Good night.
Don't get down when you're seeing the worst
Cause the last will be the first
What a day I'm telling you
But all things will be new
Living up in a town world
Yeah we're living
Living up in a town world
This is Jimmy Internet and we are coming
We're coming to you all the way from the Gulf Coast of Florida.
Yes.
What are we doing at the Gulf Coast?
We are having too much fun.
Way too much fun.
I am so glad you agreed to let us get out of our house for a little while.
I was getting very, what's the word?
I felt like I was...
Stir crazy.
I felt like I was closed in.
I couldn't get out, although we have gotten out some, but this has been amazing.
Why were we closed in and why were you...
Because we're trying to avoid people as much as possible so that we can rest.
It's all about rest.
Back up.
We're taking our sabbatical.
Well, that's true.
We're taking our sabbatical.
We've brought that up over the last few podcasts, but it's an important thing.
It's a journey we're on, a pilgrimage.
So we're what, two-thirds through it, something like that.
We have about, I think, three weeks.
Three weeks.
Yeah.
It's been fantastic.
I mean, it has been...
I'm probably the most at peace and calm in my soul that I have been since I can remember
ever.
Since I've known you, yes.
And you're a peaceful man by nature.
So to see you this chill is unbelievable.
It really is.
Well, for the first time in 38 years, I was able to offload my work responsibilities as
a pastor, which is really...
It's a gift.
I just hope our church hasn't burned down since we're...
Hey, we've not had the emergency calls.
We're in such a drought.
It is unbelievable.
Oh, I know.
It's crazy.
It really is in Texas right now.
It's kind of scary.
Yeah.
So when we plan this trip, so in the middle of this sabbatical...
Oh, by the way, welcome to our show, Living Up and Down World.
We just jumped right in, didn't we?
Yeah, we did.
We got excited.
This is show number...
31.
Can you believe it?
And we don't have Chevy.
I know.
Mr. Chevy had to stay with his sister.
Oh, no.
We couldn't bring him.
I know.
But we're having a good time.
In faith, our youngest daughter keeps sending us pictures of his cuteness.
And he is that on steroids.
So we're at least getting pictures.
And I do miss him.
I miss him because he's our little boy, our little buddy.
But he's not in between us now in the bed.
It is really odd, but we're still far apart in the bed.
I'm like...
It's called habits.
It is.
30 years of wow.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
You call that wow?
No, I need some cuddling, please.
A little bit of cuddling.
Yes, thank you.
Another show.
Family show.
T-show, not PG.
So back to what we were saying, 31 episodes.
And we're actually sitting in the kitchen, which is crazy.
So I...
And you've got everything attached to the granite bar that we're sitting at.
Because it's the only thing that would support...
You know, I'm actually more comfortable here than I am at our house.
Maybe we should come here more often.
It's because when you turn to your right, my left, what do you see?
Oh, I see the beach.
Right outside.
You see white sands.
Right outside our patio door.
We're at Panama City Beach and just down the road from Destin and Rosemary Beach and Miramar.
And there's no wind today.
It's beautiful.
It's stunning.
The one day we didn't go out on the beach.
Well yesterday was beautiful too.
Right.
But it really is.
No, it's stunning today.
But it is hot here.
Oh, it is hot.
They say it's about 93, feels like 110.
I know, it's crazy.
Unbelievable.
Which is unusual for Florida.
In Texas, we've been 100, 102 literally.
The humidity is not as bad as here because it's coastal.
But it is definitely hot.
But we've been good.
I mean, we're kind of...
I won't say used to it because can you get used to 100 and plus?
But it is what it is.
The good news is we have water to step into.
Yeah, seeing the ocean makes me not care about how hot it is.
And they're parasailing right in front of our room.
So we got a ocean front, fourth floor, and we look out over, straight out over the beach.
And we're looking at a beautiful parasail right now.
Which we parasailed yesterday for the first time in my whole life.
Okay, this is what's funny.
We wrote our daughter, Faith, and said, hey, we parasailed.
No, first I talked to Chris and he was just like, oh.
He could care less.
He's like, oh, whatever.
Oh, good.
Big deal, big whoop.
But we talked to our youngest and she's like...
What?
Oh my gosh.
How did you get mom to do that?
And I was like, it was her idea.
I'm the one who's the venturous person.
I'm the one who said, let's go get a tattoo.
We need a drum roll or something.
I mean, maybe...
Let's get...
Are you going to do it?
No, we're good.
I could do applause just because, man.
Applause.
Yes, I need applause.
You go, girl.
I'm becoming very...
That's for you.
Okay, you can turn it off now.
Thank you very much.
Kudos for you.
No, I'm being very adventurous.
My next adventure, if you say yes, I'm going to hit the button and we're going to rent
a boat on the ocean, which we've never done.
We've rented boats on lakes.
I get this image of the SS Minnow being out for a three-hour tour and they end up on an
island.
No, we're going to just kind of stay close.
With the professor and Marianne.
No, this is just you and me.
Gilligan.
Renting a boat, taking our bacon chips because we're on carnivore.
We'll talk about that in a minute.
It's in the notes.
I know, it's just funny.
Yes, I think I'm ready to click that button that says book Minnow.
Can you have it up right there?
Almost.
No, I have scripture up.
I'm trying to be a little more spiritual first.
Okay, I'm like, what are you doing?
You've got your phone ready to hit.
Right.
Yeah, we're going to spend that money.
Boom.
It would be fun.
No, it would be great actually.
We'd spend half a day out on the water.
Our last full day here.
Kind of in the bay, in the Marina area, which is super nice.
It's beautiful.
I just want to make sure there's a restaurant that we can just drive up to, go in and have
a beef patty or something, or steak or something, and then-
Jump back on the boat.
Jump back in.
Yeah, I think that would be fun.
I do too.
We used to do that a lot.
We've done that, yes.
At lakes.
Yeah.
We've never done that in an ocean.
Not in the ocean, but it's so beautiful and the wind is so down.
Right now it's not even windy at all.
So it's perfect.
It's beautiful.
We were supposed to have rain for several days and it's just gone all around us.
Yeah.
We've seen beautiful sunsets.
Yes.
You've taken a lot of great pictures.
I have.
I'll throw some up.
I'll do a couple of pictures up on our newsletter.
So if you haven't signed up for our newsletter, go to our website, livingupinadownworld.com,
and sign up for our newsletter.
Super simple, easy to do.
And Annette, I'm looking at your timer over there.
It's just paused.
Why'd it do that?
Is it going now?
No, it's messed up.
It's not messed up.
I keep hitting it.
It doesn't like.
Sign it to me.
It doesn't want us to be on a timer today.
Technical difficulties on a remote.
Oh my goodness.
Wait, let me go.
Let me do this.
I usually have it all rigged.
No, let me fix it.
Okay, you fix it.
So we've had a wonderful time here.
