Community Heals: Why Leaders Still Need Leaders, Faith and Obedience, with Jereè Black

You’re not meant to do this alone… no matter how strong you are.

In this powerful episode, Jereè Black shares how faith, obedience, and community can pull you out of your lowest moments and realign you with your purpose.

From seasons of struggle to stepping fully into your calling, this conversation reveals why even leaders need support, mentorship, and people who will walk with them through the process. If you’ve been feeling stuck, isolated, or questioning your path, this episode will remind you of one truth: healing and growth happen in community.

About Jereè Black

Jereè Ann is a faith-driven leader, speaker, and creative visionary passionate about helping women heal, grow, and walk boldly in their God-given purpose. As the founder of Mend the Vow Ministries and Growing in Sisterhood, she creates spaces for restoration, connection, and empowerment through transparency and the Word of God.

She is also a digital entrepreneur and podcast host of Morning Glory and Unmasked & Identified, reaching audiences worldwide with messages of encouragement, faith, and transformation. Through storytelling, coaching, and content creation, Jereè continues to uplift voices and empower women to lead with confidence, clarity, and purpose.

With a heart for service and a gift for connection, she blends authenticity and creativity to remind others that healing is possible, purpose is real, and God’s timing is always perfect.

Connect with Jereè Ann:
Email: mendthevow@gmail.com
Website: www.mendthevow.org
Instagram: @mendthevow
Facebook: mendthevow
Phone: Ministry (248) 859-8408 | Business (213) 973-3372

Hit play and discover why the right community could be the breakthrough you’ve been missing.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to Unapologetic Leadership. If you felt stressed, overwhelmed, wrestling with the imposter syndrome, wondering if you're just not good enough, then this podcast is for you. So here's your host, Corey Dunham.

SPEAKER_04 0:22

Welcome to another episode of Unapologetic Leadership, where I have a wonderful guest, Jeree Black, who is the CEO and founder of Mend the Vow LLC. Welcome, Jeree.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

Thank you for having me, Corey.

SPEAKER_04 0:37

Yes, you're very welcome. So tell us what you do and how you impact the world.

SPEAKER_02 0:43

So my name is Jeree, and I impact the world by stewarding leaders and their purpose and guiding them through mentorship as well as career coaching through aspects of social media, monetization, and also web development.

SPEAKER_04 0:57

Awesome. Amazing. Amazing. And what do you tend to focus on these days in terms of helping people?

SPEAKER_02 1:03

So I focus on their pull towards their purpose and their yes to God. A lot of times people have intricate parts in them that they're not yielding to. So initially ask them their vision, their process, how come it's still stuck in their head and not into the flow of reality. We do that by questionnaires, spending time with them, prayer, fasting, and also observation. You have to have the mindset to teach and also yield to learning. And so everybody thinks that they're under the scope of God's discipline and rebuke and all that other stuff where He is literally leading us to move forward.

SPEAKER_04 1:38

Yeah, no, I think that's great. And where do you see that people either tend to get off or do they need to get realigned for the most part? Is what you're saying? What do you mean? Or do you only work with people who are Christians or aligned with God?

SPEAKER_02 1:52

Or how do you work with people with all walks of life? It's not determined based on, you know, if they're kingdom or not, but it depends on their drive and if God is leading me to them. Because a lot of people think that it's based off of, oh, you have to be saved, you have to be faced. But God calls us to the world and to be an impact and to be a light. So everything that we touch in kingdom, it'll touch them and it'll give them more level of who God is, but you don't want to be pushy. You want to sow the seed and somebody else will water it and then the plant will bubble up.

SPEAKER_04 2:24

Mmm, very nice. I like that. I like that. It also goes with I many times talk about seasons in our life, which comes from biblical perspective of just the planting and growing and takes time to take care of water. I'm no farmer, but yeah, just the seasons of life that things don't happen immediately when we're going through challenges or trying to accomplish goals.

