Ordinary People Extraordinary Things
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Ordinary People Extraordinary Things
112. How Five Women Built Faith-Driven Work That Lasts with Kelly, Shelsea, Amanda, Sandra, & Cecilia
Five women share how they build ministries, write hard stories, and stay obedient when timing, support, and strategy don’t go as planned. Courage meets clarity as we trade hustle for trust and learn to let God promote what He starts.
• practical lessons on starting, scaling, and structure
• perseverance through fear, delay, and warfare
• hustle versus surrender and Spirit-led timing
• promotion that points to Jesus, not self
• family resistance, boundaries, and forgiveness
• community, collaboration, and activating gifts
• discerning seasonal shifts and assignments
• obedience, purpose, and bearing light
Connect with these ladies & their ministries...
~Amanda Mercer: https://www.hiscollectionapparel.com/
~Kelly Levatino: KellyLevatino.com
~Shelsea Becker: https://linktr.ee/ShelseaLyn
~Cecilia McGaw: https://a.co/d/fW13LHg
~Sandra Lawson: https://sites.google.com/view/sandrallawsonbooks/home?authuser=0
Watch the whole interview
https://youtu.be/npDdaaX5BxM
Cecilia's 1 on 1 interview: https://youtu.be/UoTmKr6vr7g
https://generationstogenerations.com/podcast
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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.
Welcome to Ordinary People Extraordinary Things. I'm your host, Nancy, and we are doing something so fun today. We are doing something that I've never done. We have five other ladies on this podcast, and I can't wait for you to meet them all. It is going to be jam-packed, so hold on. And I can't wait to see where this where this goes. So we are going to start out by having every lady tell three words or phrases about you. And then we're going to get into some really amazing things because these ladies are on fire. They are in ministry, and I want to hear what they're doing and some great things that are happening. And also, like, how do you stay focused? Or what happens when someone you think is there for you isn't. So we're going to get into some great things. So, Shelsey, could you start us out? Could you give us your name in three words or phrases?
SPEAKER_04:Yes, absolutely. I'm Shelsey Becker. And I actually asked my daughter, so what three words would you say would describe me? And she said, kind. And so I think that's really good. Um, I'd like to add under there that I'm kind of quirky. I don't think she would call me quirky, but I probably what I would call myself. And uh creative visionary. Those would be my three words. Phrases.
SPEAKER_00:And then what do what do you do as far as your ministry? Could you tell us that as well?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, so I have Lynn Ministries. Lynn stands for Love Your Neighbor. It's my middle name. Shelsey Lynn, it's my daughter's middle name, Savannah Lynn and my mother's middle name, Tamara Lynn. And so it's a legacy of loving your neighbor. And underneath that umbrella, we do the She Will Conference. It's a one-day discipleship conference that travels the nation. We also have Girls Week in God's Way retreats. We're also building a speaker network. Lots of great things are happening over here at the Lynn Ministries, but we're all about discipleship, getting in the Word of God, and women championing women.
SPEAKER_00:Amazing, amazing. Kelly, would you mind going next?
SPEAKER_03:Sure. Uh witty goes with humor, uh, loyal, and um probably more humble than anybody, except maybe Moses. Moses wrote that he was more humble than anybody else, right? Um so I I probably give him a run for his money. Amazing.
SPEAKER_00:And what's your ministry?
SPEAKER_03:So I'm independent, and churches hire me to come do uh women's events mostly. I uh can do stand-up comedy. I do clean stand-up comedy. Um, I can do church comedy, I can do um bring messages. My background is uh I have a master's in biblical studies, and um I just love to teach and preach the word, depending on your denomination.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, yes. That's a whole nother thing we could get into. Maybe not.
SPEAKER_03:That's a whole nother thing we're not gonna go into too.
SPEAKER_00:Um, Amanda.
SPEAKER_02:Good morning. Uh okay, so three words. Um I'm gonna go with adventurous, uh bold, and kind. Many other people would describe me. Uh and as far as ministry, so um, I'm the founder of his collection apparel, which is a faith-based brand, a Chrysler brand. Our mission is to reflect the light and love of God into the world. And we currently do that by creating Chrysenter Apparel and then hosting community events where we're able to create revenue, which becomes a stream that then uh flows back into the kingdom. And we um we help to spotlight other ministries and uh nonprofits be in the hands of being the Jesus.
SPEAKER_00:It's amazing. Amazing. Sandra?
