Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to the Arkansas Baptist of Women podcast. On this season we will talk about the beauty of belonging to a gospel centered, like minded community that shapes and encourages us to love God and to be present in our calling.
[00:00:12] Speaker B: We are excited to sit down with different women from all stages of life and hear what God is doing in their life in an area of ministry that God has called them to join us as we find encouragement in the work and presence of God as he is reflected through casual conversation around coffee and authenticity.
[00:00:30] Speaker A: Hey guys. We are back and we are so excited that today we get to sit down with Tara Venable. She is the wife of John Venable, she is a mom of four and she is a doctor. And so we are just going to have some fun today as we just get to lean in and listen to her as she shares just the season of life that she's in and just ministry for her. And so welcome.
[00:00:50] Speaker C: Hi. Thank you.
[00:00:52] Speaker A: Yes. So with us we've got Tara who is going to tell us so much about her life and ministry and then also we've got Hannah.
[00:01:00] Speaker C: Hey guys.
[00:01:01] Speaker A: And we are just eager, Tara, to get to know you. And so will you just tell us about your life, your family, your work, ministry, all the things.
[00:01:12] Speaker C: All the things. Yes. Thank you guys. I was so excited when you reached out and asked me to join the podcast. I've been listening to it a lot, especially lately. Yes.
And so, yeah, it's fun. It's an exciting time here. It sounds like new things.
[00:01:27] Speaker A: Oh yes, very exciting time.
[00:01:30] Speaker C: Okay. So I was really excited to be able to join.
So me, yes, my name is Tara and most people know me here as John's wife. My husband is wonderful and you should know him.
He is the pastor of a church right outside of Bryant's, technically Alexander New Life Baptist and he is a youth pastor turned head pastor.
So we've been there for a long time and that is one of the biggest things to know about me. The other biggest thing to know about me is I am a mom of four and I'm not sure I love anything more in the world than the title of mom.
I love being the mother of my children. They are awesome. I have a 12 year old son, we just started middle school this year. It's a big deal, guys out there.
A nine year old daughter and a seven year old son and a three and a half year old son. So three boys and one girl.
So we're crazy all the time.
And then I work, I am a pediatrician but I work primarily now only in the NICU at UAMS and Arkansas Children's Hospital.
And so between all of that, that's what I do all the time. One of those three things is be a pastor, wife, a mom, and a doctor.
[00:02:52] Speaker A: Okay. And I have to tell them something about you that I picked up very quickly. You love to create spaces.
[00:03:00] Speaker C: Yes, I do.
[00:03:02] Speaker A: With your home, with Bible study, with all the things you just have. You're creative.
[00:03:11] Speaker C: I do.
Thank you. That is so fun that you picked that up, because I do really love to do that. And I often say I'm not sure I would be a doctor today if I would have known myself better way back in the day, like, would have.
[00:03:25] Speaker B: Gone a different route.
[00:03:26] Speaker C: Yes. That's so funny, potentially. I mean, I do love my job, but I didn't know how much I enjoyed getting to create and do things like that. So cool. It's kind of just a hobby.
[00:03:38] Speaker A: Oh, it's all over you.
[00:03:39] Speaker C: Well. Oh, thank you. I do have fun. We just did a big house remodel. Huge ginormous house remodel. Wow. And it was really fun.
[00:03:49] Speaker A: But I would say with her, she is very.
It's simplistic, but very nurturing and warm.
[00:03:59] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:00] Speaker A: That's you.
[00:04:01] Speaker C: Thanks, Mork.
[00:04:02] Speaker A: You're welcome.
[00:04:03] Speaker C: Yes, I do love it. Thank you. Y' all are invited over.
[00:04:07] Speaker A: We're coming anytime. Yes.
[00:04:10] Speaker B: As we're getting to know you a little bit more, kind of tell us about. Because obviously you've walked through so many different seasons. Tell us about a mentor that's been in your life that's had an impact on you, whether that's current, past season. Just kind of give us a little insight into that.
[00:04:24] Speaker C: Yeah.
This question is hard because it's so.
