WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:05.360 Well, good morning, everyone, and happy Mother's Day to all of the beautiful moms in this room. 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:14.160 Um, like Mike said, my name is JC Moroles and I'm married to Nate, and it is one of the best gifts I've ever been given was to be his wife. 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:18.320 Um we have two, we have two uh precious baby boys. 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:23.440 We have uh Eli will be five in June and Jet will be two in a couple of weeks. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:26.399 So I am in the thick of motherhood right now. 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:28.640 So if you're in it, we're in it together. 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:39.359 Um, but when Mike says that he had to convince me, he truly put in the work to convince me because when he first asked me, I said, absolutely not. 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:43.439 That's not something I picture myself doing or even that I want to do. 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:47.039 Um, and then I was like, I'm sure he'll find somebody else. 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:51.759 There are plenty of godly, godly women in here that I think I would rather hear from. 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:56.719 Um, but then a couple weeks later, I was minding my own business in the hallway over here. 00:00:56.960 --> 00:00:58.240 And here comes Mike. 00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:01.600 And I tried to turn around and he caught me. 00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:06.239 So he said, Well, we're literally like, what do you think about talking on Mother's Day? 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:10.319 And I was like, Oh my gosh, Mike, I I don't, I don't know like what I have to give. 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:13.200 You know, it's it seems like a really big responsibility. 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:18.640 And he said, Well, just give me a couple of days and and think about it because the Lord really put you on my heart. 00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:21.680 And I told him, Okay, I'll think about for a couple of days. 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:25.040 And in my head, I already had it made up, but I wasn't gonna do this. 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:48.719 Um, but in those couple of days, the Lord really stirred and burdened my heart um in reminding me that um I do have a story and I do have a testimony, and it's not in vain, and um that I really believe that today he wants to resurrect hope into the hearts of women, into the hearts of moms, into the heart of everybody in here at um at Neely. 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:55.920 And so I'm truly very honored and very humbled that um I've been asked to do this. 00:01:56.000 --> 00:02:01.760 And so I don't want this story um really truly to be about me. 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:10.639 Um, more than anything, I want you to see God's goodness in the middle of heartache and God's mercy and grace and his resurrecting power in the middle of grief. 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:24.240 And so, whatever you're walking through, um whether it be grief or whether it be um an unknown circumstance, that God is with you and he's present and he's the one that is sustaining you. 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:29.520 And so I really believe that my testimony can be summed up with this verse. 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:33.039 Um, it says Matthew 6, 25 through 27. 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:36.719 That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life. 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:43.919 Whether you have enough food or drink or enough clothes to wear, isn't life more than food and your body more than clothing? 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:45.280 Look at the birds. 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:50.560 They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly father feeds them. 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:54.560 And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are? 00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:58.159 Can all of your worries add a single moment to your life? 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:06.240 And so that um scripture is a huge part of my testimony, but I believe that that truth is the same for you today. 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:12.000 Um, so to give you some backstory on um myself is I grew up in Crane. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:14.560 Um, if you know where Crane is, if you blink, you'll miss it. 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:16.080 A one-stoplight town. 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:17.840 I was born and raised there. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:24.560 Um, I had two wonderful parents who loved Jesus and um made sure that he was the center of our life. 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:31.120 And um it's because of their prayers and their faithfulness and the seeds that they sowed into me that why I'm standing here today. 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:39.120 Um I um was saved at the age of nine and um I skipping ahead a little bit. 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:42.960 I attended college at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas. 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:51.199 In my senior year of college, the Lord um gave me the opportunity to move to China after graduation. 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:55.599 So um I lived in China for one year doing mission work. 00:03:55.919 --> 00:04:00.960 We um got to minister to um kinder or to kindergartners all the way up to adults. 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:10.560 We were teaching English, sharing the gospel, and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life getting to see life change and getting to be a part of what God was doing over there. 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:17.279 While I was in China, my dad's job got transferred from West Texas all the way to Houston. 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:22.720 So when my year ended up in China, I came home to Houston, um, not West Texas. 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:24.560 So that was a very big shock. 