The Safety Patrol

Who's safety patrolling your life?

In this follow-up to Well Lit & Well Monitored, Margaret explores the people God places in our lives to help protect, encourage, correct, and cover us. Through childhood memories, Scripture, and personal stories, she reflects on why we were never meant to navigate life alone.

This episode is an invitation to identify the trusted people God has assigned to watch over your heart, mind, soul, and spirit—and to consider who He may be calling you to faithfully watch over, too.

Because sometimes God's protection looks like people.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hey y'all, thank you for tuning in to this episode of Girl Live Love Be. It's me, Margaret Smith Williams, and I am just on this journey to live right, love right, and be right. So the previous episode was called Well Lit and Well Monitored. And if you're tuning in and haven't listened to the previous episode, I'm gonna stop you right here and ask that you go back to the first one and then come back to this one because this episode is gonna be a follow-up to the last. But as a brief recap, in the last episode, I spoke about a journal entry from April of 2025. And it was written a few weeks after my family relocated from Miami to Tulsa, and the Holy Spirit spoke to me about my safety. And in that episode, I broke down what safety looked like to me, and I even gave y'all like a bit of homework or some food for thought. After listening to the replay of Well Lit and Well Monitored, I immediately knew that the Holy Spirit wanted me to do a part two or a follow-up on that episode. And I wanted to speak about safety in the context of being well monitored. There is this definition of safety that I spoke about last week, or at the last episode, sorry, that defines safety as being well-lit and well-monitored. And I love that definition because it reminds me that a part of being safe is being seen, it's being valued, it's being covered, it's being protected, it's being watched over, like having light or exposure on you at all times. It's when you don't have to hide or when you can come out of hiding. And I was asking God, like, how do I relay this in a podcast? How do I explain this to the girls in the most simplistic, like relevant, Holy Spirit-led, Margaret-esque type of way? If you've been listening for a while, you know me. Or if you've been listening, okay, do this over, Jeffrey. If you've been listening for a while, or if you know me, you know that Jesus and I have our own thing when it comes to res revelations and kind of how we communicate. And so this is like one of the ways that I communicate with God. Like it could be through a song, it could be through a movie, it could be through a random drive or a life experience. And he will say something to me, and the wheels in my head and my heart begin to turn. And thus, this is how I'm gonna explain this example. Okay, scratch that, Jeffrey. And this is how I'm gonna explain this episode to you through an experience that I had um while hanging out with a friend. So I went to a local faux shop with a friend this week, but not for faux, but for matcha. I know, random. So, shout out to Tamiya, and it was the best matcha we've had so far. So I was a coffee girl, but in the past six to eight months, I've really just transitioned to matcha because um I don't know. I just really like it. And so at this faux place, we tried a mango sticky rice matcha. Or shall I say Tamiya tried that one? It had like mango chunks and puree at the bottom, then it had matcha, some type of like cold foam, and some sticky black rice grains at the top. Mm-mm. That's not my kind of drink. That's a tamiya drink. Just give me simple flavors and smooth, like no chunks, no textures, no thank you. Um, but she really loved it. I got the pistachio matcha, which was so good. Um, it had matcha oat milk, pistachio, cold foam, and I believe like some it was some pistachios on the top. Tamiya also had like the banana pudding matcha. So with the banana pudding matcha, it had like a whole chunk of banana pudding at the top, biscoff crumbles on top, biscoff cookie on top, and the matcha was at the bottom with the oat milk. I tried some of that. That was good as well. The only thing is that they had like real slices of banana, like actual bananas in there. And I know you like Margaret SS banana pudding matcha, but I'm not a fan of banana, the bananas in the banana pudding. I just want the bananas in there for the flavor, not for me to eat. So I'm the person that picks out the bananas or pushes the banana pudding to the side, and I can eat everything else, like the cookies and the pudding mixture. Yeah, I just want the flavor, I don't want the banana chunks. So the matcha was good, minus the banana chunks. Back to the story. So I was talking to Tamia about how I know I needed to do a follow-up episode from the last podcast, and I was speaking to her about the importance of like being well-lit and well-monitored. And while she is responding to something that I said, I quietly hear the Holy Spirit say to me, Safety patrol. Yeah, safety patrol. So I just grab my phone really fast, jot down the notes, and hence we have the foundation for this episode. So I was born in the 1980s and I went to elementary school mostly in the 90s. And I don't know if I have any like 80s or early 90s babies that remember, but in elementary school, there was something called a safety patrol. If you are unfamiliar with a safety patrol, think like fake security guard, but that's a kid with like bright neon orange vests, a plastic badge, and they think they can save the elementary school day. That's what a safety patrol was. But a better description is, or the most accurate description, is that an elementary