Finding Your Calling with Ashley Weece

Hey crew, it's Adam. I'm a husband, a father, a pastor, a follower of Jesus who just like you is trying to learn what it looks like to fully live and follow Jesus in the middle of real life. It is one thing to be someone on Sundays, but what about Monday through Saturday? And so here we're gonna talk about faith and making a difference in the messy, ordinary moments where it's often the hardest to live out. Some weeks I'll share what God is teaching me. Other weeks I'll sit down with leaders, pastors, athletes, friends. There's no fluff, just encouragement and truth for your life between Sundays. I'm so glad you're here. Well, hey crew. Welcome back to Life Between Sundays. It is Adam and Emily here and you're joining us for episode 352. Wherever you are at, either in your car, getting ready for the day, going on a walk, we're just so grateful that you're here listening and just pumped to bring you another episode of Life Between Sundays. Let's go. It's a huge honor. I don't take it lightly. Like Emily shared, wherever you're at, just honor that you're tuning in.

Yeah, we have a fun episode today. Here we go. Before we get there, we're going over our high-low buffaloes of the last couple of weeks. It's been a full few weeks. It's been a few full weeks. I feel like this week though, in my brain is the start of a new year. For me, this is pre-season, so we are back at it. Explain that a little. Well, the church calendar really picks up August through the end of the school year. You just see a huge wave of momentum. Over summer, we're continuing to grow and whatever, but you don't feel it necessarily. And so August is really the start of a new year where people reset their schedules. Even just this yesterday, I had a close business friend of mine who said, hey, we haven't been to church in months. We've been at the lake and we're feeling it, and so we need to get our butts back to church. So I think there's just this overall reset that happens. And so I'm back to preaching. Comes back with routine, too. It's like, okay, kids are going back to school. We're back into our normal routine. We're getting our butts back to church.

Yeah, I think there's just this subtle thing that you feel internally, but that's true. So yeah, I love this time of the year. You're back preaching? Sorry, I interrupted your thought. No, back preaching. I preach 10 out of the next 12 weekends, and I'm just reminded this is what I love to do. So in the madhouse of everything else happening at the church, I'm like, that is what I really feel called to, and so I'm excited about that. But high, low, Buffalo. My high is last week I moved my oldest son, Hudson. He was at VU Church in Miami doing an internship. I moved him from there, and we drove from Miami all the way to Charlotte, and he's gonna be going to school this fall in Charlotte, and we just had so much fun just hanging with each other, exploring Savannah. Have you been to Savannah? No, but I've heard it's amazing. You have to go to Savannah. Yeah. Yeah, stay in the historic district. It is so unbelievably amazing, yeah. I've been years ago, but it was a pretty quick trip Beck and I went through, and I thought it was more of a smaller area. It's like, it goes on forever of just awesomeness.

Really? Just super cute restaurants. Were you just there one night then? Yeah, we got there like in the afternoon, and then left kind of morning-ish, so we had like a good 24 hours there, and it was awesome. So that was my high. My buffalo is the new Elevation Rhythm album is out called Washed, it's called Washed. I thought it was something else. We won't say what that was, but it's called Washed, and I prefer, I'm older, so I prefer Elevation Worship over Elevation Rhythm, but this album is incredible. Go listen to that, so that'd be my buffalo. Okay, awesome, thanks so much for sharing. There it is. I'm looking forward to, this week we're going on a staff retreat. Yes. We're heading up to- Lake Herman. Lake Herman. There's a retreat center there, yeah. And it's something that embraces us every what? Every couple of years? We try to do every year. Last year, I don't think we had a retreat. I can't remember the reason why. Well, actually, we should say staff advance.

