Hello and welcome to another episode of Upfront and Undivided with Luke and Dean'na.
Hi.
How's it going?
Did you like that?
I did like that.
That was fun.
How's it going, babe?
It's good.
How are you?
I am well.
You are well.
I am well-ish.
Yes.
I'm well.
You're well.
I am well.
It is well.
Yes.
We are well.
How many times can we say well in our intro?
I'm sure.
Well, well, well.
How the tables have...
We haven't...
Our listeners haven't heard from us in two weeks.
Which I feel bad because our last episode was Be Consistent.
Yes.
We're consistently kind of missing things right now.
And our summer has not been consistent for our recording schedule.
It has not.
That is not at all.
It is not at all.
And on this flip side of it, it's kind of a fairly good size reason of why we've been
kind of a little MIA.
Yes.
Do you want to tell them?
Or do you want a tag team tell them?
Yeah, kind of tag team.
Okay.
You know, because I mean, I'll start it off because I know that you are a woman.
And many of our listeners know that you are a woman.
And part of being a woman is you get to go in for annual exams and stuff like that.
That is correct.
And back in May with your mammogram, you had some pain and they said, hey, we need extra
testing so we're not going to do anything yet until you get basically a note from your
doctor that says, yes, we can do extra testing.
Correct.
They drag their feet.
Then you hurt yourself.
Yeah.
Being being Wonder Woman out in the backyard.
Yeah, I think I talked we talked about that a little bit.
Yeah.
And I still, y'all listen, I am still dealing with the stupid poison ivy.
But thank you, Jesus.
It is on the way out.
And all the backyard stuff is sorted.
It is sorted and fixed.
And God gave us favor and the backyard looks beautiful.
Yes.
We have thank you to our friends again.
Appreciate you guys.
Huge thank you.
Our family, we appreciate them genuinely.
Yes.
Go ahead.
And so so the your primary care doctor finally came through with the order of yes, you can
have this extra test and they did the extra test and they found something.
Yes.
And and I love me who has so much experience with with VA and military doctors.
I love the speed of civilian doctors.
It's pretty quick.
Yeah, it really is because it was like Friday you had the test.
Yeah.
They saw something Wednesday you were in for a biopsy.
That hurt like the Dickens.
I wanted to be there and hold your hand.
They wouldn't let me.
Yeah, they were afraid you were going to pass out.
Yeah.
I've seen them stab you before.
It's true.
And watched our son grab the needle.
So, you know, I don't I don't know how much worse it could be.
You've seen me.
I have.
Yeah.
Pulling them out.
Yeah.
So so yeah.
So it was like Wednesday they did like last Wednesday they did the biopsy and then Monday
they called with results when they said it would take probably at least a week.
Yeah.
And your results said that it's cancer.
They said cancer.
Yeah.
And then all of a sudden they're like, OK, and we're really backed up.
But in two days you can have I'm like, that's not backed up.
I am.
I'm used to like we're really busy.
So you can have an appointment in three months.
Yeah.
I'm used to that.
Not like we're really busy.
Here's you know, wait two days.
Yeah.
Or a day and a half.
But yeah.
So yeah.
So that's that's going on.
And we recently talked to more doctors about the process and what's going to going to go
going to happen going forward.
And they're all just amazed that the tumor is small, that it was caught so amazingly
early because it was like seven centimeter millimeter.
I'm sorry.
I keep saying centimeter down.
Yeah.
Millimeter.
So seven millimeter.
That's pretty tiny.
Very tiny.
And stage one cancer isn't usually even detected until it's 20 millimeters.
And so my sweet friend, sister from another mister, like did some math for me and said
that's like less than a third of the size.
And the best thing I can say is all of my girlies, all of my all of our female listeners
and even listen, husbands, gentlemen that have female daughters, friends, people in
your lives, make sure like and I'm even going to speak to the guys like if you feel something
in your body that doesn't feel right, pursue it like like figure out what's going on.
Allow the Holy Spirit first to talk to you.
And and he wouldn't would he?
God just kept like he's he's bugging you.
He was bugging me.
It was very much it wasn't as there's no fear.
So please understand guys that this isn't a thing of fear.
Not scared.
The fact that it was caught at Sir seriously, the surgeon was absolutely floored.
How did you find this?
And well, I do my best to check myself on a fairly regular basis in the shower.
