All In | with Caleb & Maddie Jolley

This week on the podcast, I'm joined by evangelists Caleb & Maddie Jolley for a conversation full of faith, honesty, and encouragement. They share their journey of stepping out into full-time evangelism, trusting God in the unknown, and what ministry looks like behind the scenes as a young couple answering the call of God.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:03

Hello everyone. Welcome to the Honey and Grace podcast. I'm your host, Veronica Waldruff, and I pray that we can taste and see a little bit of God's goodness through today's episode together. Let's do it. Welcome back to the Honey and Grace Podcast. I'm so glad that you are listening today, and I pray that today's episode will bless you. And I'm super excited because today I have two very special guests, and I can't wait to talk more with them and hear more about their lives and just everything that God is doing in them. So thank you so much, brother and sister Jolly, for being on the podcast today. If you would please just take a second and introduce yourselves to the listeners and just tell them whatever you want them to know about you.

SPEAKER_04 0:51

My name is Maddie Jolly. I'm 27 years old. We live in a really tiny town called Estill Springs, Tennessee. Nobody's ever heard of it, and that's okay. We don't have anything but a Dollar General and a gas station, and we love it. Um, we travel full time now, so we're not in Estel Springs very often, but when we are home, we do love our little town.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

It's Caleb Jolly. Um I'm from Winchester, Tennessee. I'm 26 and I've lived here in Tennessee my entire life. Um, most of my family was from here, so this is where I was raised.

SPEAKER_02 1:23

Thank you again for taking the time to be on the podcast with me today. I'm super excited about this. And like you both mentioned, um, Sister Maddie, you said you're from Alabama. And then Brother Caleb, you said that you're from Tennessee, right? So um I know that every time I have like a couple on the podcast together, I love to ask them how they met and like what how that whole thing came to be because I promise you, people love this part. They just want to know how it happened. So tell us how you guys met and um where you are now.

SPEAKER_04 1:56

Okay, so it's kind of um a long story. I'm gonna try to make it short. Um, so like I said, I was originally from South Alabama, grew up like almost on the Florida line, really close to the Georgia line, so like way south. Um, my sister moved to North Alabama when I was a teenager, and she called me one night. I was 15. She called me and was like, oh my goodness, I've got the guy for you. She told me all about him. And I was like, Okay, well, where does he live? And she said, Tennessee. And I was like, Okay, that'll never happen. And I hung up. Well, two years later, we met on our own. He sat behind me at a youth conference that we were having in Alabama and um sat behind me, and people are so shocked now because I guess this is ancient, but he gave me his phone number the day that we met, and we have been in several since that was 10 years ago, and we were 16 and 17 at the time, and we got married almost a little under two years later, and now we've been married for eight. Yeah, and now we've been married for eight years.

SPEAKER_02 3:00

Wow, that's so cool. See all the time.

SPEAKER_04 3:04

Yeah, yeah. Tell us about your kids. We have two kids. Ella is five, and Arlie will be two next month. He is a big old guy and nobody believes that he's only almost two, and Ella is grown. If you ever have a conversation with her, you will not lose the conversation thinking that she is five because she has a lot of opinions and a lot to say.

SPEAKER_02 3:24

So y'all have been together for a long time, but y'all met very young. So that's really sweet. That's a cool thing that y'all got to share that together. Thank you for sharing that with us. Um, so I wanted to I was excited to have you guys on the podcast because I've been I have been seeing like you guys, like you just mentioned, um, y'all have been traveling a lot and evangelizing, and I've been seeing that on my socials and everything, and I'm sure other people have too. So I'm super excited to ask you guys about that. I mean, tell us uh about where you guys are in ministry right now and what does this season look like for you and your family.

SPEAKER_01 4:03

So, right now, so could I tell like a backstory of how we kind of got at this point? So we were um we youth pastored for over as soon as we got married, we started youth pastoring. I do not advise that, y'all. When we uh got married, we um started youth pastoring, and then the way we kind of transitioned in our church, um, some of our youth began to get older and kind of take into spots in ministry. And so they went from youth to adulting, and so then we got to the point to where we felt like we were still in the right place in the right church and things like that, but we just knew there had to be something more for us to do, and so we started praying, and probably about a year and a half ago, it was back in October of 2024, whenever I first really started feeling like the pull for evangelizing.

