Episode 4 Don't Quit!

Embracing struggles and pushing through the urge to quit can lead to unexpected strength and growth. By examining reasons behind the desire to give up, we emphasize the importance of reconnecting with our goals and maintaining faith in our journey.

• Exploring highlights and personal struggles of the week
• Discussing the importance of keeping goals in mind
• Understanding why life struggles can lead to wanting to quit
• Personal anecdotes revealing moments of near-quitting
• The emotional aspect of feeling alone in challenges
• Encouragement to lean on community and faith in tough times
• Final reflections on the power of perseverance and the need to remember Gods calling on your life.

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Transcript

Don't Quit

Speaker 1 0:34

welcome back to episode number four. We made it here. We're so excited, so tonight we have we say tonight, as always, we're recording late at night yeah, so we're excited to be able to bring this conversation with y'all. We've had a lot going on this week. It's just the beginning of the week, it is. Yeah, we're we're kind of riding off of a high of the weekend of a lot of activity, a lot of adventure, a lot of struggles. It just is what it is. We had some good services at church, some great worship, some good opportunities to do some stuff outside also, and business was good. Had a lot of customers that came in this weekend.

Speaker 2 1:15

I feel like I'm having to recover from the weekend. You know like I haven't really gotten back into the swing of it yet, and we're already almost at the middle of this week, so yeah, it's been different since running our own business.

Speaker 1 1:29

It's like the weekend is normally like around tuesday where there's a little, a little lag, because the weekend now is like prime business time. So so you know you're going hard when everyone else is trying to. When you're trying to, everyone else is relaxing, yeah, so, um, so what's what's kind of been the, the, the highlight of your week that you could, you would say oh my goodness, of the week or from the weekend I don't like since last episode.

Speaker 2 1:56

Okay, I would say well, our daughter was in her first little school pageant and that went well for her. It was just fun spending the day with her. I loved every single second of it because she had a really good attitude all day long.

Speaker 1 2:14

Yeah, you always worry about them being like grouchy and upset Just a diva, you know.

Speaker 2 2:18

But she wasn't, she was just there along for the ride. I also ran a half marathon. Second half marathon, I would say that that I don't know if that was the high.

Speaker 1 2:30

No, no. I remember talking on the phone with you and you were like, if you were here, I'd probably punch you in the throat. I know, even though you haven't done anything punch you in the throat.

Speaker 2 2:44

A lot of emotions there, some aggression out, but, um, that was really hard in fact. Like that, coupled with a few other things that have been going on, kind of led us to our topic today, which is about don't quit, because I know that our last episode was about why you should start yeah and so because you have started, yeah you, you're going, you're going to come across this time when you might want to quit.

Speaker 1 3:09

I think everyone does. I don't think there's anything that you start that you're like yeah, I don't know. I mean I remember like so many things, like as a kid, like you would start making something, a fort or a carving, like like there's all kinds of little things I did tinkering growing up and it's like you reach a point where, like it's not turning out the way I want, I want to quit and that's just like you know simple things that you're playing with. But in life, when it gets older and it gets more serious, the consequences are greater. Like it really makes you question, like what you're doing and how far to push yourself Right.

Speaker 2 3:40

And this is not just about like physical fitness or running.

Speaker 1 3:45

Oh, no, no, no.

Speaker 2 3:46

This is for everything in your life. You know Anything that you've started. You have the potential to quit it right.

Speaker 1 3:55

Like we talk about the starting line and we talk about the finish line, but the struggle really is in the middle of the the race, it's in the middle of life. Um, I heard a pastor, I've heard a couple times that someone said that you know, on your tombstone you have the beginning date and the end date, but the only thing that people remember is the dash in the middle. The dash in the middle is where life happens. Um, you, that point when you die, eternity happens. Before that point, there was no existence for your spirit. But everything in the middle, that's what everyone's going to remember, that's what's going to affect people and you can't quit during that dash.

Speaker 2 4:30

Right and I feel like this episode could get emotional for me if I let it.

Speaker 1 4:37

Yeah, we've had some conversations.

Speaker 2 4:40

We've had some conversations, but I feel like we personally are in this moment of we're having to tell ourselves don't quit. Don't quit Because you're exhausted. It's so hard. And then when you're an entrepreneur and if you are, then you already know this feeling or if you're just a creative person in general, like that feeling of you're constantly having ideas yeah you know, like it?

Speaker 2 5:10

just it pops up just one after another and it can, and it's great, but it can be it can be really exhausting and overwhelming and like you feel like you need to turn your mind off, but you run a business and you can't turn your mind off you know, and so there, there's those moments of, I guess, weakness, and I know that Satan, he's going to pounce on you during those times and he might even use other people or other situations in your life that make it seem like everything is bad at the same time, and he's like you know what. You should just throw in the towel on this one.

