WEBVTT 00:00:03.666 --> 00:00:07.793 Welcome to the Meet Hope podcast, where we have conversations about faith and hope. 00:00:07.793 --> 00:00:14.512 Hope is one church made of people living out their faith through two expressions in person and online. 00:00:14.512 --> 00:00:21.545 We believe a hybrid faith experience can lead to a growing influence in our community and our world for the sake of others. 00:00:21.545 --> 00:00:23.765 Welcome to Hope. 00:00:23.765 --> 00:00:24.740 Our world for the sake of others. 00:00:24.740 --> 00:00:27.565 Welcome to Hope. 00:00:29.888 --> 00:00:31.451 Welcome to the Meet Hope Podcast. 00:00:31.451 --> 00:00:33.975 My name is Heather Mandela and I am your host today. 00:00:33.975 --> 00:00:43.371 Today, I have with me Dr Nicole Widmer, and Nicole is going to be sharing with us along the theme of my faith story. 00:00:43.371 --> 00:00:49.689 It's been exciting to have lots of different individuals come and tell us about what their relationship with God looks like. 00:00:49.689 --> 00:00:53.889 And so today, nicole, you are here with us and we are so excited about that. 00:00:53.889 --> 00:00:56.759 Let's start by letting people get to meet you. 00:00:56.759 --> 00:00:58.524 Tell us a little bit about yourself. 00:00:58.784 --> 00:01:00.408 Hi, so I'm super happy to be here. 00:01:00.408 --> 00:01:02.512 I am a mom. 00:01:02.512 --> 00:01:05.927 My husband, Mike, and I have been coming to Hope for a while. 00:01:05.927 --> 00:01:09.903 I have two kids Max, who's 10, and Maya, who is 7. 00:01:10.545 --> 00:01:12.769 And they're so fun, so fun. 00:01:13.430 --> 00:01:21.361 We are right now in the depths of sports, so I was just telling Heather a while ago that everything is revolving around baseball and soccer and lacrosse. 00:01:21.361 --> 00:01:22.082 But I love it. 00:01:22.082 --> 00:01:23.724 You're coaching, right, yep? 00:01:23.724 --> 00:01:27.129 So I'm coaching lacrosse and um soccer for my daughter. 00:01:27.129 --> 00:01:33.287 Uh, my son is playing baseball and soccer, so we're we're busy, but you know I like being busy but it's good stuff. 00:01:33.507 --> 00:01:34.631 Yeah, it's all good stuff. 00:01:34.912 --> 00:01:41.066 I am a physical therapist, so I work at two different places, one with adults and one with pediatrics. 00:01:41.066 --> 00:01:43.510 Really, I love working with kids. 00:01:43.510 --> 00:01:48.516 I think that that's definitely my calling and it's just something that I enjoy so much. 00:01:48.516 --> 00:01:56.986 So I'm really lucky that I have a job that I enjoy and that I love to go to and also get paid because, yeah, gotta pay the bills too. 00:01:57.400 --> 00:01:58.382 Yeah, it's important stuff. 00:01:58.382 --> 00:01:59.927 That's awesome. 00:01:59.927 --> 00:02:00.771 That's awesome. 00:02:00.771 --> 00:02:02.983 So tell me a little bit. 00:02:02.983 --> 00:02:07.192 How did you begin and why did you begin attending here at Hope? 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:15.944 So I was in my young 20s and I had grown up with Ricky Court going to his youth group at a previous church. 00:02:16.340 --> 00:02:20.491 You can always tell who knew Pastor Rick from before because they call him Ricky. 00:02:20.651 --> 00:02:31.403 So yes, and I grew up with them I mean, when I remember when all three kids were born and we babysat them, taught them swim lessons so I was really looking for a church that would feel like home. 00:02:31.403 --> 00:02:37.445 And when I knew that Rick had come here, I knew that if the courts were here, that it would feel like home to me. 00:02:37.445 --> 00:02:51.882 So it was definitely something that I wanted to try out, because I think that I trust them and I know that they're just such a great family that I would feel comfortable with them in anywhere that they were I love that, I really do, and we are so glad that you did come. 00:02:52.625 --> 00:02:55.395 So what was it like when you first started attending? 00:02:56.157 --> 00:03:00.965 So when I first started coming first we were going to Sojourn, which was great. 00:03:00.965 --> 00:03:07.074 Everybody was very friendly and always a smile on their face. 00:03:07.074 --> 00:03:15.004 What I found later, the more and more we started coming even to our normal Sunday morning worship, is that I really liked getting to know people. 