SPEAKER_02 2:46

Well, if I could just say this, farming is like it's seasons, right? In your purpose and in your destiny, when you're going through the journey, we have to dig in the foundation, not taking away how God has preserved our foundation. But if we don't shovel, we won't reap a harvest as we dig. We just look at everything like on a surface level when it's deeper than that. Right. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 3:08

Yeah, that's pretty cool. And so, where does mend the vow? Where does that come from? Or how did you decide on that title for your organization?

SPEAKER_02 3:16

Well, I didn't decide it. If I could just be a little bit off the cuff, I was in a very, very low season of my life. And I was in transition where I was homeless and I was going through separation. And I was in a hotel, and God, He was just speaking to me in visions and dreams, and He was just telling me that you owe me you have a lot of things to mend. You've been sitting on your gifts, you've been processed, you've been up and down and everything. And I need you to focus. And so I need you to mend, and I need you to vow to me that you will not stop. And so he was just showing me a lot of things, and I began to write down my vision. And even though my process was painful in that season in my life, I had to literally go through some scopes of the lens of where I am. How come this failed? How come it didn't work? How can I heal from it? And how can I bring it as a testament of my faith to help it grow in the things that God has navigated me to do is systems that were restored and devices that God gave me to help others as well.

SPEAKER_04 4:15

Very nice, very nice. Yeah. So, did you have any other people help you out with that or people in your environment that helped to lift you up to push you back toward God?

SPEAKER_02 4:25

I did. So my late mother was an apostle, and she was a very, very, very, very big helping my spiritual walk with God, keeping me lifted in prayer, giving me support, also my friends, my immediate family sometimes, but also just, you know, different people that mentored me back into the structure of who I am. Because sometimes when you go through things in life, you can lose a sense of who you are, and then you can lose a sense of hope and direction. And you can't walk this thing alone. You need community to help you to be better in your transition, even in the journey of life that you are no longer a part of no more.

SPEAKER_03 4:58

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_04 4:59

No, that sounds great. That sounds great. And then part of your support, you know, offline we were talking about you have a podcast series. Are you able to share more about that?

SPEAKER_02 5:08

I do. So in this podcast, I have another platform called Growing in Sisterhood. And so we're doing a podcast that's 22 women, and each episode really digs into the woman. And the Sister I Need You series is really during about spiritual strength, navigating in life, why sisterhood is important, and really implementing why you need stewardship and wisdom in sisterhood and community. So we literally speak about different topics weekly, and we meet every Sunday to record, and then the initial series will drop May of this year. So it's been a really, really eye-opener to see where women feel as though they don't need community, but then others have filtered out that why, and they are really, really digging into it and staying strong while they're building with new systems and working on you know sisterhood and also how it functions to them in this new season of their life.

SPEAKER_04 6:02

Oh, that's really good. That sounds really powerful. And then, yeah, it sounds like you were saying you just started this recently.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

Yeah, so I just started this podcast series. We did our first podcast season last year when we launched the whole website. So I'm very, very proud of it. It's been a walk, it took me a while to get there, but I'm embracing everything.

SPEAKER_04 6:23

Okay. No, very nice, very nice. Yeah, I think it's so good as you talked about the whole idea of community and support and our environment, you know, helps us to move forward in life and also to realize that we're not alone and all of these different things we're going through. Sometimes we can center ourselves back on ourselves and realize that or feel that it's just us, nobody can help. We're so down and discouraged. But I I appreciate, as you said, you were doing you were involved in some difficult times in your life or a difficult season, but God was reaching back to you and speaking to you that hey Dre, you're not alone here. I'm still there, I've always been present, and I think that's an amazing thing to have. Because some people they lose sight, as you talked about earlier, they lose sight of their vision and how God is always with them if they have a relationship with God. But many times they just think hope is lost, hope is lost.

SPEAKER_02 7:21

Yes. It's kind of like if I could just say this, it's kind of like when God, you know, leaves the 99 and go for the one, and like the prodigal son, how he took all of his riches and he just wanted to go and party. But when he returned, you know, his dad had everything waiting, you know, get my best robe, get my best ring and everything, and let me restore him. And a lot of times we feel like we're unworthy, you know, when we slip up or and go through life circumstances and then we beat up on ourselves when God is saying, I'm here and I'm here to restore you, but I'm also here to teach you lessons while you're getting up.