Speaker 1 5:49

Yeah.

Speaker 2 5:49

If you feel that feeling of you're wanting to throw the towel in or to quit, it probably means you don't need to quit.

Remembering the Ultimate Goal

Speaker 1 5:57

Yeah, I mean Satan. He's here to steal, kill and destroy. I mean he wants. He wants to steal the joy that god has for you, he wants to kill the hopes and dreams you have in you and he wants to destroy your future. That's all there is to it and we can't let that happen.

Speaker 1 6:10

So we wanted to bring to you, um, from the top of our hearts, the bottom of our hearts, the top of our heads, the three reasons why we believe people quit. I mean there's a million reasons why people quit. I mean there's always an excuse, there's always a reason to quit. Right, but these are the three reasons that were predominant in our thoughts tonight. So the first reason that we came up with in our mind was that they forget about the goal.

Speaker 1 6:33

You know, when you're at the starting line, you know that you have a goal in mind, but when you're in the middle of the race, or you're in the middle of a task, or you're trying to perfect a system to be able to produce a product, or you're trying to build a business, or you're trying to have a relationship with someone in the middle of it, you forget about the goal. What is the goal that's been laid upon your heart to reach towards the goal can be such a motivator. And when you forget about that, um, all you see is where you're at right now. All you see is that this area, like you said, the, the, the course that y'all ran was like a pea gravel type course. So I mean that's hard enough running that distance, but running it on something where you have loose footing can be definitely a mind game.

Speaker 1 7:17

A mind game like crazy that you have to be like this is not over, because it was the in and out run too. So you knew what was ahead of you, you knew it was nothing but that same gravel all the way, and thinking, yeah, you're trapped and you're thinking about that one thing, but you're not remembering the goal, know, and and and the. It's a mind game. At that point, it's not necessarily that you can't do the task or you can't excel, you can't grow, but that you're only focused on that one moment where, where you, you're not focused on the goal, you're focused on that one trial or that one situation.

Speaker 2 7:54

Yes, and I think it can be that way, like even in your business or in your life or relationships, when you're having those moments of I want to quit, think about what that end goal is, because you just can't, like you get these blinders on yeah, you can only see in the moment, and there's sometimes you do need to only see in the moment.

Speaker 2 8:19

You don't need to be looking too far ahead, but if you're having those negative feelings, remember what that ultimate goal is. I know that we feel that god gave us a vision, right yeah god gave us a um, a promise. Really well, we came we had a vision.

Speaker 1 8:35

Maybe one of these days we'll share it, but like we had visions, almost the exact same vision, the same thought on the same day I can't wait until it happens and we were nowhere near each other, like in our proximity, we're like an hour and a half away from each other and there was no communication.

Speaker 1 8:53

And we get home and we're both basically talking about the same exact thing and we're just like we know this has got to be God. We're both basically talking about the same exact thing and we're just like we know this has got to be God. And then, in the midst of that, you know we have all these struggles and you think of these bills, and you think of this opportunity that was passed, or you think of this situation or the economy or whatever it is. The ebbs and flow of business as it goes up and down. It's a wild roller coaster and you get caught up in that. So much so and I mentioned this that that we forget that just because we're dealing with a struggle or dealing with hard times doesn't mean that that vision changed didn't it didn't change just because you time and distance and opportunity and situation changed.

Speaker 1 9:31

The vision was still true. That's like when god laid down his law, when he, just because someone moved to a different area, didn't mean that the law changed. The law was truth.

Speaker 2 9:42

Yes, and I also think that God's timeline is not our timeline at all. I think we've talked about this before that we live in an Amazon world where things are just you expect things to happen so quickly, and so when they don't happen, you either a think that it was just you and it was never meant to be, yeah, um. Or b that, like it, you're a failure, it's never gonna happen, you know. And once again, you're not seeing what that end goal is. And there's it's, and it's a marathon. It's not a sprint, you know it. Some things take time to get there, but Satan, he wants you to stay in that moment and be like it's never going to get better than this moment right here, and so you just need to quit.

Speaker 1 10:30

Yeah.

Speaker 2 10:32

I'm going to be completely honest with you guys. I had those feelings today. I even said it to you.

Speaker 1 10:38

Vocally and I didn.

Speaker 2 10:39

I even said it to you and I and I, I didn't say I wanted to quit. I said I having those feelings of I want to quit but I don't want to quit either, you know. But you know you feel like your back's up against the wall.

