Hi, and welcome to the Family Business Podcast, where we like to stay around here. Family is everybody's business. I'm Mary Alessie, and we just want to thank you for joining us again today. We've had some really great talks on this podcast. As a matter of fact, we're in the middle of our mid-season break. We've wrapped up season one with mini episodes. If you missed that, we encourage you to go back and listen. We hope they've been an encouragement to you. If you've missed any of them, go back and listen to them. Maybe you need to listen to them again. And um we're also getting ready to launch season two with brand new episodes. And I gotta say, I'm very excited about season two. So the feedback has been wonderful. We are getting it pretty much every day from people saying how much it's helped their family. It's giving them more confidence as a parent, having them understand their kids better. So thank you for that. Thank you for listening. Thank you for being faithful to this podcast, and we just hope to keep resourcing you with more good content as we're living this out and walking this out and the wisdom that we've gained. We want to keep sharing it with you. But what we're gonna do right now is when we say, um, we talk about things we can't talk about on Sundays in the podcast, what we'd like to do with this episode is actually take you to Sunday. Come to service with us, and this particular episode is our Mother's Day service. And I did an interview this past Mother's Day that I think was one of the best interviews we've ever done. It's extremely impactful. Different women that we interviewed through all walks of life and all manner of difficulty. I learned so much, and the feedback from that Sunday was tremendous. I know it's gonna bless you today. And um, share this podcast with others because what you're gonna hear from these women is nothing short of heroic. They've been through a lot, they've climbed a lot of mountains, and they have some great stories to share with us and incredible testimonies to share. So let's go into the service right now. We hope you enjoy it. They brought you into this world, they can take you out. Let's not let the rain outside put a damper on this beautiful day and make sure that we honor our moms the appropriate way, what they deserve, which is our attention. It's really all they want is our love and our attention, and some flowers and chocolates, and she's happy. It's easy. Well, this morning I've asked some great ladies that are in this room and in this church, and they're a part of the ministry, serving behind the scenes for many years, all five of them. They have overcome some pretty big obstacles in their lives. And we put a panel together and we have a list of about 30 ladies, and we really wanted to talk today about what it's like not only to be a mom, but even just overcoming really difficult circumstances when things happen that are out of your control. And of course, each and every one of the stories in our church, we have so many great ones. And this is kind of how we landed to make sure that all the topics we wanted to share were covered and who was available. And uh, I'm just so glad. I feel like the Lord orchestrated this so beautifully. And we have five incredible stories here from five five great women that are going to really, really bless you. So get your tissues out. I think you're really gonna be blessed this morning. So I would like if we could start right here with Miss Sandra Rivera. She's a new mom, and she's right here to my right. This is Sandra. She just had her second, yes, yes. There's your cheerleading section over there, Sandra. Your friends are over there. She serves every Sunday. Well, she's on the team on rotation to serve in our media team. And uh you you served all the way up to you were almost due with your Prager Belly. You were you were a big girl. You were big. Very large. It was it's so cute with your second whom you just had, and you continue to serve and continue to serve until you were just ready to give birth. And I my question is gonna be for you first. Will you share with us your story of adversity in your life with your health? Because we know you had a big health obstacle that you had to overcome early on in your life, and how did you do that in an effort to become a mom?
SPEAKER_02Um, so and I share this in the first service. So my great greatest desire in life has always been to be a wife and to be a mom. And um, it came as a huge shock that two weeks after I got engaged, I was diagnosed with cancer. Um, so that was a rough year for us. Um but we just decided early on that um, oh, that's us. Um, that whatever the outcome of the situation would be, whatever the season would bring for us, that it just be for the glory of God. Um so that at the end of the day, our testimony would be to uh bring glory to God. Um and one of the things that really uh stayed with us was during one of the um preliminary meetings with the oncologists and the doctors, they sat us down and he said, you know what, women your age, I was I was 22, um they tend to have difficulty conceiving after having the kind of chemo and radiation that I was gonna have. And he offered to freeze my eggs just you know as a backup or as a precaution. And and I just spoke in faith and I said, you know what, doctor, thank you for that option, but I'm not gonna need that. When we're ready to have kids, we're gonna have kids with no problem. And so fast forward six years later, we just had our second baby to the glory of God. Praise God. It's a miracle. Um and that that was my biggest takeaway from it, just choosing to trust in God's faithfulness that he would come through regardless of whatever happened, because you know it's not really a given, um, even after treatment and all that stuff, but just choosing to let his will be done instead of our own. Um, and that's that's what we what our mindset was the whole time.
