In this solo episode, Mari shares the discernment process that led to her husband Trey quitting his job to go full time with West Coast Catholic. Just a few months ago the thought of Trey quitting his job caused anxiety and stress, but through prayer, listening to God speak through scripture, and trusting in God's fatherly generosity that turned fear into peace. Mari highlights how trusting in God and his abundance divine providence led to unexpected blessings. She encourages listeners to invite God into their life decisions, embrace generosity in their yes to Him, and experience His abundant provision. Our God is not outdone in generosity!

Hey, I'm your host, Mari Wagner, and you're listening to the ever

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be podcast where faith meets lifestyle.

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I'm so excited.

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You're here.

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Whether you're a new listener

or a long time follower, I know

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there's something here for you.

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Pull up a chair and listen in for

insightful real life conversations

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and actionable steps on how to claim

the full life God created you for.

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If you're a woman desiring to live

a Christ centered life in today's

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modern world, then this is for you.

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Welcome to Everbe.

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Speaker: Hi friends, welcome back to ever

be, I'm so glad that you're here today

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and that you pressed play on this episode.

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It's going to be a great solo episode.

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Just me today.

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, I'm going to just fill you in on an

exciting life update that we have.

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And, uh, really what I want to dive into

is kind of our discernment process of how

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we made this big decision in our life.

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And how the Lord worked

through our prayer.

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And ultimately what I really want to

get to today is just a beautiful example

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that the Lord has allowed in our lives.

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Just to share a beautiful example and

kind of just be a source of encouragement

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and inspiration of how you can be

generous in your yes to the Lord and

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how you can really trust in him when you

feel like he's calling you to something

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and i'm excited because this is a story

that i've just been able to share in the

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past two weeks with um our closest friends

and family just sharing the news and how

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we made this decision and It just really

feels like today's just going to be a

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cozy friend to friend chat with you today

I've got my sweats on i've got my bible.

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I've got a blanket Um, so wherever it

is that you're listening Settle in and

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get ready for just a really fun friend

chat today, just a little life update.

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Um, and hopefully that you leave

inspired and encouraged to give the

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Lord a more generous yes in your life,

a more, uh, a greater surrender and

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a greater trust in his plan for you.

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So just for backstory, this whole

episode essentially is going to be

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about how we decided for Trey to come

on full time with West Coast Catholic.

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West Coast Catholic is our Catholic

lifestyle brand that we own.

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It's a business that we

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And it has been our dream for both of

us to work full time for this business.

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We've had it, you know, like

what, five, six years now.

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And so it's been a long time coming.

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We've worked so hard.

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We've poured our hearts and souls, time

and energy and just countless hours and

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sleepless nights and just everything

that we have into this business,

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into serving you and to, um, really

evangelizing through beauty and through

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our products, bringing you closer to God.

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And, for those of you who may

not be really, uh, involved

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or really knowledgeable in the

entrepreneurship world, getting a

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business off the ground is no joke.

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It's really hard.

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And I think the entrepreneurship

is a really special calling.

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I don't think anybody and

everybody is called to it.

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It takes a lot of great determination,

uh, hard work, and heart and love,

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but really just it takes sacrifice.

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And especially for us, we know that, Our

business is more than just a business.

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It's really a mission and

that God's called us to it.

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And so that's been our biggest

motivator to keep going and keep

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fighting hard and working hard to get

our business to where it is today.

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And like I said, us working side

by side full time has been a dream

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that we've had for a long time.

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And over the years, as our business has

grown, we've made strategic Decisions

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to hire out other employees, whether it

be part time or now full time, we have a

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few full time employees, um, and kind of

build out our team and get it to a place

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to where it really could support both of

us full time and support the businesses

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growth and the goals that we had for it.

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So kind of what this

journey has looked like.

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I mean, we started this business in

college and it was always kind of a

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side thing up until let's say 2020.

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It really started growing,

really taking off.

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It was getting bigger and we were,

you know, starting to be full

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time missionaries at that point.

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And really, by 2022, we just knew,

you know, In order to sustain this

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business, one of us has to go full time.

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It's not really working for

it to be a side gig anymore.

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And so we made the decision for me to go

full time actually here's the fun fact

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is we actually made the decision for

both of us to go full time at that point.

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So we left our, uh, jobs as

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And then we both went full time

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and then I don't know, maybe

like a month or two in near like

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the middle end of the summer.

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We were like, okay, this isn't

really working financially for

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our business or for our family.

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The business wasn't really able to support

two full time jobs while also supporting

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growth in the way that we wanted to

for the for the coming years and we

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also, as a family, couldn't afford to

not have two full time jobs or two full

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time salaries coming in for our income.

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And , so we had to make a decision

there to actually not have Trey go

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full time and have him go find a job.

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So he found a full time job

with a marketing agency.

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And then I stuck to full

time West Coast Catholic.

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And this way we allowed our investment

to be put back into the business and to

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grow the business and to continue the

trajectory that we had planned while just

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kind of putting our dream of us both being

full time kind of on the back burner a

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little bit until it was the right time.

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And so in the meantime, we hired

a few other, you know, part

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time and full time employees.