safety school, an elementary school safety patrols were student peer leaders, and their job was to ensure student safety. They wore these orange and yellow belts, encouraged orderly behavior while building leadership and responsibility. Thank you, Google, for that. Just really nice definition. I mostly remember safety patrols as hall monitors. Like they stood in the hallways before and after class to keep kids safe, you know, like telling kids to stop running, making sure nobody was out of order, or horse playing, or dilly and dallying or hooping and hollering, like just telling people to be quiet, get to class, be quiet, do what you need to do, follow instructions. That's pretty much where safety patrols were. Safety patrol kids would be like on the sidewalks or the crosswalks at the school. They would be with the crossing guards in the bus area with the teachers. They would hold stop signs or flags to direct children to be to be in safe zones. They would also, like for the carpool areas, they would help younger kids get in the cars and all that stuff. So safety patrols were like this extra set of eyes to help keep the school and kids safe. Oh, I also remember that if you were in the safety patrol patrol, you would have to come to school earlier and leave later. You had to be there before the kids arrived, and you had to stay there until pretty much all the kids left. In summary, safety patrols were like the school monitors. Fun fact. My late godfather, Mr. Willie Montgomery, or dad, as we affection affectionately called him, was a physical education teacher in South Miami. And I attended elementary school that he worked at for like second, third, and I believe fourth grade. And he and I would ride together to school every day in his white Ford Mustang. And every morning we'd get in a car and he'd say, Let's ride, Clyde. And if you want to know why I like shows like The Heat of the Night or the Old School Matlock, the old school one, not the new one with Kathy Bates, Hawaii 5-0, um, why I know soap operas like Bold and the Beautiful, Young and the Restless, As the World Turns, or How I Fell in Love with Fam You, Bethune Cookman, and all things HBCUs or historically black colleges and universities. I got it from De and his wife, my godmom, Cleomia, or Gaudi as I call her. But De was over the safety patrols in my elementary school. And I remember that you couldn't just join Safety Patrol. Like Safety Patrol was not a free-for-all. You had to do an application, um, you had to do an interview. I think you also needed a teacher recommendation. Safety patrollers were expected to maintain like good grades. You had to act as upstanding students, you had to be a positive role model for the rest of the student body. And then they got like special badges, they got pens, pizza parties, just all these things just for, I guess, serving the school. I remember the safety patrollers taking their job like very seriously. Like the safety patroller kids had this aura about them. Like, I'm a safety patrol and you're not. Girl, who cares? Anyway, like, even though they weren't really security guards and had no real authority, like those neon investors were safety patrolling them elementary school halls, like their lives depended on it. I know you're like, okay, Margaret, we get it. We understand. We get what the safety patrollers did. And you're like, okay, girl, I've been out of elementary school for at least 30 years. I don't even know if they have safety patrols at my kids' school. Where are you taking us today? I am taking you down a path to inventory how well lit and how well monitored your life is. Like, who is safely keeping tabs on you? Like who's shining light on the dark areas of your life? When you get a little quiet, when you get a little distant, when you get a little off track, who's calling you? Who's FaceTiming your phone? Like who's knocking on your door to see your face in real time? Or even like when you get too rowdy or you get too cocky or you start feeling yourself too much? Who is there to tell you to sit your tail down somewhere? Who's lifting up your name in prayer? Who's sitting on the wall for you? Who is turning down plates and fasting for you? Who can you find? Who can find you in the spirit? Like who can locate you emotionally, mentally, physically? Who are you sharing your location with? Literally and figurally. Jeffrey, I'm gonna record that sentence over again. Who's lifting your name up in prayer? Who's sitting on the wall and interceding on your behalf? Who's turning down plates and fasting for you? Who can find you in the spirit? Emotionally, mentally, physically? Who are you sharing your location with? Literally and figuratively. In other words, girl, like who's safety patrolling your life? There's got to be somebody, and not just God. Yes, I know he's God, he sees all things, and he's a keeper. Yes, he is a keeper. But we live in a world and we live in like a fleshly body and we need community. Who are the God sent patrols in your life? Like the people that are monitoring your heart and your mind and your soul and your spirit and your body. Like, I want you to think about it. I need you to get a piece of paper, get your phone, use your fingers, and I need you to identify those people. Who are the safety patrols in your life? While you take a minute to think, I'm gonna give you a few of mine. Lady Eloise, my mama, that's the safety patrol captain. She is gonna find me and my sister in every life, in every room. She don't want to be out here watching us all the time. And she tells us this. But the Holy Spirit will not let her not keep praying for us and not staying on the wall for us. That reminds me of. So we've been teaching our daughter Ayana like old school gospel songs because I feel