SPEAKER_01:Hey, um I'm an author, and uh my author the book that I actually wrote was about my testimony of surviving um uh childhood abuse. But I'm doing things out of order because I'm supposed to say three things first. I was like, oh, um I've uh somebody gave me a word the other day, so I'll use what God gave them, which was they called me valiant, which I thought that was really cool. Um I've also been described as fierce, but a phrase that I want to throw in there is um something that was actually from Theodore Roosevelt. And he said, for those who fight for it, life has a flavor, the sheltered will never know. And uh, and so as as far as my testimony about surviving narcissistic childhood abuse, that was incredible sadism that was happening. Um, I ended up writing my testimony about it. And so my hope and my goal is that individuals would be able to read, read the novel, read what happened, and be able to understand that that regardless of what your background is, there's always hope and that that Jesus can do absolutely anything, regardless of however you started. And so that's that's the that's what I want to be able to to leave behind with with these printed words is proof positive that Jesus can absolutely conquer any demon that you're facing.
SPEAKER_00:Amen. Cecilia, it's good to have you back. She was on my podcast. Uh I don't know how long ago, lose track of time, but we're excited to have you back. Can you give three words or phrases for anyone in your ministry?
SPEAKER_05:So it, I mean, I don't know if anybody else did. I know Shells did for sure, but I also last night I was like, three phrases, let me think. And I'm like, that's too long. How about three words? So that I couldn't come up with any. So I asked my husband, I'm like, what three words? And I um so I'm gonna tell you the ones that he told me because I'm like, yeah, that that's me. So the first word that he said for me was resourceful. You know, I use everything that um either I'm gifted with or I'm entrusted with, um, and I use it to serve others. So um the other word is passionate, and that is something that um yeah, I've always been. I thought it was obsessive, but I'm gonna go with passionate. Once I have my eye on something, you know, um, I am laser focused and you know, I I accomplish it, I try to accomplish it. And now through God's strength, you know, I mean, all things have been just really cool, the things he's entrusted me with. Um, and then he used the word dog it, and I was like, dog it, I don't even know what that means. So I so he looked it up for me. He says it's not what it sounds, and so um it's determined and persistent, especially in the face of difficulty. And so I thought, wow, I'm really dig and dog it. So I'm dog it. Um, and it's something that I've always been, um, and I believe that God wired it into me because of the environment that I grew up in. And so I'm an author. Um, and I write about my story about being smuggled into the country and living under someone's identity for many years. And so that word dog really resonates with that because um there were many difficulties, and I didn't realize it then, but through God's favor, I was able to overcome that. Um, and so um, so yeah, and as far as what I do, well, I'm an author, I am also a speaker. Um, I recently started speaking with um Lynn Ministries for the She Will Conference, which has really been a really exciting and cool journey to really have front row seat of what God is doing in other people's lives. I also have a ministry called Testimony Gathering, where we come together once a month with a big set of women, and it has just a beautiful rhythm to it. Um, and we are seeing so much breakthrough, and we're seeing women really remove masks and be their authentic selves and embrace that. And to me, like that's the most beautiful thing because that's what I was freed from, delivered from, right? Um, and then I also lead in women's ministry in my local church with a bunch of other amazing women who just come alongside me and we link shields together, we support each other, we um keep an eye out for each other's blind spots, and um we sharpen our shields together or sharpen our swords together and polish our shields together. So it's really cool.
SPEAKER_04:So you know, Cecilia, my grandmother would say, hot dog it.
SPEAKER_05:Hot dog it. I I just learned this word last night, and I think I've dropped it like 20 times already. I'm like, dog it.
SPEAKER_00:Great. So this will be, I won't call on you guys probably, just if if something comes to mind. But the first question I have is what have you learned about either writing a book, speaking, or beginning your ministry that you wish you knew before?
SPEAKER_04:I I have an answer. I wish I had business classes. That is really what I I wish. Um, you know, it's cool as it started, it started small and it's grown, and now we're into like this full-fledged organization. And like that operates completely different than the way we first started. And what used to work no longer works. So that would be my thing is I wish I had some business knowledge behind that. Maybe I would have learned some things quicker had I had that, right? I would have implemented a different structure earlier, and so yeah, that would have been cool. So I've just been praying for strategy, and God has been bringing me people who already have that knowledge, and so that's super cool.