SPEAKER_04 4:56

I will say that was the first I've heard of that date because I didn't we didn't even start that conversation until I think early, early 2025. It kind of came about, like you said, we had been youth pastoring, and then our young people had become what they like to think are adults. Some of them are adults, some of them are almost adults, and we were still serving in the church in every way that was possible, you know. Obviously, still knew we were in the right church and pushing in the right direction, but there was just such a like season we were in such a season of transition, we just didn't know what that transition was. And so when um I think it was like I said, I I don't remember the exact month, but early uh 2025, he started mentioning it. And actually, again, a little backstory a year prior to that, we had been in a service in our church, and it was a missionary that was preaching, and he was really talking about like stepping into the calling that God has for your life. And as a former youth pastor at this time, I'm sitting there thinking, yeah, I know exactly who he's talking to. Like I know who he's talking to, I know who needs to get it together and step into what they're supposed to be doing. But you know, as you do at Alter Calling, like you're just praying and you know everything. And so I'm just at my seat, just praying. And it was an almost audible voice of the Lord said that he was going to speak to Caleb and I was going to listen. And if you know me at all, what I'm about to say is not going to shock you. But I literally went, that's rude. I was like, I don't like that, Lord. But okay, if you say so. And so obviously I held that for a little while. And then as time progressed, I kind of, I mean, I hate to say forgot because I didn't forget, but I just kind of let it go. I was like, okay, he's gonna speak to him, and I'm gonna listen, and that's fine because you know, I trust my husband. And so time goes on and that becomes, you know, a fleeting thought almost, I guess you could say. And then he starts talking about feeling the call to evangelize, and I said, Okay. And he was like, Okay, what do you mean? What do you mean you're fighting with that? Because typically our natural life, as far as like around our house and things like that, he's a dreamer. He makes really big plans and has really big dreams, and then I have to rein it in. And so in this situation, he felt like, I guess I'm gonna speak for him and then I'll let him sell his side. But I felt like he thought that was kind of a big dream and I was gonna try to rein it in. But in that moment, I didn't feel like I guess you could say I had anything to rein in. And like I said, that had been a year when the Lord told me that had been a year previous when we had that conversation. Remember, I remember exactly where we were sitting. We were in our truck sitting at a red light when he started talking about it. And when we finished the conversation and he was like, You just said okay. And I was like, Yeah, if that's if that's what you're feeling, we'll pray about it and go from there. As soon as the conversation concluded, it was almost like the Lord came back to me and said, I told you that I was going to speak to him and you were going to listen. And in that moment, I was like, Oh, okay, this is what you meant. So maybe he's not crazy, maybe this is right, you know.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

Yeah, and like whenever I did tell her, honestly figured there was going to be a moment to where she was like, Caleb, hang on, let's think about this. Because we had everything together. We had everything as far as like I had my dream job. I I graduated college. Um, I had my dream job that I've always wanted since I was five. I'm very much a planner. So I had my life planned out from the age of four and ready to go for my entire life. Um, I knew exactly what I wanted in life, I knew exactly how I was gonna get it, and so I knew that there was gonna be, you know, where I was gonna work, where I was gonna go to college, and I did all that stuff. We had our perfect house, we had everything set up, ready to go, and we had I had other dreams that I was gonna accomplish at this job. And then it was like God wrecked my plans whenever he told me what he wanted me to do. And so I honestly figured there'd be a moment of reasoning between us and kind of reckoning of coming back to reality, so to speak. And so I was expecting her to be that voice of saying, hang on, Caleb. But then whenever she said yes, it really gave me a peace because I knew that we were both on the same page and we could both go together.

SPEAKER_02 9:13

You you were already the type of person that would kind of be like, all right, like let's like really think about this. And the fact that the Lord already knew and he went ahead and spoke to you and like beforehand is crazy to me to think about because and and then it also stands out to me how brother Caleb, you were talking about you're a planner, and um, I feel like a lot of people listening might kind of relate to that, like maybe they like to plan stuff out in their life and all those things. And it's so crazy to me how whenever we usually do that, God just likes to kind of swoop in and wreck your plans and do what he wants because whenever we I mean it people can be planners, whatever, that's not always a bad thing, but sometimes when we plan, we kind of put God in a box and we kind of like we kind of contain him in one area, and I don't think he likes that.

SPEAKER_04 10:05

No, um it's awesome. He he's such a planner, and he had, like you said, he had his dream job, and he actually got that job at 21. And he's such a planner that he even when we first met, like I said, he was 16 and he was about to start working at Chick-fil-A and knew he was gonna work at Chick-fil-A, and then at UPS, like he had all this stuff planned out and he did all of those things. He went to college, he finished college, he worked up his way into this per this job that he wanted, that he had always wanted, and he did all of that by the time he was 21, I'm pretty sure. 21, 22. And so that's pretty young to have your dream job. And I told him, not that we weren't, you know, serving the Lord and doing things for his will to be done and kind of seeking that out every step of the way, but I felt like God let him do everything that he wanted to do, and then was like, okay, now it's my turn. You know, you had all these things planned out, and I let you do them and I worked with you through that time, but now let's let's do something new now. When we first met, he told me he'd felt the call to pastor like for his whole life. He's always known that he was gonna be a pastor, so that was kind of what we always thought we were moving towards was one day he's gonna pastor. One day he's gonna pastor, you know, where we youth pastored, and that's you know, not uncommon for young adults to do. And so we youth pastored, and then our seasons kind of started to transition, and we didn't feel like it was time for us to start pastoring yet, but we just didn't know what was next. And so when he started talking about evangelizing, I tell people that was not on our radar that that kind of came out of left field for us because in my head, and I'm sure in his too, we were working towards pastoring one day, not necessarily evangelizing. So this was something that kind of God just kind of dropped it along the way and was like, here, let me just kind of mix this up for you real quick.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

Yeah, that's awesome. Um, I was gonna say, so when like y'all went through this actual transition of having to actually take the steps and go into because y'all are full-time. I mean, are y'all full-time evangelists? So, so how did that look like because I know you already mentioned you kind of had like things going on like God had blessed you with a good job and family and all these things. So, was it I know it was probably hard, so it's kind of weird to say that, but what was it like for you guys? Was it hard? Like, was there any sort of confirmation that helped you or like what did that whole season look like and and how did you go about it?

