The nextTalkParent Podcast with Mandy Majors
The nextTalk Podcast with Mandy Majors helps parents navigate technology, cultural pressures, and difficult conversations with their children. Through practical guidance, honest stories, and faith-centered encouragement, parents learn how to replace fear and reaction with open communication, biblical wisdom, and stronger family relationships.
Join award-winning author Mandy Majors (TALK and Keeping Kids Safe in a Digital World) for honest, practical conversations at the intersection of technology, culture, and faith.
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The nextTalkParent Podcast with Mandy Majors
Struggling in a Hard Season of Life with Pastor Robert Emmitt
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Whether you are overwhelmed and stressed from the daily demands of being a parent or if you are walking through a crisis, Pastor Emmitt shares practical and hopeful advice to remind you that … you are not alone.
KEEPING KIDS SAFE ONLINE
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Intro
Speaker 1Welcome to the Next Talk podcast . We are passionate about keeping kids safe in an overexposed world . We are back today with Pastor Robert Emmett . He is the founder of Community Bible Church in San Antonio . Him and his wife Julie founded and led that church for what 25 years , robert ?
Speaker 2Yeah , 25 officially . Then I stuck around until 27 . Started in 90 , and then I officially handed the keys to Ed in 2016 . So , whatever that is , and then I left in 2018 to somewhere in there 25 and beyond .
Speaker 1It's so wild , too , that you've been retired since 2016 . That doesn't even seem possible to me . I feel like it was yesterday .
Speaker 2It does to me . I just got a notice today it's Ed's 49th birthday and he came on staff when he was 40 . So wow , nine years that's flown by .
Speaker 1That's amazing . That's amazing . God has used both of you in founding and shaping and evolving Community Bible Church . It's just been cool to see what God has done with all of that .
Speaker 2I was just there in August and preached all of His services and then they just started the Wednesday night and it was so exciting All the services , different personalities , people , strangers to me , but I was a stranger to them and by the time the services were over , I mean it's all centered around Jesus and it's church is doing great , we're doing great , so praise the Lord for a successful transition .
Speaker 1Amen , amen
Struggling in a Hard Season of Life
Speaker 1. It doesn't happen all the time , and so the Lord is in it . I want to talk today about struggling in a hard season of life . Struggling in a hard season of life and you know that you could . I guess families could be in a crisis mode for sure , a major crisis mode , but I think , a lot of times too , just young families , it's hard all the time , like it's . There's so much going on , so many demands on us as parents , and now you add in you know we're monitoring phones and monitoring iPads and all the stuff they're being exposed to online . It's just , it's so overwhelming as a parent , and you're so good about speaking into this , and so I just want to kind of give you like parents are tired , they're overwhelmed , they're completely stressed out . What do you have for us ?
Speaker 2Julie and I were talking about this the other day and I said what's your speech again ? And she said zero to 20 are the development years , where you're growing up and getting educated . She said 20 to about 45 , that's babies in business years and those are the longest 25 years because you're trying to buy houses and cars and insurance and neighborhoods and schools and kids are soccer and all of that . It's a long haul for 25 years . And then 45 to about 70 , she calls those the hospitality years . That's when your kids are pretty much grown and gone , you've got a little more discretionary time and income and that's when you can volunteer , give back to the community . And then 70 and beyond is the golden years , which is kind of where we're headed . But it is a fact of life .
Speaker 2I spoke at a group not long ago Psalms 90 . It's the only Psalm that Moses wrote and he says in it he said it is appointed unto man three score and 10 to live , which is 70 years , and he says maybe 80 if we're blessed . But he said all those years are filled with challenges and difficulties and soon we die and life passes on . But when you read it sometimes you go man .
Speaker 2Moses is kind of a downer . He has some great years in there . I think what he's saying is that life is just that's part of the routine of life and when you have one child it gets complicated . Two children a little more , three a little more , and then , like my grandkids on the East Coast , they got four grands and I was just there for a few days because Mandy , my grandkids , they're turning 17 this month . I mean it's like gosh , when did this happen ? There is no way .