SPEAKER_03And I I have to say that the hair you lost through chemo, the baby's found. I've never seen this much hair on the heads of two children, especially the new baby. So much hair. It's incredible. God restored it all back to you, didn't he? Amen. And you're in health today. Yes. We're so glad. Yes, all positive health reports. God, God redeems everything. All of it, and you're healed. Lucrecia Duran, she is right here. I want to ask you a question in regards to the season of your life as a single mom. You weren't always a single mom. When we first met you, you weren't a single mom. You came to the church in a different way, and life really threw you a curveball and shifted gears for you so quickly, and the and your serving here, continuing to lead worship and being a part of our praise team was such an a testament to us that you continued to praise your way through your darkest season. Tell us a little bit about that.
SPEAKER_06Amen. Yes. Hi. First of all, I'm honored to be part of this panel, and I'm I'm I'm so grateful that God still wants to hear our stories. Yeah. And he doesn't care about a marital status or your condition. Yeah. It's just we have a story, and our story is like a developing story. I uh now I have a different story, but God is gonna use it as He's gonna use your story, Sandra. So I'm super blessed like of being here. This is an honor for me. And uh yeah, when I got here was and I I say that this uh season of my life is the beauty from ashes season. And I got here when I was already in ashes, yeah. And um something that the Lord has been ministering to me is that uh what it says in James 1, that counted all joy when you find yourself in any kind of trial, because that trial is gonna serve for you to develop perseverance. And that's what I did. Instead of running away from God, I decided to run to God and to find refind myself. I I I had lost myself, I didn't know who I was. So, in a way, I would tell you that that everything worked out for the good and it was a blessing, even though it was very painful, and uh I had my time of grieving. But uh now I can tell you that um I know God much better than I knew him before, and uh uh he made me uh a better person and he continues working in me. Especially this last year, and as a testimony to you guys, the Holy Spirit was talking to me, I think it was last Monday while I was driving, uh to thank God because I was a stay-at-home mom. Okay, I'm gonna explain that. I am a contractor, I'm self-employed. I work for the courts, and there have there haven't been many, many hearings available for me, so I haven't been called, so I had to stay home. And how is it possible that I could be a stay-at-home mom if I don't have a husband? Well, that's possible. Whatever is impossible with men is possible with God. So I've been enjoying my kids uh this whole time, and um I'm I'm being I've been getting closer to God, which has been phenomenal, amazing. So you're a stay-at-home single mom.
SPEAKER_03I am. Unheard of. That's awesome. Jehovah Jireh. Jehovah Jyra is your provider. Yes. He's more than enough. Awesome. Okay, I want to move right now to Ms. Paula, who is to the left. Paula, you and David have been a part of Metro Life Church for years and years and years, and we'd helped you, or we've been alongside of you while you've transitioned from a season of infertility and then to adoption. Can you share with everyone what you've learned through that season of when life did sort of throw you a curveball? But what you said to me one time, gosh, years and years ago, sitting at Manny and Laura Paula's house, we were talking about you and David and your future. You haven't been married all that long. Um, but you you said it had already been on your heart to adopt. Even back then it was on your heart, and that it was really for you plan A, not plan B. That to adopt would not be plan B, it would be plan A. And that always stuck with me, Paola, because I've shared that when I've you know been in different environments. I've been able to share your story just from that perspective that what we think sometimes is our plan A and it doesn't work out, we have to settle for plan B. In God, there is no plan A or plan B. There's only God's perfect will for our lives. And it's always better than what we would plan for ourselves because it brings more glory to Him. What He chooses for us brings more glory, which is what your life, you and David's life, has definitely exemplified. Will you share a little bit about that?