It's just us, mommy and daddy.
I mean, we're out here having a great time enjoying getting some sun.
Well, we really are like empty nesters for the first time.
Legitimately.
Because all of our kids are married off now.
I know.
Which is amazing.
We had to hurry up and find someone for faith.
You're funny.
That's not how that went down.
I know, but Brandon is wonderful.
Brandon's great.
It was about prayer.
Lord, please.
Find her a husband.
I know some parents who are depressed when they become empty nesters.
Not us.
We're like, remember the show Home Alone?
We're like Macaulay Gawkin when his parents left.
Woo hoo.
Now, if our kids listen to this, they're going to be sad.
We're so close to all of our kids.
We talk to them literally just about every day.
I know, that's true.
And we're still halfway supporting Faith.
It's not like she really left.
That's true.
She's still costing us money.
It just took Brandon too long to find a job, but he did get a job.
He did get a job, so that was a big answer to prayer.
He hasn't got a paycheck yet, so guess who's supporting her?
No, he's right there.
He's right there.
Yeah, we're still supporting them.
We're about to get a raise.
I know.
That's what Tina and Adam said.
How are you getting a raise?
Speaking of Tina and Adam, where are they right now?
They abandoned us.
Do you want to talk about it?
They are in Amsterdam today.
Yes, but we were supposed to meet them in Italy next week, but you said no.
Oh, the one time in 30 years I said no.
I don't think that's a good idea right now.
You just did not want to travel abroad, and okay, that's fine.
I didn't.
Not on my sabbatical.
We'll travel another time.
Well, next year they want to go to Japan.
Might be up for that.
You think he'd be up for that?
Might be up for that.
I've heard good things.
I think we need to make a call to Evan.
Evan Archulay.
He just got back from Japan, and he says one of his favorite trips.
I've never even considered Japan, but after hearing what he said, I'm intrigued.
If China doesn't invade Japan between now and then, then we may go.
Who knows?
The world's going crazy right now.
Yes, it is.
But I won't get off on that.
No, no.
So we pray.
We serve a higher God, much higher than all this craziness down here.
Which is why we don't get spun up.
Oh, and that's why we call it living up in a down world, right?
Exactly.
And joining the show, and we have so many people to thank, which we're going to do a
little bit later, but I just want to stop and say thank you for listening.
Thank you for joining us.
Hey, you're bumping stuff over there.
Sorry, this is a different kind of...
Adventures in remote podcasting.
Hey, it's not a bad setup though.
It's actually working pretty good.
It's not.
Let me move this over.
Because I keep glancing out the doors, the big glass doors.
He's going to critique us, and you know...
He's our executive producer at this job.
That's what I pay him for.
He might not like that we're in an open room like this.
That's what I pay him for.
That's why you have to eat the mic so we don't catch all that ambient noise.
We're trying.
And don't be bumping stuff.
Thank God I'm not hungry, huh?
Eating the mic.
Oh, you're weird.
Eat the mic.
I know.
That's funny.
I know.
I'm just full of jokes today.
Oh, you're hilarious.
You're staring at a course.
Yeah, as we're sitting here drinking our Perrier...
Perrier from a wine glass.
Yes.
Yeah, we're wild.
As if we're drinking wine, but we're not drinking hardly.
So let's talk a little bit about our journey.
So when we started the sabbatical, we made some commitments.
You're making... you're banging stuff.
I'm sorry.
This is loud.
Okay, stop it.
Okay.
Okay, put your arms in.
Oh my gosh.
Just hold your arms.
Cross your arms.
Here, just give me a straight jacket.
Don't touch anything.
So we started the sabbatical, and when we did, we made some decisions about it because we
actually leaned into a plan, very loose plan that has lots of room for changing because
we didn't want to just structure everything.
No.
So there's like no agenda per se, but we did have... we laid out some thoughts, and one
of them was we really wanted to take our health back.
We wanted to work on our spirit, our body, and our mind, those three, and man, hit the
ground running with the spiritual side of it because we love to listen to teaching and
preaching, particularly from Pastor Robert Morris at Gateway Church, and then we also...
And all of their teachers that they have teachers, preachers.
Absolutely.
Yeah, their summer of Johnson is amazing.
And then also feeding on enjoying Pastor Bill Johnson from Bethel Church in Raining, California.
Very deep, but profound teacher.
Extremely.
Such a blessing to us.
Very profound.
We've been feeding on that, and I've also really enjoyed Lectio 365.
It's an app, but it's from Pete Gregg, Pastor Pete Gregg out of the UK.
And again, just... so we've been really working spiritually.
Now we also turned our attention to our body, our physical body, our temple.
There you go again.
Sorry.
Wow.
Sorry, Adam.
Sorry, Podfather.
I have to move it.
I have to.
Anyway, so now we're working on our body, and we decided to do keto again, which we
were very faithful for two or three years.
Right before COVID.
Yeah.
And then when COVID hit, everybody gained their 15 pounds and more.
And we didn't have access to the best food at that time or a gym.
Remember that?
It was easier to eat what you had in your pantry, which I guess we still had some comfort
food or we went and bought...
We did because Faith was still living with us.
Oh, that's right.
That's why there was a lot of junk food around.
How would that have happened?
Unfortunately.
It was Faith.
So we decided that we needed to get back in shape again, just not always feeling up to
par.
And so we started keto.
We knew that the best time to start it was on the sabbatical, which some people would
say, no, you want to eat whatever you want then.
No.
That's the point.
We're trying to make ourselves feel better, not feel worse.
And we're going to the gym a lot.
We have gone and we've both lost quite a bit of weight, which is pretty crazy.
I'm not sure where I'm at now, but right before we came over here on Thursday...
We were both at 12 pounds.
Yeah.
Yeah, we were both at 12 pounds.
And we've continued on in Florida, eating meat.
That's all we're eating.
I was going to say, explain what the carnivore diet is.
Well, you might explain it better because you've listened to about a hundred videos
on it.
And really, it started with hearing Jordan Peterson talk about how it totally...
Cleared his depression.
His daughter.
He had dental issues.
He had physical issues.
His daughter, she had an autoimmune disease that was taking her out.
Totally cleared that up.
Totally cleared it up.
Joe Rogan went on it.
And I don't know all of the facts of things that happened to him.
So for those of you who don't know, the ketogenic diet is lowering your carbs down to what?
Around 20.
Around 20 a day.
And then healthy foods, clean foods, non-processed.
No processed foods.
No sugar.
With a ketogenic diet, you can use sugar substitutes like stevia or various ones.
Vegetables, salad, a little bit of fruit, but very little as long as you keep your carbs
under 20.
You want to keep your fat, get your fats up, your proteins up, through mostly meat and
fatty meat and good fats like avocados.
So we did that for a number of years.
We saw great results actually.
So when we started it again, we did it for a couple of weeks, three, and then our son...
