The Worship and Leadership Podcast
Real conversations on worship, leadership, and living a faith-filled life beyond the platform. Hosted by leaders from LifePoint Church, this podcast is here to inspire, equip, and challenge you—whether you’re leading in ministry, in the marketplace, or just learning to lead yourself well.
The Worship and Leadership Podcast
Gratitude That Lives Beyond Thanksgiving
Gratitude shouldn’t end when the dishes are done. We open the door to a richer way of living—treating gratitude as expressed worship that reshapes our homes, our teams, and our hearts. With Scripture at the center and stories that will stay with you, we trace a clear path from seasonal thankfulness to a daily, deliberate posture of praise.
If you need practical handles, we’ve got them: write short gratitude lists, pray them aloud, put your phone away to be fully with people, and curate a circle that nurtures a grateful posture. Discover why you can’t be critical and grateful at the same time, and how thanksgiving accelerates spiritual formation, softens pride, and strengthens families. This is an invitation to build a life God wants to dwell in—marked by praise, generosity, and honest testimony.
If this encouraged you, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a review telling us one simple thing you’re grateful for today. Your story might be the memorial someone else needs.
Hey, what's going on, everyone, and welcome to the Worship and Leadership Podcast. My name is Elmer Canyas Jr., and like always, I'm so glad and thankful that you are joining us today, and we get to spend this time together. And like always, my main man Willie C. Simpson Jr. What's going on?
SPEAKER_02:What's up, everybody? I'm excited to be here today. It's gonna be a great episode today, Elmer. I'm telling you. I agree. It's gonna be great. We have two very special guests.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, we do.
SPEAKER_02:Today. Over here to my left side, we got my homeboy, my road dog, my brother from another mother. He is an awesome member of our team, one of our staff pastors, oversees our growth track team as well. Y'all give it up for Pastor Nate!
SPEAKER_01:Excited to be here. It's gonna be fun.
SPEAKER_02:Excited you're here, brother. Over here to my right side. My sister from another mister. She's my homegirl. She's my home slice. She's excited to be here all day yesterday. She was like, she couldn't wait. She was going over notes with me. She was like, I know exactly what I'm gonna say. I'm cool, calm, and collected. She is a member of our team, events, plans everything that we do. Y'all give it up for Lori Canyas! Side note, she's also your wife. Your wife. She's my better half. She is your better half.
SPEAKER_03:I'm excited that she's on the podcast. I'm glad you're here. Thank you, dude. Yeah, it's gonna be great. It's gonna be great. It's gonna be awesome. I loved how you're holding the mic. Like you're like, hey everyone. Hi.
SPEAKER_02:Like we have this stand here, and he's like, I'm gonna hold it in. I'm gonna hold it. I don't want it to run away. You know, man.
SPEAKER_03:Hey, today today is awesome. We're a week out from Thanksgiving. Yes. And and today we want to talk about worship through gratitude and really focus a lot on the perspective of gratitude. You know, it's it's a topic that's thrown around a lot around this time of the year. Like, what are you grateful for? What are you thankful for? You know, it's a question we do we ask around our our table on Thanksgiving to allow everyone to really share their perspective and what what are they grateful for, and you know, and it's it's something that has become a tradition for a lot of people. And so we want to go the goal will be on this episode to go from something that is just tradition to something that is actually in like woven into our daily lives throughout the year, and maybe this is the time we talk the most about it, but we want to share stories, we want to share perspectives and and all like always scripture. But that's the goal of today's conversation. That's right.
SPEAKER_02:Well, you know, first of all, I want to say this. I'm grateful for all of y'all. Grateful to be on this team. I'm grateful for fried turkey. It's delicious. I mean, y'all can have smoked turkey, you can have oven baked, you can have your dry birds. There's nothing like a fried bird. Brother, let me tell you something. You get the crispy exterior and the juicy interior.
SPEAKER_01:It's like they the textures and flavors, it's they almost flirt with each other in a way that it's a delicate dance. It's kind of it's something magical. It is, it truly is. I'm not sure what to call it, honestly. I don't know. There's nothing like it. There's nothing like it.
SPEAKER_03:I don't think I've ever had a fried turkey. What?
SPEAKER_01:My God.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Brother. Are you okay? I'm 43. That's inexcusable, man. I know. My lord, I go.
SPEAKER_01:Can we pause this? Yeah, I think just go.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, we'll just I I listen, I can run home. I live three minutes away. Yeah. I'll grab my turkey fry. Yeah. You grab the bird. I'll get the mustard.
SPEAKER_01:Come on. Make it happen. We'll make it happen. And the mustard. Oh, you gotta, oh, you gotta bathe that thing in mustard ceremoniously. No. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Why mustard?
SPEAKER_00:He's from California. They don't like mustard. What? They don't like mustard.
SPEAKER_02:I don't eat mustard.
SPEAKER_00:I'm from Texas. I eat mustard.
SPEAKER_02:Come on now, Mary. Hold on. Like, so you if you're eating a hot dog, what condiments do you put on it? Mayo and ketchup.
SPEAKER_00:That's nasty.
SPEAKER_02:Mayo relish. Yeah. Put in a comment section. Lord help them. Lord.
SPEAKER_00:I thought you were gonna say when you're eating a hot dog, do you use ketchup or mustard?
SPEAKER_02:He did. I asked for condiments. I get ketchup. I'm a mustard guy myself, but mayo.
SPEAKER_01:On a hot dog.
SPEAKER_02:On a hot dog, man. My lord.
SPEAKER_03:Do you do mayo on a burger? No. No, not really.
SPEAKER_02:What do you use mayo for? Like a deli sandwich. Yeah? Yeah, like a turkey. You are club or something like that. Yeah. Like chicken salad. No, like like a club. A turkey club or something like that.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. This is gonna be a very fun episode. Oh well, I'm grateful for ketchup.
