Running on Coffee and Christ
We are an energetic couple, focused on building a community that is able to impact their families, friends, and their world by; Growing their Faith, Improving their Fitness, and Pursuing their Future.
The topics we discuss, revolve around the hopes that YOU are inspired to better yourself and that you could dare to dream above and beyond all that you have ever imagined for yourself.
Running on Coffee and Christ
Episode 6 Less is More: Unpacking Excess in Our Lives
Discover how our choices intertwine with our identity and sense of self-worth.
• Exploring the connections between food and identity
• Personal reflections on the impact of dietary choices
• The role of fasting in spiritual growth and clarity
• How the pursuit of simplicity can lead to rediscovery of purpose
• The importance of community and relationships in overcoming excess
• Challenging societal norms around consumption
• Identifying distractions and their impact on spiritual journey
• Encouraging listeners to embrace their true identity in Christ
• Ideas for practical steps to simplify and focus on what matters
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Music from #InAudio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5NgiN3KLb4
Hey everybody.
Speaker 2:Hey, welcome back.
Speaker 1:Welcome. We are here on episode six. I can't believe we're already on episode six.
Speaker 2:We made it.
Speaker 1:And I got to nerd out a little bit on my numbers. But six is the number of man.
Speaker 2:That's right, because man was created on the sixth day.
Speaker 1:That's right. The sixth book of the Old Testament is Joshua and the sixth book of the New Testament is Romans.
Speaker 2:Romans, that's right.
Speaker 1:Just put that in your pocket and use it one day when you might need it.
Speaker 2:I don't know when you need that, but you never know it could be a jeopardy question.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's right, but, uh, we are so excited to be here again. I want to thank everyone for um just joining us and and subscribing to the podcast. We had a significant amount of more subscriptions come in with this last episode and I want to thank Caleb again for joining us, and we did have a little bit of sound issues on that one and that was our fault. We were anticipating that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we kind of expected it.
Speaker 1:But you know when you're yeah, with your resources starting, we're just starting out and so we only had two mics and we thought we would be okay with calvin and I sharing yeah I think we still would be okay with it.
Speaker 2:He was just way too far away from yeah, we would just have to recognize that we'd have to be cheek to cheek to be able to make sure you hear us next time, and I'm okay with that. I did marry you yes, that's right.
Speaker 1:Um so, yeah, that was a great episode and we've gotten some great feedback from you guys. Uh, that caleb's story really encouraged you and touched you, and that encourages us, you know because, honestly, we can get behind these mocks and we're like. You know. It's intimidating. You don't know if anybody even wants to hear what you have to say, but you just feel like you're stepping out on faith and doing this thing that was put on your heart.
Speaker 2:Well, I think there's a concept of there might not be anyone that wants to hear what you have to say, but in a world of billions of you know thousands, trillions of people, however many people in this world I don't know but in a world that is packed full of people, there's going to be a lot of people that do want to hear what you say and need to hear what you say.
Speaker 2:So if you're not saying it. Who is God's? Put something on your heart to say to the people that are in your world, so say it, speak out, and so who are we to minimize ourselves? Nope, I did nothing at all, and it's not about us.
Speaker 1:That's right, let's be clear about that. So today we've got some great little coffee mugs.
Speaker 2:Yes, this was Father's Day's day, right?
Speaker 1:yeah, this was a father's day cup that I got. I think we got this at that store in oneonta, the mercantile store so this is my little breakfast cup.
Speaker 2:It's got a, a soft boiled egg or a soft fried sunny side up egg, which is my, my favorite. You got the runny yellow holly does not like the runny yellow and then some bacon for the handle. Yeah, I love it. We love that cup. And then I have.
Speaker 1:This is from disney world. We've we've taken the family once. Of course they, they want to go again and we'll eventually do that again.
Speaker 2:But this is. You got to plan that one in advance.
Speaker 1:The ratatouille ride was new when we went and so we got this uh remy cup, but this represents cheese to me. I know you might think that's crazy, but we did. Um, we do a lot of posting on our personal pages and on our running, on coffee and christ and our sharecroppers page, but it's come out here recently because people were asking us about what kind of nutrition we follow yeah, with our running and things like that, and so we are carnivore and so these cups represent us well because basically we eat animal byproducts so eggs, bacon, cheese, they're all in our diet.
Speaker 1:You know that's that's what we eat like tonight. For supper I I had a hamburger patty and I know that might not seem like much, but I was so full and it was a big patty we've been eating this way for quite some time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we really do enjoy it, and there's a lot of things about the discussion that we want to bring to you tonight or today, whenever you're hearing this, that that really were inspired from the thoughts of, of of what we were, what we were focused on in our life and we had focused. How many times does a discussion? You know you get done with lunch and you're sitting there and it's like, well, what do you want to do for dinner tonight?