00:03:15.004 --> 00:03:25.234 I think the authenticity that was here, where people didn't need to be perfect and they really showed you their real lives, it really felt more comfortable for me. 00:03:25.234 --> 00:03:31.806 It was comfortable for my husband, who really did not grow up in the church, and I really liked that they loved my kids as we got older. 00:03:32.168 --> 00:03:42.144 And that made a big difference because I think, with me growing up in the church, I have a basis, but my kids did not, and that's something that I think was really important for me and my family. 00:03:42.384 --> 00:03:43.627 Yeah, and it can be hard. 00:03:43.627 --> 00:03:47.405 At least I felt from my own experience that it can be challenging. 00:03:47.405 --> 00:04:10.981 When you've come from a faith background that meant so much to you and maybe your spouse had a different experience, finding a place that works for both of you can be challenging at times and we had the same experience for Kevin and I where we felt like, hey, you know what Hope really brings us both together beautifully and it kind of meets both of our needs, and I know it can be hard to find that, so we're glad that. 00:04:11.623 --> 00:04:14.371 And I think it's important that your faith has to be a personal thing. 00:04:14.371 --> 00:04:34.250 You can't force somebody to follow the same journey that you did, so what works for one person may not be exactly the path that the next person is supposed to follow, and I think that as a when I was a kid, we grew up Catholic, and when I started going to youth group at the Methodist church with Rick, I started going. 00:04:34.711 --> 00:04:38.345 My parents will let me do both, so I would still have to go to the Catholic church, but I would have to. 00:04:38.345 --> 00:04:40.291 Also I would go to youth. 00:04:40.291 --> 00:04:48.365 And my mom was fine with it, my dad was fine with it, and then eventually they started coming too, because they wanted to see you know what it was about, why we enjoyed it so much. 00:04:48.365 --> 00:04:50.346 I mean, what kind of teenager wants like, chooses to? 00:04:50.365 --> 00:04:50.987 go to church twice yeah. 00:04:52.060 --> 00:04:53.824 And then eventually they started going and it was. 00:04:53.824 --> 00:05:00.543 It was nice because I think that we started realizing that your faith is more of a personal journey and it doesn't have to just be a set. 00:05:00.543 --> 00:05:03.451 You know experience. 00:05:05.100 --> 00:05:05.762 You a set um, you know experience. 00:05:05.783 --> 00:05:06.245 You don't have to look. 00:05:06.245 --> 00:05:07.511 Does it look the same when you have to do X, y and Z? 00:05:07.511 --> 00:05:10.041 You know it's going to be whatever's between you and God and what's best for you. 00:05:10.041 --> 00:05:12.149 So I think that that was really important for us too. 00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:12.800 That's awesome. 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:16.661 I love the way that your journey impacted your parents' journey as well, like that's a really cool thing. 00:05:16.661 --> 00:05:20.845 Um, and family kind of brings family along a lot of the time, so that's really cool. 00:05:20.845 --> 00:05:34.476 So was there a moment this is kind of a flashback now where you felt like gosh, I understand what my faith is about. 00:05:34.476 --> 00:05:36.305 Like I get it now. 00:05:37.261 --> 00:05:47.708 I think that as a kid or teenager I went to Delanco Camp and you know I had that kind of teenage moment where I understood it, but I think that that looks really different as an adult. 00:05:47.708 --> 00:05:56.350 So I would say that first aha moment was when I was a teenager and it was the basis for my faith. 00:05:56.350 --> 00:06:00.021 But then later I realized that it's not the same. 00:06:00.021 --> 00:06:09.485 So as a kid, sometimes it's easy to just have that blind faith and to say, okay, I believe this, it makes sense to me and this is where I'm going to go, this is what my life wants to be. 00:06:09.485 --> 00:06:19.295 And as you get older, I started realizing that it's more of a process, my faith, than it is just an aha kind of yes, I believe everything. 