Ep 48 - You’re Not Being Ignored—You’re Being Guided

Have you ever prayed, “God, I just wish You would tell me what to do,” only to feel like you’re hearing nothing?

In this episode of Messy But Motivated, I’m talking about a truth that changed my perspective: God is often speaking long before we realize He’s been guiding us.

We’ll dive into how God uses unexpected signs, other people, Scripture, closed doors, and even seasons of discomfort to lead us exactly where He wants us. Sometimes the very hardships we’re asking Him to remove are the things He’s using to draw us closer to Him.

If you’ve been wondering whether God hears your prayers, questioning His direction for your life, or feeling stuck waiting for an answer, this episode is for you. You may not be lost—you may simply be learning to recognize the Shepherd’s voice.

Let’s talk about how God guides His children, even when we don’t realize He’s been leading us all along.

Send me an email:

Melinda@mrsmotivated.com

Thanks for being a listener, stay blessed friends. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome back to Messy But Motivated. I am your host, Melinda. Hello, everybody. Yes, we are real time again. This is getting posted on Monday, and guess what? It's being recorded on Monday morning. We're getting so good at this. We're getting so good. Listen, I like it. Y'all like it? I like it a lot because I feel like you're in the know, you know? So today we're going on vacation. Hold on. Can we reverse? I live in Florida, so I'm we're driving to Cape Coral, and his family is meeting us there. Um, his brother does live in Cape Coral, so you know, he's just gonna be staying at his house. But we got an Airbnb, and man, I'm looking forward to it. Oh, I haven't seen my nieces and my nephews in a long time. So I'm looking forward to that. All the snuggles. Mike's sister has um she has three kids under the age of four.

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Ah!

SPEAKER_00 0:59

So I'm gonna get all my snuggles in. And of course I get to see my sister-in-law's. I love them, um, Amanda and Kimberly. And I'm excited. I am so excited. So you uh can we just reverse on that as well? I never used to be the girl that was excited for family vacations. Now I'm like, I realize that man, life's short. You don't know, especially with all of us living in different states, you don't know when it's gonna be the last time I'm gonna see these people. And man, I just I look forward to it. The other day, me and Mike were talking about going to our family reunion back in Illinois, and you know, tickets are expensive, you guys. You know, plane tickets, it uh even when we go, the you got four people you gotta pay for. Came to twelve hundred dollars, and of course, you know, a lot of me said, I don't want to pay that. But I prayed on it and I'm like, God's gonna provide, and it's fine. Let's let's get the tickets, let's go. Because my cousin is bringing his new baby, and I haven't got to meet her yet. They're coming from Singapore. Like, I it's just family is everything. Family is everything. So we're really moving things around, and I prayed on it. I'm like, God, you're gonna provide. So we're gonna go, and you just never know when you're gonna see people again. So I am really focusing on making sure that I have I make time for family because being here in Florida, I'm so like out of the loop with everybody that if I need to go and see them once every six months with the fam jam, that's what I'm gonna do. So and I highly recommend that you do the same because let me tell you, there are uh life short when you think about it, it's like man, you're right, it is short and anything can happen at any given time. And um, if you have the opportunity to go visit family and you don't take it, you don't want to regret that one day. So, anyways, so yes, we are gonna go um on a vacation right now today. I haven't packed nothing, nothing. Um, I had a paper for seminary due last night, so that's exactly what we did. Um, we wrote our papers and I cleaned the upstairs. I mean, people are coming back here on Thursday, so they're gonna be here for listen, a lot of moving parts. I even got some stuff for the kids here because I'm like, I don't have no little kid toys, so uh listen, Amazon's gonna be filling in that for me because I I had I got nothing. I got nothing. Other than that, though, everything's been great. Everything's been great. I will tell you, we went to so listen. I had I have been telling y'all I was going to a church, um, and I am not slandering this church. I want everybody to know that if a church is not for you, it's okay to say, hey, you know what, this isn't for me. Now, God knows what you need, okay? He knows what kind of church you need. Now, just remember, I want to also preface this we are the church, okay? So you walking into a church on Sundays, it's it's kind of like filling my cup up and having that community. And mainly for me, it's the community. I