SPEAKER_04 7:55

Yeah, I think that's great. And now, how do you, for yourself, how does the role of faith or your inner conviction play when you're making some of these tough decisions out in life?

SPEAKER_02 8:08

To remember what happened last time. So my thing is that faith is translucent in a way, to where you can feel it activating, but you can't see it. And you have to honor the steps that you take with faith. You cannot be in the place where you are common with what you believe in. You have to stay stuck in the root of where God has you, even though it's difficult, even though you probably don't want to feel depressed, you still have to allow your faith to take action. Because in the word of God, it says that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. It also tells us that without faith, we cannot please God. So we have a leveling plan to where either we want access in the stretch, or we're gonna sit and just be like, Lord, I'm waiting for you, but then we cannot access Him without forward progression and movement, even after we feel a rift in our journey.

SPEAKER_04 9:01

Yeah, and I think that's so important because nowadays our society and culture is all about finding the answers and proving things and knowing everything so we can figure out our future, figure out what's gonna happen. But as you said, without having faith, we are not gonna please God. We have to have faith. So, in other words, God says we are not gonna know everything in order to take steps forward and to trust in Him. So truly walking that faith walk, which I've had to do, especially over these last few years, or some challenges I've gone through, and really trusting God and simplifying to say, okay, Corey, you don't have control over that much. You think you do. You think you thought you did for 50 plus years of your life, but you don't. It's been God orchestrating and blessing and helping me to go through lessons that I need to learn.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

Yes. And it's like you said, we can't put a timestamp on anything. Like you said, you thought you had everything figured out under your control for 50 years. It just takes me back to just the thing where God will place you into circumstances to build you in your strength. You know, everything that you face in life is a lesson. It's a lesson to dig somebody else out of their pit, it's a lesson to dig somebody else into stewardship to be a leader in the making. So I just think it's a benefit where life is concerned, to where even the darkest time of your days can be the light to somebody to pull them out of their struggle.

SPEAKER_04 10:25

Mm-hmm. Yeah. And actually, over the challenges that I've gone through, which some of it was business, some of it was the economy, some of it was the relationship with my wife, finances, all different types of things, and just a lot of it was mostly in my head, just worrying about what could happen if this all goes really solid because things just didn't look so solid and confident. I wasn't confident about the future at that moment. But what I've learned and I've learned to appreciate is to be thankful, and I've really tried to focus on this, and it's God's giving me the strength to get better and better, but to be thankful in all things. And as you basically said, be thankful and look at these things as positives to help us improve our future and improve our faith walk. Because I used to look at that stuff and like, ugh, these are all challenges. Yeah, I don't want any of this stuff. Why is this happening? Rather than the perspective of God is using this to better my life and increase and improve the relationship I have with Him.

SPEAKER_02 11:27

Because it's just like, look at what you're doing now. It's a process. You're a leader of leaders now. You have the command of a network to literally command what you want to tell the world through the visions and dreams that you have. It was in the making all the time and it was in you all the time. So it's just a part of your identity now.

SPEAKER_04 11:47

Yeah, yeah, I think that's awesome. And speaking of identity, with the people that you work with, how much do you work with their identity of either who they were, how they have been, or do you also help them to improve their identity? Because I'm not sure what the people you work with, how they come in, that they may realize or may not realize how much of their own identity, their beliefs, their habits, their thought process. Because I've dealt with imposter syndrome, being introverted, all these different types of things, and really focused on fear instead of focusing on God as the power and just the strength in my life. So, how do you help people with their identity?

