Extraordinary Things, Ordinary People | Say Yes With Sherri Porterfield: Episode 10

This week, we sat down with Sherri Porterfield to talk about all things “yes.”

Sherri shares her story of wrestling with the question, “Why me?”—why would God use someone ordinary and seemingly unqualified for an extraordinary purpose? She walks through how God shifted her perspective to “Why not me?” and the reality that when God calls you, your response matters. If you don’t step into what He has for you, someone else will.

This conversation is a reminder that you are chosen for such a time as this.

Sherri also opens up about her growth through comparison, navigating anxiety, and what it looked like to step into leading a women’s ministry. And of course, there are some unfiltered, honest, and lighthearted moments along the way.

You don’t want to miss this one.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Hey, what's up everybody? We are back for another episode of Say Yes with Callie and Jess, and we are so excited for today's guest. I guarantee you're gonna laugh at some point throughout this podcast. Because we oh look, see we're already laughing. We have the one, the only Miss Sherry Porterfield joining us today. Hey Sherry. Hey, this is so weird. It it gets more natural, I promise. It does. It's kind of awkward at first, but you you get used to it. It's awesome. So, Sherry, take take a couple minutes and tell us about yourself, who you are, what you do.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Well, I am Sherry Porterfield. I have a husband for 30 some years, three kids and three grandkids, all boys. So they they love to ride the side by side with me, and I love to snorkel and chase turtles. Chase turtles at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

Oh, so at the same time, okay. Where do you go to do that?

SPEAKER_01 1:09

St. Thomas, and it's the best place in the whole wide world. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

How did you end up going to St. Thomas? Because I feel like that's I've heard of St. Thomas, but it's not somewhere that I'm like, oh yeah, that that's like it's not overly known about. I know, but it's the best.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

It was during COVID, the end of COVID, and I didn't have a passport, and I needed to I had to cancel a flight because of COVID, and like you have to use it within ever how much time. So I was like, okay, we'll see, where can we go without a passport that's nice? And it's like, okay. Uh St. Thomas is one of the US territories. You don't have to have a passport. Let's try this out. And lo and behold, it was the best trip. And I think I've been three or four times. Okay. And now Beth and Dave got I know you got everybody good.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

You started the trend she's a trend center in some. That's awesome. So why would you recommend St. Thomas to somebody that's like, maybe that sounds like a cool place I'd like to go to. What what would be your main selling point to be like visit St. Thomas?

SPEAKER_01 2:23

The sea turtles. Okay. I love chasing these sea turtles. Of course, I would never touch one. It's a$10,000 fun. Oh, yeah. But you can sure chase them. And if you just chill and don't chase them, they just hang out with you. So there are like lots of them there. You could reach out and touch one, not that I would. But if you just hang and don't chase them, they just hang out with you. Is it like in deep water? Do you have to go deep to be able to see them? No.

unknown 2:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

No, it's like, you know where the buoys are? Yeah. That's where they hang out. Okay. And you have to get where the grass is because they're going to eat the grass. So you watch them eat and it's so cool.

SPEAKER_00 3:11

This is this is when I wish our podcast had videos. I could see the facial expressions that go along with the noises and sounds that you're hearing. That is so cool. So are there other sea creatures and things that you see too, or is it mainly just sea turtles or all of them?

SPEAKER_01 3:25

Oh no, there's lots of stuff. Um this is it a man-ray? Okay. Or um those flowy things. Yeah. Just comes right by you. And with its side, just flaps your leg. And then that's terrifying. Oh, I'd freak out.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

It's the thing that killed Steve Irwin. Like the yeah, no, that's terrifying. Sting stingrace.

unknown 3:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

Well, that's not terrifying. It's not. It you just said it killed Steve Irwin. Well, it's not bonus. Death noodle or something.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

Oh, it was What? I chased that thing for Death Noodle? Death Noodle. Danger noodle. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 4:05

Like the like the tail?

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Is that what you're talking about?

SPEAKER_03 4:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Death noodle? I don't know. It just kind of popped in my head.

SPEAKER_02 4:10

Yeah, didn't it?

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Like get him in the heart or something. I think so. That was like a freak accident.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

Even Steve wouldn't blame that.

SPEAKER_00 4:16

Yeah, no, he wouldn't.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

But when you go into the ocean where they are, you drag your feet. Okay. That way, if they're they don't step on it. Stay flap and kind of bury themselves like right under. So that way you can say, get along, little stingray. Okay. Did you see sharks? Have you seen sharks? We saw a baby shark. Those suckers. Oh, I chased it. Oh, he is way too fast. Yeah. Just a tiny like a foot long or something.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

So you're just like up for any adventure, huh?