There are just so many people that have really mentored me, even in ways that they probably didn't even know, whether it be professionally or spiritually in motherhood.
So naturally, I will say my mom is the first person that comes to mind every time I get a question like this. I had the benefit of being raised in a home where I really got to see God do a lot of cool things. I saw. Got to watch my mom really give her life to the Lord and walk through some spiritual, what she would call warfare, but just walk through, like, nearness to the Lord and watch him really change her life. And in that really changed the life of my dad.
And it's a true benefit just to see. See God actively work in your home. And to this day, my mom is still the person that sharpens me the most. Challenges.
We talk about The Lord. If you meet her for five seconds, she will talk to you about the Lord. Literally, five seconds is all it takes. And so it is. She's awesome. And outside of her, though, just a lot of women within the church that have loved my family. Well, when my husband first became the youth pastor at the church we're at now, we were newly married. I was just starting medical school. We were tiny, young.
Feels like babies.
And there are so many women that really just. We had no family here. Right. His family's in Texas. My family's in northwest Arkansas. We were by ourselves.
And so many women that loved us and took us in, parented us kind of. And I really feel like the church raised me. They. They saw us begin to have children, and they walked me through medical school and training and so, so many. I could not even name them all.
[00:06:33] Speaker A: That's awesome.
So when you think about ministry in your home, you think about ministry as you. You and your husband and your family serve the church ministry on the hospital floor.
What is the Lord teaching you right now in this season of. A lot of different things.
[00:06:56] Speaker C: Yes, I do. You ever feel like God just keeps teaching you the same thing over and over and over again?
This is what constantly what I'm learning right now and always is to keep my eyes on things that are eternal and that I really do not have control of anything.
And it's really freeing to, you know, step into complete trust and just God's sovereignty. I think when you.
As you get older and you walk through ministry and walk alongside people and watch just lives unfold in sometimes unimaginably hard ways.
In my career, I see so many things that are out of our control.
You just really learn that you can trust who God is and who he says he is, and that he is so faithful. And it's really freeing to just live in a way that allows you to fix your eyes on Jesus and know that the rest will be okay. Yeah, he will take care of it. I'm constantly learning that, though, right? Like, I can trust him with my children getting older and entering seasons of more temptations and seasons that are harder. I don't have to be with them 24 hours, seven days a week. Like, I would really like to. He loves them more than I do, you know, so. And with the church as it grows, I mean, truly, everything is like, you just do what God's called you to do, and he will do it.
[00:08:38] Speaker A: So what is he teaching you? You're talking about. How is it? What's the oldest?
[00:08:42] Speaker C: Jude. Jude. Okay.
[00:08:43] Speaker A: Jude as he's getting older and with that comes a little bit of letting go. And so how and what is the Lord teaching you as you as he's preparing you to really and showing you the need to not let go of them, you know, but they're growing up, you know, there's freedom that comes with age.
[00:09:05] Speaker C: Yes, there is freedom that comes with age. And maybe I'm the worst person you will ever interview to ask how to let go. Okay.
No, I'm so bad.
Oh, because you just love them. And he's turning into the coolest, dearest, most precious human being ever. I love his 12 year old self.
But yes, I think just really wanting to let him figure out who he is in Christ is like the best way that I can explain what it's like to let go. Well, is wanting him really to not just be John and Tara's son. You know, I'm so proud of that.
But I really want him to learn who he is in Christ and to be confident in that and to navigate that.
And that requires him figuring out who he is in Christ outside of mom and dad holding his hand to do it, you know, and he's doing it well and just being available and kind of constantly trying to capture his heart and see him where he's at is what I'm trying to do right now. Just really see him where he's at and love him in that.
It is not easy though. Toddler years are so hard. But I've got a 3 year old and a 12 year old right now and I'm like this boo boo is so easy to fix, you guys.
I mean this tantrum, this crying, I can hug and hold and it is done.
12 year old. Oh, it's so much harder. Yeah, it's so different. So much harder for me.
[00:10:45] Speaker B: So different and like just such different seasons. Which kind of brings into the next question of like with obviously 3 year old, 12 year old, hospital job, husband, like church, all those things. What do your daily and weekly rhythms look like with the Lord right now? Like in this season?