SPEAKER_01 12:30

Well, I'll be very real with you, okay? I get in trouble sometimes for being too real, but it'll be okay because I remember it took me almost three months to get up the courage just to put my two weeks' notice in at my job because I was so, you know, just very nervous about what I was doing, and I wanted to make sure that I was really in the will of God, not just doing something that sounded good. And I mean, it it's very hard for me because I wanted to make sure I was truly in the vein in the will of God because I've seen so many people that weren't in the will of God and it messed up their life completely. And I knew that I had a family, I've got kids depending upon me, so I needed to make sure that I was truly in the will of God, and it was very hard to let go. And I have a very big problem of wanting to control everything. Like I like to make sure everything is in my control. If I can do it, I'm gonna fix it. If something's broke, I'm gonna fix it. If it, you know, and so I wanted to make sure everything was in my control. So in my head, I was already trying to plan out what God was going to do whenever I did quit my job. Okay, so here's what's gonna happen. I remember I told God that if he, if I don't need to say this, if you need to click it out, it's okay. Um, but I told God that if he would give me a week revival, solid week revival at a church, then I would quit my job. That'd be that would be my sign. Well, God never done that. That wasn't God's plan. God wanted me to trust him fully. And so I, whenever the the weeks were coming up for me to put in my two-week notice, I had nothing on my schedule that entire year. Um, there was no revivals, there was there was nothing put on my schedule. And so, but I remember the night that I put in my two-week notice, and I worked night shift at the time, and so it was about two o'clock in the morning, and I'll never forget it. I had three pastors call me at two o'clock in the morning to schedule a revival with me after I put in my two-week notice.

SPEAKER_04 14:26

Yeah, I'm sure you remember it too. But when he sent, he had been battling back and forth, you know, when to put in his two-week notice. There were different times, and we had talked about like, okay, maybe this week, okay, maybe this week, but obviously he was just very nervous. And the day he texted his boss to tell him, Hey, I need to talk to you, before he even left the house to go to work, a pastor had called him. Like he sent the text, and then a pastor called. And I remember him standing in our kitchen. I can see where I was standing, I can see where he was saying. Like I remember him standing in our kitchen crying, like, okay, Lord, okay, I believe you. And in this season, like he said, about trusting the Lord. I felt like we all, we know we all have faith in God. We all believe that he can, but there is such a difference in faith and trust. And so when he, when we've been walking through this season, I told him we talked about it a couple weeks ago that I feel like, let me say that again. We talked about it a couple months ago that I feel like God has really made this season for us to learn to trust him because we've put our faith in him for a long time. But now it's time for us to put our trust in him and not to just believe that he can, but to know that he is going to.

SPEAKER_02 15:29

Hey man, that's so good. Thank you for being real and honest about it because I know that not everybody would do that, but also um I know that somebody can probably relate, maybe not to going full-time evangelism, but somebody in their life right now could be listening and needing to make a decision that they are afraid of, or just, you know, even if you feel like and you know in your heart and your mind that it's God pulling at you, it's still such a hard thing to do. So um, thank you for sharing that because I know that can really bless someone, but also the fact that God has come through for y'all is such a it's such a testimony and a testament that because like you said, Brother Caleb, like I know that like you were talking about God's will and and you've seen people like do things and and maybe they weren't fully in the will of God and you've seen that and that made you want to really make sure you were in the will of God, and that's something that I think a lot of young people also really struggle with because they really want the will of God in their life, and so everything kind of becomes like a really big deal, like every decision, every everything. So, um, what would you say maybe to somebody that's listening that maybe they are in a a season of decision or just a predicament where it doesn't have to be necessarily ministry, but just something that you know God is calling them to and and they're afraid to step out in faith and and trusting, like you said, Sister Dolly.

SPEAKER_01 16:59

So a lot of people think that sometimes, like whenever God calls you or whenever God is speaking to you, it's just this boom voice and and it's rattling. But most of the time it's not. There would never if if you feel like God is calling you to do something, but you don't know if it's God, I always try to remember this one thing that the devil will never try to influence you to make you feel good. Like he's never gonna call you to do something that's gonna make you feel good. God is if if if it is God, it will be a sacrifice for your life, and that's how you know it is God because there are a lot of people that have a lot of um roles that they need to be stepping up in. There's a lot of ministry that needs to be we have a lot of elders right now that are, you know, we've got a lot of elder missionaries, we've got a lot of elder evangelists, we've got a lot of elder pastors that are looking for young people and even young adults that will just step into those places, but yet we're still trying to live our lives for ourselves, and we're not actually trying to be kingdom-minded, we're still earthly minded and trying to accomplish goals and dreams here on earth. But there's a bigger picture to that than just what's happening here.

SPEAKER_04 18:13

I was gonna say, kind of like he said, we expect a booming voice from the Lord, but sometimes it's a whisper. It's that still small voice that reminds you that he is there and that he is still pulling for you, that that is God and he is reaching for you, but he wants you to trust him. He wants you to take that step in faith and trust that he has the rest of it worked out because he's already accounted for your doubt, he's already accounted for your natural human faults and failures. He already knows all those things, he already knows the things that you struggle with, he's already accounted for those things and he still is calling you, he's still reaching for you. And so I think we sometimes get in our heads, well, I'm not good enough. Well, I can't do this or I can't do that. But like God already knew that. Well, so this it's kind of funny. At almost everywhere we go, somebody asks me, Well, do you play the piano? No, well, do you sing? No. Oh, okay. Because that is the natural yeah, uh, that's what you're supposed to be able to do. You're as an evangelist's wife, as a pastor's wife, as a minister's wife in any fashion, that's what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to be able to play and sing. Well, I can't. It's just not my God-given ability. But when he called us to this, he knew that. He knew that that wasn't a talent that he gave me. And not even that I could do that in this season with my two small kids, but he knew that that wasn't something that he equipped me with. And yet he still called us to this. And while that seems so simple and maybe doesn't apply to everyone, but no matter what it is that God is calling you to, or the decision that you're trying to make, he already accounted for who who for who you are as a person. He knows who you are as a person. And yes, we need to submit ourselves and try to be better every day, but he still knows who you are, he still knows what you can do and what you cannot do.

