Ordinary People Extraordinary Things

110. God Works in Both the Instant and the Long-term with Sarah-Jane Meeson

• Nancy Bruscher • Season 8 • Episode 110

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Sarah-Jane's journey begins in the unexpected transition from England's Sherwood Forest to Australia's Sunshine Coast, a bold move that ultimately led her to a life-changing encounter with Jesus. Growing up in a nominally Christian household but facing trauma and depression in her youth, Sarah-Jane spiraled into unhealthy patterns before making the decision to travel across the world for a fresh start.

What follows is a remarkable story of transformation that illustrates the beautiful contrast in how God works. In one profound moment at church, Sarah-Jane experienced Jesus removing what felt like a heavy, water-soaked World War II trench coat from her shoulders, instantly lifting the burden of her past pain and mistakes. This immediate deliverance stands in stark contrast to another significant spiritual marker in her life: receiving a prophetic word about "widening her tent pegs" from Isaiah 54, a direction she's still unpacking years later.

This duality becomes a powerful reminder for listeners navigating their own faith journeys. In a culture demanding instant results, Sarah-Jane's testimony validates both the immediate miracles and the long, seemingly silent seasons of waiting. 

Whether you're experiencing a wilderness season or seeking encouragement in your faith journey, Sarah-Jane's parting wisdom resonates deeply: "It's okay to not have all your ducks in a row... God totally has this, even if it just doesn't feel like it in the moment." 

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Here’s the podcast interview mentioned in this episode:
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We all have a story, all of us, share your story. You don't have to have the perfect answer or the perfect life - share what Jesus is doing in your life. This is an easy, real way to witness & share your testimony.


Nancy Bruscher:

You found Ordinary People, extraordinary Things, where we share everyday stories of faith and hope. Today we get to talk to Sarah Jane and she comes to us from Australia.

Nancy Bruscher:

She has a story of how God worked instantly in her life, and then a time when God gave her a verse, and years later she is still waiting to see what that actually means in her life. I love the two ways that she shows God and what that actually means in her life. I love the two ways that she shows God and how he's worked in her life. I am so excited my book is out and available on Amazon. The Legacy Heirloom Journal gives you a place to preserve your heirlooms, with space for photos, guided questions and reflections. I will have a link in the show notes. Now let's get started with Sarah Jane. Welcome to Ordinary People, extraordinary Things. I'm here with Sarah Jane, thank you. Thank you for being on.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

Yeah, no worries, it's awesome to be here today in sunny Australia.

Nancy Bruscher:

I know you're coming from Australia. Can you tell us where for us Americans who don't know that much about Australia?

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

So I'm about an hour above Brisbane, in a place called the Sunshine Coast, which its name does not precede how it is. We've had rain for the past two weeks and it has been torrential. We've had cyclones. It's been crazy, crazy. So sometimes it's sunshine and other times it's just wet it makes me want to go there though well, it's warm wet, if that helps. It's not cold wet like.

Nancy Bruscher:

Colorado now is it humid.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

Yeah, yeah, we're about 98 humidity at the minute because of all the rain. So it is close, it's hot, it's sticky and I have the aircon running 24 7 because, if you haven't guessed, I've also got quite an English accent mixed in with Australian. So I'm used to, I've been used to hot. I went back to the UK where it was nice and cold, and now I'm back in Australia in a really hot place, like hot as in humid place. Um, so it's taken a while to adjust, but you know, give me a year and I might get there now, where in England are you from?

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

I'm from Sherwood Forest, so I don't know if you've heard of Robin Hood the king of thieves, yeah. So, um, the county's called Nottinghamshire and, um, I live 20 minutes away from Major Oak, which was Robin Hood's tree. So, um, yeah, I was born in Yorkshire, though, so I class myself as a Yorkshire lass that grew up in Nottinghamshire. There's a distinguished when you're Yorkshire, you claim that you're Yorkshire.

Nancy Bruscher:

That's so cool. London, england, has so much history. I'm a history major so I love history and I actually got to go to England for four months during college. I got to live there and I got to work in the cabinet war rooms in London oh yeah.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

Churchill's war rooms. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, they're awesome.

