1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,480 Well, welcome back to Rise of 365, a podcast committed to inspiring and supporting others 2 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:10,280 who embrace the opportunity to rise with each new day. 3 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:16,760 Rising daily can be a challenge for many and it has been including for myself. 4 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:21,920 And I hope that what you hear in these episodes will assist you in rising every day of the 5 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:22,920 year. 6 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:27,240 I'm Mike Penney and I'm so thankful that you have pressed play. 7 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:33,800 Here we are in episode 34, this is the final episode of 2024. 8 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:38,160 It's called Gift of Remembering the Year That Was. 9 00:00:38,160 --> 00:00:45,160 You know, it's the season to remember we're in the thick of holiday season with last month 10 00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:53,760 being Thanksgiving, where we take time to reflect on the years past and see where we 11 00:00:53,760 --> 00:01:02,680 are currently and to well up inside of us the thankfulness of what we've gone through. 12 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:07,720 If you have breath in your lungs right now and your heart is beating, you have something 13 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:09,560 to be thankful for. 14 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:12,720 I want to do that. 15 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:18,240 As schools, I know here in central Nebraska, if you're new to this podcast, my family and 16 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:24,000 our full time missionaries with a ministry called Child Evangelism Fellowship. 17 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:30,480 And what we do is through the school year, we offer and organize these after school Bible 18 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:32,240 clubs called Good News Clubs. 19 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:39,040 They meet once a week for about an hour in the school and it just gives students to have 20 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:47,520 a safe and positive environment to come to, to learn about Jesus one day a week. 21 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:51,360 It gives parents an extra hour of work. 22 00:01:51,360 --> 00:02:01,040 And in this season, this week, a lot of our schools are ending their school season. 23 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,240 They're going to go on break for Christmas and New Year's break. 24 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:06,600 And that means we're going to go on break. 25 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:11,200 So as you get these breaks, I know as being as adults, we don't get these breaks. 26 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:14,720 If you're not a teacher and you're not a student, you don't get a Christmas break. 27 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:18,720 You may get Christmas day, you may get New Year's day. 28 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:24,080 So you get two days when everyone else is getting, you know, two weeks, 20 days, some 29 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:30,880 places 30 days, but whatever amount of time you get, so that you take a vacation, go to 30 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:39,840 a quiet place, go for a walk, just some place to be peaceful, to think about this past year. 31 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:47,280 You know, I've been talking, I do a lot of teaching at youth groups and Bible studies 32 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:53,680 and at churches on Sundays, sharing God's message and sharing the struggles that God 33 00:02:53,680 --> 00:03:02,120 has brought me through and how for so long I found it very difficult to do what this 34 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:09,920 podcast is set out to do and that's inspire others to embrace and rise to the new day. 35 00:03:09,920 --> 00:03:15,000 So as I was sharing my testimonies throughout the year, someone said, you know, you should 36 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:16,000 record these. 37 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:18,640 I said, why not? 38 00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:20,960 We're in a wonderful time of technology. 39 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:28,080 And I started this podcast last January and I never knew where it would go. 40 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:34,520 If anyone would even listen and I'm using a platform where it tracks who presses play 41 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:42,320 and who listens and to see it be listened to across the globe and even little cool markers 42 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:47,880 that hang in the middle of oceans because people are listening to it because maybe they 43 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:52,320 serve on a tanker ship or they're on a cruise ship or something. 44 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:54,720 I don't know. 45 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:59,320 People are listening and I hope what they're hearing this past year has helped them even 46 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:02,520 in the smallest ways. 47 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:09,880 Even it is from episode two of like, get your day in order. 48 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:14,280 You know, it all starts to rise the new day. 49 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:15,520 It all starts the night before. 50 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:20,280 What are you doing the night before to make the morning successful? 51 00:04:20,280 --> 00:04:28,840 Or if it's remembering that even though you feel broken, broken frowns, still color or 52 00:04:28,840 --> 00:04:29,840 that it's okay. 53 00:04:29,840 --> 00:04:32,880 I do live theater and I'm currently in the production. 54 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:37,560 We open tomorrow, our first show tomorrow of it's a wonderful life. 55 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:41,280 Like it's okay to take the stage of this life. 56 00:04:41,280 --> 00:04:43,000 You don't have to be the main character. 57 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:44,360 You can be the supporting cast. 58 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:46,360 You can be the crew. 59 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:53,880 One of my most favorite episodes of what about God? 60 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:55,680 Where is God in your life? 61 00:04:55,680 --> 00:05:04,280 You know, I wanted to almost steer away from my faith and I was convicted. 62 00:05:04,280 --> 00:05:12,200 There's so many podcasts and postcasts, leaders and posts out there where they claim to be 63 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:19,240 Christians but you never hear one iota of their faith. 