SPEAKER_02 19:56

Yes, amen. That's so good. Everything y'all said has already been so great. Um, I love that you mentioned that, Sister Jolly, um, because I think that it is like this the kind of typical thing. But I feel like I've seen it a lot recently where I've actually had other um like ministers' wives on the podcast that have said, like, I didn't play or sing or whatever, like the typical, you know, evangelist wife would. But but you're you God knew, like you said, God knows what you are capable of and the giftings and callings he's given you to be a blessing whenever y'all do go travel and minister. And he uses that. And it's not just that, but it's like every person that God is calling. Brother Jolly, you mentioned earlier, like a lot of times God kind of calls you out of your comfort zone. And I've had people tell me all the time that like usually if it if it does feel uncomfortable to you, if it's something that you're nervous about that you're scared, it's probably God because your flesh isn't gonna want to do that. So if you're nervous to go pray for somebody, it's probably because God wants you to. It's not your flesh is never like, oh, let's go pray for that person. It's just kind of not what we do.

SPEAKER_04 21:09

I have said so many times lately, I think God looks at our personalities and looks at our calling and just laughs. Because he's like, Okay, well, maybe it doesn't fit, but you're gonna do it anyways. Just go ahead. You don't really have a choice. Yeah, but that's how you but that's how you know that like he equips you in those times. Yes. And in those things that feel uncomfortable, like that's when he equips you, and that's when he can really work in you and through you, is when you're uncomfortable and when it's not what you thought you were gonna be doing, or it's not in your comfort zone. Because when we started evangelizing, people are like, oh, you get to see so much, or you get to travel so much. And I don't think there's anything wrong with it. But I was just never one of those people that had to see everything or had to see the world. And so evangelizing, like, yeah, it's so cool. I love to see all the pretty architects and all the pretty landscape. Like, I like it. But it was never something that was like, Oh, I just have to for me. So I think it's just so funny how God just takes our personalities and what we think we want and what we think we need and it's like, eh, we'll do something else.

SPEAKER_02 22:11

Yeah. Yeah, he definitely um has personality when it comes to that kind of thing. I think that's so funny. I did want to ask you guys, um, in the midst of of this season and everything that God is doing in your lives, what are maybe some difficulties or struggles that you face throughout it, but how have you seen God pull you through it as well? Whether it's just something new that you have to adjust to, or if it's actual struggles that you feel like have gotten in the way, but God has seen you through?

SPEAKER_04 22:41

Well, one thing I'll say is um like we were just talking about with personalities, it's it's definitely different. It's just a different aspect. You're meeting new people, you're making new friends or acquaintances.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

Honestly, the hardest part is like just trusting God that He's He's gonna pull everything through, that He's gonna do everything, that you know, even as far as trusting God with finances and trusting God with with just where you're going next and what's gonna happen next. It's a whole lot of just knowing God can and that He will.

SPEAKER_04 23:14

That is one of the main things is that you are completely out of control. So, with I mean, obviously you're in some sort of control, but with evangelizing, you are trusting the Lord. You're trusting the Lord at every step, at every turn. You're trusting that your vehicle is gonna make it to the next destination, like because we're traveling so much further than we ever have before. So you're you're trusting God at every step. You're trusting that even though things don't add up on paper, that God is working it out. And that has been one of the things in this season is like you said with finances, and there are other things, but like when you look at when you look at the natural and when you look at it, quote unquote, like on paper, it doesn't make sense because you know that God fixed it, you know that he worked it out. I feel like for me in this season, I've always struggled with knowing, I guess like knowing my worth and knowing that God has called me to do this, whatever it is in any aspect that God has called me and He is with me and He is for me. And so I think in this, meeting new people every time you turn around is a lot for some people. And I won't say it's a lot for me because I do enjoy meeting new people, but sometimes it's still that just like insecurity of oh, did I say that right? Oh, did I do that right? And so I think in through this, in some strange way, God is teaching me how to get out of my head and to realize that not everything is that big of a deal, and that I don't mess up every conversation that I'm in. Like God is really building a confidence in me. And so I guess that's kind of both sides of it is I had such an insecurity going into that, into this, and I'm not saying that I don't, I'm not in some level still have that, but he's building such a confidence in just who I am, and that it's okay. And if every I'm not everybody's favorite person, that's okay. And that it's just okay to just be who you are.

SPEAKER_02 25:05

And I I know what ministry is like, you know, in some ways, because I'm a PK, and I know that that people look at you differently um because you're a PK and like you have to kind of do things that you don't that you're really not good at when you're home Christians PK. So I I know that, um, but I can't imagine myself like being in whenever I like think of other people's where they are in their season, and I'm imagining myself being the evangelist or evangelist wife coming in instead of the the home church. Like I think of, you know, and I think that God puts us through like those seasons to kind of show us how we want to be, you know, one day if we're in that spot and how we want to treat people and how we want to act. And um, that's how I've always kind of seen it. Yeah, go, please.

SPEAKER_01 25:56

You don't have to raise your hand. I just I I don't want to know you're you're just gonna like I can say, so I was a pastor's kid, and so my dad is pastored ever since I was two or three, and so I knew, like you said, what it was like to be a pastor's kid. I knew what it was like to be in a pastor's family, I knew what it was like to watch a pastor be a pastor. But I also think in this season that I'm in, God's trying to show me another side of ministry and to complete though the entirety of a pastor on both sides of being a pastor and being an evangelist. Because we have if we want the church world to work together, everybody's gotta work together, everybody's got to pull this thing together because we can't just think it takes one and all the other and and it one is lesser than the other, but like it takes everybody to see this prosper, to see the kingdom to be fully established here on earth.