Speaker 1 10:51

It's an emotional struggle A lot of times.

Speaker 2 10:54

And if you're already thinking about this, too, if you're already tired you came off of your pushing yourself from that half marathon.

Speaker 1 11:02

Your body's tired.

Speaker 2 11:03

We've had a lot going on Like your emotions are just like way up here. You know like it's not the best time to be making a decision, a really big decision, like that.

Speaker 1 11:13

It's like whoa.

Speaker 2 11:14

calm down, step back, remember Whoa. I think that's a good reason, too, why you should make vision boards. We've talked about this many times too, about the importance of making vision boards so that you can, at those moments, you can go back and look at it.

Speaker 1 11:30

Well, why don't we make one before our next episode and we can talk about it? Yes, so they forget the goal. That was the first thing that came to mind. The second thing that came to our mind is that, at the time they think that it's too hard, people quit because they think that it's too hard. Life is hard in general. It just is, because there's always someone with their hand out, there's always someone that's hurting, there's always something on your mind or on your heart that's concerning you, and there's always things that you feel are out of your control.

Speaker 1 12:03

Um, I remember when I had a car wreck one time, when I fell asleep, working umpteen hours night shift, day shift, rotating and um, and I remember telling you that when, when I had that wreck, I wasn't afraid of dying, I wasn't afraid of being injured.

Speaker 1 12:22

The fear that I had in my heart came from a place of not being in control, that, no matter what I did brake, gas, turn, lean, whatever there was no opportunity for me to correct this situation and I just had to go with it. I was airborne, you know. There was nothing, opportunity for me to correct this situation and I just had to go with it. Um, I was airborne. You know there was nothing I could do, um, and and that feeling of, of helplessness, that's what got me in that situation, um, cause I know where my heart was, I know I was secure if I was to die at that moment, but, um, but it was difficult to not be in control and and when it gets hard, when it gets really hard, a lot of times we feel like it's out of our control. You know, and that's, and I think that's where a lot of that to you too.

Speaker 1 13:13

Yeah.

Speaker 2 13:14

That there's nothing that you can do. Yeah, the situation is what it is and it's like there's nothing I can do.

Speaker 1 13:26

Yeah Well, don't quote me on where it's at in the Bible, but it says when there's nothing else that you can do, just stand. Is that something I can't remember? There's a scripture that says something like that. I can't remember.

Speaker 2 13:40

You need to do the Bible reading I know right Memorize every scripture that's in the Bible.

Speaker 1 13:46

Someone let us know what I'm talking about.

Speaker 2 13:48

I do think that when it gets hard and it's going to be hard, like you have to expect if you've had a vision or if you've had something big that you're trying to accomplish never expect that it's going to be easy.

Speaker 1 14:01

It's going to be hard you know, you, just you sent me a if y'all, if y'all are married to someone out there and you and you and you have a point of humor in your life. You're going to be sending each other stuff all day, constantly. But she, you sent me something today about a guy.

Persevering Through Tough Times

Speaker 1 14:17

He was sitting there when god, when you hear god's voice and god's like I want you to do this, you know, and then this is going to be the result and this is going to be the result, and this is going to be a result, but the reality is, god just tells you, I want you to do this and the guy's like okay, a little more info is it going to be all right? Yeah, he's like no, god's not going to show you all the reasoning and that's the trust that we're supposed to have with him, right right like we literally should not worry about a single thing because he is in control.

Speaker 2 14:50

We shouldn't be worried about whether we're in control. We should be worried if we were in control right when you think about it.

Speaker 1 14:58

Yeah, no, we need him to be in control I mean, if we had everything the way that we wanted it, then every it's like it's like every single one of us would be on a, on a beach, somewhere, in a hammock, you know, sipping on sweet tea, and then nothing would be getting done in the world, right, we would all have our way but some things are going to be hard, you know, and this and another reason why we chose this topic to talk about too is because it just keeps coming up today.

Speaker 2 15:23

But on the way home from school, my daughter she started getting all teary-eyed in the back while she was sitting in the back seat and I was like what is up with you? And usually if she's like that, I'm thinking, oh no, she might be coming down with something like she's just feeling emotional or whatever. And she said I don't want to do ballet anymore.

Speaker 1 15:47

And I was like this is the first I've heard of this and I was like you know, and I'm trying to figure out why you know Now she went through a phase where she was wanting to try gymnastics, but she knew what she wanted to do, but she saw the grass was green on the other side, and then for her to go back and say I know I don't want to do ballet anymore. It could be it can take you back.

