WEBVTT 00:00:04.030 --> 00:00:04.889 Well, G'day everyone. 00:00:04.919 --> 00:00:09.109 It's a great privilege to come back again to the Canterbury Gardens Community Church podcast. 00:00:09.660 --> 00:00:11.890 I feel like I need a new name for this podcast. 00:00:12.580 --> 00:00:19.640 Uh, I just want to take a moment as well, uh, with the software that we use, we got a little bit of reports, like there was a thousand downloads. 00:00:20.199 --> 00:00:21.769 Thanks mum for doing that. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:28.239 Uh, and I want to just, uh, yeah, thank you to those of you who've been listening, sharing. 00:00:28.664 --> 00:00:31.024 Uh, it's a real privilege to serve you. 00:00:31.135 --> 00:00:36.155 So we, uh, part of the podcast that we do is part of our desire to serve our church. 00:00:36.155 --> 00:00:41.395 That's Canterbury Gardens Community Church, a church in the outer East here in Melbourne, but also the wider community. 00:00:41.395 --> 00:00:49.634 And so part of that is various things from our sermons to these little moments and where we have people share their stories with us. 00:00:49.655 --> 00:00:57.145 And today I'm a bit nervous and I'll tell you why I'm nervous because I'm sitting across the table from a good friend. 00:00:57.640 --> 00:01:00.490 Who's been in Canberra for many years, Samuel Ramson. 00:01:00.789 --> 00:01:01.270 Hi there. 00:01:01.570 --> 00:01:01.909 Hey man. 00:01:01.929 --> 00:01:02.369 How are you? 00:01:02.429 --> 00:01:02.659 Good. 00:01:02.659 --> 00:01:03.140 How are you? 00:01:03.299 --> 00:01:03.820 That's good. 00:01:04.469 --> 00:01:05.909 I've got to be, I've got to be honest with you. 00:01:05.909 --> 00:01:06.750 I was nervous here. 00:01:06.750 --> 00:01:07.370 I'll tell you why. 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:08.030 Why? 00:01:08.030 --> 00:01:12.480 And I feel like I'm sitting next to someone who knows exactly about podcasts and what they're doing. 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:18.780 And for those of you who didn't know, Samuel was the one who helped us start our podcast. 00:01:18.780 --> 00:01:19.609 So thanks, mate. 00:01:19.870 --> 00:01:20.530 That's all right. 00:01:20.700 --> 00:01:25.400 It's a, it's a world that you actually never really understand and you just keep pretending. 00:01:25.400 --> 00:01:26.890 So you're doing a good job. 00:01:26.890 --> 00:01:31.819 That's the story of my life, pretending to know what I'm doing. 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:37.879 And mate, tell us a little bit about you, who you during the week, your family, all those things. 00:01:37.989 --> 00:01:40.359 That is a complicated question. 00:01:40.359 --> 00:01:40.450 Good question. 00:01:40.450 --> 00:01:43.819 I, um, I'm someone who wears a lot of different hats. 00:01:43.900 --> 00:01:46.790 I am a dad and a husband. 00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:48.829 Um, my wife is incredible. 00:01:48.909 --> 00:01:54.709 She is probably the reason that I'm able to wear so many hats by how well she supports me and looks after me. 00:01:54.709 --> 00:01:55.640 And she's amazing. 00:01:55.640 --> 00:02:01.189 I've got four beautiful little girls, um, who are all kinds of fun and chaos. 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:07.480 Um, I run an electrical business with a few people that work for us, um, which is a lot of. 00:02:07.784 --> 00:02:10.335 Learning and occasionally a bit of fun. 00:02:10.395 --> 00:02:13.814 And I do a kids podcast on the side for a bit of a laugh. 00:02:13.814 --> 00:02:16.444 So there's uh, there's a few things there. 00:02:16.504 --> 00:02:20.344 And at Canterbury, I love being involved in the youth ministry. 00:02:20.405 --> 00:02:28.110 It's something that, uh, had a massive effect on me growing up and something that I've massively enjoyed being a part of over. 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:35.659 Uh, a few years now, so, how long have you been at Cannery cause I've known you for a long time. 00:02:35.750 --> 00:02:38.340 I, I don't remember any other church. 00:02:38.439 --> 00:02:41.310 So I think we came to this church when I was a baby. 00:02:41.310 --> 00:02:44.889 So we're talking 34 years probably. 00:02:44.889 --> 00:02:46.729 So just a little while. 00:02:46.905 --> 00:02:47.764 Married for how long? 00:02:48.284 --> 00:02:53.705 Uh, it has been, we got married in two, two, one, two, one, three. 00:02:53.705 --> 00:02:55.444 We got married in 2013. 00:02:55.444 --> 00:02:58.585 So 11 years we've been married now. 00:02:58.585 --> 00:02:58.955 So. 00:02:59.764 --> 00:03:00.175 Good job. 00:03:00.194 --> 00:03:00.764 You remembered. 00:03:00.814 --> 00:03:02.555 And, uh, this is another tricky one. 00:03:02.555 --> 00:03:03.495 How many kids do you have? 00:03:03.629 --> 00:03:14.020 Um, and so did you fall into becoming a Sparky for those of you Sparky is the Aussie way of saying electrician. 00:03:14.020 --> 00:03:15.650 So did you fall into it? 00:03:15.780 --> 00:03:20.409 Um, I always knew that I was going to be an electrician from early on. 00:03:20.509 --> 00:03:26.319 Um, I remember at Christmas as a kid, my uncle sitting me down and asking if I wanted to work in an office. 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:27.530 And I was like, I don't think so. 00:03:28.060 --> 00:03:30.189 And he basically said, you're going to do a trade. 00:03:30.229 --> 00:03:31.449 You need a license. 00:03:31.925 --> 00:03:33.074 You should be an electrician. 00:03:33.085 --> 00:03:38.534 And I was like, okay, I guess I'm going to be an electrician, but running an electrical company is something that. 00:03:38.889 --> 00:03:50.110 I never wanted or never intended, so that was something that kind of just happened and we hung on for dear life as, uh, as we learned all the painful lessons along the way. 00:03:50.439 --> 00:03:56.020 Was, what's, uh, one job that you think of that was one of the craziest jobs that you've ever done? 00:03:56.550 --> 00:04:00.349 Um, Oh, that's a really good question. 