SPEAKER_02:Praise the Lord. Okay. So we're talking about gratitude. Like you said, we always like to start high view and theology. And, you know, Elmer and I we were we were rapping this morning and just some some cool thoughts that I would definitely like to unpack here a little bit too. But you know, thinking through gratitude as really a heart posture and it's an expression, right? It's it's not so much like I feel, it's really expressing gratitude. It's like, man, thank you, Elmer. Like to me, I gratitude is expressed. I think thankfulness is felt, but gratitude is expressed. So since it's expressed, God, I think, desires for us to live a life of gratitude. And so we look to God's word. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse. I want to start at verse 16 because it's all interconnected. Paul's writing to the Thessalonian church and he says, Rejoice always. He says, Pray without ceasing. And then he says, give thanks in all circumstances. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. So I I think the it's almost like Paul's building this sort of really cool chain, this interconnectedness. First, he starts with rejoicing, right? So that's the praise that you and I were talking about this morning. That praise, and that's out of your mouth. And it's always. And then you pray without ceasing. I'm always communicating with the Lord, and then in that communication, I'm giving thanks in all circumstances. So that's unconditional. And then most importantly, because this is God's will. God created us with a will, a purpose, and a design. And he's like, I didn't create you to grumble, moan, and complain. I created you to give thanks and to express gratitude in all things. But how many of us know that's much easier said than done? So let's just unpack that. Like, why does God want us to express gratitude in all things? Why should we live a life of gratitude? So to you, Lori, first.
SPEAKER_00:I knew you were gonna do that.
SPEAKER_02:You gotta move your microphone a little bit.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. Oh, Nate's touching his microphone and I'm trying to run away from it. Um I I was trying to guess like what was gonna be asked. And I knew that that was gonna be like, hey, like, why are you grateful or why are you thankful? And I feel like my question is, why would you not be? Like God has been so good to us. Like, why would we not be grateful? Why would we not be thankful? And something that just kept going through my head since last night was literally, I don't know, I I was actually trying to pick up one of those little Jesuses that we have around the church. And I was gonna use it as an example. Like, we tend to pick up Jesus, put him down, pick him up, put him down, because that's just sometimes how we are, right? Like if things are going great, we want to put them down, or we either go and like seek him, but it's that that vision of putting him down, picking him up versus Jesus literally going to the cross, picking it up. Not only did he pick it up, but he held it and he died on it. And when you really, really, truly think about that, how could you not be grateful and thankful for that?
SPEAKER_02:That's so good.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I like that idea. You said picking Jesus up, yeah, putting him down.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. A lot of us that's how we that's how we are, you know. But I feel like it's a choice. It's a choice. Like every day, regardless of the circumstance, regardless of the situation, whether it's good or bad, I'm still choosing to be grateful and thankful because of what he's he's already done, what he continues to do.
SPEAKER_02:So good.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Man, they jump in there, man. Why? Yeah, why why does God want to live a life of gratitude?
SPEAKER_01:I think that as you grow an understanding of what the Lord has done for us, that's the only response that we can have when it gets when it really boils down. Like, you know, as as you as you think about the cross or you experience the Lord in a new way through different seasons of life, you know, and and you just I think when you become a new believer at first, it it it's you know, we've talked about in the past about how it can be a surface level, like kind of a mental agreement, like, oh yeah, I believe that Jesus was a person that walked the earth and he probably died and sure he rose again. But as you really dive into his word and get to know him and have a relationship with him, right, and you realize how deep, you know, we needed redemption and salvation, and you grow in that understanding, like the it's like as you grow in that, that is your only response that you can have. It's like you just give it up and you're like, Lord, I'm so grateful. Thank you. And no matter what you're going through in life, at that point, that becomes a lens you look through of like, man, look what he's done for me. And that I think kind of circles back into those first two verses of rejoicing always and praying without ceasing, is like you're walking with him constantly as he's uh in your mind all the time, thinking through that that gratitude, and then that allows you to have that joy that allows you to rejoice in all circumstances and and everything. So it's your response, I think.
SPEAKER_02:That's so good. So I I want to go back, Lori, what you said about the the the picking Jesus up and putting him down. So it and then that this ties in what you said, Ned about this constancy. So let me ask you this why why is it so easy for us to put Jesus down? Why is it so easy for us to slip out of this state, this con this constancy of gratitude? Um who whoever I'm whoever wants to answer that, why is it so easy for us to slip out of that?
SPEAKER_03:I I think it's it's the comforts of life. I think if if you've traveled to other countries and you've seen uh families living under really what we would consider harsh conditions, like they have very little, but they have everything in in Jesus. And people are like, you know, but in in our in our society, in our Western culture, you know, we have the house, the vehicles, the family, the white picket fence, all that. And and we have all the comforts, all the things we need, the careers, we have dreams and goals and all these things that we want for us, but what we we we struggle with what does God actually require or ask of us? And so when Lori's talking about picking up Jesus, putting him down, that that that image of you know the little toy Jesus that we put up and down. I I I can't help to think that you know if you build a house for the Lord, do you tear it down every day? Or do you do you you erect it and does it remain a house that you you've invested so much to build for him to dwell in for people to see, oh, that's that's like a presence carrier, that's someone that loves Jesus, that's someone that follows Jesus. You know, so when you put it in the context of a house, a dwelling place, somewhere where God wants to dwell, it's something we talked about earlier, and I'll unpack it later. When when you you build something that's a lot bigger than yourself, it's harder to want to put it down. But a lot of us aren't thinking of of that, like of building a life that God is pleased with. We're thinking of let me build a life that I'm excited for, that that gives me purpose, that makes me wake up every morning, and because it makes me feel good, you know, and and when we're driven by by what pleases us and that self-satisfaction, it's easy to put Jesus down.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's so good. Yeah, to your point, Elmer, you know, you were you and I were talking this morning, and I love this this notion of gratitude, not just being like what we feel and what we express, but a place that we live. We were kind of connecting it to peace. You know, Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and peace is not just a feeling, it's not just an emotion, it's not it's not like oh I'm cool and calm, but it's a place you can live, you can actually dwell. And Psalm 100, I think, is a great it's a it's a it's a beautiful picture of gratitude and praise. Psalm 100 verse 4 says, Enter in enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. I love the enter into these gates, into these courts, thanksgiving and praise. So it's it's so again, it's volitional, it's deliberate, it's intentional. I can choose to enter into this place of gratitude and praise and thanksgiving and celebration. I love how it says these are his gates and his courts. So, like, can you just help unpack that? Like, this is where God dwells. Yeah, he dwells in this place of gratitude.