[00:11:03] Speaker C: Okay, this is, I already said the mentor question was hard. This question is also hard because I, as you guys know, like right now I don't have notes in front of me. I'm not super scheduled and regimented in my life, which you would think I would need to be to have all of these things going on.
So good luck to me. Every day is kind of how I wake up.
I had a sweet friend over the other day and she said I've been trying to figure out for the last several hours if you are type A or type B. And I cannot figure it out. And I'm like. Because I'm both. I think so. So what are my rhythms?
Morgan, I heard you talk about how you're not a morning person.
Yes. Also not a morning person.
[00:11:55] Speaker A: I love when I meet someone that is not because I feel the pressure to be a morning person, you know.
[00:12:01] Speaker C: And I've had a lady 100%. Every single person out there in the world that looks like they're living a good life is waking up when it's very dark, like the middle of the night. Yes. I don't know how people do it.
[00:12:12] Speaker A: Me either.
[00:12:13] Speaker C: It is not my circadian rhythm. And I'm desperate. I have tried so hard to make that happen for me, but I'm not. So rhythms for me involves staying up late. Like, I always. My time with the Lord is always late at night. I stay up way later than anyone ever should. It's not good for you. Everything tells me it's not.
But really that is something like kind of my natural rhythm is I wake up with my kids, but I'm not getting up before them hardly ever.
And then just lean on the Lord all day. But really spend my time with my husband and then with the Lord at night.
And that just works for me.
Other rhythms, you know, I love the church. The church is our life. Like when your husband leads people.
They're our family.
I hope everyone listening has a church home that is their family, because it truly is.
They are so dear and it is so important to have a family, a body of Christ.
And so a lot of our rhythms are being with them. And just even the. The services throughout the week or just like the check ins, living life with people.
But I have a lot of flexibility. My schedule changes every day, and rhythms are just what the day brings. I have to hold everything very loosely. Yeah, I love that I do.
[00:13:48] Speaker B: And that's like, probably helpful for some people listening because some people, they see that, like, everyone has this like, strict schedule or all these different things, but it's like, okay, hey, like, I kind of have to go with what my day holds. And like, just whatever the Lord has, that's what we're gonna do today.
[00:14:02] Speaker C: It's what we're gonna do today. I mean, sometimes that's coffee with someone or a last minute, like, mom, can you eat lunch with me today? And I'm like, I mean, I think maybe, you know, just whatever it is, whatever God wants, just living every day.
[00:14:17] Speaker B: Half plant, half Type A, half plant.
[00:14:19] Speaker C: Half type A half type B. I love that if you're out there and you are like that, then you're not alone. I do not have a daily schedule, but I want one.
[00:14:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:28] Speaker C: Do you know what I mean?
[00:14:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:30] Speaker C: Like, I may just have to resolve that. It's not gonna happen. Like you have Morgan.
[00:14:34] Speaker A: I just. Yes.
[00:14:35] Speaker C: Just like. It's okay.
[00:14:36] Speaker A: It's okay.
[00:14:37] Speaker C: It's all right.
[00:14:37] Speaker A: A 9 o' clock start times. Great.
[00:14:39] Speaker C: Fine. Yes.
[00:14:41] Speaker A: Not that I don't wake up. I wake up with my kids, you know, but like fully I know that I don't need to schedule anything meaningful before nine, you know, so I can, I can wake up. Yes. And like my, I would say too, my time with the Lord is spent in those mid morning hours, especially because most of the time I'm not in office.
But then at night, when a lot of that time personally, but also together as Luke and I are reading a book together or we are sitting down, sitting down having conversation together or praying together, that's gonna happen in the evening, you know, not when kids are getting ready or we're making lunches, trying to get out the door.
[00:15:20] Speaker C: Yes. And I do think it's important. John and I really prioritize time together.
And the best time for that for us is at night. And it is special. Like, we look forward to just like getting to talk about our day.
[00:15:33] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:15:34] Speaker C: Yeah. You know, what happened today and just hanging out.