64 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:23,960 God specifically says, if you deny me in front of people, I would deny you from my father 65 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:27,460 was like, that's a good enough warning for me. 66 00:05:27,460 --> 00:05:33,080 So the podcast kind of took a got back on the right path. 67 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:40,320 And I know deep down inside the reason that I am able to rise 365 days a year. 68 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:41,400 It's not always with joy. 69 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:47,120 I'm not saying and I'm not this kind of person where I'm overly joyful in the morning. 70 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:49,320 I'm kind of like a diesel engine, especially here. 71 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:56,640 I live in Nebraska and in cold winter times, you got to let those diesels warm up. 72 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:59,440 You know, they take a little bit of time to get going. 73 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:00,440 And that's me. 74 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:02,600 I wish I was one of those bubbly Christians. 75 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:04,160 My wife's kind of like that. 76 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:05,880 She can wake up and she's on top of the world. 77 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:10,440 You're like, did you swallow a rainbow and butterflies this morning? 78 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:14,680 That's not me, but it's okay. 79 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:16,440 We're not all the same. 80 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:21,160 When you're reflecting on this past year, look for the deep dark times and see if you 81 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:27,920 can see where you came back to the surface or when the light shined into those places. 82 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:33,480 Maybe you had an amazing year and there was no uphills for you. 83 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:35,920 Everything for you was just mountain tops. 84 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:40,920 If so, sing praise to God for those. 85 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:44,400 Maybe you spent some time in the valley and you're in the valley right now. 86 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:46,200 Holiday seasons isn't the best for me. 87 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:52,840 I spent 10 years in the military and it seemed like one, I was always deployed when I got 88 00:06:52,840 --> 00:06:56,240 married 20 years ago. 89 00:06:56,240 --> 00:07:02,200 My wife and I got married October 30th and November 7th, I left for basic training in 90 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:03,200 the Coast Guard. 91 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:07,200 So I spent the holidays away from family. 92 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:13,320 Then my dad was in the military, so he was always gone over the holidays. 93 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:18,000 Then my time in the military, I was gone in the holidays. 94 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:26,240 Not only was I gone in the holidays, it seemed that all the conflicts I went to, deployments, 95 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:32,920 and all the conflicts and we exchanged fire or there was combat, it was during the holidays. 96 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:40,160 Then I leave the service and I go in my civilian life and become a police officer and a first 97 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:41,160 responder. 98 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:45,440 I'm one of those guys who's like, I'll work over the holidays. 99 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:46,440 So I worked. 100 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:54,920 So it doesn't have this peace on earth, goodwill to men, and this overly joyful time for me. 101 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:58,240 So I kind of struggled during this time of year. 102 00:07:58,240 --> 00:07:59,240 But that's okay. 103 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:03,000 God has shined his light into those places. 104 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:10,800 Now I see this holiday with my kids through their eyes, the joy and the beauty of the 105 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:12,840 lights. 106 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:20,640 So often we want to live in our neighborhoods and not be noticed, but this time of year, 107 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:23,720 we put beautiful lights on our house. 108 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:27,520 Now people can notice our homes even in the darkness. 109 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:33,520 But remember each day was a gift and is a gift and that's why it is good to journal 110 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:34,520 them. 111 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:41,720 I encouraged the episode of the power of writing. 112 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:43,320 I've been writing for a number of years. 113 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:47,360 I started when I was a kid because I didn't know how to express myself. 114 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:58,160 I went through Jordan B. Peterson's Horses of Self-Authoring, where you look back in 115 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:02,760 your past and you write about those stuff, that stuff in the most deepest details that 116 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:03,760 you can. 117 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:07,560 And then you write about your current situation. 118 00:09:07,560 --> 00:09:12,120 And then you write about where you want to be in the future and what it would take to 119 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:17,040 get there and the tangible steps that you can take starting now in the present to get 120 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:18,320 to where you want in the future. 121 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:19,320 You write about those things. 122 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:21,120 So you have it on paper. 123 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:24,920 So when you wake up in the morning, like, okay, how do I get to where I want to in the 124 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:25,920 future? 125 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:30,520 And you can start taking those steps. 126 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:34,720 That's why journaling is so important. 127 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:35,720 You can do it on your phone. 128 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:43,240 You can do it old school like I do with journals, where you write them out. 129 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:51,280 That way as days go by, years go by, you can open them and reflect. 130 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:54,840 And then thankfulness just wells up in your heart. 131 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:57,880 That's what kind of this podcast is as well. 132 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:02,600 The Rising 65 is a vocal journal for myself. 