oftentimes we think of worship in our culture as like a certain genre of music that has like four chords and maybe a water analogy or something like that but worship is far more expansive than that in fact grace if you want to pull up the slide here on worship I have a helpful framework that I want to share with you guys as we enter into this morning a little bit so one helpful thing for me is is to remember that worship is a good rephrase could be worth ship what is the thing that you give the most worth to in your life the reality is that everyone worships David Foster Wallace the great novelist said there is no such thing as not worshiping everybody worships the only choice we get is what to worship that is what is the thing that we make the very center of our lives what is the thing that is the orienting force behind everything we do all of us are worshiping something the question is what do we worship and so I think that that means there's two implications one we want to start to think about okay where do I worship what is the thing that I make the very center of my being and then two well how do I actually do that what is the the method by which I can Center my person on the right things in this case for us the divine center of life in God so worship as worth ship what is the thing that you make the center of your worth and so today we're gonna diversify our worship we're gonna move away from our kind of usual musical worship and have a more reflective medical meditative practice of worship together this is a little trivia Bible trivia for you next time you're at a Bible trivia event

uh how many times just shout out some numbers how many times do you think that some variation of uh remember or do not forget how many times do you think that's used in the Bible across the whole of the Bible somebody said a lot three 350 page says hundreds more than 500 times remember or do not forget is used across the whole of the scriptures this seems like a central component to what it means to follow God this practice of remembrance and it doesn't just mean like recalling information actually there's a point in Jeremiah where it says that God remembers our sins no longer it's not like God has forgotten like the wrong he's like oh yeah I completely spaced that they did that 10 years ago right what it's saying is that God is is choosing a different way of considering his people a different way of seeing his people and he is remembering their sins not he is allowing that to fall away and he's uh orienting his understanding of our identity differently and so I want to share this example from second Peter that I think reminds us of this

uh in in Peter's letter in second Peter he says make every effort to support your faith with excellence excellence with knowledge knowledge with self -control self -control with endurance endurance with godliness godliness with mutual affection and mutual affection with love for anyone who lacks these things is blind suffering from eye disease of the cleansing of past sins basically what Peter seems to be saying here is that you if you are lacking in anything good or peaceful or wholesome or life -giving or wise or fruitful it's because you're forgetting it's because you have not remembered the truth of who God is of who you are of what the world really is and that the practice of remembering is how we start to attain this life of goodness and fullness and health and peace and joy that's where it comes from practicing remembrance of who God is who I am and what that means about the world and so today we're going to practice a few different forms of remembrance we're going

to start this morning with a prayer of examine so Daniel our pastoral resident some of you may be familiar with a prayer of examine it's an intentionally reflective space where we remind ourselves where God has been at work in our lives where we've maybe felt distant from God and where we're grateful for the presence of God so he'll take us through a few movements of the examine together that's just going to be a space for you to enter in you can close your eyes you can create some space or spread out there's some room in the room this morning if you need to and then following that we're going to have some stories of where Christ has been at work we're calling this whole Sunday story Sunday and so I'm going to be interviewing three of our Midtowners on the ways that they've seen Christ at work throughout their year they're going to look back on their year they're going to help give some insight into some reflection that they've done in their own lives and our hope is that that resonates with all of us in the room as well you'll get to know some folks here in our Midtown community and also get to maybe connect your story to theirs in one way or the other I'm going to be talking about what this brings in context for the new year so I was a

looks perspective to a what's the best practice that I want to give you all I know the end of the year often times is a time not just of looking back but looking forward what do we want to be what sort of habits do we want to develop in the next year I this remembrance practice is designed to help you look back in order to look forward well. And so you can scan a QR code at the end and take that home, and you can practice that as you're wrapping up the year with your family or in your own time with the Lord. So that's our rhythms today. This whole morning will be a morning of remembrance. And so I want to actually start our time with a little scripture passage about remembering from Psalm 77, and then Jordan will play a song and Daniel will come on up to lead us this morning. So friends, hear these words from Psalm 77. I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord. I will remember your wonders of old. I will

meditate on all your work and muse on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What God is so great as our God? You are the God who works wonders. You have displayed your might among the peoples. With your strong arm, you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Psalm 77. How are you guys feeling after that practice? Give me some words. What words come to mind? Refreshed. Tired. Tired. What else? Distracted. Yes, Kaylin, thank you. Yeah. Bounces.