SPEAKER_02 12:30

So you have to decompartmentalize a whole bunch of stuff when you're dealing with people that are not walking in their full potential and their purpose. They think there's somewhere else where they're comfortable, but God is stretching them. So I work with the purpose, the identity, and also their faith. Your faith has to be at a level to where you can literally see where God is taking you, even if you don't trust the unknown, right? And so when there's fragments of these identity crises, I always take them back to true foundation, which is found in God, which is also found through consecration and fasting, and also through different lessons that I blog about and that I share my transparency of where God has brought me through, because you can't heal the broken without coming from a broken place of healing. You can't feed a soul something that you have not gone through. And so you have to parallel your testimony. I believe a lot of people are so stuck and cannot grow, is because we're so hush-hush on the things that God has dealt with us with. We want to keep it private because sometimes, even in the body, or just, you know, if we want to be honest, even in the parts of the world that people go to, and it's like they don't want to be judged or, you know, seen as something different because they have made themselves whole again through God or whatever they may have done. And it's like, well, I don't want to go back to that place. But the thing is with identity, when you know that you're healed, when you go to that place to testify, you won't feel abandoned, hurt, or a place of defense. You'll be able to share with identity, with clarity, and with where God has you with a mature experience to level up somebody else's passion to come out of that hidden place. I believe a lot of times when people find themselves in emotional realms and dark phases is because nobody is pulling them out with the truth. We can't give half things. You can't have tell half truths and then make them sound like this wild thing. You have to be transparent enough to a fault to say, you know what, let me dig you out of here because nobody else came to get me. I was here with God by myself. And now I think I have to do my due diligence to say, you know what, gloves off. Let me help you. So I'll sit with them, I'll talk with them, I'll even cry with them. And it's not just on a mediocre level. I open up my heart to expose where I used to be so they can see a human is on the side helping them too. And now somebody just want to get to know them and know what they've been through and then write it down, say, I help them and give them a pound in the back. No, we restore, we fix, and we unhinge them from these dark places so they can know that they have a community even after to rest and still nurture them in their process.

SPEAKER_04 15:09

I think that's great. And a couple of leadership skill sets that you mentioned in there with listening, some soft skills, along with really being present with someone and get and having patience and just being present with them. Maybe they don't have any words for what they're going through, or they can't even begin. But like you said, just being human and sharing some of your vulnerability is is so important to connecting with people and developing trust. So tell me a little bit more about that developing trust. How do you create more trust when you're with people or when they're really having a hard time or going through the same patterns over and over? It's like you may get some progress, but then since we have habits, many times our mind goes back to the same thing over and over. And I don't know if that's happened to you where you've cast. Yes. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 16:00

So with me, I let them breathe. I understand that when we are taking, you know, people on, it's not just about a client, it's about a heart. And so a lot of times people feel like you just got to take control of the situation just because you're an expert or you know you're a professional. You have to sit there with people, and sometimes people do not have words, as you mentioned. Some things they only bring their pain and their tears. So we'll have a soaking session where we'll pray, and I'll allow them to get all their feels out because that determines how the ease of the time is going to come in time and time again. Sometimes they're gonna come in soft, sometimes they're gonna come in hard, sometimes they're not gonna understand why you keep on coming back when they've not even uttered a word, why the systems are not working for them, why you're giving them all the all these tools and it's just not clicking. You have to be patient because a lot of people that I've experienced come with a lot of trauma and sometimes drama because they do have the copycat syndrome. They don't feel worthy of what of where their life has taken them and where God wants them to do or be. They don't know the hidden parts of them that are good because sometimes all they faced was rejected, abandonment, misuse, and they are diagnosed with just being this absentee person in their own lives, you know, not showing up, being rebellious, being confrontational and being all this. So you have to break down the monotony of that dysfunction in them. And how you do that is you be their strongest person you can, but you also got to create healthy boundaries so that they don't trauma bond with you. Because trauma bonding off of that person, when you were healed, they can throw their traumatic phases. So you have to be a wall of prayer, even you know, going into those deep places with them. And so you have to stay focused and you and that interchange of conversation, that interchange has to be balanced. So you have to know that when you're going into these things, you can't go to it in a normal realm. You gotta stay in the prophetic, you gotta walk in the alignment of prayer and you gotta talk to God about these things. And you have to understand just because people need help, everyone is not your assignment. You have to know that you can't take everybody on, you can't refuel your plate if you're low and then you're trying to go be a help to others. You still, as a leader, as a professional, as a coach, I still have to take care of myself before I pour into anybody else. And with that, I have to live a life that is disciplined. Yeah. And that is hard sometimes. Yeah. That's hard sometimes.