Speaker 2:you know, food was a really big focus on our discussion yeah but, but we had, uh, quite a few experiences where lately, um, we'd really kept this diet to ourselves because we don't want to be preachy, preachy, and we also want you to know that this episode is not about the carnivore diet.
Speaker 1:It's not, it's not, I promise it's not, it's kind of a segue into what our?
Speaker 2:main thoughts were for for this podcast. Um, but so like, for instance, like when you were running a half marathon, someone was with you and they were taking a lot of gels while they were running. Yes, so the last half marathon I ran.
Speaker 1:If you listen to any of the other episodes, it was quite a struggle for me, just because the terrain was hard, like I came into it with really heavy legs. Energy Energy was fine, though Mentally not so great. But there was somebody that was running around in the same pace that I was, but he went on ahead of me. I had to slow down some and once the race was over, you know there's just people are just walking around everywhere, and this man came up to me. I guess he found me somewhere in the crowd and he wanted to know what I used for nutrition or what was.
Speaker 1:I doing to fuel during the run.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because runners don't call food food, they call it fuel.
Speaker 1:Yes, and so most people, any distance runner and I know a half marathon is short compared to some distance, but I'm not minimizing that as either. But so people will use gel packs or to it's to give themselves some carbs, to give them a burst of energy to get through the run.
Speaker 2:It's especially popular with marathon and above, but half marathons do it quite regularly too, so I guess he saw that I wasn't using anything yeah, and I didn't use anything in my last one either that you were at a, at a really good pace, like it's not, it's not a, it's not a. Uh, I'm gonna finish this race pace. It's, I'm gonna compete in this race pace yes you know that's, that's your one of your personality characters.
Speaker 1:Yes, so he was asking me what I use, you know and everything, and I was like, oh, nothing, you know. And and once again, we, we don't just broadcast how we eat because we know it. Just it's a that's a whole conversation that a lot of people just don't understand we're not nutritionists no, we're not, and I will never tell people how they need to eat.
Speaker 1:but I told him that I didn't use anything and he told me that I really needed to. I needed to, that I needed to get the gel packs and use those, or just some electrolyte pills either. You know some of those two. But I told him I was like you know, I take zero sugar, like at all, so that's not what fuels my body. So if I took sugar like that, like it actually would probably make me sick yeah, you'd be stopping at the porta potty halfway through your race so I would uh in my diet.
Speaker 1:I would need to take like butter packets or something right yeah um, it's the fat that fuels me, but, um, this just led us to a topic that that we've been talking about, like you said, for days or, um, maybe even longer than that, really yeah, one of the reasons why we originally will lean towards this diet to begin with was because of um, our diet that we were on you know, it wasn't necessarily a a diet, as in a restricted diet standard american.
Speaker 2:So we just didn't feel good. We saw that our body wasn't reacting the way that we wanted it to as we were growing older and a lot of people around us are still like, oh, you're so young, but yeah, we are, we're 40s, not yet, not yet for you, but you're fixed.
Speaker 1:I'm holding on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but so we're right there, we, but so we're right there, we're in midlife, right? Yes, we're in midlife and we really just wanted, like, what are the things that we can do that are better for us, and really take our focus off of the things that we're in excess of, you know?
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And there's a lot that's tied to your diet. There's a lot that's tied to what you consume. There's a lot that's tied to what you focus on the most, and so much of our life was focused on. When you wake up, you got to eat. What are we going to eat? Try to figure it out. Make a recipe. The lunch comes around.
Speaker 1:Make a recipe dinner comes around. Most of my thoughts about dinner centered around sugary things and carbs, like for breakfast. I would definitely want things like cinnamon rolls or pastries, or we were a huge cereal family.
Speaker 2:Yes, cereal, cereal, cereal.
Speaker 1:We would have cereal knots and you felt like you weren't consuming a ton of calories.
Speaker 2:But if you read the— and I would eat so much. I know Huge bowls like mixing bowls.
Speaker 1:I know and I remember looking at those cereal boxes and realizing that I couldn't find a single cereal that hadn't been genetically modified too. Yeah, and so that was one reason we that was kind of a start to start eating better, and for our kids we wanted better. We also had I had a friend you had a friend diagnosed with cancer, not saying that that's why they had cancer, but it was another thing that just started making us think about what we were putting in our bodies and how we could be the healthiest we could be.