Yeah, there's a great spiritual writer named Henry Nowen who said that the spiritual life is impossible without silence, but many times we don't want to enter into silence because it opens up the spiritual life. It opens up some inner chaos in us. We realize how over busy or overstimulated our mind or our heart is, how often we're distracted, and that that practice helps us move towards God in the middle of that. So yeah, thanks, Kaylin, for being honest, and Paige for mentioning that, oh yeah, I'm a little sleepy. Maybe it's been a busy week, which is okay. All of those things are okay. And we give you guys, again, that practice so that you can incorporate it into your own

life and into your own story. We want to become people who can center ourselves, center our hearts and our minds on God, so that we might remember who he is and how he's leading us to show up in the world as people of love, what his grace actually does tangibly for us. So thanks for entering in, even if that might have been a little challenging or uncomfortable or distracting or whatever else. I pray that the Lord worked in it for you. Yeah, and now I get the privilege of jumping into a really fun thing. We've got our best possible Mr. Rogers neighborhood set up up here, where we get to spend some time hearing some stories from folks in our community, their own practices of remembrance, the ways in which they have spent some time reflecting on what God has been up to in their life over the last year and what that has meant for their spiritual growth and journey. And our hope is that you get to see some of your own story in these and also get encouraged

in your own story. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said that, the Christ in my heart is weaker than the Christ in the heart of my brother or sister. And that I need to hear the way that Christ has been at work in the heart of my brother or sister in order to encourage me in my own walk. And so that's our hope. Our hope today is that we'd all walk away encouraged from these rememberings today. So I'm going to invite up actually our first. We have a special mug for her that has a D on it because her name starts with D. Daniela is going to be our first interview. So everyone, welcome Daniela for Story Sunday. Yeah, yeah, you can use the mic there. Yeah, good to see you, Daniela. You too, thanks. Glad you're here. Thanks for being willing to share a bit of your story. Thanks for inviting me. Yeah, for those who don't know you super well, give us a little kind of lowdown. I have four

questions I want to ask you. One, your name. Two, where you grew up. Three, what you do with your time during the week. And four, your favorite ice cream flavor, which is the most important of all the questions. Great, got it. Hi, I'm Daniela Branlin. I'm from Southern California. I moved to Arizona when I was 12. I actually work in California, so that's why I'm kind of in and out here, but have some good friends here. And what I do during the week? I mean. Like, kind of the flow of my week. Usually, I like to spend time with God in the mornings. I'm quite a journaler, so I carry this a lot. It's actually kind of cool. It's one of those ones where you can take the journal out and put it back in the cover, so I love it. I love to reflect. And I work and then like to cook, spend time with friends. What I do for work is I'm a cellar

hand at a winery, so I help winemakers make wine. Praise God. Which is really fun. I never thought I'd be in that, but it's kind of cool how God's woven that theme throughout my life, even as a kid. And I don't actually really drink much, which is ironic. But yeah, it's a really cool process to learn how to make something from the earth and kind of learn the fermentation process and turn it into something quite beautiful. Yeah, that's mainly. And I do a lot of hospitality as well in the tasting room and have done restaurant hospitality. Yeah. Yeah. Nice. Favorite ice cream flavor? Favorite ice cream flavor is the darkest chocolate you can get. Nice. I'm going to go for that. And if it's really special, I'm going to add cookie dough. Nice. Nice. You mentioned the kind of connectedness of cultivating the earth and the resources of the earth

that God has given us. Have you found spiritual significance in some of that, getting to practice this or embrace this? What's that been like for you? Oh my gosh. Yeah, definitely. I mean, even just learning. So I work more in the winery side. Not the vineyard side. So there's the whole agricultural plant side. I'm on the team that receives the grapes once they're ready to then ferment it, process it, get it ready to be bottled. But even in that, you realize, man, the way you tend the earth and the way you handle water and nutrients for the vines and learning how to work with the weather, it's very humbling because I think we want to come out. We want to control so much. And I think this industry really teaches me to adapt and yield. And it teaches me a lot spiritually. I think I can control my life and it's going to be this way. But God's like, will you trust me? There's something greater at hand that you might not understand, but I'll teach you how to work with me and, for lack of a better term, the seasons, because that's what you have to do in the wine industry as well. Yeah, yeah. It's funny. Jesus. Jesus and the scriptures in general use so many agricultural metaphors

to describe the spiritual life, developing of the fruit of the spirit or being connected to the vine of Jesus as the source of life. And so you're getting these real tactile ways of experiencing that. That's good. Where have you seen some of the ways that Christ has revealed himself to you over the last year, ways you've experienced Christ in the last year, either in your work or beyond that, maybe connected to your work? Yeah. The first thing that comes to mind is that, gosh, there's so many ways. But I think really diving into this industry has taught me a lot about depending on God. But I think he's also been showing me the importance of community, of being around people who know him. And I'm not one to want to just be in a bubble of Christians. I want to be around all types of people and beliefs. But I believe we do need that community that is following me. And so I think this year, having worked harvest seasons in two different hemispheres. So if I was just