I want to say three weeks.
Yeah, because Chris came and stayed with us.
On our second week.
Chris is working on his health as well.
He's doing his temple care as well.
So we had lots of conversations about proteins, fats, different people we're listening to,
particularly YouTube's got some good videos and information.
So I got inspired.
I started watching Dr....
Ken Berry.
Ken Berry and Anthony Chafee.
Dr. Anthony Chafee.
Dr. Kilt.
Yeah, Kilt.
Dr. Kilt.
Kilt.
Just all these doctors that are jumping on, and many of them have been doing this for
years.
They're doing a carnivore diet.
And I'd heard about it.
I'd talked to a couple of people who tried it and others that saw great results, but
I didn't really lean into it because of the thought of just eating meat from now on.
Just sounded strange.
Meat, eggs, beef.
It's B.B.
Beef, butter, eggs, salt.
Bacon.
Or beef, bacon.
Yeah, butter.
Beef, bacon, butter, eggs.
But we have added a little bit of fruit.
Yeah, just a little.
Just a little bit.
And that's it.
Yeah.
Really.
And I'm going to say that I'm going to say that I'm going to say that I'm going to
say that I'm going to say that I'm going to say that I'm going to say that I'm going
to say that I'm going to say that I'm going to say that I Attach a genuine calorie memory
to my body and also through all of our
own
caramel-stale
And here we are 21 days later and we're in Florida and we're asking people,
where's the best steakhouse?
They're like, there's not steak here, it's seafood.
Those ladies last night were like, okay, we know, we know.
But there's got to be steak.
We're asking locals about where to eat.
That's what you do, especially when you travel like this.
But we've eaten steak.
Yeah, we've done very well.
Burger, patties, because we're not eating the stuff.
Lots of bacon and eggs.
Yeah, lots.
Yeah, sausages, various things.
And we're at barbecue.
Yeah.
As long as without the sauce.
Just brisket, sausage.
Brisket, fatty brisket.
So anyway, it's been fantastic.
We feel amazing.
The first two weeks were hard.
Yeah.
Not quite two weeks, but almost two weeks.
Yeah, about a week and a half.
Yeah.
Because you have an adjustment period.
Hard on your stomach because you're-
Yeah, you have an adjustment period.
So yeah, I was in the bathroom a lot and I won't say anything else.
We were in the bathroom a lot.
Okay, yeah, I guess you were too.
No more.
Now it's unbelievable.
It's amazing.
I feel the energy level is over the top.
I had no idea.
It was like that with keto, but carnivore, it's even taking it to a new level.
Yeah, we're intermittent fasting.
We were at the gym yesterday or this morning for over an hour, which we never go more than
40 minutes.
And we ate nothing before we worked out.
No, we're not eating.
We're fasting until lunch.
You eat.
You fast.
You work out while you're fasting.
So what you do is you do your last meal in the evening if you're hungry.
You may not even be hungry because what's happened when we got off all the carbs and
got off the sugar, our appetite just went down.
I mean, like, I'm hardly ever hungry.
Yeah, it's been unbelievable.
You don't crave anything.
I don't crave sugar.
No.
I don't go by Great American Cookie Factory, you know, or whatever.
Well, we drove by that Krispy Kreme and it said hot and we were like, poison, poison.
Yeah, you have to reframe things.
Now, and this isn't for everybody.
No, it's not.
Although I think everybody should look into it, but it's definitely...
It took us, you know, really researching a lot of...
And not every doctor is going to agree with this, but I know my doctor in San Antonio,
she's the one who put me on keto years ago.
I think she's going to be 100% for this and I'm going to get all my labs done next month.
Yeah, next month.
Yeah, that'll be great to see it.
I've been able to get off almost all my supplements and medications.
There's only one I'm hanging on to just for a short term, but it looks like I'll be able
to completely get off of that.
And that's what I'm hoping too.
So yeah, I mean, we used to travel with a unbelievable array of supplements and vitamins.
You don't need vitamins.
Once you're eating what Dr. Ken Berry calls the proper human diet, PhD, you don't need
all that.
You don't need all those supplements because you're actually getting it all from the meat,
the fats, the good healthy stuff.
And not everybody can just eat meat.
They...
I mean, if you like...
Here's what I think.
We eat a variety of foods, but it's a really small variety of foods if you think about
it.
We always eat pretty much the same thing.
Kind of gravitate toward the same group of things.
And so why not just change that to a different...
You just take out all the carbs and the sugar and processed food and just eat different
meats and seafood.
I even bought heart and liver for you.
Cow heart and liver?
Yes.
I can't wait to grill those up.
I'm a little shocked that I did that, but I don't know...
I'll taste a bite of the heart, which that's weird that I want to taste a heart, but I
do not want the liver because the liver reminds me of what my mom used to make, livered onions.
Oh.
Don't knock it.
I'm also eating sardines.
Outside?
Thank you.
I know.
I've been banished.
It's like 104 outside.
I will not let you eat that in the house.
It's hard enough to open a can of tuna, much less sardines.
I only do two cans a week and you get all the omega-3s and fatty acids.
Everything you need out of that, you get in a couple of servings.
It'll be interesting because you're shrinking.
I know.
I did run into someone at the cleaners the other day and I said, he's not even the same
man spiritually, but physically he has shrunk in a good way.
No, I have lean body mass.
You have lean body mass.
You're real cut.
I'm not trying to be buff.
Adam says your arms are as big as your legs, but not anymore, but in a good way.
Well, thank you.
I'm sorry.
You're shrinking too.
We're both shrinking.
I know.
It's nice.
It does help with confidence, but I like how I feel more than anything.
The fact that our health, because you get rid of all that visceral fat around your organs,
which is the dangerous fat, all that goes away and all the inflammation goes away.
The body, it's amazing.
God created our bodies to heal itself, but you have to give it the right fuel.
You wouldn't put diesel in a gasoline car.
It wouldn't run.
It wouldn't work.
There's a reason it's designed that way.
We're learning.
If you're interested, write us, ask questions.
I reached out to Michael Schuizer.
He's the lead guitar player at Mercy Means.
He's doing the same thing.
He's been doing it for 13 weeks, something like that.
18 weeks.
He's doing great.
He's cross fit.
He said he went to the beach and had a sugar alcohol drink or something, but that was it.
An adult beverage.
An adult beverage, but that was about it.
He said that was it.
He said, that isn't that.
He's been pure carnivore.
We've been trading notes and he's helped me a little bit.
We're on it.
Anyway, that's just kind of what's up with us.
I can't believe how we're sitting here bubbling with energy right now.
We've just had one meal of meat.
We had one meal of red meat.
I think it's going to be cheaper on our grocery bill though.
Oh, I do too.
Oh my gosh.
Because you're not buying all the junk.
It's certainly easier to eat and clean up.