[00:15:39] Speaker B: Yeah, that's great. Is there anything that you're currently like reading or listening to that's having an impact on you in this season?
[00:15:45] Speaker C: Yes. I loved this. I love this question.
Right now. I will say in our church we have a women's Bible study and we meet every Wednesday night and we have just got kind of gone through a couple studies back to back that were really kind of looking at the whole story of scripture and just from truly like Genesis to Revelation and just the thread of the awareness of Jesus like in Genesis 1 and just how his. The thread of his life runs through all of scripture and seeing so much context to God's Word. And these studies was really, really good. And I am someone that loved school. I decided to keep going for a long time. And I love learning and I love anything that is very like scientific or intellectual. Like those types of studies I really, really love. So we have just done several of those back to back. And just seeing that no one can make up the Bible, like no person could have written it. It is so validated and it is so true and it Is so accurate, and it is truly brilliant the way that Genesis ties to Revelation, I mean, and all. And every page in between.
And so that has been really huge just for going deeper in the depths. Deeper in the depths of who God is as a creator. And just as God, you know, he loves us, but he is so deep and all knowing, you know, and so lots of studies out there like that, that we have done. So really loved that.
[00:17:34] Speaker A: Okay, so when did you decide that medical. The medical field would be kind of like your.
Your next step, your road, your journey?
[00:17:45] Speaker C: Yes. I. I do not remember a time when I didn't think that I wanted to be a doctor. I can't recall not wanting to be one.
I think, truly, I got to a point in my life where it became pretty clear that I did not have a talent, that I could be in a beauty pageant for. Like, you know, some people are like, I'm like, I cannot sing. I do not dance. I don't play an instrument. Like, Lord, like, what can I do? You know, use your talents, God. You know, you learn. God has given talents and gifts for you to use for him. And I'm like, I have got nothing. And God spoke to my heart, and he has given me a brain that I can figure stuff out. I'm not the smartest person you've ever met. I promise you that. Like, ask my husband. I have to use maps to get anywhere within my own city that I live in. Okay.
I don't know how to do directions, but I can learn stuff. And so I really just feel like that God made it clear that the brain he had given me to learn was the talent he had given me and wanted me to use and just grew a love for the knowledge of helping. Helping to care for people in medical situations.
And it has been really cool to see how God has used it more in my life than even just when I'm the doctor for the patient. Like, it goes so far beyond ministry in that way for me. He uses it every day, even if I'm not at work. Just the ability to use my knowledge for him in that way. And so for as long as I can remember, I guess just this is the talent. I. I remember crying in medical school. It was really hard. And I was like, me and John, I didn't have my mama and have anybody. And it was hard, and I was tired, and I was like, I can't do this. And I was like, I think I'm. I don't know if this is really what God wants. I just don't know, And John kind of helped walk me through that in his gentle way. And really, God was just like, this is a talent I've given you. And now it's what brought us to central Arkansas. Me coming to med school.
[00:20:19] Speaker A: I didn't know this.
[00:20:20] Speaker C: Yes. That's literally how we came to central Arkansas.
[00:20:24] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:20:25] Speaker C: I never heard of Bryant. You know, truly, I never heard of Bryant. My husband's from Texas. He'd never heard of Brian. He barely knew, you know, that he had ever been to Arkansas or to come to Arkansas. And so seeing that God used that to get us here and then see what God has done through John as the pastor of this church has been like, wow, Lord, I had no clue that it was for so much more than for me to do this job. Like, truly beyond.
Beyond anything I could have imagined.
[00:21:00] Speaker A: That's amazing.
So how would you say that you're able to share your faith and how is your job, really? Because you see a lot of stuff in that field and you're with a lot of different families and children in the nicu. How has it strengthened your faith?
[00:21:18] Speaker C: Yes, I think, again, just knowing God is good and his ways are higher, and when you see families walk through really impossibly hard situations, or when you watch your co workers have to, you know, make really impossible decisions, you just learn that there has to be more than this. You know, there just. There has to be more than what meets the eye.