Speaker 2And so we've just made it a point this year to fly to see volleyball tournaments , football games and make sure we at least one time we're there to see them . But you know , you got to get the routines in the schedule . You got to realize , hey , this is the 20 to 45 year challenge and you know you'll grind through them . And then all of a sudden you look at the calendar and your children are applying for college and you know you're setting up graduation parties and all that . You go , and so you know and everybody says , oh , enjoy these years , they fly by quick . We all were told that . Well , we all . Kind of easy for you to say , and then suddenly they do .
Speaker 2So I guess my thing with parents . You realize that that's part of the job . I mean , life is work . I mean it's what we're put on the earth to do . And when you have kids , you
Routines
Speaker 2know your best thing you can do is routine . I think I preached , I might have mentioned it last time . You know Luke , chapter 2 , mary and Joseph took Jesus and all the kids which must have been at least seven , you know to Jerusalem . But it was as they did every year , as was their custom . I mean , it was just the routines of life and that's what God gives us . Four seasons , you know , new moons , all this stuff . It's a season , you roll through it , and when you're raising kids , I mean there's the preschool season , the early elementary years , the middle school years , the high school years , and that's life .
Speaker 2That's what we're here to do . But you just schedule it out and you figure out . You know , we used to always take Sunday nights and just say , all right , let's get our calendars , who's doing what , who's going where , games , practices , all that stuff and you plan out your week . And then when are we going out to eat ? When are we going to have some fun ? Schedule your life . If you'll do that , you know the routines of life . It helps an awful lot of the people We've had friends you have too that they seem to run life in crisis mode . Everything's a crisis . Just chill out . You know . It's not all a crisis . You don't have to panic . Just plan your life . You got the same 24 hours that everybody else on earth has . Figure out sleep and work and daily activities and routines and that , but set the routines and your life gets a whole lot easier .
Speaker 1I remember you talking about that and preaching about that when my kids were little , when I was in the thick of it , and I remember how practical and simple it was Like keep your kids on a routine . I mean , I remember you saying bedtime routine , you know , pray before bedtime meals together , just certain key things that you do with your kids . And it's so true if you're just intentional with the time that you have and you think about it .
Speaker 2You know you got 20 minutes to talk to your kids , taking them to school or practice or picking them up , and you know , turn your phone off . You know everything's off . We've got 20 minutes in the car . So tell me about your day and the good stuff . Julie has my grandson , david . He calls her every night and we always look at like 930 , our time , david , it's 11.30 where you are
High, Low, Buffalo
Speaker 2Uh-huh . But he has Julie taught him this high-low buffalo what was the high of your day , what was the low of your day and what was the buffalo the unusual , unexpected . And he just kind of runs through that with her and they share it . And he does that whenever he calls any of us . But it's funny , if we don't get a FaceTime call from David around between 830 and 10 , we wonder , oh , he must be on restriction again . I think he just goes to bed and the last thing he does is he FaceTimes . You know pops and gaga .
Speaker 1So I love that so much . I love it . That's technology for good there , right , that's a win Okay .
Speaker 1So another thing I want to say you know , I think Julie's so wise to this years of 20 to 45 , those are the babies in business . That's where she said it right . I love that . Babies in business . I think during those phases too , there are some times we are hit with crisis to there are some times we are hit with crisis , a big storm , and maybe that's and I've heard you preach on this before , and I think this is really important is mental health , like when you are suffering from mental health and you were in the babies and business stage , you got to get help fast . Yes , because those kids depend on you .
Speaker 2Yep .
Speaker 1Yeah , so speak into that for us , your journey with mental health and the importance
Mental Health
Speaker 1of it , the importance of taking care of yourself .
Speaker 2All right . So let's talk about mental health for a minute . Everybody has ups and downs and there's tests you can look up on the website and if you have eight of these 10 symptoms for like two or three weeks in a row , then you need to get some help . So everybody has depression . We have bad days and then you have stressful times . But when you hit a long spell where there's just an impossible task or maybe somebody's died , there's a disaster . You've got long . Somebody's died , there's a disaster . You've got . You know long-term illness . There's a lot of things that you know .