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and when we're talking, we're talking about the tabernacle and in Exodus and chapters 25 to 40, how God gives Moses instructions. So he gives him, he gives him precise instructions, all the details, colors, fabrics, uh, materials, all of that. But then he hands it over to Moses and he says, All right, now build it. And so then, and then there's skillful people that are a part of it. I I think that through scripture, God tells us this these are the things I want from you. This is the life I want you to live. This is this is the blueprint, right? The scripture. And and then it's up to us to build that life. And and that's why we say worship is not it's not a song, it's it's it's a lifestyle. It's the life that we choose to build and walk in in obedience. And and I I think praise is the same thing. Praise, and and I I said it on the last the last podcast that we were on a few weeks ago, that that that there's something about praise being this fabric uh of the place that God chooses to dwell in. And I'm I'm so right now, I'm like enamored on the on tents and like the tabernacle and and the tent of David and stuff. And I I just imagine like in my mind the tent that you know in the wilderness that David built for the Lord as they were moving the Ark of the Covenant, and it it probably was regular material, like in our minds, right? But but the but it it was intentional, there was still intention intentionality and in our lives, like what are the things that we build our lives around? For some of us, we think it's success, titles, positions, money in the bank, all these things, but what if it was fulfilling God's plans for us? And and you read it in scripture, like that's God's will for our lives to to to live in gratitude in that posture because that's where he chooses to dwell. Like, I don't think God wants to dwell where people are like like just upset all the time. And like, you know, how are you a representation of a good God when you're upset all the time? How are you a reflection of a merciful God when you're judging people all the time? How are you how are we a good representation of Christ when we're hating and and you know, just always wanting to pick a fight with people? You know, and I I really think that when we again, I want to use the word erect, when we build a a place that God chooses to dwell in, built with praise, built on worship, built on a posture of gratitude, right? Like he abides in the praises of his people. That's what the psalm says. Yeah, you know, and so I want to build the place, we want to build the life, a home where God wants to be there. Yeah, he's with us already. We know he has his spirit as believers, right? Right, but where he where he's like, Man, like I want I'm gonna be there all the time.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And then when people drive by our house, they're like, Man, there's something about that house. That's good, you know. And so it's it's one thing for you to be a believer that has you have the Holy Spirit in you. It's another thing for you to walk the streets and people be like, There's something on you.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, keeping in step with the spirit. Yeah, yeah, it's so different.
SPEAKER_02:Right. Yep. I I love that you you were saying earlier, you know, thinking through a tent maker, you know, Paul was famously a tent maker, and he's not he's not building these tents for him to dwell in. You know, he let's say he made, you know, 20 tents a day. He's not trying to live in 20 different tents. He's like, no, these are these are for others. And so ultimately, gratitude expressed is a blessing and benefit for others. They are drawn to this God that you're exp expressing gratitude, you know, for. Uh so Laura, I want to throw it to you and then and then you, Pastor Nate. Personally, you know, how have you found yourself expressing gratitude to God and and like circumstances and then even the outworking of that? So just you know, yeah, the floor is yours on that. Just expressing gratitude to God.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think I think you said it earlier. Living in gratitude, living in thankfulness, living in peace, like all of those things. Again, I feel like it's a choice. So for me, again, I just asked, like, why would you not? Like, God has just been so good to us and to me and to our kids. Like, I don't see any other way, honestly. Things that I do to like stay grateful and thankful, I do think it starts. I wrote it down. I was like, we we keep talking about feelings. I do feel like there is, you do have to feel grateful. And I know that that's like an emotion. So feeling grateful and then a reflection, like your thoughts reflecting on what he has already done and what he continues to do. I feel like that helps me stay grateful and thankful. And then the expression, like actually, like Elm said, like when you walk around, people can tell that you're grateful and thankful and all these things. I don't know if that answers.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, is there is there a specific time in your life or even a situation where you just say, you know what? I'm gonna choose lean to gratitude. I'm I'm gonna choose lean to gratefulness.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, again, and I just want to say, like, we we're we're not perfect, our marriage is not perfect, I'm not perfect, but there's been several times like in our lives when, hey, like maybe, you know, not everything was great or whatever, but I feel like regardless, regardless of the search circumstance or situation, again, I feel like it is a choice. Like I'm making that choice of, hey, regardless, regardless, I'm still gonna have a good attitude. I do feel like attitude and gratefulness go together.
SPEAKER_04:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:And that might sound super cheesy, but I do think it goes together. Yeah. And again, it's a choice. You're making, you're making a choice to have a good attitude, even when things are not going well. You're making a choice to still be grateful and thankful and to see the positive. So my family makes fun of me because I say that I live in a gumdrop, gummy bear land. Like I see everybody as good, everything is good. I normally will see that before I see anything bad, honestly, or I normally go towards the positive instead of the negative. That's just how I am.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So even in that, like I feel like because that's already like my mindset and my heart, I feel like that kind of helps me stay grateful and thankful as well. Like, I I don't walk into any situation expecting anything. I've always said I walk into every situation with an open heart and an open mind. And whatever I'm supposed to learn, I'm gonna learn it. And if there is something like, for example, there was a season in our lives when we were at, you know, we were doing ministry and it wasn't, it wasn't the best. If I'm being honest and transparent, it wasn't the best place. It was a hard season for us. But we've always said ministry is not gonna be easy. Sometimes it does feel lonely, sometimes it does feel hard. Um, sometimes it is the unknown, you know? But we choose to take the good and leave the bad. That's what we've always said, you know, in ministry and life, we take the good, we leave the bad. And we don't ever dwell on anything, to be honest. I mean, we might be sad, we might be mad, we might be hurt, and that's okay. You can feel those feelings, but we're not gonna stay there. And that's even for our kids, you know. Hey, you can feel whatever you're gonna feel. You can even be mad at God, but we're not gonna stay there. It's great. Like we're not gonna stay mad.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And I think it's somebody said something earlier, like, look what the Lord has done. And I'm telling y'all, my brain, y'all was just going. And that was one of the one of the worship songs, or is it a worship song or praise song? Yeah, it's an old song, like, look what the Lord has done. Look what the Lord has done. That is my jam. That is my jam. Um now, but it's so true. He healed my body, yes, yeah. Yep, sing it, Willie. Sing it.