want the community because I know God never intended us to live this life alone, and we're supposed to be a community. And so when I started going to that church, I realized, you know, the first few times I was like, okay, I didn't really feel at home, even though their slogan is like, welcome home. And I'm like, I don't really feel at home at all. Like nobody's really saying much. Like it was just, I'm not used to that. You know, I'm used to small town Iowa when we walked into the church, everybody's like, hey, how are you? You look new here. Um, you know, all the things, and just our pastor coming to introduce himself, and like all those things just meant a lot, and they filled my cup because God knew I needed that at the time. And so when we got to this church, I haven't met the pastor. I mean, sometimes you're looking at a screen and it's not even, it's like from a different campus. That's not that's not what what is good for me. Like, God knows what's good for me, and that's not it. I need a physical person up there preaching the word. I need to know, like, you have y'all ever just looked at like there's they're preaching, and you like look around, you're like, You talking to me? Is that me? Are you listening um and I want that feeling, and I don't get that when I'm looking at a screen. Because how it works is sometimes there's a pastor up there speaking, but other times it's just like from their home campus and they're recording, and I'm like, it just is like I can stay home and do that. And if I'm gonna stay home and do that, I might as well stay home and do that. You know what I mean? Like, I am going to church because I want a community. And so I had been praying on it because I told Mike, I said, I just feel like it's not where I'm supposed to be. And I know that God put me here for a reason, and I gotta find that reason. I can't just stay. I went, I went, we went for a whole month. I said, I can't just stay in this spot and expect, expect for things to change if God's I'm already asking for signs and God's like, hey, like this isn't, you need to leave. So I prayed on it, and I had been praying on it, and I woke up to a message from somebody on TikTok. Now, I want you to guys to know, I don't check my messages very much on TikTok. I'm sorry, like you guys have got to imagine, I get so many messages, and I'm not this is not me tooting my own horn, but this is like messages like from people like, hey, can you post this or hey, can you donate to my GoFundMe, or hey, can you do this? And like a lot of them are bots, so I don't really like I it's very rare that I get on and I look at my messages. Well, I got on one like the next morning after I was really praying on it, really praying on it, and I got up and I I read this message, and it was him inviting me to this church. Um, he's like, Hey, me and my wife saw your video, and like if you want to um, you know, open invitation, and then he was just like, and you know, uh basically just saying, I hope that you find the church that fits you. And that really was like, Oh, okay, um, is that God trying to tell me? My child over here is being obedient. I told him to message you, and he did. So now it's up to you to take that step and come. So I tell Mike while we're drinking coffee, I said, I think we have to go to this new church. And he kind of looked at me like, huh? Um, and then I kind of told him, and I was like, you know, I've been praying on it. You knew I was praying on it, and I think we need to go to this church. He's like, All right, let me see. You know, so we kind of did our background on it, like looking it all up, seeing how it was and all that. Um, and it looked like he was checking all the boxes so cool. We ended up going on Sunday, and I want to, and this isn't to be funny, but I want to let y'all know that the devil was trying to get in there. Satan was like, hey, listen, I don't want you to go to this church. I do not want you to go here because something big's gonna happen. And you're like, but how did that listen? As we're going, my stomach starts hurting like real bad. And I looked over at Mike, I said, Man, I have like bubble guts right now, which is I'm like, I feel like I need to go to the bathroom. And I, you guys, something funny. Like, we were watching the news the day before, and it was like, there's cases of explosive diarrhea. So in my mind, I'm thinking, I can have explosive diarrhea. You know what I mean? So I'm like, look at him, I'm like, ooh, and this is like an 18-minute drive, you know. So we I got no no explosive diarrhea. I ended up getting there. I was praying, y'all. I was praying, I was like, God, just get me there. I get there, nothing. Like, I didn't even have to go to the bathroom at all. So that was just Satan being like, hey, I don't want you to go here. So we get there, you guys, and when we walk in, and I'm not making this up. My uh my husband can testify, say the same thing. We were welcomed from the minute we walked