Speaker 2If you sleep all night , at least until middle age , your brain reboots itself while you're sleeping . But if you've got stresses that are keeping you awake , or when you wake up at two in the morning , you don't go back to sleep , you just think about those things . Your brain's not rebooting . So all that dopamine , serotonin , whatever they do , so you don't have the chemicals to think straight the next day . So we drank our coffee and then we go through it again and again and it becomes a spiral down . So I always tell people , if it's been three weeks , four weeks and you don't find any joy in cooking or eating out or pickleball or whatever it is that makes you happy paintings or new TV series , anything but that's one of the test questions is do you find joy in the activities that you used to find joy ? And the answer is no , then why ? Well , because I'm worried about this and this and this . So if you're worried about it , lay out what can I do to fix it . If I can change it , I'll change it . If I can't do it , lord it's yours . But if the sleep is not there and that was for me before I slipped into depression I mean it was about a year of sleepless nights and I kind of spiritualized it Go to bed 10 , 30 , 11 o'clock and I wake up at 2 or 3 and start . I've got one of those brains that I mean I can pull a half a lyric out of a song from 50 years ago and just stop . You know , stop , stop my brain . But you know I used to spiritualize . Laura , I'll give you 20 minutes to put me back to sleep . If it doesn't happen , then I figure you want me to get up and do stuff and it is peaceful and quiet from three to six in the morning and you get a lot done no phone calls , no emails , no , nothing . So that's , it's nice . But then you start getting that wired and tired feeling and anyway , that one led to the depression on mine . And then , as we're building that big sanctuary and the fundraising piece fell squarely on my shoulders and I hate raising money and there was no way out . It's like feeling trapped .
Speaker 2And you know , I went to the doctor . I've preached this so many times but you know she looked at me , ran the test and said you're clinically depressed . And I said well , what do I do ? She started me on various meds and try this for two or three weeks and it works great . You know , some of them make you all wired and others you just kind of your house could be burning down , you wouldn't care . And then I found one and you know , about three weeks later she checked on me .
Speaker 2By the way , if you're a doctor and listen to this , when you got a depression , patients means the world when you just make a quick phone call or a text and say how's the med working , because instead of a formal visit , come in and check just you , you know . And one day she checked on me . I said , well , I feel normal . There's no high , there's no low , there's no buzz , there's
Depression Test
Speaker 2nothing . So she said that's the one for you . She said our brains are like in the little private chemistry labs and she said we just have to find the right balance of the stuff to get things going .
Speaker 2If I'm saying something , if you're listening right now , you know go do the depression test , google it and you'll see them . There's like eight or 10 things and , honestly , if you've got them and you go , whoa , yes , I'm guilty of that , that , that that it says , if you're like guilty of eight of them , you know for more than two weeks and you need to get help , call your doctor and say you know , I want to catch it here , not down here . I don't want to get to a point to where you know I'm suicidal or life's coming to an end . So catch it sooner rather than later and you'll be out of it sooner rather than later . Oh , I'm going to say that again . I've never said that Catch it sooner rather than later and you'll get out of it sooner rather than later .
Stigma Around Mental Health
Speaker 1The Holy Spirit . They're working , preaching , preaching through Robert Emmett right now . Again , I think that message of you sharing that personal story helps so many people , because there's a stigma and there still is , I think , this pride of not getting help or I don't want to take medicine , or my faith is not strong enough . If I'm struggling with this and I love that you speak into this and say , nope , get help .
Speaker 2Yeah , I mean , every good gift comes from God . If you broke your arm , you wouldn't say well , I just need to have enough faith for it to heal . You'd go to a doctor If your tooth is just blowing out , you'd go to the dentist .
Speaker 2If your eyes are bad , you could do that . If your brain's not working and you're not who you were or normally are , then I mean , go see the doctor , they can help you . They can't help you if you don't ask , but if you do , you know , they know what's going on and there's a lot of good stuff out there and you're not going to get addicted to some drug that's going to ruin your life . I mean , I just highly recommend it . Funny , I preached at Christopher's Church a couple of weeks ago and a year ago I was there and I preached on depression in the fall , because it kind of is the high point . And anyway , I had like two or three people this year come up and thank me for last year because they went to the doctor and they said what did you get ?