SPEAKER_04 18:27

So yeah. No, I think that's really great because as a leader, the whole idea of self-leadership first, you know, or aviation, because I have a private pilot's license, putting the oxygen mask on yourself first before you can help somebody else, making sure you're fully energetic, oxygenated, and taking care of yourself. And like you said, having some boundaries to make sure you're not trauma bonding or dipping down into the realm that's not going to be helpful for either of you. So I think that's really good.

SPEAKER_02 18:59

And if I could just say this really quick, like even before we got on, I'm gonna just be so transparent. I just had a whole crying session with one of my sisters in Christ, and we were just talking about some things that you know that God has brought us from, and we were happy, and then the stuff that we still need to pray on. So community with the right people matters. You can't just be on idle pilot for everybody else that you do not reciprocate the same things for yourself. And I was like, I she was all like, I said, I gotta go because I have this recording to do, but thank you because it helped me and I helped her. So it really coincides with everything that God has us to do in leadership. You have leaders need leaders and people need people.

SPEAKER_04 19:38

Yeah, and I think that was interesting too, because in scripture it talks about when Jesus went off by himself before he was going to be crucified, and just had his conversation with the Father. And basically, if by any chance this cup can be removed from me, and I don't have to be crucified to save the world, overcome death, and Satan, if at all possible, but not Jesus's will, but the heaven's like, yes. Oh, yeah, yeah. And that's what's amazing. And I pointed this out many times in the Bible study. I've been teaching Bible study for 30 plus years, early 90s. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, youth Bible study, high schoolers, middle schoolers, and I mentioned this many times. Like, did you guys realize how close we would have been to not having a savior in our life being disconnected from God if Jesus has gotten his wish that he had asked for that? Even he, while dealing with all this, living as a human being and God, that it was so difficult having, and I clarify this with the kids. I say, Jesus is dying for everybody in the past and today to overcome their sins, but he's also dying for everyone in the future. As kids in junior hires, I'm like, you're great, great, great grandkids if you have them. He's dying that's good. Yeah, and you just don't think about that perspective. Oh my gosh. So yeah, things would have been completely different had Jesus gotten his wish, but he diverted and said, No, Heavenly Father, it's your will be done over mine. But I'm gonna ask.

SPEAKER_02 21:09

Yeah, and the Lord was like, No, and he really had to turn his back on Jesus, and when Jesus gave up the ghost, that's when everything fell into alignment as it should. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:19

Yeah, everything happened as it should have. He even beat Jesus being chosen over Barabbas, who was a prisoner and done wrong, and everybody's like, No, no, switch him out, crucify Jesus and let Barabbas go, the bad guy. And it's like, Yes, oh my gosh. And of course, Satan was like, Yes, yes, we're gonna kill this guy who's messing everything up for me, but not realizing that was a part of God's plan.

SPEAKER_02 21:44

Yeah, because it was his big comeback season. Yes, and when we think about the pain, the regret, the trials, the storms, the tribulations, we don't know that God is marking things on our behalf to come back, even when we're afflicted by the enemy schemes and plans and you know, the deep. Default turns and shifts and everything, we got to count up that cost as good for us because it's still gonna be marked, and our destiny is still gonna be in alignment with stuff. So if you made a mistake, if you think that you're too far away from the assignment, all you got to do is repent and come back. And God remembers it no more. So I think a lot of people are harder themselves more than they should be.

SPEAKER_04 22:21

Yeah, yeah. And I think that's once again a focus, an inward focus, which takes our eyes off of God and looking at ourselves and the shame. And of course, that's what the devil wants of us to do. Yeah, focus on yourself. You don't deserve this. But God says and has promises in scripture that talk about hey, He wants to restore relationship with us, He wants to love us, give us grace, and then in turn us not to get salvation, but for us to treat our neighbors, to love our neighbors as ourselves, as scripture says, Yeah, yeah, that's really good. And it has been difficult, like I know for me and some other people, same thing that when you look at your life and you're like, Wow, I haven't been perfect. Of course, whatever you perfect means, and that's not even possible for us. But to have that standard, and maybe it's social media that creates this perfect looking life. It is. Yeah, yeah, yes, yeah. But it oh yeah, go ahead, go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 23:18

No, no, no, go ahead, go ahead.