in that door. Now I want you to know this church is pretty small, it's not very big at all. And um I mean, we were welcomed, and it I felt immediately, immediately, God was like, these are the this is where I needed you to be. And I mean, everybody was just so kind, so kind. And we sit through the service, you know, and it comes to the end of the service. Now, I'm not one because the Bible says we do we should not be swearing on anything because, you know, our word should be our word. So I want you to know I I promise you that this happened, okay? Um, I at the end of the service was sitting there and I said, God, I I bowed my head and I said, God, please give me a sign right now. Um, that it's so big. I want it to be a sign so big that I know that this is the church for me. Like I need that sign from you because I don't know. Are you wanting me to just see how different churches? Because I'm in seminary, you know, we're learning about different cultures, different, uh, how different religions, like all these things. Like, are you just wanting me to see? Because I saw, I came, I saw. Like, is that it? And I say, God, so give me a sign that I need to be here. Like, this needs to be my church. And I promise you, I look up. I'm thinking the sermon is done. Okay. I'm thinking we're about to do our last worship and we're about to leave. I look up and I see the pastor going back up there. I'm like, okay, he's gonna give his benediction because that's how it was. You know, he's like, hey, send you on your way, let's go. But I see he has his notebook and I'm like, oh, he's got more to say. He's got more to say. So I'm like watching, like, oh no, what? And so I'm kind of in the back of my mind, I'm like, what's going on here, God? What you got going on? And he says, This is the pastor. He's like, Hey, I just want to let everybody know, you know, uh, I'm stepping down as lead pastor. And my heart, because I seen everybody's heart at that moment, just and I am such an empath, and also have the Holy Spirit within me, so I felt their pain. And everybody's just heartbroken. And you can just tell this pastor, his message was amazing. He you could tell he's just he he his life is that church, but he was being obedient to the Lord, and he had um opened uh another door opened, and he had to walk into it, and so he's like, you know, I have to because I can't, I cannot, after 10 years of giving you guys everything, like all of me, I can't give this something like this half of me to that, and then the other half, and it just I you guys deserve all of me, and so I'm gonna have to step down. And he's like, you know, I'll be there for two weeks or whatever. I at that moment I'm looking around at everybody, they're heartbroken, there's crying, and I I'm just like, oh my gosh, like that was a lot, and it's not even my pet, like, I'm just here visiting, like this here visiting, and I said, Okay, all right, okay, that that was it. Why did God send me there on the day that he was gonna tell everybody he was stepping down? I don't know, I don't know, but I can tell you this. I left there and I was so heavy. I looked over at Mike, I said, a part of me says, we intruded on that, but then another part of me says, No, God said, No, I needed you to see that. I needed you to see that, and I don't know why he needed me to see that. There are many things that were going through my head, okay? And it's up to me to figure that out. Um, but I'm praying on it, and God's gonna keep keep giving me what I need um in order to figure it out. But there were things such as are these seats going to become empty because there were a lot of empty seats. Are there even gonna be more empty seats because he's leaving? Um, it is it up to you to fill those seats? Like you, Melinda, you have you have something. And I've told you guys I have something. I don't know what it is. He saved me for a reason. I shouldn't be here right now, but there is a reason I am. And am I here to help, you know, just help hold up this church's arms when they feel like they're gonna fall? Like, if um am I there to do that? I don't know. Um, am I there just to be support? Because I do have a big heart, you guys. Am I there just to let these people lean on me, build friendships, like just give them love and let them know it's all gonna be okay? Um, I don't know what it is. Is it up to me to take a role? Like say, hey, like I want to do something. I don't know. Um, I'm praying on it, and I'm like, God, you know I'm available, you know I'm here, you know I'm capable of doing amazing things because I have you within me. Use me. So I am just praying on it, and I I am asking you as my listeners to help me and you pray on it as well, and just kind of have God guide me because right now I I need guided. I don't know what it is. I feel this like heaviness of God being like, hey, you saw it. I needed you to see it, and there's more to this, but you're gonna have to figure it out. I'm gonna keep giving you