Speaker 2One guy said well , I've got several things wrong , so I'm on a little concoction . I said but is it working ? He said oh yeah . He said I don't have the highs . He's bipolar , some of his stuff , but I don't have the highs and the lows . But he said I'm enjoying life again . Another lady the same thing . It's kind of like wow , you always wonder oh man depression . Do I have to speak on that again ? But apparently that's one thing the Lord wants me to talk about
Struggles as Men
Speaker 2so I do .
Speaker 1Well , it's true , and I hate this is going to be a sexist statement , but I'm going to say it because it's you and I and I feel like I can say it to you I feel like men , too , are just so bad about going to the doctor . They just don't want to go to the doctor . I know so many women that call me and they're like my husband needs to go in , he needs help , he needs this . I can tell he's spiraling , he's not himself , and they just don't want to go . And so I think it's really great that a leader like you will step up and say men , get help .
Speaker 2One of the things I say is look at me . I'm a guy on a depression med . Do I look like I'm miserable ? I mean , life's fantastic . You know , for 45 years your brain does its own thing and it keeps balance . For 43 years my eyes worked perfectly . Then , when I turned 44 , suddenly everything was fuzzy and I got the readers and oh wow , what a difference . And then a little more reader . A little more reader . Then I thought , well , I better go to a real doctor and see what's going on . I got the glasses so I can see If you're happy and life's normal and balanced great . If it's not , then let me be the voice that says look , go see the doctor . They'll take good care of you . They know what they're doing and just be honest with them . It's not bad .
Speaker 2Don't just live in misery . You weren't designed by God for that . Yeah , there's going to be low times , but you know , get some help , get out of it and move forward . David did , elijah did you know the Apostle Paul read through the Bible , read through history . A lot of great leaders suffered with that . You know , running out of gas and just running on empty because you burn it all up and out of gas , just run it on empty because you burn it all up , yeah , yeah .
Speaker 1And as we're talking about , you know , families going through crisis . You know we
Three Kinds of Storms in Life
Speaker 1talked about this mental health thing and how important it is to get help . I think the other thing of that is , years ago you preach a sermon and I'm probably going to butcher it wrong but you also said , like we have storms come in our life and sometimes you , I think you had three different scenarios of storms that come into your life . You said sometimes they're by our own foolish decisions . So we could be in a financial storm because we're making bad financial decisions . Or number two , it could be because of others' bad decisions , Like somebody has done something to you which causes you to go into a crisis mode . Or three is sometimes things just happen because we live in a really broken world .
Speaker 2Do you ?
Speaker 1remember that and am I saying it right ?
Speaker 2You got two out of three right . So you know bad things are happening to me because I made bad decisions . Two bad things are happening to me because somebody else made bad decisions and I'm fallout , I'm collateral damage . They decided to text while driving , swerved into my lane , hit me . And then number three is it wasn't you , it wasn't them , but God has allowed it to happen in your life so that somehow he can use it for His glory . So look up and say Lord , what can we do with this experience ?
Speaker 1Okay , your three was a lot more substance than my three . That's what I remember , but it's nobody's fault . But it happened and we're dealing with it and God's going to use it for good .
Speaker 2Yes .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's so good Because I think that resonates too when storms blow in , and again , especially with this 20 to 45 age , when you're already pushed to the maximum , I think they're just so critical when storms blow in on those that
Your 2AM Friends
Speaker 1we get help immediately , no matter what's going on . You used to talk about who's your 2 am friend . Do you remember that ?
Speaker 2I do those people that when your world falls apart at 2 am , you know you can call them and they'll be right there . So those are your true inner circle friends .
Speaker 1And I remember thinking here you were leading this I mean thousands upon thousands of people every weekend and you said pray for one or two , like it wasn't . Like I need 20 or 30 people to call at 2 am . You need one or two core people that you could make that call at 2 am . And I think sometimes in our world we just think we should have an army . When you just need one or two , they'll mobilize the army . God will help , you know . Send the people that you need to be sent in a time of crisis .