Speaker 1:But in that journey of learning about that, you kind of get a magnifying glass and you start looking at all these other areas of your life that maybe you're not doing so well in either. Yeah, what is the excess that is there that is not necessary?
Speaker 2:Well, it's like your entire identity is going to be revealed in what the things you do the most of you know, the things that you focus on. When people say, tell me about Holly, Well they're, oh, she's a mom. That's 100% of the time she's a Christian. You know, she is a runner, she is a business owner, right? So they would go down probably a checklist of the things that you most do in your frequency in your life, right? And so those things identify you.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:So what is our identity? What is our identity supposed to be? What are the things that we're supposed to be focusing on and I guess, that's where we really wanted to go with this podcast today.
Speaker 1:Yes, and like that. When you really start thinking about this, it cuts you. You're like, oh, my goodness Cause, I remember thinking I was like and these are thoughts that you don't ever want to have. But I thought, what if you just start shirking off those identities that you've put on or that maybe other people have put on you? And I think about, like, if I didn't run anymore, if I wasn't a runner anymore, I'm okay yeah it's good I think about if I wasn't a wife anymore. See, that's really hard to think about.
Speaker 1:But who am I in Christ? Am I still His? If, for some reason, if you've passed away and you're no longer my husband, is my identity completely wrapped up in you, and those are thoughts that we really have to take seriously.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like you should be able to be so dependent on God that, no matter what comes, you're able to process it in a godly manner. Does that make sense? Not that you're not devastated or heartbroken or grieving, crying is normal.
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 2:Grieving is normal, all of that is normal, but is something like that going to actually wreck you and make you completely ineffective in this life? It shouldn't.
Speaker 1:Well, I think it will wreck you. But I think what I'm saying is there's still meaning to your life if things are taken away, like my children, that's one of the worst things that I could think about is that identity of being mom, and they take up a lot of my time and my focus. And for that to not be there anymore? Who is Holly, if I don't have this business anymore, like if it just went belly up?
Speaker 2:I'm not speaking that but if it just hits bad, worse, everything, everyone's everyone, loses their identity If their identity is wrapped in God you know, Um, but there was a time in my life when it's it could be really embarrassing how much like clothing and jewelry which, like you know, clothing is one of the necessities, but every necessity can have an excess.
Speaker 1:An excess, yeah so I I was addicted to shopping for clothes, shoes, accessories, handbags, makeup, nail polish okay those things. They can get me in trouble too. You know, like I didn't, I didn't care, like I want that and I want it now. You know, and keep in mind too, that we got married when I was 17 years old so young and then as we moved into, I guess, better careers and your income level increases and everything.
Speaker 2:But if you still have really bad habits, have been as so addicted to the clothing and the shoes and all that as I was, that I felt like that was my identity and I had to keep it up well, because, like we were talking about this, like even when you had a career change, you felt like you had to adapt to that career change and part of that career change meant to you a new wardrobe, because your occupation had changed. Yes, so you needed to look different and present yourself different, to be more professional or or more comfortable versus whatever the career change was, because you've done some very professional, like public speaking events and things like that, where you know you didn't need to wear your track outfit exactly you know.
Speaker 2:But so you would get you know seven days worth of business clothing. Yes, you know, and that was that would be excess. Well, you know. But so you would get you know seven days worth of business clothing.
Speaker 1:Yes, you know, and that was that would be excess well, you know, thinking back, this can go all the way back to something as silly as who's who in high school, and this is just going to be my opinion on this. I really think that we should do away with all those little titles that we give seniors about um, it's not funny well, you're speaking, well I know, but when you say something, you're speaking something over someone. So if you say this is the class clown.
Speaker 2:you're saying this person it's almost like a curse. You're a class clown, almost you know.
Speaker 1:Or you know like most likely to succeed, you know, or that's a lot of pressure.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, put on somebody.
Speaker 1:I mean, you were the most likely to succeed. Well, like I think I was most talented and best dressed. And I really took on at the time like I don't. I don't remember having those feelings of like look at me, I'm best dressed or I'm most. I really didn't feel that way, but subconsciously I don't think I realized how much I took on those identities, that it's like oh, I'm the best dressed. Well, then I always have to be the best dressed.
Speaker 2:Got to make sure everything's put together the night before and maybe I put the pressure on myself. You're thinking about it.
Speaker 1:Because nobody else like. Let's say, like you know, 10 years down the road, the people that I'm around, they have no idea that I was best dressed in high school and nor do they care was best dressed in high school, and nor do they care right, but I have already at that point too. Also, when people are constantly commenting on your clothes or like oh, I wish that I dressed like you, or I love your outfits. You always wear the cutest outfits, you know, and so I remember that's an ego booster you know it can be yes, and people don't just compliment you on that, on that.