SPEAKER_02 26:51

Right, right. That's so great. And I think that um whenever you're able to see all those different sides of ministry, it does help you um to grow in that and and become like who God actually wants us to be. That sounds so cliche, but I feel like he he never stops working on us. Like we always say that what to young people, and like I'm a young person myself, so people are telling me that all the time. But I feel like I feel like when even when you know you're older and you have a family and you have kids, and like as long as you're on this earth, God is always molding us and making us and just and and critiquing us in areas to show us to what we need to do and how we need to be.

SPEAKER_01 27:30

Like, I came from like I can't I've been in a couple of different scenarios of churches, so like I know what it's like to be in like what we consider like a home missions church. So as a pastor's kid, you don't have a drum player. I can't play drums. I'm telling you, don't let me play drums, it's horrible. But if we need a drum player, guess who's playing drums? The bad guy on the drums, you know? And so it was you know, even if we needed a guitar player, like I remember being so young, and it was just like somebody's gotta do it, and so it's it's a constant of I don't know where I was going with that. Now I can't remember, but I don't know where I was going.

SPEAKER_00 28:09

I lost my train of.

SPEAKER_01 28:12

It's good though, because I can relate. Well, and like you just know you do everything and you get plugged in, and even though you may not know how to do it, you just it just has to be done if we want to see it done. We got it. But then I've also been to the point now in a church to where we have ministers that can do that. We got a drum player that's a lot better than me. We got three of them that are a lot better than me. We've got guitar players that are a lot better than me. We've got a bass player that's a lot better than me, and so it's not so much that has to be done now, but that it can be molded into a better version of it. You know what I'm trying to say? Like, and so I know in this season I'm really learning that what God is molding and what God tries to make, it sometimes takes a process and it takes a long amount of time sometimes. But you can use things that you have been through and throughout the process, and even though at the moment you didn't really understand it and you didn't really know why you were going through it, but now you do.

SPEAKER_04 29:13

So I didn't grow up in a pastor's home. Obviously, I got married really young to a pastor's son. So I did in a way become a pastor's skid, and then we started youth pastoring. So that kind of puts a spotlight on you, especially as young as we were. And um I feel like now transitioning into this role of evangelizing and being in everybody's churches and in all these different environments, it shows you how you want to treat other people. And it teaches me to give grace because sometimes my kid is the visitor's kid that's screaming, or you know, whatever the case is. It it shows you how to give grace, it shows you how to treat people. Not that you don't know how to treat people, every church is different, every culture of every church is different, and I think it's a good experience for us as he's only ever sat, and our pastor, shout out Chow Jolly, is a phenomenal pastor, he's a phenomenal man. Uh, he's an incredible testimony, but he's only ever sat under his pastor. So I think it's also a good experience for him to see other pastors and the way other pastors do things too. And um, I think it's good for our kids to have that experience too, because we're all over the place. So you're seeing different people from different cultures and just different church cultures, not that one is better than the other, but it's just different. Every church is different. Um, so I think it's the traveling aspect of it and um being in a different place every weekend is new for us and might be considered a bit of a struggle, but I think it's been such a good experience. It's been such a good experience for our kids and for us to just experience other people and to be able to love and be loved by almost complete strangers that sometimes by the end of the weekend are dear friends.

SPEAKER_02 30:58

Yes, that's awesome. That was that was the one. That was the one. I got it. No, that's so good. Um, and I can imagine like for your children that they'll always remember this. And they'll, I mean, I know that they're younger, but I feel like they'll definitely always remember um evangelizing like with you guys and and that whole kind of side of ministry because I do have friends that have like grown up in that and and they'll talk about it and like they've really it's really shaped them as well. So I think that's such a blessing, and that's really awesome that you're able to, even in the midst of the newness and maybe the struggle sometimes that you're able to see God's hand through it all, and that He He has called you so like you said, He will take care of you, and not only that, there will be good times along the way, and there will be um still good moments and and fun and all of that and memory. So I love that. That's so awesome. Um, how would you encourage maybe or what advice would you give to maybe a young man or woman that's listening that feels like a call of ministry on their life? Um, and and just what would you say to them right now? It doesn't have to be like this is obviously a broad question. So whether they're super young or they're like adult-ish, what would you say? What kind of advice would you give them and how would you just encourage them today?

SPEAKER_01 32:22

Oh, really? Like three main things that I can think of would be trust the process. Like God is preparing you for where he's calling you, and also don't rush the process because what you're going through and what you're facing right now is going to help you in the future, even though you can't really understand it. You can't understand why you know you're going through the things that you're going through or you're facing the hardships that you're facing, and and maybe everything's just not connecting right now, but eventually it will, and God will connect all the dots together. You've kind of heard it put like this that sometimes life is like a puzzle, and really all we have is one puzzle piece, that's all we've got. And we can't see the entirety of the puzzle, but we're just trusting God that He's putting everything into place. So whenever we put in that last and final puzzle piece, it all just connects because he will prepare you for places that you are going to and that you're gonna minister to or that you're just gonna help. And you will be prepared to help because maybe in this moment God's trying to help you with hurt or help you with you know just trusting him. You can't really help nobody if you need help too. So he's gonna get you through these moments and also enjoy the process. Don't don't wish for something and don't just keep looking ahead in the future and and wanting what's ahead and not enjoy what's what is God doing right now. Because I've caught myself multiple times throughout my life not enjoying where God has me now and not enjoying what God is good at doing now because all I'm thinking about is how am I gonna get through this and well, what's gonna happen next. And it's that's not what God wants us to do. He wants us to enjoy exactly where we are now.