SPEAKER_02:He healed my body, he hailed my soul, he sang my body, and he made me whole.
SPEAKER_00:You messed up my song. That is not the word. I know.
SPEAKER_01:I'm pretty sure that's the word.
SPEAKER_02:That's the words. Those are the lyrics.
SPEAKER_00:He healed my body, he'll he healed my soul. Oh, dang it. Now you made me forget the words.
SPEAKER_02:Made me whole.
SPEAKER_00:Oh gosh, we have to go.
SPEAKER_02:I'm gonna find it. I'll play it. I'm finna, I'm gonna look up good. I'm gonna look up the lyric right now.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, because you messed up my song, Willie, and then you made me forget the words. Anyways, I was thinking of that song. Yeah, um, I feel like another another part of that too is just again, being honest and transparent. I don't know, there's just certain things that people cannot tell me that that God not is is not. Do you know what I'm saying? Like God is a healer, like He showed me that time and time and time and time again. Yeah, God is a friend. He's shown me that, He's been that for me. Yeah, so I don't want to be the only one talking, so go Nate.
SPEAKER_01:That was great. That was really good. Come on. I don't even know what I don't even know where to go from there. I thought that was great.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, just that you know, really, you know, the Lord has walked you and and Taylor through an incredibly hard season. And again, look, you know, that's like literally look what look what the Lord has done. Yeah. But man, it's been really cool to walk with you, like processing, like an AAR almost. Yeah. And and you you've really I it's really been exemplary to me how you've landed the plane on the runway of gratitude. So just unpack that for us, man.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So obviously, back in July, we we woke up to our whole world changing with our youngest son. He was seven months old at the time. We discovered him totally gray, no heartbeat, no pulse, gone completely. I did CPR for 10 minutes until the paramedics got there. Um, they showed up and did CPR for 10 more minutes. And in the back of the ambulance in our driveway, after 20 known minutes of him being down with a possible additional hour on top of that, we don't know how long. Uh that was just the last time we saw him without any defibrillation, no epinephrine, or medicine of any kind. He had a return of spontaneous circulation, is what the paramedics called it. And so the Lord literally breathed life into our son in the in the driveway in the back of an ambulance. And then we were, he was life-flighted to Vanderbilt. We were in the hospital for 27 days and just living through a lot of unknowns as we waited, you know, minute by minute, day by day, to figure out, you know, how was he impacted by this injury and and everything in between? And, you know, I could talk for hours about all the different things, but ultimately the Lord just showed us his healing hand over and over and over. And it was just miracle after miracle. And there were just so many lessons learned in there. And as we've kind of worked through that, you know, when that took place, I think kind of circling back to just the busyness of life and discussing that, like the culture that we live in, kind of the entertainment center focal point of like, you know, when we get tired or stressed out, everybody just starts doom scrolling, looking for that four-second video. And if it's not good enough, you move to the next one. And it's just training us to not be able to dwell in that space of just receive mode. And and then we get so busy with life and everything. And when I'll never forget, for as long as I live, when Taylor called for me and I ran in the room and that was going on, and like our whole world stopped. And everything that seemed so important five seconds ago did not matter at all. And and then when the Lord breathed life back into him, it was just like, oh my gosh, that this tremendous relief came over us. But then also like the the unknown of like, well, where are we at now?
SPEAKER_04:Right.
SPEAKER_01:Like his heart is beating and he's breathing, but we don't know what's going on or what happened, or you know, everything in between. And so as we continue to work through that process, we really had to fight to stay present in the moment. And I mean, that was one of our bigger lessons was like the Lord's presence is with us all the time, but we're so forward-looking all the time. I think we miss just being with him. Yeah. And fighting to stay in the know the now and not building out the narrative of details that we didn't have at the time really helped us to just draw close to him in the moment and then be so grateful that look, he's he's brought our son back to life and we're crying out for a miracle. Yeah. And not knowing what the healing is going to look like and if it's going to come, you know, on this side of heaven or on the day of resurrection when when we're all called home. And just in that waiting, we realize like the miracle that we're crying out for has already happened in Jesus. And if he paid for our sin on the cross and he rose again and he's at the right hand of the Father right now alive, then anything is possible. And in that gratitude of understanding the redemption that we've received, you know, we can call on the authority that he he alone holds and and we can trust that he is good and faithful and a very present help in times of trouble, and we can be grateful as our response. And then, you know, practically speaking, that has turned, you know, as we've moved out of that season and continue with life now, right? There's that element, I think, of like that spiritual warfare side of seizing every thought captive in obedience to Christ, like 2 Corinthians 10 says, where, you know, every moment of every day we have to be aware and vigilant and on guard and alert, right, and fight to stay in that posture of gratitude. And Pastor Mike is always talking about, you know, the concept of being critical versus being grateful, and how like there's studies out there that show you can't be both. That's right. And we live in a culture and in a world that is so heavily leaning towards let's just be critical about everything. And that's the natural standpoint that most people hold. And so we have to be aware of that and vigilantly look for that in our life and and seize that captain, be like, no, I'm not gonna be great critical of the season that he's called me to, the busyness, the parking lot, whatever it is. I'm gonna be grateful. Like it's that posture of deciding like, look how many people are showing up to our church on a Sunday, right? Fighting to come in and hear the word of God. Yeah. The average church attendance in America is like 60 people. We got 200 spilling out into our lobby every other service. Right. It's like, man, this is so special to be a part of. Yeah. I'm not gonna be inconvenienced by the busyness. I'm gonna be so grateful that God is moving in our city. I mean, I want to live somewhere where people are drawn to the Lord and be grateful and watch him encounter people for the first time and watch their lives be transformed and continually submit mine to him every day. And so I know I'm jumping in on all different things, but it's just like I think that's just our response and our posture that we have to fight to stay in because that's where the contentment comes from. The attitude comes from. Everything where we walk with the Lord and step with the Spirit, and our response can only be gratitude. Yeah, because as we grow an understanding of what he's done for us, what are what are we going to be critical? Like Jesus, you didn't die for us the right way. You know what I mean? Like he took the the most ultimately painful death on that we deserved and then gave us his inheritance. And it's like being on Christmas morning and open up that present you've been waiting for, and you could just have that moment of contentment where you're like, oh my gosh, I finally got it. I've been wanting it so long, and boom, and now it's here in my hand, and it's awesome. And two days later, you know, we moved on to the next coolest thing. Yeah. But in that moment, you're totally content and just wow, thank you. And that's where we got to stay, yeah, you know, with the Lord.