133 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:09,360 I can go back to an episode and be like, what did I tell others? 134 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:10,960 Am I doing those things? 135 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:14,600 I need to be reminded of something and I can go back this past year and press play and 136 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:17,600 be like, okay. 137 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:29,160 Now remember, use what was not a stay or to start over, but to propel you continue forward 138 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:31,880 in 2025. 139 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:39,200 I'm not a big fan of New Year's resolutions where you're going to set a goal January 1st, 140 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:41,320 no more of this and no more of that. 141 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:49,880 We all know the statistics that within the first three days, 90% of people stopped their 142 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:50,880 New Year's resolution. 143 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:58,080 In three days, they've stopped their goal because they fell into the temptation and 144 00:10:58,080 --> 00:10:59,080 old habits. 145 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:03,920 If I don't set those, I just try to live life. 146 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:10,200 You get one day at a time and to say on this day, I'm going to make all 365 days great. 147 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:13,560 I don't do it that way. 148 00:11:13,560 --> 00:11:16,120 My encouragement to you is not to do it that way at all. 149 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:17,680 Just take one day that you're given. 150 00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:23,760 The Bible tells us we are not guaranteed tomorrow. 151 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:28,960 Today has enough in it that needs our full focus and our full hearts and our full strength 152 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:36,400 and needs him fully present in our lives helping us make the right steps and make the right 153 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:37,400 choices. 154 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:41,800 Don't rush into 2025. 155 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,800 Take it one day at a time. 156 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:53,200 If you're listening to this right now, I want to say thank you so much. 157 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:59,880 There's thousands and thousands of podcasts out there by doctors and professionals and 158 00:11:59,880 --> 00:12:01,440 people with letters behind their name. 159 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:06,680 I'm not one of those, but for you to press play and spend just a little bit of time in 160 00:12:06,680 --> 00:12:15,600 your day with me, I hope you've been encouraged. 161 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:25,960 And this episode ends for 2024 I want you to take a deep breath and close your eyes. 162 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:31,520 Put a smile on your face because there's something about when your eyes are closed and you've 163 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:37,280 taken that deep breath and you let it out, put a smile on your face. 164 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:39,400 It happens. 165 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:44,800 Your heart begins to smile and your chemicals in your brain start firing differently and 166 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:50,680 you get this joy that overflows in your over your body. 167 00:12:50,680 --> 00:12:56,880 When you open your eyes and you take your next breath, next step you take, take, you 168 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:02,040 can take it filled with joy and confidence. 169 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:05,160 Thank God today that you are alive. 170 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:09,640 Thank God today you have another opportunity to make the choices you need to make to take 171 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:16,800 the steps you need to make to improve your life, to improve your family's life, your 172 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:19,800 community's life. 173 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:23,000 You've got chances and opportunities here. 174 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:26,680 So again, from me to you, thank you so much. 175 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:31,800 I'm looking forward to season two in 2025. 176 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:38,720 This past year has been little nuggets of what I see has helped me and I hope can help 177 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:41,600 you. 178 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:45,480 But ultimately what has really helped me is being in God's word. 179 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:51,240 So we're going to walk through the Bible and use that to inspire us to rise 365. 180 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:58,920 We're going to start at the beginning in Genesis and I'm going to have guests who also use 181 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:08,000 God's word to motivate them and encourage them to rise 365 days a year. 182 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:13,400 And then there still will be sprinklings of things that touch my heart and my mind that 183 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:17,280 says this is helping me and I want it to help others. 184 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:24,200 So 2025, I'm looking forward to it and I hope you are too. 185 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:25,280 So thank you for tuning in. 186 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:30,160 I hope each episode brings you inspiration to embrace every new day. 187 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:35,200 To support this podcast, consider booking me as a speaker for your next conference, 188 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:40,000 school assembly, youth events, Bible study, or any special occasion where I can share 189 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:43,080 the message of rising 365. 190 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:45,040 To arrange this, it's simple. 191 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:51,560 Just send me a message or an email at rising 24 7 365 at gmail.com. 192 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:57,200 Additionally, you can support by liking, sharing, and rating the podcast on your preferred listening 193 00:14:57,200 --> 00:14:58,700 platform. 194 00:14:58,700 --> 00:15:03,980 Join the rising 365 race Facebook community. 195 00:15:03,980 --> 00:15:08,880 There's also going to be a rising 365 TikTok community. 196 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:12,520 Until we meet again, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. 197 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:17,680 I'm Mike Pena reminding you to rise and seize the gift of a new day. 198 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:34,480 You are destined for this moment.