I know that.
There's some fun here.
There's lots of fun.
So I think today,
and the only way that I
start off with that is
broken.
We're not really broken, but not broken.
That's a problem.
It's a good deal.
Broken, but not both.
Not both ends.
Not broken, but just broken.
So we're just a person in four.
Versus seven and nine.
I gave you a seven.
I gave you that out of three.
I was like, I always get a nine.
So we're going to start with
first aid and nine.
And then we're going to have to
set the first set.
So first aid and nine.
And then we're going to have to
set the first aid and nine.
And then we're going to have to
set the first aid and nine.
So we're not broken.
We're not broken, but not broken.
We're set.
We are not broken.
But we never are made
of we are not.
We get knocked down,
but we are not broken.
And then that first and one
is the other.
We are not broken.
We now, today,
have left behind
So we all set out on a rather serious level to be from here.
So today is this great trender.
This music player that always follows is from God and not from him.
And so it's a big, big floor.
But how do you make it?
I think it's a much more interesting question than God or the human.
So you might want to go on and be doing the honor or the duty of the world and not just the human, but the activities that happen there.
And you would have the thought of doing the honor or the duty of the world and not just the human.
So here's something that's very, very interesting for a lot of people, for such people as me.
So if I had to go down to the bottom of the earth, you know that.
So you would have like to go down to the bottom of the earth, you would have to go down to the bottom of the earth.
And so the whole world is doing the honor or the duty of the world.
So you would have the thought of doing the honor or the duty of the world.
All ouresty, and justice for the Navy and our
How precious to hear those words of the woman who helped lay the foundation of what we are doing here today.
And then of course Dr. Morton, and I saw his wife look at him when they said he was going to speak,
and I was like, oh, I wonder if she already knew that, you know, if she just knew that, you know, he's moving a little differently.
But we tried to keep it, you know, special, special for all of us.
And so, and thank you to the women who answered the call for the short videos that we had as part of advertising.
Of course, you know, Keisha doing the diligence to make it all look good, no matter, you know, no matter our own video skills.
And so, and thanks to my children who are here, Terrence and Chiara.
Some of you only know that about Brandon, but you know, we have another set, you know, who they made me mother first.
And so I married a single mother and, you know, these Willie's kids.
And so I married a single father.
Anyway, but they are my kids through and through and through.
So they have set the stage for a lot of things in my life.
And so I'm getting a little bit weepy there.
And then we, and then we added Brandon to the mix, you know, mix it all up.
So my daughter, who is an amazing mother and part of the legacy that you saw up there, because, you know, this is her family.
And so I said, hey, you know, I'm doing this thing at church and Mother's Day.
You know, since this was back, right, like, I think the same day Pastor called me.
So at least I think like a month ago, she said, well, I'm gonna be there.
I was like, oh, okay.
So we didn't talk about it again.
But then my husband was like, yeah, she said she coming this weekend.
And I was like, she said she's gonna be here.
That's what she said.
So thanks, thanks for making that extra trip and for Terrence to come on up in here and support his mom.
And lastly, thanks to my mom and younger sister for setting the stage for this topic.
And, you know, we're talking about Lady Jeanette.
And so my younger sister there is, she's actually Dr. Deshaun Chapman.
So talking about, you know, the emphasis like my mom talked about breaking those cycles and coming from a, you know, broken place.
So my mom mentioned a lot of, you know, trauma and mental stuff.
And so it made me think and maybe this is how I'm crafted, you know, because of her, right?
But I am always a person who like wants to see, like I want you to know I see you, a woman in crisis or a woman, you know, in need of some kind of special help.
And so, so just broken, but not broke, not ready to be thrown away, but just broken.
And I think we all, whether we're women or men or whatever, have a little bit of, you know, that broken or a lot bit or a lot bit.
And so today I want to talk about that a little because we are not left without hope.
And that is sort of the purpose of today's message that we are not left alone.
And no matter what state we find ourselves in, there is value because the value doesn't come from us.
You know, Keisha talked about that a little bit a couple of weeks ago.
Value doesn't come from inside of me.
And so, so anyway, let's get, let's get on to this.
So I love being a mom, you know, I love having adult children now.
Oh, Lord, I love that they grown, they got their own jobs, even that young one, they, he's in school and he gets a little stipend every month and, whoo, hallelujah.
Now, but being a mother is both amazing and nerve wrecking, like all at once.
So what do I love most about being a mom?
I'm hoping my kids discover things, you know, about themselves and about the world, you know, when that light goes on and you know, they're like, oh, mom was right.