SPEAKER_05:So for me, I was thinking about that um on my drive to work this morning, and I'm like, okay, what do I really wish I would have learned? And I feel like somebody would have told me early on not to give up. Um writing a book has probably was probably the hardest thing that I've ever done, and something that I never even, it was even on my radar to do um because of my background. I was, you know, undocumented, therefore I didn't speak the language. So I was illiterate for many years. So when the Lord put into my heart about 12 years ago, like that he wanted me to write, I thought that was the most ridiculous thing. I'm like, I can't even spell like very well, and I have to like reproof my reproof read my words. And so um, so I started writing and I backed off from it many, many times because I allowed the enemy to start whispering in my ear and telling me like that's you can't do that. Um, your vocabulary is not big enough, you know, you you're having to look up words like every other word, and um but so I stopped and I wish that I wouldn't have stopped because perhaps I would be further along than I am as far as you know my writing skills. However, I'm thankful. I'm thankful that um that it came in this timing, and I do believe in God's timing. But if somebody could have told me, don't quit, because when we are purpose and fashioned for God's kingdom work and we have our marching orders, the enemy's gonna want to come in and he's gonna want to come and steal that and tell us how we are unqualified and tell us how you know we don't have the skills or the resources or whatever. Um, and if we get tripped up on that, it's gonna make us march around the mountain a few more times before we arrive to the destination that God is calling us to. So if I can tell my young self, don't quit, don't listen to the enemy, and I would have been more aware of the spiritual warfare. Um, that's what I would tell myself. But that's also what I would tell anybody else who is feeling a longing or a burning to start something, to write something, to speak, to share, to start a ministry, to start a small group, to invite a neighbor for coffee, like that's smallest step. Like, don't quit and don't give the enemy space to whisper in our ear. Like, let's learn to daily remove our spiritual wax. And as I'm saying this to all of you and whoever is listening, I'm actually kind of repeating that to myself this morning because there are days that are hard, even today.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I'll piggyback on that because it it flows into what I was gonna share, which was um, you know, what did I not know uh when I was beginning a ministry or whether it's writing or any kind of adventure, right, that you're going into or starting a business. Um, the biggest challenge is yourself. Like whatever you decide to do, um, you will end up really having to face parts of yourself that you didn't realize you had, um, that you didn't realize you didn't have, right? Like Chelsea was saying, the business background side of it as hers has grown. Um, Cecilia, kind of the perseverance, right? And the fact that the enemy does come in. Yeah, like the enemy is absolutely going to try to stop you from reaching the potential of what God has for you. And the beautiful part of a journey like this of just saying yes to God and whatever he has placed in your heart to do, is that it will cause you to look at the parts of yourself that you either don't want to, that you don't realize you're there. Um, and then it will put you in a place to where you have a choice to really make of you're either going to push through and overcome, because the Lord will absolutely do that for you, or you shrink away. And even that is so eye-opening, right? Like Cecilia was saying, the times that she stopped or paused. And I relate to that. I've done the same thing where I've allowed um, I've allowed the whisper of the lies to be larger in my mind than the truth of God's word, and that has stagnated some time in my life. But at the same time, looking back, I don't regret those moments because now it's it's what propels me to, oh no, like I'm not gonna keep doing that. I'm not gonna keep making those decisions. Like I am going to do what I need to to persevere and ensure that I'm um getting rid of anything in here that's hindering and advancing to the next level because God will take me there, but am I gonna choose to partner with him to do it, right? Am I gonna choose to to really look at the mirror, look in the mirror and recognize what may be going on in me that needs to uh change or come out through deliverance or healing, anything like that.
SPEAKER_04:Thank you for that. Scriptures tell us he moves us from glory to glory, right? So that's right.
SPEAKER_02:That's right.
SPEAKER_04:There's always this change that's happening.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, well, and that can be a yeah, and that can be a good recognition of if we're not moving from glory to glory, what is stopping us? Like if we look back at, you know, if you look back at your life a year ago, if you don't see growth over these past 12 months, well, something is stagnating you, something is hindering you, um, because you should be moving from glory to glory.
SPEAKER_01:I wish I had just gone ahead and started and just started my book sooner. I had my father told me when I was in high school when he was asking me what I wanted to do, uh, and I would told him I I knew I knew from I knew from uh being in the third grade I wanted to be a writer. I knew. And uh and I when I told him that, he was like, no one cares about anything that you have to say. And it stuck with me. And so I didn't I didn't really write anymore at all after that. And so I didn't start writing until I was in my 30s. And uh, and that was when it took, it took and like this random guy that totally was hearing from Jesus, and he he rattled off my entire life in like two minutes, which is impressive because it's seven books that I've written. So I'm like, dang. So in two minutes he rattled it all off. And and and I was like, how do you do that? And and I was clearly he was clearly hearing from Jesus. And then he was like, and I said all of this to say this is to you. You need you you're supposed to write a book and it's about you. And uh I I started the following day. And uh in the writing process, I have to say that uh if if you're if you're writing to honor Jesus and you're and you're writing and it's not drawing you closer to Jesus, it's not gonna be drawing anybody else closer to Jesus either. And so, so when I was writing, I was healing. And so I want to encourage anybody that wants that, that feels the draw to write their testimony, write your testimony. If you get triggered while you're writing it, stop writing, stop, pray, and ask for healing right then and there. And by the time you're finished with your first draft, you're gonna have so much healing, you're gonna be a totally different person at the end of that journey. And then you get to start over and edit. And if you're still getting triggered, there's another layer that needs to go. And so I just if I for anybody that wants to that wants to write their testimony and share, I would say that would be that would be something it would have been good to know earlier on, because I probably would have gotten a lot more healing a lot faster if I went ahead and just got started.