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Yeah, let's roll.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

So if you could travel anywhere else in the world, where would you go? Because I know St. Thomas has your heart. Would you pick somewhere else or is St. Thomas where you're going?

SPEAKER_01 5:00

It's probably where I would go, but I also I might want to try Hawaii. Okay. Just, you know. A friend of mine went and she said there's volcanoes and rocks. I'm like, hmm.

SPEAKER_00 5:13

I might have to check it out. That'd be fun to see. Totally fun. I love it. So, Kelly, you got a question for Sherry?

SPEAKER_02 5:18

Excuse me. I do. We ask the same question to everyone who comes on the podcast. Getting her notes out. Panic right there. Um, we ask you to tell us about a time that you said yes to God and what that looked like for you.

SPEAKER_01 5:37

Well, while I was thinking about this, my you know, gotta be weird. I always start by saying no. Okay. Which is not it's an example of what you shouldn't do. Because I will get the idea and I'm like, oh, that's not for me. That's probably from the devil. You know? Okay. When obviously it's not. Yeah. So um let me go back to like I decided years ago that I was going to change churches. Okay. So the Lord had it in my mind. I'm like, nope, not going to, you know, that's right. What's from the devil here?

unknown 6:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

Devil would never make the devil wants me to change. Yeah. The devil wants me to go to church. That makes so much sense. So much sense. So, but it was it was a really big step because that's where I'd went my whole life. And I'm like, oh, I don't know, I don't know, I don't want to change. So I just felt like, okay, it's time. So the kids were younger. I have three kids, and so I took them to a new church, and it was so awkward and so weird. And I'm like, oh goodness gracious. And about this same time, Beth and Dave had Christ Chapel here. And I'm like, they're from Georgia. We barely knew them. We saw them like at Thanksgiving or Christmas. Beth and Andy are cousins. So they're like, now where's their church? At the movie theater. Well, what kind of weirdos go to a movie theater? The devil's sending into the movie. It's obvious. All those rated R movies and Christchapel zooms in. Yeah. So uh Andy for years didn't go to church with me. And I would drag the three kids to church by myself for years and years and years, and he just wasn't gonna go. And so I started going to another church here probably two or three months, and I got to sit by myself. And at the time I thought it was torturous to go into a strange church and just sit by myself. But it's where I was able to find and build a closer relationship because there was no distractions. It was it was me and the preacher and the Lord talking in my ear. I'm like, okay. And then suddenly my crazy husband, who doesn't even go to church, wants me to go to Christ Chapel with him because his mom's begging him because Beth and Dave have a church in a movie theater. I thought it's gonna be a cold day in Florida before I come to church with him because I've dragged three kids to church with me for years. Begged him to come, wouldn't do it. He did when we first started dating, he's tricking me. But so it anyway, we went to church at the other church, and I kept saying, No, I'm not going with you. But that tricky Lord, you will get me every time coming I'm stubborn. So I was going to this other church and they had a membership class and I thought, I think I'm gonna join this church. It's gonna happen. And Andy can go to his church at the movie theater, and I'll go here, and that's just the way it's gonna be. I am stubborn as a mule. I'm not gonna I'm showing him he's getting a taste of his own medicine. So I'm sitting in that membership class fully intending to join them, and they're talking about the church, and I thought, well, that's exactly what Christ Chapel does. And then he'd say something else. I thought, hmm, that's like Christ Chapel too. And it was just bam, like a ton of bricks, the Lord on my heart saying, All you have ever prayed for, or how how long have you prayed for your husband to go to church with you? And now he's going to church and you won't do it. And I mean, I lost complete. I'm like, I just start crying in the middle of their membership class, and I'm sure that pastor thought, Oh, she is really touched, she's gonna be, you know, head member or whatever. Head member, I don't even know what that means. So I got up and I'm like, I I can't be a member, but thank you. And left. And you left. Okay. Yeah. So then Andy Andy came to me and said, You have every right to not come to church with me. Because I've not gone to church with you for years. But if I would really like it if you came. And there he was, like being nice and saying the right thing. I didn't care for that. So wanted to be mad at him. So I I crumbled. I'm like, okay, I'm gonna go with him one time. Mm-hmm. And so then I get there and I'm like, this is really nice in this weirdo movie theater. Next thing I know, I'm volunteering in the kids on and we're putting stuff together and taking stuff apart and doing all the things, and that's golly, how many years later? Thirteen. Thirteen. So it's it's been an adventure.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Yeah. So what has your life looked like since saying yes to switching church and to changing things up and doing something you didn't want to do? You said yes to a lot more things, haven't you, since then?