SPEAKER_04 34:11

And I would say, you know, obviously talk to your pastor about what you're feeling and serve. Find somewhere in your church to serve. So there's always something to do, there's always something to be done. I I say at our church, there is everybody is wearing multiple hats. There is something that you can take off of somebody else's plate or some hand that you can help somebody else with. There's always something for to be done. If it's cleaning the church, if it is serving, you know, a dinner, whatever it is, if it's helping in children's ministry, helping your pastor, cut mowing the grass, like everything is a ministry. Find somewhere to serve, find something to do, and God will honor that and he you will prosper through that. And like he said, like don't rush what don't rush the process. And every day is not a bad day. Every, every day in what you feel like is not where you want to be is not wrong, it's not bad. And don't waste it, don't waste a day. Let every day be fruitful in some manner, whether it's good and you it's a great day and you have a good day, and that's that's awesome. But if you're not having a good day or you don't see what God is doing, that's okay to learn and grow from that and realize that that was also a day that's molding you and shaping you for where he's calling you to be. Because, like he said, there have been times where you can you will be able to look back. There will be times where you can look back and see what God has done and be like, okay, this makes sense. I see now why we went through that. I see now why I faced that. Because God was preparing you for where you were going. And that's also kind of the circle back. That's how we feel about this season of evangelizing too, is everything is for a reason. If we don't see it right now, we'll see it one day. We'll understand later that, okay, we went through that for a reason, or whatever the situation was, it's gonna make sense, even if it's not on this side, it's gonna make sense eventually that you know God is what God worked it out, and now I see how, now I see why. Or I can help this person now because of that. If I think if you go through a learning season or, you know, trying to find your ministry and you go through that always upset and frustrated at where God has you, you're never gonna learn and you're never gonna grow. And it's gonna take longer to for you to be effective in the ministry that he has for you. Because God doesn't want somebody pouring into others that all they have is negativity to pour. You know, and like reality is we're not all happy all the time. But if you only have negativity to pour from, God's not gonna offer you up first. He's not, you're not gonna be his first choice. So if you can find the positive and you can find the good and make sure that every day is not just doom and gloom, you're gonna learn more and glean more from the season that you're currently in while working towards the season that you feel like God is calling you to.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

And not everybody is called to a pulpit. Not everybody is. We need people that love souls, that want to reach souls. And so even if you feel like your calling isn't behind a pulpit, like I know of people right now that you know, just even going out to the streets and beckoning people to come into church. That we need that. We need that in the church world today. It's just people that love souls, that they see more than just a pulpit, more than just a platform, that we are reaching the world because even the Bible talks about how that the harvest is ready, but we're the laborers. And so we need more people that aren't just focused on pulpits, but that are focused on the harvest that are trying to reach to people. So it's not any less that you don't feel that your calling is in a pulpit. If you feel like your calling is just to stand and be a door greener, that's a ministry right there. If you feel like your calling is just to be the organizer that helps everybody to figure out who's gonna clean the church, who's gonna look, that's a ministry right there. And it takes everybody in the church to see the church grow and to see us reach the world.

SPEAKER_02 38:01

Right. Right. I think that's so good. And and what both of y'all said, I feel like they kind of go um hand in hand with each other because I feel like when somebody really starts to live for God, maybe they start feeling callings on their heart or desires or just burdens that God is giving them because that's what He does when you receive the Holy Ghost. Um, whenever that happens, sometimes they immediately think like that they're called to, you know, pulpit ministry or to preach or something like that. For some people, that is what God is calling. But I feel like sometimes we immediately think that, so we want to strive for like, okay, like pastor, they am called to preach. But sometimes God is like wanting you to do something else. Like you mentioned, Sister Jolly, serving. Like sometimes we have to serve when we're in the waiting of of you know God, God molding us for the pulpit or whatever it is that he's molding you for. Sometimes it's not always immediately that, but it's like he wants you to serve for a little bit and he kind of is still doing some things in you before he elevates you to something different. And I feel like I see that because I work a lot with the young people at my church because I'm only 19, but unfortunately, sometimes I'm the youth leader. So it happens, and sometimes I see that and I'm like, and you know, I I encourage them because you I never want to stifle them, I never want to be like, no, you can't do it, because God could use them however he wants to. That's right. But sometimes, sometimes it's like, okay, but don't forget, you know, maybe you think that you're called to preach one day, but you're never too good to teach Sunday school, or you're never too good to help, you know, in this area. And so sometimes I think I think all those things that you guys said go hand in hand with each other. Um, and then you even mentioned being content, like um, sometimes we can get so so antsy and so ready to be used in a bigger way that we're just content with where we are. And God wants us to to be um cheerful and joyful in the things that he calls us to and where he places us. He doesn't want us to do it in anger or you know with the wrong spirit. And so I think all of those things go together, and it's so good, not just for young people, but for anybody listening, um, to to be reminded.