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And that worked for us for a

while, for a few years or so.

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Um, and then this past year, there's

been some amazing exponential growth.

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The Lord has really, really

blessed us and we're so grateful.

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And with growth, uh, naturally comes

a little bit more work and more

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responsibility and it's honestly

become way too much for me to

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handle on my own and even for try

to handle on top of a full-time job.

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'cause he never really stopped

working for West Coast Catholic.

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He's always been there and we would never

be where we are without all the time

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and love and energy that he puts in.

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So he was basically carrying two

full time jobs and I was carrying

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way more than a full time jobs load.

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And so we decided, you know,

the time is coming soon.

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We need to start planning and preparing

for Trey to come on full time.

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We started having this conversation

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that by December 2024, we'd be

able to bring them on full time.

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Um, now ideally we were hoping for a

year out, so like maybe by October,

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but we were like, okay, for sure.

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By December, that's the plan.

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Uh, and January through April, you

guys was such a whirlwind in our life.

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Um, We're learning to, you know, find

better balance and reduce stress in

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our life and, uh, really continue to

keep God and our faith, uh, as a top

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priority above all things and really

how to balance, you know, work, faith,

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life, marriage, social life, new

relationships, um, family relationships,

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just caring for our home while you

know, that we also love to travel.

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Um, and so, yeah, it

was all becoming very.

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Very overwhelming and just

too much for us to carry.

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We were getting burnt out

and we just knew that.

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West coast Catholic needed

both of our full attention.

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And so we really were like, okay,

we need to sit down and talk about

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what is feasible for our family,

for our business financially,

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timing wise, does it make sense?

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And is the Lord calling

us to do this right now?

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Like above all, like, is God behind this?

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Like, we want to make sure

that this timing is God led.

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And so we decided that after the

podcast launched in April, we would

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sit down and start to really like look

at the calendar seriously, um, and

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crunch some numbers and make decisions.

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And so sure enough, a few days after the

podcast launched, we went to our favorite

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coffee shop and sat down and had a long,

several hour conversation about the

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future and about what is We could actually

do what our finances looked like, what

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the business could support, um, future

goals that we had for the business.

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And if that made sense, and if maybe the

Lord was actually calling us to do this

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or not, um, and through that conversation,

we decided that by the end of the summer,

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We would be ready to make that

jump for Trey to quit his job and

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come on full time alongside me.

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Now, that was an exciting conversation

because It seemed like August was

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going to be pretty feasible, um, which

meant that it was going to happen way

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before December, which was exciting.

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But at the same time, I sort of

left the conversation feeling like,

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I'm not sure that this is actually

what God is calling us to do.

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Now.

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I didn't know if God was maybe calling us

to wait longer and wait till the end of

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the year, or if maybe his intention was.

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Timing was sooner and that he had

it planned for us to have Trey come

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on full-time before, I don't know.

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Um, but pretty much anytime we had a

conversation about Trey going full-time

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and leaving his job, there was this

like unrest in anxiety within me.

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Um, and if you know anything about

discernment, you know that when there's.

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Unrest when there's stress, when

there's anxiety, especially like an, an

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anxious, like distrust or an anxious,

like unsettledness about something

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that's usually not where the Lord is.

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Usually when you're discerning

something, you'll find peace and clarity.

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You'll find, um, kind of a serenity

and a stillness in your soul.

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And, uh, we've just learned a lot

of big things before and I wasn't.

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Feeling that, like I wasn't feeling that

confidence that I usually feel when I

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know the Lord is calling us to something.

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But I know that Trey had been waiting

a long time for this conversation and

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he's, you know, itching to get out of

his job and be able to come on full time.

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Um, and our family, you know,

the way that we were living

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like really, really needed it.

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Uh, the way that we were living was just

not sustainable, not healthy for us.

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And we knew that our family really

needed that balance and for Trey to

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step back from his full time job.

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But when we had this

conversation, it was April.

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So honestly, not that long ago.

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I mean, it was about a month ago.

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And we knew that by August, uh,

most of our goals and finances and

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things would be in place to where

we wanted it to be, to where we feel

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like it would be just safe enough.

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Um, that was kind of our goal was to

truly, and just in total transparency,

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our goal was to save up almost like pretty

much a whole year's worth salary for Trey

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to have that year of safety, uh, as we

took the leap for him to go full time.

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Now, by the end of August, we would have.

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Almost reach that goal.

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Not fully, but we felt like it was

safe enough for us to take that jump.

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Um, and truly what we were searching

for was just security was just that

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safety, that security for us to be able

to have everything like saved up and,

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and perfectly safe for us to make that

decision ourselves for us to totally

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provide for ourselves and for our future

without having to worry about anything.

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We're really, really waiting to make the

safest jump, the safest leap, if you will.

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So then fast forward to a few weeks

after this conversation, this was like

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in mid April and then end of April,

we had our West Coast Catholic team up

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in Colorado for our spring gathering.

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And we went up to the mountains and

the drive up is about two hours and I

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was driving with the girls in the car.

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Trey was driving with the husbands in the

car because we like to have the husbands

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join in on these kind of getaways as well.