Speaker 2 16:08

Yes, like what's going on what you know, what's up you know. But I will say this she also takes jazz and tap along with it, and she was. She just wants to do that. She just wants to do jazz and tap. Now, knowing her as I do and knowing her personality, I can see that she probably might not want to do ballet forever and that she is wanting to do the little jazz and tap you know but I looked at her performance instead.

Speaker 2 16:36

I look at her, but I'm driving, you know, I just I looked at her and I was like I look at her but I'm driving, you know, I just briefly glance at her and I'm like you can't quit, and I think I shattered her heart.

Speaker 1 16:46

Yeah.

Speaker 2 16:46

You know cause she's expecting mommy to like just fix it and say, okay, you don't have to do ballet anymore.

Speaker 1 16:51

Swoop in and save her. Yes.

Speaker 2 16:53

And I said we're like really close to the end, like it's recited, getting to be recital time. She has like three months left, you know, and I said you can't do that to everybody else, so you know, like you're in the routines at this point, the investment has been made.

Speaker 1 17:10

Yeah the choreography and it's other people's obligations once the season's over.

Speaker 2 17:15

If you decide you don't want to do the ballet and you just want to do the other types of it, okay, we can have that conversation, but right now, no, you can't quit, and I think the reason that one reason is it may be a little bit slower paced than what her personality is wanting, but it's a two-hour class, like. She's basically there for this first half. She's there for this tap and jazz that she loves, and then for the last half she's doing ballet and I think she's probably tired.

Speaker 2 17:45

Tired and she's just thinking I don't want to be. And the kid's a homebody, she loves to be with us too.

Speaker 1 17:51

Yeah.

Speaker 2 17:52

And so I think she's just thinking I don't want to be gone for that long, and so l, as a seven-year-old child, is having her own moments of wanting to quit because it's too hard, hard yeah you know it's going against what, what her flesh is wanting. But you know, and that's where being a parent comes into you know, it's like let's let's check, let's check all these measurements here.

Speaker 2 18:15

Like are you safe? Like there's there's nothing weird going on and you safe? Like there's there's nothing weird going on and you know? Like no, this is just you being seven and wanting to come home an hour early you know, so we're gonna ride it out. You know we have to teach her.

Speaker 1 18:30

Life is going to be hard sometimes and you just got to push through you know the, the scripture that came to your mind earlier was um, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be. Also, matthew 6, 21. And I was thinking about that as you were talking about like shattering her heart, about how my cup for the night is one of my old workplaces. It's a local coke foundry, like coal fire coked, uh, not coca-cola. Um, and that was one of the hardest jobs I've ever had.

Speaker 1 19:00

And like, I went through three pairs of boots in the first three months, my feet were completely blistered and swollen and um, I was being forced to work 16 hours on top of, you know, 2000 degree plus ovens, and um, and legally they could force you to work. You know that many hours. Um, because environmentally the place couldn't shut down, it had to operate, so they had to have workers. And um, and legally they could force you to work, you know that many hours. Um, because environmentally the place couldn't shut down, it had to operate, so they had to have workers. And you know, if you're short-staffed, you're gonna get stuck with the hard jobs and didn't you say too that you would there.

Speaker 2 19:28

I think there was a lot, so much more going on there than than you ever told me yeah how bad it was physically physically and how dangerous it was.

Speaker 1 19:37

It was one of the most taxing times of my life and I knew that if my treasure wasn't in providing for my family and building a future, if my treasure was just in selfish means and just trying to make a quick buck or something like that, I would not have persevered through that. I really genuinely feel that the treasure that was on my heart was the future of my family and my heart was willing to push my body through those situations to try to better our lives. And you know, god used it. He used it in a mighty way. Because of that job I was able to go into actual career that has provided for our family continuously, um, up until the point when, uh, god called us into to doing this. And he still uses it all the time. And, hey, go go hang this light fixture and wire this up. And you know he still uses it, you know 100 times a day.

Speaker 2 20:32

What's wrong with this machine?

Speaker 1 20:33

yeah, yeah, I, I worked on our espresso machine the other day and it's like no big deal, you know. Yeah, but the fact of the matter is that I remember walking to my car and I don't know if I ever shared this with you, but I remember walking to my car, my little white S10. Yes, yeah, it sounded like a bumblebee, but I was proud of that little truck. But I remember walking to it many nights. In my head I was quitting. In my head I said I can't do this anymore. I don't know Now you're going to be the emotional one, I'm going to be the emotional one, but I would get in that little car and I had an hour ride home and by the time I got home I was okay.