Nancy Bruscher:

I love the war rooms. I know it's fantastic, like tiny little museum, that's just amazing. But uh, I just I have this endearment to to England because of all of that yeah, no, london's fantastic.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

So I was probably three hours above London, um, and I had never actually been to London until I was in my adult years, like you. Just you don't go to London as much as you might think. Everyone thinks London, england, but, like the locals, avoid London. But as I've gotten older and love history too, I totally appreciate London and all all the history, the Romans coming in like even far back as that, it's all really cool it is.

Nancy Bruscher:

Well, it's probably like Colorado, where there's a lot of people that live here and they don't go skiing. You know, it's just probably the same kind of thing, so Totally yeah. Well, if people don't know who you are, can you give three words or phrases to describe yourself?

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

Yeah, I was stunned by this question because you don't often describe yourself, but I was like, well, I've got a few friends. If they were to probably say three words, it would be loyal, bubbly and encouraging.

Nancy Bruscher:

That's good. Can you give an example of encouraging? I feel like we could all use some encouragement. What, what makes you good at being an encourager?

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

um, okay, here's an example. So, um, in my spare time, I do, uh, weight lifting and power lifting. I've recently moved up to the sunshine Coast and joined a powerlifting gym. I met up with a friend there who lives on the coast already and she said, or she made a joke about um, that's okay, I'm gonna smash you in numbers, like you know, just making a joke, and I was like I I said back to her I'm actually not here to compete with you, I'm here to support and encourage you.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

Like this is a sport where it's you are against yourself. You can be against others if you want to, but for me it's to race against myself. So please don't feel threatened that I'm here. I'm here to encourage you and support you. I'm not here to make you feel insecure or to look at your own numbers and think this isn't good enough, like that's not where we're at. It's not about the numbers, it's about what do you do that brings you joy, what makes you feel strong and how can I encourage you through that process.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

So that's where that kind of fundamental and I try and do that throughout all my life it's not just in weightlifting, it's in business. Nancy came on our podcast before um and was sharing her story and and stuff like that, and I think we're all each given our own unique journey. How can I encourage you in that journey? And you were saying that it's not about the numbers, it's about God and your relationship, not about your numbers in business, and I couldn't agree more. Like how can I encourage you with where you're going? I don't care what money you're making like, we're here to support and encourage you yeah, and I I see that with what you do with Christian women in business.

Nancy Bruscher:

right is there. You're trying to bring women together to encourage one another, not to like go against one another, and I need that client, so I'm going to go after it and then you don't get it. That's such a minimal mindset and what I've found is, through podcasting and getting to meet all these wonderful people, is how we can encourage one another and we can be like hey, you should talk to this person. You should really like get onto this magazine and just like try to help each other to grow, because it's not this oh, if I get this podcast invite, then you don't.

Nancy Bruscher:

and oh, it's just so ugly and I feel like I haven't seen that and it's been so neat and encouraging, like you said, to see that in a business and in a ministry.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

Yeah yeah yeah, so wait, I'm not perfect, but that's how I try and live life. Sure, you know. Yeah, let's lift each other up.

Nancy Bruscher:

Yes. Well, what is your testimony? And if someone listening wonders what that word means, just how did you come to faith? How did you learn about Jesus?

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

Yeah, yeah, so I grew up in the UK and not in a Christian family at all Well, kind of Christian, but not we didn't go to church every Sunday. Christianity is kind of throughout the whole of the UK. It's its foundations. When you look back in history and I was explaining to you, you were asking oh, what do I call you? You know, do we say Sarah Jane? And I was like Sarah Jane or SJ, but you can't call me Sarah because Sarah Jane has a meaning. So my dad had a meaning for my name, kind of grow up in a Christian household, but there was little snippets along the way that God had put in there without me realizing until years later.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

So growing up, I went through some things that weren't that nice, which I know a lot of women have gone through themselves. There was some sexual assault and some just not very nice things happening and that, as a teenager and in my younger adult years, kind of led me to quite a rebellious life. Um, I was trying to find love in all the wrong places. I went to a really dark, deep depression. Um, I couldn't get death out of my mind. It was just sorry I should have censored this. There's some sensory stuff coming up. Um, if it triggers, you stop. So, yeah, it was a really dark time and I was about 19, 20, when I probably reached the the pit you might call it. So I was drinking every night, I was sleeping around, it was just. I was a mess. I needed help. I couldn't get death out of my mind. I would work myself into the ground at the gym, um. So when it came to nighttime I would pass out and not have to think about all these awful thoughts. It was just not a very nice place. My mom kind of saw what was going on. She got me in with the doctors and we got immediate psychotherapy and all the things to help with the mental health stuff.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