Staff advance is what it's called. Staff advance. LB, you're listening to us, but it is awesome. This will be your first one. I told Emily, if you think our team is insane, you haven't seen anything yet. We're the most competitive group of freaks ever, so it's gonna, it's so much fun. I feel like I'm very competitive. It's a combination of spending time with Jesus, worship, but also just games and awesomeness, so our team is amazing. And just hanging out with the team, which is always so, so fun. It's great. So yes, looking forward to staff retreat. It's gonna be great. Today, we got Ashley Weiss on. She was with us recently at Embrace. She's amazing. Yes. Honestly, I think one of the, like just an up-and-coming preacher in our country, and I think it's just, she's just awesome. So we talk about. women in ministry, uh, which can be a little bit of a hot topic issue with it within some groups. And don't let that get you tripped up. Like it's for me, it's a non-essential issue. Uh, but we talk about women in ministry and specifically if you are a gal and feel a call to full-time ministry, like how do you process that? What does that look like? What are different things that she's maybe kind of walked through or encountered as a woman in ministry? So I think it was really powerful

there. And then we just talk about her. Uh, she started a new church with her husband and sweet. We talk about that as well. You're going to love this conversation. She was hilarious too. She was here. Oh, she's so good. I know. I really, really enjoyed her. So sit back and then relax and enjoy this episode. Ashley, you're, if you want to share kind of like your story, just kind of cliff note version, uh, where we're from originally where Jesus came into the picture and maybe how, like, if you have kind of like a time where you felt called into like ministry and whatever else, if you want to share that. I am from the great state of Kansas, Kansas. Let me tell you. Okay. Have you been to Kansas? Do you love it? I it's I've driven across Kansas. I can't remember anything really about all that people know about Kansas as they've driven across it. Let me tell you. Tell me about Kansas. Oh, it's so good. There's just so much. What do you even say about that state? Let me just say, let me just say that you will never forget it when you drive across it. That's all. She's running for US Senate of Kansas. Sunflowers just, they, they, they follow the sun. There is a preaching metaphor in there somewhere. I don't know what it is, but it's right there. They follow the sun. That's all you have to do. Okay. That's it. So that's what I would say about Kansas. It's just, I, I actually love the slower pace of life. Like, um, that was the thing. And that's why, you know, Maine, I feel like I connect to is there's a slower pace of life there. People are, you know, they work hard. They, they, they keep to themselves, but they work hard. Um, but Kansas, yeah. It's a place where I'm like, I love it and I can talk trash about it, but nobody else can because I'm from there. So that's where I'm from. Um, that feels like me with South Dakota. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We're the best don't talk smack. I can, but you can't. Exactly. Uh, my grandpa was my pastor. And, um, so I really, you know, I watched a man who, he really didn't have, he would tell you this. He didn't have like great vision. He didn't have, um, kind of like, Oh, we're going to do this, this, and this, our church never really grew above 120 people. Um, but he was so faithful. He was so consistent. And I think the thing he modeled for me the most was Tuesday nights, every Tuesday night I would walk in him and my grandma would have their churchwide prayer night, which was them too. It was just them. They were the only people that showed up and I watched them just pray for our church, pray for us. And I, I really feel like I'm living in the fruit of what they prayed for. And so I think that that's not to say I didn't go through my own