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And on the drive up, I was just so

grateful for our team and the gift

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of West Coast Catholic and that this

is our work and our job and that

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we're able to combine our strengths

and our passions with our ministry.

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And I just like had this prayer on my

heart, um, just, you know, You know,

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for Trey and for him to be able to spend

his time fully with West Coast Catholic.

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And it was just kind of

a quick offhanded prayer.

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It wasn't even something super deep

or intentional or outspoken out loud.

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It was just a passing thought

where I was like, Lord, like, thank

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you for the gift of West Coast

Catholic that you've given us.

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Um, When is it that you have it

planned for tray to come full time?

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You know, if this timing that we've come

up with in, in August, end of summer,

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isn't actually your timing, just, can you

just please make that clear this week?

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I think I just like would have so much

peace if you would make that clear,

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which obviously anybody discerning

everything, anything is looking for peace.

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Um, and so.

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It wasn't that crazy of a prayer, but

again, like I said, it was maybe like 30

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seconds to a minute, super random, just in

my head as we're driving up the mountains.

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And then it just passed and I

didn't really think about it again.

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And then we got up to the mountains

and, you know, settled in and,

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uh, we're just ready to have such

an awesome week with our team.

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Now, every morning at these team

gatherings, we start in prayer.

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Usually in about 30 minutes to 60

minutes in adoration, if we're able to

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get to an adoration chapel, this time

we were up in the mountains and the

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church happened to be closed that week

because the priests were out of town.

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And so we just kind of set up a little

like prayer altar space in the house

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that we were at, and then we set up

our own sort of like prayer times, team

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prayer times in the living room together.

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And so one of the mornings, that

first morning actually, we did

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Lectio Divina with our team.

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Um, so we dove into my favorite

passage, which is the whole do not

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worry passage, but specifically where

it ends, you know, Matthew 6, 33, seek

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first the kingdom and his righteousness

and all things will be given to you.

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Besides that's our anchor

verse for West coast Catholic.

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And it's also just.

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pretty much like the

anchor verse for my life.

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Um, and so we just started

with that whole passage.

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And if you don't want Lexio Divina is

basically you're praying and reading

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through a scripture passage several

times and letting it soak in and

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sink in and trying to pray through

what the Lord is speaking to you.

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Maybe taking notice of nudges of the

Holy Spirit, um, you know, kind of drawing

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you to one word or one phrase, or maybe

it's a theme that's really resonating

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with you that you want to dive into.

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And then we discussed it together as

a team, as friends to kind of just

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share what the Lord was doing in our

hearts through this time of prayer.

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So I'm going to open up to that

passage first because this is

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really where it all begins.

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So like I said, it is Matthew 6, 33.

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If you have a Bible with you and you are

cozied up like I am, I encourage you to

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grab your Bible, pause the episode really

quick, grab your Bible, and then come

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back so that we can read it together.

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Okay, here we go.

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I am using an NAB translation of the

Bible, New American Bible, Matthew chapter

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six verse, uh, we're going to go to the

verse 25 and read it through verse 33.

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So the section is titled

Dependence on God.

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Which is very fitting.

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Not all the Bibles have the

same titles for each section.

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And so this is just very fitting.

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Dependence on God.

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Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about

your life, what you will eat or drink,

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or about your body, what you will wear.

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Is not life more than food and

the body more than clothing?

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Look at the birds in the sky.

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They do not sow nor reap nor

gather nothing into barns, yet

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your heavenly Father feeds them.

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Amen.

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Are you not more important than they?

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Can you, by worrying, add a

single moment to your lifespan?

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Why are you anxious about your clothes?

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Learn from the way the wildflowers grow.

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They do not work or spin, but I tell

you that not even Solomon, in all his

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splendor, was clothed like one of them.

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If God so clothes the grass of the field

which grows today and is thrown into

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the oven tomorrow, will he not much more

provide for you, O you of little faith?

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So do not worry and

say, What are we to eat?

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Or what are we to drink?

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Or what are we to wear?

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All pagans seek.

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Your Heavenly Father knows

that you need them all.

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But seek first the kingdom

of God and his righteousness.

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And all these things will

be given to you besides,

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uh, that is just so, so good.

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Like I said, it's my favorite passage

and it just brings me so much peace

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to even just read through it and just

let these words sink into my soul.

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Every single time I read it, you guys,

and every time I read it and every time I

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spend time really studying it and praying

with it, I feel like something new sticks

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out to me and something new like really

resonates with me and speaks to me.

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And that's just the beauty of the word

is that the word of God is living.

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It's, it's truly like alive

and active in our lives.

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And if you spend time

reading it and studying it.

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You'll find the ways that the Lord truly

like speaks directly into your life.

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Um, if you just open your heart and invite

the Holy Spirit and allow him to do so,

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to speak into your life through his word.

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So this was the passage that we started

out in our Lectio Divina, that first day

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of prayer on our team gathering week.

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And like I said, I've read

this passage a million times.

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It's my favorite one.

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So I reflected on it a lot, but

this time something new stood out

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to me, something that I never really

paid much attention to before.

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And that was verse 26, where it

says, Look at the birds in the sky.

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They do not sow nor reap

or gather into barns.