Or, or my daddy was crazy, but you know, I get it.
Just that whole the light of all the things that that is out there and just the ability to discover and learn new things and try new things and take us beyond where we are.
Because of them, I have been to places that I never would have been to been to.
So the second thing is how my kids have helped me to grow and become stronger, how they gave me courage to face things that I might have shied away from.
And you know, my daughter, she did one of those videos, she was in one of those videos and she said, you just want to be the best for them.
And that really is true. And so they have taken me to places that I have never been able to.
And as some of you know, when I teach women studies, I often say life is messy.
And while it would be easier to talk about the high points and motherhood, you know, the photo ops, the graduations, and we love that stuff.
We love it. We put it on social media.
And there are just so much more that goes into surviving and thriving in motherhood.
So in 2 Corinthians 4-7, the verse we read earlier, 7 and 8, says, we are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed.
We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.
We are hunted down, literally. We are hunted down.
We're going to talk about that a little bit more, but I don't want to miss that moment.
Like literally, we are hunted down, but never abandoned by God.
We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.
Women, man, that's a lot.
Today, we are honoring the amazing opportunity God has given us to be vital to his plan of populating the earth.
And, you know, it's not a man-bashing situation because men, they start it off.
But we are there.
The baby is listening to the voice and heart of the mother from inception.
And as many mentioned today, once born, there are the aunties, the big sisters, the women, youth leaders, teachers, daycare workers, all adding something along the way.
One of my sisters, not that one, she doesn't have children.
Her name is Lisa.
So Lisa is auntie.
So I am Auntie Tanya.
But Lisa is auntie.
And so, you know, these kids I talked about, they used to go spend the summer with auntie and do certain things.
And then my younger sister has kids.
And so just thinking about what we said today, like she didn't bear kids, but she is auntie.
And auntie is going to set it straight.
Auntie is going to have fun.
When auntie say move, we move in, she is auntie.
And so we could go up forever.
But Vaughn said in the motherhood videos that motherhood is not for the week.
And so, girl.
And so I remember driving up to my house, you know, it's a nice house, it's all right.
And sitting in the car, looking at the house, saying, I hate these people.
I just hate them.
I can't stand these people.
But you know, gathering my purse and my stand, going up in the house and you know, whatever, you know, doing your thing.
It is like, you know, like most holidays, you know, we look forward to Christmas.
But then we know that there are people who are struggling with depression or loneliness.
And we look forward to the 4th of July.
But we know that there are people who had incidents and all of that loud noise.
And so we look forward to Mother's Day.
But we also know that there are some missing their mothers or even missing a child.
There are those that feel some kind of way about the mother they had.
Or even maybe the mother they were.
There are grandmothers that also had to be mothers.
There are some that want or wanted to be mothers, but it just didn't turn out that way for whatever the reason.
There are some with children, but the relationship is not what we plan for it to be right now.
So I'm sure most of us can think of the great parts, but also the sore spots.
The kutas, the shutas, the woodas.
The feelings that flowers and candy just don't fix.
And then there is the pressure of being a good mom or a great mom or just a mom.
So my sister sent me a thing about the mental load of being a mother that I wanted to share a portion of.
And I would go to say that most mothers in here will be like,
Woosah, when I read this.
I at least was and the ones that I have shared it with up to now.
So the mental load is one of the hardest things about motherhood because it's invisible.
Because it's expected and necessary.
Because it's silent on the outside and sirens on the inside.
It's like constant project management, sometimes menial, but largely momentous.
Often heavy, mostly hidden, sorting, arranging, organizing, balancing, planning, preparing, anticipating, remembering, remembering, remembering.
It's like having 200 tabs open on your brain at any given time and switching off might mean losing them all.
It's like watching a movie play out in front of you with someone talking the whole way through.
Sometimes you just want somebody else to make the list, make the decision, know what comes next.
It's not the doing that's exhausting, it's the thinking for everyone.
Y'all hear those little mmm-hmm.
It might be invisible, but it leaves visible cracks.
Visible cracks.
So on top of the brokenness that we might have brought to becoming a mother because of whatever happened in our lives, this role sits right on top of that thing.
It is amazing and a privilege, but it is also a challenge.
In between the joys and the celebrations, there can be feelings of inadequacy and the anxiety is paralyzing.
Then there is the regret.
And that might just be me, but I thought I would share.
The good news though, because we are in church, is we are not alone in this dabber.
We are not alone.
Some of us have spouses and or extended family support.
