1 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:08,000 Anxiety is not necessarily as a result of some sort of 2 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:12,360 particular hardship. It is just a lot for me was how 3 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:14,840 I was processing things and ultimately what I was 4 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:17,400 identifying with. And I will say to you, I think a 5 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,600 big part of this is the Lord was using that anxiety right? 6 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:24,120 Need to stir up a bunch of stuff that I needed to deal with. 7 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:29,320 Well, hey everyone, and welcome back to the Grace Church 8 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:32,000 Podcast. I'm your host, Whitney and 9 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:34,720 Scotts here too on this rainy Thursday morning. 10 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:37,000 Scott, good to see you. Hey, good morning, Whitney. 11 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:41,040 Good morning. And a goal for this podcast is 12 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:45,760 just life is happening to all of us and God just uses that to 13 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:48,600 transform us. So we want to translate some of 14 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:52,240 the biblical principles that we talk about on a regular basis 15 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:55,720 and show how they have real life application. 16 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:59,760 So we have someone in the studio today who will just give an 17 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:02,720 example of what God has been doing in their life. 18 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:06,600 Not that he has mastered it by any sense in the process is 19 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:09,480 still ongoing, but there's just something special that happens 20 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:13,120 when we share stories of what God is doing in our lives. 21 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:17,800 So our guest today is Tom Price from our Harrison Bridge campus. 22 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:19,640 Welcome, Tom. Thank you. 23 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:21,640 I'm glad to be here. Yeah, we're glad to have you. 24 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:24,120 And go ahead. Just tell us a little bit about 25 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:26,680 yourself, how long you guys have been at Grace. 26 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:31,000 Family, job, serving roles, any hobbies you got, just all the 27 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:32,040 things. All the fun stuff. 28 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:33,720 All the fun stuff. Yeah. 29 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:37,440 So we, my wife Stacey and I have been married for 25 years. 30 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:43,600 We have been at HB since 2014. We were OG Younce Center folks. 31 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,400 So I feel like we've kind of grown up with HB. 32 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:49,200 We've been fortunate to be there this whole time and. 33 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:51,600 If people don't know younce center was the. 34 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:55,040 First, the first place that we met, yeah, HB met when we were 35 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:57,800 still called Golden Strip, yeah. At downtown Fountain Inn, right? 36 00:01:57,800 --> 00:01:58,600 That's right. Yeah, that's right. 37 00:01:58,640 --> 00:01:59,680 Yeah. So which? 38 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:01,920 That is our G. That is, and a lot of people 39 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:03,880 don't know that we that our building actually is in Fountain 40 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:04,240 Inn. Now. 41 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:05,880 We feel like we're in Simpsonville, but we are as 42 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:09,080 Fountain Inn. So a large part of who we are 43 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:12,400 and our family identity is because of our membership at HB. 44 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:15,600 And so we just have enjoyed the blessing of growing up at that 45 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:18,360 campus. We've got three boys, our oldest 46 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:19,720 2. Sam and Jack are students at 47 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:21,680 Clemson. Sam's going to graduate this 48 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,400 year in May and Jack is continuing to matriculate well 49 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:27,560 there. He's in living his best life. 50 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:30,560 And then there's a five year gap and we got Charlie at home. 51 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:33,320 So we're in the college life and the middle school life every 52 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:36,280 day, which is a super challenging, but it keeps us 53 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:38,800 young. Stacy and I both serve at HB. 54 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:42,360 Stacy's in the worship band and has been has sung there for a 55 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:45,200 long time. I have done a number of 56 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:49,080 different things in, you know, at the campus, but currently I'm 57 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,000 serve as a forge coach, which I really enjoy. 58 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:55,280 I've enjoyed serving in student ministry a lot. 59 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:57,920 I think Holden asked me to do that just cause I've got Gray in 60 00:02:57,920 --> 00:02:59,760 my beard. But whatever you know, it's. 61 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,000 The coaching aspect means you're overseeing other leaders, is 62 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:05,120 that right? Yeah, I have kind of oversight 63 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:07,800 for right now. I have oversight for 9th and 64 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,840 12th grade leaders. And so I kind of pursue them, 65 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:13,680 but then also pursue the students at the same time, which 66 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:16,640 is just an amazing life giving kind of service that I'm able to 67 00:03:16,640 --> 00:03:18,200 do. And I really, really enjoy that. 68 00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:21,480 And then most recently when we stood up our Mosaic student 69 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:24,960 adult worship service, I've been on the teaching team for that. 70 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:30,320 And it's amazing teaching, you know, a group of a room full of 71 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,160 students and, and adults that have special needs. 