I just, you know, as I'm washing myself, I'm like, oh, there seems to be something and
oh, that hurts.
Yeah, because it didn't get caught by the normal mammogram.
It had to be gotten.
It had to be found with a special like ultrasound that they almost went into your armpit with.
I was going to say it's very much a kind of almost almost up into my armpit.
It's my left side.
The point where the surgeon says, well, I'm going to have to go in with a clip to sensory,
you know, just a locator so I can find you.
We're going to low jack.
They're going to.
Downside, they're taking it out.
Yeah.
Luke was excited.
He's like, is there an app for that so I can find my wife?
You know, it's fine, baby.
I tell you where I am all the time.
And so so in the midst of the humor in the midst of you hear a lot of just lightness
in our voice.
I hope you do hear the lightness in your voice.
We know that this is very serious.
We know that this is something that could have been potentially even worse.
But we are so rejoicing in the fact that God was very much in the midst of this.
And this is kind of we wanted to tell you guys what was going on.
Just again, if you kind of see that we're in my a maybe a week here, maybe there, or
we're not quite consistent.
And even when we're dropping out our podcast, we're going to do the best we can during this
season.
But we're we want you guys to bear with us during this season.
I'm going to be going through a lot of testing.
They're going to be doing a lot of prodding.
I get to go be in an MRI.
I get to go sit in a tube.
Yes.
Face down.
Yeah.
And they're going to stick some stuff in me.
And that makes me want to feel like I have to pee.
Yes.
It is trippy feeling.
Bizarre.
And these really cool medical tests that I've done.
And now you get to go.
It's so exciting.
Yes.
So happy.
And then beautiful thing, guys, is this.
It's a lumpectomy.
They're going to just pull out the tumor, a couple of lymph nodes.
And then I get to hang out for two weeks and just kind of be still.
Let my body rest.
Let my mind rest.
Maybe do a little bit of typing.
Yes.
I'm going I'm left handed.
This is the sock.
I'm like, what?
You're left handed.
They don't move your left hand vigorously.
Really?
I can go for walks.
You people don't know my wife.
Very quiet walks.
Leisurely.
Yes.
Casual walking.
I'm like, they're not that leisure-casual about the way I walk.
I have a six foot three husband that I have to keep up with people.
This is not my forte.
I do not.
That's not my cadence.
Okay?
And so it's one of those where we just know that God is very much in the midst of it.
And so the thing that we wanted to talk to you guys though today about was this.
The Sunday before we got the phone call, I was in the middle of worship and God was very
gracious to Luke and I both because we've been kind of sitting in this for what?
Maybe about a week and a half, babe.
A couple weeks.
Yeah.
Just kind of the we in our world, I don't know about y'alls, but in our world, we play worst
case scenario, babe.
Yeah.
What's the worst case scenario?
What's the worst thing that happens?
Okay.
Obviously worst case scenario is I die.
Right.
You know, that's okay.
I mean, it's not, but you know, it's okay.
And then we kind of go from the absolute worst case scenario and then we start backing ourselves
up from that line and then we go through it.
I do not get to, that sounds bizarre.
I do not have to have a mastectomy, which is a blessing.
I made a joke with the surgeon.
His nurse laughed.
Yes.
He did not seem to be very humored by it, but I did explain.
And if this is GMI for y'all, whatever, it's fine.
Real conversation.
It's fine.
That, you know, my husband's not a breast man, so we're good either way.
So bad.
It was funny.
It's funny.
So, but the thing that made me sad is that it's going to be, it's literally going to
be an outpatient surgery, so I don't get to be in a room by myself just to be pampered
and be still and just to sleep.
But it's okay because I've got the most amazing family that are going to take really good
care of me.
Yes.
But back to, sorry, back to the fact that we've been sitting in this for a second and
we've been going through the emotions and the emotions.
And you know, when you hear that word, it kind of takes you by surprise.
But you were talking, I was going to say you were talking about worship.
But on that Sunday, the Sunday before worship, I, we've got a good God.
Yeah, we do.
Like, he's a good dad.
He's a good, good father.
And it's so funny because I haven't been crying at all until this, right?
It's like.
Yeah.
And I knew that he wanted to take me to the throne and he wanted to bring me into his
presence and had a sweet friend.
She even stopped me.