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Yet your heavenly father feeds them and

that one stood out to me right away as

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we were praying through it because it

just reminded me of the Conversations and

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the plan that Trey had it Trey and I had

in place to have to make that decision

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for him to go full time We were just so

Concerned on providing for ourselves.

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We were so fixated on security

and on gathering, right?

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Like saving up as much money as

we could waiting till everything

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was perfectly in place till we

had control over every situation.

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And then we would feel totally

secure and ready to take that leap.

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Now in this passage.

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Jesus points out, look at the birds

in the sky, they don't sow, nor

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reap, nor gather, like, look at these

birds, like, they don't worry about

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what they're gonna eat tomorrow, they

don't store up food, they don't gather

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in case of an emergency, like, They

live completely reliant on nature,

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essentially on God, the father, right?

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And it says with yet your

heavenly father feeds them.

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They fully rely on God's providence

to feed them, to provide for

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them so that they can live.

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And then it says, are you

not more important than they?

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I mean, Jesus, like just directly

spoke to my heart in a beautiful, yet

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like, kind of like challenging way

of like, Don't you trust in the Lord?

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Doesn't he love you more than

he loves the birds of the sky?

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Are you not more valuable?

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Is your life not more valuable than

theirs as a son or daughter of God?

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Aren't you more valuable

than a creature, a bird?

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I sort of felt like he was.

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He was calling us out a little bit

and then asking us to trust, to be

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like, don't worry about gathering.

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Don't worry about providing in yourselves.

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Like, trust me, I'll provide.

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My heavenly father will provide

as he does for the birds.

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He will for his children, for those who

are much more valuable than the birds.

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And so I brought that up to Trey.

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I was like, Trey, like this

really stood out to me in prayer.

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I brought it up to the whole

team and I was like, you know,

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you guys, like, I don't know.

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This is something to pray with.

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Like this really, you

know, resonated with me.

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Um, maybe we need to be more trusting

of the Lord, like even in West Coast

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Catholic, like, let's just all pray with

that for a little bit that I'm just really

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going to take time, you know, to mold this

over in my heart for the next few days.

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Now, I, I just thought that I would take

that to prayer, you know, the next few

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days, the next few weeks, and just kind

of see where the Lord was moving and

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maybe revisit this conversation with Trey

about him going full time at some point,

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but the Lord moved much quicker than that.

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So the next day, uh, we were

all, the girls were hanging out.

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Um, so I'm going to talk a little

bit about what we were doing

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in the living room at night.

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And the guys were having a boy's

time in the hot tub as they usually

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do when we're up in the mountains.

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And us girls were just chatting

in the living room about life.

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You know how girls are.

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I mean, we spent hours in conversation.

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I don't even know what we talked about.

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Just moving from one

conversation to the next.

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Women have a great talent to just

talk for hours, uh, and never

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run out of things to talk about.

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So we were just chatting away and

you know, in the middle of our

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conversation, one of our, uh, teammates

and our dear friends just brought up.

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Brought this situation up to me of Trey

pretty much working for two full time

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jobs of us being super Stressed and

tired these last few months and really

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having too much on our plate and she's

just in all You know care for us just

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asked me like so what's your plan Mari?

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Like when is Trey gonna go full time

like you guys really need to make this

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leap Like it seems like this is The

last few months have been a lot for your

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family and like, I really care about you.

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Like, what's the plan?

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Like, what do you, what

are you guys going to do?

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And you know, I looked at her and I

was like, I know they, first of all,

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like, thank you for acknowledging that.

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Like, I know it's been a really crazy,

uh, few months for our family, the

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last six months, especially, but the

last four months were like insane.

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Um, yeah.

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It's insane.

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And I was like, I don't know, you know,

we talked about it recently and maybe

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by the end of the summer we could do it.

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Um, and even if we did that, like we

would feel good about it, but even

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that would be like taking a little

bit of a leaf, a leap of faith.

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Um, and if we left today, like that

would for sure be taking a leap of faith.

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Um, so I don't know, I think it'll

be a few months, hopefully soon here

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that we'll make that, make that jump.

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She just looked at me and she was

like, yeah, like maybe God is asking

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you to take that leap of faith.

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And she just smiled.

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And I was like.

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Lord, what are you doing?

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Um, I just felt like a similar

feeling that I've had before when

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I know that the Lord is calling me

when the Lord is challenging me.

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And I felt that through my friend

saying this and I was like, yeah,

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you know, maybe, maybe he is.

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And then she went on to share with me, um,

just a recent experience that she had of,

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of trusting the Lord in his

call and not necessarily having

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family finances figured out and how

they felt the Lord to trust them.

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And then when they took that leap,

the Lord provided in abundance, um,

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and their family finances were totally

figured out and totally covered for.

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And there was so much peace in that

decision that they made as a family.

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And she just said, you know, I

encourage you to pray about this.

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You know, maybe the Lord is calling

you to take that leap to trust him

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and to trust in his providence.

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And I was just like, okay, thank

you, you know, for being a good

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friend, for challenging me, for

bringing that up, you know, we're

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definitely gonna pray about that.