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:28.000 Um, not a one-stop light town, that's for sure. 00:04:28.240 --> 00:04:37.040 Um, but I tell that story because um about two months after I came home from China, my mother was diagnosed with leukemia. 00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:41.839 Um, it was shocking and um pretty devastating. 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:46.399 The doctors really couldn't give us a prognosis because of the type of cancer it was. 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:48.240 They just said it was aggressive. 00:04:48.560 --> 00:05:09.360 And so um my family and our friends rallied together and we believed that God would heal her, whether on earth or on the other side of heaven, but we knew that he was with us, even in just the small detail that my family wasn't in West Texas anymore, but we were in Houston, that he worked and orchestrated that story out so that my mom could get some of the best care. 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:15.680 So going into her treatment, we knew God is with us, God is sustaining us, and he's working all things out. 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:25.120 Um, around the time that my mom was diagnosed, I was job searching and looking for different positions of what I wanted to do after China. 00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:28.399 I was um I have always felt a call to ministry on my life. 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:33.040 And so I was looking at different churches or different organizations to work with. 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:40.879 Um, when my dad pulled me aside and asked if I would just give him a few months to um help care give for my mom. 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:47.360 There's a lot of unknowns and he worked full-time and um it was a very like big ask for him to do. 00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:57.920 And um, without a doubt, I knew that that was my ministry at the moment, that that is what I needed to do was um love on my mom and love on my family and minister to my mom. 00:05:58.399 --> 00:06:01.199 So my dad and I, we made a pretty good team. 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:10.800 We tag teamed her appointments, her cancer treatments, um, her um chemo treatments, all of that, long hospital stays. 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:13.040 We were in it together. 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:20.079 And truly, when God says that he is near to the brokenhearted, um, it's true. 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:25.040 That probably during that time in my life is one of the closest times I've ever felt to the Lord. 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:30.800 I could feel his presence, I could feel his leading, I could feel his guiding, I could feel his comfort knowing that he was with me. 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:37.360 Um, my mom lost her battle to cancer um in March of 2016. 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:41.279 So it's been about 10 years since she's passed away. 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:50.800 I remember um I remember the feeling of just pure devastation of my whole life. 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:56.240 This woman who has taken care of me and loved me and supported me was not here anymore. 00:06:56.399 --> 00:07:03.199 In those 18 months, my my full-time job was caregiving and loving on her, and then that suddenly stopped. 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:08.560 I um I'm so sorry for the tears. 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:18.000 Um, I've never shared this story so in front of so many people, but I um my world felt like it was it was honestly over. 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:21.279 I didn't know how to move forward, I didn't know what to do. 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:38.959 And I remember one afternoon in particular, it was about two weeks after she had passed away, when all of the family and friends kind of slow down, coming over, the food has stopped and kind of reality sinks in, and you realize, like, oh my gosh, like she's really gone. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:41.759 How am I going to move forward? 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:57.040 I remember being so full of fear, not wanting to leave my dad, but knowing that I needed to step out on my own, not knowing even what I wanted to do, if I wanted to go back into ministry, what kind of job I wanted to do, and it was so overwhelming. 00:07:57.120 --> 00:07:59.600 And I remember weeping and crying. 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:09.839 Then I looked up, and about five feet in front of me on the back porch, a bird landed right in front of me with a worm in her mouth. 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:17.600 We made eye contact, and she flew up to the corner of the porch and she fed her babies. 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:23.439 And in that moment, I felt the Holy Spirit fall on me. 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:27.439 I heard him say, look at her. 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:32.000 She doesn't reap or sow or store food. 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:34.720 Yet I'm the one providing for her. 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:38.320 JC, you are of far more value. 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:41.919 I will provide for you and I will be with you. 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:47.919 I remember being in shock that I heard the Lord like that. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:50.399 I had never heard him speak to me like that before. 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:52.320 I was overwhelmed. 00:08:52.879 --> 00:09:01.600 And in that moment, it didn't take away my grief or my sorrow, but it silenced the fear that was in my heart, that was in my spirit. 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:06.399 I knew that that is what God said, and that I could trust him. 00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:11.440 That I didn't understand my circumstances, I didn't understand why my mom had to die. 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:15.919 I didn't understand what why things had to happen the way that they did. 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:22.240 But I knew that my God was with me, and I knew that whatever needs I had, that he was going to meet. 