SPEAKER_05:Amen. 100% agree. If I could piggyback, just say something really quick, Sandra, is that there is so much power in um transparency, right? And when we write that out, yes, it's painful in the moment, but it does usher in the healing. And then it it really gives us the strength to really um go into those wounds that leave deep scars that sometimes are a lifetime to just refill and speak life into, right? And so I love that that you said that 100% agree. And it does it happens for the reader too. I'm sorry, Kelly, I'm excited to hear it. Yeah. That's okay.
SPEAKER_03:I was just gonna say, you know, the way I'm thinking about this question, when I first started, I have a very formulaic logical brain. And um I struggled with balancing, hustling to get somewhere and waiting on the Lord and trying to figure out, you know, I need to knock on doors, but I can't kick them down. He's the one that orders the steps. And so um, you know, I would just hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle and get nowhere, get no opportunities. And that would be a discouragement initially. Um, but I would say what I wish I knew then was that that was the Lord guiding and to not view it as a negative, to view it as He's leading where He wants you now. Um, and you have to stay sensitive to the Spirit on that. Um, but you you do have to do your part. You can't just sit at home and magically an opportunity is gonna appear. Um, but there is that balance. And I so I would say don't get stuck in the hustle side of it so much that you leave God out of it, essentially, um, and just learning to balance that.
SPEAKER_00:That is so hard. That is so hard. And do you have any other ideas, or does anyone else have any other ideas on on how to do that, or is it just continually working and then pausing and praying and making sure that you're you're on the right steps?
SPEAKER_03:My my story is um well, partly just do the next thing. Do the next thing. God's God sees the whole picture, he knows where he's taking you, when he's taking you there. You don't. We don't. So do the next thing that he brings. If he brings a podcast for you to be on, do the next thing, you know? Um, because he is ordering the steps and trust that process. Um, but at the same time, um when my kids were younger, there weren't, I mean, I was teaching local Bible study and whatnot, but there wasn't an opportunity, and there shouldn't have been an opportunity to do larger events. Um and a wise woman told me, prepare. Use that time to prepare. You don't know what you're preparing for, but God does. Um, so I took time to go to seminary. Um, I'd been out of college 10 years, my kids started school. As soon as they both started full-time school, I went back and I prepared. And everybody would ask me, Why are you in seminary? And I would say, I don't know. I don't know. But it was preparation, and I was doing the next thing, and I use that degree every day of my life. Um, so pre preparation and do the next thing.
SPEAKER_01:I would even say look for uh look for Jesus in the interruptions. Uh I've been so busy before, like, especially with the audiobook and uh of the novel, and just I mean, like when people would would would call, I'd have to remember that the whole point of what I'm doing is to promote the gospel and to be Jesus' hands and feet. So when an opportunity arrives, you have to see it that way. It's an opportunity when when when somebody is calling and they're the either they're they're needing prayer and it's it's uh and I had to learn to put my phone on silent so it doesn't throw off the whole audio, but but like to stop and it's like, hey, this is why we're doing what we do. So in the interruption, when someone needs you and you get to be the hands and feet of Jesus, go and do, because one of the times I went and did, I ended up meeting some of the women that are on this podcast and through through all of it. And so glory to Jesus for for being able to use these beautiful interruptions. So if you'll put your agenda down and take up his agenda, he's gonna take you on paths you never knew were possible.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_05:I love that Kelly brought that up because I feel like that's one of the biggest struggles for me, as not necessarily on the ministry end with um with leading women um in our local church or even with the testimony gathering ministry, but rather with the book, because it it changes and it takes a shift. And sometimes it can feel like self-promotion. And I'm like, I don't want to self-promote. Like I did that all of my life and it didn't work very well, didn't work out so well. So I'm really on God's timing um and on his promoting, right? But finding that fine balance is hard. It's hard because you do want to be proactive. You do want to, you know, okay, the Lord gave you this gift. And you I believe, and um the authors here know, like I believe that what I wrote has value, and I believe that it ushers in the spirit of God to come in and bring freedom and bring healing. So I know that it has worth, but but how do you do that? Right. And so I'm learning to kind of finally do that dance. And I'm I'm a new author. I just published at the beginning of this year, and I really haven't done a whole lot, and somehow it doesn't make sense to a lot of people that I'm not doing a lot with it, but there is this overwhelming piece inside of me that God's telling me, I'm your promoter. I'm the one who gave you this. I will promote it because promoting it promotes my son and promotes what I have to offer. And so I'm kind of in the waiting. And if I'm being completely honest, sometimes it's hard to just sit here and be still and know that he is God. But that's why it's called faith, right?
SPEAKER_03:Well, and I would also add to that, um, Cecilia, that you know, traditional methods of promoting when we think about running Facebook ads and making graphics and come to our thing, read our book, blah, blah, blah. The way that we do that matters, right? So it's those tools aren't bad and they're not negative to use. They can be, but they don't have to be. So when we're promoting something, it's not come see me speak. It's come see what the Lord's gonna do. Come see what the Lord is gonna reveal through such and such a scripture that I happen to be speaking on. Doesn't matter that I'm there, right? So I think there's probably a way to even use those traditional methods um where you give him the glory even in the promoting.