She wanted to pray for me and I just looked at her and I said, listen, I am okay, but
I have got to get into the presence of my King right now because he has something he
wants to tell me.
And I've got to be prepared for this next part of the journey.
And in the midst of worship and in the midst of that time of just singing and praising
him and declaring who he is and, and just literally standing face to face at the throne
room of grace, grace, grace and mercy, right?
He starts to tell me and he starts to show me the journey that we're about to go on.
And he lets me know that, you know, this isn't unto death guys, like I'm going to be okay,
but nobody wants to hear these things.
He wants to know that this is there's something evasive is in their body.
Cause that's what it's called.
It's an invasive, invasive ductal carcinoma.
That's it.
Right.
I do not have this.
This is an intruder in my body.
So let me say that too.
If any of you guys are battling something right now, that is not your identity.
That is not your future.
That is not who you get to be.
This doesn't get to label me.
This doesn't get to label you.
This is something that we get to overcome.
And what we have decided, this is where Luke and I have stood in past.
And this is what we want to share with you guys today.
That think of the battles that have already been won in your life.
Think of the things that God has already done.
And even in those times that if you can't think of something, go to the word of God.
Because the beautiful thing about our God is he prepares us.
He prepares us for battle.
He prepares us for blessings.
He prepares us for healing.
He prepares us for the journey that's set in front of us.
And that's something that we stand on.
We don't war to a place of victory.
We war from a place of victory.
We know that God has already won this battle.
That he's already gone before us.
That my body is whole.
That I get to walk in healing.
That I get to walk in the fullness.
Whatever the enemy has stolen from me in this season, he will give back seven times because
that is his word.
That is what God says.
And so I am looking forward to walking this out with God and with Luke and with our sweet,
sweet kiddos, knowing that God has already gone before us.
That he's our comforter.
He's our peace.
He's our shield.
He's our refuge.
He's everything that we need.
We lack not one good thing when we rest in knowing that he has already won the war.
And so while we were talking the other day, that's what really sprung up what was going
on in your brain.
Yeah, and in fact, I kind of wanted to title this, Prepare for Battle.
I love that.
Because again, one of my favorite things that I love to say is the weapons formed against
us.
Not the weapons that might be formed against us, but the weapons that are formed against
us.
Yes, they're not carnal weapons.
They're not of flesh and blood.
And the verse about, take joy and suffering and know that you're going to be persecuted
when the storm comes.
It's all of these messages in the Bible, all of these words of preparation, if you will,
of from God, from the people of God, of this is going to happen.
And it's how do you prepare?
How do you stand?
How are you going to stand when the storm comes?
How are you going to charge into battle when this happens?
One thing we were talking about yesterday was how many times in the Bible does God or
the prophet say, this is the army that you're going to fight against?
Or prepare in this way because this is what's going to happen.
I was talking, I brought up David.
And when he's sitting there talking to Saul and saying, yep, I'm going to go fight the
giant.
I'm going to go fight Goliath.
I got this.
And he's talking about, I fought the bear.
I fought the lion.
And it's not in the Bible, but how many wild dogs and other wild animals did he fight?
Even wild animals, wild dogs to prepare for the lion and all of that other stuff to prepare
for the bear.
How many hours did he have to practice with the sling?
Because I've seen people try that.
I haven't tried it myself, but I've seen people try it.
Even people, they're like, yes, you need a lot of practice to be a good sling and to
have an accurate sling.
So it's like, how much did he prepare to be prepared for those battles while he was a
shepherd to eventually prepare him to take on Goliath?
Or Gideon, it's like, hey, Gideon, you're going to lead my army against the Midianites.
And this is how their army is comprised.
And this is what they got going on.
Okay, God, cool.
I got this army here.
No, that's too big.
Get rid of half of them.
Okay, well, we're going to march on this way.
That's still too big.
Have them drink water and see what happens.
And so again, it's, but it was like God had prepared him and had proven.
I mean, it's like, I hate to say proven himself, but God did prove himself.
And it was like, so Gideon was like, okay, fine.
I mean, I don't know how it's going to work, but I know it's God.
So God's prepared me and he's prepared these 300 warriors.
We're going to go take out the Midianites.
Cool.
Yeah.
And then it was like, I know there's another story where it was like, you know, God or
the prophet of God was like, have your army wait in the forest.
And when you hear moving in the trees, that's the sign to attack.