00:04:00.580 --> 00:04:06.539 I think there's been a lot of crazy jobs and a lot of crazy moments and a lot of areas where we were doing things that we did not understand. 00:04:06.550 --> 00:04:13.930 But one time I got to do thermal imaging, which is waving a special camera over switchboards. 00:04:13.930 --> 00:04:20.560 But we got to do it at the MCG on a game day because they needed it to be at full capacity and running at full power. 00:04:21.035 --> 00:04:25.464 Um, and I'm standing there walking around as a crowd screaming with this random camera and people looking at you funny. 00:04:25.475 --> 00:04:28.634 So that was certainly one of the more interesting jobs that we did. 00:04:28.675 --> 00:04:32.545 Um, and working on massive switchboards for some of the big buildings in the city. 00:04:32.574 --> 00:04:37.665 We had one where we were servicing the switchboards on level 54 of a building. 00:04:37.685 --> 00:04:38.074 Oh, wow. 00:04:38.250 --> 00:04:45.850 And so we'd shut down the entire building and the generator ran out of fuel and smoke started pouring out the top of the building and people thought the building was on fire. 00:04:45.850 --> 00:04:52.920 So we got put into lockdown and got stuck up there for like two and a half hours and then had to take the stairs back down because they shut down all the lifts. 00:04:52.930 --> 00:04:54.279 It was, it was a nightmare. 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:57.769 Well, you mentioned a little bit earlier about the many hats that you wear. 00:04:57.850 --> 00:04:58.149 Yep. 00:04:58.259 --> 00:05:06.560 Uh, did you notice growing up the way that perhaps God's wired you in the way that your Brain in many ways. 00:05:06.589 --> 00:05:06.949 Yeah. 00:05:07.009 --> 00:05:07.970 Has many hats. 00:05:08.060 --> 00:05:11.899 Uh, I am busy is probably the best way to describe it. 00:05:11.949 --> 00:05:17.610 As a kid, mom always used to say I was very busy, happy, fun, but very busy. 00:05:18.019 --> 00:05:23.319 Um, and I'm someone who I don't like being still, I don't like being stagnant. 00:05:23.350 --> 00:05:26.560 And so I get excited about things and. 00:05:26.620 --> 00:05:28.560 And I really want to do them to the best I can. 00:05:28.589 --> 00:05:36.920 And when that excitement lines up with something that God's given me a gifting in, or giving me a real love for, that's, uh, that's a lot of fun. 00:05:36.920 --> 00:05:37.779 Hmm. 00:05:37.779 --> 00:05:41.050 Was there, was there a moment where you saw that as a positive thing? 00:05:41.115 --> 00:05:43.884 Uh, regarding the way God has wired you. 00:05:43.944 --> 00:05:45.105 Uh, yeah, yeah. 00:05:45.175 --> 00:05:50.615 I, um, so I've served at Canterbury in a few different spaces over the time. 00:05:50.675 --> 00:05:59.134 And I did youth ministry for a long time when we were out of our depth and pretending we knew what we were doing and had no idea. 00:05:59.134 --> 00:06:02.963 And by God's grace, a lot of those people are still following Jesus despite. 00:06:02.963 --> 00:06:03.550 Yep. 00:06:03.629 --> 00:06:07.490 Despite what we were doing and every kid survived, there's no one that's gone missing. 00:06:07.500 --> 00:06:07.879 Yeah. 00:06:07.879 --> 00:06:09.209 Only major injuries, no deaths. 00:06:09.449 --> 00:06:11.259 So that was, uh, that was great. 00:06:11.430 --> 00:06:18.649 But I stepped out of ministry for a while after my mum passed away and I stepped back. 00:06:18.709 --> 00:06:23.904 And then as I slowly started to plug in, I started plugging into a few different ministries and. 00:06:24.194 --> 00:06:27.435 Trying a few different things that I hadn't really done too much of before. 00:06:27.475 --> 00:06:37.514 And then once I kind of plugged back into youth ministry and just saw who God has created me to be and the love that he's given me for that space and it all kind of lined up. 00:06:38.074 --> 00:06:41.504 It was just that real reminder of when you get to serve. 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:51.149 It's just so much joy and it was just that thing of, okay, God, this is, this is the area of service that you have for me. 00:06:51.209 --> 00:06:53.899 I love this and thank you for giving me this opportunity. 00:06:53.910 --> 00:06:57.029 So when those things align, it's, it's so good. 00:06:57.879 --> 00:07:06.040 You mentioned a little while back when we were chatting, you made a comment that stuck to me that I was going to talk to you about today, which was, you don't know how long you've got here. 00:07:06.449 --> 00:07:06.819 Yep. 00:07:07.269 --> 00:07:08.519 Um, do you want to unpack that? 00:07:08.529 --> 00:07:10.500 Why has that shaped you? 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:11.495 Oh, I don't know. 00:07:12.814 --> 00:07:14.125 I really value time. 00:07:14.464 --> 00:07:32.055 I, um, I'm someone who I really want to make the most of each moment and all those kinds of things, because I don't know, we say over and over again, how stages change and moments pass and people, uh, we never know how long we've got. 00:07:32.064 --> 00:07:40.564 My mom passed away a few years ago now, and it's one of those things that you kind of never prepare for and never expect. 00:07:41.235 --> 00:07:41.774 And so. 00:07:42.740 --> 00:07:56.410 I look at her life and one of the things that I'm incredibly grateful for is I'm able to sit here and say that I had more of a mom in the shortened years that I got than a lot of people get in and someone that lives into their hundreds. 00:07:56.879 --> 00:08:03.709 And it was one of those things of you actually, we're here for a purpose and we actually need to be utilizing. 00:08:04.254 --> 00:08:14.435 Who it is that God's created us to be and the opportunities that he places us in to the full potential all the time, because you never know when God's going to say, okay, that's enough for you. 00:08:14.475 --> 00:08:16.105 It's, it's time kind of thing. 