SPEAKER_00:Does anyone else have thoughts on on that as far as promoting and not loving that aspect of it?
SPEAKER_04:I've struggled with that too, as well. Because if if they don't know about you, then they won't come, right? If they don't know about the conference, if they don't know about your book, then they don't know to get it. And so there is this part where you do have to do a little bit out there. But also, I I like that this thought process that if God promotes, God will sustain. If you self-promote, then you have to self-sustain. And that is that's where you're gonna get worn out. But when God does it and he shows you, and he just like this, this networking right here of people, beautiful women to come in together, that's God promoting right here, you know, and and learning, uh leaning into it. He he does it a different way, and also like Kelly said, they're tools. We get to choose how we use them, right? Um AI is a tool, it's like a hammer. How do we want to use the hammer? The hammer can build or the hammer can destroy. So we get to choose. Social media doesn't have to be bad, it just depends on how we use it. And so I I agree with those things. But yeah, it's it's a it has been a big thing for me too, just balancing that because I once heard God say, if you don't tell them, they won't know to come. And I'm like, Well, you why don't you just tell them? You do it. You you're you're God of the universe, you can tell them, you can put it on their heart. And so it it's it's a little bit of trusting him to believe that, okay, I can't put it out here and trust that he will do something with it, right? But it is for his name and his glory, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:I think so much of it ties into also um how kind of like Kelly said, what are we pointing to when we're doing it? You know, are we pointing to ourselves or are we pointing to him? Um, like he clearly showed me with his collection that everything is his. Like this is his company, his brand, his mission. And so anytime that um anytime he has me sharing it, I know that the intention is to ensure that I'm pointing to him in the midst of it. Like, look what he did, look what he's doing. Um, because it's it's really not about us at all, right? We are just little vessels. Um, but I do find myself I struggle with, especially with the social media aspect of um kind of like Cecilia was saying, of self-promotion and just even this idea of um putting ourselves in front of cameras and focusing on what we look like or what we, you know, uh what we're wearing and whether we have makeup on and all of this, like I find that sometimes that can get um distracting and um can take away from what the real message is. But as long as we're pointing to him in the midst of it and then really going back to some of the stuff they said earlier, trusting, like seeking him on Lord. What are you calling me to? Like, are you calling me to be a part of this podcast? Okay, well, then I'm going to do that. Are you telling me to, you know, go to this conference or that one? Okay, then I'm going to do that. And trust that through all these uh decisions, right, through all these places that he's taking us, that that is where he is promoting us. That is where he is connecting us. Because he's, I mean, God is the best networker that you could ever have. Right. Like he will put you where you need to be as long as we are asking him, um, you know, like, hey, where am I supposed to go today? What am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to share this? Um, and he will faithfully make sure that you're in the right spot. And whether sometimes even without us asking, he's like, well, you may not be asking, but I'm gonna get you here one way or the other.
SPEAKER_00:Have you thought you would have support from family and friends that you did not? And then how did how did you deal with that disappointment?
SPEAKER_01:My family was not very excited about the novel because it exposed a lot of stuff that had been brushed under the rug for years, ignored, and even I was even told it never happened, even though I was in the room while I was being abused. So for them to tell me it didn't happen, it's a lot of gaslighting. So they were not excited about it and uh actually have done the opposite of promoting it. They've been telling people that it's lies. Uh, and that got back to me. And so um uh, but on the other side of that coin, there has I have seen the best of humanity show up in relatives and in strangers and friends, and people contacting me and letting me know the impact that it's had on them, seeking out deliverance, uh, realizing how things had entered through through their own trauma. And that has been that has been so confirming that that this was Jesus' idea that that man did hear from from Yahweh that Jesus has been involved in this entire process. And uh the the disappointment as far as from my family, from my from my uh perspective, it actually made sense with everything else that had happened. So thankfully I had already had uh healing on that end and a lot of forgiveness on that end where it's just like It's this is uh this is the way it's gonna be until their healing happens, until until they have their encounter with Jesus. But until then, just to really focus on the positive as far as what is occurring, the things people are saying that are that that it where it has made a positive difference and that they have gotten closer to Jesus because of it and they've gotten liberated because of this. And it and it's proof positive that in the book of Revelations, where it talks about, you know, us overcoming the overcoming Satan by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, fact.