And God is always present to reveal that and just to give an assurance that though so many things about this side of heaven are broken, and though there are so many tears here, and though there is so much heartbreak, there is not with him. And heaven redeems all of it. There is nothing that will not be made new and nothing that will not be made whole.
And the confidence that you gain and just knowing that only God can do that. You know, the Bible says he brings beauty from ashes and he turns mourning into dancing.
And only God can do that. I cannot do that. I cannot do that. You cannot. You find out really quick you cannot do that.
Only God can do that. And so just a grounding of confidence in Him, I think, is really what I'm able to gain. Just God can do this even when I cannot.
[00:22:55] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think, like, obviously you have your ministry at your job and like, you're the Lord's, like, using you in those spaces, but then also at the church, but then your home, and like, your home is one of the more most important place too, that you're discipling your kids and watching them grow and love the church and all that. So how in this season are you and your husband, or even just you specifically, if you want to take it that way, how are you teaching your kids, like, biblical priorities, while also you are a doctor and you are helping your husband at church and all, and you're also being a friend and a daughter and all those things. So what is that looking like?
[00:23:31] Speaker C: Yes, I think just every day we just love God and love other people and try not. It's not really that complex as far as all of these processes or habits. It's more just like this is how we live and this is who we are. And so for us, that looks like, you know, our kids. We spend time helping them know the word and conver. Every conversation you have with your children can point them back to Jesus. Like, this is the thread of this helm, you know, this is the foundation on which we stand. This is who you are.
This is who we are. And so we do, you know, we do things like review, you know, try to learn Bible verses together as a family, and we always pray together and we are always going to be at church and these things that are natural for a pastor family, you know, that. That we're going to do those things and our kids are going to see that. But I think just in from the day to day, just really living life with your kids and showing them that this is just how you love God and love other people and you consider others as more important than yourself. So we have a lot of intentional conversations all the time. I don't know if my kids would say we talk too much. They probably would.
[00:24:56] Speaker A: This is so good. And what you're saying, because I love it because some of just. They are not my actual friends, but they feel like friends. Adam and Chelsea Griffin and Cassie Bryant that lead the Family Discipleship podcast, he talks about that. Oftentimes families just see the weight of discipleship, so they do nothing with it.
It's just so much pressure that they feel that to do it. Oftentimes they don't even know where to start. But just this small, the way that you say, it's not a complex thing, it's just that you're living life with them and they're teaching them to love God and to love others.
And every day that looks different in the way you flesh that out and the conversations that you have. And so I love that there's not. Now they've written books about it, you know, and they're. I'm sure if you go on Google you can find some kind of. Someone's made some handbook for it, but really it is just the simplicity of loving God, modeling that for them, and then loving others.
[00:25:52] Speaker C: Yeah. And it can start so young. I mean, just the truths of scripture, you know, just writing God's word on their heart, and just your conversation that they may not even know that you're saying, hey, when. When you go to school, whatever you do out there, do it for the glory of God, not for anybody else. You know, be kind to your friends or look for those people who may not have a seat at the table and you be the one to show them the love of Jesus and modeling that. I think it's so important. My kids.
You guys. You don't have kids yet. Hannah, this is your first. This is my first.
Very, very pregnant.
It's so fun. But they really hear what you say. But they do what you do, and you see that when you're watching them. And sometimes for worse, you see what you do sometimes. And sometimes for better, you see what you do.
They just. They want to imitate what is good and what is right, and they have to see you do it. And I will tell you one thing we're really good at discipling our kids in is asking for forgiveness and confession. Because no one's perfect.
And I love my kids, and I want to be. I want to be the person that they come to and that they know shows them Jesus so fully.
My flesh does not do that perfectly every day.
And I want them also to know what it looks like to model confession. We talk a lot about confession in our home, that you can confess to. To God and to us. Whatever you do, there is grace and forgiveness available.
And we do that a lot. Even when we, you know, lose our temper or elevate our voice or forget something that was important to them. I'm so sorry. Mom forgot that that was really important.
Will you forgive me, you know, for forgetting that? So just the daily pointing to. I just want them to live from sun up to son down for the Lord. Yeah.