And after about six months of working with a psychotherapist and like really working on myself, um, I was in a much better spot, which was amazing. And we kind of I was about I was just coming up to my 21st birthday. Um, we both kind of said I think it's time for a fresh start. And so the UK um, they give you compensation if bad things happen to you for victims of crime. So I'd applied for this compensation, I'd gotten it and come into the place with my psychotherapist. So you know it's time to start a new chapter, and so we both talked about it and we both agreed that it was a really great time to travel.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

I wasn't running away from everything. I was in a really great time to travel. I wasn't running away from everything, I was in a really good spot. And so I just looked on the map and was like where's the easiest place to work and travel? And it was Australia. So, um I, literally a month later, I booked my ticket. I turned 21 in the June. I bought my ticket um July 31st this was 2008 and I sold all my stuff and I hopped on the plane and I came over to the land down under, which was crazy.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

Looking back, I've got no family here or anything. It's just it me, myself and I. And so the only work I did cadets growing up, army cadets I don't know if you have that in the US and it's a great initiative in the UK to help young people. So I've done kayaking, I love the outdoors, hikes, etc. So the only work that I could find when I got over here as a traveler on a holiday working visa was doing outdoor education and outdoor guiding and see that a girl jumped. We had to share bed like not share bed, share rooms with other guides as well. And we were on this one camp and this girl just was like want to share a room. I was like sure, and she got in the top bunk and we just hit it off.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

So, as an outdoor guide, when you're in that season of your life you're like out in the bush for six days a week. You come back, you have a shower, you wash your kit and then you back out again like it's. It's a whole lifestyle, you don't really have a life out of it. And so she invited me to come and stay down at hers to sleep on the floor and wash my kit and do all the things before we're back out again. And so I met her and her housemate and I just knew that they had something that I didn't have, that I knew I needed to have, but I didn't know what it was. They just had this amazing piece. There was just something there that I just I could see, but I couldn't get my hands on, I couldn't quite know how or what it was. And then they explained to me one night that they were Christians and they run a bible study and they're having a bible study that night. And if I wanted to join in, I could, but there was no pressure and I was like, hey, I'm, I'm traveling, were Christians and they run a Bible study and they're having a Bible study that night. And if I wanted to join in I could, but there was no pressure and I was like, hey, I'm, I'm traveling, like I'm open to new things, so I'll come and see what it's all about. And that was when I kind of said a prayer that I was like, hey, jc, you don't know who I am, but here I am, I'm SJ, it's nice to meet you.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

How naive was I, and that's kind of like kind of where it started. So I didn't give my life to Jesus there, but that was kind of the introduction. And then I just started journaling to this guy who I didn't really know, but I knew I needed to start journaling to him. And so I went on a wild adventure over the summer of that year, came back to the, the town that where I was kind of basing myself out of, and those same two friends got me a room, another friends at their churches. They were really sweet. They let me live there while I was trying to figure everything out and, um, they just said, oh, we're gonna go to church one day and I was like, oh, can I come? And they were like, sure. So I joined them and there was a few things happening in the church at the time which was really interesting, but it meant that the pastors had to step out and they brought some temporary pastors in and this particular guy who came on, his name was Kevin Myers.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

He runs the care force courses that are based out of Australia and he had such an interesting sense of humour that I could totally relate with. In the UK our humour is very slapstick, it's very comic and I just resonate. He wasn't from the UK, I just he had that and so through his talk I just I was completely engaged the whole time and at the end I could feel my heart go in and they did the altar call and I can only describe as what felt like I was wearing in World War II. They had them big wool jackets when they were in the war, like trench coats, they literally them, and it felt like mine was full of water, it was heavy, and I was just wearing this big trench coat and Jesus just literally came behind me and said I'm going to take this trench coat off of you now. And it was all the stuff that had happened in my past, all of the yackiness, the gooeyness. And he says says I'm just going to take that away. And so he took it away and he's like you're new, you're brand new, like this is a renewal of your heart, your soul, everything. And so that night I gave myself and my life to Jesus.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