SPEAKER_01 11:43

I've said yes to so many things. And Beth is such an encourager. I went to a women's conference at Hillcrest and I I saw Beth. I'm like, wow, we should have something like this at Christ Chapel. This would be awesome. Oh, you should never say stuff like that to Beth. She said, Yeah, why don't you do that? Me? Why I want to sit back and watch it. And lo and behold, we have a whole women's ministry now. And who's who's who's over that women's ministry? Well, it could be me. You might have your hands hands in that. It's really Beth.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

She says it's me, but yeah, but you you have a lot of say in that, and you helped pick the people that are gonna run all the conferences that bring in hundreds of people each and every year, and it's amazing. All of these events and things like that that you guys are planning and hosting and doing, and it's pretty incredible to see. It's got some pretty cool events coming up this year with women's ministry. We do, we do, we're really excited. Like a cruise, river days, movie nights.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

You got all kinds of stuff. Oh yeah. I mean I'm really excited. I'm excited about the cruise too. But the river date is at my sister's farm, which is on the river. Surprise, surprise. But that it's the river, and it also has the new river trail that goes on it. So you can do trail and river the same day, relax. It's all so fun. I'm excited about that.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

I love that. One of the things that you talked about, Sherry, in your story was that that few month period of kind of being by yourself with God. Tell us a little bit about what that looked like and how that you think impacted your story. Because you know, you kind of had to shift from something that you a church that you had been to, a place that you had been in for a long time, and then go into that quiet space before the Lord could reveal something new to you. I feel like that's something that I know this happened in my life, is that you kind of have to change seasons and you've got this transition thing. So what did that look like for you?

SPEAKER_01 13:43

Well, while I was sitting there by myself, I'm like, you know, what I'm not coming to church for my parents or for my kids, and I'm there for me. Lord, what do you want? And in that season, I'm just like, t show me where to go. Show me what you want me to do. I'll just do it. I just it was so uneasy of a it was so much of a uneas uneasy feeling, like, do you want me to go to this church? I think you do want me to go to this church, or should I go here, should I go there? And I listened and it was just bam. Once he showed me that meeting, I'm like, okay, I'm here. I am I'm not looking anymore. I have my answer. And it's been what 13 years later. But it got me so much closer to the Lord because I was listening for him. I was I want I wanted whatever he wanted. He knows what's best for me, and that's what I wanted.

SPEAKER_00 14:38

Yeah, that's so good to hear you say that you were listening for him. I feel like so many times we pray and we're telling God what we want, but I do we take the time to to listen to him and to be still and to just be like, Okay, God, I'm listening to you. What do you have to say to me? And it's so cool to see that when you did listen, he spoke. Yep, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 14:56

I think it's such a pattern though, too, that we see all throughout scripture of when you're in this like preparation period, I guess. Like we see this in the life of Jesus, like before he went on to start his ministry, he was in solitude and by himself, just him and the Lord for 40 days. And there was temptation and things that came through that, but that made him stronger. And we see that all throughout that like God really, you know, he's not gonna send you somewhere. Well, he will, but you know, like there's you you get those little like thoughts from the Lord before things happen, I think sometimes of like like me before I left college, it's like maybe this isn't right. And I was like, no, no, no. Like even before I went, I'm like, maybe, like what if this happened? You know, things like that that we think are from the devil, and clearly, like, it's the Lord pointing those thoughts, but he he'll really, you know, when we're entering into these big seasons, especially ministry like you've entered into, he ri I feel like he's very intentional with, you know, preparing giving us what we need, you know. He's a provider and he always will give us what we need. And that's really what she needed in that season was that solitude and just to strengthen your relationship with him. So you would, you know, end up being obedient in the future.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

Right. And one of the things, you know, talking about the women's ministry, once we uh started Women's Night of Worship, I was I I I didn't want to. I I've I was like, oh, that's probably not what he really means. I have to say no and make excuses first in my human nature. But I kept thinking, I think I need to speak. And I'm like, I d I'm not a speaker. And it was a whole thing in my head because I'm like, but I'm not a speaker. I don't get up in front of hundreds of people and speak. That's just not who I am. Well, it is now. That's what I thought. So in that season, I was like, but why me? I don't understand why me. Because and I wrote it in my notes too, even though they disappeared. Somebody else can do it better. And there's almost always gonna be somebody else that can do it better. But that's not that that's not what God wants. He knows there's somebody else that can do it better. But he knows the better of the whole the big picture. Yeah, for sure. So um one of the things that has surprised me is the women's conferences and women's ministry. What these ladies want more than anything is someone speaking to them that are, as they say, their words, real people.