SPEAKER_01Yes. And I am thankful that I had you and those conversations with Maury and so many other ladies because I did as a teenager, 16 years old, wrote it in a journal that I wanted to adopt children. But in conversations with my boyfriend, fiance, husband, we always said we're gonna have our children biologically first and then go into adoption. Um, so when we started that season, it was very difficult because I would see a lot of um moms have their babies and I was praying to God and grew up as a teenager, I became a Christian as a teenager, so I grew up with a lot of reading and verses. And the one that really came to me the strongest during that time was in Isaiah, where God says, My ways are not your ways, and and my thoughts are not your thoughts. And I really had to remember that my God loves me. Yes, that he is my father, that he is the lover of my soul, and everything that I've ever heard from him, from the time I was 14 to that time where I was 22 and my mid-20s and early 30s, praying and waiting for God, and and even through the seasons of job loss and just life in general, the conversations that I was having with my husband, who I knew was God sent. So, in no time did I get to this point where, like, oh, did I did I do this wrong? It really just became a question of okay, God, you are sovereign. You know better than I do. I was a planner, I wanted everything to go out one way, and who am I? He's God, he loves me, and he wants to give me the very best. And then I started to get to this point where I literally had to remind myself that his joy was for every single day. Psalms would tell me, delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. And I started to really dig. I'm like, God, what does that mean to delight in you? To go deep. And and during that time, I remember I used to blog and started just writing about sweet Jesus joy because I felt like there was like this like thing I had to shake off. Like, why am I upset at God? Because I would just straight up say, What's up? It's not cool, Jesus. Like, why? And and I had to just it's not about me. And I had to put the focus on another women, other moms, my mom, and really just be thankful that his joy was for today and and receive that joy and and stop like the pity party, you know, just Jesus loves me. And I'm going to live in that joy every day because this joy is intended for every day, regardless of what season. And so I started to serve. I felt like I needed a little baby to crave, and so I served in kids' ministry and just served in young adults. Whatever we could do, we delighted in our God while we were waiting for Him to take us to the same place.
SPEAKER_03Which is what I love watching you do. If I can't have children of my own right now, I'm gonna take care of other people's kids, and you served. Well, Melanie, I want to ask you a question because you are the mother of a very special or just a special young man. And you have been through a lot as well. Pastor Steve and I met you and Tony when we started this church, when we were literally the church was in our cars. We were a pop-up church, and we would wait for all of us to get there because some had the sound system and some had the screen and some had the kids' ministry stuff, and we would all get to church and rent a facility and set it up, and Melanie and Tony were a part of that. Ben, your son, was our first baby dedication ever. So we have a lot of history. And we watched this process in you. Talk to us a little bit about from your story with you and Nicholas, and what would you tell a mom who might be facing a diagnosis that she's not ready to hear about her child?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and we um did with our second born Nicholas receive a diagnosis when he was just a few months old, unexpectedly, um, of a rare genetic disorder, which uh brought with it this prognosis of all these things that not only were we not ready for, we weren't prepared for, we were in den I was in denial of, um, and it wasn't what we had planned for our life. Um and so there's a couple of things. On the practical side, I would say to a mom who's maybe a teacher has said something, or um you've received a diagnosis, or they've asked you to see specialists, I would say um lean into your mother's instinct, which uh is another fancy word, in my opinion, of what the Holy Spirit is nudging in your heart. If you suspect something, if you think there's something you need to talk to someone about, do it. That's okay. Um I've found that I was able to seek out help for what I thought was going on with my child and use that wisdom to help him while I could stand in faith. So um as challenges come, as difficulties, whether they're health diff health challenges or or intellectual dis difficulties, emotional difficulties, um, there's a way to stand in faith and believe for God's best, as well as using wisdom to walk out seeking answers and getting help and doing what you need to do for your child. Um in our case, I found that um Jeremiah 29, 11 says, I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, to give you a hope and a future. And that's a verse you hear a lot because it sounds super great. Um what I found in my journey is that Jeremiah delivered that message to the Israelites on the eve of when they were about to be uprooted from their land and taken captive and turned into slaves for another people. So it was this message of hope and a future and joy and happiness while they were about to be what from the outside would look devastated. And so that verse for me sustained me through a lot of different questions and challenges that we've had along the way where God says there can be a hope and a future and joy in a place that's not where you wanted to go, and it's what might look like destruction. And so being able to match wisdom of seeking out what I need to do and understanding and fighting for my child, but also having faith and confidence that he's there and he can provide everything that we need in that place is kind of how we've been able to marry those two opposites that seem opposites.
SPEAKER_03But we've just watched God fill in all the gaps for you when you've walked through that process, and there's there's not just a smile on your face, there's a joy in your heart, and there is a comfort in knowing that we've been able to experience this pro this journey with you and with Nicholas. And I have to tell you two things about this young man, because he's a young man now, he's not a little boy anymore. But when he was a baby, the doctor said that would never speak. Yes. And he would never walk.
SPEAKER_04That's right. And he would have, and there was a whole list of them, but those are the two top ones that we saw. That's right.