Speaker 2:People compliment you in all different areas of your life, you know. So what are the things that people compliment you on that you seek approval for?
Speaker 1:Really think about the things in your life that, like that, you can relate to. It might not be the clothing and things like that. Well, like social media, there's something else in your life, the concept of social media posts.
Speaker 2:You make a post and x amount of people like it and then you close your phone. You wake up the next day and you got a hundred more hearts and it's like a hundred more people love what I did and it's like and and that's a, that, that's a, that's a. There's a drug, in that, there's an addiction in that it's a dopamine. Yeah it's a dopamine and it's the same concept with everything, the things that that the world or other people find valuable in the moment to you.
Speaker 1:Whether whether it's an intentional or if it's just nonchalant, it still can play into something that's going to take your focus off of the identity that you're supposed to have and I think y'all like there were times where it's like, okay, maybe even like easter sunday, and this is pathetic, like I really hate even saying this, but being so concerned about what my Easter dress was going to be or my Easter shoes, and I would spend way too much money on these things as well, and then that I passed that down to my children which my kids don't give a flip about that themselves anymore, you know but like when they didn't really have a voice to say yeah, you know I bought excess for them because you know, it's like if I'm the best dressed then I've got to have the best dressed kids as well.
Speaker 1:But I think like it was a slow realization. But I remember constantly cleaning out my closet and I would just give boo coodles of garbage bags full to like Hope House or you know, and sometimes I would sell it. Sometimes I would, but a lot of times I didn't.
Speaker 1:And I really started getting convicted about it because I was like I have, if I'm having to clean this out all the time and it's still so full that I can't even tell what's in here. This is so excessive. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be fashionable or having clothes or liking those things. What's wrong is when you completely take that as your identity so that if those things were taken away, you wouldn't even know how to be.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, it's like um, ernest P Worrell, um the uh, like Ernest goes to jail the movies, like Ernest goes to camp, ernest scared stupid all those. I remember he always had the same outfit on. I remember this and he would go to his closet and change his outfit and it would always be the same, the same thing he had five or six of them hung up in his closet, he would even get in the washing tub in his clothing to wash himself with his clothing on.
Speaker 2:But he didn't have to think about that part of his life. When we were talking about food and things like that, with going to the carnival, one of the comments that came up when you really revealed this was they were talking about what is it doing for you or like are you happy in this situation? It really made us think like, wow, we haven't thought about this concept of it yes, like somebody said, but are you happy? Because you're like you're doing this. Are you happy? I?
Speaker 1:haven't really thought about that, and then I was like, oh my gosh, I am and this is someone like that we we view as very insightful and really understands human character traits?
Speaker 2:Yeah, Like we really look up to her. But it was like wow yes. And what we realized in the conversation of it. They came about like it takes the decision process out of it and it puts it in something that we know exactly what we're going to eat. So it's like the concept with the same outfit they know what they're going to eat. So it's like the concept with the same outfit they know what they're going to wear. Like I think you mentioned we talked about it, like Steve Jobs, you know yeah.
Speaker 2:And some of the other. You know people who are like tech giants. Tech giants. Yeah, they wear almost the same thing all the time, just because it takes.
Speaker 1:It streamlines it. Yeah, so our eating has been streamlined and we have saved so much money. People think that eating this way like eating meat and eggs, and because the way egg prices are that it's so expensive to eat this way. I'm going to tell you this we have saved so much money because we don't eat out, because you can't go out and just be like I just want a single steak or I just want a single hamburger patty.
Speaker 1:You just can't get that without sides and things, and so we don't want to spend money on things that we're not going to eat. So we're eating at home and yeah it's. It's working out so well for us, but it's it. What it has done is it's like we've really taken that excess of the food that we were eating and we've done away with it, and same thing with like when it came to my clothing. I really you can attest to this. It has changed so much it has?
Speaker 1:yes it has changed a lot like it's. I don't.
Speaker 2:I used to go regularly shopping, probably at least once you might go shopping once every two months now with with someone else that asks you to go with them.
Speaker 1:Maybe, and I might not buy anything, and if I do, it might be running shoes or something, but I was thinking about this the other day when I was looking in the mirror and I was like, oh my goodness, Even a year ago or two years ago, I would have never thought that I wouldn't have cared about this as much as I don't care about it anymore.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Like.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Like, yeah, okay. So, for instance, you know, we, when we first were building out our shop, this place is huge and it's like what was it? It's a little over 5,000 square feet.