00:08:16.785 --> 00:08:22.084 So for me, not just in a sense of life and death, but in a chance sense of opportunities as well. 00:08:22.125 --> 00:08:22.454 So. 00:08:22.949 --> 00:08:25.639 We've got a few really fun little opportunities at the moment. 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:32.490 We've got an electrical business that's running okay for the first time and probably it's existence, which is unbelievable. 00:08:32.570 --> 00:08:38.389 And I've got my podcast, which I'm doing, which God is go plug in, man, go for it. 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:41.690 Cause I'm, I'm like about to scream like a little kid as soon as you say it. 00:08:41.789 --> 00:08:42.230 Yeah. 00:08:42.230 --> 00:08:42.365 Okay. 00:08:42.365 --> 00:08:51.644 I run a podcast called silly stories for kids, which is, uh, Which has been one of the biggest random things that has ever kind of happened. 00:08:51.705 --> 00:08:52.725 Wasn't my idea. 00:08:52.764 --> 00:08:56.485 It was something that Russ, my father in law said, you need to do this. 00:08:56.485 --> 00:08:57.705 And I was like, what are you talking about? 00:08:58.225 --> 00:09:01.955 And so you start doing something and it's just been a real evidence of. 00:09:02.500 --> 00:09:11.009 When you go to God and are prepared to just serve with open hands and let him do what he wants with it, he's blessed it so much more than I would have expected. 00:09:11.019 --> 00:09:20.570 But in that, at the same time, I feel the need to do the best that I can in that space with where he's got me at the moment, because he's opened doors and opportunities. 00:09:20.570 --> 00:09:25.830 And I've had moments of, we got to do some Christmas carols and things over the Christmas break where. 00:09:26.495 --> 00:09:28.875 We were meeting people that had never been in church before. 00:09:28.904 --> 00:09:31.034 And they said, Oh, we heard that you were telling a story. 00:09:31.034 --> 00:09:33.044 We thought we'd come down and check it out. 00:09:33.414 --> 00:09:37.945 And I said, well, it was just an opportunity to say, Hey, well, the reason I'm here is because I love Jesus. 00:09:37.945 --> 00:09:40.254 And I really hope that you get to hear some of that here tonight. 00:09:40.695 --> 00:09:49.815 And it's one of those things of when God gives you an opportunity, it's actually a real, it feels like a real responsibility to use that well and to serve well. 00:09:50.134 --> 00:09:54.294 And at the same time to serve with open hands, because in the same way that he can provide an opportunity. 00:09:54.615 --> 00:09:56.504 It can disappear any moment. 00:09:56.544 --> 00:10:02.134 I could say something that people don't agree with and people might want to shut us out and get rid of us or whatever. 00:10:02.605 --> 00:10:12.554 And so for me, it's that moment of considering everything that we're doing and trying to serve faithfully wherever God has got us to the max that we possibly can. 00:10:12.605 --> 00:10:14.394 And I say we, because it's a family thing. 00:10:14.455 --> 00:10:15.205 It's not just me. 00:10:15.735 --> 00:10:17.845 My whole family is on this journey together. 00:10:17.945 --> 00:10:19.644 My wife, I couldn't do it without her. 00:10:19.684 --> 00:10:20.695 My kids, uh. 00:10:21.294 --> 00:10:23.764 So much fun and give me the most honest feedback. 00:10:24.144 --> 00:10:28.085 Tell me when my stories are terrible and when it's so bad, it's, it's great. 00:10:28.095 --> 00:10:35.294 So one that comes to mind straight away with one of the kids, I can imagine who it might be, but who, who gave you very blunt feedback on one of the stories? 00:10:35.365 --> 00:10:37.554 Oh, there's a couple of little funny ones. 00:10:37.554 --> 00:10:41.764 So last night I was telling a story to the girls and they were loving it. 00:10:41.774 --> 00:10:44.465 And Brinley, my third was. 00:10:44.684 --> 00:10:49.164 She was smiling and laughing and giggling, but she hates it when the stories end. 00:10:49.735 --> 00:10:51.455 And so because it finished. 00:10:51.789 --> 00:10:55.399 She started bawling her eyes out and she's like, that was a short one. 00:10:55.409 --> 00:10:56.500 That was terrible. 00:10:56.620 --> 00:10:59.320 I was like, it's gone for 15 minutes, kid. 00:10:59.330 --> 00:11:00.919 And you were laughing the whole time. 00:11:00.919 --> 00:11:04.320 But the other one was, I'm currently writing a kid's storybook. 00:11:04.379 --> 00:11:08.490 And so I'd written the first draft and I was like, I'll read this to the kids. 00:11:08.500 --> 00:11:09.539 It'll be so much fun. 00:11:09.570 --> 00:11:11.070 And I read it and Holly's like. 00:11:11.284 --> 00:11:13.264 That doesn't sound like silly stories for kids. 00:11:13.264 --> 00:11:14.575 I was like, ouch. 00:11:14.625 --> 00:11:18.085 Um, maybe you'll like it when there's pictures, but I love their honesty. 00:11:18.095 --> 00:11:18.605 It's great. 00:11:18.705 --> 00:11:19.225 That's good. 00:11:19.754 --> 00:11:21.544 Has there been challenges? 00:11:21.615 --> 00:11:27.524 Like, do you ever look, step back and go, I wish God hadn't wired me this way at any moment or, I mean, yeah. 00:11:28.264 --> 00:11:33.985 Um, has there been challenges is probably one of the silliest questions I've heard. 00:11:34.394 --> 00:11:38.695 Um, it's all challenges and it's one of those things like. 00:11:38.750 --> 00:11:50.980 Um, my, I look at what has happened in my life so far and just see moment after moment after moment of things going wrong and things going painfully and all those kinds of things. 00:11:50.980 --> 00:11:52.740 And even the way that I'm wired, like. 00:11:52.799 --> 00:12:01.019 Um, trying to get my brain, my brain is chaos, trying to get it to do the practical things that you need to do to run an electrical business over the years has been a nightmare. 00:12:01.509 --> 00:12:10.019 But it's the kind of thing where all those difficult things and tricky times and things that I look back on and a lot of them I go, I would have preferred not to go through that. 