SPEAKER_03And what she's talking about, wisdom and faith, is not to believe for crazy stuff, but just for the season that we're in. And I will tell you that we came together, we prayed, we started speaking it, and he took his first steps at church on the platform one day after service. We watched, those of us that were there, we watched him do what doctors said he would never do. That's why it's so much fun to go to church. That's why raising your kids in church is such a blessing. You see miracles. There's an opportunity for miracles every single Sunday. The other thing that impresses me about Nick, which is personal to me, is his inability to have perfect rhythm. You should have gotten him a drum set when he was younger, because if you ever stand next to him during praise and worship, I'm telling you, his rhythm is better than mine. It's impeccable. And I don't know, I just think that's so amazing. I always turn around and want to watch him clap because he's so good at it and he's right on the money every single time. And this is a kid that got that the doctor said wouldn't even talk or walk. What a what a miracle he is, and what a miracle-working God we serve. Amen. Praise God. So we said when we put this panel together that we're gonna make it kind of like a woman with a lot of emotional ups and downs and roller coasters. And uh, we want to talk about the good stuff, the happy stuff, the overcoming things, but also this year has been rough because there's been some loss in our church. We've had many of you that have lost your parents or lost, family members, and it's been tough, and not just because of COVID, there's been a lot of loss that weren't COVID-related at all. But it's just been interesting how that has happened, and maybe it's the season we're in, I'm not sure. But Maury, you guys all know Maury Martinez, and she recently, two months ago, yes, it's here for her. She's wearing a flower in her hair today in honor of her incredible mother who passed away just two months ago. Will you share with us today what are you modeling to the younger generation in this area of watching you with an aging parent?
SPEAKER_05Well, I first want to say that as a mom, one of the biggest responsibilities we have is to plant seeds in our children's lives. And we start doing that when they're infants. We plant seeds when they're toddlers, when they're preschoolers, adolescents, teenagers up to adulthood, right? And maybe along the line, you didn't plant good seeds. There's always a new season to plant better seeds. And I just determined that in the last 10 years, I was going to plant a seed that I wanted to reap a harvest for in my life when I became the aging parent. So I determined that I was going to make sure that my children saw me be very intentional on spending time with my mom in the last decade of her life. That they saw that I made the sacrifice to get in the car and go down to Key West and give her my undivided attention and make her feel special at all cost. So, in that, I God was really speaking to me because I work for the church and a lot of times over the years during a holiday, I wasn't able to be with my mom during that holiday. Or also because I have an adult dove. Daughter who also lives outside of the state. But God just really revealed to me that a holiday is only a date man put on a calendar. And that any day could be special. Any day can be a holiday. Any day is a good day to love honor and to show grace and to to just make someone feel special. So at the beginning of February, my mom got a diagnosis. She was told she had four to six weeks to live. And we knew that in that four to six weeks, my mom was going to turn 90 years old. And I said, guess what? Her birthday is this Saturday. And that Saturday, exactly four days later, we flew everybody in and we gave her the party of her dream. And we all dressed in the clothes that she loved to wear. These are the dresses my mom wore every single day. And you see that we're all wearing flowers in our hair. And we danced. We danced to her favorite music and we made sure she enjoyed herself that way, and we ate her favorite foods. So what I would say to a person is that never too late to plant good seed because the younger generation is watching you, so they have a model to do it right.
SPEAKER_03That's so good. And I have to tell you what I learned from her mom at the funeral. Yes. That is so good. I've known her mom a long, long time, as long as I've known you, and she was a colorful character. If you did not get a chance to meet her, you missed out because she had a huge personality. And one thing that I learned at the funeral that I said, I'm gonna receive that as wisdom for my own life, is that if if you sit at home as you get older and your children marry and have children and have a very full life, and you're just sitting at home wondering why they haven't called you, don't worry about that. You call them. Pester them, bother them. You gave birth to them, you have the right to call them when you need to. Now, obviously, we know there's boundaries because all the younger generation went, please don't listen to Pastor Mary. Don't let Pastor Mary fire you up, mom. No. But listen, don't sit home and be a wounded bird and count the days that they didn't call. My mother, if a couple days goes by, she'll pick up the phone and go, hey, what's up? I know what what's up means. That's all she's got to say. And I want to encourage all of you, yes, take care of your mom. Honor the one that gave you life. Make sure you are the one honoring and taking care of her. She deserves that. And before God, God will reward you. But what I what I took away from that was all of the grandkids and the kids that got up and spoke about their grandmother, all of them said, when Awela would call me, I knew she was, she wanted me to come to the house to get something, and she was gonna give me an avocado as a reward. So I have stock in avocados now. But can I again I just want you to I just want you to hear me. This is gonna set some of you moms free. Don't just wait and feel hurt that they're not calling. Call them. Tell them you love them. Don't stop. Because it'll pay off for you. Okay? The neglect isn't always intentional. Sometimes life just gets busy. So let's not just be those parents that back up and go, well, you know, kids should call their parents. Yeah, maybe they should, but if they don't, you call them. All right? That's for free. I won't charge you for that one. It's true. Look what I say. You'll see when you get there. And uh Sandra, I want to talk to you really quick about how the church has supported you in this process of raising two little kids.