And that was 2009. And, yeah, it's been a wild adventure ever since then not like all the way up to Christian women in business and then beyond Christian women in business. It's just been like transformation, like after transformation. And I'm the kind of person that when I say I'm in, I'm all in, like I'm not just gonna dip my toe in, I'm all in, I mean hence moving to Australia, like, yeah, I'll pack up my suitcase and move to the other side of the world, let's do it. And so, yeah, I've just been all in and God's been all in, and it's just been, it's been amazing, so, yeah, wow, that is an amazing story.

Nancy Bruscher:

That's an amazing story. The thing that just kind of came to me was just like this feel I loved your idea with the trench coat and the water, and then him saying like just give that to me and these like new clothes, and and I think that sometimes we think that this stuff has to happen over a long time, and sometimes it does, but sometimes it's immediate, like that, and that's so beautiful and it wasn't even like I was given a choice.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

He didn't ask. He's like I'm taking this Right Like there was no question. There was no doubt. It was instant. This is my big heavy trench coat. I'll take it. It's not yours anymore, yeah.

Nancy Bruscher:

Do you still? It seemed like there was a lot, a lot there in when you were growing up. Does I'm sure that you still talk about it, or you still think about it, and does it define you though? Does it how?

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

what happened when I was younger, you mean?

Nancy Bruscher:

yeah, those things that you said were really heavy and icky and yucky and no, not at all.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

They don't define me in any way, shape or form. There's been times where I've had to work through stuff, for sure. But no, I always try and use things as a strength and you know, no, I'm not going to stay in the victim mentality. Yeah, that stuff happened to me, but it doesn't mean that's who I am and it doesn't mean that my life stops there, no way. I use it as a power to be able to share stories and shift things and like share the love of God. And it doesn't matter what you've come from, doesn't matter what you've been through. Jesus is there and is there to meet you where you're at.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

I was talking with a friend who's also in business the other day and she was sharing. You know, she went through a time of really plugging her business and wanting to move forward and like make stuff happen and hustling hard. And then she got really sick with I forgot what you call it, but it's the balancing thing in your ear where, if it goes wrong, it makes you feel like you're on a ship all the time and she couldn't walk and stuff. And Jesus met her on the couch one day and said you mean just to me now laid on the couch, not being able to do stuff, than what you did when you were hustling hard in your business, and I just think that just shows where God's heart's at. And we think we have to hustle and like, do all these things and be all this to other people where Jesus loves us in our darkest as well as in the good stuff.

Nancy Bruscher:

Right, yes, yes, you said that your name, sarah Jane, meant something. What does it mean? You said your dad gave you the name.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

Yeah, I did research a couple of years ago to see what my name meant. And so Sarah in itself means princess. And then Jane originates from John and John means grace. So my name means princess of grace and, sorry, my dad gave me that name. And when we built our relationship back up after a few years, I said, dad, do you know what my name means? He's like yeah, I was like did you give me that on purpose? He's like of course I did. I knew exactly what I was doing. And he prophesied without even knowing. He knew what the name meant. But he didn't know what the name meant, if that makes sense. And so he prophesied over my life, knowing that I was going to meet Jesus, and he didn't know that. And I just think that's so beautiful. And then you know, you meet Jesus and you're like oh okay, this is what this life's about.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

Like, this is what it's about, this is my inheritance, this is where I do life from and, like you were mentioning in our podcast, the great commission, this is it. And how did I get a name of princess of grace? You know, with all the ungracious things you go through and things that happen, and then you're like, no, yeah, princess of grace, okay, we're here, let's do this. God. Like, how do we do this? How do we live this out?