72 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:36,520 It creates a new challenge. But I've really enjoyed that 73 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:38,080 teaching. So it's been a lot of fun. 74 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:42,360 So the past year for you, just some change that have come and 75 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:45,440 just really that God has been shaping you've been forming you 76 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,080 through that. So I mean, the question is just 77 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:50,920 what has God been teaching you recently in this past year? 78 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,560 Yeah, so as I mentioned just a minute ago, job journey has been 79 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:58,040 an interesting, you know, part of what God has been teaching me 80 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:00,320 over the last year. But I spent 21 1/2 years with 81 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:04,080 PepsiCo Food Service, which for those of you who don't know, 82 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:08,360 it's all the good stuff, Frito Lay, Doritos, Cheetos, Tostitos, 83 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:12,080 all the fun stuff. And we would sell those products 84 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:14,200 through a distribution network to a bunch of different 85 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:18,200 operators, hospitals, KT 12, college, university, all that 86 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:20,120 stuff. And so really, I kind of grew up 87 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:22,440 in the food service industry, food service sales, and I did 88 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:27,160 that for, for a number of years. And it, it was a great company 89 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:28,840 to work for for a very long time. 90 00:04:28,840 --> 00:04:32,520 I mean, everything I know about sales and everything that I am 91 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:34,400 as a sales professional is because of my journey at 92 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:37,240 PepsiCo. And I can truly say that with 93 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:38,920 confidence. And, and that is absolutely 94 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:40,600 true. But of course, anytime you work 95 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:43,000 for a very large company, there's always ups and downs. 96 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:46,760 And we would always joke that it's, you know, you get to about 97 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,400 two years or three years and it's about time for a reorg. 98 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:54,440 So for those of us who work in the corporate world, that 99 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:56,240 probably resonates with a lot of folks. 100 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:58,480 But so about every two and a half, three years, we just knew 101 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:00,600 as some sort of org structure change was going to come. 102 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:02,920 And, and usually with those come some kind of layoff. 103 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:06,600 I was fortunate to not be laid off throughout the years, but I 104 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:09,080 was affected nearly every, you know, reorg. 105 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:10,560 I had some kind of structural change. 106 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,560 So in, in February of last year, we, we kind of knew that 107 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:17,480 something was coming. And so then in February of last 108 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,080 year, we had the largest structural reorg that I'd ever 109 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:23,280 been through. I actually lost my director, my 110 00:05:23,280 --> 00:05:26,160 director who'd been with the company for 35 years, lost some 111 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:30,320 long term team members of mine that were very close and, and 112 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:32,360 that I worked for a long time with. 113 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:35,800 And it really just honestly, it just kind of started to make me 114 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:38,520 kind of question a lot about what the future held for me 115 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,080 because I started to see the organization change. 116 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:43,480 I started to see just sort of the direction of the 117 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:47,000 organization change, honestly to to just be a lot younger. 118 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:50,720 And that caused me to start to kind of really question what is 119 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:52,520 my future really look like here at PepsiCo. 120 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:57,920 And honestly, it's, it put me into this huge journey of 121 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:01,560 questioning sort of where I was professionally, which just 122 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:06,360 created a ton of anxiety for me and anxiety that I had never 123 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,120 really dealt with before on that, on that level and that 124 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:12,120 stage. And so that's really what began 125 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:15,560 this whole process for me that I went through over the last year. 126 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:17,760 Right. So let me let me just recap and 127 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:19,680 set the stage here. So you start joining this 128 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:23,200 company in your late 20s? That's right. 129 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:27,120 You work for two decades. Yeah, over 2 decades. 130 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,240 Over 2 decades, go through all these different transitions, 131 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:34,120 reorgs, resettle yourself into new teams and new job 132 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:36,640 responsibilities and travel more, travel less, all that kind 133 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:38,960 of stuff. And then you see the company 134 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:40,240 getting younger. That's right. 135 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:43,800 Looking at guys like you 20 years ago when you came in. 136 00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:44,600 That's right. Yeah. 137 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:47,760 Yeah. So I mean, I think for anybody 138 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:50,240 who's listening, who's probably over the age of 40, like this is 139 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:53,760 really resonating. So the the anxious thoughts like 140 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:57,120 what what is the, what is the voice behind those anxious 141 00:06:57,120 --> 00:06:57,840 thoughts? What are? 142 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:02,640 Describe what that sounds like in your head as you see this 143 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:08,040 potential end coming. It is are you relevant anymore? 144 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:12,640 Do you have good skill set to continue to, you know, add value 145 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:16,680 to this organization? Are you able to keep up? 146 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:19,280 You know, are you, is your energy level where it needs to 147 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:23,880 be to be able to stay on trend? Am I able to be flexible? 148 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:26,640 You know, mental flexibility and kind of my mindset around 149 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:29,600 working kind of really became into question for me a lot. 150 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:35,400 And just honestly, do I do I add value anymore and am I able and 151 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:37,520 this is, is this the right place for me anymore? 152 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:41,240 And so all of that, coupled with how long I'd been there, just 153 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:43,720 created a ton of unsurety and anxiety for me. 154 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:45,560 Yeah. So those are kind of like 155 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:47,960 surfacey questions in the beginning, right? 