Some of us do, but some of us do not.
Some of us have amazing friends that know just the right time to show up, but some of us do not.
But all of us, every single one of us, have a God.
A God who uses broken things, crush things, abandon things.
In 1 Corinthians 1, 27, God says, He chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.
God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
You know that's us, right?
Just the regular folk.
Regular old folk, doctorate or not.
Woo, house or not.
Money or not.
You know, cute clothes or not.
He chose us to carry out the plan.
Being a mother is a whole ministry in itself.
Some people say, I'm not a minister, but I'm pretty sure you have some words of wisdom for some little people or some older people at some time.
It is a whole ministry.
When we read this stuff and we think about it, I want us as women, as mothers, as contributors to remember.
We're a part of God's plan.
That role of motherhood is key.
Not only bringing birth, but nurturing and growing and planting the seeds of mother.
This is God's plan.
We're chosen in God's plan.
It is a ministry.
In most cases, we're doing it from a broken place.
But God, but God.
I've heard some people talk about the father as the head of the home.
I mean, God, I'm sorry, not some people.
God.
But the mother, the heart of the home, right?
The mother is the heart of the home.
So in Proverbs 4.23, it is written,
guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
So as mothers, we are given the task.
We guard our hearts, hopefully.
I'm going to say hopefully, but we definitely try to guard our children's hearts.
Try to turn that thing around to be like, yeah, it's embarrassing.
But so, you know, so what they're going to do?
Try to turn that thing around, guarding those hearts.
Yeah, my kid did say that, you know, like, like, uh, Kwanza said, my kid did say that.
But you know, what made them say that?
I just want to know what happened.
Can I get the whole story so we can, you know, parse that thing?
So anyway, guarding the heart, what a responsibility,
because the heart determines the course of your life.
So this is for us, but I think as just humans,
but I just think, hey, as mothers, we have to think about that.
So with all of that, that I have spoken,
I just today want to encourage, equip, and inspire.
So in spite of all the things that we've just talked about,
I wouldn't change a thing.
This is not about not wanting to be a mother.
It is about just talking about being a mother.
And then where do we go from here?
So how do we navigate this lovely challenge of being a mother or a woman,
a protector, a provider, or whatever role we have, whatever role.
So I'm up here today, so I'm going to give my viewpoint.
There are lots and lots of viewpoints, lots and lots and lots of viewpoints.
But just for a quick little saying, this is how we do it.
We pray and then we slay.
Okay, I'm just joking.
I mean, not really, but just joking.
So we pray and then we slay.
We slay.
We chop.
We slay.
So, you know, both of them, we can do them both at the same time.
Okay.
But we slay.
We slay.
So I don't have any idea how people make it through motherhood without God.
I have no idea.
So, you know, if you got some friends who are trying to do that thing, you know,
like, look, even if you don't want God for yourself, you need God for that.
And so, you know, definitely do that.
So God is the ultimate.
I got nothing but love for you, baby.
He is the ultimate.
He's got expectations.
He's got discipline.
He's got encouragement.
But it is all unconditional love.
So he is the only one who knows every single thing about us.
He knows what we are facing.
He knows the feelings that are coming up, like all the feelings.
You know those things that, you know, I don't even want to talk about to myself.
It's not the things that I text Adrienne about and be like,
girl, put this on the prayer list.
Put this, you know, my back hurt.
Put this on the prayer list.
You know, my kid, you know, did whatever.
Put this on the prayer list.
But there's all that other stuff that we ain't going to put on the prayer list.
I mean, I'm not, I'm not, you know, maybe y'all do, you know, be like, oh, they brave.
But we can, we can put it on the prayer list, the other prayer list, you know,
the stuff I don't want to talk about, the stuff, the real matters of the heart.
It's about asking God and myself the tough questions.
Why am I this way?
Why do I feel so weak and scared?
Where are you?
How did you let this happen?
Did I mess my kids up?
I'm a pause, just one second right there.
I talked about being a parent of adults.
And so if you're blessed to live long enough to be like, oh, maybe I didn't mess them up.
Maybe they're okay.
They got some scars, but they're okay.
So you be like, thank you, God, thank you, God, thank you, God.
Did I mess them up?
What should my next move be?
You know, all the things that make me lose sleep or aimlessly calm my nerves with food or alcohol or something, whatever your thing of choice, right?
So in Philippians 4, 6 through 7, God says, don't worry about anything.
Instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done.
Then, here's the part, here's the part.
Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.
God's peace.
We can't fix it.