ups and downs. I mean, high school was just high school. Ashley was crazy. Freshman year of college. Ashley was in Bible college and she was crazy. Like when people talk to me now that went to school with me, they're like, you know, you were different in college. I'm like, I was, I was, but it was a lot of just an identity, like an identity struggle. I was really trying to figure out who God had made me and wrestling with who I felt like he had made me and not thinking that was enough. And like, I know this, I know this is how you've wired me, but I wish it was more like this person or that person. And so I feel like God just like took me on this journey of learning to love who he's made me to be and trust who he's made me to be. That's a really short version, but yeah, ups and downs, lots of ups and downs. But I think from a young age, I felt a call to ministry and had no concept of like, was there going to be barriers with that being a woman or anything like that? I just knew the Lord had called me. What would you say? Like how, how, maybe that's a question. Like how did I know? Yeah. How did you feel a call to ministry? Honestly, it's something that I don't talk enough about. I tend to, even in my preaching, I tend to talk about like, you're a banker, like be a light right where you are. And something I've really been feeling convicted of is really not sharing enough. I think a lot of times pastors are like, if you want to be used by God, become a pastor. And I'm my kind of, my default is if you want to be used by God, stay as a banker or a teacher or whatever. So I feel like I need to kind of overcorrect right now of like, no, like there are people who are called to be pastors. So what would you say? Like, how would you explain that? I think everybody experiences it differently. Like, I feel like, you know, there are some people who, when they experience that call to ministry, it's a literal moment where it's like, God has called me. And it's very much like, it's through a person, it's through someone speaking that over them. It's through seeing someone that maybe they have a similar story to you, they look like you, whatever that is, and you go, wait, I think maybe God, you know, might be asking me to do this someday. I think for me, I was sitting there seeing the example of my grandfather. My brother was also in ministry. And I'm sitting there going, I don't know what else I would do.

You know, that's kind of the first thing. So then I'm like, well, I've got to figure something out for my life. So I'm like, do I want to do vet school? I don't like animals. I know, that's terrible. I'm just not an animal person. And you live in Maine? I know. Maine is the number one state for cats. People love the cats. That's why the Lord called us there because they need Jesus. Okay. If I am an animal person, it's dogs all the way. There's like, away from domesticated animals, there is like wildlife in Maine. I love wildlife. Oh, okay. I just don't, I'm not an animal person when it comes to them in my house. Okay, that's good. I'm like. Yeah. You probably wouldn't make a very good veterinarian. No, I know. So I'm like, what am I doing? I'm going to save this goose, this wild goose, but your cat, I'm going to poison it. My friend is like, let's go volunteer at the Humane Society. So we go there. I go there for one day and they're like, today you're going to pull ticks off dog's ears. I'm like, no, I'm not doing this ever again. I literally have not been to the Humane Society since that day. Anyways, all of that to say, I realize, I'm like, why am I just kind of striving to try

these different things when I feel a pull? And maybe that's like, you know, if you grow up, you have this thing that you're really intrigued in. I feel a pull every time I'm at church. You know, that was the thing I'm like, I feel like the Lord's giving me a word, even as a 12 year old and I have no idea what to say. And you know, my grandpa, I'm sure was like, oh no, Ashley's getting up again at the end of service. That's what we did at our church. And I'm like, you know, I feel like I want to exhort to the church and I'm sitting there like there is a pull and I don't know what to do with that. I don't know how to wrestle with that, but there's a pull. So I think that was more of it for me. It's like over the older I got, the more I was like, I'm trying these different things and none of it is satisfying. And when I get to sit with someone and talk to them about Jesus, when I get to open God's word, it brings life in a way that is not just like my personal life. When I see it unlock something for someone else, like this is what God's made me to do. Oh, that's so cool. Thanks for sharing that really quickly for me, because I don't, I haven't really shared this. I've shared this part, but my pastor, I was, I wanted nothing to do with God, got confirmed and told my parents that was the most I'd ever lied to so many people at one time, because I said, I believe in Jesus. But I went to, it was at Wheaton College. There was a conference called SEMP, students equipped to minister to peers is what it was. And I gave my life to Christ there. And afterwards, my pastor had me and two other high school students share on a Sunday morning. And after I did, he came up to me and just said, I want you to know, I think you have a gift.