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And I just took that to heart and

the next day, maybe it wasn't the

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next day, but it was the last day of

that week together as a team, we were

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driving back down from the mountains.

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And I really wanted to have

this conversation with Trey.

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I'm someone who like, if something

is like really pressing on my

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heart, I can't really wait.

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And I can't really like,

put it to the side.

401

So I asked the team to drive in my

car so that Trey and I could drive

402

on our own together in his car and

just kind of have a conversation

403

us two on the way back down home.

404

And I brought up the whole

conversation of him going full time.

405

I brought up the time in prayer and

then the conversation that I had with

406

one of the girls and just being like,

let's just revisit this conversation.

407

Like, I just feel like the Lord wants

us to revisit this and we should

408

just try and see if he is pointing

us to a different timeline, maybe

409

something that we didn't have in mind.

410

Maybe it's actually

sooner than we thought.

411

And Trey was like, okay, why don't you

grab your Bible, open it up to that

412

passage in Matthew that really stood out

to you, that line, and we can kind of

413

pray through that on the drive down and

see if the Lord speaks to us anymore.

414

And so I had my Bible with

me in the passenger seat.

415

And I opened it up randomly, you know,

to start looking for the passage that

416

we had prayed through a few days before.

417

And when I opened up to this random

page, my eyes went directly to

418

a few verses that I had

previously underlined.

419

So clearly I had read through it before.

420

Uh, my My eyes went directly to

Psalm 37 and now this isn't a

421

psalm that I like frequently read.

422

Not one that I, not one

that I knew by heart.

423

I do now because of the way that

it's changed our life, but it

424

wasn't one that I'd recognized.

425

Um, and like I said, I just opened

to a random page of the Bible.

426

My eyes went directly to here.

427

I, my intention was to search

for that passage in Matthew, but

428

my eyes were drawn to this one.

429

And I have the NAB version,

like I said, but the Bible I

430

was reading in the car was NRSV.

431

So there's like one slight difference

of a word that I'll point out in a

432

second, but I opened the Bible and my

eyes immediately go to verse three.

433

It says, trust in the Lord

and do good that you may dwell

434

in the land and live secure.

435

Now in the version that I was

reading, it said that you may dwell

436

in the land and enjoy security.

437

Find your delight in the Lord who

will give you your heart's desire.

438

Commit your way to the Lord,

trust in him and he will act.

439

I read that really quickly in

my head when I opened the Bible.

440

And then I told Trey like, Oh my gosh, um,

I think I need to read this to you, like,

441

You won't believe what I just opened to,

you know, and I read him that Psalm again,

442

trust in the Lord and do good that you

may dwell in his land and enjoy security.

443

Find your delight in the Lord.

444

He will give you the

desires of your heart.

445

Commit your way to the Lord,

trust in him and he will act.

446

And immediately when I read this out

loud to Trey, we both got emotional.

447

We both like teared up and

pretty much started crying.

448

And we were just like, Oh my gosh,

like the Lord is speaking to us.

449

We felt in that moment, a clarity and

a peace through that verse that the

450

Lord was speaking to us, especially

for me, the word enjoy security.

451

It was like the Lord was speaking straight

into that fear that we had of security,

452

specifically financial security, uh,

both for the business and for ourselves.

453

And he didn't just say like, trust in me

and I will like meet your needs, right?

454

Like the birds of the air.

455

He didn't just say, and

I will just feed you.

456

Like we saw in the Matthew

passage, it said, and how much more

457

valuable are you than the birds?

458

So in response to us, the Lord

said, trust in me that you may

459

dwell in my land and enjoy security.

460

That word enjoy is like.

461

It signifies abundance, just like

the Lord always promises us that

462

when we live a life of Christ,

we will enjoy abundance in him.

463

And he was speaking this directly

to us, trust in me and enjoy

464

security, delight in the Lord.

465

And he'll give you the

desires of your heart.

466

You know, like just find the light

in, in the work that I've given

467

you in my mission, like delight

in me and my sacraments and

468

prayer and relationship with me.

469

And I will give you the

desires of your heart.

470

And like I said, our biggest dream,

for the past few years has been for

471

Trey and I to work alongside each other

full time and to have this work, this

472

ministry be the full, the way that it

provides for our family completely.

473

And here we just felt the Lord saying

like, yes, like delight in this

474

delight in this work, delight in me

as your father, as your provider.

475

And I will give you those desires.

476

I will meet those desires and more.

477

And then the last one, it says,

commit your way to the Lord,

478

trust in him and he will act.

479

And that just spoke so clearly, clearly

to me because it just reminded me of this.

480

Promise that I've made to the Lord

that comes from that last verse in

481

Matthew 6 33, that says, seek first

the kingdom and his righteousness

482

and all things will be given to you.

483

Besides, you know, commit your

life to the Lord, commit your way

484

to the Lord, seek first God and

his kingdom and his righteousness.

485

Trust in him and he will

act and all things will be

486

given to you besides, right?

487

I'm kind of comparing those two verses

to each other Psalm 37 verse 6 and

488

Matthew 6 verse 33 Those spoke so

like symbiotically together into my

489

life and into what we were Needing and

praying with at the moment that it just

490

became so clear to us that the Lord

was like, yeah I'm Trust in me, do my

491

work, enjoy the abundant security I'm

going to bring you, and the blessing

492

that this will be for your family.