these signs and I'm gonna try to lead you, but also um pray on it, pray on it and realize that there's something more to this. So I'm asking you guys to please also pray on that for me because I I need it. Um, and of course, I'm writing my paper for seminary last night, and there were so many things that were talking to me within that, and I was like, okay, all right. Um, all right. And I think another one, and I I I don't want people to listen to this part. Um, I actually was going to keep this out, but I think it's important because maybe somebody else is going through this as well. Um, I moved from Iowa. A lot of you already know that. I moved and I moved to Florida, and it's it's lonely. It's lonely. Um, and I thought I would be getting phone calls from, you know, um just people that I normally talk to, um, FaceTimes, you know, just that little reassuring of, you know, I'm here for you, even though I'm thousands of miles away, I'm here because it is lonely. It is lonely. And I felt like I was being obedient to the Lord by coming here. And and now I'm like, where are my people, Lord? Like, what is happening? Like, I feel so lonely. Um, and don't get me wrong, I have my husband and I have my kids, and I do have a few friends here. Um, but God's also like I want you to to to look around, and I'm like, okay, and I'm taking that time, this time to do that, but I also have to realize in this that everybody else has lives too. Because a lot of me, I wanted to get on the phone and text my mom and text my sister and be like, you guys don't call me, I'm calling you, I'm doing this, and I and then something stopped me and said, Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. They have lives. Just because you up and moved doesn't mean that they have to call you all the time. It doesn't mean, okay, so you are the one calling them all the time. Okay, so you are the one texting them. Okay, so you are the one doing that. That's okay. They have lives, Melinda. You can't expect everybody to be like, oh, Melinda really needs me right now. She needs me. They have lives, and I'm working on them just as I'm working on you. And with that being said, I I need them to focus on themselves and their families and and their growth. And right now, sometimes it doesn't involve them calling you all the time anymore. You you're over here now. I'm I'm center stage in their lives, and you're over here, and and I need you to just just be here, and I'm gonna give you your people, and that's exactly like right now where I'm at with this. My heart kind of like is lonely, but I'm just uh I at this moment I'm leaning on him, and I think that's what he wanted me to do. He's like, Listen, you don't need other people, you just need me. I need you to be dependent on me. And that's actually what we're going into today because there are so many people that have reached out to me and they're like, when you say God says this, are you hearing a voice? And I'm like, no. They're like, wait, you're not hearing a visible. I said, some people do. I actually had a uh a girl in our small group who says she heard visibly, like audibly his voice. Um, and I I never got that. I I I had that one supernatural experience when I was gonna take my own life, and I did hear his voice, but I haven't since then. And um I I can tell you there was a time that I got woken up by a voice. I don't know if it was his voice, I'm not sure, um, but that's a whole different story. And there are ways that the Lord speaks to you that isn't audible. And so I want to go over that with uh with a lot of you because we've learned this in seminary, and I'm telling you, a lot of it I kind of looked at and I'm like, oh, oh my word, you are so right. How did I not know that? So if I didn't know that, I I think it's it's up to me to tell you guys, hey, and not to mention, I prayed on this. Um, I had no idea what I was gonna talk about uh about 10 minutes before doing this podcast, okay? As I was getting ready, you guys know I like to pray and I say, hey God, tell me what you want me to tell them. And this is what he wanted me to tell you is like, tell them what I'm teaching you in seminary. Uh that's what I need you to do. I need you, so I did take notes. Um, and I'm just gonna tell you ways that he will talk to you, that you're gonna be like, oh my gosh, that was him, and maybe this is gonna be a light bulb for you, and you're gonna be like, wow, I didn't realize that. God will take different measures to get to get your attention, okay? And so it's not gonna just be you're sitting there one day. I mean, this does happen to some people, but it's not gonna be sometimes you're just sitting there and God's like, hey, this, this, that, and the other. That's now if you're waiting for that, I'm sorry, but that might not happen, okay? I'm not saying it's not gonna happen, but it may not happen. Um, a lot of ways that God will come to you. You know how people say conviction? It's that restless spirit within