Speaker 2:So we that's, right.
Speaker 1:We basically split it into. So we had a 2,500 square foot house and then we were going to have a 2,500 square foot coffee shop. And so we finished out the house side of it first and lived in it and then, once we were living in it and comfortable, then we really started working on the shop side of it.
Speaker 2:So it's like from concept and thought of hey, we want to do a business, to serving our first customer we estimated it was around three years.
Speaker 1:Yes, so we lived in it and we really only lived in it. We didn't live in it as long as I thought that we were going to live in it. We moved out this past summer. But I say that because I left so many clothes here still Haven't touched them. Haven't missed them, Haven't missed them. Once again, I was like it's a punch to the gut you know I'm like oh my goodness, the excess that is just not needed.
Speaker 1:And I guess what I really want you guys to think about in your life is the excess in your life that's not needed. That is taking your focus. I think about, from a financial standpoint, how much more money I could have saved by not needlessly buying things that I didn't need. I didn't need, and a lot of times I was giving away things that had tags on it Yep.
Speaker 1:Um and I know that there away things that had tags on it, yep, and I know that there's something that you can relate to. Yeah, it's not clothing.
Speaker 2:It doesn't have to be anything about the clothing in your life or the food in your life. But every single one of us are going to be tempted, tried and struggle with what we focus on and is our is what we've focused on actually benefiting us as humans as families, as ministers, as witnesses for the cause of christ, as athletes, with what we're doing in our lives, as businessmen business owners, yes, or operators is. Is it taking away from the things that you're supposed to be focusing?
Speaker 1:on and and you know, like that is one of the things that the devil is here to do is just here to steal, kill and destroy that's his purpose and he's going to steal your attention, he's going to destroy your hopes and he's going to try to control every aspect of your life, because he knows if he can control you, then you will be ineffective if he gets you so right, gets your identity so wrapped up in things that don't really matter, yeah, then he only thinks he's won and he may have won the battle, you know, but you have to realize that you are in an identity crisis. All of us are yeah I think it's.
Speaker 1:It's something that we constantly struggle with. He is constantly going to go after our identities.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and one of the things like even as a coffee shop. You know, we run this coffee shop and it's all about coffee, right.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:But when you think about it, when we step back and we think about our purpose of this place, our purpose with the employees, our purpose with the customers, with our community.
Speaker 2:It's so much more than just coffee. Right now, it's kind of like coffee was the driving force behind the business concept of what we want to serve our community and we've created a fantastic product. We've created something that people really enjoy and they love. I love it. I enjoy drinking our coffee, but there's so much more to it than just coffee, so it's not like the focus, isn't it?
Speaker 2:The focus is what is the purpose of this place, and this podcast is one of those purposes and speaking engagements and having people here to be able to have studies.
Speaker 1:We just had a fitness class in here, a fitness class.
Speaker 2:And there's so much more than just coffee. So what is it that's taking so much focus in your life that if you were to reduce it, if you were to say less of this so that more of something else can increase, what would you like to see increase?
Speaker 1:I want to see Jesus increase in my life personally.
Speaker 2:Exactly so. If our identity is in our things, or in our stuff or in the stuff, in what?
Speaker 1:we're doing Honestly running. You could get excessive with that.
Speaker 2:You could.
Speaker 1:It could become your identity. I want to be very careful about that, that I don't let that take precedence. It's a part of my life. It's not my life.
Speaker 2:And we talked about that just the other day on one of our runs. We were like you know what, after this season we're going to change the pace and boom and drop to a different type of season in our running, in our, in our fitness. You know, right now we're working on this and there's goals to change and shift and constantly allow it to to benefit other areas because, like our shift that we were talking about wouldn't be for anything, for us, it was to benefit someone else.
Speaker 2:It was, and and that's the part about it that, like when, when you're focused on others, um, your priorities for yourself do adjust. Yeah, they do adjust to help promote what you view as important. Yes, and if your relationship with Christ is important, your focus is going to adjust.
Speaker 1:Agree.
Speaker 2:So the scripture that we kind of thought about and I want to read this before we continue on Mm-hmm. Thought about and I want to read this before we continue on when it came to reducing the food consumption and some of the chemicals that we were putting into our bodies unnecessarily trying to eat clean. You know, we as Christians and a lot of religions out there have certain aspects of this, but we as Christians, we believe that fasting is an important part of that and I know there's some denominations.
Speaker 1:they'll focus on Lent, yeah especially during this time, right now.