00:06:20.201 --> 00:06:20.600 I love that. 00:06:20.661 --> 00:06:35.913 And it was nice to be able to, as an adult, ask questions and to learn from the people around me, which is one way I'm really grateful to hope, because I think that I've seen not only people in the church make it okay to question, but also make it okay to change and grow. 00:06:35.913 --> 00:06:52.632 So I've seen a lot of that and a lot of people, including the pastors, that they're really looking into different things that are going on in society and really praying thoughtfully about how they feel about it and being willing to say you know what? 00:06:52.632 --> 00:06:59.185 God's telling me something different, or God's answering this question differently than he did 10 years ago when I was a teenager. 00:06:59.185 --> 00:07:01.108 It's different for me now that I'm an adult. 00:07:01.108 --> 00:07:04.966 So I wouldn't say it was one major moment. 00:07:04.966 --> 00:07:08.346 I think it's really just been growth and process over a long period of time. 00:07:08.666 --> 00:07:12.706 I love that and the fact that you use the word process. 00:07:12.706 --> 00:07:36.420 It gives me chills, because that's what we say, right, that we are in the process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others and we aren't ever going to get there this side of heaven, and we mess up, and, and we mess up and we, we make mistakes, and, um, what matters is what we do with that, and I love that, and, and so I think that's really exciting and I, I, I want that for everybody you know, like I love that that's been your experience. 00:07:36.882 --> 00:07:38.103 Um, I know it's been mine. 00:07:38.103 --> 00:07:39.925 Um, I know I am not the same person. 00:07:39.925 --> 00:07:46.735 Thank goodness that I was 10 years ago and so that growth is such a huge component and that's really exciting. 00:07:46.735 --> 00:07:54.612 How do you find, as an individual, you connect with God, hear God grow in your faith? 00:07:54.612 --> 00:07:55.636 What is it for you? 00:07:55.985 --> 00:08:00.196 So I think there's two different things that I really tend to gravitate towards. 00:08:00.276 --> 00:08:01.466 The first is small groups. 00:08:02.266 --> 00:08:24.966 I'm a really strong believer that God is present in community and while I think quiet time and alone time with God is very important, it's hard for me to focus and to figure out on my own what God is trying to say to me, and I think that sometimes, for different people, it's not always you're sitting alone and God gives you a sign or a message. 00:08:25.026 --> 00:08:32.549 I think sometimes it's the people around you that are speaking to God is speaking through them to you, and that's where I hear it the most. 00:08:32.549 --> 00:09:14.505 So having a small group was really the best for me, because I think that, through other people's support and hey, let's tease this out, let's work on this, let's figure out why you're feeling this way or what we think God is going to have, and also holding me accountable, I think it's important, we always said, to have these truth teller friends, and I want friends that are supportive of me but also are going to support my growth and to tell me when I'm wrong, or tell me when you know maybe I'm not doing the right thing, or tell me that you know that they think that God's calling me for something different, and I think that that's really important, that God uses other people to influence me more than, say, just sitting by myself. 00:09:14.866 --> 00:09:21.153 Absolutely, and I think it's so important that confirmation they can provide too, because you know you may be feeling like, hey, I think this is what God's saying. 00:09:21.153 --> 00:09:37.217 And then you bring it to your small group, you bring it to those trusted people and they can be like, yes, I see that in you or no, you're crazy, and either is appreciated right, Like you know I get it, I, I, I really value my call me on my crap friends. 00:09:37.485 --> 00:09:39.812 You know like I need you to call me on my stuff. 00:09:39.812 --> 00:09:43.731 I want to grow and that's huge and I'm glad you have that and have found that. 00:09:43.884 --> 00:09:49.158 I think, too, the second way that really, god, I've become closer to God is through worship and singing. 