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:36.639 So before moving on in my story, I really want um to stop and pause on this scripture too, because I don't think that that scripture is just for me in the context of my story, but I think it's for you as well. 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:40.799 Today's world, we have so many different circumstances. 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:43.360 It's absolute chaos out there. 00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:46.559 If you spend any time on social media, it's chaos. 00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:55.600 Um, in the heart of a mom, at least for myself, I feel like I stir worry all the time, thinking about are my kids taken care of? 00:09:55.840 --> 00:09:57.120 Is my home taken care of? 00:09:57.279 --> 00:09:58.559 Is God gonna meet this need? 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:00.639 Is God gonna meet this financial need? 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:11.360 Um, but this verse that Jesus says, this particular passage, he's talking about that worry and that fear and that anxiety. 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:36.559 Um, there are probably circumstances that you're walking through, whether it's grief, whether it's the positive pregnancy test you haven't gotten yet, whether it's a job that you're unsure about or the loss of a job, an unstable financial situation, a relationship that is butting heads, whatever it might be, the truth is that God cares for your need. 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:41.039 God cares for every small and big detail of your life. 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:47.919 And I can say that with so much confidence that God has taken care of every single need that I've had. 00:10:48.240 --> 00:11:01.600 And this is what I think is so profound about this scripture is because we are of more value to him than the birds, Jesus doesn't just meet our needs, he gives us himself. 00:11:02.159 --> 00:11:17.679 Even as Jesus has fed the birds and cared for them, he calls himself the bread of life, desiring to meet every physical and spiritual need that we have, that he whoever comes to him will never be hungry and never be thirsty again. 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:28.399 So he is the one that sustains us, he is the one that keeps us, he wants to meet your physical need, he wants to meet that financial need, but more than anything, he wants to give you himself. 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:41.600 He wants you to know that you are in good hands, that if he cares for the bird that is a small, that is so small, he cares about meeting her needs and her baby's needs, how much more value are you, his own son and his own daughter? 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:44.399 He deeply cares for you, mothers. 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:46.639 He deeply cares for your children. 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:48.559 You are not walking alone. 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:50.080 He is with you. 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:55.840 My two-year-old Jet, he loves birds. 00:11:56.080 --> 00:12:00.480 If you probably have a baby that age, they also probably love birds. 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:09.840 Um, but every single morning when he wakes up, one of the first things he says is, Mama, burber, mama, burber. 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:11.919 That's his way of saying bird. 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:19.919 Um, but so the first thing we do is I pull him out of his crib, we open his curtain, and he looks for the birds. 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:33.759 And I know God's hard enough to know that that's not an accident and that's not just a silly thing, but God is using my son to draw me to himself to remind me that my needs are going to be taken care of for today. 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:36.960 That my needs are gonna be met for the day. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:43.120 If he's caring for her out there, that little bird, how much more value am I to him than she is? 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:46.399 And so I want to encourage you with the same thing. 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:57.519 In the moments that feel overwhelming, in the moments that feel unsettling or worry or fear or anxiety is gripping your heart, be like Jet and go outside and look at the birds. 00:12:57.759 --> 00:13:03.360 Remind your soul, command your soul to remember God's gonna take care of me. 00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:05.679 The birds fly with so much freedom. 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:09.919 They're not worried about where their next meal is coming from, they just know their needs are gonna be met. 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:17.600 And so remind your spirit if God cares for her, how much more is he gonna care for me and my own children? 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:43.279 I can look back at every single detail of my life, from moving to Midland to meeting my husband, to marrying into an incredible family who has taken me under their wing and has called me their daughter to my children, to my friends, to my church community, is very evident of God's work in my life. 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:47.440 He has not left me once, even if I felt it like he has. 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:52.720 He has not lifted his hand from me, he has not given me over to my own desires. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:55.279 He's been with me the whole time. 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:02.240 Some of you know that this coming Memorial Day will be one year since my dad passed away. 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:08.480 Um, after my youngest son was born, I was struggling with postpartum. 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:10.879 I didn't feel quite like myself. 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:14.799 I kind of felt like this cloud was just following me wherever I went. 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:19.200 If you've been through that, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:25.039 I found myself scratching and crawling for joy that I just couldn't grip. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:36.960 I had to remind myself over and over and over every day that God cared for me when my mom passed, and he still cares for me now. 00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:45.600 Um on top of postpartum is when we got the news that my dad had passed away. 