[00:27:59] Speaker B: And I think that's like Morgan was saying. Like, it's just like, it's such a simple thing. That is so vital, though. And, like, I think we can overcomplicate just discipleship in general, like, between. Like peer to peer or whatever. But I think that's helpful for people if they're like, okay, I don't even know where to start. Like, okay, just teach them what you're learning and, like, how to love God and how to love other people, which I think is really cool kind of going off of that a little bit. Like, how do you feel like you've learned how to balance motherhood, ministry, being a full time doctor and like even before when you were like probably in med school and stuff like that, and you have kids ranging from 3 to 12. So how do you feel like you've learned how to balance that or are still learning how to balance that?
[00:28:41] Speaker C: Yes, I think medical school was a huge spiritual growth season for me personally. And it took everything that I thought I was in control of and just like disintegrated it right in front of me just because it required more of me than I thought that it would. And God was so kind and so gracious to teach me that Matthew 6:33 is really true, that seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all of these things will be added unto you, whatever God has for you, all provision, all plans, all things he will do.
And there's so many verses that became just true, like mantras for me. And that was one. And there was a specific time. I remember when John first became the youth pastor.
I was raised like, I'm here to do ministry with my husband and that was really important to me. And there were moments where I was like, God, I don't know how these two things are going to coexist, how I'm going to have to give so much time to this in my life, but also still be available to do ministry fully with my husband. And there was one particular weekend when my husband was a youth pastor. Reality weekend. We don't call it that anymore. Do you remember that?
[00:30:09] Speaker A: Oh, yes, I remember that. It's now it was Unite Conference, but I think it's actually under a name change again maybe.
[00:30:15] Speaker C: Okay, well, I had a big test the Monday of that week and I was like, I'm not going to go, honey, I cannot do this. But of course it's like a huge weekend in ministry for a youth pastor. And I'm like, no, I'm going to go. No, I'm not going to go. And so I just, I had such a vivid memory of just like getting on my knees on my couch and being like, God, I am going to choose this ministry. And I'm terrified to not study 13 hours on Saturday and Sunday. Like, I'm so scared of that. But will you just help me trust you and will you just show me that I can really put you where you're supposed to be and that you can do this for me? You know, and God could have Done whatever he wanted to with that prayer. So I did the whole weekend. I didn't sleep a wink because I stay with the middle school girls who for my whole life at that point, we didn't have kids. They were my babies. I loved them so much.
And I took that test on Monday, and to this day, it's the highest grade I got on any test in medical school. And I just. You can, like, look at your score immediately after you submit your test, or you can wait. And I looked at it immediately, and all my classmates are, like, trying to test, and I'm, like, crying because God was just so kind to just be like, I will do. There's a verse in Psalms that says, commit your way to the Lord. Trust in him, and he will act or he will do it. And so it was a huge turning point for me. And I just commit my way to the Lord, trust in him and let him do it. So in kind of balancing everything, I seek God first, like, he is first. And our church and ministry with my husband and our home. I pour my. I pour my heart into what it looks like to be a Proverbs 31, wife and mom.
And my job is such a small part of that, truly. Like, this is where Paul says, I am what I am by the grace of God, and His grace did not prove to be in vain. And that's what I pray like, Lord, I will go where you want me to go, do what you want me to do, be who you want me to be, and I will put my kids. School says, put first things first, and you are first. And this family you've given me is first. And being a wife is first. And the way that God has done that and has been true to His Word in my life is more than I can say, like you really can.
If you're out there and you've got a million things to juggle. Like, you really can trust that if you put God first, He will do it. I don't know. Magnify your time. Make one hour of studying be like four hours. I don't know how he does it, but he really will do it. And so I balance it just by putting God first and everything else just sort of happens. And I also say. Let me say this. I also say that in life, when you're juggling a lot, this is what I tell people in training.
There are. I imagine them like you're juggling balls, you know, and some balls are glass and some balls are rubber, and you just can't drop the glass ones.