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:22.289 It's interesting now being at a stage where you can actually see how God's used that to shape me in so many different ways and prepare me for things that I otherwise wouldn't have been ready for or prepared for. 00:12:22.340 --> 00:12:22.649 So. 00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:24.070 That's pretty wild. 00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:25.179 That's amazing. 00:12:25.220 --> 00:12:36.779 Um, was there a moment where like we chatted about this earlier, about ADHD, was that a formal thing or was that, you know, nowadays, you know, you can Google things and Google symptoms and so on. 00:12:36.779 --> 00:12:37.529 What was your journey? 00:12:37.610 --> 00:12:46.950 Oh mate, it was something that I never really thought of and had never seen myself as someone who might have ADHD, but I, um, after. 00:12:47.759 --> 00:13:01.419 Mum had passed away, I wasn't feeling myself, I wasn't feeling super down or anything, but I just didn't feel as bright as I normally was, um, and I'd always heard that expression of, we service our cars, why don't we service our brains? 00:13:02.014 --> 00:13:05.014 And so that had always kind of floated around in the back of my head. 00:13:05.034 --> 00:13:16.394 And I was just at the point of going, I think I just need to check in with someone here before this turns into something, because I actually can't afford to fall apart and I'm trying to provide for a family and things were really tough. 00:13:16.815 --> 00:13:24.235 Like it was, we were hitting all the COVID and all that kind of stuff and business was going terribly and all kinds of stuff. 00:13:24.644 --> 00:13:26.644 So I was like, I can't afford to fall apart here. 00:13:26.644 --> 00:13:28.735 And I went to see a psychologist and we were just chatting. 00:13:29.235 --> 00:13:32.845 And then she just kind of made a comment of, do you mind if we do a quick test? 00:13:32.845 --> 00:13:37.534 And then she put me through some verbal ADHD test. 00:13:37.534 --> 00:13:40.225 And next thing she's like, so you've scored off the chart. 00:13:40.245 --> 00:13:42.105 Is this something that you'd like to look into? 00:13:42.144 --> 00:13:44.615 I was like, Oh yeah, maybe let's, let's have a look. 00:13:44.985 --> 00:13:51.394 But then getting to understand what that actually meant and realizing that it was because of all the extra. 00:13:51.945 --> 00:14:03.365 Pressure and all the things that the symptoms and the way my brain works was hitting capacity, being able to find ways of being able to help cope with that capacity. 00:14:03.375 --> 00:14:05.355 Cause it was like, it's never going to get any less. 00:14:05.355 --> 00:14:07.304 It's only just going to keep increasing from here. 00:14:07.764 --> 00:14:08.024 And so. 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:14.090 Yeah, it was an interesting little journey of learning and understanding and trying different things. 00:14:14.110 --> 00:14:21.629 But the funny thing is, as soon as you get an ADHD, ADHD diagnosis, everyone around you thinks they've got ADHD. 00:14:21.950 --> 00:14:22.960 It's hilarious. 00:14:22.990 --> 00:14:25.950 Cause they're always like, Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure I've got that too. 00:14:25.960 --> 00:14:28.210 I'm like, yep, cool. 00:14:28.210 --> 00:14:28.799 That's fine. 00:14:29.159 --> 00:14:30.110 It's a bit of a laugh. 00:14:30.110 --> 00:14:32.259 So, but yes, it's a wild little journey. 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:32.720 Yeah. 00:14:33.139 --> 00:14:33.419 So. 00:14:33.929 --> 00:14:36.399 Now, obviously these are labels, which are helpful. 00:14:36.580 --> 00:14:36.789 Yeah. 00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:39.049 Um, they're helpful to kind of give us a bit of a grid. 00:14:39.049 --> 00:14:39.669 They're not bad. 00:14:40.110 --> 00:14:49.120 From a Christian perspective, what has been helpful for you to not just be known as that person or that thing or, yeah. 00:14:49.190 --> 00:14:50.429 Yeah, for me, like. 00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:55.690 I, I have, I try not to refer to myself as someone with ADHD. 00:14:55.799 --> 00:15:01.990 I prefer to just call myself someone with a busy brain because I'm so grateful for the brain that I have. 00:15:02.419 --> 00:15:07.289 And I think I'm really grateful for God's timing in making me aware of that as well. 00:15:07.330 --> 00:15:09.860 Cause I think as a kid, I could have very easily. 00:15:09.860 --> 00:15:18.799 I used it as a bit of a crutch and I could have fallen into using it as an excuse to not do the things that I didn't want to do rather than forcing myself to do hard things. 00:15:19.320 --> 00:15:25.059 Um, but now it's helpful looking at it and just knowing that we're made in the image of God. 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:27.730 And this is a conversation I have with my kids all the time. 00:15:28.100 --> 00:15:30.480 You're made in the image of God and does God make mistakes? 00:15:30.610 --> 00:15:31.500 No he doesn't. 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:35.559 And so looking at the way I'm wired and going, well, has God made a mistake here? 00:15:35.639 --> 00:15:36.899 Well, no, he definitely hasn't. 00:15:37.375 --> 00:15:44.695 He's given me a set of giftings that come with this kind of crazy brain that are really, really useful for a lot of things. 00:15:44.725 --> 00:15:52.309 Yeah, there's some stuff that it's incredibly hard to manage and hard to do, but I'm really grateful for what God has given me. 00:15:52.779 --> 00:15:58.529 And if I lean more into what I've been given rather than what I'm missing out on, it's one of those things. 00:15:58.529 --> 00:16:05.059 If you look to God and keep your eyes focused on him rather than focused on yourself and your own circumstances, it really changes your perspective on a lot of it. 00:16:05.070 --> 00:16:07.179 So I wouldn't want a different brain. 