Speaker 1 21:20

I had my talks with God. I would listen to David Jeremiah on the radio Late at night. Sometimes he'd be on some of the odd stations. I remember a few other pastors. Sometimes I'd just roll the window down a little bit and drive and listen to the wind. By the time I got home I was like, okay, I can do it one more day.

Speaker 2 21:41

You've done a lot more days.

Speaker 1 21:43

I did and I know God used it and that's the reason why I wanted to have this cup because, yes, it was hard, but I knew why I was going through that hard. I knew why I was persevering.

Speaker 2 21:56

Yeah, through that hard, I knew why I was persevering. Yeah, and now you're remembering it now, and because you're always gonna go through something hard, constantly, there's always going to be something new yeah, god hasn't changed to go through and he hasn't changed and we can fall back on the times that he's brought us through. It's like the hymn Standing on the Promises. I love that hymn.

Speaker 2 22:22

And it's like just remembering everything that he's already brought you through. Yeah, and it can help you get through the next thing. You know you're not going to be in the valley all the time You're not. But there is beauty in the valley, because and I've talked to you about this too when you're in the valley, what's the only place that you can look? When you're in the valley.

Speaker 1 22:49

When you're at your lowest, the only way that you can look is up.

Speaker 2 22:52

Is up and when we're looking up, it means that we're looking at him and, honestly, that's where our eyes need to be fixed at. Anyway, it's like what you said with that verse where your treasure is there, will your heart be also yeah that I want my treasure to be him, you know, and I think I said this to you one time too.

Speaker 2 23:13

I was like god, keep the valley. Like, even if I'm on the mountain, I just want to pretend that I'm in the valley because I want to keep my eyes on you. I read a devotion today that was talking about the dangers of prosperity.

Overcoming Obstacles and Building Confidence

Speaker 2 23:28

You know, like when things are going really well or when you have, I guess, really everything materialistic at your leisure, it's, you know, it's like the rich man going to heaven or the um, or to hell you know, um, it's easier for a camel to go to the eye and you know, when you have so much and you don't feel like you need anything, your eyes kind of go away from him and that's that can be the danger of prosperity, because your eyes have left him, whereas when you're in the valley, there's nowhere else you need him so much. But the thing is, what we have to understand is that we need him on the mountain, yeah, we need him, and if you have been blessed financially or materialistically, or physically, financially or materialistically- or physically.

Speaker 2 24:17

Yes, keep your eyes on Him. How is this prosperity going to be used for others, instead of internalizing it and using it for yourself? And gaining this empire, gaining this wealth? It's like, okay, here's all this plenty. Now what do we do with it?

Speaker 2 24:35

It's like when, if you been right reading in the bible recap, we just finished joseph joseph yeah and you know, and he was um gosh, if there was anybody that that should have wanted to quit, it could have been him. You know he was accused constantly of wrongdoing that. He that he never did, and God, just he used all those bad moments and that's what we have to remember. That was not his life. I'm yawning sorry. Those were just little segments in his life that were bad, right.

Speaker 2 25:09

That were hard, but God made beauty from ashes out of those moments, and we see that when the whole land goes into a famine, who is it who was able to be able to um oversee that the land is going to have plenty?

Speaker 2 25:27

And it was Joseph, you know he was like we've got to start putting back, like we're going to save for these seven years of plenty, because there's going to be seven years of famine and everybody's coming to him and getting this food, you know. So why do we feel like we're going through seven years of plenty? Because there's going to be seven years of famine and everybody's coming to him and getting this food.

Speaker 1 25:38

You know so why do we feel like we're going through seven years of famine? First, I'm joking, but you know you brought up a point. You talked about how, how, like, if anyone had a reason to to doubt or to to be afraid or be put in, it would be Joseph because he was betrayed. It would be Joseph because he was manipulated by Potiphar's wife. It would be Joseph because he was forgotten about by the cupbearer so many times. Humans let him down, and that kind of segues perfectly into our third point. So our first point is three reasons people quit is that they forget the goal, they think that it's too hard and that they feel alone.

Speaker 1 26:26

Loneliness is one of the— One is the loneliest number. Loneliness is, I think, one of the? Um satan uses the most to deplete people's confidence. Sure, he uses it to make them feel like what they're doing is not important. Because I I know that, like the reason I was going through the struggles that my, that previous employer, is that um, I was not doing it for myself. I knew, knew, I had another right. I was not alone in this, even though I was doing the physical job, I was not alone in this. Your heart was with me. I knew that when I left to go to work, your heart left to go to work and I was going to bring that heart back home to you. Um, but feeling alone in your struggles, whether it be a race, whether it be your business ventures or whether it be your relationship with God, when you're trying to say, god, do you even hear me? You know and you feel alone A lot of times that makes you want to quit.