Speaker 2:Lent yeah, as a fasting process, and they fast from something, whether or not it's food or not. Sorry, I've, I got frog in my throat, but um, but. But we, as christians, we have been told by who we follow that certain things can't happen in our life without prayer and fasting. Yes, and jesus um. In uh mark, chapter 9, verse 29, he's talking to his disciples when the disciples tried to cast out a demon and they weren't able to and they brought it to Jesus and Jesus cast him out. And they were like, why couldn't we do this, master? And he says in 9, 29, he says and he said to them this kind, come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting.
Speaker 1:And it's like what's the point of the fasting at that point, like when it comes to casting out a demon? Well, let me tell you, fasting it is getting rid of any excess at all. It's getting rid of even like the need, like what you might need at that moment, but getting rid of that excess. And I think that when you do get rid of it, like, for instance, like if you were fasting, let's say a 24-hour fast where you have no food- or let's say you just go from supper to supper, you know, or whatever.
Speaker 1:Um, you realize how dependent that you have become on that thing. So not only can you fast from food, but when we've told you to be thinking about the things in your life that are in excess, like maybe it's you're on social media too much, or maybe you're watching TV too much, maybe you are I don't know what some other things that you could be doing, because I'm trying to think of things that aren't just materialistic.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:It can just be your actions as well, yeah.
Speaker 2:What are you doing when you're driving down the road with your family in? A closed car and there's nothing to do but talk to each other or play on electronics or listen to music.
Speaker 1:Right, I would say we all probably could use with a good fast for my phone and when you when. If you did that, you would realize how much, how much you're going to it, how much you are dependent on it, just like I realized how dependent I was on feeling a certain way about what I was wearing right and about what people were going to think, right, if I didn't have the cutest outfit on in the room.
Speaker 1:I know that that sounds very, very vain and just I hate that, but it's a reality and if we're, hopefully, we're constantly being sanctified by him you know, and I'm like god thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much that you convicted my heart about something in my life that was keeping me from personal, closer relationship with you right and you know we we were talking about this because we were talking about what are the areas that we're in excess of and what are the areas that can keep us from our relationship with Christ. I had a pretty bad car wreck a while back and I remember that my fear that was wrapped up in that. I don't know if I've already mentioned this.
Speaker 1:I think you have I think I have.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but that it was that I didn't have control of it. That's what caused the fear in my heart during that accident. It wasn't that I was going to die or anything, but I was afraid because I didn't have control and and we were talking, like, the area of excess that I could think of in my life where it was like I'm clearly trying to figure this out and vocalize it into words right now was that I have a tendency to problem solve in my head but not take actions. I have a tendency to overthink things. So my excess that I was able to think of like it's like, and I know I've struggled with this, we've talked about this in the past.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But it's what do they call that? Analysis, paralysis, right, and I'm a huge problem solver. I love solving problems.
Speaker 1:That's what you've done to make a living.
Speaker 2:Yes, you've solved problems and and I'm great at helping other people solve their problems and communicate with it. I'm like this is a fantastic opportunity for me to use the gift that god has given me to solve problems, but a lot of times, um, my, it'll take my focus my focus will be stuck on the problems that are around me and are any of them actually getting fixed?
Speaker 2:And a lot of times those problems aren't really actual problems. They're built up, you know, and it becomes something that I put my focus on yeah, and I don't focus on, you know, the things that would ultimately solve those problems to begin with, which would be the goodness of God, god's mercy, god's grace, god's patience, god's temperance, all the fruits of the spirit that I should be focused on growing in my life. A lot of the things that I consider a problem would probably just disappear.
Speaker 1:Right, well, I think a lot of that problem would probably just disappear, right? Well, I think a lot of that. That's true for all of us. When you have things in your life that are just in excess or that are you have you so your identity is so wrapped up in it. Satan knows that and he uses it to once again I think I've already said this but to keep you from getting closer to that personal relationship with God. Because let me tell you something, god does only have good for us. God has a plan for us.
Speaker 2:Well, he says that if a son comes to his father, he's not going to give him a serpent when he asks for bread right For a fish.
Speaker 1:yes, For a fish, yeah.
Speaker 2:He's not going to give you bad things, because he loves you, he cares about you, so he's not going to give you bad things because he loves you, he cares about you.
Speaker 1:So what do we do to, I guess, in a way, quench the spirit? What are the actions that we take every day, whether it's just being so tied in to something like this and I know I'm guilty of that If I'm riding in a car, if I'm sitting, still, I feel like I've got to scroll and I think about like 10 years ago, or maybe even more than that.