00:16:07.370 --> 00:16:14.659 Um, in any way, shape or form, the way that God's given me the ability to be able to connect with people and read emotions and all those kinds of things. 00:16:15.059 --> 00:16:17.570 I wouldn't trade those for administration ever. 00:16:21.710 --> 00:16:26.590 Has there been any passages or stories in the Bible that, that have helped to shape that for you? 00:16:27.330 --> 00:16:31.440 Um, or maybe even like thinking about your mom, are there words that come to mind? 00:16:31.620 --> 00:16:35.360 Ah, the one passage for me that just always speaks to. 00:16:36.434 --> 00:16:37.815 It just speaks to everything in me. 00:16:37.825 --> 00:16:38.605 And it's really fun. 00:16:38.605 --> 00:16:51.065 Another person from our church, Grace Kayser, actually did it in script for me in a little frame, which is just so special, but it's just the John 10, 10 passage of I've come that they may have life and have it to the full. 00:16:51.735 --> 00:17:05.805 And so for me, that just speaks to so much of what I want to see in this place as well, because we're here and we're here to serve God, but we're not here to serve God so that we just get to the eternal. 00:17:06.315 --> 00:17:23.920 The fact that it's also for the here and now, and in the times when things are tricky, like, it's, Christ has said that he came that, We may have life and have it to the full and fullness of life is something that is really, really beautiful when lived under the leadership of Christ and lived in Christ. 00:17:24.309 --> 00:17:38.160 And so for me, it's one of those reminders often of when I'm doing something dumb or I'm wasting time, or I'm feeling down and low because I'm focusing on myself, reminding myself that Christ has actually come to give me life. 00:17:38.505 --> 00:17:41.234 Both here now and for eternity. 00:17:41.244 --> 00:17:44.154 So for me, that's, that's the verse that kind of sticks with me always. 00:17:44.904 --> 00:17:45.325 Hmm. 00:17:45.785 --> 00:17:57.234 Did, um, I was just thinking about as you were sharing that, were there moments, uh, we talked about challenges, but, uh, were there moments where you reflect back and go. 00:17:58.210 --> 00:17:59.519 It's hard to apply that. 00:17:59.589 --> 00:18:06.400 Are there temptations that come with, you know, for those of you who don't know, I would encourage you to check out Silly Stories. 00:18:06.460 --> 00:18:09.910 Um, this, by the way, they're not sponsoring us just, just to clarify. 00:18:10.970 --> 00:18:14.819 But, um, but you'll see that, uh, it has blown up, right? 00:18:14.849 --> 00:18:15.140 Yeah. 00:18:15.180 --> 00:18:18.230 Uh, what are some of the challenges and temptations that you face? 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:21.410 Or are you like, you know what, it's very clear for me what this is about. 00:18:21.650 --> 00:18:26.160 Uh, I will always struggle against arrogance. 00:18:26.934 --> 00:18:29.394 As a kid, I was a really arrogant kid. 00:18:29.464 --> 00:18:34.744 I grew up very big fish, small pond, and that syndrome certainly bled through. 00:18:35.005 --> 00:18:49.755 I was watching back some video of when I was in youth group and we were making these videos and I was just watching myself wanting to put my head through a wall at the absolute like self centeredness, love yourself kind of thing. 00:18:49.775 --> 00:18:53.194 And so for me, that was something that God had to break me in, in a lot of ways. 00:18:54.059 --> 00:18:59.619 and humbled me in a lot of circumstances, which wasn't comfortable, but those temptations will always be there. 00:19:00.039 --> 00:19:08.430 And so when things are going well, and things are going great, that temptation to want to make it about yourself will always be there. 00:19:08.900 --> 00:19:17.644 And so for me I have to verbally articulate to myself and to others constantly that it's actually God that's doing the work. 00:19:18.164 --> 00:19:21.355 And it's actually God that's making these kinds of things happen. 00:19:21.384 --> 00:19:26.164 And he's the only reason that I can breathe, let alone have the opportunity to do any of this. 00:19:26.305 --> 00:19:41.005 Um, and then that's a really helpful reset for me and the prayer that I often pray to myself and at the same time, don't want to pray to myself is God, keep me humble because humbling is painful a lot of the time. 00:19:41.085 --> 00:19:45.924 And so it's often followed by a God, keep me humble, but please don't make it painful this time. 00:19:47.394 --> 00:19:54.365 And so it's one of those things that I know that I need to keep in check and I know that I need God to keep me in check because. 00:19:54.779 --> 00:19:59.759 We're sinful people with sinful natures, and we're always going to be tempted to stray from where God wants us to be. 00:20:00.269 --> 00:20:05.910 And I know that my own arrogance could be the biggest thing stopping me from being able to have impact for Christ. 00:20:06.380 --> 00:20:07.920 If it's about me, it's not about him. 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:13.769 So I need to make sure that he's always the first and foremost, and that helps with the decision making. 00:20:13.869 --> 00:20:18.940 And probably the other thing that I struggle with that I probably don't talk about that often. 00:20:19.700 --> 00:20:23.849 Um, with a lot of things that have gone. 00:20:27.025 --> 00:20:38.795 I really struggle when things are going right, because I sit there in the moment of what's the next thing, what's coming, what's the next thing that's going to blow up, what's the next painful moment. 00:20:39.394 --> 00:20:47.775 Um, and something that I've been really learning lately, and if any youth kids listen to this, they'll be like, yeah, he's harping on about the same stuff. 00:20:47.805 --> 00:20:54.164 But for me, it's the more I remind myself about the promises that God has made about himself. 