you. Now, I can tell you an example um of something that I had conviction on, and I had this restless, like, oh man. And it was while we were at that other church. I would be in there and I had this like, oh, it was just something. And every time I'd leave there, instead of feeling like I used to when I'd leave church with my cup filled and I'm ready to go and take on the world, I had this heaviness on me. And I'm like, why, God? Why? I'm supposed to lead there and I'm supposed to, you're supposed to fill my cup here so that I can fill everybody else's cup online and just feed into my ministry. Like, I don't understand why I'm feeling like this. And so when we're going over this in seminary, and it's like, he will give you a restless spirit, he will give you something within you where you you just can't understand why you're so restless. And it's up to you to pray and ask for clarity. Ask for clarity. Pray. Say, God, I know there is something in me, and I don't know what it is, but I am feeling so restless right now. And I shouldn't feel this way. I don't know what it is. Can you please, Lord, guide me? Tell me what it is that I'm feeling this way for, and He will. He will. So you just have to pray. You have to ask for clarity on it. Ask Him. Say, hey, tell me, because I don't understand why I feel the way I do right now. There's multiple ways. So I'm just gonna go through all of them because uh there was some I was like, oh wow. Um, a spoken word, a spoken word. Have you ever, and I know I just talked about this, uh, I believe I just talked about this. I don't know, my mind's everywhere right now, but have you ever been at a sermon and then somebody says, like this the pastor says something, and you're like, wait, you talking to me? Wait, what? Sometimes he will use other people to speak to you. And I can tell you this is an example. I was putting up these. Kind of walls, but not really in our small group. Because I was like, I don't know if I really fit into that group. I don't know if I should hang out with them. All these things. And let me tell you, we go to our small group, and one of the girls goes up there and she's speaking, and she touched on something that just slapped me across the face. It was like, wow. And I just kind of smile because I'm like, God, I know that was for me. Like what she just said was for me. She was basically saying, get out of your comfort zone. Stop thinking that this person can't be your friend because that might be the very person that God sent for you. And I was like, oh wow. Okay. All right. I see you. So I felt, I felt like, wow, that I mean, and I know that there's so many people that have said things like, Melinda, oh my gosh, you just said something. I could because I always say, you guys, and I I pray that you do this too. Ask God to use you. Wake up and ask Him to use you. Parade on it. Say, God, use me. Please use me. And it might not be to do this like uh this word to this big congregation or this and that, but it might be something where you're passing somebody and you're like, um, and it's something so simple. And they're like, wow, I asked for a sign. And that sign, God just sent me that sign, and it was through her. Um, or you might just say something little, and somebody's like, wow, I needed to hear that. I get that a lot. People will be like, I needed to hear that, Melinda. And I'm like, thank you, Lord. Thank you. Like sometimes I'll say things and I'm like, why did I even just say that? And guys, that's the Holy Spirit within you. We all have it. We all have the Holy Spirit within us. The same Holy Spirit that he left and gave to his disciples and told them to go and teach all nations, and uh they were healing people and they were we have that within us. We have it. So many of us think, oh no, we don't, we I can't do that. What do you mean you can't do that? The Bible says, the Bible says that we have that. I don't know about you, but he's gonna use me because I asked him. I said, God, use me. Speak to me so that I can speak to my people on my podcast. Speak to me so I can use my social media platforms so that I can make myself smaller and point everybody to you. And I truly believe he does that. So one way that he does that is he's gonna use other people to get to you. He's gonna use all strings, he's gonna pull all the strings, you guys. All the strings. So another way you can do that is if you hear something and you're like, wow, was that for me? Pray on it. Pray on it. Say, God, was that for me? He'll let you know. He will let you know, you guys. He is gonna be like, girl, you've seen it. You've seen it. And sometimes the word ain't good. Sometimes it is good, sometimes it isn't. Sometimes you're like, oh, what did okay, God, I hear you. All right, and that happens to be nine times out of ten, you guys. Somebody will say something, and I'm so mmm, okay, God. I'm sorry. Okay, all right. So he will use other people. An unusual blessing. Oh, and y'all have you ever