Speaker 2:That wasn't a part of my life and my life was fine, you know you know we talked about this multiple times that uncomfortable situations cause people to revert to things that they're comfortable with and if you're comfortable on your phone and you're in an uncomfortable situation and your phone is available, that's going to become your gut reaction is to pull that phone out.
Speaker 2:To in an uncomfortable situation and your phone is available, that's going to become your gut reaction is to pull that phone out to escape the uncomfortable situation. Riding in a car is uncomfortable. It's not fun. Seeing a tree line go by for three hours is not fun. We dealt with it. As kids we drove to Illinois twice a year. It was a 12-hour drive to where we were going and you dealt with it. You talked with each other, you had fun, you did other things to focus, you played games and all that jazz. But um, but it was. It was an uncomfortable situation and we dealt with it. But uh, we've, we've talked about this. How, so many of the people that we talk to, how many times in your conversation, when you're talking with people that are dealing with something, does the term like anxiety come up?
Speaker 1:Yes, a lot. That's a buzzword now honestly.
Speaker 2:I think so Because there are actual emotional responses that are chemical reactions in people's bodies because of an actual excess maybe of I'm not a doctor of chemicals and things like that that cause people to have a physical reaction in awkward situations that doctors have actually labeled as anxiety. But I think it's become so commonplace that people misplace human emotions in awkward situations that cause people to naturally react the way humans should the flight or fight mentality and they call it anxiety when it's actually not.
Speaker 2:I think it's just normal human emotions that we're not normally dealing with yeah with the current newer generation or people who are latched on to the things that they can focus their mind on with their phone and thing.
Speaker 1:Not just a generation, but yes we live in a world of excess we do honestly and think about this like okay, we have sites like sheen, amazon, and sheen doesn't come quick, but everything is so cheap on there and there is so much stuff what's the latest one, and you'll be like click, click, click click latest ones team or or TikTok shop, yeah, and so things are like right at our fingertips and we think that we got to have this thing or have that thing and before you know it, it's excessive.
Speaker 1:Or I could even say it can be about like eating out all the time. I remember growing up, we rarely ate out. We did, but now nowadays people eat out all the time yeah, well, one, one person there's anything wrong with that, but we really have to look at everything in our life and think what is excessive in my life?
Speaker 2:and now? Now don't get me wrong, all that's wrong. Also, if eating out saves you time which a lot of times it doesn't, just to be honest, the drive there, the waiting time, which a lot of times it doesn't, just to be honest, the drive there, the waiting, and all that, a lot of times it doesn't. I can grill a steak on the grill in 15 minutes right, if everything's prepped and be back and eating it. But if it saves you time and effort and energy and that time is better used benefiting God's kingdom, then I would consider it might not be an excess, you know, or?
Speaker 2:if you're building community in that eating opportunity it can be.
Speaker 1:I have to have three Dr Peppers every single day. Well, do you have to really?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:We've even talked about like okay, I mean, it can be sharecroppers.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know do. How many cups of coffee do I drink? It? Am I in excess? Yeah I've backed off a lot, I really have.
Speaker 2:How many cup coffee mugs have we bought on vacation? No, I'm joking, one every time, you know, we don't go out overboard, but once again, I want to reiterate that this isn't this isn't a condemnation.
Speaker 1:No, it's not, I mean we're sharing the choir.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're sharing our journey.
Speaker 1:It hits us first. You know, and I just know that a lot of the things that are excessive in my life, I have wrapped up my identity in them so much that it has taken my focus off of who my true identity is in and that's. Jesus.
Speaker 2:That's right. And you know, at the end of the day, god wants it to be the way that he designed it, to where we are in perfect communion with him. Yes, um and uh. We were talking about our identity with Christ and and being with one at one with him. And the scripture that came to my mind, um, and being at one with him, and the scripture that came to my mind about this side of it was that we looked at it as Matthew 22, 37 and 40 says. Now, the Pharisees and Sadducees were trying to trick him up, trick up Jesus. At this time they were trying to play the political card and get him to mess up what he was saying. But they asked him, like what's the greatest commandment, rabbi? You know, they called him rabbi, but they didn't really believe it. It was a mocking way, yeah, but he said unto them you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. So we must get this right first.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, everything else in life must come second. When someone says who is Holly, you know, or who is Calvin, the first thing that comes out of the mouth should be that's a Christian, that's a follower of Christ, you know, you would hope that it would be, you know. When someone asks you who you are, is that the first thing that you would say Do you hold that identity? And then the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments. You know so much about how christians get criticized by judging people, and if the world would really just truly understand that, if you are a true follower of christ, you're loving god so much, uh, that you are being convicted of the things in your life. Right.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:It's a my conviction, first mentality, because I want to be where I can be, as close to God as I possibly can. I want to be in a right relationship with Him and when God reveals something to us, and it's fantastic when you grow closer to the Lord and you experience the closeness of God in situations you do nothing but want that for other people.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I think that's one thing that's been hard about the carnivore diet Like I've wanted to share, because this may sound crazy, guys, but being on this diet has brought me closer to Jesus, and not because I'm saying, oh, please help me because I'm starving to death. No, it was getting rid of excess in my life and the verse it comes up to me that comes to mind to me is when he said when he's talking about the Pharisees and he says a little bit of leaven it, it runs the whole loaf right of leaven it.