00:09:49.158 --> 00:09:58.197 I find it really hard for myself, it's a challenge for me, to find the words to pray, and I always feel like I have this feeling. 00:09:58.197 --> 00:10:14.826 I know what I want to express and I just have such a hard time expressing that and I find so often that when I'm listening to music or when I'm in worship, during service or if I'm singing, that it's an easy way to just put these words to things that I'm feeling and to use that as my prayer. 00:10:14.826 --> 00:10:21.576 So I think that that's another way that I really feel like I have more of a connection, so that's something that keeps me more grounded. 00:10:21.845 --> 00:10:34.243 I love that, and music is one of the ways that my heart feels God as well, and one of the songs we sing is the chorus is when we sing, heaven comes close and I love that. 00:10:34.243 --> 00:10:42.494 It's not a scriptural, theological thought, but for me that's what happens when we are engrossed in music, when we are worshiping. 00:10:42.494 --> 00:10:46.471 That way, for me, I feel God's presence and God comes close. 00:10:46.490 --> 00:10:47.806 Yeah, absolutely yeah, so. 00:10:47.865 --> 00:10:50.873 I relate to that and I agree and love that as well. 00:10:50.873 --> 00:10:52.778 It's also how I memorize scripture. 00:10:52.778 --> 00:10:55.613 I'm not going to lie, I am really bad at the straight up. 00:10:55.613 --> 00:10:56.676 Let's memorize things. 00:10:56.676 --> 00:11:02.226 But ask me something and I'll sing it to you. 00:11:02.226 --> 00:11:04.490 You know, like I learned a song with that in it once you know. 00:11:04.490 --> 00:11:04.991 Yeah, so I feel that. 00:11:04.991 --> 00:11:18.066 So you had talked a lot about growth through from being a child through adulthood, and I know you've talked about it before, but one of your big influences growing up was camp Yep. 00:11:18.066 --> 00:11:21.255 Tell me a little bit about your experiences at Delenco, right. 00:11:21.524 --> 00:11:22.066 Yeah, yeah. 00:11:22.066 --> 00:11:26.496 So I think that as a kid, it was nice to be able to go somewhere. 00:11:26.496 --> 00:11:36.110 That was a place that was going to enrich me, to make me feel closer to God, and even to this day, whenever I go there, it's just kind of my special place. 00:11:36.110 --> 00:11:42.039 I just feel like there's a presence there that calms me and it's kind of like a recharge. 00:11:42.039 --> 00:11:51.735 So I think that it's nice to have something that you can go and feel comfortable exploring your faith while also feeling like-minded people around you. 00:11:51.845 --> 00:11:58.235 So as a kid, it's so easy to be embarrassed and even though we shouldn't be embarrassed by our faith, I mean, look, we're, we're, they're teenagers. 00:11:58.235 --> 00:12:00.408 We're going to be embarrassed by everything that is under the sun. 00:12:00.408 --> 00:12:03.216 I mean, my son gets embarrassed when I tell him that I love him. 00:12:03.216 --> 00:12:10.306 So, um, I think that it's something that you can feel comfortable and ask questions and be with each other. 00:12:10.306 --> 00:12:14.913 And there's friends that I made there that I still talk to my one of my very good friends, Carrie. 00:12:14.913 --> 00:12:16.937 She did my hair for my wedding. 00:12:16.937 --> 00:12:17.739 I mean it's just. 00:12:17.739 --> 00:12:25.173 I just think it's a special place to be able to learn so much more and to see people that are like you, and it's just a stepping stone. 00:12:25.173 --> 00:12:34.284 That's something that I needed in my faith, to understand that my faith was more personal and I needed that stepping stone to then move on to other things. 00:12:34.304 --> 00:12:42.980 A launching point, really right Like you were able to gather the courage and the knowledge to take that next step and to go the next mile. 00:12:42.980 --> 00:12:46.653 Tell me a little bit about your process. 