00:20:54.829 --> 00:21:04.799 It helps me in those circumstances, because for me, when I'm feeling those kinds of things, I am able to remind myself that God has said that he is here for my good. 00:21:05.380 --> 00:21:07.140 And so I can trust that. 00:21:07.190 --> 00:21:11.349 And God has claimed that he is in control of all things and he created all things. 00:21:11.799 --> 00:21:13.059 So I can actually trust that. 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:19.289 And so by knowing who God claims himself to be, that helps me so often when. 00:21:19.710 --> 00:21:25.980 I'm looking at a situation and I can see that I'm believing a lie about who God is in that moment. 00:21:26.460 --> 00:21:30.250 And to be able to remind yourself of the truth in those times is really, really important. 00:21:31.309 --> 00:21:32.339 It's the key, right? 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:38.609 I mean, like you just said, it's being aware and being self aware, but it's, it's easy to fall into. 00:21:38.609 --> 00:21:42.730 I know that I've done that too, where like it's, everything's going really well. 00:21:42.730 --> 00:21:46.970 It's almost like superstitious, wherever you go, bad's coming. 00:21:47.289 --> 00:21:49.049 And just like history. 00:21:49.480 --> 00:21:49.900 Yeah. 00:21:49.910 --> 00:21:50.089 Okay. 00:21:50.099 --> 00:21:51.039 It's, it's true. 00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:51.390 Like. 00:21:51.789 --> 00:21:58.569 Historically in our life, it's been a lot of things that go almost well and then things that blow up. 00:21:58.660 --> 00:22:12.079 And the thing is like, one thing that I've had to learn to really wrestle with is, is the God that's there in the times that feel comfortable, the same God that's there in the times that feel tough, or as he changed, or has he changed? 00:22:12.529 --> 00:22:15.640 And the reality is if he's changed, he's not really the God of the Bible. 00:22:15.650 --> 00:22:16.950 So he can't have changed. 00:22:17.769 --> 00:22:20.559 I just didn't fully understand who he was in those times. 00:22:20.609 --> 00:22:27.599 And so the depth of understanding that you can develop of who God is through painful moments. 00:22:27.674 --> 00:22:30.434 Um, it's valuable, it's difficult, but it's valuable. 00:22:30.535 --> 00:22:30.755 Yeah. 00:22:31.684 --> 00:22:48.394 Can I ask you about a very significant, painful moment in your life with your mum, uh, who I deeply miss too, uh, for those of you who are new to our podcast or part of Canterbury Gardens, Florina, uh, it was, is, or was married to John, who's the associate pastor at our church. 00:22:48.914 --> 00:22:50.474 Uh, she's home with Jesus now. 00:22:51.005 --> 00:22:58.035 Um, tell me, I've heard little bits and pieces, but mate, I guess, what's a thing that, as you reflect on that season of your life? 00:22:58.089 --> 00:23:03.799 Uh, what are the emotions of the things that you reflect on? 00:23:04.019 --> 00:23:07.099 What was God, where was God in that? 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:09.420 It's a really complicated question. 00:23:10.259 --> 00:23:12.140 And you don't have to talk about this cause I can edit this later. 00:23:12.140 --> 00:23:14.190 So no, no, I'm, I'm happy. 00:23:14.220 --> 00:23:29.920 I'm happy to, I think for me, one of the most difficult things of that time was seeing the impact that it was having on other people when mum was going downhill and things weren't going well, seeing people that were. 00:23:30.404 --> 00:23:41.704 Connecting with Christ because of her passing and restoring relationships because they'd seen her go earlier than expected and seeing God use it for so much good was really tricky. 00:23:42.285 --> 00:23:48.154 And I really was wrestling with God of, I get that this is good for other people, but this is not feel good for me. 00:23:48.805 --> 00:23:54.365 And that real wrestle of like, how the heck, how the heck is this a thing? 00:23:54.375 --> 00:23:58.625 How are you using something that is so broken and so painful and so difficult? 00:23:59.484 --> 00:24:05.835 How are you redeeming this for your glory and being okay with that and being okay with God around all of that. 00:24:06.605 --> 00:24:13.375 I, um, I learned a lot from the life of David and how often he just cried out and said, this sucks. 00:24:13.845 --> 00:24:15.565 And so I took that on. 00:24:15.664 --> 00:24:19.045 I would often just sit there and pray, God, this really sucks. 00:24:19.065 --> 00:24:20.295 I don't get what you're doing here. 00:24:20.355 --> 00:24:21.625 It makes no sense to me. 00:24:22.414 --> 00:24:23.944 I don't think I'll ever understand. 00:24:24.609 --> 00:24:31.960 The complexities of how this works in your perfectness and your good nature, but help me to trust in who you are. 00:24:32.609 --> 00:24:34.230 It's something that'll never feel right. 00:24:34.269 --> 00:24:36.569 It'll never feel good. 00:24:37.140 --> 00:24:43.089 But at the same time, God is good, despite what I'm feeling in that moment. 00:24:43.849 --> 00:24:47.039 And it's really one of those things that I still wrestle with often. 00:24:47.170 --> 00:24:47.359 Yeah. 00:24:47.960 --> 00:24:52.640 It's the, how is God able to redeem so much good from something that is so broken? 00:24:53.585 --> 00:24:58.964 And then you have the things of like, why, why my mum? 00:24:59.765 --> 00:25:03.105 And that's really tricky because you feel incredibly guilty for saying it. 00:25:03.115 --> 00:25:06.275 Cause you're like, well, do you feel better about it being someone else's mum? 00:25:06.275 --> 00:25:08.734 You're like, well, no, but still why? 00:25:08.964 --> 00:25:09.805 That's normal, right? 00:25:09.835 --> 00:25:10.214 Yeah. 00:25:10.224 --> 00:25:10.474 Can I ask that? 00:25:10.515 --> 00:25:10.825 Yep. 00:25:10.914 --> 00:25:16.015 And getting to the point of being okay, that I will never actually have answers for these questions this side of heaven. 