SPEAKER_02 17:33

Yes, you really embody that share. Like oftentimes you go to these big conferences and things like that, or go watch somebody speak, and it's like the minute they step on the stage, it's it it's almost like you feel like you're being like it's performative. Yeah, it it's like they're performing, and they're and that's something about you, about Darla, about everybody who is at our women's conference, it's so real, it's so relatable. We have mess-ups. And when you let that be seen and you let the nervousness and the awkwardness be seen, people can sit back a little bit. Because they're like, okay, they're not gonna tell me you need to be doing this and this and this and this. It's like, no, I'm here with you. Like I'm walking through this with you. And I love that about you, Sherry. I love that quality about you.

SPEAKER_00 18:11

And I think that that's so cool to see that everybody's like, well, if Sherry can do it, then I can do it. If if these people can get up there and do that, then I can share my story. Because you don't have to have a stage to share your story. Yeah, you know, sure, that's that's a good way to meet a lot of people and to be able to get your your points across and to share what the Lord has laid on your heart. But ministry and sharing what's on your heart and what the Lord needs you to tell to other people can be done at a table, can be done in a drive-through window, it can be done in Walmart, you know, when you show somebody grace and patience rather than getting really frustrated, which is so easy to do. And you said, why me? Why not you? Exactly. Why not? Yeah, exactly. So I think that that's so cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

If the Lord, you know, during his ministry for his disciples, if he was looking for people who were knowledgeable about the law and everything, he could have picked the Pharisees, you know, they knew everything, but their heart wasn't right, right? He's looking for that obedience. You know, Peter's a knucklehead, he's always saying no and always just being, you know, they call him like the hot-headed disciple. He's just saying whatever's on his mind, which I feel like that's us sometimes. Like it's just unhinged a little bit, and that's how Peter was. But God wasn't looking for for the ones who are, you know, performative and all of that. He's looking for an obedient heart, you know.

SPEAKER_03 19:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:27

I had people go to a conference where you pay lots of money to go to, and they said, I think I really like y'all's better because y'all are so real. You're not. And I'm like, Oh, oh, that just melted my heart.

unknown 19:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

It's so cool to see all of the growth and all of those things. And I mean, you're praying out loud now. That's pretty cool. Oh, that oh, that's scary as crap.

SPEAKER_01 19:49

I guess you don't say crap on a box. All right.

SPEAKER_00 19:52

Hey, we're real people everybody. Yeah. So what does that look like for you having to because I know that that's been a scary thing for you is praying out loud, and it is for so many people. What how have you kind of overcome that?

SPEAKER_01 20:07

I don't know that I'm ever gonna completely overcome it because as the the human on me says, somebody else can make a better prayer. Well, what's it matter? You you you can pray. You've got a mouth. Are you thankful or not? Are you grateful?

SPEAKER_00 20:25

Suck it up, buttercup. I love it. How did how do you think you got the the nerve to do that? What do you think pushed you to be like, suck it up, buttercup? Was there was there a time or a day that you were like, I gotta do this?

SPEAKER_01 20:42

Well, lots of times when I have ideas, I finally just message Beth and say, Hey, um like I forced myself if I if I think or if I know the Lord is pushing me in that direction, I just finally use like fun. And I'll say, I think I need to do a live group about praying out loud. There I said it, you know. And she said, Oh, great. And I'm like, what have I done? And I'll sign you up to lead that. Yeah. I layed it one time. It was scary as I don't know what, but do it anyway, right?

SPEAKER_00 21:17

Do you get scared? And I think there's something so powerful in that when you said you had to text somebody and tell them, like, hey, this is what I think I should do, and then they encouraged you in that. So I think there's so much power in having people in our lives that will encourage us and push us to step into what God's calling us to do and just to be thankful for those people, you know, and maybe that's that's a reminder to those of you listening to text somebody and be like, Hey, I'm thankful for you. Thanks for pushing me into that. Or if you've got that burning idea, tell somebody and and how let them help you navigate those decisions and things like that as well.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Yeah. The people in my life, they just know if I get an idea, I'm gonna have to just blurt it out. If the Lord won't leave me alone about it, I was like, okay, we You know, as Crash Trouble says all the time, do the next right thing. And if I feel it, I I have to do it whether I want to or not. And I may do it kicking and screaming and they oh, this was wonderful. Like when we went to Peru, I did not want to do a missions trip. Not gonna do it, not gonna make me. And it was great. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 22:20

So Sherry, I know your daughter has a farm, right? Yeah. Growing lots and lots of different vegetables, flowers, all kinds of things to keep you guys all stocked all summer. If you were a vegetable, what would you be?

SPEAKER_01 22:35

Oh my gosh. You should have gave me that question earlier. Um, let's see. I'm gonna say a carrot, but I don't really know why. That's what I was gonna ask. Why? Maybe it's because I love carrots. Okay. And they're underground and they're just green, and you pop them out and look, oh, they're nice and sweet and crunchy. I don't know how crunchy I am.