Nancy Bruscher:

that's so good. When did you start christian women in business? And then what I saw on your website that just really struck me is you said that you were given a word to inspire women, and if you could share that.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

So this is back in 2014, 2015. I'd gotten into digital marketing. Instagram was kind of new then. Facebook had been around for a while. Online businesses were starting to just poke their heads up. Online businesses were starting to just poke their heads up um, this was when instagram was still like a square grid of just pictures, like that was it. The algorithm was you saw people's posts the time that they posted them and they were in order. It was like back in the simple times, right, like, take me back to the simple times. And so I've been doing the digital stuff, learning about it and then doing it, and then decided people started asking me about it. So I kind of moved into a mentoring role as well.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

I was at a conference similar to, um, your story. Actually, it was a Christian business conference. There was only a few. Back then. We had one and then this other guy had one in Australia, and so I went and I was like, god, I feel like I need to start putting you out on social media, and so I was like stood at a fork in the road do I go down that path or do I keep it secular with my marketing?

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

and I just felt, no, I need to start putting your word out there, and so I did.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

I changed my marketing, I began to include God into things, and this was all very new. Back then too, this woman picked up on it in Melbourne. So I lived in Sydney way at the time and she lived down in Melbourne. She was like, oh my gosh, another Christian woman in business, like we need to talk, and so we met up on I think it might have even been Skype back then. We met up somehow, we just got on like a heart, like our hearts just connected instantly. It was such a God thing. And we were like where are all the other Christian women in the world? Like where are they all? And just before then I'd gone into the kitchen. I'd had noticed that my husband then had written on some post-it notes and he written estuary strengths to inspire women. And that was it. That was the word. And so when I'd seen that, and then when Meg's my friend Meg's, who I'd met on Instagram, kind of said, you know where are all the other Christian women like hiding out?

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

where are they? We we need to find them Because there wasn't that many. There wasn't communities back then, like this was all new, and so we went on a hunt. We couldn't find any. And I was like, well, I've got this post-it note. We can't find any communities out there. Should we make one? And so I looked for the domain Christian Women in Business and it was free.

Nancy Bruscher:

Dot comau was free we were like, let's do it and that was it.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

So Megs is a graphic designer. She was like I'll take care of the brand inside if you can take care of the website stuff. I was like I can totally take care of the website stuff, no worries at all. That was 2016. 2017.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

We officially launched yeah, it's just grew from there. So we knew we needed to start a community. We've got our values, which is encourage, strengthen and unite. So we want to encourage women in their day-to-day journey of running businesses. We want to strengthen them through the word of god and we want to unite women together as well. So that brings in the conferences, the podcast, our in-person retreats and now our online quarterly fight thrive business reset. And it's been a wild journey. We've had women join from all over the world, not just australia.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

Like I said, we started just as a community and then we moved into a podcast, we created a magazine and things have just been like a layer and like I think that was from you coming on our podcast before this. We were talking about that, about trusting that we start off with the simple and then we build on top of that in our businesses and God's just been building up. When we were launching, I was like, oh gosh, I've never done a launch before, like an in-person launch. How do this Like what is it that we need to do? And I was worrying about it and I just had a woman contacting me randomly on Facebook saying, oh, I'm thinking about doing this Christian business conference. Would you like to come and launch CWIB at the conference?

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

I was like, yeah, and so God had even sorted out the launch. Like I just literally needed to rock up, say my speech, we did a little wah-ha and then we were like officially launched. So God's just been amazing. It's been a wild journey. We're such a niche business in such a niche market and you know, our podcast has reached so many people I can't even like I don't even know how. But yeah, it's been amazing and we love what we do and we're nearly at 10 years now, which is crazy. Time's gone really fast. But yeah, it's interesting to see what God does next.

Nancy Bruscher:

Yeah, interesting to see what God does next. Yeah, can you think of one thing in specific that you've seen God do that? You were like, yeah, I couldn't have done that, I couldn't have figured it out. I know you said the launch, but is there another thing like that where you're like, oh my gosh, look at this, what he's done.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

I have this idea and it came out this way, or some something like that my biggest thing in this whole thing this is kind of a really roundabout way of answering your question, but I think the biggest thing for me is being in this position.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

I'm a facilitator, so I'm the vessel that God's using on us to facilitate this and to just be the human on earth to do it, which means the privilege of that is I'm able to create spaces for the women to connect with God. That's essentially what we do, whether it's in our conference, retreats, podcasts, whatever it is. We're allowing a space for the women just to settle their hearts and to meet, like meet jesus where they're at, not that they don't already know jesus, but just in that time. Let's just stop a minute, like let's just be still, and it's within those moments that allowing the women to have that space in their life that they're able to get direction, answers, whatever it is that they need right now for them in their journey, where they are at and hearing the things that come out of opening up that space for me is like seeing God at work and it's the biggest privilege. And it's the most unexpected, the most unexpected and I hear stories years later that did I not tell you about the SJ?