SPEAKER_02Um Yeah, so when we first started coming to Metro Life, one of the things we immediately fell in love with was the kids' ministry. From the very first time we came, we just felt so comfortable leaving our son there, um, knowing that he would be taken care of and we could come and worship and just receive the word of God and not have to worry about him. Um that's a precious thing. But it's priceless when you know that your child is next door also receiving the word of God and learning at their level and um and worshiping and praising. And if you ever pop your head in, it's it's a beautiful sight. Um But one of the reasons why it's the gift that keeps on giving to me, because I'm not like a crafty Pinterest mom who does little activities and I I'm that doesn't come natural to me. That's not who I am. Um and so I love when the kids' ministry you they send you home with your little bag with your activity and your coloring page and your Bible verse, and that gives me the opportunity to then open up and and dive deeper into that specific Bible story and help him learn his memory verse. And and it's it's just been a blessing to us because sometimes I mean just all the things that he says throughout the week, it's like, where did you where did you even learn that? God is my shepherd and God is my Lord. And those are the things that I love about the kids' ministry. That's been one of our greatest blessings here at Metro.
SPEAKER_03Shout out for our kids' ministry volunteers. Wow, we do have a great ministry and a great team. Thank God for them. And uh, Lucrecia, I I just want to ask you, how has the church supported you as a single mom? And you mentioned something in the first service. I hope you say it just like that. If you don't, I will help you because you plugged our I'm gonna let you say it. How has the church supported you as a single mom?
SPEAKER_06Well, first of all, I I feel loved here and I feel welcome and I feel accepted. Uh so that that's a blessing because when you're undergoing like you're going through like a difficult time and you like you feel like worthless. That's that's the word. You feel like you're you're, I don't know, rejected, abandoned. So that love means everything. Just a smile, or or you know what, even even hearing your stories, it's it blesses me so much. I didn't grow up, I wasn't raised with godly examples. I wasn't. Uh so I had to start relearning many, many things. And looking at you and hearing you, all of you, blesses me so much because I know that I can change behaviors, that I can change beliefs that were planted in my mind. And that's what I see here. I see the pastoral family starting with you. It's amazing the way that you raise your children, that they love the Lord, they love the house of the Lord. But you know what? Something that is coming to mind that you and Pastor Steve mentioned on the first podcast of the family business, that with his grandfather coming to the Lord, what a difference it makes in the generations to come. And that's me.
SPEAKER_03That's right. Yes.
SPEAKER_06That's amazing. I mean, and that comes with a with a with a price, and that comes with with with a struggle, but uh I'm taking it, I'm persevering, and and and I give thanks to you for giving us the tools to keep on uh moving forward. And the other thing is that the the the um single moms.
SPEAKER_03That was what I was hoping. It wasn't about talking about me. That's not what I wanted you to repeat. It was a single mom's brunch. Although that was good. I like that. Go ahead, take mom.
SPEAKER_06Well, the other thing is that, yeah, like three years into me come first coming to Metro Life, I finally acknowledged that I was single. Because at the beginning it was like I was living in the past, you know. But then I saw it. It's like coming out of denial, what Melanie was saying. That that was that was a blessing. It is a blessing. It is hard, but you said, okay, this is me, this is real, I'm going through this. And this ministry wants to bless me and my kids. Why would wouldn't I take this? Why why wouldn't I I I receive this? So I I learned how to receive.
SPEAKER_03I love that.
SPEAKER_06And that's um, that's really good because you when you're a leader and I've been leading in church, you know, for many years. Uh, you want to give and you want to give and you and you you are supposed to be giving, you are supposed to be the strong person. That's right. But at some point, you have to let others take care of you, and you have to let others bless you. That's right. And that's what Metro has done for us.