like like when you grow up in the 80s and the 90s, it's this era of gospel music that we'll never really get back. And so many like prolific songs and prolific movements came out during that time that she being a baby that was born in 2008 doesn't get to experience unless we ex like unless we expose her to those things. And so sometimes we'll send her like old gospel songs. And so one day I sent her the Helen Baylor testimony. Now, if you grew up in a church and you are 90s, 80s baby, you know what this is already. But you if you have not, I'm gonna ask you to go to YouTube and Google the Helen Baylor testimony. And so pretty much Helen Baylor um talks about her life and talks about how she grew up in the church or whatever, and um she just made some decisions and got involved in some things that took her down some really dark paths, and she refers to having like a gray and a praying grandmama, and she says, Grandmama, but I had a praying grandmama. That she says it just like that. When you listen to the testimony, you're gonna know exactly what I'm talking about. And she talks about having this praying grandmom who was continually on the wall, like safety patrolling and praying and intercede for her behalf. That's what I mean when I say that. Like, who is on the wall for you? Who is always lifting up your name to God? There's gotta be somebody. So think about your list. But anyway, so I was talking about my mama, we talked about Helen Baylor. Oh, my other people on my safety patrol list would be my other godparents, Tammy and Scott McCorders. They're next in line. That thing on Instagram when they say like nobody is coming to save you, nah, that ain't my life, baby, because Eloise, Tammy, and Scott, they coming to save Margaret. Ain't no doubt about that. And if my Uncle Stanley was alive, he'd be in the car right there with him. And they, they not just coming to save me, because I'm not out here risking my life. Y'all know I'm too scared for that. I'm an oldest daughter. I don't be teetering on the edge too much, I don't be making risky decisions, I'll be overthinking everything. And the Holy Spirit just won't let me be great. Like he's gonna tap me on my shoulder and be like, Margaret, what are you doing? Don't even think about it, don't even try it. Step back. So it's not just about them saving me. Like, they hold me accountable, they tell me when I'm wrong, they tell me when they're proud of me, they're checking on me all the time. No matter where I am in this world, those three are gonna make sure I'm good physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, that safety patrol is top 10. And my girls, they be safety patrolling me in Oklahoma all the way from LA, Atlanta, Miami Day, Broward, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie County. They do not play about Marguerite, and they will pick up a phone and catch a flight real quick to see about me. Who are the people with bright neon vest, shiny badges, and stop signs monitoring the halls of your life? They're making sure you are safe and sound. They're making sure you're going in the right direction. They're making sure that you're trying to live right, love right, and be like Jesus. Who are these people? God has assigned literal angels in human form to each of us because we really are not made to live this life alone. I was watching the first episode of Netflix's reboot. Scratch that, Jeffrey, we're gonna do it again. I was watching the first episode of Netflix's reboot of the little house on the prairie. And Pa, Charles, and Ma Caroline was trying to build their house. Pa and Ma, that's how they say it, I think, was moving this big log of wood and dropped it on Ma's foot and injured it. Pa got on a horse to go get Dr. George 10. Dr. George 10 came in, wrapped up Ma's foot, and found out that Ma was pregnant. Pretty much, Pa told Ma. Oh no, pretty much Dr. George told Pa that Ma can't be building no houses and moving no logs. Cause one, she is a woman. Two, she is pregnant. So Pa didn't even know she was pregnant, by the way. So Dr. Tan is like, bro, you need some men to help you build this house because you are crazy to have your wife out here trying to move 10,000 logs to build this house. Pa said to Dr. Tan, Ma, the girls married, and Laura and I, that's all I got. We don't have nobody, we don't know nobody to help, and I don't have no money to pay nobody to help. Okay, y'all know I'm paraphrasing it, but it really is the gist of the story. So Dr. George Tan says to him, Now this part, I'm quoting it because my nerdy self paused the movie twice so I could hear the quote and write it in the notes section of my phone, which is titled, which is which, okay, I'm gonna start over Jeffrey. So Dr. George Tan says to him, Now this part I'm actually quoting it from the movie because my nerdy self paused the movie twice so that I could hear the quote and write it in the notes section of my phone entitled Movie TV Quotes. Yes, I have a section in my phone entitled Movie TV Quotes. Dr. George Tan tells Pa, it is a myth that man can make it out here alone. It's just a pretty story, that's all. I'm gonna say it again. If y'all hear my stomach growling in the background, please do not judge me. I'm recording this like super early in the morning before I even started my day because I wanted to make sure I get this out. Don't judge me. I'm it's my stomach. I'm sorry. So I'm gonna repeat the quote again. Dr. George Tan tells Paul, he says, It is a myth that man can make it out here alone. It's just a pretty story, that's all. So I'm gonna say to you what Dr. George said to Paul, girl, you are crazy to think that you don't need nobody. You cannot make it without Jesus and a safety patrol. Okay, so just in case my safety patrol analogies, my