00:12:46.653 --> 00:12:57.514 So we touched on it a little bit, but your process of when you feel God nudging you, when you feel like I'm supposed to be doing something or not doing something what does that look like for you? 00:12:58.144 --> 00:13:14.700 So I think it's hard for me, because there's a lot of times where I feel like there's nudgings that I get from God that don't necessarily go along with what I feel like a typical woman would be nudged. 00:13:15.860 --> 00:13:30.666 And and I feel like there's this kind of part of me where I'm super family oriented I love being home, I like to do things with my family, I like to cook meals, I like to, you know, provide a nice house for, for my kids, but I also like to work. 00:13:30.666 --> 00:13:31.988 I like my job. 00:13:31.988 --> 00:13:47.298 Um, I am more of like a leader, and I struggled with that because it was hard for me to figure out where that kind of leader aspect of me was going to be fulfilled in a godly way. 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:52.767 You know it's easy to do it at work and that kind of stuff, but I just felt like there was more pushing to something else. 00:13:52.767 --> 00:14:08.109 So, and I always struggled with that thought process of like a woman being submissive and quiet and you know, that's the biblical Proverbs 31 woman, which really I don't think is true at all. 00:14:08.188 --> 00:14:09.312 Yeah, um. 00:14:09.312 --> 00:14:15.292 But that woman was up at the crack of dawn, she had that family whipped into shape and then she was out to work. 00:14:15.292 --> 00:14:17.417 Telling things like that was a strong woman. 00:14:17.437 --> 00:14:20.644 Yeah, and I'm not necessarily the like obedient type. 00:14:20.644 --> 00:14:26.778 I mean I, you know, my mom will tell you that if she told me something, I went exactly the opposite. 00:14:26.778 --> 00:14:28.770 But if somebody else told me the same thing, it was fine. 00:14:28.770 --> 00:14:29.914 It was just when my mom said it. 00:14:30.625 --> 00:14:32.734 Yes, and we're experiencing that now with our own children, aren't we? 00:14:32.734 --> 00:14:32.933 Yes. 00:14:37.144 --> 00:14:38.006 So I think that that really was. 00:14:38.006 --> 00:14:53.768 It was kind of trying to maybe also figure out what was maybe a little bit of ego, a little bit of feeling like, you know, I wanted to be in charge or or or leading, but then also realizing like it's really not me, it's God that is doing this. 00:14:53.768 --> 00:14:57.428 So I need to make sure that I'm putting myself aside and doing what God really wants me to do. 00:14:57.710 --> 00:15:08.253 That's awesome and that's one of those times that you bring community around you, right, and you've got some awesome people around you who support you and cheer you on and speak truth into that, and that is a really, really cool thing. 00:15:08.253 --> 00:15:17.698 And knowing that you are in the process, you know, right, we're learning what it means to do this and how it looks and, and it changes constantly. 00:15:17.698 --> 00:15:22.062 Yeah, yeah, it changes constantly and that is one of the things that I don't know if you found, but I do find it. 00:15:22.062 --> 00:15:23.702 Hope is that hope lets you change? 00:15:23.962 --> 00:15:46.589 Yeah, right, like it allows you to say hey, I really feel like God's calling me over here, yeah, and to question, to question things and say, you know, I don't know how I feel about this or what should I do in this case, and and also to challenge and to say, hey, if you think that we need this, you know, maybe you should do it, which really, though, is part of the process of God telling you what to do. 00:15:46.589 --> 00:15:47.892 Sometimes you need other people to say like hey, you know, maybe you need to do this. 00:15:48.013 --> 00:15:49.315 Yeah, you're right, there's this. 00:15:49.315 --> 00:15:53.105 God is calling for this ministry and you can do it, and that's. 00:15:53.105 --> 00:16:05.626 That is a terrifying thing, and you know, but it's so valued and so needed and it provides opportunities for new people to develop their own leadership chops, right. 00:16:05.626 --> 00:16:07.953 It allows people to come beside you and say, hey, I want to help you with this. 00:16:07.953 --> 00:16:13.336 And and so tell us a little bit about the small group you're currently working with. 00:16:13.336 --> 00:16:16.846 It's a it's an experience on Wednesday once a month, on Wednesdays group you're currently working with. 00:16:16.886 --> 00:16:17.087 It's a. 00:16:17.087 --> 00:16:18.331 It's an experience on Wednesday, once a month on Wednesdays. 