SPEAKER_05:It kind of goes along with that very first question as far as like um what would I tell my old self or somebody who is trying to write a book or starting to write a book? After writing the book, I feel like the Lord really gave me validation and really affirmed what he had assigned me to do. Um, because my my story is so specific to um is it's so specific to um a certain demographic because I was smuggled in from Mexico and all the things. But within the book, I really describe and talk a lot about the fruit that that created in my life, you know, the insecurities, the fear, you know, all of these um character defects, if you will, right? And so having people from completely different walks of life that are so that couldn't be further away from mine, come and say, wow, your story is really powerful. Um, and it's not anything I've experienced, but I can identify with the fruit that you described, and I have felt these same feelings. And so for me, it was like the Lord saying, You see, I had a purpose and a plan for this, and I was doing something with it. And so that has been very assuring and felt very like a lot of support for me to hear the feedback from individuals. Um, as far as my family goes, my parents have been gone a long time, so my parents are no longer around, but I do have eight other siblings. Um, nine, but one of them is it's with Jesus already. And these other eight siblings, we are so far in age from each other that their perspectives are very different. And some of them have accepted my perspective as the youngest, and some of them can't see beyond their perspective, and that has been a little hurtful, and that has been hard, but I come back to the arms of the father and that assurance that he's like, this is not for them, this is for the ears that I have already prepared for. And so I think just keeping my focus on my marching orders and what the Lord has commissioned me to do is really what sustains um my strength to continue to stand firmly on what the word of God has already said about me. And so um in the moment, does it sting a little sometimes when you have the people that are closest to you who should be your biggest cheerleaders and be championing you, you know, maybe not not come alongside you and love on you the way you need to be loved? It stings, um, but it's for a moment, and God is eternal and his validation is eternal. And so we have to make a choice to um to believe that.
SPEAKER_03:I do. Yeah, I think perspective is a big deal. Um, so not an author, but as a performer and as a minister, like I do events and naively assumed that meant that my friends and family would come to the events, and a lot of times they don't. And um, it's real easy to uh take that personally and to get disappointed and focus on that. Um, but the reality is people are busy and people are self-focused, and so they're not thinking, oh, it'd probably mean a lot to Kelly if you came to the event, if I went to the event. Like, no, they're thinking about their own grocery lists and their own lives. So it's not like a slight and a purposeful thing. Um, so to just shift that focus from I'm so hurt that people aren't coming that I thought would, to who is here? Who is here? God brought these people here, and these are the people that need to be ministered to by him through me in some way, shape, or form, and celebrate that and focus on that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I've actually been very surprised by um uh the people who have come alongside like the journey and who have wanted to be a part of things and jumped in. And I feel like that's actually been one of the really joyful blessings to see, like, oh wow, like look at these people that you're bringing, look at, you know, um, people who want to be a part of the team, who want to jump in, who want to freely give and um and take part. That's really surprised me in a beautiful way to see, like, oh, this is, you know, you place this on my heart to start, but look at how you're now touching all these other people and and really even um helping to cultivate kind of a time and space for that person to operate and maybe a gifting that they wouldn't be if it weren't for, you know, this kind of platform or this opportunity. I think that's been really it's been surprising and and really uh an unexpected blessing.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, absolutely super cool to watch that and watch how God, like you said a while ago, Amanda, that he's the networker of people and how he brings different people in. And I've heard Cecilia talk about the the tapestry, he's weaving this tapestry together of all these beautiful people, and then given that allowance, yes, to grow, to to step into maybe something new. You know, uh, we talk about sometimes the five-fold ministry teachers, apostles, prophets, um, evangelists, shepherds. And um, sometimes in our normal daily life, we might not realize that we we are even have that calling on our life. But when we create the space for other people to walk in, that's super cool to watch. To step into it, and then to give grace while while the uh while we're all learning how to do it, you know. Super cool too, but it is need to watch how God will do that and intertwine everybody. Uh I once heard Beth Moore actually, she said this one time. She said, A me calling can only be fulfilled in a we context, and I think that's super great. Like what God has called me to do, I cannot do on my own. I cannot. And um, and it takes all of us to do that, and so it's it is beautiful, it is it is cool to teach people how God people are used by God, God's people are used by God, but um as far as support for myself, my biggest cheerleader was my mom, and my mom is now in heaven, and I believe she is now part of that great cloud of witnesses that she's still cheering me on, but man, would it be so cool to be able to pick up the phone and just talk to her? That would be amazing. But uh, I know she's up there cheering me on, and she's saying what Cecilia said, Don't quit. I've even asked God if I could, he won't let me get it.
SPEAKER_00:How do you stay focused on what God has called you to do when things shift or change or go a different way? And maybe that's okay, maybe the shift is a good thing. But how if you have seen a shift, did you take on that shift or did you let that go?
SPEAKER_03:I think you touched on just in the beginning of that question, we need to ask why things are shifting. Um, why are things not going well according to our perspective? And there's three possibilities, maybe more. I thought of three. Um, one, you're trying to do something he didn't ever call you to in the first place. Uh, another one is you're trying to keep doing something that he called you to earlier, but he's wanted to move you out. If that part is over, it's time to move on. Um, and then uh the third option is he wants you to stay in the struggle to develop the character and the integrity and the Christ-likeness that he has for you. And learning to differentiate what that is, it's not easy. It's not easy. I wish it was super clear. It's not.