SPEAKER_03I love that. That was exactly what I hoped you'd say. Miss Paola, in one minute, we've got some beautiful pictures we want to show. What is the biggest lesson that God has taught you as a mom of adopted children who are really your children?
SPEAKER_01And I'm a mama. So moms who give birth biologically go to doctors' visits, have baby showers, and you know, we go to court hearings, have home visits, and we throw an adoption party at the end. And so this is the adoption party for our three-year-olds, and um, you know, it's it's and so many of our church family was there. We actually have a picture of the courthouse with a bunch of you guys in the background, but it was amazing. And one of the biggest things that I've learned is that God's perfect love cast out fear. And I would say this to myself almost every day throughout the journey. I would literally pray in my moments and say to God, here is my broken heart, God, I'm giving it to you. Because I was so scared that somebody was gonna come and say, Okay, we're taking your baby, she's going back to the biological family, or or that, oh, you know, we're not gonna be able to love them like our own. And then I'd hear your voice say, the devil is a liar. And really, I had to embrace God's love for me as his daughter, and I had to recognize that as much as I love those little babies, God loved them so much more than I did, and he knew what he was working out. So I learned the depth and power of God's love. Amen.
SPEAKER_03Oh wow, this is such a testimony of the goodness of God that there are no plan A's or B's in the kingdom. God's plan or it's always better than ours. You know, Paula, I think about you all the time. Whenever I want to get locked into what my plan ought to look like, and it doesn't go that way, and I'm reminded, that's because God's way is better than mine. I don't even have the capacity to trust God or believe God for what he has for me. Oh, I love that. And those girls are a part of the plan of God, not only for your life, but at Metro Life Church. And we're we're honored to have them in their lives, in our lives. So, Melanie Gomez, let's just pivot here to you. What we all want to know. What do you do once your child is an adult? What does a mother do with all her wise advice then?
SPEAKER_04Well, Pastor Mary, I don't know if you know this, but teenagers and young adults don't listen to their parents.
SPEAKER_03No, that's what hot flashes are all about. It's the leftover years of teenagers. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_04So what happens then, right? You have little ones, little ones. You can say, you can't go there, and they can't go there. They can't. Sorry. Teenagers and adult young adults, you can suggest, I don't think you should go there. That's all you can do. Here's the trick that we learned with our oldest son Ben. Equipping them to listen to God is the only way that you're gonna assure your peace, that you can sleep at night, and their success. That's Ben leading worship here when he was, I think, 13 or 14. He was on the praise team since he was 10, I think. Um and so teenagers and young adults, the one of the keys starts with this age of little ones. What she said. Children's ministry. Planting those seeds now, equipping them. Because having a child who doesn't do it because mom said so is actually not equipping them. Equipping them is to have a child who says, What does God want me to do with this choice? You know what? I don't even have all the answers. I'm gonna be honest with you. I don't even know how to advise my young adult son right now in 2021 for the craziness that's going on. I don't have those answers, but I know that God does. So my piece, my my motherly advice is that I pray, thank you, God, that Ben listens to you. Thank you, that he hears your voice. Thank you, that every seed that this village planted is bearing a harvest in his life. So there are times that he'll make a choice that my husband and I will sit back and go, I don't think I I don't think that's how he should go. I don't think that's where he should go, I don't think that's what he should do. But we know that he sought God. That's right. He prayed about it, he's following God. His desire of his heart is to follow God. His desire of his heart should not be to please me.
SPEAKER_03That's right.
SPEAKER_04His desire should be to please God. And if that's what he's doing, I can sleep. I don't have to agree with every choice he makes. That's not how he was designed. That's right. But equipping them from when they're little, and if you know what, if you didn't, and now you have a teen and a young adult, and you're like, well, I didn't have him in church since they were four. That's okay. That's right. A mother's prayer is the most effective weapon I have ever seen. Ask Maury about her mom, ask Pastor Mary about her mom. A mother's prayer will cover it all and will God will just miraculously make up all that time into a right now moment. But praying and and and pointing them to a relationship with God, relationship, relationship, relationship, it's not honestly for my heart's truth. My concern is not my son's relationship with me. It's not my primary concern. My primary concern above all is his relationship with God.
SPEAKER_03That's right.