SPEAKER_04 40:20

I think that all forms of ministry are and should be a form of service. It is uh it is servanthood, no matter if it's the pastor, if it's a preacher, if it's an evangelist, you are supposed to be a servant. So I think you aren't too good to get up and preach. You shouldn't be too good to clean or to help clean or to mow the yard. Like every form of ministry is some form of servanthood. And so if you feel like feel a call to ministry, you feel a call to servanthood. If you're feeling a call to pulpit, you need to repent. Yeah. That was funny, but we should cut that out. If you're if you're feeling, but really, if you're feeling a call to ministry, you should be feeling a call to servanthood because pulpit ministry is not just glorious and you know, let my name be in lights, but it is a call to servanthood because it is, I mean, it's important, it's needful, but it's also heavy. Yeah, and it's more than just people get to see me and I get to say something, it's heavy and it comes with a lot of responsibility. So if you're feeling a call to ministry, you should be feeling the call to servanthood in whatever manner that is. And if you're feeling that and you talk to your pastor about it, he will he will line up with that and you he will uh he if you're feeling that and you take that to your pastor, he will line up with that and he will I hate okay, let me do that again. I'm losing the second part of what I'm trying to say. I don't want to say find somewhere for you to serve because that sounds unimportant. He will allow you an opportunity to serve. So if you're feeling that and you're feeling a call to ministry and to servanthood, and you talk to your pastor about it, he will, I'm sure he will find you somewhere to serve. Maybe it's not pulpit ministry right away, maybe it's not Sunday school teaching right away, but if you're feeling that, are we are we good? Okay, just did a little, it just did a little snazz. Sorry. Okay, sorry. Um he will find you somewhere to serve. If it's not pulpit ministry right away, that's okay. If it's not a Sunday school class right away, that's okay. But when you show that you can be faithful in wherever he puts you, he and God will allow that to develop and to move forward.

SPEAKER_01 42:36

And I think we've, if I can say one more thing, I'm sorry. Um, I think we have almost idolized preachers and idolized being behind a pulpit. And by doing that, we don't understand the cost of that anointing of that preacher or of that pastor, and we don't see the backstory of all of the things they've had to face to get them to that point, but yet we just want the anointing that they have, and that's not how that works. There's there's a process that goes through, and you have to live out throughout that process to get to that point of that anointing, and yeah, and you can't rush it, you can't just try to bypass certain aspects of it. You've got to go through the rough times, you've got to go through the hard times, but you've also got to go through the good times, and you've got to learn that anointing comes with a cost behind it.

SPEAKER_02 43:27

Amen. Yeah, I definitely agree. I think that um we can we have not we can, but we have definitely kind of some in some areas idolized that pulpit ministry where it's whether it's a preacher or if it's even just like a singer that's really used by God. When God uses them, it's not just because He, you know, decided to pick them and that they're better than everyone else. It's because God has anointed them and called them and He's they have probably seen hard things. And I know for sure pastors and preachers and evangelists that are being used by God. It's not coming from like an empty prayer life or an empty walk. It's coming from devotion and it's coming from things that have not been seen. And um and those hard times. And so I definitely think that we can and the whole rushing thing is so true. Like that's the biggest thing everyone wants to do is just rush to the good parts. But the Bible says to everything there is a season and we have to unfortunately sometimes really endure those seasons to be able to see and appreciate the blessings that God does pour out when he does and the right timing that he does in um I 100% agree and everything you guys have said has been so good and and encouraging not just for you know the evangelist but for anybody that might be listening in any season of their life. One thing that I always ask every guest that I have on the podcast and this is another pretty general broad question but um it's what's a piece of advice that you would leave with any young person or just person that's listening today? And the best way that I like to um describe this is if you were if you were able to like look at yourself younger what's something that you needed to hear or something that would have encouraged you that that maybe someone did tell you or you wish someone told you and how would you relay that to someone that's listening today? I already said it I'm trying to think of something oh no you can say whatever you want to say if you've already said it that's totally do you want yours to be the last thing is that what you said for me to go first.

SPEAKER_04 45:39

I'm so glad you visited this I was so scared I was like she's not gonna and I'm gonna sound so wrong on this this is going to be so okay so to any young person out there I want you to know that you're a vital part of your church whether you're one of five young people or one of 25 or in some larger churches one of a hundred you're a vital part of that church and that youth group and that community of the church I know as young people we struggle to find identity we struggle to find where we belong but you are a vital part of your church and just to anyone anyone is a vital part of your church. We need everyone the church needs everyone and everyone is a vital member of the body. So just plug in stay faithful in the hard times when it's hard to be faithful and it's hard to you know be in attune when it's hard to be faithful and you're struggling to get up and go to church that's the most important time that's the most important time to get plugged in and to stay faithful and I lost what I was going to say that was so good.

SPEAKER_01 46:38

I was doing so good you're doing good thank you that's okay just clip that just clip it until it makes it your prayer life is very important that you pray and that you fast and that you know that you get comfortable hearing the voice of God and answering the voice of God. Sometimes it's as simple as you know whenever you're in service and God says some to go pray for someone you've got to start somewhere and sometimes it's simple things like that to listen to the voice of God that you know the voice of God and that you trust God no matter what no matter what comes no matter what goes that sometimes in life you know you may feel a call and you may start going and you may lose friends you may lose family but you know without a doubt that this is what God has called me to do this is where God has called me to be this is where God has called me to go. And so I'm going to trust that whatever comes God's got me. And everyone has the ability to be the fullness of what God has called them to be but at the end of the day it's all of your choice in what you do. It's so special that God created us with that option of to live for him or to not to listen to him or to not I mean he had angels that all he had to do was tell them what to do and they had to do it. But now he's got us that he can beckon he can call he can pull and if we have the option not to listen but we also have the option to listen and to do exactly what God is calling us to do. And there will be a reward no matter what it is if if you can't see it down here that that doesn't matter. Some things we will never know until we get up to the other side and there will be our reward but there are rewards down here that you know you listen to God and you you may be the one that saves your entire school. You may be the one that saves your entire home you may be the only apostolic person truth believing inside of your home but you are going to save your home you're gonna save your school if you would just keep living and listening to God.