Speaker 2Absolutely . I always used . Moses had Aaron , hur and Joshua . Those were his inner circle , you know it was Aaron .
Speaker 2Aaron and Hur were holding Moses' arms up and Joshua was down there fighting the battle . David had his three mighty men , shamgar , shamu , and somebody else , jesus had Peter James and John . You know , when his world was falling apart , at 2 am , he got Peter James and John and said come , go with me and pray . And they went . Of course they fell asleep . But so I mean , people aren't perfect but if you don't have that one or two or three friends to call , that's when bad thoughts begin to roll in your mind . I don't have anybody , nobody will answer , and all of that . So you know , nowadays I feel bad because I turn my phone off at night . So if you call me , all I'm going to get is a message or a text and I'll check on it in the morning . But if I don't turn it off , I get so many junk calls .
Speaker 1It's like you know all these little . How do they get my number to text me ? Yeah , I have to keep my phone because I have a college student , you know . So it's like I'm always I want to have her 2 am call if she needs me . You know , when they first move out of the house , like that . But but that's always been drilled in my mind is to have your 2 am friends . And then I think it becomes a question of you know where do you find those friends ? And you know what pops in my mind when I ask you that Do you remember this sermon you did . You were trying to get people to join life groups and you did the muscles . Do you remember that ?
Speaker 2I did the muscles . Once I put my head on John Travolta and did the staying alive , I said , if I could put a smile on your face in the next three minutes , promise me you'll try our group . And they all said yes . So there was all the things we could
Community Within the Church
Speaker 2do to get people to connect with each other .
Speaker 1But I think that's such a word out there because we have people out there that are like I don't want to go to church , it's gotten political or it's gotten this or it's gotten that , like all sorts of excuses and how important community is and finding the right community , finding the right 2 am friends , you're going to find those people in a church .
Speaker 2The ones that you'll find , whether they're in church or somebody else's church or what . But if you've got somebody you hang out with , recreate with , play golf with every week , you know you play golf with somebody every week for you know a couple of months , four hours at a shot . You get to know each other Walking , jogging , pickleball . You know the conversations at lunch . When it's over , I mean you just start talking . You start talking a little bit . You know , like my , one of my favorite lines is give me the five minute version of your life story from birth to right now .
Speaker 2Everybody's shocked as well , no , we'll fill in the blanks . I was born here and this and old , and in that you just kind of get to know their story and where they're from . So it doesn't take long to get to know people and then , hopefully , after you ask them for their five-minute story , they reciprocate with all . Right now you tell me your five-minute life story , but you got to hang out with them , you got to know them and just that's part of it . I was watching Daniel play football a couple of weeks ago in Georgia and I was sitting up there with Brianna and all the ladies .
Speaker 2He's got a really great group
The Village
Speaker 2of friends football players , strong Christians and Brianna had told me she said you know , I've discovered being close friends with your kids , close friends , mothers . She said you get the whole story . I said what do you mean ? She said well , when you ask your son , you know what'd y'all do last night ? Oh , not much . Just went out to eat and hung out , okay , you know . And then every other mother's asking her son well , we went here , we did this , we did that , and she said we have to meet every week just to hear the whole story , all the bits and pieces come together .
Speaker 1That's what you call a village , right there .
Speaker 2Watching it happen . I says I'm in the inner circle of the mothers , I'm right here hearing it all , but you know they were doing karaoke last night . What Daniel's singing karaoke ? And then some talkative fellow , we called him after the game football player and she said did you sing karaoke last night ? Oh yes , ma'am , every Thursday night we go out After the game , we go sing and Daniel , oh Daniel's great , he's on stage . You know she'd never known he sang and I'm there and she says are you singing karaoke ? He says yeah , and then she said what's your song ? It was something , some Hillbilly song or something , but it was funny . Just , you know , going from what'd y'all do last night we just went out to eat and hung out and came home and suddenly , you know , we went out and we sang karaoke and we have our favorite songs and the crowd goes wild . So you got to be close friends with those mothers and share those stories .