SPEAKER_00 23:01

Not crunchy. I don't know. Callie's kind of crunchy, crunchy era.

SPEAKER_03 23:08

Well somewhat.

SPEAKER_02 23:10

A little bit. A little bit. I started baking bread and stuff, but not consistently. Like just the sourdough? Like dabbling. I haven't dabbled in sourdough yet. I want to. I had a sourdough starter. This is embarrassing. I left it on the counter for so long, it like got hard and moldy. I'm like, I'm just throwing it away. I failed at that. But I did too. I'm being more conscious about like what ingredients are in our food and stuff like that. Because it's a little scary. Like you look at stuff, you're like, ugh. Like I'm eating slop.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Like this is not good for it's fair. Yeah. Hope and Logan, they do everything organic. Yeah. Definitely go to them. They're they research everything to make sure it's good for you. I love a Dr. Pepper though. I can't give that up.

SPEAKER_02 23:54

Oh, yeah. That's just fair. Something special give up. That fuels our days. Exactly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:00

I love that. So if if people are interested in going to see Hope and Logan at their farm, where can they do that at? Um, it's 1303 Woodlawn Road, Rosin Roots Farm. Okay. And they've got all kinds of fun stuff produce. Beautiful flowers. I saw some tulips posted the other day. They looked so pretty.

SPEAKER_01 24:17

Oh yeah. They she does subscriptions where you come and it's either monthly or weekly, whatever you want to do. And you just stop by the farm. And they have the farm stand, which they I think they have lettuce and carrots. Oh, the carrots are so good. Maybe that's probably that's why she is giving you carrot. But they have all the things and it's coming into season. They s they sell like well, here when you if you plant a garden, they do the little seedlings. They have like 3,000 tomato plants cooking right now. I mean all the things.

SPEAKER_00 24:54

That's so cool. I love that. Do you help on the farm?

SPEAKER_01 24:58

Uh no. No. I did the first year. It was really exciting, but apparently I don't do things right. And she I got um threatened a little bit when we were cutting the flowers off one day, but I was volunteering and she thought she was gonna have to fire me as a volunteer.

SPEAKER_00 25:19

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_01 25:20

Apparently I don't do it right.

SPEAKER_00 25:23

That's so funny. That's silly. So back to the podcast and series questions. We normally ask our second question is during the time where you said yes, you know, the yes that catapulted you to say a hundred more yeses after that. Was there a specific Bible verse, a person in scripture that really stuck out to you that you kind of clung to during that time?

SPEAKER_01 25:47

Um, my I w I it's kind of like a life verse. That's what you know we talked about life verses before. James 4, 7 and 8. Submit yourselves then to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. And that is just it's my life verse. Because anytime I'm getting away from God, things are not gonna be going good. But he's always there. It's me that's just you know being stubborn or whatever. But if I if I resist the devil and cling to the Lord, it's just gonna go right. It just does.

SPEAKER_00 26:31

Even when we think our ideas are from the devil, we're gonna know where they're from. And and go and cling to the Lord. That's good. Yeah, yeah. That's good. No, you looked at me, I thought you were getting to me. No, that's good. I love that because it it really is so true, you know. Resist the devil, cling to the Lord. And and you know, I feel like that verse is profound in how simple it's put. Say no, say no to the devil, say yes to God.

SPEAKER_02 26:58

Yeah, we overcomplicate it so much sometimes. Like you need to do this and this and this. And yeah, there are like practices and things like that that we should uphold, but just like the gospel, like we just we overcomplicate, like we learned that when we went to Peru, too, about like when we had to learn how to share the gospel with someone who's never heard it before, it's like, oh, like this is I mean, it's hard to talk to somebody when they don't speak your language and stuff like that, but you know, it's a lot more simple than we like make it out to be.

SPEAKER_01 27:24

Oh yeah. I mean it you know, like you said, it is profound, but in our daily thinking, our daily lives, don't do this, do the next right thing, you know, resist the devil, cling to the Lord, and your day's gonna go well.

SPEAKER_00 27:40

Yeah, that's good. And I feel like too, so many times, at least for me, it's like, well, like you said, somebody could do this better, or somebody could do this, or well, maybe that's a job for somebody else. And it's like, no, if the Lord's telling you to do it, you do it. Yeah, why is it in your mind?

SPEAKER_01 27:53

You know, he didn't put it in my mind. Uh, me and a friend were at we worked together and we had a hospice patient, and this man was a pastor, very well-known pastor, and she whispers to me, I feel like we need to pray. I feel like you need to pray for him with the whole family. I said, Um, excuse me? I think the Lord's talking to you. I didn't hear nothing. So she's like, I don't want to. I was like, Well, you have to. If the Lord's telling you to, you have to. So all these people that are very good prayer out louders. And so we did a whole prayer and it was wonderful. And I'm like, that's because the Lord told her to. And it was from the heart and it was wonderful. That's all the Lord asked of us.