Shoot.
You know, so it's like, don't attack before, don't attack after.
It's like, wait for his signal.
You know, listen to what he's preparing you for, wait for his signal and go.
Yeah.
You know, I mean, how many people, when it came time to fight, do battle, whatever, take
over the promised land, how many people were grumbling and complaining and thinking that
the men of God were completely crazy when they said, okay, here's what we're going to
do for seven days.
We're going to march around the city of Jericho seven times.
Yeah.
And then on the last day, we're just going to blow our trumpets.
Yeah.
It's like, how is that going to work?
Yeah.
You know, it's like, it's like the people had to have faith, but you know, there had
to be a couple like, that's not going to work.
That's not how combat works.
That's me yelling is not going to make these bricks fall down.
Yeah.
You know, so, but it is, it's.
But the obedience to God is what makes those bricks fall down.
It is.
It's standing in that faith.
It's standing in that place, that parallel of saying, God, I can't do this, but you can.
Yeah.
And it is.
And so that was, I mean, for us, that was our big conversation yesterday because after
our appointment where we talked to the surgeon, you're like, you know, let's just go for a
drive.
And it was really quiet at first, processing, talking about how we're just kind of going
on this little roller coaster.
But you know, but again, just the preparation, you know, things that we've been through in
our own lives, you know, even just our own marriage.
And then, you know, looking at the promises and the testimonies of friends and relatives
and, you know, all the awesome stories and testimonies in the Bible of this is what's
going to happen.
Yeah.
You know, and remembering that God's got this, you know.
You know, I joke, but it is.
It's like, you know, we read the, we've seen the end of the book.
We know, we know we come out on top.
That's it.
And it's, you know, and I was laughing before we hit record, you know, it's like, you know,
some of our past episodes, you know, from like the summer and spring, and it was like,
you know, episode 76, guide me through the yes.
75, patience in God's, you know, God's timing, you know, episode 70, what if things don't
go as planned?
Right.
You know, it's like.
Oh, you were talking to us way back there.
Oh, okay, cool, thanks.
And I think that that is probably the biggest takeaway that I have had on this so far.
I mean, I've granted this is just the beginning of this leg of the journey.
Yeah.
But I think the biggest takeaway to me has been this, man, like it's crazy when you,
when the God of creation, the one that literally, I literally started singing my head God of
creation, ruler of time.
You know, when he comes and you know that he can literally just like snap his fingers
and be like, it's fine.
You're good.
Like, I mean, I'm, I'm in the space of, you know, we, I'm, I'm stone under the knife.
Father, if you want to heal me completely, I'm cool with that.
That'd be fine.
We also know that you, you produce people around us that can help walk us through different
parts of our journey, whether it's attorneys or doctors or, you know, chiropractors or
whoever, you know, just people with medicine and just healing.
And it's like, okay, I trust you.
I got to trust you.
And where he wants to stand back and say, this is what we're about to do.
And from the kid's point of view, like I'm the kid standing back going like, why can't
you just fix it?
Like, just fix it.
You're the one that designed me.
Just fix it.
And that didn't even, that hasn't even crossed my mind.
I got to be honest.
I know he can.
Good Lord.
He completely restored my womb so we could have Sebastian.
That you know, and you guys already know that story.
Again, these are the stories that we, these are the things that we know that we have built
on that God has built on that he's shown himself fateful.
So it is, it's like, and it was so beautiful because that Sunday too, our pastor is doing
a sermon and he's talking about Jesus who's sleeping in the boat.
Yeah.
You know, in the midst of the storm and the reason why he got mad at the disciples was
not because he woke them up from his nap.
I mean, kind of, but it was, it was like, because they had the authority and the power
to rebuke the winds and the waves because just the day before he's multiplying loaves
and fishes, the same power that's in me is in you.
This is who you get to be.
And so now we're standing back and saying, all right, father, I'm not even going to wake
you up.
Like, I know you're right there with me.
Like you never sleep or slumber.
That's what your word says.
But metaphorically right now in this boat, it seems to be rocking pretty good.
And we've got some, some water that seems to be coming in, but we're not capsized.
And you know what?
Peace be still right now in the name of Jesus, it's going to be fine.
We're going to be fine.
Yeah.