Yes. And I was like, what does that mean? And he's like, I don't know. I just, I just want to tell you, you might have a gift. And then I'd come home from college and he'd be like, so what are you leading at college? And I'm like, well, I'm not leading anything. And he's like, are you not involved in any like campus ministries? And I'm like, well, I go to these two and he's like, when you go back, I want you to lead. Yeah. So I just came back and I went to like the person in leadership and I was like, hey, if you ever need somebody and right away, they were like, oh my gosh, yes. And then I kind of shared the story. I was supposed to be on a spring break trip and ended up filling in for a pastor. And I just knew within the first week, it was like, oh my gosh. And I, just to be honest, I really didn't want to do it. And I still wrestled not as much the last five years, but before that, the previous 15 years wrestled daily with wanting to be a pastor. I've kind of an entrepreneur heart. I didn't want to be broke my whole life. And so that was something for me, a kind of question. So if someone was feeling a call to ministry, specifically if they were a gal, what would you, what would you say to them? Yeah, I would say that it's really easy to focus on like what you don't see. I don't see a lot of women do this or that. And I think you can live in that world is kind of what we talked about when it comes to the darkness. Like you can, you can choose. what you're gonna focus on. And I think the more that you focus on Jesus, like the more that you focus on what he's gotta do in your heart, in your life, he will be the one that opens the doors,

he will be the one that makes the way. It's that scripture where it says, the Lord directs our path, we make our plans, he directs our path. Literally, I would say, follow that scripture, make your plans. Be bold about, maybe it's, I wanna go to Bible college, or I wanna take some courses online to learn a little bit more. And then go and learn under someone, go and submit yourself to other authority and just experience what it's like to learn under them. But let the Lord direct your paths. If God shifts it and you're like, I wanna be preaching, or I wanna be doing this, but God's not opening that door yet, he will direct your path. As long as you're laying it before him, he will do that. He honors the call and he's faithful to take that call and bring it out, but you have to be faithful to him. It's not... I think sometimes it's even like we put a priority over our call, more over our call than over glorifying him sometimes. And you're like, but the call, the call, and yes, it's important to remember the call God has placed on your life that you may feel like is really unique, is really distinct. But if the priority, if the focus isn't on him, if it isn't on glorifying him, on knowing him, then you're getting things out of order. It's when you focus on him that he directs those paths, he makes that clear, he opens those doors. So I think I would just say, find a place that you trust, a leader that you trust, and go and just serve them. Serve that church, give everything you've got, and watch the Lord do that work in you. And one thing that you have said, well, you had said earlier when someone spoke into you, and I think that we, especially as pastors, we overlook that. I can't tell you how many times my husband will say to me, man, God just moved through that person, and I see a gift in them for sure. Or I'll say to him that like, oh man, did you see the service when they did this? The Lord... But then we never tell them. We never speak that into them. And I think that we miss out because sometimes that's all it takes. It's just literally one conversation of like, I think God has more for your life. 100%. And I just wanna speak that over you because it's almost like you're breaking the soil to let God grow something. You're opening their eyes to something that maybe they didn't even realize was there. And I just think as pastors, we need to grow and being like, that's a muscle, I wanna stretch God. Who's the one person this Sunday that they have a ministry call, they have a unique calling on their life that I can speak into, so... I love that. Speaking to this and feel free to challenge me. So I have an African American son

and I've told him, I've told him, Wilson, you're gonna face resistance that I haven't faced just because of how we look. And I said, it'd be easy to get stuck in that, like a little bit of a victim mindset and rightfully so. But I said, but it actually, I believe will become your superpower. And instead of it being something that is a ceiling for you, it will throw you forward if you allow it to. And that's true. There are different times I've been with him where he's been treated differently, blah, blah, blah. But don't get focused on becoming a victim. Like, no, let it be your superpower. And I think for women, and again, challenge me if I'm wrong. I feel like maybe getting reps might be harder, to preach, blah, blah, blah. There might be some resistance because you're a woman, but if you allow it to, it'll be your superpower. Because even something we've been praying about for years is finding dynamic women that we can bring in to preach. And they're so hard to find because the ones who are, are hard to book because they're not cheap. And because they're so sought after. So it becomes that superpower. And so anything you would say against that or like. No, not against it. I just think, you know. I feel like getting reps would be hard, harder a little bit, but it's like, get any rep you can at preaching, at teaching, even if there's five people in front of you. I think that's the thing I would say is like, we want to put a lid on what the rep is. It's like, the rep has to be a stage. The rep has to be, the rep could be a table. And you're sitting there going, God is giving me the opportunity right now to preach His word to someone's heart. And I can either do it or not. And I... I think that when we start to say, the rep can only be this, then... A thousand people. Yeah. Then you're sitting there, you are not just limiting what God wants to do in the kingdom, you're limiting what God wants to do in your heart. Because it's like David, when David is... Before he's king, he's out there, he's fighting bears, lions, all these things. And you're sitting there and you're like, how is this preparing him to be king? But David's faithful with every field that God gives him. So good.