SPEAKER_04 23:20

Okay, no, you go ahead. I'm just kidding. I'll go.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

No, okay.

SPEAKER_04 23:24

I'll go. But no, but just to say that there's so much, and as you said earlier, the influences we have, and to stay up kind of in a higher level, whether in prayer, godly focus, and if I may say just like a mindset when I teach leaders, you think about you got to stay in a mindset that is productive mindset, and that's got to be most of the time or more of the time, and less of the time in that lower realm of the challenges and the feeling terrible about things, but staying in that upper realm most of the time. But social media, if we're looking at that multiple times a day, it's gonna be challenging to stay in the in the place in a godly place where we need to stay, unless that's true, that's our input. But yeah, tell me more about that or what you were gonna add to a second.

SPEAKER_02 24:09

I was just gonna say, like, social media is so delusional to some people, like they don't understand that sometimes social media is a rental place that is not existing if you don't have a phone because it can disappear like that, you know. We have to believe what God shows us, and a lot of times when we are looking at people, we don't know how they had to dig from a place of disbelief, dishonoring what God has told them, whether they're a believer or not. But we have to stop looking at how people live their lifestyles, you know, because we see people with this life, you know, that they probably had to fight from the grave or from a place where being displaced of hope and all this other stuff. And they had to wield themselves even to want to breathe and live. And so when they got up and they challenged themselves to be better and they start working on whatever plan that was set before them, and now they're starting to get the harvest that was deserving for that. Then you have people in their seasons like, God, when is it gonna be my time? When you start being obedient, when you start challenging yourself to stay locked into the things that I have told you to cultivate for your lineage and your legacy. See, a lot of people don't understand. Legacy is key. It's key, it's determined by what you leave an inheritance for your kids, and it's not money. People think that is money, but it's the action of systems that you build that will yield money. So it's like this podcast. You may leave it to somebody as an inheritance, but you did the groundwork, and so it has your blood, sweat, and tears, but also your purpose behind it to keep it as a drive and a focus to shift leaders, to think different, and also move in a greater capacity. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:50

Yeah, I know about some wonderful things. Those are a bunch of things that you said that are wonderful. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, have you ever made some tough decisions when you felt unqualified? And what did you learn?

SPEAKER_02 26:05

I did. So I want to share this because a lot of people always they always go off the deep end where education is concerned, right? And so I have a degree in psychology and I wanted to go all the way and get, you know, a master's degree in it. And the Lord sat me down one time and he said, You didn't even ask me about that. Wow. And I was like, I didn't think at the time when I was in like my younger 20s, like I had to ask permission for a certain thing because our purpose is lined up and it's already paved, right? And he goes, You didn't even ask me, you didn't even see how my input would be about that. And for some time I was kind of just sitting with it. He said, That's not my will for you. Pull out. And I cried and I wanted to be in disobedience, but I said, Okay, he told me some things and I said, Okay. He said, But I'll still give you the desire to do what you're doing, but not in that way. Still didn't understand it. I'm all like, but this is going to help people. So fast forward five years go by and no direction. I'm still in my purpose, I'm still in my call, I'm still in my education. And I want to say, COVID hit. And I'm fasting and I'm praying. And he's just like, I need you to get in school and I need you to do this, and I need you to coach. And I've been coaching for years, but he said, I need you to get certified and I need you to do this. And I'm just like, okay. And I was irritated by it. I'm gonna be honest. I said, okay, well, what is this going to yield? I did it, nothing for six months. He said, now I need you to drive this. All the stuff that you've been doing in ministry, all the leaders you've been helping, all the things you've been doing, now you have the footing to bring the people I want you to bring in, not just in leadership, but also out of the world. And I'm just like, and I started to see it line up when I start elevating in my obedience to God. Because obedience is not easy, it's hard sometimes when you feel like, Lord, I've been doing this so long, but now you want me to bring something else into it. But I have already had the systems built. I had 30 years spent already being my mother's admin, doing things and all this other stuff, helping the foundation of her ministry grow, helping the foundation of other organizations grow, helping other people behind the scenes, you know, doing Bible study, doing this, doing that. And I was like, okay, now I see how everything can focus and get on track. So that was that.