Like, I can't be there.
We can't fix it.
But God's peace.
God's peace.
His peace will guard your hearts.
Oops, sorry.
And minds as you live in Jesus Christ.
God's peace.
So it's not, you know, I'm not going to be up here talking about like how to pray.
We know how to pray.
Like, open your mouth and say the words.
Like, that's all it is, right?
But it's not easy, somehow.
You know, I can pray.
I can use that tool.
Like, imagine having this tool that you just don't use.
Like, your back is hurting, you know.
But the tool right there would just be like, push a button and it would lift it.
Like, that is what we do.
I've said, I've given this example in many forms.
So a woman, you already heard this before, but Adrienne, I'm going to talk about Miss Adrienne over there.
And I was in Bible study in this very room sitting like right over there in Bible study, in dead.
And I don't know, I can't remember what I was thinking about.
But Adrienne just walked up to me, you know.
I knew Adrienne, she wasn't like a stranger or a weird lady.
She walked up and she said, sis, did you pray about it?
I'm like, what?
Yeah, yeah, that's probably a good idea.
That's probably a good idea.
So she and I talk about it and we laugh about it.
But there was something sitting, just sitting.
And you know, God is like, bam, did you pray about it?
Because you know, I got, come on, like you everywhere, you know, everything.
Sometimes, woo, come on now.
So you know, but she said, did you, now Adrienne did not know, she didn't, like we weren't like, you know,
hey girl, I'm gonna tell you, I'm my business kind of friends, you know.
She was just a woman of God.
Did you pray about it?
So I can pray about it.
I know how to pray, but do I pray about the real things?
Like the things that I don't even know sometimes the words to pray about.
So I just think like as a mother, as a human, but definitely as a mother, this is the tool that we need.
We can, it doesn't weigh anything.
We can carry it everywhere.
It makes it through TSA, you know, beep, beep, no, beep, beep, beep, we got it.
We got this thing.
So I just want you to use that tool.
Like maybe this year, take that tool to a new level.
I know I did this study, 28 day prayer, you know, we talk about it in the women's study, 28 day prayer journey,
because I just wanted to go a little bit deeper in this book that I bought.
And one of the first happy Mother's Day that I got this morning was from my friend, it was the first, was from my friend Cynthia.
Cynthia was my buddy in high school and in that prayer journey, I was thinking about other, you know, thinking about people much more.
And I reached out to Cynthia.
And when I reached out to Cynthia, I had not talked to her in a long time.
Like we stayed in touch like in our 20s and then just, you know, we're still friends, but you know, we weren't in touch.
And so I reached out and I was like, hey, you know, my mind, I just want to know if I can pray.
And she had all this stuff that she wanted me to pray about.
And then maybe a month or two later, she's caught was letting me know that her mother was ill.
And her mother has survived some struggles, but you know, something came back and something not, didn't happen right in the hospital.
And she lost her mother.
And I thought like, wow, you know, and we talked, we talked about it because of course she was with her family,
but she would text me, you know, like, hey, this is, you know, like an outlet.
And I thought like, wow, look how God connected us and we could share, you know, that moment.
And I could be there for her like I haven't talked to her in a long time, but I could be there for her.
But that was through prayer and listening to him.
So I just pray that we pray that we pray for real that we think about people and then slay slay the dragon slay the devil.
Slay the Goliath.
Those things slay them.
I remind my own kids, I did a quiz last night with my daughter, that the devil comes but to kill, steal and destroy.
So like whatever the crazy thing that is happening, you know, it's in one of those.
Like we have an enemy that is his mission. It is not a secret.
Like in my job, I got like this other computer that I go over here for like the secret stuff, but it's not even a secret.
It's not even a secret. He is against me and he is against you.
He is against you every single day.
He wants me to be afraid. He wants me not to use my power.
He wants me to give in and give up.
He wants me to despise myself and feel hopeless.
He wants me to listen to the voices of the critics and the voices in my hand, the negative voices, the things I might tell myself.
Look at you. You thought you were.
He wants us to believe that.
He wants me to be ashamed and embarrassed.
He wants me to feel inadequate.
He wants to remind me of every single thing.
Every, every, every.
I ever did wrong.
He wants me to believe lies about my kids.
He wants me to believe that.
He wants me to think I couldn't be like the good moms.
He wants me to think every challenge my kid faces is because what I am not.
Or what I did.
Or how I messed up.
He wants me to think that.
He wants me to think I can never, ever recover.
He wants me to think my kids can never, ever recover.