And God prepares his heart to have the capacity to lead and to see the world a little bit differently. I think you're preaching again, but keep going. I just think... Yeah. I just think that we have to be faithful with the field God has, and I can't tell you how many times I'm like, I don't want this field, God, give me a different one. And yet he's sitting there going, just be faithful because he will reap a harvest. He will do it if it's really about the harvest. That's so good. If it's really about the harvest and it's actually about you, that's when you start to see those kind of false things rise up in you. And so I think that's where... And that's something where you go, okay, God, I'm doing this for myself. I'm not actually doing this for you. So you have to lay it back down. So... That's good. Before we go any further, we just want to give a huge shout out to our partners who make Life Between Sundays possible. Adam, who do we got for partners? Yeah, our partners are amazing. I feel so proud to partner with both of these amazing organizations. The first is the International Justice Mission. IJM is a global nonprofit working to end slavery and violence around the world, taking special care of the most vulnerable people, people experiencing poverty. IJM goes into some of the darkest, deepest, cruelest places of pain in our world, and they bring the full force of the law to bring these people to freedom. It's absolutely amazing. And they not just rescue people, but they try to change the structure so that other

people don't find themselves in similar places. If you are interested in becoming a Freedom Partner, my wife and I, we've been Freedom Partners for years. That's just a monthly giver to the work of IJM. If you're interested, go to IJM.org. Our second partner today is Vern Eide Mitsubishi. If you know anything about me, you know that I'm a huge, raving fan of Vern Eide. And I don't just say that. All the vehicles that we've purchased in the last five years have come through Vern Eide. They are the best of the best. If you're looking for a vehicle of any kind, whether it's a Honda, an Acura, Mitsubishi, Chevy, GMC, they're going to have it. And no matter where you live, they'll ship it to you. So if you are looking for a vehicle, VernEide.com. Last question on this topic. How can churches better encourage and develop women? You know, my former senior pastor, Kyle Eidelman at Southeast, he was so good at this because like we weren't, Southeast was, you know, kind of wrestling through even what this looks like. And Kyle never let the, we're not, we're, you know, kind of in this, this vague place maybe with what we would say theologically where we stand on women, just, you know, it's a big church, Southern Baptist background, like we live in that world. But he never let that be a, because we don't have, you know, women in these particular roles, he never let that be a lid for me. Instead, he was just like, Hey, I'm going to invite you into the room because I want a female perspective. And I appreciated that. I felt like he was a friend bringing me into the room because he cared about what I had to say.