Well, that's what people say, isn't it hard?
No.
You don't have to think about it.
You don't have to count calories.
We bought a new grill so that we could grill.
We bought a pellet grill.
I'm so excited about that.
Now we grill everything on the grill.
It's bad.
It's bad to the bone.
I love it.
We've gotten to use it a couple of times, three times.
Before we came to Florida.
I love it.
Already I'm excited about it.
We've been buying a lot of good beef from KNC Beef out of Austin.
It's literally farm to your front door.
You buy direct from the farmers.
I'm excited about getting my next batch of meat.
Me too.
I know.
I'm excited.
It's a little harder when you travel just because you're having to eat meat from restaurants
and then you have to say, and always poor waiters and waitresses, they look at us like
all you want is meat.
No sides.
We ate at Longhorn Steakhouse last night.
She was like, wait, but you got to have sides.
We're like, no.
She goes, she puts her hand on her hips.
Oh my gosh.
I wish I could be as disciplined as you all.
Then they brought us out two sides of mashed potatoes.
You know what I did?
I took the butter off the top and put it on my steak.
We killed off a 20 ounce bone in last night.
We did.
It was fun.
Anyway, it's great.
If you have any questions, just ask.
You can write us at our website.
We always love hearing from you, but that's kind of what's up with us and what's current
and what's going on.
We're just thrilled to be here as I turn and look out and see a couple of C-dos riding
by and then a parasail comes flying by.
It's pretty cool.
I can get used to this.
Talk about the parasail adventure.
Annette, we've been watching it out in the ocean.
We were at the beach just watching and watching people.
We watched a couple of people go up that were sitting behind us.
I just said, I want to do this.
You were like, what?
Who are you?
Is what you said.
I don't know you anymore.
I said, go find out how much it is.
I don't care how much it is, honestly.
Obviously we have a budget, but sometimes you just got to...
Then you did something you never do.
Every time I say, I'll go ask them, you go, don't bother them.
There are these two girls out on the water, obviously their friends had just gone.
I had to ask them.
You actually went over and asked them, what has possessed my wife?
Is this a carnivore?
You're turned into a lion?
I was desperate to get information because I wanted to see if it was something affordable.
I don't know.
I was really excited.
If you're hearing noise in the background, that's our eyes.
I was going to say, what is that?
You're in a kitchen.
Oh yeah.
Okay.
I thought it was you making that noise.
No, it's the ice maker.
Okay.
Well anyway, so I got the information.
We went out the next day and it was too short though.
It was short, but it was cool.
For those of you who don't know me, I'm afraid of water.
A swimming pool is fun, shallow is great.
I'm not a big fan of deep water and I'm afraid of heights.
For me to even suggest us go parasailing, I thought you were going to faint literally.
Mind bending.
But I was not afraid.
I wasn't nervous.
I think if it was just me, I wouldn't have done it, but the fact that we could do it
together made it just worthwhile.
I loved it.
So you jump on a banana boat behind a jet ski and they fly out to the boat, which is
like almost a mile out.
And water is just going all over you.
Yeah.
It's just like riding a bunk and bucking a Bronco.
It's like being on a tube.
Yeah, or a Bronco.
You just hang on for dear life and water splashes.
Yes.
Salt water in your eyes.
So anyway, we get out there and then man, they just harness you up and like 30 seconds
later it's like, all right, don't hold on to that.
And then boom, you're in the air.
It was great.
It was cool.
It was way too short.
I could have done it for 30 minutes.
So it has a thousand foot wire.
Wire.
Well not wire, but it's like a rope, nylon rope, but thousand feet.
So you're so far from the boat that once you get up in the air, you don't even, I could
barely hear the boat.
Yeah, me too.
All I heard was nothing.
And then I loved it when they dipped us into the water twice.
They'll slow down a couple of times and let you like hit the water and they pull you back
up.
And it was wonderful because it's hot.
So it felt good to get in that warm water.
I think for me, once we got up, I was just amazed at the beauty.
Cause I mean, you're about a hundred feet in the air.
We went and bought a waterproof camera and took a lot of pictures and video.
We'll see how that turns out.
I don't have no idea.
They take pictures, but then, and they send them to you, but then they charge you an arm
and a leg.
So we're like, no, we've got our own pictures.
Thank you.
So it was really cool.
But what I loved was the peace that I mean, I thought, okay, this is a sabbatical.
We're up in the air about a hundred feet and we're looking around.
Of course you can see that the shoreline is just stunning and you can see the water.
It's just blue and green.
It's so beautiful and white sands.
Texas beaches.
No.
It's a little different.
And Cancun, Mexico, Caribbean is really pretty, but this is, this is unbelievable.
Clear water, clear green and blue.
Oh, so clear.
I love it.
Yeah.
So we had a great time, but what an adventure.
I mean, this girl, you are just coming alive.
I think it's a cardboard diet.
You're turning into a lioness.
No, I think it's just, I'm realizing my mortality and it's like, I got to do some things before
Jesus comes back or we pass or whatever.
I've got to, I need to adventure out a little bit.
Even coming here.
I mean, we, we said to the beginning of the sabbatical, if we decide to do something,
we'll do it.
If we don't, we don't.
Right.
And about a week before that you said, I'm content here.
I'm great.
And then one day you woke up and it's like, I really want to go to the beach.
I really want to go to the beach.
I want to go.
Yeah.
And I think you were jelly of your friends going to Europe.
Well, they're going to be gone for two weeks and it's like, they're the only friends we're
seeing.
They've really been our hangout buddies.
They have been.
They've been designed for the sabbatical to just have a couple of people that we do life
with and, and, you know, not talk about church.
And so they've really been, we've gotten so close to them and have enjoyed this friendship
and just so thankful God crossed our paths.
And so then they're leaving.
So we're kind of bummed out.
We're like, Oh man, what are we going to do for two weeks?
So we went somewhere for a week.
So we did.
And we'll come back and we'll have a couple of weeks just to wind down a little bit more
getting.
Yeah.
And get ready for what the Lord has for us when we get there.
But let me share this because this is what happened yesterday.
Yeah.
I was going to ask about that yesterday.
I was sitting out on the patio and the balcony and I was looking over and I was having my
quiet time with the Lord and I was praying and I was looking out and I was like, Lord,
you, your majesty is just, you are so majestic.
And I just, that song came into my head.
Oh Lord, Oh Lord, how majestic is your name and all the earth.
And so I went on to my concordance and I'm going to read this.
This is from Psalm eight for the director of music, according to Giddeth, a Psalm of
David.
And this is David singing this or saying this to the Lord.
Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name and all the earth.
You have set your glory in the heavens through the praise of children and infants.
You have established a stronghold against your enemies to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which
you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that
you care for them.
You have made them a little lower than the angels and crown them with glory and honor.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands and put everything under their feet.