SPEAKER_03:So I think you made a point at the beginning of of your comment that way back at the beginning. Yeah, I was kidding. When you said that we don't know how to dwell, yeah, yeah. I think that that alone is a lost, I want to say art. Yes. I want to say art because if you think about Japanese culture, like they have their their art is very much when you think of bonsai trees, and they even have like I had this little waterboard when I for when we first came back to Clarksville, I found this little waterboard, and you actually like drew pictures on it with water, and then after time it would like after five minutes, it would kind of fade away. And then so then you would you would have to dwell on that image that you created until it kind of disappeared, and then you start it over. But a lot of their arts you've seen, like some of our stuff had the little sand, right? You know, where you're raking, yeah, the raking. Yeah, and all of that, a lot of that art specifically has to do with patience, yeah, yeah, time, and just dwelling, and and medit and there's meditation and all that stuff involved, but just even thinking in scripture, like the psalmist is constantly leaning us back to hey, dwell on the Lord, meditate on his word. Yes, and it's something that we've not been able to accomplish in our society. To your point, everything that we have on this device is scroll, scroll, scroll, affirm, affirm, like, not like, all these things, and so we're constantly constantly critical and distracted.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Yeah. As you were speaking there, Nate, I was thinking through like again that duel peace, and then also stories. You know, in the Old Testament, there's an event that sticks out where the people of Israel, you know, they're they're about to cross over the Jordan River, and the Bible says that God, you know, miraculously He divides the waters into a heap so they go across on dry ground. And in the middle, he commands them to set up stones as a memorial. And I remember in the past, I thought, that makes no sense. Like, why would God have to do it? I mean, it's gonna be covered up by water anyway, you know. Well, imagine, I mean, you've you've gone by this river. For years and years and years, and all of a sudden one day you see a heap of stones. Well, that memorial is going to tell a story.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So then when people will ask, Hey, why are those stones heaped up? Well, the Israelite supposed to say, Hey, that's the Lord miraculously brought us into the promised land. And so, to your point, if there are our stories, our testimonies are like signposts. There are these memorials that we need to revisit and go back to, especially like you said, Lord, when we're when we're in a hard season, when we're in a hard time, God wanted them to go back and look at those memorials to say, wait a minute, okay, things are hard now. But this stands as a testimony to God's faithfulness. Here's where the Lord met us. Here is where the Lord showed out. This is where the Lord manifested his presence. This is where the Lord fed us. This is where he watered us. This is where he protected us. This is where he prevailed on our behalf. This is where he healed us. This and so we must, that's why the Bible says we do overcome by the blood and our testimony. We overcome by both of those because they are they are memorials that we must revisit and remember. I recently I told my son probably maybe a couple, maybe about two years ago, about how the Lord healed him. He was probably a little bit younger than your son when he got a he got uh afflicted with uh a really bad cardiovascular disease. It's called Kawasaki disease, and it's super rare, like less than 2% of the world's population has it. And he's his body broke out and all kind of sores and blisters, his lips were cracked and bloodshot. It was it was insane. And he had 106-degree fever for like a week. And we were living in Tuscles, so we took him to Children's Hospital uh in Birmingham, which is sort of like Vanderbilt there. I mean, it's just an amazing hospital. And they were like, hey, we're gonna try this experimental treatment. We don't know if it's gonna work. And I just remember, I was like, I told Carolyn, I was like, I'm not leaving, I'm gonna stay here every day. And just praying and laying hands on him, and we just called for the church and and different people. And I just remember one night the Lord just being with me in the room and just and him just asking, Hey, do you believe? And I remember just crying out, I believe God, but I feel like gyres helped me in my unbelief, you know, because you're just you're helpless. And yeah, of course, you know, God healed our son. And I remember for years thinking back about that just that night. And the Lord was like, When is the when's the last time you told your son about that? You know, that he is a walking miracle, you know. And so just one night I sat him down in the living room and I told him, This is what the the Lord did in your life, and he's looking at me like, what? You know, of course he's a baby, he didn't remember any have any memory of this. But I I just you know, it's just that reminder. Why? Because parenthood is hard, it's a blessing, but man, it's got challenges.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And when there are moments when it's challenging with my son, the Lord reminds me, hey, remember you begged me. You begged me to spare his life. Yeah. And so I go back to that memorial and I remember, okay, this is where the Lord met me in healing my son. Yeah. And it makes it easier, not a parent. It makes it easier to love. Even when I have to bring correction, I do so with this redemptive heart because I'm like, God, I remember begging you to spare my son's life. And I just think that's part of dwelling in that gratitude. You know, you think about visiting the grave markers of your loved ones, of fallen soldiers or fallen friends or family members or loved ones. And when you go back and visit though that grave and you see the dash, what what floods your mind is the memories you had with that person. You know, the the all, hey, the life that you built with them, the things you experienced. And I just want to encourage you and say, hey, can you go back to the to the memorials of your life where the Lord met you, when the Lord came through in the at 1159-59, when you got a check in the mail, when you got the the doctor's report, when you got the phone call, shoot, when the Lord saved you. I mean, that's a marker I have to go back and visit often. You know, in in 2002, in April, when the Lord saved me. I have to go back to that place and say, Yep, that's the day that I said, Lord, I am all in with you. And I think that helps us, like to your point, Pastor Almer, to dwell in that place of gratitude. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And Willie, on that note, too, I would just want to ask, as we look back at the memorials and then we think about living as a living sacrifice, what does it look like for us to live as a memorial for others to see? And you know, with thankfulness and everything, what does that look like?