493

Now, that call that we felt

didn't necessarily solve

494

practically all of the problems.

495

Not necessarily problems, but all

of the steps that we needed to

496

take to feel secure in taking that

leap for Trey being full time.

497

That was just the Lord calling.

498

But for some reason, and I felt this

so many other times before when the

499

Lord's called me to big things like

to marry Trey or to engagement or

500

to become a missionary with focus

and to move to Nebraska where we did

501

our, you know, years as missionaries.

502

Or then when he called us to

move to Colorado, that was nuts.

503

I mean, he called us to move to Colorado

in literally a span of four weeks.

504

Like one day we were like, Nope, we're not

like, we're just living our merry lives.

505

And then the next day, the Lord was like,

Move to Colorado in literally four weeks.

506

And we were like, okay, that's nuts.

507

So we've had a lot of other moments where

the Lord has moved in a similar way in

508

our life, where he has called us to big

things and asked for trust and generosity.

509

Now, what do I mean by generosity?

510

And this is something that

I've learned from Trey.

511

And, um, this is just something that he's

expressed to me in a really beautiful

512

way, and that has strengthened my faith is

that when the Lord calls you to something,

513

we want to respond in a generous way.

514

Right.

515

We want our yes to be generous.

516

Just like Mary's in the time of the

Annunciation when he said, you know,

517

you're going to be the mother of God

and bring salvation to the world.

518

And she was like, yes, Lord, may it

be done to me according to your will.

519

Right?

520

She had a yet a generous yes to the Lord.

521

We want the same response in our lives

when the Lord calls us to something,

522

when the Lord calls us to trust in him,

whether it be big or small, we will

523

always want to respond with generosity.

524

And so when we knew the Lord

was calling us to do this.

525

I felt a peace and confidence in this

conversation of Trey going full time and

526

taking the sleep like I never had before.

527

Remember before I always felt anxiousness

and restlessness and all of a sudden I

528

felt like the Lord spoke clearly and I

had that confirmation that it was him.

529

And due to my faith being strengthened

through other times in our life and

530

him providing, I just knew that without

knowing what the future held, that he

531

was going to provide just like he did

for the birds of the air and more.

532

And so I told Trey in the car, you

know, after reading this together, I was

533

like, babe, like I trust you completely.

534

I trust the Lord completely.

535

Um, whatever you decide, whenever

you feel like is, is the right

536

time for you to take this.

537

Jump for you to quit your

job and come on full time.

538

I feel peace with that.

539

I'm happy about that.

540

I, I'm confident that the Lord

is working and that the Lord

541

is blessing this decision.

542

So I, I left it up to him to kind of like

choose when that right moment would be.

543

And then, what was that?

544

That was on a Thursday, I think.

545

And then Friday, end of the day, he

came up to me, traded, and he was

546

like, Okay, so I've prayed about

it, and I'm going to quit on Monday.

547

I'm going to put my

two weeks in on Monday.

548

And I remember being like, even then,

even after the whole discernment that we

549

had and this, these beautiful moments of

prayer, I remember I was even like, Whoa.

550

You're going to put your

two weeks in on Monday.

551

Like that was really quick.

552

Like we just, we just had all these

revelations like two days ago.

553

I thought you were going to

take time to pray about it.

554

You know, and in my head I'm like,

he's going to take a few weeks, you

555

know, maybe a month to really make sure

that this is what God's calling us to

556

and then, and then start the process.

557

And he was like, no Mari, like the Lord

made it abundantly clear and I want to

558

be generous He's promised us abundance.

559

He's promised us providence.

560

We have to trust in that

and we have to say yes.

561

And the Lord's not going

to not provide for us.

562

If I, you know, quit my job tomorrow

or in two weeks or a month, like

563

he's going to bless that trust that

we have in him whenever we feel like

564

that timing is right now that he

has confirmed that it is his call.

565

And I was like, okay, all right.

566

You're right.

567

You're right.

568

This is, this couldn't be more clear.

569

I'm with you.

570

Let's do it.

571

And so we, you know, felt this

confirmation in prayer on a Thursday.

572

That Monday, Trey, you know, talked to his

boss, put his two weeks in and which ended

573

up actually being like a week and a half.

574

And he actually ended his job.

575

His last day was the Wednesday

after that next week.

576

And then on Thursday, the next morning we

were on a plane to Hawaii to celebrate.

577

And rest as a family.

578

And if all this isn't crazy enough,

um, what's, what's really crazy you

579

guys is that on Monday, Trey put in

his two weeks and not even 24 hours

580

after that, the Lord brought in a huge

financial blessing for our family.

581

Um, that's pretty much going to cover.

582

What we needed to, um, for the

next few months for forever.

583

I don't know.

584

It's just a new source of income, uh,

that we weren't necessarily expecting.

585

And I know, and I'm confident that

this was all part of God's plan, that

586

this was a blessing that came from

the Lord calling us to trust him and

587

his providence and us responding to

that call generously and quickly.