He actually saw that in me and he knew our church was better when we could partner together. And I just think we make it really complicated, like, okay, we have to give her title if she's, you know, in there. And we don't really know what we think about the titles and all of that stuff. And I would just say, bring, bring them into the room, give them opportunities, even if it's just bring them into an email thread that you wouldn't bring them into before, bring them into things that you maybe wouldn't normally, instead of trying to go, it's either all or nothing, like it's either they're this or they're nothing. It's just, we're brothers and sisters. So let's be a body of Christ. Let's like actually believe that we need each other and let God kind of grow each of us in that. It's kind of like in Genesis when he talks about, it's not good for man to be alone. You know, we think about that as just a marriage thing, but when you look at it in the context of what it was in that passage, these are the two people that God has on earth to glorify him. It was together that they imaged God. When we think about that in the church concept and we think about that in our own staff, in our own teams, it's not good for man to be alone. The same thing would be true. It's not good for woman to be alone. We actually really need each other if our ultimate goal is to glorify the Lord. And so that's what we want to see happen. We want to see God glorified in the way we do that. is together. It's not fighting against each other. It's not like who has the power. It's how can we utilize each other's gifts so that God is glorified. I love that. I love that. Okay. So right now you and your husband, Justin, started Iron Coast Church. How did you know you were supposed to do that? Let's maybe start there. I think specifically whether it's, whether I'm a pastor and I'm praying about a decision or I'm a business person praying about a decision. Yeah. Like how did you, cause I, you know,

you're at Southeast at the time. It doesn't make any sense to do that. Yeah. Specifically in Maine where they got lots of cats. Yeah. So many cats, all the cats. So how did you know you're supposed to do that? Well, you know, when I was in college I was trying to figure out like, okay, God's called me to ministry, but what does that mean? Like what is the kind of, is there a focus? I don't really know. And so our school had this, you know, track you could take where you would actually go to New York City and you would see church plants and you could just explore that. So it was kind of an emphasis in church planting. So I remember going there and seeing these different church plants and I loved that there were people that were at church that made me uncomfortable. I'm like, wait, why are you at church? I've never seen someone like that, whatever that may be for you at church. And I was like, this is what it was always meant to be. You know, like that we create a church where people who are like, I will never be a part of church. I'll never go to church where they feel welcome to be a part of that. And so there was that piece. And then the second part of that was like, the church planters were always talking about how they were really gifted at starting things. And I was like, I can just start so many projects. Like I'm really good at starting projects. I cannot finish them to save my life, but let me tell you, there are so many projects that I've started. So I was like, maybe God's made me for this. Like, I can't finish it, but I can start it. Like that doesn't scare me. And so, and so I think that it was literally, I know those seem simple. It was those two things that really intrigued me about church planting. And I was like, I don't think everybody is cut out for that. Like there's nothing and how do you make nothing become something. But that is really exciting for me. And so when we ended up moving to Southeast, we told them like in our interview, if we're here in 10 years, you failed us because we know God has called us to church planting. But in my church planter assessment, which was in college, they were like, we think you have that call, but we think you need to learn how to submit to authority. And I'm like, no, I don't. No, no. I didn't say that. That was just a joke. I promise literally say that they really did. Yeah, no, that wasn't a joke. They really told me I need to learn to submit to authority. Yeah, that was so true and to go to counseling. And I'm like, okay, they did not say that. Oh my gosh, this test is brutal. It is. And so, and so I, but I knew when they said it, it was like, when

you know, someone just like hits you in the heart. I'm like, yes. Like that's part of why I want to start in church is so I don't have to be told by anybody how to do things. So I'm like, that's not healthy. And so I was, you know, for us, I think we just kind of went on a journey of knowing it's probably the best next step for us is to learn from someone, learn from people who are seasoned, who have walked through it. And so we knew we wanted to go somewhere and be planted for a time, but we knew at 10 years, we're going to start to like probably be building a family. We're going to start beginning in a financial place where it's like comfortable. And if we don't make that leap now, it's going to be even more difficult. So true. So I just think with like an entrepreneur, it's, it's finding those people where you're like, I like, you know, I see their life and I like the life they live, you know, whether that's, it's healthy rhythms there, you know, they're around their family and yet I'm seeing them grow this. It's finding those people who you're like, I trust you and I want to learn under you for a time. And then I'm going to go and kind of take those steps, but I don't think you can do it alone. So, so how many years are you in now? One and a half. And what has been the hardest part of starting a new church? I think the hardest part is you're still in church planner mode, just as much as you're in pastor mode. And so what I mean by that is like, yeah, you're trying to call people to like, God has more for us. They're sitting there like, this is incredible. Like what we've got is great. And you're like, no, there's so much more God has, there's so many more people, there's so much more opportunity. And so you can definitely get to a place where it's just, it's the same in any day life. It's just where you can coast, and you're like, things are good. Like, we're getting to a place of sustainability, the weekends are getting smoother, things like that. But the urgency has to remain. And I think, I feel that tension even on a weekend where it's like, this is awesome, but God has more. It wasn't just about starting something, it's about like, the movement He wants to build in this region and beyond this region. And so, I think that tension is really, really difficult.