SPEAKER_04 28:30

Yeah, yeah, no, that's good. That's really good. Yeah, yeah. And it takes, as you said, sometimes it takes time. And I know I want to rush things. We're in this society of instant things, whether it's a microwave or a chat GPT, whatever you want to call it. But we get into this whole thinking of we got to have things happen fast. This is getting uncomfortable. And I set a goal, I know what I want. But but like you said, in your case, the one situation where you didn't ask God to do, you know, ask permission or ask for his advice, ask for his wisdom throughout all of that. So it's interesting how sometimes we go through that season of wandering, and it's just we don't know why sometimes, and we think we're doing the right things, but we're just not aligned with what God has for us.

SPEAKER_01 29:15

So I think that's yeah, and we don't want to wonder. Yeah, no, no, so it can cost you. Yeah, we don't want to wonder.

SPEAKER_04 29:22

No, no, it can cost you. Yep, yep. But if that's what God designs for our lives, for us to wander and wander in a place until we actually get it, because I think of Moses too.

SPEAKER_02 29:37

You know, I was gonna bring him up older earlier, yeah. Oh my lord, I was gonna bring him up. You go, and then I'll follow behind you.

SPEAKER_04 29:45

I was just gonna say a classic example, and of course, that's turned into a joke many times, just like Moses. Why did it take Moses 40 years of wandering? And uh, and of course, it's like because he wanted to do his own thing, he didn't want to check the directions, you know. I know I got this, I got this. That's a joke.

SPEAKER_02 30:02

No Apple map, no Google map, no Siri, no nothing. And then he finally got it when he turned 80. He started doing stuff that God told him to do. He hit his head multiple times, but he got it.

SPEAKER_04 30:14

Yeah, he had the best navigator out there, just got it. It's so funny.

SPEAKER_02 30:18

God spoke with him, say, you know, ear to ear, he spoke with him in a different way that he didn't do anybody else, and he's like, No, not yet.

SPEAKER_04 30:26

Yeah, that's what I find one of the funny or most curious or funny things is that somehow we think, man, if we live back when Jesus was walking the earth or we had direct conversation with God like Moses and some of the other people, that we would be so different, our faith walk would be so different. But you look at these people who have spoken and been around Christ and they saw the miracles, and they still doubted, they still had challenges, they still were afraid of being canceled. So I I think it's not funny, but it serves as a great reminder just to say, hey, we're not gonna know everything, we're not gonna feel it in our bones all the time in order to follow God.

SPEAKER_02 31:05

And then this is the process where I think a lot of people get kind of like sidetracked, is and it's hilarious to me when God tells them to do something, and then they'll go, I have to pray about it. It's so funny to me because I'm like, you're getting clear, direct communication from God in your ear gates. What is there to pray about? So I just find that absolutely it tickles me.

SPEAKER_04 31:28

Yeah, it really does. And it's funny, yeah, because sometimes that I can see that with some people who just I'm I'm talking about myself in the past where I haven't had a direct uh trust and exercise that faith in God and trusting and really slowing down to listen and discern through Bible study, through reading scripture, through listening and being worshipped, uh in worship. And I just haven't had that skill set developed. So it's almost like I'm a baby when it comes to a faith walk in the past. So I'd get all kinds of messages. This sounds like a good idea, that sounds like a good idea, and so it was hard to tell the mind of God and the wisdom of God when I wasn't in the Word and doing the things as you said, living the lifestyle that's in integrity with God. So I I can see that with some people, at least in that one case, there might be other nuances or reasons why people don't hear the clear message and haven't seen how things have worked and trusted in it. So or they have too many people in their ear, too many ideas.