And, and I think, you know, as, as far as our stance and you know, going into a lot
of these appointments with this stance, just like we did when you were pregnant with Sebastian,
you know, it's, it speaks volumes, you know, because I saw something, I saw something and
it was, it was a horrible, horrible video.
Not not like graphic or language or anything, but it was the message because it was these
people were having an interview and this young lady was like, well, yes, I'm a Christian,
you know, because the guy was like, well, you're, you know, obviously you're not a Christian.
And the young lady is like, yes, I'm a Christian.
And he's like, do you, do you believe the word of God?
And she's like, no.
And it's like, then you're, then you're not a Christian, you know, but it's like, you
know, with as much as, you know, the Bible always says, and we're, I mean, we believe
the Bible, so we're going to believe this, but, and, and we've said it many times, but
you know, people will know this by our fruit.
That's right.
And, and from having this stance of preparation, having this stance of we are fighting from
victory, you know, this, this, this stance of God's got this, even if he's asleep, God's
got this and we have the authority, the same authority that he's got, we've got, because
we believe in him and we, we follow him with all of our lives.
But when you go into these, these, these appointments and you talk to these medical personnel and
you have this stance, they, it's, it's funny.
They almost don't know what to do with it.
They do not.
You know, they, we laugh, you know, because, I mean, I get it.
It's, you say the word cancer.
It's a big deal.
It is a big deal.
I mean, I remember it was one of those things that it was like, I'm getting better in my
personal life over the, you know, over the past week, week and a half that we first heard
this word.
Yeah.
You know, at first it was like in my mind thinking what if cancer?
Yeah.
And it was like, I could, I could play the what if game and I was in my mind, it was
like I was, I was okay.
Yeah.
But then all of a sudden when it was like, I had to use the word out loud.
Yeah.
Or I had to text somebody and say, this is going on.
You know, it was like all of a sudden, like the word cancer felt like a punch in the gut.
Yeah.
You know, and, and so all of these, these, these doctors, nurses and all these people,
they're like, they're used to saying it's, it's almost like they're used to saying cancer
and people looking at them, like it's a death sentence.
Correct.
And so for, for the, for us to then sit in the office having hope, having, you know,
joking and you know, making off color.
Right.
And, and you know, it was like, it did, it seemed to like throw them and it, in a way
it helped them relax.
Yes.
Gave them a little more personality.
It did.
But, but it did.
It, it seriously throws, it's, it's, it's funny to watch.
It's funny to watch where, you know, from where we stand and what we believe.
It's funny to watch these people encounter people of faith, of strong faith, of having
this stance because it's like, you should, you should be crying.
And it's like, it's, it's all right.
It's fine.
We're good.
To the point where like, I mean, again, I, I pray, I pray and I believe that even if
it was worse than what they say, right.
Because the surgeon kept saying just miracles upon miracles of God, guys, it just is, I
mean, you know, well, Dina, if it was a miracle, you wouldn't even have it.
Listen, stop.
We live in a fallen world and I don't always eat the best and I don't always do the best.
And sometimes just stuff happens.
Yeah.
We, hello.
So that's why we needed Jesus, right?
That's why we need God.
Right.
And I'm not going to sit here and go into any kind of conversation, argument, debate
with anybody about why we even get sick or why things even happen.
Except that even in death, there's joy knowing that your hope is not in the things of this
world.
It's not even in, in life itself.
It's in, in God, literally the one that brings the abundance of everything, the one that
could literally speak into existence, something that doesn't even exist.
And so when you have such a stance of God, you got this, I'm not sweating this.
You got this.
My prayer and my hope would be that we would still continue to have the same stance.
Like you said, it's so funny because you have one of your sweet friends that just constantly
is checking on you.
And the beautiful thing with you is you're like, you know, we literally had death spoken
over Sebastian.
Yeah.
Like, like, like our boy is going to come out blue.
He's not going to come out breathing.
He's going to need to have a, you know, heart lung bypass and all of that.
Prepare for end of life decisions.
You know what I'm saying?
So it's like, you know, it's, it's these and then I'm on the phone with my brother today,
yesterday, today, I think yesterday.
No, he called me again today too.
Bless him.
And my, and my brother, he is, he is a cancer.
He kicked cancer in the ass.
It's just simple.
He literally, it is, it will never come near him again.
In Jesus name.
Yeah.
But he was stage four.
Yeah.
And God was so gracious and this was so beautiful.