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

I'm like tell me about what they're like. Oh well, back in conference, whatever ever like, we did this thing. And then I heard from God and I did this biggest pivot in my business.

Nancy Bruscher:

And it's been like blah blah, blah blah.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

I've been like what? No, you did not tell me that. And it's so amazing to hear years on from that little bit of space where, as a leader, you have different things going on in your life. Right, you don't want to share them all the time. You know you might be creating this space for women, and then in the background, you've got all these different things going on and you're like God, like all this crazy stuff's going on in the background in my life. I can't be here for these women today. I need you just to show up and to do your thing and to love on them and all that stuff.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

And he does, he does, and it's in our beautiful messes that we're going through in life and, as a leader, we let go of the reins and let God come in and give him that space of when amazing things happen and the anointing is just so sweet and the love that Jesus just pours out on the women like that, for me, is like it's not the unexpected story, but it's the I've got nothing, god. I brought these women here to see you today do your thing and then, like I was saying years after, like you're a mess in the background as a leader going oh my gosh, god like my feet underneath are doing this. And then he's met them, women, in that time, and given them something so unique. And then they've run with that. And then the years later, you're getting oh my gosh, this happened like this. And now this has happened. I'm like, oh my gosh, this is so cool.

Nancy Bruscher:

This is why we do it. Oh, that's good. I think it's a good reminder, too, that we shouldn't try to have it all together, that we should be relying completely on God, and when we get kind of too good or too comfortable with what we're doing, we've probably not asked God, we're probably just trying to do our own thing, and God's like hey, I'm here, you need me, I'm gonna you know, and so I think that's a beautiful reminder yeah, yeah, I mean there's been lots of different stories of the unexpected, of God showing up for sure, but I think, like that really is for Christian women in business and what we do that's the cherry on the top is those moments for sure that's good.

Nancy Bruscher:

Well, we will for sure link all of this stuff in our show notes. I want to ask you what is your favorite bible verse or story?

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

yeah. So I was given this bible verse a few years ago a fellow who is quite influential in my spiritual growth, knowledge of the bible and all that kind of stuff. And we were just chatting one day and I was like, look, I don't know what to do with this direction. I'm feeling stuck, blah, blah, blah. He's like xj, azaya 54. I was like, okay, he's like it's time to widen your tent pegs. I was like, okay, what does that mean? And so you look at azaya 54 and it's explaining how sarah abraham's wife hadn't had kids yet, but god had told her to start extending her tent pegs. So the thing hadn't come yet, but she's preparing for it. Okay, this is amazing. Sat with it, god. Where in my life do I need to be planting these tents? Like what is it that we need to be preparing for? And I never got an answer.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

And then we held a retreat a year after and we did a prophetic session. In the retreat, as a group, we were just spending time and if we felt god was wanting to share something with that person, we had paper or however it is that we wanted to express what god was showing. And so it was my turn and I got my piece of paper and I looked at it and then it was Isaiah 54. So this completely random woman had no idea that I'd had this conversation with my mentor came up with exactly the same thing. I was like, oh my gosh, god, what does this mean? You're sharing it with me and I don't know what this means.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

And then we had another retreat, completely different location, completely different group of women, and almost exactly the same thing happened. Only it was a zire, 55 and 56. And she said look, you've extended your tent pegs now, even though I had no idea what I was doing with that, but now it's about building your tribe. So like one thing had led on to the other, with completely different, random people that God had just shared this like one word, I'm like, okay, we'll just go with that if I'm not getting anything back. And then re-shared it and then was like, okay, we must have reached this now.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

So now we, like you've extended your tent pegs. Now it's about building the tribe, which in CDYB, we're all about building community, and so that's kind of been a theme for maybe six, seven years now, and I still don't really 100% know what I've done, if I've done anything. I still haven't had an infinite answer of these are the directions that you need to take, but I'm just going with it. Okay, we'll keep extending the tent pegs in this part of my, however, capacity, whatever it is. So, yeah, wow, watch this space.