gotten it? Have y'all ever gotten an unusual blessing? I can tell you one that happened to us when we lived in um the Chicago area. We lived in Antioch, Illinois, and we had just moved. Mike had just uh got to the he was working at the boot camp um in Great Lakes. I had just gotten out of the military, just had uh what Chloe was probably one. And we were, you know, I just got out. I was like, we were trying to figure out finances as a new married couple, and it was hard. It was one of those things where we kind of didn't understand each other's finances. Like I it was just it was really it it was a learning, it was a learning experience. And there was a time where, man, it was rough, finances were rough, okay. And I can tell you till this day, I I still listen, till this day, I remember praying, and I remember being like, God, help us out because we ain't got nothing. We ain't got a pot to piss in. And I got a knock at the door. Now, this is not a made-up story. I I I talk about this, and my actually I told my mom I said it was the most one, one of the most craziest moments of my life. I get a knock at the door and it's FedEx. And I remember I'm holding Chloe. I opened the door and he's like, Hey, you have to sign for this. And I'm in my mind thinking, oh my gosh, I'm probably getting summits to something or whatever, because we weren't paying all our bills, you guys. Uh we listen, slim pickings. So we were picking and choosing at that time what we were gonna pay. And I opened the envelope and it was a check for $2,500. And I was like, wait, what? And I can tell you guys till this day. Now, this is you're gonna be like, Melinda, this is crazy. Um, just take my word. I promise you this happened. I still don't know what that was for. I have no idea what it was for. It there was a brief moment where I went and worked on base right when I got out of the military. I went and worked on the boot camp base. And um, it was from that company that I worked for. And I only worked there for probably four or five months. And I don't know where I was getting a paycheck the whole time. So why they sent me this money, I don't know. There was no explanation with it. There was nothing. It was just a check for the $2,500. So I'm like, okay, was it a bonus? Was it I don't, I don't know. I really wasn't there long enough to be getting a vote. I don't know. So till this day, I can tell you right now, that was God. I do not know what that check was for till this day. So he will send you um blessings, uh-uh, blessings that are unexpected. Things will happen, and you're like, how did that, how did that just happen? And I mean, there are so many, I can, but listen, we can do a whole podcast on this. There was a time where I was delayed on a plane, and I was like, listen, God, I if I don't make that plane, it is not gonna be good. And lo and behold, that plane got delayed. So I made it in time, and I think I had like an hour to spare, and I was like, that's God right there. There was no reason for that plane to be delayed. I think it was like a light came on or something, and I was just like, okay, I see you. So unexpected prayers. Now, on the flip side of that, unanswered prayers. Unanswered prayers. So sometimes he's gonna say no. Sometimes he's gonna say no. And this is the hard one because a lot of times when we talk about God trying to get our attention, we're like, oh, he's gonna send all these blessings. Honey, no. Do you know when David cried to him and said, Please heal my son, his infant son? God said no. God said no. God needed to use his child's death to have him check himself. He needed him to to examine himself. And that because I can tell you, when you hit rock bottom, I've been there. I've been there. I didn't use, I haven't lost a child, I haven't lost anybody so significantly close to me that um I have been in the pits, but I have been in the pits with anxiety, I have been in the pits with depression, I have been in the pits where I wanted to take my own life. And looking back now, it was all God. He had me hit the rockiest bottom of that pit in order for me to say, God, I don't know what else to do. I don't know. He had he had that happen. And so there will be times in our lives that unanswered prayer is God trying to get our attention. And you have to pray on it and you have to sit back and you have to examine yourself and say, God, are you trying to tell me something? Is this something you're trying to tell me? Disappointments. Sometimes God will set us back, you guys, so that we can realize that we're not charting our own course. He's in charge. He is in charge of what is going to happen. Sometimes we think that we're gonna be the one driving the bus. And he's like, get in the backseat. I'm the one driving the bus. I'm the one. You you and I have to do this to you because you, for some reason, think that you're the one that's in control. So I'm gonna need you to take the back seat. And in order for that to happen, I have got