SPEAKER_02 32:30

Yes, itching ears too. Because a lot of times when God gives you the vision, if I can say this, of course there's gonna be hand and feet on it, you know, for purpose sake and also kingdom helpers. But the way that you strategize what God tells you is the way that He told you to format it. Whenever God gives us something, you know, we always have outside solutions to say, well, I think you should do it this way, or I think he said this. But if you have a keen sense to know what God sounds like in your time, in your mind, in your ear gates, you don't go against that because it's going to, in a sense, derail you, but still get you to the purpose. But sometimes we hold up time by listening to the wrong people. They can have good intentions, but overall, you have to adjust and say, This is what God told me. Not be mean about it, but also be straightforward in your stance to say this we can't shift from this because we have to do it the way that God intended it for it to be.

SPEAKER_04 33:27

Yeah, why fight against God like I've done for several years? I got it, God. Hey, hey, stay at your distance, keep at your distance. Yeah, it's yeah, it's it's no fun that way. And I uh even through some of the more recent challenges, whatever I call a challenge, oh no, oh no, there's a traffic jam. Or I just had my right hip replaced January of we're recording this in January of 2026, and I just had my hip replaced three weeks ago basically, and I didn't know what was gonna happen with that because my hip was going bad, arthritis, swollen, just from doing very minimal things. And I play full court basketball once a week, right up until I had my hip replaced three weeks ago. And now, yeah, now I feel so blessed because I had had medication before, and I have you know three months of at least minimal recovery before I'm back up to 90%, and then I got to continue recovering slowly through there instead of trying to re-injure it. But the fact I've had, you know, I'm like, okay, how am I to do this? How am I gonna work? How am I gonna stay present in the family, get around, all these worries? But then I said, nope, God's got this, God knew that this was gonna happen. And that has given me such a level of peace, just practicing and God already given me this skill set, but it's just a matter of me accessing it and taking advantage of it. But I've had so much peace and so many things going on, but I've let go and let God take care of it. I'm like, this is just so awesome, this load off of my shoulders. I I never have realized this kind of a peace before.

SPEAKER_02 34:55

I love that. I love that when you let go and you let God, and it's a journey for depending on where you are in your walk, you know, because a lot of times people they'll navigate and then they'll give God their yes. And then sometimes when you do that, then you have to also realize that something will try to come and fight you to get out of alignment, but you got to keep on consistently, it's a daily walk, it's a daily surrender. You can't just do it one time and think it's gonna have activation in that order. It's a daily grind for that, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:25

Yeah, yeah. And really leaning into that patience and and just faith, the faith walk or faith steps, whatever you want to call it. So I think that's great. Yeah, yeah. So thank you so much, Jure, for being here today. And I appreciate all of your wisdom, all the wonderful work that you're doing with other people to help them really get aligned with God and what God's direction is for their lives. So tell everyone what's the best way to get in contact with you?

SPEAKER_02 35:51

So the best way to get in contact with me, you can visit my website, mendaval.org, or you can call my business line 213-973-3371. And on social media, follow me at mendaval.com and also I have another website, growinginsisterhood.com, where we meet, we heal, and we navigate through purpose. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 36:14

And then also spell your name. How do you spell Jere Black? J-E-R-E-E-B-L-A-C-K. Thank you so much. I appreciate you being here.

SPEAKER_02 36:23

You're welcome. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_04 36:26

You're welcome. You're welcome. And thank you for listening to this episode of Unapologetic Leadership, where Juree shared that stay aligned with God's purpose for your life and live in integrity with what God has for you. And it's a faith walk, it's important. Yeah, you're not gonna always know those steps, but practice it and know that God has his best interest, has grace for you, loves you and cares for you, and take your focus off of yourself. So I appreciate you listening to this episode of Unapologetic Leadership, and we'll see you in the next one.

SPEAKER_00 37:05

So that's it for today's episode of Unapologetic Leadership. Head on over to wherever you listen to podcasts and subscribe to the show. One lucky listener every single week that posts a review on Apple Podcasts or iTunes will win a chance in the grand prize drawing to win a twenty-five thousand dollar private VIP day with Corey Dunham himself. So head on over to Unapologetic Leadership Podcast dot com and pick up a free copy of Corey's gift and join us on the next episode.