That the bad decisions or that big decision I made means that we are doomed forever.
And that it will rub off on my kids forever.
Oh, the anxiety, the fear, the doubt.
We have an enemy.
We have a tool that I just talked about.
We have a tool.
That tool will help slay that dragon.
That tool slices.
It is a two-edged.
Yes.
That tool will give you the peace.
Those voices, it will silence them.
It will turn them around.
That tool.
That tool, a prayer coupled with the word.
The sword is the word.
Coupled with the word.
You know when I am in a place, you know, I remember many things with my children and you're like, oh, I cannot fix that.
But I can't find peace.
Or, you know, did I cost that?
Is that because of me?
Is it because of me?
Maybe it is because of me.
Like for real, maybe it is, right?
Like maybe it is.
But there's God.
There's God.
It's some good stuff that's because of me, too.
So.
So anyway, I sit in this place.
I sit right here because the word is what gets me through.
I remember being at home by myself and when something was going on and one of my kids was saying something and I just want to be like, you know, I got it, but I don't got it.
I don't got it.
And I remember opening up my Bible and just reading and then like, you know, peace.
Like nothing changed externally.
Like we still needed to address whatever the situation is.
We still need to come up with a solution.
But the power to do that came from reading that word.
Saying that word out loud.
That out loud.
There is no depth, no height that will separate me from him.
He loves me.
I was created.
Created, I wasn't, you know, it wasn't like an accident.
It wasn't.
I mean, you know, my dream, but not me, but you know, that younger sister right there that you saw that her.
She was 15 years later and Brandon, you know, I'm just saying, but you know, but not unknown to us, but known fully.
Fully, fully, fully to God.
So, so I remember a particularly tough time in my life and I was saying to God, you say that the power in me is greater than the power in the world.
But why don't you like that guy?
Why?
Like I don't, I don't get it.
Like I keep feeling like the loser.
I keep feeling like I don't have any power.
I just, you know, but in time and wise counsel, the answer really was that I didn't really want to fight.
I didn't really want to fight.
I was tired.
I was exhausted.
I had, you know, made myself numb, not alcohol like that.
I'm just talking about psychologically.
Made myself numb.
But we have to fight.
Like we have to fight.
Like we got to get up off our knees or the bed or whatever.
We got to read that word, but we have to take a step.
We have to fight because we have a sword.
Like we don't have a pillow.
We don't have like a cushion.
We have a sword.
We have to fight.
So here, these are some silly little examples about fighting.
Just some silly little examples.
So my children, they crack me up sometimes and I tell my daughter about I had to channel my inner Kiera.
I had to channel my inner Kiera.
So I belong to AARP.
You know, you should too.
You know, just case because they got a lot of stuff.
Anyway, good information, discounts, all kind of stuff, you know, that unpaid advertising.
So I noticed that, so I am on like automatic renewal, right?
It's like $16.
I can't remember, but you know, I'm on automatic renewal.
But I noticed there was these offers to people who like if you join or renew, you get this carrier bag.
And I'm like, what?
But I'm on a renewal.
So there was not an event that triggered the purchase, you know, the release of the carrier bag to me.
And so, you know, the numb, exhausted tired me, be like, whatever, you know, that's just more junk around the house.
But I was like, mm-mm.
I'm going to channel my inner Kiera because Kiera, she going to find a way.
What's hers is hers.
And she'd be like, Mom, I told that person, I'm like, for real, girl?
I said, okay, I'm going to channel my inner Kiera.
So I called those people and I was like, hey, so I think a bag belongs to me.
Like this is one of my benefits.
Because Pastor talked about benefits, right?
This is one of my benefits.
And you ain't giving it to me.
And they were like, okay, ma'am, just a little, you know, a couple weeks later, my bag came in the mail.
So I was talking to Brandon yesterday and he was paying for something and he was like, oh, Mom, it was $600.
I didn't know it was $600. I thought it was going to be like $50 a month.
So he kept on talking to me and he was saying, oh, I just found a code.
I'm like, Brandon, you need to email those people and see if they will give you some of your money back.
I'm like, put it in there.
I'm a cadet in the military.
I'm just, you know, like that.
I'm struggling.
And, you know, I forgot to enter the code and, you know, then why we were talking.
He was like, mom, they just been moaning me $250.
So benefits, benefits, benefits, going for your benefits.
So those are silly examples, but we don't go for our benefits, right?
Like we don't go for our benefits.
At least I know I don't always go for my benefits, but we have benefits.