to disappoint you. And I'm gonna set you back. I'm gonna set you way back. And that might be with your finances, just like God used me with that unexpected check. At that moment, I knew that was God because I'm like, there's no other way. Like, how would that where did this come from? I remember me and my husband being like, What? And guess what happened? We get that check, and we knew it was him. Sometimes God will do these financial burdens, and and oh man, we just don't have nothing. We have nothing. Or man, that was all taken from me. And then what are you doing? Because you don't know what else to do. We're humans. What do we do? When we're struggling, when we don't know what else to do, who do we turn to? God. When we're at that deathbed and we're we're watching that loved one pass away right in front of our eyes. What are we doing? We're praying. When there's a car accident, when me and my sister were in a horrible car accident when we were younger. Do you think my mom wasn't in the car that hour drive to the hospital praying? That's when she was praying the most. That's probably the most prayer she's ever done in an hour's time. God does that stuff. He does it because sometimes he says, Listen, I need you to wake up. Wake up. I'm gonna take it from you because I gave you all that money. I gave you the $10,000 and you went and you spent it on shit. Excuse my language. So now I'm gonna take it from you so that you realize that that was a blessing. That was me talking to you, saying, I've got you. I will always take care of you. And I know this is so hard for some people to hear because they're probably in it right now. They're they're at the bottom of the financial, and they're like, Man, you're right. I guess I was getting all that money on TikTok shop. I was making a lot of money, and then all of a sudden now I'm only making like $30 a month. Or I was doing this and now I'm not, and or I I had I used to get promotions all the time and and bonuses, and now I'm not getting them. And you know what's weird? I've kind of gone far away from the Lord. I don't open my Bible anymore. I don't go to church on Sundays anymore. I would rather sit at home and watch Netflix than build a community. My friends asked me to come over for pizza and watch movies, but instead I'm gonna watch true crime or gossip girls at home by myself. God never planned for us to do this world alone. Community. He had a community. Jesus himself had a community, he had disciples. He never intended us to do this alone. If there is one piece of advice you take from this podcast today, it is do not isolate yourself and build a community. Please. Tragedy and sickness. I'm actually following a a little boy just got in a horrible accident. He got hit by a car, and man, they said he wasn't gonna make it like 24 hours, and I'm telling you, like, the internet's been praying for him and everything, and now he's actually like walking, and it's just like it's crazy, tragedy, sickness. That family is probably closer to God than they've ever been before. Ever. I know they're close to God. You're probably like, well, don't assume that. No, no, no, no. She's posting, like, praise God. God is amazing, and he is, he's a good God. But sometimes he uses that so that he can say, Hey, I'm over here. Remember, I can still do miracles. Remember, I raised Lazarus from the dead. Remember. Sometimes he has to do that. So the sickness, I had a stroke, what, three years ago now. And unexpectedly, many of you probably don't know, unexpectedly, obviously, I didn't let nobody plans to have a stroke, but 10 o'clock at night after my family had left. I go into the bathroom and I go to brush my teeth, and my arm stops working. Just stops working. It's like dead. And I walked into my husband and I looked at him and I said, I'm at the I'm scared. I don't know. Something just happened. He said, What's wrong? And I mean, I'll be honest with you, my husband was high out of his mind at that time. That was a big eye-opener for him. He's probably not happy that I'm sharing this, but he said that right there made him realize that. Because we had to call my aunt and come get me to take us both to the hospital. He couldn't. As my provider, as the person that's supposed to be there for me, he couldn't. He couldn't. He was high. He couldn't drive me to the hospital. We had to call somebody else. And that was an eye-opener for him. He said, from that day forward, he was like, I can't do that. Like, I have got to make sure that if something ever happens, I can provide for my family, even if that means taking them to the hospital. So God uses things like that. That illness maybe woke him up. That stroke of mine maybe woke him up. I know it woke me up. I know it woke me up. I remember laying there and I'm like, I'm 36 years old, and I just had a stroke. That was an eye-opener for me. A lot of you followed me at the time, and I just remember like that was when I was really hitting rock bottom. That