Speaker 1Community is so important . I mean , that's that's the village right there that we're called to create Yep
You are not alone
Speaker 1To raise our kids . So anything else you would like to share with parents who are , you know , maybe they just are overwhelmed in this season of life , or they are faced with a crisis right now , in the middle of all of it . Anything else you would like to add to that ?
Speaker 2Yes , if they're overwhelmed right now with something I would prescribe take the very next possible Friday night to Sunday night holiday . You know , get off of work , take your kids away . We're going to Fredericksburg , wherever nice little town . We're just going to go out , hang out , sleep , you know in , go out and eat and talk and kind of reset . I mean , god tells us to rest one day a week , so you know we don't do that . We go to church and then we go to practice , then we go out to eat and then we don't really rest . So I would prescribe a weekend of rest .
Speaker 2If you've got one of those big crisis , like a problem with your child or family or divorce or something's going on , I mean you pray about it . Whatever you can do , you do something . And if you can't , then you try not to worry about it and you say Lord , you say cast your cares upon you , for you care for us . So I've said all I can do , done all I can do . If there's something else , show me . If not , otherwise I leave it with you and I'm going to bed . It passes , you know , it's one . A lot of people's old saying is it'll pass . This too will pass , but you got to ride it out . I mean , people have had crisis and problems since the beginning of time and it's not a punishment , it's just a part of life . And you know , in the new heaven and the new earth , bible says no more tears , no more sorrow , no more pain , no , more suffering , but that's a long ways from here .
Speaker 2So right now we've got all those things tears , suffering , problems it's just a part of life .
Speaker 1One thing that popped in my mind when you were speaking too , matt and I we suffered a miscarriage in between our kids . We were just broken and grieving and it was very unexpected . I remember coming to church and that weekend you preached and you said you are not the first person to ever go through this . Do you have you ever remembered saying that before ? And I just . It helped me so much in my moment of grief , because you feel alone . You feel so much pain and anger , like all the emotions . It really helped me just when you said that you are not the first person to experience this and God's not going to leave you , and I just held on to that for so long when we were walking through that . I think that's really good advice as well .
Speaker 2It's something . That's another one of those that one's more Julie's story than mine . But you know , we had it all figured out Married two years , had a baby , two more years had a baby , two more years about to have a baby , and a miscarriage , miscarriage , miscarriage , miscarriage , miscarriage , four miscarriages over five years . And you know , then Jonathan came along and it's one of those when you start , you know you blame yourself . You do all that stuff and it's not your fault , whatever the reason , maybe you're getting older , things don't work like they once did but Jonathan came along and Julie was so happy I think it was in their second trimester , whichever one you all go through where you're sick and throwing up and all of that .
Speaker 2And she was throwing up and she was throwing up and she was oh , thank you , lord . I said you're thanking him for throwing up . She goes yeah , that means I got it , it's healthy , you know it's growing , and then so and we've told people because people especially when it's their first one and it's quiet and hush , hush , and you tell mom or dad , maybe the in-laws , but you don't want to , you just don't want to talk about it . But then when I start rehearsing hours , and then the last one , she'd been through five and the last one was ectopic . After Jonathan was born Two years later we wanted four kids , always wanted four , and after the ectopic the doctor said you better thank the Lord for three and call it quits .
Speaker 1It's hard to not accept your plans . It's hard to say this is what the Lord has for you and this is the way . But we have to lay that down sometimes . And what ? We thought it would be .
Speaker 2Yeah , I mean you have a special needs child
Worry/Fear
Speaker 2or something's going on , or the miscarriages or there's all kinds of things in the human experience . That's why , I guess over 300 times , the Lord tells us not to worry . Fear not . We do , and he knows we're going to do that . So that's why he had to tell us from Genesis to Revelation stop worrying . In the Sermon on the Mount . Why worry ? You can't add one minute to your life and one inch to your height , so do all you can with what you've got , and if you can't fix it , then give it to God .