tangents, and my little house in the prairie spoiler wasn't good, I'm gonna take you to the Bible. Ecclesiastics 4, 9, and 10 says, Two are better than one because they have a more satisfying return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one who will lift up his command. Jeffrey, I'm gonna do this over again. Ecclesiastics 4, 9, and 10 says, Two are better than one because they have a more satisfying return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one who will lift up Okay, I'm doing it again. Because this font is really small and it's not allowing me to see this. Make it big, Margaret, make it big. Sorry, Jeffrey. Okay, Ecclesiastics 4, 9 and 10 says, Two are better than one because they have a more satisfying return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his communion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, and does not have another to lift him up. Now, whenever you see the word woe in the Bible, in my Bible it's bolded, but anytime you see the word woe in the Bible, I want you to replace it with, it ain't gonna work out too well for you. Let me show you. I'm reading the scripture again. Two are better than one, because they have a more satisfying return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his communion. But it ain't gonna work out too well for you, girl, if you are alone and when you fall and you don't have nobody to lift you up. Another verse is Proverbs 20:17 2717. People learn from each other as one iron tool can make another sharp. Pretty much you need people with you to not only walk through life with you, to journey through life with you in the good and the bad times, but you also need people with you because we learn from one another. So, yes, you need a safety patrol. But not only do you need a safety patrol, like just any safety patrol, like you need a good safety patrol. You don't need a bootleg safety patrol. For those of you who don't know what bootleg is, the urban dictionary says it is a fake-behind imitation of something authentic. Read it over, Jeffrey. So after the scripture, go back to this, Jeffrey. So let me clarify. Yes, you need a safety patrol, but you don't need a bootleg safety patrol. For those of you who don't know what bootleg is, the urban dictionary says it is a quotation marks, fake behind imitation of something authentic. You don't want a fake safety patrol or an imitation safety patrol. Just like there's a difference between real crab in the ocean and that pink and white imitation crab they put in a packet. Now I'm not sleeping on the imitation crab in a packet because it's really good when you put it in a crab salad. But for some crab cakes, you need like the real thing from the ocean that comes from the shell. If you get crab cakes and they got pink and white stripes in it, that ain't really crab. That's the imitation crab. That's the bootleg crab cakes. Or if you need another example of bootlegs, it's just like there's the difference between watching Tyler Perry plays in the 90s and early 2000s in person at a theater versus the bootleg version where people have their camcorders recording secretly to sell them like out the trunk of their cars. In person, like when you go see the play in person, you got clear audio, you hear the songs good, the picture is. Good, like it's just a really authentic experience. The bootlegs, like the ones we were watching on VHS and Lauren's room on the third floor in Braxton Hall at ORU, they had people walking across the front of the camera, people commenting, talking, video fading in and out. 100% bootleg. Don't judge us. Us black girls was watching all the culture stuff we couldn't we could get. Tyler Perry, American Idol, Martin Reruns, all the things in that dorm. Thank you, Val. Thank you, Lauren. Love y'all forever of y'all listening. Okay, Margaret, bring it back. What I'm trying to say is that God wants your safety patrol to be legit. Now is not the time for bootleg safety patrols. There is no time for people that you think who are supposed to be watching over you and they ain't watching over you. There is no time for you to be in the wrong place outside of the will of God or for hiding or not trying to be monitored by nobody or avoiding community. Girl, gas is too high, produce is causing nausea, indigestion, heartburn, upset stomach, diarrhea, medium knot less braids is $300. We're in a heat wave, girl, times is too bad. Jesus is coming back. We need real God-ordained safety patrols in our lives. If an elementary kid who doesn't even know how to calculate percent, operate a car, go grocery shopping, or have to make any real life decisions except deciding if they want chocolate milk or white milk for lunch has to be screened. They have to go through an application process, they got to have a character check, grade check, teacher reference to become a safety patrol with no real power. How much more do the safety patrols of your life need to be screened embedded by God? Have you asked yourself, or have you asked God, like who are the people in my life who you've called to be the safety patrols? Am I listening to them? Am I accountable to them? Like who's checking for me? Who is watching over me spiritually, mentally, physically, or emotionally? Like who's holding out stop signs to keep you from running into traffic or opening doors or putting you in places to keep you safe? Who has eyes on you? Who is monitoring the halls of your life? Did you make your list yet? I've been talking for a real long time. You should have your list done by now. I've done a whole episode on safety patrols. And you should have your list. Scratch that, Jordan. I mean Jeffrey. So after I say you should have your list done, then go to this part. I just recorded a whole episode on a safety