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:56.000 And so dealing with trying to be a mom, trying to be a wife, trying to parent and grieve on top of that has proven to be extremely hard. 00:14:56.720 --> 00:15:01.840 But God has been very gentle with me and very kind and very gracious. 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:10.960 And even within these past few months, I can feel the fog lifting, the cloud lifting, and I can feel that joy um sustaining me. 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:18.000 As I was reading through these passages and preparing my testimony, I was reading in Isaiah. 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:22.639 Isaiah 40, 11 really stood out to me. 00:15:23.600 --> 00:15:30.559 Um, and as I read it, um, I really believe that he has this word for mothers this morning. 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:41.519 And if you're a mother that without young children at home, I want you to take a minute and think about in the days when they were young and they were at home, how God was the one sustaining you. 00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:51.759 It says, He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. 00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:55.360 He will gently lead the mother's sheep with their young. 00:15:57.440 --> 00:16:04.559 The God of the universe, the creator of heaven and earth, holds your children close to his heart. 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:09.120 And he is gently leading you as you lead them. 00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:14.320 He knows the great responsibility and the high calling it is to be a mom. 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:16.320 He didn't do it by accident. 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:20.960 He didn't place the children in your womb or in your home by accident. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:22.720 It was on purpose. 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:25.440 And it wasn't because you're a perfect mom. 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:30.879 It's because he's a perfect God and you're the perfect mom for them. 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:38.639 And if you're anything like me, on the hard days, you can absolutely feel like you're failing. 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:45.120 They've had too much sugar, they've watched too much TV, you lost your cool one too many times. 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:50.720 But the truth is, is that God is the one sustaining you. 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:58.399 God is the one who is equipping you and calling you to the greatest calling and the greatest honor of your whole life. 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:05.519 This is an honor that God has orchestrated for women that I believe only women can do. 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:13.039 Only in the heart of a mother that God can show his glory and his goodness in his children. 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:22.480 Um so he is the one walking alongside you, cheering you on, gently leading you as you lead your children. 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:27.839 And in closing, I want to speak this over um every single mom in the room. 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:37.200 For the mom with young children trying to soak it all in and counting down the hours until bedtime, God is with you. 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:39.599 It is God who sustains you. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:46.079 For the mom watching their children step into adolescence and adulthood, God is with you. 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:48.480 It is God who's sustaining you. 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:57.599 For the mom with a prodigal son or daughter earnestly praying for them to come home, God is with you, God is sustaining you. 00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:04.160 For the woman longing to be a mom, God is with you, God is sustaining you. 00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:18.000 And just a reminder to every person in this room, whether you're a mom, you're a dad, you're single, you're married, you're a student, the truth is that God deeply cares for his children. 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:25.200 He will not leave you, he will not forsake you, no matter what your thoughts, your minds, and your feelings feel. 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:34.640 He cares for you, he will meet every physical and spiritual need that you are not lacking because he's the one that equips you. 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:37.440 God is the one who sustains us. 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:39.839 Will you pray with me? 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:47.440 God, it's only because of you. 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:54.559 It's only because of your grace and your goodness and your mercy that we can be here today, Lord. 00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:58.480 I thank you for every single mom in this room. 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:04.000 God, you know the cries of her heart, you know the burdens of her heart, you know the worries, the fears. 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:09.119 God, I pray that even now, just in this moment, God, would your peace fall on her? 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:16.400 Would you remind her that you are with her, that you are sustaining her, that you are keeping her in perfect peace, Lord. 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:20.960 Would you remind her that you love her children more than she ever could? 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:27.119 God, you are worthy of praise because all we have is because of you. 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:30.160 We know that we are in good hands. 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:36.240 We know that we can trust you even in the midst of fear and worry and anxiety and grief and sorrow. 00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:38.960 That you are the one who holds us up, Lord. 00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:42.160 We give you all the praise and all the glory. 00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:44.160 And we pray this in Jesus' name. 00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:45.680 Amen.