SPEAKER_02:So my my first thought was is what Elmer had said earlier about, hey man, there's something on you. You know, you know, memorials are unique. Like that I think that's why they're so ornate and elaborate to to catch your attention. And so if if I am if I am living like the world, if I'm communicating like the world, if I'm affirming what the world affirms, well, then they I don't stand out enough where a person says, hey, there's something different about you. But if I if I am rejoicing always, if I'm giving thanks in every circumstance, if they see that I treat my wife differently than they treat theirs, if they see that I parent differently than they parent, if they see that I spend my money, if I if they see that I value and communicate in in a different way, there's just gonna be something where they're just gonna get curious enough. And I think that's how we can stand it as a memorial. Hey, there's just something different. Yeah. Hey, why do you act that way? Well, because I'm a crash follower.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, really? Yeah. If you love to, I'd love to tell you more about Jesus, but this is what so I think that's how we can stand it as a memorial. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:I'm thinking more like instead of memorial, as you're talking, I was thinking like I was thinking of like kids, how do you tell kids? Scars and stars, like you have when you fall on a playground, and then you have the little stars when you achieve something. Yeah, yeah. But even as a grown-up, like you're in the military, you guys get your awards. Like ribbons and badges and stuff. Yeah, and so just like like we all accomplish things in life, and those are monuments for us markers. But then there's also the things that that we go through, the scars, you know, the things that that will go with us that we we we did not choose. Right. And that we've gone through, but we've made it through to the other side, like you said. Absolutely. And we've learned and grown from those things. And so all of those things collectively, good and bad, yes, are seasons and occasions. We we did not want what happened to Barrett to happen. Nobody would ever wish that. Absolutely, you know, but look at where you're at now and and how God turns everything that the enemy intended for evil for his glory. Amen. And so, so man, yeah. Come on, come on, yeah. What do you think? What do you think, Elori?
SPEAKER_00:That was just a lot of stuff. Yeah, yeah. That was a lot of stuff, and then I had so much to say, and I kept trying not to interrupt. You could interrupt. Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:You should. What thoughts? What can what were you going to interrupt with? What thoughts were you?
SPEAKER_00:Well, you were saying like memorials. I was just saying just remember, like just remembering, honestly. And I feel like uh an important thing to mention is your testimony is not just for yourself.
SPEAKER_04:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Like it's not just for you, like it's not just your story, like it's it's to be told. Yeah, and the reason the whole point of telling your testimony is or the whole point of sharing your testimony is so you can give hope. Like there is hope in that for other people.
SPEAKER_04:Right.
SPEAKER_00:That is the faith part of it. All those things come when you share your testimony and they can easily help somebody else.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I know I'm going way back, but something that Nate said that I loved is he said when everything was happening in that moment, what mattered no longer mattered.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And I think that's it's so important. It's so important because I feel like a lot of people live their life where everything is just a big deal. Everything is, you know, I'm stressing out about everything. You know, how are we gonna do this? How are we gonna do that? Like it's it's a constant like worry or anxiousness versus just being resting and knowing.
SPEAKER_04:Right.
SPEAKER_00:You know, knowing that God is in control, regardless of whatever, resting in the fact of, hey, I I can't do this on in my own strength. I can't do anything about it, but I know that he's doing something while I'm waiting, while I'm resting, while I'm at peace, while I'm being grateful and thankful and all the things. Yeah. And then it it to be honest, it you know, y'all are sharing y'all stories about y'all's sons, and then it's making me think like we had a moment with his name's Jordan, but I call him Bird.
SPEAKER_04:That's right.
SPEAKER_00:We have three kids, Bird and Emory and Levi. And you know, when you're asking about gratefulness and thankfulness, I am so I'm so grateful. Thankfully, it's a part of our story.
SPEAKER_04:And I know that I'm shared with you.
SPEAKER_00:And I'm just reminded constantly that God didn't have to breathe life back into Jordan. And I I want to kind of go back on that because I was thinking about this when I got here. Nobody explains to you that your kids are not your own. Like when you have kids, you're like, these are my kids, I love them so much. And then you quickly realize, like, wait a minute, they're not mine, they're just borrowed.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And and we were young when we had him. I think I was like, what, 24? And I thought that he was mine until he almost wasn't mine. And I remember being in that season and just being like, all right, if my son's gonna keep getting attacked, like I quit. I quit church, I'm not going. And Ellen was so nice and so gracious, and he just let me quit for a little bit because he knew that the Lord needed to deal with me. And I say all that to say that I literally like God had to really get a hold of me and be like, girl, like he's not yours, number one, he's mine, and I'm letting you borrow him. And number two, if I do take him, would you still be able to worship me? Was what he asked me. And you're talking about you can say you have faith and you can say you believe in Jesus and all the things, but until you really have to ask yourself those questions, I y'all, I had to march. I had to march around my kitchen table, I had to fight. And I was like, All right, you're right. Like, he's not mine, even if you take him from me, I'll still worship you, I'll still live for you.
SPEAKER_04:Come on.
SPEAKER_00:And we just had one of those moments with him. You know, sometimes he's on the drums, and I'm like, man, you know, he gave him back to us when he didn't have to.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And yesterday was one of those moments where we were just in the kitchen. And I mean, a part of it is he's growing up. It's his senior year, you know, and he's he's a little bit spoiled. And it was just something so funny, it's something little and simple. I don't know, what was it? He wanted something. Oh, we were getting on to him because he of his teeth, and he he keeps eating these mints, and we're like, stop eating the mints. You know, we just took you to the dentist, whatever, whatever. And I told him I wasn't gonna give him a rice crispy, like like a little rice cake thing. And I was like, oh my gosh, here you go, you big baby. Like, but then I just saw him. Like it, it's the moment of just being in that moment and like, man, where did the time go? You know, like I'm just so grateful. I'm thankful for him. I'm thankful that he hasn't had to go through half of the stuff that me and his dad went through. I'm thankful that God saved him from things that he doesn't even know that he saved him from. I'm I'm grateful and thankful that he's alive, that he's breathing. I think that's another thing. Every day I wake up, I'm like, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, for the breath in my lungs. And I know that that for some people, that's like, girl, that's so simple. But for me, it's so important.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Because God didn't have to wake us up.
SPEAKER_04:Right.