Speaker 2 27:27

It does. Or you feel like let's say that you've gone into, you've had this vision, or and it's big and other people don't understand it, and it makes you feel alone and you think, okay, I'm not supposed to do this because I didn't have all these people falling at my feet or or, you know, they're not as excited about it as I am. It's. It's not meant to be. I'm not supposed to do it. No, that can just be a situation of casting your pearls before swine and I'm not trying to call people swine.

Speaker 2 28:00

This is what I'm trying to point out. God gave the vision to you. He gave the promise to you. He didn't give it to them. It's okay if they don't understand it yeah, which I think don't put. Don't put that pressure on people. Don't put that pressure on people that they've got to like just be there supporting you. I know support and support is great and we do need to support others, but that shouldn't be our why we do something Right.

Speaker 1 28:27

But communicating also when, when God does place a vision on your heart or God does have a goal that he sets in front of you, being able to communicate that with the people who God is using to help you achieve that goal, I think is important. You know, like having, like we talked about a vision board. Let's do that and let's share that, because if God has placed a vision on us for multiple areas in our life like why are we doing this podcast? What, in our mind, is the ultimate goal?

Speaker 2 28:52

Yes, whereas it's not just.

Speaker 1 28:53

This isn't the ultimate goal, yeah, the podcast isn't the ultimate goal, whereas it's not just the ultimate goal. Yeah, the podcast isn't the ultimate goal, you know, but it's. It's one of the puzzle pieces to help us reach that goal. And if people don't see value in us sitting here talking to you trying to help you, trying to help you build your confidence and build your journey, and and hey, hey, you know what I'm not going to quit, I'm dealing with these struggles. And hey, hey, you know what I'm not going to quit, I'm dealing with these struggles.

Speaker 1 29:20

And you walk away from listening to this, saying I know that I have this that I was dealing with. There's other people that are dealing with the same thing. Let me lean into God, let me lean into my relationships, let me lean into my vision and my goal. Let me lean into that and continue on. And 10 years down the road, when you've achieved that goal, you can look back and say, wow, that really helped me. You know that's the goal is the future. It's not necessarily whether or not you hear this now, but whether or not you're able to achieve something in your future. We want to achieve something in our future and this is one of those pieces to that puzzle, I believe it is so feeling alone?

Speaker 1 29:57

um yeah, joseph was definitely one of those ones that could feel alone.

Speaker 2 30:00

Definitely Sitting in a jail.

Speaker 2 30:03

Felt alone Sitting in that pit that his brothers threw him in, definitely felt alone when he was sold into slavery. Definitely felt alone. I have felt alone. I have felt alone in my oh, and I think that Satan can make you feel like you're alone too, like, oh, poor you, you know, like nobody gets it, you should just throw the towel in. You're not going to have any support anyway. Those are all lies. They really are, and we all battle them and you can be, I would say, in. In general, I'm a pretty joyful person. I get down yeah I get down.

Speaker 2 30:46

I've been down today. You know it's been a hard day and I and I was like, but I'm not gonna quit, even though I had those feelings and those words came out of my mouth that I want to like, just when I was running, that I'm going to go back to that half marathon that I ran.

Speaker 1 31:01

And remind me of another story about a half marathon.

Speaker 2 31:04

This was not my first half marathon. It's definitely my hardest one so far, though. But you know, I went into it. I felt like maybe I had a little bit of a bad attitude to begin with, because my legs were sore and I was tired and you know, we got a million and one things to be doing, and so it starts, you know, and I always I had a time in my mind that I wanted to do this race in, and so I find my pacer of who I want to get behind to make sure I'm going to get that time, and so we start running, and it really is a beautiful course. I think it is. I know it is, it's just it was hard for me to see.

Speaker 1 31:48

It's along a railroad bed right.

Speaker 2 31:50

I believe so.

Speaker 1 31:51

Yeah, railroad tracks by you there's nature.

Speaker 2 31:53

You're just like in the woods and stuff. But it was that smooshy gravel. The only the only way I know how to describe it is that it's like the breakfast cereal cocoa pebbles when it has the milk when it sat in the milk for a little bit.

Speaker 2 32:08

When you land, it crunches it was like that soft but yet crunchy, and so your feet are like sinking in that. So you're fighting that already. It's like, I imagine, running in sand not quite as much, but that feeling was there now, along with this couple. Now half marathon's 13.1 miles, you're, you're running, and my pacer was running faster than what we should have been running. We should have been running at an 8 minute pace. We were consistently running at like a 745, 750.