And I think we're now in that stage where it's like, it can't all be on us. And I'm like, it's scary to leave on a weekend because it's all been in some ways focused on like, if you're not there, who's going to preach? If you're not there, what's... And you can't live in that world forever, it's just not healthy. And so, we have to get to a place where it's like, okay, who are we raising up? Who has God brought for us to raise up and develop? And I think that is the next hardest thing for us, so kind of where we're at. That's good. You sound like you're not just a starter, but you sound like you're a finisher too. My husband has made me a finisher. Yeah, I just encourage you. He's both. He's really, really gifted in both, but he's the one who's like, it's not just finish it, it's finish well. Yes. I'm like, start it and then just get it done. You don't have to finish it, but he's like, no, we finish with excellence. And so, I think he's built that in me. That's great. I hear it from him a lot. Something you wish you could say to the typical church going person right now? Like is there anything that you're like, I wish I could tell you X, Y, or Z? Say it even like what you would like. Is there anything you want to say to embrace even like, like I or I don't even know. Like what would you say to the typical church person? Like what I would want to say to your church is you have two amazing pastors. Oh my gosh. Get on board. What I'd want to say is if you're not tithing, let's get going.

Like tithing, if you're not serving, like is this a cruise ship? Like what's the deal here? Get off the sidelines, lead something, like get your hands involved. Like what God's doing at your church is, and like, it's incredible. The fact that you guys are in Maine, like I'm just saying, like makes zero sense. Oh, absolutely. And so just like, that's what I'd want to say to you. Is there anything that you'd want to say to like, again, do it like just to the church person that's on your heart that you're like, I just wish I could tell all Christians. Yeah. I think, I mean, I think this is to the church person. It's also, you know, to embrace. There were people, even as I was watching us worship, where I'm like, I see you on the cusp of like, just you want to surrender it all to the Lord. Like you want to lift your hands, but you're not sure you want. It's like, you can almost feel in the room, there's like this anticipation and this expectation, but it's like, there's this, maybe this religious fear of like, what does that look like? Or I've never done this before. And I think I would just say to you is like, just let it, give it all to him. You know, just, just go all in with it. Like come Sundays and go, I'm all in, I'm, I'm not just here. I didn't just show up. I'm leaned in with anticipation of what God is going to do. Because I could see it in some of the people in the room where I'm like, they're like, their hands are like slowly coming up, you know, and, and I'm like, they want it. There's still this like fear of, is someone else, what are they going to do? You know, and so I can, like I was telling you, there's these pockets where I'm even just seeing it in your church of like, the spirit is moving so much. And I just think, just lay it all before God and see what he's going to do, because I'm excited to see what he's going to do.