was a really hard, rough time in my life, but I believe God used it. I'm great now. I see a neurologist every year, and that's about it. I was on every two months, every three months, and then I went to six months and then a year, and now I'm on that year. But God is good. God is good. He used it, and I remember thinking, man, how is this happening right now? But guess what I did? Who do you lean on when you you don't know what else to do? You lean on the Lord, and that's exactly what my family did. Bottom line is He's going to do and use what He needs to get to you. He is every time. There are gonna be things in your life that you're gonna be like, it might be hard, um, it might be, I'm it might be a blessing, but I promise you, you have to look for those things. You can't just think in your head, ma'am, he's not talking to me. Melinda said that the Lord, every time she asks, he talks to her. The Bible even says, if you ask, you will receive. So when I'm talking to you, Lord, where are you? But yet you're ignoring that sign. That friend just told you um the same thing that your your sister told you two nights ago, and they don't even know each other, they don't hang out, they don't even text. They didn't the God will use people. Well, how come I heard it from my sister? And then I heard it from my friends, and now I'm watching a TikTok and somebody else is saying it too. Okay, God, God will use people, God will use whatever he can, even if it means knocking you down to where you are at the bottom of that pit and you have nothing else to grab onto, and you reach for his hand. He will use that, he will, and and it's up to you to look for those signs. So I hope that somebody took something from this. I I pray so much before this podcast. Like, I want you guys all to realize that. I I I really do. So if you took anything from this, just know that wasn't from me, that was from the Lord. And I always tell them, just use me, Lord. Use me. Use me. I I I don't want people to look at me at the end of this life. I don't want people to look at Melinda. I don't want that. I want them to look at Melinda and say, that's the girl that brought me closer to the Lord. Oh, yeah, I know Melinda. Oh, you do? Yeah, yeah, yeah. She that's the girl that for some reason I kept getting her TikToks. I couldn't stand, listen, I even put not interested five times. And it still kept coming up. And every time it was something about the and I said, I said not interested. And then my mom got diagnosed with cancer, and then I didn't know what else to do. And guess who came up? Melinda's thing again. And then I said, All right, maybe there's something to this. All right, I'm gonna stick around because I don't know what else to do at this point. And then here you are. So I love you guys. Um, just I like I said, I ask um to just pray for me in this season. Pray that God just continues to guide me where I need to be, and He tells me, and it is so obvious. I always say, Please make it obvious. Come on, God, you know I need I need people to make it obvious. I need it obvious. Because if not, I'm over here like, was that? Is that huh? I got a text from one of my friends from my small group, and I said, Okay, this was just a way that God was saying, Hey, yeah, I need you to stay at that church. She texted me and she said, Don't you think it's odd that you went to the church on the same day that he was saying he was stepping down? I said, Yeah. Said I'm praying on it. But that was God saying, Hey, you need to text her and say that. She needs to hear that. Because right now she's sitting there being like, No, maybe not. Because I was, I'm in my head a lot. God knows me more than I know myself. I was in my head and I'm like, no, no. God was just, He just wanted me to see how much they loved him, which was beautiful to see. But also, I'm over here like, do you need me to help you fill those seats? Because I can fill them. Like, I, y'all, the confidence I have. Listen, I have so much confidence. I'm like, I I left there, I looked at my head, I said, I could fill those seats. There were a lot of empty seats. I said, I could fill those. I could 100%. Put me in, coach. I I don't know what I would have to do, but I would figure it out. Because I would say, God use me. I don't care. What do we gotta do? Go out here and wash cars, get people in here. I don't know what I gotta do, but I will get these seats filled. So I don't know. Alright, I'll love you guys. I love you so much. Um, have the best, best week. I will be back next Monday. If not, maybe be worried. Be worried. Um, things have been going great, and I've been able to actually get on here and do this every Monday, and it's been such a blessing. So I will see you next Monday, and I'll let you know about this vacation, how it went. Hopefully, well. Actually, I think family's still gonna be here. Yeah, I think family's still gonna be here, guys. So, all right, love you. Have a great week, and stay blessed, friends.