00:25:17.134 --> 00:25:22.894 And I think if I dwelt on that and got caught in those, it would drag me further from Christ. 00:25:22.964 --> 00:25:25.505 And so resetting my eyes on who. 00:25:25.914 --> 00:25:31.345 God is, and trusting him, despite all the things that I don't understand. 00:25:31.875 --> 00:25:34.894 It's a difficult journey and something that you walk in every day. 00:25:36.285 --> 00:25:41.345 You know, as you're sharing that story, uh, uh, um, story comes to mind with your mom, actually. 00:25:41.525 --> 00:25:53.875 So I was at the church building and she had this famous line that she would, after the service, everyone had gone, she'd be hanging around and she'll, we'll be talking about certain things and she'll have this thing where she goes, Lord, what are you doing? 00:25:54.565 --> 00:25:55.615 What are you doing? 00:25:56.174 --> 00:25:57.369 And I'll look at her and then she goes. 00:25:57.660 --> 00:25:59.660 But I've got to trust you, I've got to trust you. 00:25:59.900 --> 00:26:03.569 Um, and I think I can see that flowing out into your life as well, mate. 00:26:03.650 --> 00:26:05.890 Um, thanks for being honest about that. 00:26:06.369 --> 00:26:10.809 Sam, as you, um, think of perhaps your passion, uh, and love for youth. 00:26:11.644 --> 00:26:18.785 There might be someone who's sitting there, or if they're listening, G'day, uh, um, they might be going, why has God wired me this way? 00:26:18.805 --> 00:26:20.755 What kind of encouragement would you give them? 00:26:20.755 --> 00:26:25.194 What would you say to them about how to help them move forward? 00:26:26.210 --> 00:26:29.789 Yeah, I think, I do love youth. 00:26:29.849 --> 00:26:31.059 I love youth ministry. 00:26:31.380 --> 00:26:34.869 It is the area of serving God that brings me so much joy. 00:26:35.009 --> 00:26:47.474 And I realize it because with the way my brain works, when you plug into something and you're just in it and just can't help, but just do everything you possibly can and just so excited about it. 00:26:47.484 --> 00:26:50.115 And you go, okay, this is what God's designed me for. 00:26:50.934 --> 00:26:52.224 I go, cool. 00:26:52.355 --> 00:26:53.595 What has God designed you for? 00:26:53.734 --> 00:26:57.115 Like we live in a world where there's all this airy fairy, who are you? 00:26:57.125 --> 00:27:02.994 Know yourself kind of, I'll say rubbish for want of a better word, but I will. 00:27:03.025 --> 00:27:03.384 I will. 00:27:03.555 --> 00:27:07.434 But the reality is that there's actually some real godly truth in that. 00:27:07.914 --> 00:27:15.615 And who God's created you to be is very different to who God has created someone else to be and the skills and abilities that he's given you. 00:27:15.914 --> 00:27:19.644 Uh, different to someone else's, like the Bible is so explicit on it. 00:27:19.644 --> 00:27:24.184 Talking about passages about the body and how you need all the different parts. 00:27:24.275 --> 00:27:26.785 And the reality is that you actually seriously do. 00:27:26.805 --> 00:27:34.365 One of the most exciting things about our youth ministry at the moment is actually that we have a youth leadership that is so different from each other. 00:27:34.845 --> 00:27:36.654 We have so many different characters. 00:27:36.654 --> 00:27:43.325 We have so many different skillsets, but with all those different people with different abilities, working together. 00:27:43.795 --> 00:27:53.194 focused on Christ, what is able to come out of that ministry is so much greater than if everyone was like one person or everyone was like another person. 00:27:53.644 --> 00:27:58.555 And so the reality is if someone's sitting there in a stage of going, Oh, why has God made me this way? 00:27:58.984 --> 00:28:01.015 There is actually an answer to that question. 00:28:01.525 --> 00:28:04.345 There is a purpose for why God has made you a specific way. 00:28:04.724 --> 00:28:14.839 And the reality is if you focus on the, why has God made me this way and change that focus to, God, you have made me this way. 00:28:14.839 --> 00:28:16.579 What do you desire from me? 00:28:17.220 --> 00:28:31.180 Take your eyes off yourself and back to Christ, because it's actually for his purposes that he's designed you as you are without making any mistakes in his image, which that expression is something that gives value and dignity. 00:28:31.545 --> 00:28:39.555 Without anything else, if you're made in the image of God, which we all are, that has inherent dignity and inherent purpose. 00:28:40.134 --> 00:28:48.835 So I encourage people to actually get to know who God's created you to be, not in an airy fairy sense, but what loves has he given you? 00:28:48.835 --> 00:28:50.224 What abilities has he given you? 00:28:50.734 --> 00:28:55.075 And how might you use that to love and serve him and to love and serve others? 00:28:55.569 --> 00:29:02.569 Because when people plug in, in the way that they've actually been gifted, like running an electrical business, I've done for a long time. 00:29:03.069 --> 00:29:12.920 And I often say that I think God put me in that business, not to make money or to run a good company, but to develop, but to develop things in me that he needed me to have. 00:29:13.609 --> 00:29:15.299 I'm not good at running a business. 00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:20.730 I do not have the right values to run a successful, profitable, amazing company. 00:29:21.170 --> 00:29:22.829 Cause I don't care about the kind of things that. 00:29:23.210 --> 00:29:26.140 People in high business and successful trade companies care about. 00:29:26.819 --> 00:29:27.140 But. 00:29:28.099 --> 00:29:36.109 What God has done through that and shaped in me has actually enabled me to be able to plug in with those skillsets that I do have and the loves that I have in the right areas. 00:29:36.759 --> 00:29:38.220 And so it's one of those things. 00:29:38.230 --> 00:29:40.529 I love seeing kids go, I love this. 00:29:40.579 --> 00:29:42.059 How could I use this to serve God? 00:29:42.680 --> 00:29:43.440 I love drawing. 