00:16:18.331 --> 00:16:30.332 Yep, so right now, um, I am working with a group called the well, um, we usually have, so it's once a once a month on Wednesdays, like you said, and we're really focusing on it being an experience for women of all different ages. 00:16:30.332 --> 00:16:33.967 Experience, um, you know, experience background, married, not married. 00:16:33.967 --> 00:16:40.099 Um, you know, I loved MOPs when we were involved in that, but it was kind of pigeonholed. 00:16:40.567 --> 00:16:45.075 You know, mothers are preschoolers which again was a wonderful, wonderful program and we needed it. 00:16:45.075 --> 00:16:47.452 But then I felt, as my kids were getting older, well, what? 00:16:47.452 --> 00:16:47.714 Now? 00:16:47.714 --> 00:16:49.215 I think it was. 00:16:49.215 --> 00:17:04.230 I felt like there was kind of a disconnect in this age group of either if women didn't have children or if they were out of that school age, children age, or maybe they weren't married or maybe they were divorced, or maybe they were just trying to figure things out. 00:17:04.230 --> 00:17:18.153 And I just felt God really pulling me to try to make people feel more welcome in the church and understand that it's not all about being perfect and having to put yourself into one category. 00:17:18.734 --> 00:17:22.626 You can be in a lot of different categories and feel comfortable with that and that's okay. 00:17:22.626 --> 00:17:37.866 Yeah, it's messy, and I think that as women, we judge ourselves probably way more harsher than we even judge other people, and it's easy to say like, well, you know, I'm a stay at home mom, I shouldn't want more, I should be happy with my family, or I have a job, I shouldn't want more. 00:17:37.866 --> 00:17:54.852 But there's always that kind of piece that's missing and it's okay to want more or to feel like you need something else or you need community or you need, you know, somebody guiding you, and I think that just to feel like feeling like a mess sometimes is okay. 00:17:55.051 --> 00:17:55.272 Yes. 00:17:55.640 --> 00:17:58.188 And that's one of the things with the well that I start off. 00:17:58.188 --> 00:17:59.701 I mean, the people that go can probably tell. 00:17:59.701 --> 00:18:04.962 I start off almost every single meeting saying like look, I forgot my shoes today. 00:18:04.962 --> 00:18:07.409 I don't know what it was, but I'm a mess. 00:18:07.409 --> 00:18:07.990 I'm a mess. 00:18:07.990 --> 00:18:08.692 I'm a complete mess. 00:18:08.692 --> 00:18:09.381 I'm anxious. 00:18:09.381 --> 00:18:11.163 I don't know what's happening. 00:18:11.163 --> 00:18:17.530 I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off, but I'm here and I love it and I love God, and guess, what God loves me, exactly the way that I am. 00:18:17.711 --> 00:18:17.872 Yep. 00:18:18.192 --> 00:18:24.140 And I can be messy and I can be, you know, I can be great, and that's okay. 00:18:24.140 --> 00:18:35.650 And I think that I wanted it to be a place where women understood that God wasn't calling us to be submissive or obedient to men. 00:18:35.650 --> 00:18:40.765 He was calling us to be submissive and obedient to him which looks different. 00:18:40.805 --> 00:18:42.349 Beautiful building up of each other. 00:18:42.349 --> 00:18:43.141 Yeah. 00:18:43.481 --> 00:18:52.853 And I think that in what I'm looking for is at the well we talk about that women can have different jobs and do different things and look at different ways. 00:18:52.853 --> 00:18:56.464 And I look in the Bible and I always thought like, where am I represented here? 00:18:56.464 --> 00:19:04.644 You know we see Peter, john, the disciples, jesus, and they're men, and I wanted to know, like, where is my representation as a woman and where? 00:19:04.663 --> 00:19:04.785 would. 00:19:04.805 --> 00:19:07.174 I fit in and then what I was? 00:19:07.174 --> 00:19:14.071 I was talking to you, heather, when I came to the idea and we thought about the woman in the well and she was a mess. 00:19:14.071 --> 00:19:23.731 You know, she was judged by her peers and the reason why she was at the well was because she wasn't there during the normal time, because she was getting judged by people. 