Cause like when he's finding this out and I'm texting him and I'm telling him just some
of the things and I'm shooting him some thoughts and just, and just speaking life myself.
Yeah.
And he's, and he's like, God literally said this to me when he told me that this was,
that this is what I had.
And I was like, how cool.
Like after God had already spoken to me, I was like, oh my gosh, I didn't know that part
of my brother's story that God had prepared him to, to let him know what he was going
to go on.
Yeah.
And in the, however long, I don't remember how long he had it, babe, but my brother actually
had to do chemotherapy and he would sit in a room and guys, God would just enter into
the room and he would just speak life and he would just minister to these people.
You heard him saying, do you hear what I'm saying in the midst of whatever it is that
you're in the midst of even in the darkest of dark and darkest of night, God is so very
much there.
He, he will bring light into that dark place.
He will bring peace where there seems to be.
It's like I, God, my comprehension, my brain, it hurts.
And it's like, I'm going to bring you peace that goes beyond your comprehension, beyond
the understanding.
It's going to literally freak out, not to freak out, but just like confound these doctors.
Even with Sebastian, we would walk in father, who do you want me to minister to today?
Who needs to hear who you are?
Who needs to have life lavished onto them today?
Because that's who we are.
When we know where our hope comes from, when we know where our help comes from, it's easy.
And again, it's, we know these things because we've prepared for these things.
That's it.
Again, kind of back to my, you don't want to sit there and plan for what if this is
going to happen, what if that's going to happen.
But you do, you want to also, I mean, in a way you do, you want to prepare for, I know
there's some stuff out there in the world and as far as the doomsday preppers and stuff
like that.
Right.
And then I look at you and I say, I don't necessarily want to be a prepper, but I want
to be prepared.
Yes.
I want to know how to catch and filet and cook my own fish and hunt and clean a carcass
so I can cook deer and all that.
It's like, I want to be able to know how to do all these things.
If I were dropped off in the Pacific Northwest in a wet forest, how could I make a fire?
And stuff like that.
So it's same kind of principles.
It's very much the same.
But applied to the kingdom of God.
Because again, and a lot of this preparation, a lot of this standing on faith is what does
the word of God say?
That's a, you got to get to the word.
What does God say about this?
Because again, he's going to tell us our identity.
He's going to tell us where we should be putting our efforts and our energies.
He's going to be telling us.
He's that lamp to our feet, to our path.
It's not going to illuminate everything from point A to point B. But it's going to be enough
like to say, yes, I'm still on the path that he wants me to be in.
I might not be able to avoid all of the brambles and all of the obstacles and all the roots
that are sticking out on this path.
Because the light only provides so much and there is an enemy.
But I will at least be able to see the path as long as I follow his light and his word.
And that's what being prepared for battle is all about.
Because there is, there's so much.
I know I've said it before.
I just don't know exactly where, when.
But I've seen so many Christians and it's like either when they become new Christians
or when they step up a new level in their faith, it's almost like there's a naive attribute
to them.
Yes.
Where it's almost like, well, I've become a Christian now or I've stepped up now so
things are going to be easy.
It's like, no, you stepped up.
Now things are harder.
There's going to be more to it.
Kind of like when you go to the gym.
Well, I've been lifting, I've been bench pressing 150 pounds.
It's now become easier.
Okay, well, go to 175.
Go to 200.
Well, that's hard.
If you want to keep getting stronger, you have to keep pushing yourself.
That's it.
If you want to, I joke with you that you like to run because you're crazy.
If you wanted to run a marathon or a half marathon, you don't just go out and run a
half marathon or a marathon all at once.
You can't just sit there and run a 5K here or a 5K there and say, yep, I'm a marathoner
because I've run these 5Ks.
It's like, no, you need to push yourself.
You need to go up to the next level.
You need to make it harder.
I know we've had an episode in here of talking about discomfort is growth.
You need that pushing of yourself.
You need to not constantly put yourself under strain, but every now and then you need to
put yourself under strain so that you can get stronger, so that you can get better,
so you can grow your endurance.
That's how it is with the kingdom of God.
We need to start off... When we're baby Christians, we need to start off with that milk.
We need to start off with that soft bread.
Then you work your way up to the meats and to the hard things where you really stretch
yourself and you put muscle into it and you put effort into it.