156 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:50,680 But then when you they're all tethered to something much 157 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:53,800 deeper, and then when you start to compound those thoughts, tell 158 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:58,560 us about how those thoughts began to to spiral maybe from 159 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:02,200 some good diagnostic questions into some real unhealthy 160 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:06,520 patterns of, of stress. Yeah, I mean, I, I got to the 161 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:10,160 point where, you know, on on Sundays, Sunday evenings, I 162 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:12,120 would start to have the pit in my stomach kind of Sunday 163 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:17,000 scary's kind of which is just weird, you know, as a 49 year 164 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:19,840 old man to be scared about going to work on Monday, you know, 165 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:22,640 like I shouldn't be there. Which I think is interesting 166 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:25,320 because when we think about anxiety, more often than not 167 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:27,400 it's the connotation of the younger generation. 168 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:30,520 And like, man, those kids are just always anxious and I don't. 169 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:31,920 Know what they have to be anxious about. 170 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:34,000 Kind of deal is right. They haven't done anything. 171 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:36,360 So yeah, it's interesting that you're kind of finding yourself 172 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:39,159 in this for the first time. Almost 50, yeah. 173 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:42,120 Yeah, and you make a good point because I to be honest, I always 174 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:46,800 sort of discounted anxiety in a certain way, you know, when 175 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:49,560 people would talk about anxious thoughts and anxiety. 176 00:08:49,560 --> 00:08:51,520 And I was like, I mean, really what, what do you have to be 177 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:53,320 anxious about? Sort of you know, and that's and 178 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:56,880 now I'm starting to realize that anxiety is not necessarily as a 179 00:08:56,880 --> 00:08:59,920 result of some sort of particular hardship. 180 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:04,200 It is just a lot for me was how I was processing things and and 181 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:05,920 ultimately what I was identifying with. 182 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:09,600 And I will say too, I think a big part of this is the Lord was 183 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:13,680 using that anxiety in me to stir up a bunch of stuff that I 184 00:09:13,680 --> 00:09:16,640 needed to deal with. So at first, you're right, 185 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:20,080 Scott, I was, I was asking all these sort of diagnostic 186 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:22,880 questions of myself, but ultimately what the Lord was 187 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:25,360 really trying to get at is what He needed to work on within my 188 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:28,360 heart and within my soul. Yeah, can we go back to the 189 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:30,360 Sunday scary? I don't want to go back to the 190 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:30,840 Sunday. Right. 191 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:33,320 That's right, metaphorically. Scott. 192 00:09:33,680 --> 00:09:37,360 The body talks to us before we realize what's happening. 193 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:40,080 Yeah, before our mind catches up because our mind is already 194 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:41,480 stuck and scrambled a little bit. 195 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:45,200 And our soul, we're, we're, we're trying to make sense of 196 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:50,600 our emotions, our thoughts, but then you can't hide the physical 197 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:51,280 stuff, right? That's right. 198 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:53,360 And so there's some woman, there's some man right now 199 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,280 listening, driving in their car and they're having some of these 200 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:58,920 physical symptoms and they don't know what's wrong with them, 201 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:00,280 right? I mean, this is not 202 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:03,640 prescriptive, right? This is descriptive, but just 203 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:06,520 like just tell us like what, what did that feel like? 204 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:11,560 So someone because it's almost like the a diagnostic sign on 205 00:10:11,560 --> 00:10:12,880 your cargo. Yeah, like a check engine. 206 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:14,520 Light, a check engine light. Yeah, constant check light. 207 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:16,360 So what did, what did that feel like for you? 208 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:18,320 What was those? What was some of those physical 209 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:20,400 symptoms? My, my heart would flutter. 210 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:25,080 I, I, I lost, I lost appetite, you know, lost weight last year 211 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,200 that I didn't intend to lose, you know, had plenty to lose, 212 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:30,720 but, you know, didn't really feel like sort of eating. 213 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:33,480 I didn't feel like exercising, didn't want to be outside much. 214 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:36,720 My wife is amazing and she gets her three miles in every day, 215 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:38,280 you know, and she'd be like, Hey, you need to come walk with 216 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:39,320 me. And I'm like, no, I'm good. 217 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:42,640 I need to just sit here at my computer for, you know, for some 218 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:44,880 reason I felt trapped in many ways. 219 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:47,160 I described that to Stacy many times where I just felt like I 220 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:51,800 was like, if I don't sit here at my computer and sort of be ready 221 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:54,320 for whatever is coming my way, then somehow I'm going to miss 222 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:56,480 out on something or not do what I'm supposed to do. 223 00:10:56,520 --> 00:10:58,920 You know, in the reality, that wasn't what I should have been 224 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:00,400 doing, right? I should have been moving. 225 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:02,760 I should have been doing things. I should have been having 226 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:05,680 conversations and questioning things and communicating. 227 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:08,680 And I and I didn't real well. Instead, I sort of internalized 228 00:11:08,680 --> 00:11:10,440 all of that. There was a good amount of 229 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:12,200 physical manifestation of that wasn't sleeping. 230 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:13,960 Well, I'm still still struggling with sleep. 231 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:15,480 Yeah. You know, just worried about 232 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:17,440 going to sleep at night, turning it all off. 233 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:19,640 Yeah. And and worrying about that 234 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:20,880 overnight. And then what else is? 235 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:22,520 What else were you feeling in the time? 236 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:25,560 I was starting to wonder about my skill set. 237 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:28,920 You start to go into this immediate sort of like imposter 238 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:32,560 mode kind of syndrome. Like, wow, why am I feeling like 239 00:11:32,560 --> 00:11:34,240 I don't know what I'm doing all of a sudden? 