Nancy Bruscher:

Wow, okay. So first of all, I've never heard that come in from a favorite Bible story. That is so fun. But what I love about the stories that we've heard from you today is is that we've heard of something that God did just right there, right with the like when you gave your life to him. And then I hear, okay, god, what is it? And there's nothing for a year. Yeah, and I love that because it's real right and it shows us different aspects of who God is and what our journey is going to be. And so thank you for sharing those two really different things, because I think that sometimes, if we don't have this or we don't have this, maybe we think we're doing something wrong, and you've just so lovingly showed us that God just works in so many different ways and it's just really beautiful.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

I mean, yeah, you look in the stories of the Bible, right, we see Job Things didn't happen in a day. We see Joseph Things didn't happen in a day for Joseph. He ended up in prison, his brothers rejected him, you know all these different things. And then we've got like Isaac with Abraham, which was instant. He was about to sacrifice his son and God was like well, I think it was an angel, said no, like no. And then you look at Job, you look at everything else, moses, nothing kind of happened now, like sometimes it did, sometimes it didn't. And I think, because we're in such a world of everything needs to happen now and happen yesterday, buy this now. Marketing is around us all the time. If we're not striving like 110 percent, are we even worthy? And God's like no, no, this is the word we'll. We'll just ponder for a little bit, for a few years, and we'll see what happens. That's so good.

Nancy Bruscher:

What are you grateful for.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

To make it to today, like every day, is a blessing. What a reef over my head. I've got food in my tummy, I'm healthy. I'm just grateful for that, because when you have that, that, you can do other things for others that's good.

Nancy Bruscher:

What kindness have you shown or what kindness have you received in the last week?

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

just yesterday. Uh well, the day before the driver bell for my alternator on my car went, which is really annoying, and on my way up from traveling from sydney to the sunshine coast I hit a kangaroo. So I've had lots of car expenses. And yesterday I got a mobile mechanic out and I thought it was going to be x amount. And he's like actually there's going to be two belts that need to be changed and it's going to cost this amount. And I'm like okay, so this is what I have in my bank account, which was not near what the guy had quoted me. He's like oh, I'm like yeah, I'm sorry, this is all I can give you. He's like hang on a minute. Like I just met the guy. I'd explain that it's a bit bash because the kangaroo, but everything should be fine behind it.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

It's like and I think he just really felt sorry for me and he was like hang on a minute. And so he did his things and he bought it way down to under what I had in my bank account and I was like, oh my gosh, I am so grateful for your kindness today and he worked really hard and some things didn't go right in the van, but he got there in the end and he fixed it and I was just like I am so grateful for your kindness today. I was like I can't offer you much more and it was kind of warm. So I went and took him out an ice lolly, like a chalk ice lolly thing that I had. I'm like I can't offer you much, but here's an ice lolly. He's like, oh, thank you, I really needed that. I'm like it's okay.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

So, yeah, just the unexpected kindness moment where you're like, okay, this is actually all I've got, and he's like don't worry about it, Like let's work with this. His kindness from a stranger.

Nancy Bruscher:

Yes, that is so kind. Thank you for sharing that Well, I've loved our conversation today and can't wait to see what God's going to do from people listening to this and how they're going to relate to your story. Thank you for coming on.

Sarah-Jane Meeson :

Yeah, it's a pleasure. And if you're stuck in a hard place or you know things are just going on in your life, it's okay. It's okay to be in a wilderness season, it's okay to not have answers, it's okay to not have all your ducks in a row. Um, I've never felt like I've known where any of my ducks are. They're out there somewhere. But take each day at a time. Take just keep taking steps. Be grateful for today. God totally has this, even if it just doesn't feel like it in the moment. Right now, you've got this as well thank you for that.

Nancy Bruscher:

On ordinary people, extraordinary things your story is his glory. I'm so glad you tuned in today. We will be back in two weeks with a brand new episode. I wanted to take a minute to thank you. Thank you for sharing these podcasts. Thank you for encouraging me and letting me know how they've impacted you. Without you, ordinary People, extraordinary Things would not be possible. We are so thankful that you continue to listen, continue to watch on YouTube and continue sharing these stories, because at Ordinary People, extraordinary Things, we truly believe that your story is His glory.