Speaker 2:It ruins the whole loaf, right, hey y'all ladies on your sourdough phase, how much of that starter do you actually?
Speaker 1:need to make a whole bunch of sourdough, not a lot, that's why they call it a starter it's just a little bit and it makes that stuff go hog wild, crazy big fluffy right so you know, like just going um, getting rid of to me the leaven, okay, and I'm not just talking about bread, I'm talking about, like in our life, sugar Me, getting rid of this obsession with looking a certain way and clothes. You know, this is really the same thing. Same thing.
Speaker 1:Our, our daughter was in a pageant and my old self would have wanted to go spend a ton of money on the best dress that I could possibly find for her, because I would have a enjoyed going and trying on dresses with her yeah, and two girls stay out and two.
Speaker 1:I just want her to have the best dress, you know. But I didn't even blink Like. I got this dress for her before we ever knew she was going to be in a pageant. I knew that she would probably want to be when she was in school, and so I had bought this ahead of time. I got it for $25 from somebody that was selling from their house, and I remember thinking she's going to wear that dress Like there's no reason why she can't. She will look pretty.
Speaker 2:How many pageant dresses have you ever bought, that, when you buy it, even from off the rack, fits perfectly, it doesn't?
Speaker 1:You're going to have alterations done to it.
Speaker 2:So you buy something out of a yard sale type situation and you have it altered and you had it in your mind.
Speaker 1:Yes, but what I'm saying is to me that was God sanctifying me some. I know that that's just a silly thing, like a little pageant dress, but it wasn't, guys, because I felt like that was something in my personality. It was like okay, I've overcome that.
Speaker 1:I have overcome that. It might try to come at me again. I'm not going to pick it up, satanan, when you're trying to hand it back to me, but I was like I have overcome that feeling of that I've got to have this certain look or this best of the best.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and now I don't want to put it on you either that if the dress she needs is an expensive dress, you know it doesn't matter, but it was, it was an issue, something I'm talking about.
Speaker 1:I had something that she could wear and it was perfectly fine there was no reason to go searching out for something else yeah um, there was no reason to be excessive with it correct you know, um, and that's really what the whole purpose of this talk is is really think about the things in your life that are just in excess, that you can get rid of, that you can lessen. I mean, obviously I still wear clothes, y'all. It's not bad for me to go shopping. I have just severely pulled it back.
Speaker 2:Well, it's the same concept with your exercise. Nobody can tell me that they don't have time to exercise. True, because there's something you do that you could replace with exercise.
Speaker 1:I was thinking about that when I went on my 10 mile run this past weekend. That usually is going to take two hours. It took a little less this time, but I was like you can sit down and watch a movie for two hours Like everybody a lot of people may do that on a Saturday, but I was like there is time.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:There is time to do it.
Speaker 2:And you can always do something, remember, uh, I think your dad was talking about a story. One time he went to the hospital and a guy guy was paralyzed on one whole side of his body and he was like are you okay? He was like hey, let me show you something. And he reached over his bed and grabbed the rail with his right hand side and he pulled himself onto his side and then he laid himself back down and he was like I did that.
Speaker 1:Look what I can do.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So yeah, focusing on the 50% of immobility was one thing, but this guy had the mind frame to focus on the 50% of ability that he had and that brought joy to his life. You have ability.
Speaker 1:Yes, you do, and I want you to think about what is Satan using in your life. That may seem good, it may not be a bad thing, but what is he using to steal your focus? That's keeping you from ultimately God's perfect plan for you Give it up.
Speaker 2:Give it up, it's worth giving it up.
Speaker 1:We're still giving up. We've got several things that we are still wanting to give up and I'm like God, show me more. Show me more that is in excess in my life. Show me more that is not leading to the plan that you have for me, because it is the best plan, it is the only plan and it is good Because you love me.
Speaker 2:And he is good.
Speaker 1:You love me and we love you, and thank you for joining us on episode six. We hope that the Lord blesses you and keeps you and makes his face to shine upon you.