00:19:23.731 --> 00:19:28.509 And Jesus came and he loved her no matter what, and he saw all the things. 00:19:28.851 --> 00:19:29.913 He knew all the things. 00:19:29.913 --> 00:19:31.403 He told her, everything she'd ever done. 00:19:31.443 --> 00:19:33.769 He knew it all but he still loved her. 00:19:33.769 --> 00:19:39.310 And not only did he love her, but he used her to then tell other people about. 00:19:39.310 --> 00:19:39.652 Jesus. 00:19:39.652 --> 00:19:50.134 So you don't have to be that typical disciple-looking person or pastor to be able to tell people about Jesus or to show people the love of Jesus. 00:19:50.134 --> 00:20:01.113 There's women like Deborah, who was a warrior, there's Esther, who was a queen, there was Ruth, who was a daughter-in-law and just loved her mother-in-law. 00:20:01.619 --> 00:20:10.010 So I think that there and then there's a woman like Mary who just was a mother and just said look, I don't even know what's happening right now, but I'm all for it. 00:20:10.131 --> 00:20:10.592 Like I'm all in. 00:20:11.500 --> 00:20:25.251 And that bravery and obedience to God is what I wanted women at the well to see and to feel comfortable with, and to know that, no matter where you are in your life, you can be loved by God and used by God. 00:20:25.621 --> 00:20:28.226 I love that, I love that and I love that. 00:20:28.226 --> 00:20:35.743 That is the vision for that group and it gives permission to be who you are, where you are, and reminds us that God has created us uniquely. 00:20:35.743 --> 00:20:39.807 You are where you are and reminds us that God has created us uniquely and that is okay. 00:20:39.807 --> 00:20:46.855 You know, and that not every woman looks the same, not every woman acts the same, not every woman likes the same things, and that is okay. 00:20:51.880 --> 00:20:53.021 And a little more grace for ourselves too. 00:20:53.021 --> 00:20:54.586 I think for most people it's easy to extend grace to other people. 00:20:54.586 --> 00:21:00.057 You know somebody's saying that they feel terrible or they don't like their hair, or they don't like that they did this, and it's easy for you to say look, god loves you no matter what. 00:21:00.057 --> 00:21:06.079 But do we tell ourselves that, like the things that I say to other people, and I truly mean it when I say it to somebody else? 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:07.903 But can I say that to myself? 00:21:07.903 --> 00:21:12.453 Because if God extends it to you, he's extending it to me too. 00:21:12.453 --> 00:21:23.808 So I wanted the well to be a place where people came to feel refreshed, to feel the movement of God and to just know that they're loved and beautiful and amazing. 00:21:23.808 --> 00:21:28.406 And again, a lot of times it's because I needed to tell myself that. 00:21:28.406 --> 00:21:30.864 So I always feel like if I need to hear it, somebody else needs to hear it too. 00:21:31.125 --> 00:21:32.409 I think you'll hear that from a lot of us. 00:21:32.409 --> 00:21:40.585 We all say that like, hey, this is just what God's telling me right now, so I'm sharing it, but it's really what he's trying. 00:21:40.967 --> 00:21:41.871 It's really what he's teaching me. 00:21:41.871 --> 00:21:45.455 And you know, we've been so lucky because the women that have been going to the well are just amazing. 00:21:45.455 --> 00:21:52.564 I mean, I really and again it's my own anxieties and all of this but I was so nervous that I didn't want people that were going to. 00:21:52.564 --> 00:21:58.298 And I give a caveat when we first begin to say like, look, this is a judgment-free zone. 00:21:58.298 --> 00:21:59.381 What happens here stays here. 00:21:59.381 --> 00:22:00.144 We don't judge each other. 00:22:00.163 --> 00:22:01.567 We don't tell other people what's happening. 00:22:01.567 --> 00:22:02.611 We're comfort. 00:22:02.611 --> 00:22:20.540 This is for each other and these women have just embraced that and they are so kind to each other and themselves and they're so open-minded and it's just really been such an encouragement and so amazing to see this group of women come together and just be what I can. 00:22:20.540 --> 00:22:22.484 This is what God envisioned for us. 00:22:22.484 --> 00:22:25.692 This is his community and I just think it's amazing. 