And Pastor just talked about the benefits of the blood.
We have benefits.
So, you know, the benefits, you know, some of y'all know about them benefits.
I've been here a hundred percent.
So we got benefits, but we got to fight for them.
We got to be in the fight.
You know, like when you're at the movie and all of a sudden the music changes.
And, you know, it's like Creed or Rocky and they're like, they can beat up, give it beat up, beat up.
Then all of a sudden, like, you know, like, oh, oh, and then, you know, you talking to the movie.
Like, girl, did you see that?
You know, like it changes and all of a sudden they start like remembering something or they see a person.
And then they're like, oh, you know, it's just, it's on, it's on, it's on and popping.
So benefits, benefits, that's us.
So like in sports, in sports, or if you're walking down an alley, they say make yourself big, right?
You know, you're walking down an alley by yourself, you're in the parking lot by yourself, you see the creepy guy.
You got to be like, whoa, I just got to be like, ah, ah, like, you don't want that?
No, just kidding.
I'm channeling my inner tolerance.
You don't want that at all.
Right there.
Anyway, yeah, you got to be like that.
Or you know, like basketball, you under the goal and you know, you tall but you skinny, but you got to make yourself big.
I have a block about that statement.
Like he tried, he's falling, statement is falling.
He's like all up over there.
So anyway, anyway, so Slay, read the word, believe it.
Why?
Because it helps you to remember who you are, who you belong to.
You are unique.
You are uniquely created.
There is none like you, loved and known by the Almighty Himself, created with that personality, that weird way of seeing or doing things, gifted with those children in your life, those specific children with their personalities and quirks,
created with a destiny at birth, fully equipped to accept Christ and call down the very power of God into your life at the right time.
There's no like add on attachments.
There's no add on attachments.
Like the baby comes out.
There's no like, oh, you know, they're 15.
Hook in the Holy Spirit line.
There's no Holy Spirit line at birth.
Power to call it down.
Call it down.
I don't always believe that, but it's true whether I believe it or not, whether I do it.
Chosen.
I am chosen for this time, for this day, for this task, created to occupy the space in which I am in.
And fully blocking out.
Fully.
I went to a basketball game for my little four-year-old nephew last weekend, and he was like, you know, two, two, two, two.
And then the coach was like, athletic stance.
And he was like, whoa.
I was like, whoa, okay.
Fully block, block that thing.
Make yourself big.
This is our life.
Fully occupy the space.
Don't make, don't let people make you, don't shrink.
I was going to say let people make you shrink, but they don't.
We do it.
Don't shrink.
Fight.
Fight for it.
It's not self-confidence that we're looking for.
It's God-confidence.
My mom said to me the other day that self-confidence is not what we're supposed to have.
And I thought about that thing.
And I was like, oh, wow.
You know, God sent people into battle with his name.
He didn't say, you know, go in there and do it like you do it, girl.
He didn't say that.
He said, go in there and like, you know, walk around seven times.
And then it's gonna, you know, that's his name.
He, I was like, oh, it's God-confidence that we should be striving for.
So back to the theme, broken but not broke.
So Ernestine shared a perspective in one of our women's studies that stuck with me and it's appropriate for today.
So picture a woman, you know, it's gotta be like an animated cartoon because it's a little bit fictitious here.
But picture a woman filling a water vessel at the well and carrying it back home.
So she feels that she puts it up on her head.
But it's got cracks in the clay, invisible cracks, and maybe even some visible ones.
So along the way, some water drips out, water drips out, and slowly the vessel is almost, not quite, but almost empty.
When she gets home.
And while we would feel that all hope is lost, when you turn around, you see a trail of flowers.
That water that dripped from that broken vessel, watered those seeds.
The seeds began to bloom from the broken vessel.
So I don't care what you came in here with today.
I don't care what I came in here today.
We are chosen for his use.
For his use.
It doesn't matter.
He uses the broken to confound the many.
He uses us.
I know you get the point.
Both in the plant world and as our role as parents, we have the job to plant the seed and watch the increase.
So my prayer for you today is that you occupy that space, that you leave here with the God confidence.
That regardless of the situation, the past, the mistakes, that you will know that God uses broken vessels to spread the word.
We are part of that plan.
And parenting is part of that plan.
So find your unimaginable peace that exceeds anything we can ever imagine.
And occupy that space fully that God has given you on this earth.
And in closing, I will just read the verses again.
We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed.
We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.
We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God.
We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.
We now have light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.
This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
So plant the seeds and watch God give the increase, right man?
Amen.