All flocks and herds and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky and the fish in
the sea, all that swim the path of the seas.
Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name and all the earth.
When I pulled up Majestic and Majesty and the concordance it sent me to Psalm 8.
And I thought it was so interesting because that song went into my head and then Psalm
8 is that song.
Do you remember that song from, gosh, the 80s I think, 90s?
What was amazing is I love it when it says the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the sea.
And I'm looking out at the sea.
In the mornings what have we been doing?
We've been going out there with our coffee and just sitting out on the balcony and enjoying
the presence of the Lord and His Majesty of God.
And so I just, that, I was so, so moved.
So I was looking up other scriptures and there's a couple more I want to read that were just
so amazing.
Let me get to this real quick.
Well, first off, let's talk about Majesty or Majestic.
In the strong concordance, it's an adjective, and it means glorious, leader, magnificent,
majestic, majestic ones, masters, mighty, mighty one, nobles, power, and stately.
I mean that is just, that's who God is.
He's just so perfect in every way.
And the fact that He cares so much for the birds in the air, how much more does He care
for us?
And looking out there, it just, it's so tranquil and seeing people having fun.
You can see little kids playing, playing in the sand.
And it's just, it's just, you just think about God's glory just looking out here.
I wish we could see that everywhere instead of having to come, I mean we see it, but everyone,
I wish they could really see through the eyes, through the lens of God and see what He has
created here.
He is Elohim, the Creator.
He created all of this for us to enjoy.
I think the vastness of it is also impressive.
We talk about majesty or the glory of God, just seeing how far where you look and you
cannot see anything.
All you see is the horizon on the sea, the Gulf going out.
And it's so massive.
I was, when we were out on the beach just sitting and enjoying the sun and watching
kids play and super cute and watching them trying to find things in the sand and whatnot,
just enjoying that.
But I was looking out over the Gulf of Mexico knowing, and we saw a dolphin swim by yesterday
morning which was kind of cool, super chill, slow.
You were like, is that a shark?
I'm hunting, it's a dolphin.
Don't you remember, flipper?
I know, but there was a shark sighting here in May.
But it was eight miles out.
So anyway, not up close.
But anyways, we're watching all this.
I was overwhelmed with the vastness, how vast God is, how big God is, and how the earth
is covered with water and how much it is.
Even just the way the earth's created it can support the weight and the gravity.
I was digging in.
I know.
Digging into that, thinking about the weight of the ocean.
And it's on the earth's crust and how it doesn't just implode, this whole planet implode on
itself.
You would think about it.
I think because God's holding it all in His hands.
That was where I was going with that, and how vast, how majestic He is, how glorious
He is.
Well, one of the things that I found interesting after we were sitting here on the porch and
I was just having that moment of just in awe of who He is, we get up, we get ready, go
to the gym.
And I always turn on, I wanted to see Gateway, Robert Morris, I wanted to hear his preaching
from Sunday.
We went on a Sunday morning.
We're not going to church while we're on the sabbatical, but we are listening to Gateway.
And so Robert Morris is back, it's his second week.
And I decided, and I don't do this often.
Most of the time I'll fast forward it straight to the preaching.
But yesterday, for some reason, I just wanted to hear the worship before the preaching,
which I never got to the preaching because I was just so engulfed into the worship.
But Martin Smith from Delirious, is Delirious the band still going or are they still intact?
No, no, no.
They're doing different things.
Stu G, the guitar player is in Nashville.
Of course you would know that.
He travels with Michael W. Smith and some of the other guys, so he sessions out a lot.
Okay.
I remember Martin Smith and Delirious leading for a Joyce Meyer conference years ago in
St. Louis.
And I was just, it was just, it was wonderful.
I mean, the worship was just overwhelming.
And so yesterday they played a song and Martin wasn't there.
And then a pastor comes out and says, we want to introduce Martin Smith is going to lead
us in the rest of the worship.
And I was so moved because two of the songs had the word majesty in it.
Okay.
What are the chances that I'm sitting out here on the balcony and I'm just saying, Lord,
you're so majestic.
And then we're at the gym a little bit later.
A little bit later in two of the songs.
So you're in a bathroom stall again, crying.
I am so...
There's something about getting wrecked at the gym.
I know.
And this sabbatical is really wrecking me spiritually because I think this is why though,
we don't have the distractions of work and other things that can get in the way.
And you just, you can focus more on your relationship with the Lord because it is a relationship.
It is not something we do.
It's who we are.
We have this relationship with God and He's with us at all times.
But when we get wrapped up with distractions in life, you tend to not think about them
a lot.
And it's sad, but it's just the way of life.
But having this sabbatical where everything is about rest, resting in Him, not just resting
and having fun and then He's still on the back burner, that's wrong.
It's about putting Him in the forefront, keeping Him there and everything we do is surrounded
by Him.
He's not in the background, He's in the forefront.
And I think that's what is just making this so powerful for me.
And God is just confirming so much of His presence in our lives right now and what He
wants to do.
And I think our church, what you're going to do in our church and what God's going to
do through you, for our people as you speak, and God's going to give you something fresh,
I think it's going to be powerful, Jimmy.
I really do because of what He's doing in you privately.
So I'm really looking forward to going back and seeing what He's going to do because as
a shepherd goes, so goes the sheep.
And I really do believe that what God's doing here because we are taking the time not just
to blow eight weeks.
No, no, no.
We committed, we said we will not squander this time.
And even squandering could have been for us just going from vacation to vacation to vacation.
That could have been squandering as well.
And just getting so caught up in doing, doing, doing instead of being, being, being.
And I think that was the difference.
I would change a thing and I'm not going to have any regrets.
Exactly.
And you know, going back in, I love what you said, Annette, and just so, so with you on
that is my, I'm not supposed to say challenge, but my goal, my objective is to take what
we've learned here and then bring that into, back into the pace of life.
Exactly.
It doesn't stop.
And also we become the master of our pace, not letting the pace become the master of
us.
We're kind of resetting ourselves.
That's a good way to say it.
It's like rebooting the computer or when your phone starts acting up, we're always turning
it off.
Yeah.
Power it off.
I say reboot it.
Yeah.
Turn it.
Have you read, restarted your phone?
And I feel like that's what we're doing.
It's clearing out the junk, clearing the cash and focusing on Him.
It's sort of like fasting in a sense where you peel away all the non-essentials and now
you're focused on what matters and what's primary.
And to be able to do that for a couple of months is such a rare gift.
It's the first time in 38 years of ministry I've been able to do this.
And looking back, I won't say I have regrets, but I would say knowing what I know now, I
would have been doing this.
You would have been more intentional.
On an ongoing basis.
And about asking and insisting that we have a sabbatical.
No doubt.
Which now we know.
We know.
We learned.
Five to seven years.
So I'm already looking at five years down the line, not seven, especially at our age.
We need to go five.
We don't have a lot of sevens left, right?