SPEAKER_00:You know what I mean? And I think it's it's that knowing. It's the it's the knowing that he didn't have to do any of these things, but yet he did it. Yeah. And he did it because he loves us so much. Yeah. Like, how can you not believe in somebody that loves you that much? How can you not believe in somebody that his love is unconditional, like you said it earlier, his love is so unconditional.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:There's nothing that you that we could ever do. There's no place that we could ever go that would ever compare to what God's already done for us. And that is giving his son for us. Come on. That's huge. That's huge. I don't know about y'all, but I got sons, and I'm like, Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_04:You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00:For real, for real. Like so those are the things that I think that I'm constantly, I mean, aside from way other things that we just don't have time for, but I those are the things that I think about. I think we we were talking earlier about just you know, thought process and in in the world and you know how we think and just the go, go, go, go, go all the time. And for me, it's like I'm kind of the opposite of that, to be honest. When I'm with somebody, you're gonna see that I'm with you. If I ask you, hey Nate, how are you doing? I'm gonna stand there long enough to know how Nate is doing. Yeah, like those are the things that matter, those are the things that count, those are the things that are sometimes gonna help more than the big things. Right. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:It's something that we've we've prayed for in our home, wherever we've lived, that that our home would be a place where people feel safe because they feel his presence. And part of that journey in being able to build that place, you know, and that that safe place for people has been what are we doing when we get the opportunity to meet with people. Right. And so when I when I meet with our team and I meet with people, I I've learned this is not gonna distract me, my phone. Yeah. So most of the time you'll see it in my or not see it because it's in my back pocket. And it could be going off and buzzing, but I am committed to the moment. And same with my wife, like we've learned, hey, if we if we want, and it's something we learned because we probably weren't led this way, and we've made a decision, you know, we're gonna do our best to lead others the way we wanted to be led. Right. And so a lot of that is being present, yeah. And in a fast-paced church where there's a lot happening, grow growing, you know, there's all the growth, all the moving pieces. We're launching a campus, we have our newer campus, you know, expansion, all these things, and that's that's at church, and then still home, kids, yeah, all the things, schedules, families. Life is always moving fast. You have to choose. Hey, we're gonna slow down and we're gonna enjoy the moment, right? And every moment counts, every moment that matters, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, come on. I don't know about y'all, but I feel like I just had a Thanksgiving meal. Fried turkey. I'm just saying I got the spiritual itis right now. This was so good, man. I appreciate y'all. Uh first of all, thank y'all for your your vulnerability and your transparency and your honesty. And again, just distilling it down to it is a choice. We just choose. We're just and in that moment, we're just going to decide to lean into gratitude. That that's ultimately what it is. And I I do feel like I need to say this too. This is not laborious or a chore. This you you don't have to look far to be grateful. Like you were saying, Lori, you know, like the thought I had was like when you said the simple things. I mean, you if if if you are right now able to listen to this podcast, it's because you have breath in your body. And if you don't know where else to start, start there. Oh, yeah. And I think gratitude has a cascading effect.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and they got YouTube or Spotify, they got they got technology that most people don't have.
SPEAKER_02:You're probably most likely listening to this in some sort of climate-controlled environment on some sort of screen. Yeah. You have you are within arm's reach of some snacks or some vitals. I mean some Skittles. Vittles. Vittles. The Skittles could be your vitals. But right then, that says four things. So for those of y'all that don't know, Vittles, that's slang for food. Grub. Okay, it's nutrients. And so like Skittles. Skittles is vitals, you know. They got fruit. I mean, you got grape and strawberry and lime. Both that's fruit.
SPEAKER_00:Nate's like, no.
SPEAKER_02:No. Nate, you're supposed to you're supposed to go with me there. Sorry. Yo, no, totally. Yeah, definitely. Messing me up. So I mean you you just you don't have to go far to find things to be grateful for. You know, we don't yes, we great, we thank God for the big things. Hey, you get a promotion at work, you get a new car, get married. Yes, thank God for those things for sure. But man, you woke up, you have a roof over your head, you you're in a climate-controlled environment, you're gainfully employed, you are if you're in reasonable good health, if you have friends, family, if you have people right now who love you and and are for you, man, just thank God for those things. As a matter of fact, maybe this week you write out a gratitude list and just say, Man, these are things that I'm just grateful for. And then you just look over that list and say, God, thank you. Or maybe you reach out to someone and you say, you know, I'm thankful that you're you're and thank you for being such a good friend. I was go, I was gonna do the song, the Golner Girl song. You know, thank you for being a friend.
SPEAKER_00:Don't try to sing it because you're gonna get the words wrong.
SPEAKER_02:That's true, because I don't know. That's all I just know thank you for being a friend.
SPEAKER_04:That is funny.
SPEAKER_03:Oh man. Can I read something real quick? Yeah, um, I won't read the whole thing, but um, I shared it with you earlier part of what I wrote. Just on talking about how praise becomes the fabric of our life, of our tent for the Lord. But just a little excerpt is when gratitude becomes our posture, praise becomes our lifestyle. So when we're grateful and we we see a reason to be grateful, then we in return, like Lori said at the beginning, we in return express it through our praise. Right. And our thanksgiving to the Lord. And you reference, you know, enter the courts. Yes, and and praise becomes our lifestyle. So then we live in this lifestyle of just thankfulness all the time, right? And when God finds a home in us, we begin to see life different. And meaning referring to that scripture where you know God abides in the in the praises of his people. And so if if I'm building a place that God wants to dwell in, I begin to see life different. I'm building a house for him, but the the the after the overflow of it is that I begin to see life different because his presence both guards my heart and my mind. Yeah, and then pride becomes hard to entertain. Like the things that I want selfishly become really hard to attain because now my heart is lining up with the heart of the Lord. Yeah, and so now I'm after what he wants for me, what he wants for my family, what he wants for my city, my community. Right. And he and he can call you to the world, you know, as a whole. You know, self-reliance loses its hold where I I have to do it, I have to figure it out. Right. And because gratitude keeps us grounded and dependent on him. And I think that's the thing. Like, we're not gonna do this on our own strength. We can't. You can only go so far, and then we're gonna hit a lid at some point. Right. But when we're grateful and live in this with this posture of gratitude, we recognize, man, only God, like like you said, I shouldn't be breathing right now. Right. But God chose me to wake up today for a reason and a purpose. Amen. So I'm gonna I'm gonna fulfill that purpose. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So when I think to you, like to your point, like that's Philippians 4, where we're called not to be anxious. We live in a world that's super anxious all the time, worrying and all the mental illness and struggles that are going on out there. But we're called not to be anxious, but in everything through prayer, humble petition, and thanksgiving to seek the Lord. And then the peace of God through Christ Jesus guards our minds and hearts. So thanksgiving is directly tied to that peace that everybody's craving all the time. And it takes being humble to acknowledge that all those things that we need to be thankful for and not just walk in the pride of, I got this.