00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:49.509 Like I was having a meeting earlier today with the illustrator for, who draws all the characters for our podcast. 00:29:49.859 --> 00:29:53.269 And I love sitting down with her because she thinks so differently from me. 00:29:53.750 --> 00:29:57.480 And together we're putting together a storybook and that is so fun. 00:29:58.119 --> 00:29:59.190 I couldn't do that on my own. 00:29:59.400 --> 00:30:02.589 And so God has created each one of us different for different purposes. 00:30:02.789 --> 00:30:04.690 Take your eyes off yourself and focus on him. 00:30:05.500 --> 00:30:06.430 So who's the illustrator? 00:30:06.500 --> 00:30:07.000 Give a shout out. 00:30:07.019 --> 00:30:12.160 Uh, Abby Clerk, she's incredibly gifted and she's just put out another book recently. 00:30:12.190 --> 00:30:14.630 So go check her out on Instagram. 00:30:14.640 --> 00:30:16.890 You'll be able to find all the details and bits and pieces, but. 00:30:17.305 --> 00:30:28.085 She is someone that God has given a completely different brain and watching her just put an amazing picture to some words that I jotted down on a paper and going, Oh yeah, you've made my own story. 00:30:28.085 --> 00:30:29.105 Make more sense to me. 00:30:29.154 --> 00:30:29.815 It's just fun. 00:30:29.865 --> 00:30:34.734 It's fun working with other people who love God to do these kinds of fun things together. 00:30:35.755 --> 00:30:44.805 As you share your stories, I think the common thing I keep hearing is that know who God is, know how he's wired you. 00:30:45.410 --> 00:30:48.970 And to know what his purpose is for you, for his kingdom and beyond. 00:30:48.970 --> 00:30:54.700 And, you know, I've really appreciated hearing that in the different seasons and seeing you grow in that. 00:30:55.180 --> 00:30:58.609 Um, for those of you, if you're interested, shout out to CIA Youth. 00:30:58.609 --> 00:30:59.480 I'll give a shout out. 00:30:59.529 --> 00:31:00.450 Is that what you do? 00:31:00.940 --> 00:31:02.539 I feel so old saying those words. 00:31:04.329 --> 00:31:09.869 I do, I do a story podcast, so I don't have to worry about all these normal things that other people do on podcasts. 00:31:09.869 --> 00:31:10.880 It makes no sense to me. 00:31:10.950 --> 00:31:12.910 Anyway, CIA youth represent. 00:31:15.029 --> 00:31:16.990 I'm starting to show how old I am, I think. 00:31:16.990 --> 00:31:21.670 So to all the young people, if you're listening to this, I apologize, I'm one of those dudes now. 00:31:21.710 --> 00:31:23.349 Um, yes, we do have a youth group. 00:31:23.359 --> 00:31:24.200 Please do check us out. 00:31:24.200 --> 00:31:26.859 If you, if you live in the outer Eastern suburbs of Melbourne. 00:31:27.299 --> 00:31:36.190 And don't have much to do and you're in high school, uh, age on a Friday night and you don't have a local church youth group to go to, please check us out on our website, I'm sure. 00:31:36.539 --> 00:31:39.509 Samuel, anything else to say before we wrap up? 00:31:49.660 --> 00:31:55.089 I just want to reaffirm the fact that God doesn't make mistakes because there's been so many times. 00:31:55.440 --> 00:32:05.750 In my own life where I've felt like God has made a mistake with me when I'm not walking with him, when I'm doing my own thing. 00:32:05.819 --> 00:32:11.150 And I think I knew too much about God to be able to tell him to completely go away. 00:32:12.460 --> 00:32:15.930 It was one of those things of God, I don't think you got this right here. 00:32:16.710 --> 00:32:19.430 And I'm sure there's plenty of people that feel that about themselves. 00:32:19.920 --> 00:32:25.960 And so I just want to really reiterate the fact of we serve a God who is perfect and doesn't make mistakes. 00:32:26.539 --> 00:32:32.190 And the more we can get to understand the why behind who we are and what he has done for us. 00:32:32.319 --> 00:32:33.289 It's not actually about us. 00:32:33.289 --> 00:32:39.269 It's about him and his saving grace that can redeem anyone and anything for himself. 00:32:41.450 --> 00:32:44.690 And on that note, would you like to pray to that great God for us? 00:32:44.809 --> 00:32:45.210 I would. 00:32:46.049 --> 00:32:46.650 Um. 00:32:46.900 --> 00:32:53.589 Dear Loving Lord Jesus, thank you so much for an opportunity to sit down and to talk openly about who you are. 00:32:53.750 --> 00:33:03.000 Um, I praise you that this is the world that we live in now, where we can share ideas and thoughts and all kinds of stuff so readily and so wide. 00:33:03.099 --> 00:33:10.894 Um, I really just want to Praise you for the work that you're doing, um, both at Canterbury and in the wider community. 00:33:10.974 --> 00:33:26.845 I pray that you would continue to raise up different people in different places for your purposes, um, so that we might see great change in this place and that we would see your hand working continuously through different types and different people and especially through the unexpected. 00:33:27.505 --> 00:33:30.944 Um, we ask that you would, uh, Keep all these things for yourself. 00:33:30.994 --> 00:33:40.744 Um, give us wisdom to know when to step out and give us the knowledge to know that it's not of ourselves and the strength to continue for the moments that we are in. 00:33:40.805 --> 00:33:41.994 We ask all this in your name. 00:33:42.025 --> 00:33:42.424 Amen. 00:33:42.765 --> 00:33:43.345 Amen. 00:33:43.805 --> 00:33:46.894 Well, friends, thanks for joining us today in regards to the topic of ADHD. 00:33:47.555 --> 00:33:50.924 As you know, this is Samuel sharing his story and his life. 00:33:50.924 --> 00:33:52.125 We're not health professionals. 00:33:52.125 --> 00:33:57.184 If that's something that you are interested in checking out, please talk to your health professional otherwise than that. 00:33:57.194 --> 00:33:57.795 God bless. 00:33:57.845 --> 00:33:58.545 Chat to you soon.