SPEAKER_04If that's okay, he doesn't have to call me every day. That's right. Honestly, if he's calling God every day, he doesn't have to call me every day. And that's where the peace of mind comes in as they get older.
SPEAKER_03And because God is a good, good father, he's gonna honor the goodness in you as a mother, no matter where you start in this journey. Remember, you're not alone in doing it. God's a good dad, and he'll step in and fill in all the gaps and make up for all the years. So, speaking of all the years, uh, Maury, let's end this with you this morning in regards to dealing with loss of a parent, your mother, during this season. I can say though that there's a grace on you. We've talked about it, because this this is hard when you lose your mom, uh, when you lose any loved one, but to lose your mom is a really tough loss. You've handled it with such grace and you've done it with the mindset of I'm modeling how to grieve the godly way. Will you share that with us as we close?
SPEAKER_05Well, first and foremost, thank you for that, because I don't always feel like I'm handling grief good. Um, but it it manifests in different ways for different people. And I would say that in this season, my desire and how I am handling the loss is the best thing I can do is to continue the spiritual legacy. So if you knew my mom, um till months before she passed away, she had a jail ministry, she had a hospital ministry. At 89, 88, 89 years of old, of age, she was going to nursing homes and praying for people. That's not going to be me, but this is what I am going to do to continue. So I get a lot of um peace in listening to music she loves to listen to. Uh, presently I'm obsessed with La Laravanza de lo de Pueblo from Ricardo Rodriguez, and that entire album is bomb. Um, and there's there's a song in there that says, and I'm sure it's in English too, what we sing on earth is heard in heaven. So when that song is playing, I am singing my heart out in my car on my bike ride and on my run. So I know my mom is listening to me in heaven. But another part of that is after she passed away, we had to do the very hard thing of going through her house and going through all her beautiful dresses and her beautiful treasures and sort out what we're gonna keep and what we're not gonna keep and what we're gonna share to give to our children. And in that process, we found boxes with over 100 spiral notebooks that she had handwritten front and back with every Bible study, every prophetic word God ever gave her, every dream she ever had, anything she ever watched on TBN. Benny Hinn said this today, she would write it in. And she would document it. And I looked at that and I thought, she didn't just serve. She was deep, she knew God's word. It's all right here. So we got those notebooks and we gave some to Gabby, we gave some to Christina, we gave some to each of our children, and I thought, yeah, I have I have a responsibility. It's to continue her spiritual legacy that I've started in my life. But is the most important thing to really know God's word. So I would say to everybody here today, maybe you didn't have my mom. And I recognize my mom was a gift, and my mom was unusual. I recognize that. But you can be the beginning of that spiritual legacy, like Lucarecia said. It begins with her, she's starting it, and that could be you too, so that one day your children and your grandchildren are continuing the spiritual heritage you began in them.
SPEAKER_03That's beautiful. Your children will rise and call you blessed. Amen. Praise the Lord. We want to pray for you. I'm gonna ask our ladies to stand with me, and we're just gonna pray for all the moms in the room and just bless you today. Is that all right? If you're next to your mom, you could just touch her and just say, Mom, I love you. I'm praying for you. Father, in Jesus' name, we thank you for every mother that is in this room today and every grandmother. And we ask that you see down to the deepest part of her everything she's dealing with, everything she's going through. And would you meet that need? God, she's not alone, she never has been, she never will be. You are with her through every season, through every circumstance, through every dark day. We just ask you, Holy Spirit, that today she would be comforted to know that just the very reason that she carries this beautiful title and role of mother means that she is blessed far above women. And God, we thank you that her children will rise and call her blessed, and every desire of her heart will be met either in this season or the next season. In the name of Jesus, we pray. And for those who don't have their mother with them today, we pray that you will be the comforter, be the good, good father that you promised to be, and wrap your arms around them and let their grief and their loss be a little bit less today, that they would remember their mom with fondness and with joy. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for listening to the Family Business Podcast with the Alestes. We appreciate you listening and learning with us as we just shared more about the family business. You know, I bet there's someone you know who could use this kind of advice, encouragement. So make sure to share this episode with them and their family because let's face it, family is everyone's business. If you want to be a part of our family, subscribe to the show right now on your favorite app, and make sure to download the episodes so you can hear them at any time. Oh, and one more thing one of the best ways to help us spread the word about the family business with the Alessis is by reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts or your favorite app. So help us out, write a review, and join us next time at the Family Business Podcast with the Alesssies.