Speaker 1 32:47

Now you might think, well, that's close enough, that's a lot yeah that's a lot over yeah, it's like an extra 20 steps every k, okay and so.

Speaker 2 32:56

But I'm going with it at first because I'm thinking, well, yeah, because now I'm gonna finish even faster than I wanted to. But what I didn't realize is that it was, this was a steady incline. And so, like we're three miles in on this steady incline, my legs are burning and said, when does the incline like, when is this incline going to end? And my pacer just kind of goes, ha ha ha.

Speaker 1 33:22

Just giggled at you and I was like what was that you?

Speaker 2 33:25

know, and I, you know, I quickly realized you know it's four, five, six miles in. The incline is not ending at all. Wow. But I had in my mind I'm thinking okay, if I'm at mile six, okay, I'm gonna have to go about six and a half miles, right? Then you turn around and then I'm gonna turn around and oh my gosh it'll all be downhill from there it will be downhill, and then when I say there was a slight incline, I'm talking about very, very slight incline but, when it's for longevity, for a very long time, it's just a constant where so I'm thinking, oh yeah, okay when I turn around.

Speaker 2 34:06

I turn around and you know I'm going, it's not downhill, and I'm like I'm trying to figure this out. Why is this not downhill? If anything, it feels like it's uphill and everybody around me is saying the same thing too, and there's people there's like these sadist people running with me that have that right all the time.

Speaker 2 34:27

They're like, it's like this every time and I'm like and you keep running this, so I say all that. But that can put you in in such a mental state because you're pushing yourself physically, you're pushing yourself mentally and you're surrounded by woods. I thought about quitting and I have never quit a race like that and I was like I thought about just sneaking off into the woods and figuring out how to get out of there and get to my car. But you know, ultimately I was scared to do that because I can be a little directionally challenged. And then the helicopters are coming to look for the girl that disappeared in the woods.

Speaker 2 35:07

And I knew too that if I didn't finish that, at the end of the race, when you look at results, there would be a Holly Salamone.

Speaker 1 35:14

DNF.

Speaker 2 35:16

Did not finish beside my name, and I had just enough stubbornness in me that I was like I'm not going to quit. I'm not going to quit.

Speaker 1 35:25

Well, you knew that you were capable of it. It hurt, it was hard it did. You felt like it was a never-ending struggle.

Speaker 2 35:34

Yeah, and you feel alone, like there is nobody in the world that's feeling like you are at that moment. Now I'm not saying that other people on that trail were not struggling and were not hurting, but I don't feel like them.

Speaker 1 35:48

But I can guarantee you this one thing If I'd have been running right next to you, there's absolutely nothing I could have said to make you feel any better.

Speaker 2 35:55

In fact, knowing me, you'd me.

Speaker 1 35:58

You probably, like I do not need to say I would have backed off because you would have been completely upset at me, because your emotions would have been through the roof yes, they were and there's and it would have been just. You had your own struggle that you need to go through, and you were. You were battling it alone.

Speaker 2 36:11

Yes, and when I crossed that finish line, you know, I really was like I was trying to find my life. It was hard. And then I'm mad too, because I wanted to PR and I was a minute behind what my PR was, which isn't bad at all, and considering how hard the run was, I probably actually ran this one faster than I did my other one.

Speaker 1 36:35

Yeah, imagine your effort on the previous course. Yes, you would have PR run. Was I probably actually ran this one faster than I did my other one? Yeah, imagine the imagine your effort on the previous course. Yes, you would have pr.

Speaker 2 36:39

but my son is like running up to me with water and he's like mom, mom, like how did you do? What was your time? And I was just like I couldn't even. I was like give me a minute don't talk to me right now like I just finished this. I would love to go punch something right now. You, you know that I finished it. But in all of that, in all of those, I can tell you that in that race I felt like I forgot what my goal was.

Speaker 2 37:05

Okay, I thought it was too hard and I did feel alone and all that, and I did feel alone and all that and can you ask yourself, like, if you're going through something right now, is your answer to these questions right now, have you forgotten your goal? Do you feel like it's too hard, or do you feel alone? Do you feel all three of those things? Do you feel one of those things? Chances are you do, but I'm going to tell you do not quit yep do and here's and here's the reason why you shouldn't.

Staying Committed to God's Call

Speaker 1 37:41

We gave you three reasons why people quit. This is the one reason why you should never quit is because you are called by god. You are called to do above, exceeding and beyond your wildest imaginations. Because if we can't, if we know that we can't even imagine the height, the depth, the breadth of what God's plans are for us and we have our little simple minds and we try to wrap it around it, we're never going to be able to achieve what he has for us. We're never going to be able to see the big picture, because he has so much more in store for us. We are called by God to be the greatest that we can possibly be, above and beyond.