in the northern hemisphere, I'd just work kind of like the fall season, which I did. But I also worked in the southern hemisphere, which their harvest is just coming up now. So doing that twice, it's very full on. And you're working six days a week. You're getting really close with your teammates. It's a lot of manual labor. But I went into that with a heart of, God, I really want these people to know you. Please work through me. And it was really cool to do that. But I think I learned pretty quickly, because most of my coworkers aren't Christians, you can have that heart that really wants to share Jesus. But you can't do it on your own. Or only for so long. You need people around you. So I think whatever that is, whatever industry you are in, or if it's with your family or friends, I found the importance of that. And I think that's a really important part of having Christian community that you can go back to or connect with to be vital. And when I didn't have that, I was very humbled. But God's so kind in teaching me from that. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and thanks for being willing to participate in that, right? You're actually exemplifying some

of that and sharing your story today, so that others in our community might get to learn from it. You've described a lot the ways that you've been able to connect with God through some of these things. Where are some situations? Or a situation in the last year where you've maybe felt distant from God, or discouraged, or something that's maybe tested faith for you over the last year? Yeah. I mean, there's been several moments. But I think I remember this one moment with one of my coworkers. He was very anti -God. But because we all live on site together, and we work together like crazy hours, he started to see, OK, this person is not insanely crazy. Like, they just, like, Christians, there's maybe more to it. But I remember this one conversation that we had. And he was, like, so angry about religion and about God, and about, like, how can you believe a God who blah, blah, blah, does all this stuff? And in my head, I'm like, oh, that's not God. Like, that's what people have done in the name of God, but that's not his heart. Anyway, so, but I was just listening. But I remember after, I felt kind of scared. And in that conversation, I was, like, I was more dependent

on my own mental capacity. And thoughts on, like, how to share with this person. But I felt stuck. And I didn't know what to say. So I just was really quiet. Later on, I found out he felt really respected that I, like, listened to him. But really, I was, like, I don't know what to say. But I remember just after that, like, a day or two after I was praying, and I just asked God, like, will you give me one more chance, like, to share it with this person? I don't know if a conversation will come up again. But would you, like, give me another chance? But give me the words, because I really don't know what to say. And not trying to convince him. But just, I just really wanted to share some of Jesus' love. Like, to show that somehow. And, but I was so scared. And I remember praying that. And literally, the next day, like, he just asked this question that opened up the conversation again. And I just remember that moment being, like, God's like, okay, go. Do you remember the question? What was the question he asked? Or where did the conversation go? Do you remember?

I think it was, like, it was something like, so why do you go to church? Or something like that. That was just, like, a really easy segue into, like, so what about you? And it was just such a cool moment of God reminding me, like, just ask. Like, ask me for things, for opportunities, for courage, for community, like, friendships. So in the next harvest I went into, I remember praying for Christian friends. And God, like, yeah, provided that in the midst of those coworkers who didn't know him. And I don't know. That was, like, I just remember that moment. There's so many challenges. But that was, like, one specific one where I was, like, Oh, I failed. And God's, like, I got you. And you don't have to do it, but I'm here if you want to do it together. Yeah. I think sometimes we forget that many of our neighbors, when we want to have spiritual conversations, are actually

really curious and genuinely wondering, and that there's not a kind of ulterior motive they have to break us down. There's just a sense of, hey, this is weird to me. Like, I don't understand the practice. Help me understand. So, yeah, I appreciate your willingness to enter into that conversation. Yeah. One final thought as you think forward to the next year. What are some spiritual practices that you want to try to take on, some spiritual growth or practices