00:22:25.692 --> 00:22:26.280 It really is. 00:22:26.622 --> 00:22:31.321 It really is, and I'm so grateful that you listened to those nudges and that you followed his call. 00:22:31.321 --> 00:22:32.424 Good on you, nicole. 00:22:32.424 --> 00:22:34.108 So thank you. 00:22:34.108 --> 00:22:42.751 Thank you for sharing about your faith, your story, thank you for opening up spaces for other women to experience the same thing, because that is a gift. 00:22:43.180 --> 00:22:47.315 And thank you for Hope, for letting me again be my crazy self and come. 00:22:47.315 --> 00:22:55.883 I've been lucky enough that I come with a thousand different ideas and then you guys kind of rein it in because I definitely need a little reining in and it just ends up being great. 00:22:55.883 --> 00:23:01.409 So I think, as a cooperation, you know, it comes out really good, yeah, well, thank you, and thank you for sharing today. 00:23:01.650 --> 00:23:04.752 As we wrap up, I want to do some quick, rapid fire fun stuff at the end. 00:23:04.752 --> 00:23:08.217 So, in you know, three words or less. 00:23:08.217 --> 00:23:13.080 We're going to answer these questions. 00:23:13.080 --> 00:23:13.500 You ready, here we go. 00:23:13.500 --> 00:23:14.301 What is your favorite pizza topping? 00:23:14.301 --> 00:23:15.383 Oh, just cheese, like extra cheese, excellent. 00:23:15.383 --> 00:23:17.664 Are you a morning person or a night person? 00:23:18.925 --> 00:23:19.866 Probably more night. 00:23:19.866 --> 00:23:23.769 I've been sleeping in lately, trying to at least with kids. 00:23:24.090 --> 00:23:25.251 Yeah, not easy, not easy. 00:23:25.251 --> 00:23:26.873 What is your coffee order? 00:23:27.513 --> 00:23:28.914 Oh, um, I like Duncan. 00:23:28.914 --> 00:23:30.195 Right now there's the churro. 00:23:30.636 --> 00:23:44.932 Oh, my daughter loves that, just that black churro no cream, no sugar, nope no, my daughter loves that. 00:23:44.932 --> 00:23:45.215 That's her favorite too. 00:23:45.215 --> 00:23:46.368 Same way, uh, what is a favorite show or movie you've watched recently? 00:23:46.368 --> 00:23:48.595 Oh my gosh, I'm really big on like Netflix stocks and I know I'm going to admit this and you guys are going to judge me, I'm as crazy. 00:23:48.595 --> 00:23:49.277 Bravo reality. 00:23:49.277 --> 00:23:49.419 I don't care. 00:23:49.419 --> 00:23:54.428 It's the time that I have to be like brain numb and I don't care, I'm into it, I like it. 00:23:54.708 --> 00:23:59.115 I talked on Sunday about watching zombies, so you know like it's fine, no judgment. 00:23:59.115 --> 00:24:01.061 What's your favorite hobby? 00:24:02.365 --> 00:24:03.268 Reading right now. 00:24:03.268 --> 00:24:04.009 I've been reading a lot. 00:24:04.310 --> 00:24:06.242 Excellent and your favorite local place to eat. 00:24:06.943 --> 00:24:11.795 Ooh, oh, my gosh, that's really hard, I don't know. 00:24:11.795 --> 00:24:14.682 I like a bunch of places in Collingswood. 00:24:14.682 --> 00:24:15.404 Oh, you know what? 00:24:15.404 --> 00:24:22.115 Lee Beirut is a Lebanese place in Collingswood Excellent BYO, and they give you like all the things and appetizers. 00:24:22.115 --> 00:24:23.635 It's amazing, it was so good. 00:24:23.635 --> 00:24:24.817 I definitely recommend it to everybody. 00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:26.683 Awesome, excellent, well, thank you. 00:24:26.683 --> 00:24:30.602 Thank you so much for coming in, for sharing with us and for our listeners out there. 00:24:30.602 --> 00:24:37.092 We really hope that you will take that next step and find your safe place to explore who God is in your life. 00:24:37.092 --> 00:24:41.428 For more information on how you can do that, you can check out meethopeorg slash today. 00:24:46.121 --> 00:24:50.711 Thanks for being a part of the Hope Community as we continue our conversations about faith and hope. 00:24:50.711 --> 00:24:55.132 If you don't already, please join us for worship on Sundays or on demand. 00:24:55.132 --> 00:25:01.133 You can learn more at meethopeorg or find us on socials at Meet Hope Church.