Speaker 1 38:30

You know, when Jesus left the disciples, he said these things that you have seen greater, you will do because I go to my Father in heaven and the Comforter will be with you. They were doing these acts of obedience in the name of Jesus without the Comforter at this time, and miracles were happening and lives were being changed. But when jesus went to his father and the comforter came, how much more ability and power do we have built into our being right, as god calls us and he gives us these visions and he gives us these desires and he gives us these goals and he brings them to our forefront and he says do you trust me? Do you see the history? Do you see what happened in the past? Use that as an inspiration to know that this hard thing you can do. And when you feel like you're alone, you are not. Yes. And when you forget about the goal, look for it again, find it, center yourself, refocus.

Speaker 2 39:35

You know if you need to make that vision board yeah, we got to do it. We're preaching to the choir today. Yep, quit talking about it, let's do it we got to do it.

Speaker 1 39:44

We've mentioned it before, but we've got to do it because, because you know, we, we believe in the bottom of our heart that god's called us into the business world. We see what we've learned and experienced in our own careers and we know that we've been led towards this direction and we know that our relationship with God is so much more now than it used to be. Are we where we need to be 100%? No, but we look at opportunities to be able to bring God's Word to people differently now than we used to. There's a reason why we're doing recap lives. There's a reason why we're doing Bible studies Because we just feel like there's so much more.

Speaker 2 40:25

It's definitely not because we're wanting to be in front of the camera and want you to hear our voice all the time. It's a sacrifice. I might not have wanted to do this tonight. You know what I mean.

Speaker 1 40:37

Yeah definitely I. I questioned whether, like whether we should just get some rest and get up early in the morning and do it. And no, we got to do it. Let's make it happen. Yes, um, you're called by god, so what is it that you're called to do? What is it?

Speaker 2 40:50

you know, whatever it is, I'm going to tell you that the hardship is worth it.

Speaker 1 40:54

Yeah, it is, I'm tell you that the hardship is worth it. Yeah, it is.

Speaker 2 40:56

I'm telling myself this the hardship is worth it. And, guys, we've got to keep going. We've got to keep going.

Speaker 1 41:05

Yeah, ultimately, don't give up, Don't give in.

Speaker 2 41:09

And you don't have to worry about other people being bought into it. You need to be bought into it. You need to be bought into what God is calling you to do.

Speaker 1 41:18

I've heard that you can't be a salesman if you don't believe in your product.

Speaker 2 41:21

That's right.

Speaker 1 41:23

I believe that what God has put on our hearts, what God has put on your hearts, is worth the effort. It's worth you going through those moments where you feel alone. I was looking at a half um, a half marathon or um, today on on Facebook. I was commenting on a few people's posts and, um, I came across this one, this, this I can't remember what her name was, but she's a popular runner right now and she came in second place, um, in this half marathon. It was a qualifier for something and but her, that was like part of her training.

Spreading Encouragement and Blessings

Speaker 1 41:56

She was running that half as part of her training for an actual marathon run, and but she was talking about the hardest part of the course was where, for a little while, she was not with a pack, because pacing builds motivation. When you know you're on the right track, it builds motivation. You see it. And she was at a point where there was a pack ahead of her and a pack behind her, but most of the time she didn't even see them. She was by herself and she said that was where the struggle was. That was where the struggle was knowing, trusting her instincts, trusting her pace, her cadence and her training, her heart rate, listening to the way her body feels. You know, and I was like thinking about that and I was like, even when you're alone, god still gives you the resources to be able to say, yes, I know, you're still there.

Speaker 2 42:44

Yes.

Speaker 1 42:45

Yes, I know that you've provided the way. I know you've given me the vision in the past and it hasn't changed. So so you are called to do it.

Speaker 2 42:55

You are.

Speaker 1 42:56

You have a purpose, so don't forget your goal.

Speaker 2 42:58

Don't think it's too hard and know that you're not alone. Guys, I hope that this has brought some sort of encouragement to you. You know, maybe there was just even one person out there that needed to hear this. I know that we did. I needed this pick-me-up myself after it feels like a long start of the week, so I hope that it's brought you encouragement. Let us know. We're so thankful for all of you that have already downloaded and been listening, and we would love to hear your feedback and hear topics that you might want us to talk about. We are definitely willing to do that, and we're going to keep dropping an episode a week. We're going to have some new people on here too, uh, sharing their stories and their advice and um all that. So we love you and we pray that god bless you and keep you and make his face shine upon you. We'll see you next time.