Speaker 1Amen , anything else you want to . I'm just bringing up all these talking points that I remember you speaking into my life because you're sharing these stories and it just takes me back , reminds me of crisis that Matt and I have walked through and how God has used
Helping Others in Crisis
Speaker 1you and Julie to help us through .
Speaker 2Well , that's you . Well , I was a couple weeks ago talking to a couple and their grandparents but they'd just gone through the full-term death of their grandchild . Birth and baby died in childbirth and mother almost did , and a lot of errors were made and things that shouldn't have happened , but they did . But I mean they walked through it . And she asked me . She said you know , it's my .
Speaker 2My daughter-in-law said what , what can I say to her and my son ? And I said you can't say anything that's going to make a difference . I said all you can do is just be there , cry with them and love them and just hurt . And I said one thing you don't say is well , you can have more children . And I said that is not good medicine , but just to be there and to cry and to ache and to remember . And you know you have a funeral service , you have a name , you remember their names , you honor the life , even if it didn't quite make it all the way , but they were just . You know we shared our story and they were just shocked . And we shared our story and they were just shocked and I said , yeah , we're nice people and we follow the Lord , but that doesn't mean you're not going to have troubles along the road of life .
Speaker 1Yeah , for sure , for sure . I think of Job when his friends came on the scene at first . There's a Bible verse that says they sat for seven days and they said nothing . And I think so many times as Christians , we want to rush to the hope . We want to rush to well , god's going to use it for good , or God has a plan , or whatever .
Speaker 2I always tell people do not quote that verse to somebody in the midst of a disaster . Thank you , work for good . Work together for good . I know that , I know God said it , but I don't want to hear it right now .
Speaker 1It's almost like there's a lamenting process that our human mind has to go through , and we need to allow people to process their grief .
Speaker 2Yeah , Got to allow them to cry , to hurt , to shake their fist at God . You're not going to lose your salvation by getting frustrated and letting the Lord . He already knows our thoughts , so it's not like you're hiding anything , just express yourself . But it's good to cry and I like what you said about the friends sitting there . I forgot about that part . I always tell people read the first two chapters and the last chapter of Job . Don't read all the speeches , it'll drive you nuts . What kind of friends are these ?
Speaker 1Yeah , it gets crazy
Closing Remarks
Speaker 1are these .
Speaker 2Yeah , it gets crazy , but it's . You know to your listeners . There is nobody out there going from here to heaven without you know a series of challenges and difficulties . Problem is when we do podcasts or sermons or lectures or speeches , whatever , we only tell the good stuff . You know , I was sick , I prayed and God healed me , but they forget to tell them it was a year and a half of chemo or radiation before God healed them . We shorten the hard part so we just want to say here was my problem and God fixed it , and hallelujah , and everybody yeah , and we're all thinking gosh , that never happens to me . It's a long-term prayer . It's years of praying for stuff . So that's the journey . Pray without ceasing .
Speaker 1It's the everyday grind of doing the hard work of submitting to Jesus , of trusting , of doing the treatments , of , you know , going to marriage counseling , whatever it is , whatever crisis you're walking through , it's the hard work of the day-to-day and we all got to do it .
Speaker 2And it's . You know , as you look back on the weeks like Julie with David , what's your high , low buff , what was the high point of the day ? It's fun when she gets it up to the low point . You know he just kind of smiles . He said no low points today , it's been a good day .
Speaker 1You know ?
Speaker 2so it's just you're going to have high days and low days and everything in between . If you're a journaler , then you keep track of it and you realize , wow , there's a lot of great things happening every day . To be grateful for Sunrise , sunset , birds where you live , the water work your car started , I mean , look on the good things and focus on those .
Speaker 1Amen . Well , thanks for all the wisdom you've shared today . I really do think this is going to help families who are just in a busy season of life or they're walking through something really difficult . Thank you for your transparency and honesty .
Speaker 2My pleasure .
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Speaker 2This podcast is not intended to replace the advice of a trained healthcare or legal professional , or to diagnose treat or otherwise render expert advice regarding any type of medical , psychological or legal problem .
Speaker 1Listeners are advised to consult a qualified expert for treatment .