240 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:38,000 I had been a people leader for four years and all of a sudden I 241 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:40,000 was questioning whether or not I was a good people leader 242 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:43,240 anymore, you know, because I wasn't able to bear up under 243 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:46,120 this new pressure, sort of this new standard of things. 244 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:49,880 And frankly, I I just was, I was just a ball of nerves all the 245 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:53,120 time about all of that. So my, in my experience, when 246 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:57,040 someone's experiencing this type of chronic stress is, is another 247 00:11:57,040 --> 00:12:00,920 way that I like to think about this type of anxiety, you tend 248 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:04,120 to go one or two directions. You tend to either blame other 249 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:07,040 folks, right? So it's their fault, 250 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:09,360 organization, that kind of thing. 251 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:16,080 Or you can really turn it inward and absorb a lot of that, which 252 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:20,160 becomes like some some shame and some guilt and some mistrust of 253 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:23,640 self and can really begin. So either way, like I'm either 254 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:26,080 thinking or saying bad things about others or thinking and 255 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:27,560 saying really bad things about myself. 256 00:12:27,560 --> 00:12:29,240 They're just not coming out right. 257 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:32,080 Which way would you go? I definitely was more inward. 258 00:12:32,680 --> 00:12:36,120 I mean, my wife would probably would be able to answer this 259 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:39,440 question better, you know, because she bore the the brunt 260 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:42,440 of of a lot of my sort of daily in and out pick me up off of the 261 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:44,480 floor, kind of like, Hey, you need to go back to work 262 00:12:44,680 --> 00:12:46,520 conversations. I mean, she was super gracious 263 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:47,960 and all that. Obviously if it weren't for her, 264 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:49,280 I wouldn't be where I am today, obviously. 265 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:53,080 But you know, everything about this journey for me was was 266 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:56,600 inward thinking and questioning and wondering whether or not I 267 00:12:56,600 --> 00:13:00,080 was up to the task and who was I really, you know, about all 268 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:01,720 this. I really sort of felt like the 269 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:05,240 Lord used my job opportunity last year to sort of RIP open my 270 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:07,800 soul and kind of figure out who is Tom really and what is he 271 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:08,880 really made of. Yeah. 272 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:12,160 So what does the faith component then look like? 273 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:17,480 Because it's it's not people like to think, OK, well, this is 274 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:20,760 this is a work issue and then I've got my spiritual life over 275 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:23,120 here. But obviously we're seeing that 276 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:25,720 that's not the way God intended. We're holistic people. 277 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:30,800 But in the midst of this funk, right where you feel stuck, I 278 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:32,760 mean, I think that's how a lot of people, absolutely, I just 279 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:36,360 feel stuck, yes. So how did you begin to work 280 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:43,000 through how you think about God in the midst of what has been 281 00:13:43,680 --> 00:13:46,280 relatively routine for. 20 years, right? 282 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:50,960 Well, as the Lord does, he was orchestrating all things 283 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:53,120 together for his good and my good. 284 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:55,640 And so that's when we were going through the Exodus series. 285 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:59,280 And so every week it was just like pounding me over the head 286 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:04,080 with sort of this idea of the way that God uses difficult 287 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:08,800 situations to refine his people. And so I'll never forget Matt 288 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:11,960 was preaching him Exodus 5 and 6, and he was talking about how 289 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:16,000 when Moses had gone back again to ask for Pharaoh to release 290 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:19,280 his people, and Pharaoh said, not only no, but I'm going to 291 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:21,640 make it more difficult. I'm going to remove the straw 292 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:23,800 and increase the number of bricks that you have to make. 293 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:25,480 And then the Israelites were going, man, what's going on? 294 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:27,360 Like, wait a second, wait a minute. 295 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:28,800 This is not how this is supposed to go. 296 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:32,320 And he described that process as sort of the squeeze. 297 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:35,800 And that was just so immediately relatable to me in that moment 298 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:38,320 because that's what I was in. I was in the squeeze. 299 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:42,280 And the Lord was using the squeeze to sort of help me 300 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:47,760 figure out what I who I was and what I was doing and how I was 301 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:51,040 growing. And so through that process, 302 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:55,480 that's when I really started to turn into my community. 303 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:58,720 Thankfully, I already had a really good group of men that I 304 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:03,120 could lean on, but through conversations with real key men 305 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:07,480 at our campus, I was able to really kind of dig into what was 306 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:10,720 actually happening through through the squeeze For me, men 307 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:15,160 like Scott Crawford, Jonathan Pitts, Jody Nixon, Rob Powell, 308 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:18,240 Kevin Jones, these kind of men that are willing to ask hard 309 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:22,800 questions and willing to give time to listen, but also be able 310 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:25,560 to identify at the same time because they've all been there 311 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:30,000 feelings of anxiety, the feelings of inadequacy, but also 312 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:32,400 at the same time asking like, So what does that mean for you? 313 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:34,320 Like if you feel inadequate, OK, So what is that? 314 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:35,200 What are you going to do with that? 315 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:37,560 I was just super grateful through that whole process. 