patrol, and I didn't even really want to be a safety patrol because I knew at the age of seven or eight that it's too hot to be outside in Miami, directing traffic, opening car doors, supervising hallways and saving lives. My candy curls was not gonna get messed up, girl, because I had perm hair then. My hair was to my shoulders, and I was going to the salon every two weeks at seven and eight. And I was not gonna be wasting my hair, messing up my hair, and wasting my voice yelling at those kids. But Jesus is funny because he done surely turned the tables in my adult life, and what has he done? Made me a safety patrol for other people. Who are you safety patrolling? Who is God calling you to watch over? Okay, y'all. So I don't know if I don't ever know if any of these episodes make any sense. So I think I'm just gonna pray right now so Jesus can take the wheel. Father, we thank you. Thank you for this day. I thank you for waking me up this morning. I thank you for the life that you're breathing into my body. I don't take it for granted that I can sit here in this moment. It is really only your grace and your mercy, God. And I just say thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your kindness. Thank you for your faithfulness. God, I thank you for knowing the human need and knowing the human body and knowing the human experience so well that you have designed it so that we can be in community, that we can be in safety and in safe places with others. So, God, I thank you for the safety patrols that you have put in our life. I thank you for the people that you've placed in our jobs, um, that you've placed at the random places we go. I thank you that the people that you've placed it in our church communities. I thank you that the peer for the people that you've placed over our kids in our marriages, um, when we've been in college, God, when we've been children, I thank you for the people that you've placed in schools, God, just to be a protection for us. I thank you that they have been real life human angels that you have sent to keep guard over us and to keep watch over us in all of our ways. And I just want to say thank you. I thank you for them. I thank you for the godparents. I thank you for the aunts and the uncles and the friends and the church mothers and all the people that you even give to me and to my kids, God, that have been safety patrols in our lives. And I just want to say thank you. I want to lift up anyone right now, God, who possibly doesn't know or hasn't experienced safety or is not familiar what it's like to be in a community of people that keep them safe. God, I pray that you would show them and that you would bring people in their lives to be safety patrols for them, to be people that watch over their minds and their spirits and their hearts and their emotions, to be people that are reliable, that check in, that show up, that FaceTime, that support, just to remind them that their well-being and their care is important to you, to remind them that they are loved by you, to remind them that their safety is important to you. God, I pray for anyone who thought they were supposed to be safe and they were not. Father, I pray that you would show them what true safety looks like. I thank you that you would show them that it is not, was not, it was not your plan for them to be used or abused or mishandled, Father God, but it is your plan for them to be safe. So I thank you, Father God, for you are giving them new experiences of safety, that you're healing those places in their hearts where they weren't safe, whether it be in a church community, God, whether it be on a job, whether it be with family or friends, God, I pray that you would heal their hearts. There is nothing that you can't heal. There is nothing that you can't restore and redeem, God. So I thank you for healing the places where the enemy has tried to steal security from your daughters. I thank you, Father God, for you in stealing and bringing security in their lives. I thank you that that security first is found in their safety in you. And that as Psalms 91 says, that they would begin to dwell in your secret place, that they would begin to seek out you in your presence, that they would begin to seek out your way and your will, God. For in you, in your presence, in your way, in your will, and following your voice is safety. I thank you, God, for redeeming the safety in their lives. And Father, I pray that as you are giving us safety, as you are revealing safety to us, that you would show us who you would want us to be safety for. May we be safe places for others. May you show us the people that you have assigned us to be safety patrols over their lives. May we monitor the halls of their lives in prayer, in deed, in action, in presence, God. Help us not to think that it's just about us being safe. Help us to be reminded that it is also about others being safe. I thank you, God, for what you're doing in our lives. I thank you, God, for reminding you that you reminding us, I'm sorry, that you are only the true source of safety. And outside of you and without you, there is nothing safe. So I thank you, God, for the work that you're doing inside of us. I thank you for the protection and the covering that you're having over the girls this week and whenever they're listening to this episode. I thank you, Father God, that your presence goes with them. It goes before them, it goes around them. I thank you, Father God, that they are reminded that they are never alone. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank y'all for tuning into this episode of Girl Live Love Be. Like, subscribe and share, and do all the things. Until next time, it is my prayer that you will live right, that you will love right, and that you'll be right.