SPEAKER_00:And it's telling just give us a one, two, three, right?
SPEAKER_03:Like yeah, exactly. Um, but just staying in prayer and staying in the word, he will show it eventually. Um, I had an opportunity recently where he was extremely clear. I prayed for clarity and he was extremely clear. Um, that doesn't always happen. In fact, it almost never happens for me. It takes me a while to figure out what he's saying. He usually has to tell me three or four times before I'm like, oh, I get it now. Um, but asking why, why is it not working, I think is very important.
SPEAKER_02:I would add on to that with um seeking him. Uh so like I think it's it's very easy and probably part of our human nature to to get into like a system, to get into a oh, well, I've done this, you know, year one, now I'm gonna do it year two, year three, year four, year five, and kind of like creating traditions, right? Um but like Kelly was saying, just because God called you to do something one year doesn't mean that he's telling you to do it the next year. Um, like his collection hosts a fashion show almost annually at this point. Like we're hosting our fifth show in December. Um, but after what was it in year three, um, he was very clear about the fact that we were not to do a show that year. Like instead, he called us to host a love feast or an agape meal where we just gather in this timing-wise, like I didn't know what was going to be going on, but it happened to be the year of COVID. I was like, oh, no wonder, God, that you are, you know, that you have shifted things. Um, but he called us to just gather back, basically gather the community, bring people together and host this meal. But, anyways, um, it reminds me of the scripture, and I'm I just heard this at the conference I'm attending, but it's 2 Timothy 3.5, it says, in the last days, many will have religious forms and traditions, but will have no experience of the true power of God. And I think that that's such a key part of what we're talking about. Of we have to constantly be seeking him for what his will is in this season, in this day, in this year. Um, because that that will shift, right? That will shift according to his plans and purposes. And we have to be willing to get out of the way and say yes to something different. Yes to like just because I've laid this foundation here or done this in the past doesn't mean that I need to continue to operate that way moving forward because God can have something totally different. Um, so I would just stress the importance of really seeking Him in all things and at all times to find out is this your will for this season? Are we meant to do this? And then, you know, once you have that peace or that yes, absolutely follow it, kind of without question.
SPEAKER_05:I'd like to piggyback on that. And I think um Sandra said something about um interruptions, and sometimes it's beyond an interruption, it's like a complete detour. Um, and just learning to be malleable to that. And I was recently in Matthew um 11, 28, where it talks about, you know, his yoke is easy and his burden is light, and you know, they're referring to those oxen, right? And often in that time, they had like a very mature oxen that knew exactly what to do and how to how to plow and how to do the work, and then the young one that was learning, and he's and that's what he's describing is like I'm the one leading, I am the one like doing the hard work, but sometimes when I resist the detour or or the interruption, you know, I begin to struggle and and I'm like, why is it so hard? And I'm it feels like you're swimming uphill and like the currents are so strong, and it's like just come alongside me. Like if you just walk alongside me, it's gonna be light because I'm the one doing the work. And I think um just being open to to the interruptions and even the detours that sometimes we don't want to take. Um, and I've I've said this, you know, before is that we will never lose in an exchange with God Almighty. We are always gonna get the better end of the stick. And he's always gonna give us beauty for ashes, right? And so again, it always comes back to that trust that also means faith, you know, believing without seeing and operating not as things are, but as we know that the Lord has called them to be, right? And so, um, so I'm still learning it. I definitely have not mastered this, but um, I pray that as I continue to walk out what he has me walking out, that I will learn to feel the yoke when he starts to shift in another direction, and that I am consistently obedient enough to walk next to him rather than fight the current.
SPEAKER_02:Cecilia, I want to share with you a friend of mine um shared this revelation with me on that particular scripture, and it's always stuck with me of his uh his yoke is easy and his burden is light. So, yoke, like you're saying, like when you're in the yoke, like thinking of the kettle, right? Like it's easy because he's the one pulling it. But this was the part, the revelatory part. His burden is light. So often we interpret that as uh weight, right? Like, oh, it's it's light, it's easy, it's it's lightweight. But she said, no, think of it this way his burden is light, like uh like light as in a light bulb, right? You're shine. So our burden is to bear his light, like to be that lamp, right on the stand, not hidden, but to actually be the light and reflect that out. And oh my gosh, it was like when I heard it. It really changes things, right? It's like, oh my gosh, I always thought of it as this weight, but to hear, no, our burden, what we are to bear is to be the light, right? To reflect him.
SPEAKER_01:That's fantastic.
SPEAKER_02:Susie Freeland. Susie Freeland Freeland is the one who heard that.
SPEAKER_01:Oh my gosh, that's like the coolest thing about the light, and that so that wow, that just blows my mind right now. That's fantastic.
SPEAKER_02:It did me too.
SPEAKER_04:And every time I share it, I'm like, about the light, right? The light is lightweight.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Both. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Light travels faster than I think anything else. I don't know. Who knows science?