588

And it's more than I would have

expected and we just feel so

589

abundantly Like blessed that we get

to walk with the Lord in this way.

590

And that through trusting him,

we are able just to experience

591

his abundant providence, abundant

love and blessing in our life.

592

And I share this to hopefully inspire

you to hopefully encourage you to take.

593

These leaps of faith in your life as

well to take your life and big decisions

594

into discernment with God, that you

wouldn't do anything alone, but that

595

you would decide everything with him and

that you would invite him into your life

596

and invite him into big decisions of

discernment, like Lord, who should I date?

597

Who should I marry?

598

What job should I take?

599

Where should I move to?

600

Um, you know, anything that is like big

and radical in your life, invite the Lord

601

into that and let him have the final say,

let him show you what his plan for you is.

602

Let him provide for you in the

ways that you're needing him to.

603

And he will, I know, I know that he will,

if you truly surrender with a trusting

604

heart, he always, always will, because he

loves you as his son or daughter, and he.

605

wants to provide for you more than he

wants to provide for the birds of the air.

606

And the thing that I really want you

to walk away with too, is just this

607

theme of abundance and that the Lord

doesn't just provide what is necessary.

608

He provides from a place of like, Overflow

of love, that's just what the Lord is.

609

He's an overflow of love and he constantly

wants to pour out upon us and really waits

610

for us to ask for us to trust, for us to

depend fully on him and for us to stop

611

relying on ourselves, stop providing for

ourselves and feeling like we don't have

612

an all powerful, all good, all loving

father that wants to provide for us.

613

And so this trip to Hawaii that we took

the next day after Trey's last day of

614

work was really just a continuation of

that abundant providence that the Lord

615

was bringing into our life and the way

that he was showing us that he wanted,

616

like wanted to love on us big time.

617

And so we love to travel and

it's not totally uncommon for

618

us to want to take a big trip.

619

We love to travel.

620

It's where we, you know, Choose

to invest our money in because

621

we want these experiences.

622

We think that it's really enriching

for our life and pours into our

623

marriage and builds up our marriage.

624

And so when Trey decided to quit

his job, I immediately was like,

625

Trey, we have to celebrate, like

let's get away for the weekend.

626

Like, let's, you know, maybe go to

California or Arizona or Florida.

627

Like, let's do like a

fun quick weekend trip.

628

Or like, let's, you know, take a road

trip somewhere beautiful in Colorado.

629

And, you know, The more I was

looking into Airbnbs and stuff, I

630

was like, no, like, let's go big.

631

Like, let's do something fun.

632

Like, let's go to Europe or Hawaii or

Mexico or like somewhere where we can like

633

really like enjoy and especially relax.

634

Like I said, the last four

months, the last six months of

635

our lives have been crazy hectic.

636

And I felt like We really needed time

just us to, to rest and relax and recoup

637

and kind of like reset and reignite so

that we can go back into our life with

638

more energy and excitement than before.

639

And so as I was looking at these different

places, I landed on Hawaii because

640

we had never been to Hawaii together.

641

I'd never really been to Hawaii and it

seems like a perfect mix of adventure,

642

uh, with all the outdoor natural

beauty that Hawaii has as well as

643

rest with like the beautiful beaches.

644

And so I put that idea out there and

Trey was kind of like, Whoa, that's kind

645

of crazy, but I'm kind of down for it.

646

And so we prayed for it.

647

And so we decided to kind of like leave it

on the table, leave it as an option, see

648

if we had, uh, good options for Airbnbs

and hotels and if the timing worked and

649

you know, if it was the Lord's will.

650

And so while that was

kind of on the table, I.

651

You know, I prayed like, Lord,

like, I hope that this is your will.

652

Just make it clear if this is your will.

653

Like, I really want to take this trip.

654

I really feel like we need this

time to relax, to be together.

655

And again, just kind

of an offhanded prayer.

656

Now, if you, if, if these things have

never happened to you in your life,

657

you might be like, okay, this is nuts.

658

And it, maybe it is, or

maybe I was reading into it.

659

I don't know, but it just really

felt like the Lord was showing up in

660

little ways, confirming like, yes.

661

Like, I want you to take this trip.

662

I want you to rest.

663

I want you to pour into your marriage.

664

I want you to relax.

665

And what was crazy is that like

Hawaii and Maui specifically was just

666

coming up in different ways in our

life that had never really before.

667

Like I, like I said, like

I'd never been to Hawaii.

668

Honestly, it wasn't like a huge dream.

669

I had to go to Hawaii.

670

It's not like I really talk about it or

see things on Instagram about it often.

671

It was just in the moment I

was like, let's do Hawaii.

672

and there's a few things that

happened in the following days that

673

was like all pointed to Hawaii.

674

So like, in mass the guy in front

of us was wearing a Hawaiian shirt

675

and there was like nobody in the

church wearing a Hawaiian shirt.

676

Like that was just like random

and he was right in front of

677

us and Trey pointed that out.

678

And then, you know, May is the month

of Mary and so the statue of Mary in

679

the church had a beautiful like flower

crown that is really common for May

680

crownings in churches, But the crown

Mary had with like these thick tropical

681

flowers that looked like a Hawaiian like

lay like wrapped around Mary's head.