SPEAKER_03:That's crazy because you think to attain that peace, I have to I have to run away from all the chaos. Yes, right. And and the chaos has to be dismissed, and it has to, how do I get rid of it? It has to get fixed. Yeah, I have to cut relationships, I have to cut this and that. Right. Some of it, yes, maybe, like, depending, like you know, if it's a toxic relationship or something, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Some of my pulling away from the Lord, but you're right, yeah, Homer.
SPEAKER_03:But it's it's tied to Thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_00:Can I jump in real fast? Just because you said something about um, oh man, I I I kept thinking about what Pastor Mike says. Like when you surround yours, like if you're surrounded by a bunch of Eeyores, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and I laugh because I'm like, oh man, like I think who you surround yourself with is a huge part of it. It's a huge part of it. Because listen, I will love the Eeyores, I will try to help the Eeyores, but after a while, I'm out.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah. Your life becomes poo.
SPEAKER_00:Nate with the dad jokes today.
SPEAKER_01:We had a TV.
SPEAKER_00:No, but I think that's that's a huge part of it.
SPEAKER_02:Just do it while she's talking.
SPEAKER_00:If you were if you were to be surrounding yourself with people that are more grateful and thankful and their attitude is like Jesus, yeah, and all the things, then more than likely that starts rubbing off, just like bad bad things will start rubbing off.
SPEAKER_02:That's right.
SPEAKER_00:So I think surround making sure that you're surrounding yourself with the right people is important.
SPEAKER_02:So, like like Nate said, you want to avoid the ears or else you become like Pooh.
SPEAKER_04:I said that up.
SPEAKER_02:This joke brought to you by Growth Track.
SPEAKER_03:Make a difference and discover your purpose.
SPEAKER_04:Oh man.
SPEAKER_03:Oh my god. All right, real quick. We we have to. Let's we gotta do this.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. He touched my mind. He saved me touching.
SPEAKER_03:No, we said he made the bowl. Needs more cowbell on it. Wait a minute.
SPEAKER_02:Hold on. First of all.
SPEAKER_04:You were singing something to me.
SPEAKER_02:He said something completely. Okay, that that's that's that's that's one version of it. That's one version of the original.
SPEAKER_01:He was singing the extended cut. Thank you. I was singing. I'm familiar with the extended cut. Thank you. And some most cultures argue that that's the better version.
SPEAKER_02:That's the better version.
SPEAKER_01:And it's not that the other one's bad. No, right. It's just, and it's not a competition. It's it's really not.
SPEAKER_02:But if it was, the extended cut would be better. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I like the one that makes you dance.
SPEAKER_02:This one. This one don't make the dance.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, the one that you can fill it in your bone. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:This is the Brownsville Revival. There you go. This is live. Yeah, see, I want this. I want Mississippi Mass, Chicago Mass Choir. Down there, Yamma Crome, Mr. Shippy.
SPEAKER_03:Yamma Crumb.
SPEAKER_02:Yamma Crome. Yamakrow. Yamma Crum.
SPEAKER_01:You best believe they've had a fried turkey down there.
SPEAKER_02:You better believe it then, brother Nathan.
SPEAKER_03:My Lord in heaven. Oh man. So we gotta we gotta have fried turkey. We gotta have fried turkey. And I don't think so. And be thankful for it. And be thankful.
SPEAKER_02:And be absolutely, I will, I will express gratitude. I will do what Jesus did. He broke it and offered it to the Lord. He gave thanks. And then it multiplied.
SPEAKER_01:That's true. There's a word. Hey, but you gotta be aware though. If you go down that road, no other turkey will be the same.
SPEAKER_03:No, no other turkey.
SPEAKER_01:So if you're if you're a container.
SPEAKER_00:I'm gonna sure we've had a fried turkey.
SPEAKER_02:You would know. You would know. You would know. No, it's it's like salvation. Okay, nobody, nobody says, I'm pretty sure I've met the Lord. No, you know if you've met Jesus. That's right. You know if you if you say I'm about to make y'all really sad.
SPEAKER_00:Listen, I'm just not a foodie person.
SPEAKER_02:I'm just not like you're not into the what is it, the kittles? No. The bittles, fittles. You don't, you know, you're not into videos.
SPEAKER_00:Like, I don't know. That's just not as long as I have water and coffee, I'm good. No, I'm so serious. Let's go. No, I'm so serious.
SPEAKER_02:That's true. Yesterday you were you were uh you were leaving the staff lounge and you got a coffee in your one hand and you had the water in the other. You know, I'm good. That's all you gonna have. Like, I'm good.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, so I gotta feed myself.
SPEAKER_00:You better stop.
SPEAKER_03:You can drop off the fried turkey at the church. Yes, sir. We got you, brother. Keep being nourished. I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_00:I do I feed you, but we can tell. I feed you.
SPEAKER_03:Oh man.
unknown:Oh man.
SPEAKER_04:All right.
SPEAKER_00:You want to go there?
SPEAKER_04:Go to the breaker. Go to the breaker.
SPEAKER_03:Episode brought to you by Growth Trap. Growth Trap. Yeah. That's hilarious. Well, and hey, we're grateful and thankful that we get to spend time with you guys. Again, thank you to Nate and Laurie for being part of today's episode. Pastor Wheelie, hey, excited that God has been doing in our church and in each of our lives. And enjoy Thanksgiving with your families, yes. And uh pray and just have a good time and have those moments where you know we could reflect on the goodness of the Lord. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. And so, yeah, until two weeks from now, we're gonna be partying next week. Come on. We're gonna be partying. Getting fried turkey ready. Absolutely turkey.
SPEAKER_02:I'll be driving to your house. Come on, brother. I'm telling you. He said it. Tom the turkey is gonna be ready. He gave his life that you might live.
SPEAKER_03:He did.
SPEAKER_02:Come on. All right. Well, peace out.
Elmer Cañas Jr.
Host
Willie Simpson
Host
Emily Himes
Co-host
Tiffany Tackett
Co-host
Laurie Cañas
Guest
Nate Cutler
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