SPEAKER_01:It's a multifaceted revelation for sure. As far as for for me staying focused when I was when I was writing the book, and it's so daunting because it's not a little book. It uh and I had to write seven back to back. I didn't know it was going to be seven. I thought it was just gonna be one book that it just kept expanding. But um, so I had to chop it into seven parts. Whenever I was writing and and it's just exhausting because I'm sitting in the same position just I mean, just about every day. And I would get I'd start getting discouraged. I I would pray and I'd ask for his perspective, for Jesus' perspective on the situation, and he would remind me this isn't about you. Like, which is interesting because the book was about my testimony, uh, but it's not about me. And he was he was speaking, he was speaking of of the purpose behind what we're doing. So when we start feeling daunted about whatever it is, the whatever task that he's put before us, it's important for us to understand that this is going to set somebody free. If he is in it, there's going to be change. And and when and even with the concept of light, that's like that's the only way that darkness flees. Darkness is the absence of light. So whenever we add light into the situation, darkness has to flee. And and it's it actually kind of makes me think about the cover of my book, even because it's Jesus gave me that cover and it was just darkness that I was in, and that light is coming in, and I'm trying to get to it. And there's then whatever is in between me and that light has to be taken out. And even the sword itself has light. And so under understanding and holding on to the fact that when we're when we're slowing down, when we're exhausted, when our eyes are bloodshot from whatever it is that we're doing, when we're having to cry through typing and reliving and and going through all of that all over again, there's so much purpose behind the pain. And that was that had to have been what Jesus was thinking about when he was marching towards that cross. At any time, he could have called legions of angels to save him, and he just kept going because he knew that there, that there was going to be so much power and so much liberty at the end of what he was about to do. And it must have been, it must have been such a relief to be able to say it is finished.
SPEAKER_04:That brings me to the answer to the question. It's a different way of looking at the word why. Why am I doing it? Because it's an assignment. Because he placed it in my heart so deep that I can't, I get up in the morning and this is what I'm going to do. That I believe that we are to set the captives free. That's part of the order, right? That we bring a light to the darkness, that that's part of the order. That there's there's a stronger why to do this. I uh I I don't want any of this to feel like I have I have built any of it because I haven't. And it's not for me. And if he told me to shut it all down tomorrow, I'm out. That's just how it is, because this is so much bigger. It's just like it's what Sandra's saying, it's so much bigger than what we're doing, you know, the the blocks that we are building right now. It's so much bigger than that, it's for others, it's for his glory, but it's to bring freedom, you know, and uh it's Isaiah 61. I mean, the uh you're there right now. That's what it is, and it's to live like Jesus, to walk like Jesus, and to forgive like Jesus, and then hope that others are doing the same for you, right? That we are in this together, we're all on this journey headed towards heaven, praise God, like keep our mind on heaven. That's our focus, that's where we're going, right? But in the meantime, we have a job to do, and that's what I see my life on earth as it's a job, it's something that God has asked me to do, and he's told me to live, right? Live this life. We do that by dying, dying to self, to live is is Christ, but to live this life out front in front of people to show that he is good, that he is glorious, that his ways are a better way. So, why do I do what I do? Because he's asked me to, and I love him. And this intimate relationship, this love relationship, that God of the universe would look down and call me by name and speak to me and then give me an assignment. That's why I do it. That's that's what I think obedience looks like. It's not something I have to do, it's something that I want to do.
SPEAKER_00:Ladies, this has been amazing. I cannot believe it's been an hour. This has gone by so fast. I've loved just the kind of going back and forth, and oh, that hit me. And let me tell you what this it's just been amazing when I talked to Cecilia about hey, wouldn't it be cool just to get a lot of women on and just talk? And she graciously got all of you guys together, but it it is more than than I thought it was going to be. So God is so good, and you guys are so good to give of your time. So thank you.
SPEAKER_05:This has been a room full of wisdom, and I am completely inspired by everything that you know, Sandra, Kelly, Amanda, Shells has shared. It has really blessed my heart, and I think it's also brought just a little bit of light to some of the things that I struggle with, and maybe not having an answer, but knowing that we're all in it together and we're all part of the tapestry somehow is so encouraging and continues to fuel me to say, just keep marching forward because we're not in it alone. We're in it um together, and we have an amazing leader.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think that was my hope was that I think that sometimes we can start to believe the lie that I'm the only one who feels like this. I'm the only one who's had this struggle. And and so it was just so blessing to have this and hear that no, I feel like that or I felt like that, but over here, and this is what's helped me. And um, just like we've been talking about, like showing light into any kind of darkness of of those lies. So I appreciate all of you being on. And I'm so thankful for all of our listeners who are listening. I'm sure you are blessed in maybe just a million different ways by this. But thank you for listening to Ordinary People Extraordinary Things, where your story is his glory.