Thanks for that word. Is there anything that, that God is just currently like, just teaching you or stretching you Yeah, I think that I'm, you know, mom of a four and a two year old. And I often, I just feel like I'm working in the deficit all the time, you know, and so I'm like, if I rest, then, then I miss out on all these other areas that I could be getting ahead on or whatever it is. And I think sometimes it's easy to feel like I have to compartmentalize my life. Like I'm, I'm a pastor over here, maybe you, you know, work in business over here, and then I'm mom over here, and then I'm wife over here, and then church planter and all of these things. And I think the Lord is like, trying to integrate those parts of me, because I feel like I can't be all of this and all of this, you know. And he's like, no, you're all of it. And instead of trying to be, you know, 100% this so that you look better, would you just be all of who you are and let my power be made perfect in your weakness? I love that. And I think it just, when I try to like silo my life, I see my striving. Like I see what I try to do in my own strength, but when I'm like, God, I'm coming to you this morning and, you know, my boys were absolutely crazy and I have to get up there and I have to teach the word or I have to be present with people and actually see them. But I, like I gave everything last night to just get them to bed. And you know, I'm seeing God integrate those things and it's not like just play, just play pastor today. And then when you get home, you can do this. This is all that I am and God, I'm coming with all of it. And it may not look like 100% to me, it may not feel like 100% to me because I want it to look and feel a certain way, but I'm gonna instead like trust that your power is being made perfect in that place that feels like a weak place for me. And I think that he's giving me a lot of freedom in that. It's like, it doesn't feel like this yoke that I can't bear.

It feels like a place of freedom and I, that has ministered to me so much in this season because I actually think I would break, you know, if I tried too much to compartmentalize anymore. Well, I feel like that's like bringing that all together is what brings about a richness. Yes. You know, it makes you a real person. Even I saw you, you like just had a couple of moments this morning where you shared as a mom. Yes. And it was like, oh, there she like fully is. Like it was just kind of cool to see those parts. And I thought it was a superpower. Just any moment that I've seen that in you even today has been really, really beautiful to see. And I think that was something where I felt like, I don't, I think it's performance based, you know, where it's like, I can't talk about that because I've got to, you know, I don't want to distract. Like if men don't connect to that or this and all, but if you really boiled it down, it would all come back to, I want to perform in a way that impresses people. And it takes away the authenticity when you do that. And so it's just been cool to see God bring a lot of freedom and goes back to that college struggle. God bring a lot of freedom in who He's made me to be. And just letting me be in this season that I'm in as a mom of littles and as a church planter, as a wife and, and watching Him be glorified and Him be magnified in it versus me trying to make myself look a certain way. Yeah. So good. Last question I have, if you could tell your 21 year old self anything, what would you tell them?

I just always think that's a good like self-reflecting question or whatever, but anything you would tell your 21 year old self? I think I would just say, you know, consistency and faithfulness when the day, I was talking with your daughter a little bit earlier and, you know, I think that especially I didn't, we didn't have it as much like social media wasn't as big of a thing it is now, but it's just so easy to equate fruit with numbers and like, like what we do and whether what we do is, is successful with who, how many people were in the room or how much influence or how many followers we have. And I think more than anything, the thing that like, I wish if I could go back, I would just say, just be consistent, like keep showing up in your church, keep serving, keep showing up in your friendships, keep being faithful in the Word. Like even if you can't do 30 minutes a day, if you can do one minute, just do it every day. Like be consistent because the consistency over time builds fruit. And I think we really try to make it a bigger thing than we need to. And it's like, oh, I can't do, you know, this or that because I, it's all or nothing. And so I think just, you know, saying what would it look like for me to just live a life of more consistency and not such a roller coaster of like, I'm all in, I'm all out, I'm all in, I'm all out, but instead I'm going to keep showing up. Even if today when I show up, it's like, there's not a lot to give. I'm going to be here and I'm going to let God be the one that multiplies it. And so I think that's what I would say. Well, thank you guys so much for joining us for Life Between Sundays, episode 352. So grateful that you are here again. And thank you, Ashley. Adam, any other shout outs that you got for the week? Thanks to our partners. We can't do these episodes without them. So a huge shout out to the International Justice Mission. Go support them.

Go to IJM.org and also Vern Ide Mitsubishi. Looking for a vehicle of any kind, hit them up, thevernitey.com. Last but not least, thanks to all of you who listen in. It's such a deep honor that you do have an awesome rest of your day. God bless. Thanks guys.