SPEAKER_00 28:48

Yeah. So you speaking of hospice, I know you've worked in that field for a long time. I know that's not necessarily where you're at right now, but I would say that that kind of puts into perspective sometimes, just do the next right thing. Just say yes to what God's telling you to do and and those kind of things.

SPEAKER_01 29:05

And I I I love hospice. I just love it. But when people are facing death, they're gonna get right quicker than the average Joe. And i and even if they're already right, they're still they're going to get closer to the Lord than they lots of them are gonna get closer than they've ever been. And they have the peace that surpasses understanding. And to see that day after day after day, it's like you can't think there's not a God. I've seen too much. I've seen too much. And now we're I'm working with um drug addicts in rehab. The Lord's doing something, I ain't figured out exactly what it is, but I'm like, these people have if they look back like let me back up. In hospice, one of the questions you say to see if someone's appropriate is do would you be surprised if they passed away in six months? And if the answer is I wouldn't be surprised, they're probably gonna be hospice appropriate. Well, if you look at these people that have overdosed, they've seen people in their lives overdose. The the epidemic of one drug that just they lace all these other stuff into the other drugs to make people want it more and for the the high to wear off sooner. So the more and more they take, it's scary. So the the incidence of overdosing, the incidence of all the bad things is getting higher and higher and higher. And I I just keep thinking lately, it's just like a hospice patient. They're they're buying drugs, they don't know what they're buying. They're just from whoever that they usually get 'em from. Who's to say you have six months to live?

SPEAKER_00 31:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:12

It is scary out there. And I'm like, okay, this is like hospice twisted backwards.

SPEAKER_00 31:19

But it's not a coincidence that you're there with that perspective and those kinds of things.

SPEAKER_01 31:24

Yeah, I don't know what's going on there, but there's there's something. I'm there for a reason.

SPEAKER_00 31:27

Well, we can't wait to hear what that is when you figure it out. I think that that's so just it's so such a reminder to me for myself to to hear you talking about those things and you know, people that are getting hospice care, they know that their lives are coming to a close. But how many times do we take that for granted? Like me being healthy and a young adult and Callie as well, but and you too, Sherry, over there. But I mean, how many times do we take it for granted? Like, oh, I have years and years and years and years of my life left to live. And no, we're not promised tomorrow. You know, we're not guaranteed 10 minutes for that matter. But what are we doing to make sure that we're right with the Lord, that we've done everything that He's asked us to do in that season, regardless of if we know that our time is coming to an end or if we don't, you know? And I think that that's just uh such a good reminder to make sure that you're always prepared, you're always ready, you've always done the next right thing, and not living with anything being held back.

SPEAKER_02 32:24

Absolutely. I agree. So, in hindsight, looking back on that season of saying yes, is there a piece of advice that you'd give yourself, your younger self walking through that, or someone who may be going through a similar season of their own yes? What would you say to them?

SPEAKER_01 32:41

Um, I would say it's essentially the same thing. Uh God is calling you because He wants you to do it. There's gonna be other people that are more qualified, but it doesn't matter. And you just have to get out of your stinking comfort zone. Embrace the awkward. It's gonna be weird, but just do it. I'm sitting here hooked to a microphone. But I mean really you're not going to grow unless you get out of your comfort zone. You you have to. You have to. If you if you wanna just stay stagnant, then just stay where you're at and don't whine about it.

SPEAKER_00 33:23

If you want to stay stagnant, just stay where you're at.

SPEAKER_02 33:26

That's good. Yeah, that's that's where the enemy wants us, though. You know it's distracted or stagnant. Like I you there's never a place where you just arrive, where you stop growing when when you're with Christ. And I feel like sometimes people get to a point, you know, they start going to church or get involved in some area and they're like, I'm just gonna stop here. And you know, and it's something that I've I've really felt from the Lord recently is like I will take you as far as you allow me to take you. You know, I'm not gonna drag you along and I'm not gonna force you to do something, but like there's there's more for you. And if if you want to step into that, then you say yes and you be obedient and you step into that, but you can stay here. If you want to stay here and you wanna just like keep cruising along, then do that. But don't whine about it and don't come, especially like comparison comes in in that part because you see these other people who have these opportunities and who are doing things, and you're like, oh, I wish that I could be that way. I wish that I could do that. But what are you doing in your personal life to grow and to to get to, you know, even like comparing like spiritual, like uh I've got a friend who I've always just or I used to, I've been better about this, but I'm like, she has such a good relationship with the Lord, and I just I don't understand, like I'm not like that. Like just these these certain things that she does and these practices and stuff that she has, I'm like, I am not like that. I struggle to read my Bible and things like that. But it's like, okay, but if I if I'm comparing myself and if I want that deeper connection, is it gonna look the same? No. And I I understand that, but how much effort is she putting into her relationship with God? Exactly. Like, what is she doing to grow in that? You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 35:05