Because that's where... See, now I've got this agricultural thing going in my head.
You need to have the strength to break up the ground so that you can sow the seeds so
that you can grow the fruit.
I love that.
Because, as I said at the beginning, they'll know us by our fruit.
That's right.
If you're not willing to do the hard work to break up the ground, to prepare the ground,
to sow the seed, to take care of the plants, there will be no fruit.
Then you'll be sick or you'll die.
Because what I heard very loudly in my head when you were... My spirit, when you were
... You keep pushing yourself, keep pushing yourself.
I know a lot of people, they're scared.
They're scared to go farther with God because they know that that means that they have to
deny their flesh that much more.
That means that they have to let go of the things that are worldly that much more.
Ooh.
I just had one hit me.
Or sometimes if we realize that we have to push ourselves to the next level, sometimes
that means we have to admit that we haven't arrived.
That we haven't arrived, right?
Because how many of us Christians think, well, we've got it.
We're Christians.
Yeah.
All of a sudden it's like, well, you got to go up to the next level.
But I've arrived.
Yeah.
This is what I want to say to that voice because I heard it very loud and clear.
I've heard it out of different people's mouths over time.
I've even sometimes in my mind going, God, seriously, I'm done.
It's fine.
It's good.
I'm good here.
This is fine.
I'm plateauing right now.
This is good.
Right?
But even in the car yesterday, I'm looking at you going, babe, I want to so know him.
See, it's not about living this life without trials and tribulations.
It's not living this life without persecution.
It's living this life with him knowing that he is well able, knowing that I want to be
so in love with him that people see my life and they go, I don't know this God of yours
or I don't know this Jesus, but man, I want to because holy cow, you're so chill in the
midst of what's going on.
Or they see the strength or they... Because guys, listen, it's not me.
Yeah.
It's not us.
It's not me.
This isn't us.
I mean, it is, but part of me wants to go, but it is, and I'm like, no, not really.
We would have crumpled and cried in the corner a long time ago.
Because we do at times.
Even yesterday when they're drawing blood from me and I'm just like, I welled up a little
bit and it was... I'm looking at you and you're so sweet.
You're my little squish ball so I can just like, ow, this hurts.
I don't like needles, but it wasn't crying.
I wasn't welling up because she hurt me, not at all.
It was just the, the weightiness, right?
And that's what's beautiful about this because when you walk with him, he takes that weight.
His yoke is easy, his burden's light.
It doesn't mean that I'm not going to have to carry something, but man, he's got the
majority or he's got the lead.
God, you take the lead.
I got your back.
We're going to go.
Let's rock.
And he's so fateful in the midst of this.
It's like, we just wanted to A, tell you guys what's going on.
Pray for us.
Continue to just speak.
Pray with us.
Know that we are more than okay.
We're incredibly grateful for the friends and the family that surround us, that speak
life.
That let us scream.
Let us yell.
Let us kick.
Let us cry.
Let us crumble, but they don't let us give up.
And that's what's beautiful.
That's what's beautiful with our community.
And we're grateful for that.
But two, we want this to fuel something inside of you.
Fuel the fire.
Get in the word of God.
Learn the stories of the battles, of the wars.
Know that our God is very much of God of war.
He is the God in battle.
He is the one that is victorious.
He is the one that will give you the direction to do what you need to do to overcome the
things of this world.
He doesn't promise it's going to be candy and rainbows and unicorns like we said yesterday.
It is a thing of there is going to be tribulation.
There is going to be trials.
There's going to be persecution.
But the beautiful thing is, is there's also a life and that more abundantly.
And that trumps, literally.
We're not walking around like this all the time.
It trumps all of the stuff.
The trials aren't even hard-ish when he's very much there.
Because again, where's your focus and how do you respond?
That's it.
You know?
And that is.
It's all God.
It's all kingdom.
It's all kingdom principles.
Be still and know that he is God.
That's right.
That's where we are today.
That's where we choose to stay.
And learn how best to prepare for the battles that will happen on this earth.
Yeah.
Stretch your faith.
Yeah.
Work that faith out.
Listen to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit inside of you.
If you don't hear it, ask him to start speaking to you.
Yeah.
Ask him to speak even louder if need be.
Yes.
And he will because he's a good God and he wants to walk this with you.
That's right.
All right, guys.
Have the most amazing best week ever.
And enjoy the journey.