:56:18 - 00:31:27:01
Speaker 1
Again. It's me again. God, I did it again. But I wrote a very we have we have such an an opportunity to enjoy the creation he's given us and to really rest in that. And so I have really hoping that those people who may be listening today will take time to rest. Yeah, you know, it will take time to ponder.

00:31:27:02 - 00:31:54:21
Speaker 1
I think our addiction to screens and technology has really given us take it away. If I had the ability to ponder, to be quiet, I grew up in a world that could ponder. I remember going out and watching, making pictures out of clouds and making change out of clovers and and just doing things that that were quiet and restful and creative in nature because we didn't have television, we didn't have the media.

00:31:54:23 - 00:32:13:21
Speaker 1
And so it was it we didn't have this constant click, click, click, click, click, do, do, do, do, do. And it was just it was very to really take time to a couple hours a day to. Yeah. Have nothing, no screen in front of you. Nothing. Put your cell phone down. Yes. You know, after you listen to us.

00:32:13:21 - 00:32:16:13
Speaker 2
Right. Right. Yeah. Do this.

00:32:16:13 - 00:32:31:09
Speaker 1
Yeah. Let's do this and that. Yeah. Yeah. And so again, I wanted to just ask you about the conference again and the day of it and how to get in touch with you and Yeah.

00:32:31:14 - 00:33:04:10
Speaker 2
So the conference is going to be June 30th and July 1st, and it's in Mansfield, Ohio. It's going to be at Crossroads Church, our home church. And it's a woman's conference and it's a space where if you want to recharge, need the the community and want to meet new friends, you want to maybe reconnect with the Lord, maybe you need this reset.

00:33:04:12 - 00:33:25:08
Speaker 2
Sometimes we need to just hit the refresh button. And we're afraid to do that because we don't know what to do with the blank page or what to do with what's going to come up. So my desire is for a soul scan to be a space where you could see what the red letters on the pages look like.

00:33:25:11 - 00:33:44:17
Speaker 2
Jesus, his words, his way, his his space, where you can regain strength and understanding and inspired, get inspired to make a change in your life and have fun. So there'll be tears, There'll be laughter.

00:33:44:19 - 00:33:51:04
Speaker 1
LAUGHTER and tears tend to go together. Yes. They really didn't get lost. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's.

00:33:51:10 - 00:34:21:06
Speaker 2
We'll have Jamie on Saturday and we'll have breakout sessions. They're going to be of three different opportunities to have to pick from five different sessions. And they're going to be rich and great. The link will be posted on the show notes where you can register if there's a social media handle, you can follow us on social scan women in an Instagram or even Vanessa Alcantara.

00:34:21:06 - 00:34:27:13
Speaker 2
You can find me and follow me there. I tend to post some encouraging stuff. And so yeah.

00:34:27:15 - 00:34:48:16
Speaker 1
So it's been such a great thing to have you here. It's really good to see you. I haven't seen you in a while and it's been really, really good to see you and and really good to be with you. And I just would encourage you also to if you enjoyed this podcast, we have others that we have a presence on TikTok or on Instagram.

00:34:48:16 - 00:35:10:03
Speaker 1
We have a website making Peace and Beyond. Everything is under making peace and beyond, and we would appreciate any comments if they're good. We don't want your bad work, but please give us any any comments or replies that that you have and and just really appreciate you joining us today. Thank you and God bless.