So Yeah, I'm I went through a whole season of comparison and I'm not good enough. And I actually quit coming to Christ Chapel for a while just because I don't want those people looking at me. Well, there wasn't nobody looking, other than me looking in a mirror. There Yeah. That's good. I you know, uh my do you want me to tell that story? Sure. Sure. Um my daughter had Snapchatted me one night and said, Hey, I'm going to jail on being arrested. Well, my family, that's not normal. We I've I'd have never known anybody to, you know, go to jail for drugs or anything. And come to find out that's what it was. And she was what I would consider a big dealer in Galex, and I had no idea. I had not one clue. And so not only that, as the next 14 days, it was 14 days of every day, she'd tell me a little bit more once she got out of jail and came back to the house. It was it was horrific. The amounts of multiple kinds of abuse going on, and I had no clue. And so then I'm you know, you're looking at a kid that's gone to jail, and I'm like, what kind of mom? And all those thoughts I've ever had in my mind, like, you know, I shouldn't have yelled at the kids at this time, or I should I should have read the Bible more to them, and I should have done this and should have done that, all come crashing down on me because I didn't teach her right from wrong, which is not true. But I let those doubts get into my head. And so the next time I went to church, I was sitting by myself and I thought, everybody here sees that I didn't raise my kids good enough and they're not at church with me. So they know I'm a bad mom. They know my kids been in jail and I'm a bad person. It's proof, it's living proof right here. You know everybody's whispering about it and thinking it's I was in my own head. Nobody cares what you're doing, they're too worried about what they're doing and what people think of them. Definitely. So I just stopped coming to church. I thought, you know, I'm I can't get through a church service without all these doubts and fears and but I know intellectually that that's not true. So I met with Beth one day and I was telling her all this and crying. I'm like, I've messed up, you know, I'm I feel like the worst mother in America. And and she said, Well oh, well, of course she told me that's not true. And then she said, This is gonna be a great story. Somebody's gonna learn something from this. And I'm like, Oh, me going through this could help somebody. Huh. Well, I'd come back if it would help somebody, you know. Yeah, yeah. And really, I think that may have been one of the first stories I told at the women's conference or women or something, and I'm like, it was just kind of freeing. It's like full circle. It I was making it all about me, but the Lord was working on her. Yeah, for sure. But I just took on all that burden myself like mamas do and like people do in general. I think it's unnecessarily.

SPEAKER_00 38:47

I think it's so easy in seasons that are hard and unexpected, and that they they are hard. They are things that we wouldn't choose to go through if we had a choice. But I think that there's so much wisdom in that to shifter's perspective and be like, okay, what am I learning from this? What can I learn in this season to be able to help somebody later on down the road? At least for me, it helps me to look at it from that point of view rather than being like, this is the worst day of my life. This is awful, this is just it's just terrible, right? And to to look at it in a way of like, okay, God, what are you teaching me? How can I use this to further your mission, to further your message, and what can I learn?

SPEAKER_01 39:28

Yeah, and once I had that, I'm like, oh well, I can do that.

SPEAKER_00 39:32

Yeah. Okay, well, that was easy.

SPEAKER_01 39:34

That was easy enough.

SPEAKER_02 39:35

Yeah, it's amazing the the things that God will do when you decide, because we and I've shared this on the podcast before, but we associate these negative emotions and these negative experiences that we go through with like, you know, pain and sadness and anger, and we feel like that can't be associ associated with God because he's good and you know, he's faithful and all these things. So we tend to just separate it and be like, no, these things can't touch like each other. But the amount of fruit that comes from not letting the enemy have authority over that pain and those experiences, just like it, just like you did, but letting the Lord have authority over that and saying, God, here's my story, here's my pain, you use it. And the amount of people that that helped, I mean, I remember like me and Jessica both remember hearing that story, and it was just it was so impactful. And uh that's just something to be very proud of of of yourself of because that's a big decision, and that's so hard to give that over to the light rather than give it over to the dark.

SPEAKER_01 40:33

And the amount of people that come and said, I I'm so ashamed of this or that, and and it was amazing. Uh there was a lot of chains broken free. It was just it was really I knew I had done the right thing. Um, it is like, okay. So I went through that to help so and so, and so and so's like, okay, well that's okay. Bring it on. You know, I'm like because everybody is, you know, hey, look at my Facebook status, everything's great and wonderful, but I didn't make a Facebook saying, Hey, my kid's in jail. Yeah, you don't do that, you just get real quiet, or I got real quiet for a while. So that's good.