The Rubber ones can drop and they'll bounce back up and it'll be fine. Maybe they'll dent a little bit, but, like, it's going to be okay. And you don't need to beat yourself up for the fact that, like, you didn't text someone back when they texted you yesterday or something. I'm so bad about that. But I will not let a glass ball drop. You know, all the rubber ones will drop, but if it's something that, like, is for the Lord or for ministry, it's not gonna drop. I'm gonna catch it and then I just. Don't sweat the ones that drop because they'll be fine.
[00:34:13] Speaker A: Oh, that's so good. Well, you're talking about juggling a lot. So as we close today, how would you encourage listeners as they are active in their home, as they are active in their church, not out of obligation, but just as a true delight to, like you said, commit their way to the Lord, you know, and he. He promises to act, you know, he promises to. To show up. And so how would you encourage them?
What can we leave them with?
[00:34:42] Speaker C: Okay, yes. I think just an assurance that God's plan, plans for you and God's plans for your life are not based on you a little bit, you know, that you.
God is so good to us. He is so big and he is so good. And he loves us so much more than I can imagine. He loves all of you listening so much more than you can imagine. And he never fails. I tell myself that all the time. God never fails. He cannot.
There is a verse that says, when we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny Himself.
He is good in spite of me and he is good for me. And so a true, just commitment to seeking God first knowing His Word, you know, that's how he sanctifies us. Like His Word says, sanctify them in truth. Your Word is truth. So just a commitment to God and His Word will change your life. It really will. It'll change everything about your life.
And find people, Find people that sharpen. You find people that tell you the truth about God. And I think a great way to do that is to find a church home. And it's scary. Have you guys ever visited a church like I know?
[00:36:11] Speaker A: Oh, yes, yes, yes.
[00:36:13] Speaker C: I have been a pastor's wife for a long time and church is not super scary for me anymore because it's like literally where my home is, basically.
But I have visited, being out of town. I remember not too long ago, I was out of town with my Kids.
And it was. For a thing, John was going back to preach and we were staying in this. This town. And I was like, we're going to find a local church here and we're going to go join them for churches Sunday. Yeah, this would be fun. I can go. I mean, like, literally. Church is so easy for me. Right?
[00:36:44] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:36:45] Speaker C: And I'm walking in, me and four children, like, by myself, you know, and we're walking into a church where not a soul has ever seen our faces or know who we are.
And it was so scary.
And I couldn't find a seat, a place big enough to sit all of us.
And when I tried to find one, those seats were being saved. So that was kind of difficult because then I had to keep looking and.
But I was there and it was good. But I had this profound moment sitting there of this is what it feels like for a lot of people when they're walking in for the first time or maybe the fifth time, but they just haven't felt seen yet.
And so keep going, keep going.
And for those of you that have been going for a long time, keep going, but keep seeing people, you know, look for the new face.
And you serve God in the church that you're in. You serve God in the home that you're in.
You serve God in the relationships that you're in, the motherhood that you're in.
And the way that we serve God is by living like Jesus did and obeying and seeing. Jesus saw everyone.
[00:38:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:38:02] Speaker C: You know, he saw everyone. He sees you. And so that's what. Yeah, just keep.
Keep seeking him and keep seeing.
That's what I'd say, I guess. I don't know. Did that even answer your question?
[00:38:14] Speaker A: Yes, that answered. Yeah. Actually in more.
[00:38:17] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:38:18] Speaker A: That's what he does. He multiplies our thoughts and our words, and it just becomes just.
I mean, this whole. As we sat down and talked to you, I have just been so encouraged. Just in seasons of life, that can feel like you juggle a lot, you know, and just oftentimes just our confidence and our trust has got to be in Christ, you know, that he does carry the work, you know, as we show up each day to faithfully steward it, you know, to make that plan. And so. Okay, listeners, we are going to wrap this up. Tara, thank you so much.
[00:38:49] Speaker C: Yeah, thank you guys so much. I really.
[00:38:52] Speaker A: Yes, Hannah and I.
It's just a blessing getting to be able to do this. It's so fun. Okay, listeners, we are just praying for you as you find yourselves in just waiting on the Lord, as you are serving in your church, as you are just faithfully walking with him present in your calling, we are cheering you on and we love you.