Yeah.
I think this was one of the most important things we've ever done in our lives.
I agree.
We hope that where you live, you can take a little bit of what we're talking about because
you don't have to be on a sabbatical to do this.
I've been doing something that I read about many years ago called practicing the presence
of God.
It's similar.
It's really the same.
Where you turn everything you do into an act of worship for Him.
Bill Johnson was just talking about that the other day.
Remember?
Yes.
The way of life is a new book that he has out, but he also has a 21 day?
41 day.
41 day on YouVersion, the Bible app.
It's real short, but it's profound.
It's so good.
Some of our videos, some of our little writings, but just to the point.
But he was talking about how making everything that you do an act of worship.
And so that's-
Would you practice that as long as I've known you?
God's grace has been on that for me and teaching me that through Brother Lawrence and Frank
Lawvok and some of the contemplatives and the desert fathers and mothers and various
things I've read through the years and studied.
And I'm continuing that with Pastor Pete Craig and his whole idea of Lake DL 365.
So when we take the step back in and we're back at staff meetings, we're back at meetings,
not somebody wants to meet with me and we're counseling and we're prepping sermons, doing
series and planning and all the stuff we do, I will come back at a different pace.
I will move at the pace of grace, not the pace of expectation or the pace that's- sometimes
the enemy will get us spun up and moving so fast.
We just, we start to miss things and I just won't fall victim to that.
Yeah.
It's going to be a new wild ride for us, I think.
Oh, I'm looking forward to it.
In a great way.
And another part of this that I'm expecting coming out of this is revival.
I mean, I know my heart's been revived.
You're in revival.
We're in revival.
So it's just, and it's contagious.
Revival is contagious.
Absolutely.
And so once we get back into the milieu of life, I think it's going to be interesting
to see what happens.
I've got great expectations.
I do too.
And two, I want to say this.
I know Adam and Tina on Curry and the Keeper, their podcast brought up our conversation
about the ripple effect.
Great conversation.
We had a wonderful dinner with them and this came up in the context of our- just when we
get together and talk, it's a talk fest and we all know how to talk and we love to talk
and we love God.
So we talk a lot about God and what's going on.
So this, I remembered one time, I didn't tell them where this came from, but I don't know
if you remember when I was with Eugene Mamajek.
Yes.
We took this group of boys out to Ruedos, New Mexico to hike into the mountains.
They're all boys and they were all, there were some tough kids from the children's home
that I worked at and I'd brought Eugene into that a little bit.
He ended up becoming an F-15 pilot trainer.
So me and Eugene took them up to the mountains and we were standing out at this stunning,
beautiful pond in the mountains.
And there was no wind and I took a rock and I just tossed it out into the middle of it.
We just stood there and when that rock hit that pond, it just sent ripples and they were
so defined and beautiful.
And we just stood there without a word and watched it go to the edge and then bounce
back to the middle.
And that, we both came out of that going, that was so simple but profound.
And what I've come out of it through the years and thought through is that the world loves
waves.
We like the spectacular.
I mean, you scroll through Instagram or Facebook, everybody's putting the spectacular.
This is what I did.
This is my great accomplishment.
Here's my trophies.
Here's my whatever great feats of strength.
And what I think God is a lot more concerned about are the ripples, not the waves.
Because the ripples start at one point, they move all the way out until they hit some kind
of boundary or border and then they come back in.
And that's just...
That's pretty profound if you say that because it comes back to you.
Exactly.
I mean, think about that.
Think about that.
It's the law of reciprocity.
Exactly.
What you sow, you shall also reap.
Yes.
And so we were having that conversation and I believe that when we come back into our
life and in our work, in our ministry, I think it's going to be a revival that's got a lot
more ripples than waves.
Waves I think are highly overrated.
A lot of people, that's how you get your name in magazines and get invited to do church
growth conferences, become guest speakers at things.
I'm not looking for that.
No, you never have been.
I'm looking for the ripples, the ripples, the moments that you can look back and go,
God touched that moment.
Exactly.
And in our little trip here...
Something that's going to last, lasting.
That's what's really important is something that's going to last and not...
The big things, they come and go.
They're like a firework and it's beautiful and then it just fizzles out and it's gone.
So I think what you're saying is that ripple effect and you just keep throwing it out and
it keeps coming back, keeps coming back, keeps coming back.
But you got to throw it out.
You got to.
You got to take an act.
You got to start the motion.
You got to take the step.
And I would challenge you to be a ripple maker.
And now waves are good too.
I'm not diminishing the power of waves and I think God does bring waves along from time
to time.
But you can't live off the waves.
And the waves don't last.
You ride a wave and then it diminishes.
I mean we're watching them out here right now.
Right.
Well there's no wind to ride right now.
Right now today there's very little.
But the other day when there was, they just get up to the shore and they're done.
Whereas with the ripple, it came back.
It went to the edge and then came back.
And assuming there's no boundary, it can conceivably go on, right?
And so...
No, that's good.
I love that.
So we're looking for the ripples.
And what we've been doing on this trip here, we've been looking for the ripples.
We prayed before we left.
What did we pray for?
We prayed for favor in every area of our trip.
From renting the car.
We had an issue.
We decided we were taking a really late flight, getting in really late, and we were worried
the rental car place was not going to be open.
So I changed our flight to an earlier flight, contacted the rental car agency to let them
know that we're coming earlier.
And they said, okay, that's $200 more.
We were like, no, keep the reservation.
We'll see what happens.
So we ended up going over to the rental place right when we got off the airplane.
They didn't even bat an eye.
They said, okay, here's your car.
Like it was nothing.
I can't tell you how many times I think people would have just paid that $200 just to ensure
that they had a car.
And we were like, you know what?
If we don't, we'll Uber everywhere.
If that's what we have to do.
But literally while we were on the airplane, we prayed and said, Lord, give us favor here.
We don't want to pay $200 extra.
I was a little nervous about that.
Just for five hours earlier.
And so it worked out and we got an amazing car, better than we actually thought we were
going to get.
And it's clean, smelled good.
It was like brand new.
Oh, it's great.
Full on leather and they didn't upgrade us.
Everything worked.
And then even, even the ticket agents were super sweet.
And they're not always that way.
No knock on ticket agents.
They have a rough job dealing with people, dealing with stress and whatnot.
They were wonderful.
The lady at the barbecue place, when we ordered up meat, she said, Oh, I can do this a lot
better.
She said, instead of doing that and not getting the sides, let me just do it all a cart.
It's going to save you a lot of money.
And I know that sounds like not a big deal, but that's a big deal for an airport.
It's a ripple.
Well, what was funny too is we had these big water, power waters or whatever in our hand
and we forgot to show them to her.
And so we were like, Oh no, because she had already charged us and she was on the house
and we were just like at an airport.
That never happens.
Sweet.
So that was really wonderful.