SPEAKER_00 41:18

And I think something that's continually popped into my head throughout this conversation, there's a passage of scripture in 1 Corinthians 12, and it talks about how like we're all believers and we're all part of the body, but we all have different gifts, like a hand has a different job, feet have a different job, you know, ears have a different job. And I think that that's just so it it relates so much to what you've kind of been talking about of like, oh well, I'm not good enough because so-and-so could do it better, but an ear can't do a hand's job, and a hand can't do a foot's job. Exactly. I mean, unless your Calian can play the piano with your toes. I mean, I have to bring that bell. That's a little silly and off topic, but you know, I think that that's just there's so much truth and wisdom in that passage of scripture to be like, why not me? Because I can do a job that maybe you can't do, right? I'm not getting up on the stage and singing, but let me teach a room full of kids. I'm not going to, I'm not hosting the women's conference, but Sherry's gonna do that, you know. Um, just different, we're all called to do different things and different jobs that are within our giftings and that we're called to do for a specific purpose for a specific reason, to be able to tell our stories of the things that that you know your kids went through and those kinds of things to relate to people that I wouldn't be able to relate to in that way. And I think there's just so much power in that we're all called to be different because how boring would it be if we were all the same.

SPEAKER_02 42:38

So yeah, and you don't have to do it alone either. I think that's something because I mentioned earlier about like that preparation season. And I was thinking about like the disciples, they weren't prepared to drop everything and follow Jesus, but they were more than qualified to because not because of the themselves. Yeah, you know, it wasn't oh Peter's really good at this, and this is why. Like, you know what I mean? It wasn't because of that, it's because the Holy Spirit lives inside of them. And you know, the body, you're talking about that, like the Holy Spirit lives inside the body. Like, Sherry, you didn't have to go up on that stage and do that by yourself. You had the Lord with you the whole time. And the spirit moving through you and speaking through you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:13

And what was crazy about that first time I got up, I was scared, stupid. It was embarrassing how scared I was. And you know, me, I'm just blurting out anything. So I'm like, oh Lord, y'all look really scary. I'm really I just want you to know I'm nervous, but I'm gonna get through this. And everybody's just like, yeah, you got it. And I was like, oh, they're not strangers, these are just all my friends. They're all cheering me on. So and then, you know, a couple minutes into it, I'm like, okay, God's got it. And he just kind of took over. And I'm like, but if I hadn't have taken that first step, you'd never get there. And uh, we can't underestimate the the ripple effect or the seed that we plant. Because maybe, you know, so I had an idea, or you could have an idea about

SPEAKER_00 44:00

Something tell somebody else and it grows in their heart to do, which is um but first step so many times is the hardest, but I think after you take that first step, each step after that, it gets easier.

unknown 44:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:12

So just just take the first step, plant those seeds. Your hands might get a little dirty when you're digging in the dirt, but it's worth it at the end because then you can see the fruits from that as you continue to go along.

SPEAKER_03 44:22

For sure.

SPEAKER_00 44:23

Yeah. Sherry, at the beginning you were talking about how you know we've got our headphones on, we've got our microphones on, like we're basically in a recording studio right now, right? So if in your life you had somebody to narrate your day today, who do you think you would choose to narrate what was going on in your life?

SPEAKER_01 44:40

Oh, I don't know. Golly, you have hard questions. Hmm. I don't know. Somebody fun. Maybe Darla. Okay. She's fun. Okay. She's she has she has the passion. I can see that. The dramatics. Darla can bring the dramatics. And plus she could dance. She could date. She could. She could. Lots of fun.

SPEAKER_00 45:02

Yeah. Darla narrating a day in the life of Sherry. That sounds like an incredible idea for a social media post. Actually. It's great. That sounds like a lot of fun. It's been great.

SPEAKER_02 45:15

Yeah. Got any last thoughts? No, do you, Sherry? You have any last thoughts? Anything to say? I don't think so.

SPEAKER_01 45:21

You've done a great job. It's been so good. Thank y'all for having me.

SPEAKER_00 45:25

We've had a lot of fun. It's just, it's so cool to see you have this conversation with us and to see you doing all these incredible things, even though you're a little bit terrified and probably still are to do some of these things. But I just think it's so evident that the Lord is working through your life when you continue to say yes to him. Incredible things happen. So I would just encourage you to continue on to that path and continue to do that each and every time you get one of those crazy ideas because they they've been pretty successful and gone pretty far. So we're excited to see what comes next from the brain of Sherry over there. But thank you guys so very much for listening to our podcast today. It has been a lot of fun. I hope you guys laughed and learned something today. Um, and we will see you next time for another episode of Say Yes with Callie and Jess. Bye.