316 00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:41,600 And so for me, just this, just this idea of community stepping 317 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:43,520 in at the time when I really needed it, that's what happened 318 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:45,920 for me last year. Yeah, but it wasn't like you 319 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:49,040 didn't have community. And I think that's, I don't want 320 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:51,760 people to miss here. Oh, life got hard. 321 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:53,400 So Tom went and found some people. 322 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:55,200 Yeah. And it wasn't like you were 323 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:56,920 doing anything, quote, UN quote wrong. 324 00:15:57,160 --> 00:15:59,160 Right. Like you had men in your life, 325 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:04,240 but now you're in a different stage of spiritual growth and 326 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:07,200 development. So you just need a different set 327 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:10,400 of questions to be asked of you and you need a different set of 328 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:13,480 conversations, right? Is that that fair to say? 329 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:15,560 That is fair to say. And I would say to just to your 330 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:18,840 point, we were already big believers and we bought, we, I 331 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:20,600 mean, we bought in from community from the date, from 332 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:21,240 day one. Yeah. 333 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:24,480 You know, so I was already a big believer in community. 334 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:26,880 And so for me, what I guess the point I really want to make is 335 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:30,320 that in a situation like this where I was dealing with anxiety 336 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:32,440 and just pressure that I've never dealt with before, it was 337 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:34,880 at that time when I really began to realize how important 338 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:36,400 community really was for me. Right. 339 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:39,200 And to your point, Scott, talking about turning inward, 340 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:41,000 there's a piece of you that does do that. 341 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:43,960 It's like, I want to go hide. I don't want to share this. 342 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:46,800 Maybe there's some shame attached to it, but then you 343 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:50,760 also make a conscious choice of I have to just be honest and I 344 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:55,680 have to like surrender whatever my thing is and let these guys 345 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:57,240 fully see me. That's right. 346 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:00,360 And have access to all of these parts of myself. 347 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:02,200 And I don't really want to bring to the service. 348 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:05,400 And so it's one thing to have community, but it's another 349 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:09,160 thing to allow your community to be effective in that hard 350 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:10,520 moment. Like that is what they're there 351 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:12,400 for. But there's a choice on your 352 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:14,040 part required to take advantage of that. 353 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:16,920 That's exactly right. I'd be remiss if I didn't say 354 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:18,720 that as men, we don't do that real well. 355 00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:22,480 You know, I think just generally speaking, men, you know, we sort 356 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:24,800 of believe in kind of doing the hard work and we'll show up, 357 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:26,800 just tell me what I need to do and I'll show up and do it, You 358 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:30,280 know, versus like being willing to say, I'm not really sure what 359 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:33,720 I'm supposed to do here, you know, And so I just need to have 360 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,160 a real honest conversation with some other men in my life that I 361 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:39,720 trust and, and sort of just offload this on them. 362 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:42,920 And then and then say, let me think about this. 363 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,080 Let me pray about this and let me think about some questions 364 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:48,360 that I can ask you to sort of circle back and sort of get to 365 00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:49,760 walk that journey with us because. 366 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:52,840 I was going to ask you, what does the pivot look like to, to 367 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:57,640 getting to getting healthy? I mean, it's not just quit a 368 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:01,520 job, take a new job, because the, the job is just the portal 369 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:05,080 by which God is saying, Hey, let's get in here and let's, 370 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:07,920 let's answer these questions. Who, who are you really? 371 00:18:08,360 --> 00:18:10,480 So when you pivot, you ask for help. 372 00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:14,680 Is that 6 month process? Is that an ongoing process? 373 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:18,200 Like, what's that been like for you since let's say the take us 374 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:20,880 from like the Exodus series last summer till now? 375 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:24,080 Yeah, last year was the first year that I ever took advantage 376 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:26,360 of my employee assistance program and actually talked to a 377 00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:28,400 a licensed counselor. Good for you. 378 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:32,720 And you know, it's it. I never had a problem at all 379 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:34,120 with people that went to counseling. 380 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,240 I mean, you know, counseling was a big part of my family growing 381 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:40,440 up, so I didn't have any kind of stigma around counseling. 382 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:44,160 But I actually took the chance and took the step and, and met 383 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:47,960 with, met with a counselor. And again, as God's timing, it 384 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:51,440 was an elderly gentleman named Tom from Wilmington, NC. 385 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:55,520 And, and he was, you know, just exactly the right person that I 386 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:59,320 needed when I needed him. I sort of approached it with him 387 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:01,640 of here's all my stuff. I just sort of vomited all my 388 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:03,880 things in front of him and said, this is where I'm feeling. 389 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:06,440 I feel like a fraud. I feel like I'm all the sudden I 390 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:08,360 can't work well and I don't know what I'm doing. 391 00:19:08,360 --> 00:19:11,040 And I'm having all these feelings and I don't know if I'm 392 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:13,000 going to lose my job or if I'm going to this or that or 393 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:14,320 whatever. And he goes, he goes, OK, that's 394 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:15,400 fine. He said, I understand all that. 395 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:17,200 And I said, I just need you to tell me that I'm not crazy. 