We've been met with that everywhere we went, we stopped a couple of locals.
You bought a belt at Dillard's and the lady was so sweet.
Oh my goodness.
We started talking to her and then we said, Hey, tell us some good places to eat.
And then she got her friend over that worked there and they were both talking to us.
We just had such a, and the whole time we're with them, I'm going ripples.
This is ripple stuff.
Life for life, this great exchange value of life for value of life.
And it's amazing if you're kind to people, what you can get back from people.
There's a ripple.
Big time.
Yeah.
So that favor.
And then we, we came into our place and it was, we have a huge condo.
I don't think we've ever rented a condo this big.
A short notice, but it's what I got.
And it's just, I mean, we have, we can look at our master bedroom too.
There's a balcony there.
There's a balcony right here.
It's just, and we had a bonus moment where we got to watch a young man propose.
Oh, and you took a picture of that.
I clapped to you were so embarrassed.
I was going to cheer him on.
I know I felt bad.
So we're on the floor looking straight down on the beach and there's a slight little covered
kind of a hut thing.
And he, we watched him come and set up.
This was an evening roses, roses, a big blanket, a picnic serious.
And I thought he's going to hit a little, little Vino.
And then he was waiting for his girlfriend.
We're watching another person's drama and feeling bad.
We were praying.
Lord, he was upset.
Like something didn't go right.
Something's wrong.
And he kept using his phone and he was like using his hand.
I kept saying he's about to propose to somebody.
This is going to be good.
And then sure enough, she runs on the running down the beach.
Talk about a scene from a movie.
And surely she had to have known he's going to propose.
Well, maybe when she came up, but I mean, she was running.
And he waited till after they ate.
I noticed.
I know.
I was like, dude, what are you waiting for?
I started to yell out, Hey, just propose already.
And it was so cute though.
It was really sweet.
I've never seen that before.
I took a picture and you said I was a stalker.
Yes.
It was a sweet thing.
It was beautiful.
Yeah, that's anyway, that was a bonus for the trip just to see a proposal.
And it was so sweet.
And you're clapping loud.
Well, people on the beach were too, it wasn't just me.
You get embarrassed too easy.
You're like, Oh my gosh.
Oh my gosh.
I'm cheering on.
I'm going, yeah.
I know.
Yeah.
But I can ask someone about parasailing.
I know.
It's weird.
I know.
It is weird.
We have a lot of people to thank today.
We do.
It has been, I want to share one scripture and I'm going to break it down, but I'm going
to talk about the ripple effect and something that's really powerful.
It's a principle that I've just brought into my own prayer life.
It's in Psalm and it's verse five, chapter 34 verse five says, those who look to him
are radiant.
And it says their faces are never covered with shame.
And I've been praying prayers as we go up to a counter or we go up to a clerk or a waitress
walks up.
I've been in my mind saying this, Lord, we're looking to you, make us radiant, make us radiant
so that when people meet us, they'll see us, they'll see the light in it.
Yeah.
Even at Walmart and various places, we have to go with their checking bags big time here.
I'm not sure what the deal is here.
Yeah.
But then they overlook us.
They just go, Oh, keep going.
Just go on.
I'm watching them check everybody's bag and they look at us and they go, go on.
Yeah, go on.
I'm holding my bag out.
He says, no, you're good.
It's so weird.
It's interesting.
I'm telling you, the ripple is happening.
It is an odd thing that's happened the whole time we've been here.
Majesty, radiance, it all works together.
So anyway, Hey, okay.
So we do.
I want folks to just say thanks because you have been so, you know, we, a couple of weeks
ago we said, gosh, it felt like crickets.
And then last week it was fantastic.
The response, another great week.
So I want to just say thanks.
And I want to say this before I even just read off these and share some encouragement,
but we want to hear from you.
Yes.
I want to know where you live.
You brought that up the other day.
I want to know where people are from.
I want to know where you're from because we have so many people that we can see on RSS.com
that shows people from other countries.
I want to know where you're, where you're listening from.
So take a moment, go to our website, living up and down world and just write us a note.
You don't have to write a letter, but send us a note saying, you know, I'm so and so
my husband, I listen, listen, or I listen.
I'm just from this.
Yeah.
You don't have to write a book, but if you want to share a little bit about yourself,
we'd love to get to know you too.
So we love hearing from you.
And so you can also leave a review of the podcast that helps us big time.
You sign up for a weekly newsletter.
It's simply a reminder, basically very short to the point couple of pictures and just a
reminder and yeah, you can email us comments, questions, and follow us on social media.
We're on Twitter.
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Prove it.
And we're on Instagram and our Jimmy and Annette.
So love to love to hear from you and connect.
So thank our friends who listen.
All right.
I want to start with some Satoshi.
So on, on the fountain app, which fountain has this wonderful platforms called value
for value.
So like if you value something and you say, gosh, that's been a value to me, it really
meant something to me and helped me.
I'm encouraged by that.
I'm inspired by that.
It's helping me my walk of Christ.
Well, I want to, I want to share that value back.
And so one of the ways you can do that through, through fountain is by sharing, sending Satoshi's
and it's a beautiful, beautiful platform.
And to me, it's just one of the greatest things that's out there right now.
And so, so Satoshi's are Bitcoin, small Bitcoin.
And so I've got some, some to share here.
And actually the first one is believe it or not, of course, Adam Curry, our executive
producer with a Striper boost of 77,777 straps.
He also gave me that file, by the way, he made that or one of his guys made that.
And he writes this giving up my right to withhold boosting.
I love that.
Now, last week we talked about giving up our right to withhold encouragement.
Right.
So tell me what, tell the audience what Striper means.
Striper is a band.
It's a Christian rock band and they had an album called To Hell With The Devil and among
other things, the yellow and black attack, but they were eighties, nineties band.
They're still doing some touring and stuff, you know, like a lot of bands re up, you know?
But anyway, so it's just, and they're all about sevens, seven, seven, seven, the perfect
number.
So that's why.
Thank you.
Because people know that on Curry and the Keeper, but they don't know that on living
up in a down world.
So anything with a seven, seven, seven.
Anything with sevens, we're going to give you a Striper boost.
Right.
There you go.
It's funny.
And then next in the Keeper, who's the Keeper?
My best friend, Tina.
Tina Curry with 25,000 subs.
She didn't do the sevens.
No Striper.
No she didn't, but I'll still listen to applause anyway.
All right.
So thank you, Tina.
We love you.
And she wrote special boost for Dame Annette.
She did that for you.
Because she wants me to boost her and I don't know how you're going to have to show me that.
To hook you up.
All right.
Sorry, Tina.
We'll get it.
We'll get Annette on the ball.
By the way, I boosted you guys big time, so I made up for it.
So I may have to do PayPal for her because I know how to do that.
There you go.
You can do that.
Yes.