682

And Trey was like, Oh my

gosh, look at Mary's crown.

683

It looks like a Hawaiian flower crown.

684

And I was like, Oh my gosh, that's crazy.

685

Like maybe God wants us to go to Hawaii.

686

And we were just kind of

joking about it, you know?

687

And then we were invited to this

baptism and the photographer at the

688

baptism had the gosh, I don't know

what it's called, but it's like the,

689

the white and yellow Hawaiian flower.

690

She had a clip of it in her hair.

691

And while that's really common for people

to wear in Hawaii, you don't really see

692

people wear that on a day to day basis,

at least in Colorado where we live.

693

And so I was like, Trey,

look at the photographer.

694

She's literally wearing a

Hawaiian flower in her hair.

695

Like that's crazy.

696

Like maybe we're supposed to go to Hawaii.

697

And then I was like, okay, Lord.

698

And this was like me praying

an intentional prayer.

699

Okay.

700

I was like, okay, Lord, if you really

want us to go to Hawaii, if we should

701

actually like do this crazy trip.

702

next week, then have somebody bring

up Hawaii at this baptism party.

703

If Hawaii comes up in any conversation,

I'm going to take that as your go good

704

to go on this crazy, awesome trip.

705

And I didn't expect for anybody

to actually bring it up.

706

Okay.

707

I was fully ready to like, let

go of this and just move on.

708

And we're at the baptism party, you guys.

709

And I don't know, maybe like 30 minutes

into the party, I'm talking to one of my

710

friends and, She just randomly brings up

like, Oh my gosh, like my husband and I

711

were supposed to go to Hawaii with our

family next week, but something fell

712

through and it turns out we can't go.

713

And I was like, wait, what?

714

She was like, yeah, we were going to go

to Maui but sadly we can't go anymore.

715

And I was like, you're joking.

716

And I like run over and pull

Trey and I was like, Trey,

717

she just brought up Hawaii.

718

Like we are going to Hawaii.

719

Like God wants us to go.

720

Like he wants this gift for us.

721

Like I know in my heart, like

we've got to book our tickets.

722

And Trey was like,

okay, girl, we'll do it.

723

And we booked tickets.

724

And this was even crazier.

725

This was like the day after the baptism.

726

I had a facial appointment and my

esthetician was like, okay, we're

727

going to use a new scrub on you today.

728

It's like tropical, like pineapple

guava, like, uh, Papaya and

729

it's really good for your skin.

730

She was telling me all these things

and I looked at the bottle and it was

731

called Like maui sunset or something like

that and I was like, okay, that's it.

732

We are booking our tickets So we did so

we literally booked our tickets I think

733

on a monday or a tuesday and then we

flew out the thursday after It was nuts.

734

It's crazy.

735

We've never booked a trip that

spontaneously to somewhere

736

that far away, but that whole

trip was crazy So wonderful.

737

Just like following the big decision

that we made for Trey to go full time.

738

It was a week of rest and relaxation

and we were able to just enjoy

739

each other and our marriage.

740

Um, and just how fun, like, that's

something that I feel like I

741

don't talk about a lot is just.

742

The unique challenge and the unique

circumstance of having your husband

743

also be your business partner.

744

It's worked out so beautifully for

us and we have so much fun with

745

it, but sometimes our conversations

can really be surrounded with work.

746

And so we really have to be intentional

about like work is work and then

747

like hangout time is hangout time.

748

Downtime is downtime.

749

Like, you know, and so.

750

On this trip, we were trying

to be really clear about like,

751

Hey, this is time for rest.

752

Let's leave rest for

rest and work for work.

753

We'll get to work later.

754

And it was really beautiful.

755

And we just left just reignited and it

really felt like a honeymoon, honestly.

756

It was really a wonderful time that

we got to invest in our marriage,

757

in our friendship, have some amazing

experiences, and make some beautiful

758

memories, and really celebrate and

commemorate this big decision and

759

this call that the Lord has made.

760

called us to for us to both work

full time in our ministry and

761

to be able to serve you guys.

762

And so we're back.

763

We got back a few days ago and we

jumped right in this week and we're

764

just feeling so grateful and so blessed.

765

Um, so thank you.

766

Thank you for being

part of this community.

767

Thank you for following

along in our story.

768

I hope that this brought you some joy.

769

Inspiration and encouragement.

770

Like I said, I hope that this moves

you to take more leaps of faith

771

for the Lord and to know that your

heavenly father wants to provide for

772

you in big ways, not just small ways.

773

So take those big prayers to him,

ask big things of him because

774

he wants to give it to you guys.

775

He wants to pour it out upon you.

776

So encourage you to do so.

777

Encourage you to root your life in the

word, to take, um, Wisdom and knowledge

778

from it and to let it inform your life and

to overflow your prayer and your heart.

779

Um, yeah.

780

Thanks for being with me here

today and for hearing our story.

781

I know that I'm praying for you and

praying for your yes and for you to

782

be generous in your life and for the

Lord to give you the grace to trust

783

in him completely and just for his

abundance to pour out upon you as well.

784

We'll see you next week, friends.