396 00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:20,840 And he goes, guess what? You're not crazy, you know? 397 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:22,480 And he began to tell me his story. 398 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:25,800 He had grown up in the tobacco industry in Winston Salem. 399 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:28,240 And, you know, and he kind of grew up in that industry. 400 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:30,480 And then all of a sudden one day his job was cut. 401 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:32,400 He's a believer. And so that came out very 402 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:35,760 quickly in our conversation. And, and he began to tell me 403 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:38,600 about how the Lord had brought him through a whole journey of 404 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:41,640 realizing what his value really was and that it wasn't in work. 405 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:44,000 And so that's what what has brought him to counseling. 406 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,880 So that was a big step for me moving forward to be able to get 407 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:50,920 some tools daily, sort of the deal with the physical anxiety. 408 00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:54,920 He began to describe heading off the anxiety before it, you know, 409 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:56,800 kind of became the problem in the mornings. 410 00:19:57,360 --> 00:19:59,200 And you know, we all. Have. 411 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:03,000 Bents in our in our soul as to what we're most likely to send 412 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:05,360 to. And so in him, you know, he was 413 00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:07,400 like anxiety is just a bit for me and he was like, these are 414 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:09,920 the tools I want to give you to sort of show you how to do that. 415 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:13,600 So that was super helpful. Yeah, I mean, just like, just 416 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:17,840 like despair might be a bent for someone, anger, right, is a 417 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:21,640 pretty common bent, of course. For cynicism, Fatalism. 418 00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:24,120 Yeah, all of those things. Yeah, those are all good. 419 00:20:24,120 --> 00:20:26,600 Check engine lights. That's right. 420 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:29,760 So what changes it's made in your life? 421 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:32,200 Like, how do you see yourself now? 422 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:37,800 Who is who is Tom Price? Yeah, I would say that who is 423 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:40,160 Tom Price is still a question I'm trying to the answer. 424 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:44,040 You know, I am a a journey in process and you know, as we all 425 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:46,400 are and I'm so I'm still figuring all that out. 426 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:49,200 But I think what I would say is the things that I've really, 427 00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:53,280 really learned. You can never overestimate the 428 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:56,280 importance of community and it's important to build your 429 00:20:56,280 --> 00:21:00,040 community before you need it. And then just that it's OK for 430 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:03,760 men of my age, right? Sort of we, we talked a little 431 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:06,080 bit about is this a midlife crisis or not? 432 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:10,280 It's OK for us to be willing to sort of bear these feelings out 433 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:12,160 in front of everybody in the church and talk through this 434 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:14,120 kind of stuff. We need to do this. 435 00:21:14,120 --> 00:21:17,400 We need to be more willing to sort of talk about the fact that 436 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:20,800 we are anxious and we don't really know what this all means 437 00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:22,880 and what is the Lord trying to tell us through all this? 438 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:26,080 And so it's still a journey. It's a journey in process, Yeah. 439 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:30,720 When talking about anxiety, what we're prone to do is we're prone 440 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:33,360 to take some of the commands in scripture that are like, don't 441 00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:38,360 be anxious and pray about everything and turn them into 442 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:43,360 basically self help right now, one way I like to say it is is 443 00:21:43,360 --> 00:21:45,880 don't, don't divorce the commands of God from the 444 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:49,640 character of God, right? So I can, I can cast my cares. 445 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:52,960 I can give my anxiety to God because he cares for us. 446 00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:55,920 That's right, right. So like those two things have to 447 00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:58,960 it's to stay together. You know, I'm supposed to give 448 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:01,760 thanks, I'm supposed to pray and I'm not supposed to worry 449 00:22:02,120 --> 00:22:08,280 because God is able, God is provider, God is a good father, 450 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:10,720 God is. And so just having to in some 451 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:13,240 ways, like think less about ourselves and think more about 452 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:15,440 God. And it feels like in times of 453 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:19,160 these, this stress, like I have core beliefs or I have deeply 454 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:22,080 held beliefs, but then I have functional beliefs. 455 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:25,520 Yeah. So God is good, God is loving, 456 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:27,640 God is kind, God is just. Yes, I believe all of that. 457 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:30,760 But functionally I've got AI got a. 458 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:32,640 Squeeze happens. Yeah, when the squeeze happens, 459 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:34,720 right. What I do when the squeeze 460 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:36,560 happens, That's really my function exactly. 461 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:40,200 And Schofield had talked about this idea not many weeks 462 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:42,000 afterwards. Matt had talked about the 463 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:43,680 squeeze. But it's like the person who 464 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:46,400 wins the day is those that don't panic. 465 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:49,680 Yeah. And and sometimes we are going 466 00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:51,640 to panic. The Israelites panicked and 467 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:54,600 that's all in US. You know, God has made us and 468 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:57,920 our bodies in a certain way that we're going to panic to just to 469 00:22:57,920 --> 00:22:59,880 have the diagnostic to check on it. 470 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:06,040 But for you to make movement in such a way where like the word 471 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:09,080 that comes to mind for me is insecurity. 472 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:11,760 And I think we usually define that is like, I just don't feel 473 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:13,680 good about myself or I don't like myself. 474 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:17,360 But the word itself is just not feeling secure. 