So and then we got another, this was a great note.
1100 sats from Absurdient is her handle.
You know it's a her?
It is because I met her boyfriend at a meetup in Austin.
Oh.
Which we'll be doing some meetups with Curry and the Keeper.
Super excited about that.
So and she wrote this.
I love this.
I love that.
I guess she extrapolated that from her.
We need to make a t-shirt that says conversations create community.
I love that.
By the way, that would make a great shirt.
That's powerful.
I'm going to hang on to that.
And if you don't mind, I'm sorry, I'm going to use that again because that's beautiful.
And she wrote wonderful episode.
Thank you.
So thank you Absurdient for sending in the sats.
We really appreciate it.
Yeah.
We're cheering for you.
And then.
We got 500 sats and listen to this.
This is beautiful.
Dear Jimmy and Annette found you via the Curry and the Keeper podcast.
My husband and I are Dutch.
Oh, I know.
I shared this with Adam.
They're Dutch because Adam.
Where do they live?
It just says they're Dutch.
I wonder if they're in Amsterdam.
I don't know.
Or Rotterdam could be anywhere.
Yeah.
And became Christians in Catholic in 2020.
Oh.
And I find your podcast very inspiring to deepen my new faith.
Isn't that beautiful?
Yes, I love that.
So here, here by my encouragement for you and I want you to know I feel encouraged in
my faith for you both or by you both.
Lots of love, Iris.
Iris, we love you too.
Thank you, Iris.
How sweet.
We appreciate that so much.
Let us know where you're from.
I want to know where you're living now.
We would love to hear from you.
This is beautiful.
And then also we have a new paid subscription.
Andrew Crow, $11.
Thank you, Andrew, for signing up and for paying and encouraging us with some value.
And you know, no passing along the value is too small.
I mean, it's not even about the amount.
It's just that sense of I value what you're doing and it so encourages us.
So, Andrew, thank you so much.
We appreciate it.
And then I've got a couple of emails to share that we got in through the website.
And this is a great one.
I love this.
This is a guy named Joshua Stafford.
I've sort of got to know, I've been off social media.
I'm not responding or doing anything other than putting our, you know, just letting people
know the podcast is up, which has been actually easy for me.
Are you taking a potty break?
Okay, go right ahead.
Oh my gosh.
See you in a minute.
So Joshua has been commenting on a lot of my posts.
I used to do, I've been doing a daily devotional.
So I've gotten to know him just through that.
And I just really have appreciated his feedback and he's just got some great things to say.
So he wrote this.
He says, hello, Pastor Jimmy and Dame Annette.
I think that's how Adam put it.
I will say respectfully, greetings.
I don't want to offend.
No offense, my brother.
That's a term of endearment.
He says, I want to start out by saying I've been hearing about you for a long time on
the Curry and the Keeper podcast as I've listened since the premiere.
Big big fan of our shared God and very glad to be able to share in a part of your lives
walking with our savior.
Thank you for sharing this part with us.
As I'm learning, it's a difficult thing to be open in that way.
Even though you two have been leading churches, there's another level of transparency.
God bless you both in this.
I won't read the whole thing because there's a lot here, but just one more thing.
He says, I'm listening to the episode released yesterday and hearing that you both were disheartened
about the reaction to feeling the fire.
That was the podcast where it was crickets.
Yeah.
I want him to do the crickets thing.
So or lack thereof.
He says, I have never written to no agenda nor Curry and the Keeper, but in line with
never holding back encouragement, you both made it a great episode.
He went on to say a bunch of beautiful things as long and I really appreciate it.
I wrote him back and just said, thanks.
But Josh, thank you so much.
It means so much.
It does.
You have no idea, especially as pastors.
Yes, absolutely.
People don't give us the encouragement because they think everybody does.
So they don't think about it.
I know you hear this all the time.
And we're like, no, I could hear it one more time.
Exactly. And you need it more than most.
I know that's because my love language is words of affirmation.
It is for sure.
So for sure.
I give them out a lot, but I like to get them back to you.
I know I'm not even going to be shameful about that.
This is from Shelly.
Beautiful.
She said, hi, Pastor Jimmy and Annette.
I wanted to email in and say, I love your show.
You are a breath of fresh air and encouragement on a daily basis.
Thank you for sharing what you do with the world and doing it so willingly.
She talks about, I'm not going to go into all the details, but she talks about serving
at her church and she's enjoyed doing that.
It's been a blessing for her.
And you wrote her back and gave her some information.
Yeah, I did.
I was able to encourage her.
But what she was saying was that as it's getting closer to the fall, things will get busy
again or not get busy.
Because of school being in session.
She was wondering about my thoughts on serving in the church.
And I just wrote her back and basically said, look, you don't have to do everything.
And there's things you can do in a church that don't take a ton of time like host ministry
and serving where it's kind of a hit and miss thing where you're not just locked into teaching
a class or taking on a formal responsibility.
There's lots to do.
And for those of you who have thought, gosh, I'd like to get connected and get involved
in a local church, I want you to know there are great needs for all kinds of help, all
kinds of things, little things like if you have a little gap of time during the week
to answer phones, that's a huge help to a church staff to just have someone come in
and volunteer.
Tina Curry comes in every week on Tuesday, every Tuesday during our staff meetings and
answers phones for us.
And you know, it's not overwhelming or anything.
It's just being a courteous, but it's so sweet.
Greeting guests when they come in because sometimes we have people come in or deliveries.
And so it's nice to have a pretty face and she's definitely a pretty face.
She is and a pretty voice and a pretty voice.
She's a great radio voice.
So anyway, so I just wrote Shelley back and just encouraged her and say, you know what,
there are things that you don't have to do full on to get involved in everything we do
matters.
It's not a, I love the host ministry.
It's like being a greeter.
You always say that's what you would do if you weren't a pastor.
It's because you're the front line of the church.
They come in and they see like that scripture.
Usually the first person's.
Exactly.
You see, you greet them.
They're the ones that you greet or they greet you and hopefully give you some direction,
maybe if you're new.
But anyway, they're all hands on deck and everything you do matters.
So Shelley, thank you for writing.
So good to hear from you.
And just so you know, we appreciate you.
And so, yeah, so that's about it today.
I'm looking out and thinking, my goodness, it's still stunning.
We're going to watch a great sunset tonight.
It's been a little cloudy and looking forward to that.
Hey guys, that's it for this week.
We love you.
We're excited.
We'll be back home next week.
We miss our friends.
Yes.
Well, they won't be, but we will be.
That's okay.
Anything else?
No, I'm just grateful we were able to do this while we were here.
Have fun doing it in the kitchen, right?
Wait, that sounded, nevermind.
Oh, wait, no.
No, no, I didn't mean it that way.
Gee, honey, not PG, gee.
I know, my bad.
Thank you.
Hey, we love you guys.
Have a great week.
Bye.