SPEAKER_04 48:54

Yeah I also wanted to add um something our pastor who's also his dad says let me take that let me start that over I also want to add um something that our pastor always says is that when he prays for our children he doesn't pray you know that they would do certain things or fulfill certain things he just prays that they would say yes to God. Because if they if he prays that and they obey that they say yes to God I don't want to say obey. Let me say that again he prays that they would say yes to God and if they because if they say yes to God then they are going to be obedient to his will. They are going to fulfill the plan of salvation all those things are going to come to pass if they learn to say yes to the Lord. And so it's important that you know his voice so that you learn to say yes to what he has for you.

SPEAKER_02 49:41

Amen. Yeah that's so good. Everything that y'all said has been great. Um and I think that it's very timely for any young person that might be listening because I feel like whether you've grown up in church or not there comes a time in everybody's life where you have to decide if you're really gonna live for God or not. Absolutely and you have to decide if you're gonna really sell out and you're gonna um say yes to God literally if you're going to to live for him halfheartedly or just completely give up or or give him everything and we all have to come to that decision in our lives and when we do it really shapes everything else and um and God can use you in so many different capacities when you do say yes like you said maybe you know you aren't praying for a specific talent or specific gift but if you just say Lord I'm willing like He can do so much more with that than we could with any of it. And so um and God has a plan and He has a purpose. I truly believe that um everything else has been so good. I don't want to cut you off if you had anything else that you wanted to add or share. But I just wanted to make sure if not but uh it's been so great talking with you both today. I think that this has been so good and I know that it's definitely blessed me. So I'm gonna bless someone else as as well.

SPEAKER_01 51:04

One more thing I'm sorry. No I I I was making sure that y'all okay yeah like I've I've been trying to decide how long to work word it um but also it's okay to be different and it's okay to stand out. And I grew up growing or going going to public school and I understand what it's like to be the strange guy that whenever they ask what you're doing on Friday nights you say you're going to church and they're like oh well that's weird. And so I understand what it's like to to be like that. But it also takes people that aren't afraid to be different for us to to see what God really wants to do. Because there is a revival that God wants to pour out on this land and up on this this country but it's going to take us not being ashamed of what we believe in, holding to truth and also believing and trusting Him.

SPEAKER_02 51:54

Amen that's so good I want to say my like scriptures for this year. So I take like a word every year and my scripture this year is Proverbs three and five through six and it's kind of been everything that y'all talked about today and it says in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding and in all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your past and I feel like I mean I'm not trying I I feel like I brought this up in every episode I've done this year but I'm trying to let everybody know that you have to trust in the Lord with all your heart. Yeah because and and it literally says to lean not on your own understanding but I feel like it says that because we can't understand the things that God wants to do. Yeah he's a God of exceeding and abundantly and our our little minds just don't really comprehend. And we get upset and confused when things don't go our way but he has such a bigger picture and like you said there's so much that he wants to pour out on us in so many ways he wants to use us to yeah but we've heard the stories of I'm sorry I didn't mean to cut you off.

SPEAKER_01 53:01

No you're good we've heard the stories of elders and how they've talked about like old brush harbors and people being healed and people being healed and people blind eyes being open and deaf ears being open. And they didn't just stop back then but it still happens now. It can still take place now but we have to be prepared to do what it takes to get to that point. Because they didn't get there without prayer they didn't get there without fasting they had to go through things they had to face things to see God truly move.

SPEAKER_02 53:35

Yeah yeah that's so true and I think that's if God can't get a hold of you any other way then he's gonna put you through something. Yeah so in that he gets a hold of you. Yeah um and and a lot of times that's where like there's crushing and there's molding but there's also anointing that will flow from well and if you if you want to see things happen you have to go through something.

SPEAKER_04 54:00

If you want to see miracles there has to be a need. Yeah I remember a couple years ago our church was really heavy like talking about miracles and you know we wanted to see all these things happen and then people in our church started going through things like bad things or I don't want to say bad things but like life started happening. But it had to happen and we saw miracles out of it. Literal miracles like we we saw actual miracles happen but we had to go through the things that it took because if you want to see a miracle you have to have a need. And we don't want to go through hard times but the reality is if you want to see a miracle and if you want to see God move and you want him to see to see him work out things in your life there has to be a need and you have to be available for him to work and to move.

SPEAKER_02 54:42

Amen amen that's so good it really just takes us being willing so I feel like if there's anything that somebody gets from this today it could be um that God wants to use you and and he will use you and it might not look how you thought but God has a plan he has a purpose. So thank you both so much um for everything you've shared with us the stories the the wisdom that you've poured out it's definitely been a blessing to me so I know that it's gonna bless someone else that's listening and um I ask all the listeners whoever is listening that they would keep them that they would keep you guys in their prayers as well and um and y'all's ministry and everything that you're doing and and I just I mean I admire I think it's amazing and I know um I keep mentioning her but Kylie that's the way that we even connected here so Kylie has mentioned um y'all's church and and um brother Jolly your father and and the church plants and everything and all of that is just like amazing to me. I admire you guys and and I'm so blessed that y'all are able to take time to be with me on the podcast today. Thank you so much for allowing us to do this it was exciting funny