475 00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:19,240 That's right. And this probably wasn't 476 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:22,400 something new that you learned in this journey that God is 477 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:24,320 secure. God is your rock and your 478 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:26,760 salvation. And that has to be something 479 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:29,360 that you cling to. That has to be the thing that 480 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:33,480 you hold onto to not panic and to not go down the deep hole in 481 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:35,800 the deep spiral. And I'm grateful for your 482 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:37,320 vulnerability that you're not like if. 483 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:40,240 If y'all are listening and hoping that we have some silver 484 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:44,520 bullets for anxiety, we are so sorry to disappoint you. 485 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:49,080 That's on the next podcast. Scott will own that one. 486 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:52,680 It's just him by himself. But but yeah, that there's these 487 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:55,080 pieces that God provides all along the way. 488 00:23:55,120 --> 00:23:58,800 And some of it is probably God just wanted to keep you in a 489 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:02,400 state that's right to check your dependence, that's right to draw 490 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:04,800 you back to him in some ways. Which is cool. 491 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:08,000 I would just say to your point, I mean, you know, these these, 492 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:09,240 these men that I mentioned, right? 493 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:10,480 These men that are in my community. 494 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:13,760 It's not like I had one big sort of central meeting with them. 495 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:16,040 And then all of a sudden it was like, oh, OK, now I've sort of 496 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:19,120 feel secure about myself. It was many times it was 497 00:24:19,120 --> 00:24:21,920 intentional conversations that we had had like over lunch or 498 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:24,080 breakfast or whatever, right? But then sometimes it was just 499 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:27,360 sort of the day, the weekend, we week out sort of conversations 500 00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:29,960 that we would have, whether it was a church or serving 501 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:31,720 together. A lot of those men I serve with. 502 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:34,040 So we would be talking about stuff and they would ask 503 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:36,960 additional questions. And then and so the Lord uses 504 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:38,760 all of that. He, he used all that to shape 505 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:42,040 the narrative for me last year. And so to your point, it wasn't 506 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:43,680 one big silver bullet. It was just a continual 507 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:46,280 conversation. And are you able to celebrate 508 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:48,880 the process? I I am, yes. 509 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:50,840 Yeah, I am. Yeah. 510 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:53,960 And, and I'll tell you so sort of the end of, of the journey 511 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:57,680 last year where he sort of delivered me, you know, out of 512 00:24:58,120 --> 00:25:00,560 what it was, what I thought was the horrible, most horrible 513 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:02,840 situation ever. So what happened was, is I, I 514 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:04,920 continued to have, you know, professional conversations with 515 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:06,760 with other folks outside the company. 516 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:09,080 I had a conversation, I had a relationship with a man that had 517 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:13,200 left PepsiCo and had gone to another company and he was a 518 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:15,120 friend and a mentor of mine was a believer. 519 00:25:15,120 --> 00:25:17,800 So he and I were very close and I, I, I was intentional about 520 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:20,240 staying in touch with him because I wanted to sort of keep 521 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:22,440 him within my network. And I thought, well, maybe he'll 522 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:24,240 have an opportunity for me outside the company at some 523 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:26,240 point. So I continued to talk to him 524 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:28,360 and, and we would have regular check insurance on a regular 525 00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:29,840 basis. And I, I eventually actually 526 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:32,760 thought I'll probably go to work for him at some point with his 527 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:34,880 company. I actually interviewed for 528 00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:37,400 something with, for a role within his company. 529 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:38,440 I didn't get it. Wow. 530 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,000 And I thought, OK, Lauren, here we go again. 531 00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:43,320 You're trying to teach me something again, like enough 532 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:45,600 already. And that was probably September 533 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:48,280 time frame. And so then I kind of was like 534 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:51,080 resolved myself to the fact that was like, all right, well, 2025 535 00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:53,520 just is what it is. You know, I'm just going to 536 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:56,160 settle into sort of the the rest of the remainder of the year and 537 00:25:56,160 --> 00:26:01,800 we'll see what happens in 2026. And then on Christmas, Adam, 538 00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:05,920 December 23rd, Patrick, my friend Patrick calls me and he 539 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:09,240 goes, hey, do you know this lady named Brenda Grubbs? 540 00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:12,400 And I was like, no, do I, do I need to know Brenda Grubbs? 541 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:15,960 Yeah, you could have said some random name, any random name. 542 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:18,520 And he said, well, she was with General Mills for many years and 543 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:20,800 they have sold off their yogurt division and they're looking for 544 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:23,600 food service people. And he said, I told her to call 545 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:26,040 you, and I was like, praise the Lord on. 546 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:28,440 December 23rd on December. 23rd we're having this. 547 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:29,480 Conversation. She's working on this. 548 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:31,320 Thursday we're like Patrick. It's Christmas, man. 549 00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:32,440 I was like, bro, what's going on? 550 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:33,920 Like shouldn't you be wrapping presents? 551 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:38,560 And then on December 26th, I had an hour long conversation with 552 00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:42,000 Brenda Grubbs. On the 30th I had two 553 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:44,120 interviews. On the 31st I had another 554 00:26:44,120 --> 00:26:46,200 interview and by the second I had a job offer. 555 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:50,200 Wow. And so all of that sort of panic 556 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:52,920 and worry at the end of the year, I was like throwing out my 557 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:55,600 hands, like, OK, well, I guess I'm just in this, you know, 558 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:57,800 forever. All of that, just like in a 559 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:00,000 moment, in an instant, was taken away. 560 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:03,440 Now that doesn't mean that all my anxiety and all that was 561 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:04,560 taken. Yeah, the learning just 562 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:05,600 continued. That's right. 563 00:27:06,080 --> 00:27:09,640 But just the Lord had been listening to my cries for a new 564 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:13,440 opportunity all year long. And, you know, I think I, I was 565 00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:15,480 probably going, Lord, don't you hear me? 566 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:18,120 Like I'm crying out here, like, you got to do something, you 567 00:27:18,120 --> 00:27:19,680 know? And meanwhile he was going like, 568 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:22,960 hey, man, settle, you know, like I'm doing a lot back here. 569 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:27,600 And So what I felt like was going to be the opportunity for 570 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:30,520 me through my friend Patrick, actually that ended up being how 571 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:32,400 I got the opportunity, just not with this company. 572 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:33,640 And not the way that you expected. 573 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:35,480 That's right. Yeah, and now I get to sell 574 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:38,120 yogurt for a living, which is incredible. 575 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:40,440 All of our guts are very thankful. 576 00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:42,960 Yes, yeah, yeah. This podcast sponsored by yogurt 577 00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:44,920 company. Make sure you get your 578 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:47,640 acidophilus today. So I don't know what that is. 579 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:50,400 That's what makes yogurt good for your gut good. 580 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:53,360 I'm learning more more on the next podcast you. 581 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:56,200 Traded in your Cheetos? That's right. 582 00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:58,680 Yeah, I'd like to think that I made a healthy choice there. 583 00:27:59,240 --> 00:27:59,680 You go? Yeah. 584 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:03,680 Thanks. Yeah, yeah, we were talking 585 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:05,080 earlier. I was like, is this a completed 586 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:08,080 story or is this a in process story? 587 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:10,360 And Tom's like, no, this is very much an in process story. 588 00:28:10,360 --> 00:28:11,760 We're just in a different chapter. 589 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:15,120 That's right. Taking those learnings from 2025 590 00:28:15,120 --> 00:28:19,080 that God had been open the window for you to see, you know, 591 00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:23,640 something in your soul to to be able to really embrace what it 592 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:26,720 means to be known and loved and seen and cared for. 593 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:28,520 Yeah. And sometimes it takes the 594 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:31,160 squeeze to do that. None of us go looking for the 595 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:31,960 squeeze. Yeah. 596 00:28:32,360 --> 00:28:35,520 But when God brings the squeeze, the question is, will we be 597 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:37,280 ready to receive? That's right. 598 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:41,480 Thanks for just sharing your your story and helping us to see 599 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:43,720 a little bit of all of ourselves in your story. 600 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:44,520 For sure. Yeah. 601 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:49,640 Would you mind just praying for our church love to. 602 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:54,840 Is there a list? Yeah, absolutely, God, You are a 603 00:28:54,840 --> 00:29:01,560 gracious, great and mighty God, and we are so grateful for the 604 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:04,200 opportunity to worship you in the way that we do for the 605 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:05,560 freedom that we have to worship you. 606 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:09,880 Father, we just bless your name today and this morning. 607 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:14,240 And whoever's listening to this podcast, Father, we just pray 608 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:17,720 your grace and goodness over them today, Father, where we 609 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:21,920 confess that we, we walk a lot of the times being confused and 610 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:25,040 worried and concerned about what's happening in, in our 611 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:28,640 daily lives. And frankly, that probably takes 612 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:31,240 up a lot more of our thoughts than we should. 613 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:33,960 As we talked about earlier today, we need to be far more 614 00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:37,200 concerned about thinking more about you and less about 615 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,640 ourselves, far more about your grace than we do our own sin. 616 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:43,640 But God, that's just unfortunately, that's not how 617 00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:46,760 we're wired a lot of the time. And so, Father, be be patient 618 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:48,640 with us as we learn to do that better. 619 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:53,400 I pray give us, continue to give us grace as we try to figure all 620 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:56,120 that out. Lord, I'm thankful for our 621 00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:59,080 church and the way that it's structured in the way that our 622 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:02,080 lives intersect and just overlap everybody. 623 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:06,560 When you're involved in this church, it just seems to be that 624 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:09,320 way that you have these divine interventions and these sort of 625 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:13,000 divine meetings that happen when they're supposed to. 626 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:14,400 And so I'm just so grateful for that. 627 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:16,960 I'm grateful for the way that our church does that work 628 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:19,880 intentionally in putting people's lives in front of other 629 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:23,600 people's lives. Father, we just continue to pray 630 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:26,960 for the leadership of our church as we enter into this year and 631 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:29,240 all the things that we have before us, Father. 632 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:32,240 There's so many things coming for us and so many changes come 633 00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:33,400 in. And so, Father, we just pray, 634 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:37,200 Jesus, that you would continue to give us grace as we work 635 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:39,680 through all that. Father, we're thankful for the 636 00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:42,080 way that you care for us. We're thankful for your love. 637 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:43,880 And we pray this in Jesus name.