that you want to take on in the coming year? I think I've quite enjoyed, like, going for a walk and just praying, because moving, like, helps me. So I think I want to do more of that. As much as I like to, like, reflect and journal, I think that's just another way to kind of change it up, I guess. So I think I want to incorporate more prayer walking. Yeah. I think I want to walk and continue to prioritize time with God in the mornings, which I do, but I think I want to challenge myself. I tried it twice, and it was really hard, but I want to try, like, not looking at my phone first in the morning. Like I have developed the habit of I look at, like, the verse of the day first, but then I just go into everything else on my Like, oh, it would be kind of cool to develop like I don't look at that, and even just for five minutes. Yeah. maybe stretch a little, and then five minutes of kind of what we were doing, like meditating or praying. I feel like that would be really challenging, but I want to try it. And then the last thing I really want to develop spiritually is I've noticed this tendency in myself. I don't know if it's an older child syndrome or where it comes from, but when I see something's a little off or wrong, I'm like, oh, I've got to fix it or I've got to take care of it. I think it comes from maybe trying to control, but I want to learn more and practice more of, okay, God, something's off. Can you help me with it or show me what to do and let go instead of trying to be the savior of the thing or the situation? So, yeah, I'm kind of vulnerable, but that's a real one. I really, I know I want to grow in that area. Yeah, thanks for being vulnerable, Danielle, and thanks for sharing a bit with folks here in this room. Yeah, grateful for the ways that you are noticing Christ's work in your life, remembering, reflecting back, and I pray and will continue to pray for this next year and some of those growth markers you're mentioning. So, thanks. Thank you. Yeah, everyone give it up for Danielle for joining us.

right, so we have another mug. This mug says, My Plants Understand Me. I don't know if that relates to our next candidate, but I hope that it does. Our next Story Sunday interview is a man who maybe has the strongest sweater game, of any human I know, also has a great softball game. I've played in lots of rec league softball with this guy. His name is Jackson Wongar. Jackson, come on up. Sorry to let down the sweaters. No, man, the sweater's great. The sweater's great. The sweater's great. We've got a good one of you up there, too, repping the Nike sweater. That's good. Morning, man. Morning. Glad you're here. Thanks for joining us. Is this, can everyone hear me? Yeah. Okay. Do I look normal sitting? Yes. Do I look normal? Okay.

We'll start the same way. What's your name? Where you grew up? What you do? What do you do with your time during the week? And then, favorite ice cream flavor. Yeah. I'm Jackson. I grew up in Denver and then moved out here for school like six years ago now.

What I do with my week has changed in the past like three weeks. So, for the whole year, I worked a lot and then kind of would see my friends when I could. I got married this year, so I spent a couple weeks like that to Brooke. Yeah, yeah. Over there. Yeah. Highlight for sure. It's good. Yeah, yeah. But a couple weeks ago, I quit my job. I don't start another job until February, so I have the most free time ever. So, if people want to hang out, you're... Yeah, I'm free every single day, every single hour. Yeah.

But, yeah. And then, my favorite ice cream flavor, I like, there's a lavender flavor. Oh. It's a downtown, what's the place? Novel. Novel. Novel. Novel. The best ice cream in downtown. That could be the best ice cream ever. Yeah. Is the lavender one. It's It's good. Yeah. Nice. You mentioned work. What did you do for work prior to this free time where you can be a professional friend to people? Yes. I remodeled bathrooms. So, I did that for like 11 months. It was super fast -paced and like you start a project and then you don't really stop work until you're done. You finish it. So, some days something goes wrong and that's like you get really lucky because you get to go home at a good time and then other days you don't get to go home at a good time. So, it was a lot of work. Yeah. What did you notice in the last year about God's presence maybe in your work or maybe beyond your work? Maybe the work was challenging, but yeah, where did you notice God's presence most or Christ's presence most in the last year? Kind of two things. I felt like I was the busiest I've ever been. This year. And that was just directly in the way of feeling any sort of presence with God. And I feel like any moment where I actually tried to stop being busy, like I immediately felt God's presence. And stopped feeling like the sense of like dread of having. And then I think any time where I didn't or couldn't take that time to stop being busy, I think God kind of used like mostly Brooke or the people around me to get in the way of that busyness. And whether it was, you know, Brooke kind of showed me grace because I was. My head was 19 other places because I felt too busy or, you know, friends helping me move or, you know, the little things like that.

Yeah. Yeah. I would imagine given our American culture that lots of people in this room probably have felt hurried over the course of the year. You mentioned like these little breaks that you were able to find in there. What did those practices look like or what enabled you in the midst of that hurry? You mentioned Brooke and some other people. What were the things you would characterize? Characterizes like this enabled me to experience God in the midst of or take a break from my hurry? Yeah. I feel like come August, September, I like completely burnt out and kind of worked myself on the ground.

Mostly because of work, but like some wedding planning and moving and all that, like kind of stacked up all at the same time. Brooke and I decided to only be engaged for like three and a half months and we like planned the whole thing. And then that ended up being a lot. And it was the best, but it was a lot. So like, I feel like September I burnt out completely and decided I needed to do an official Sabbath.

And it was like the best thing ever.

And so any time, which I started Sabbath, like on Sundays, kind of an official, like I couldn't do this, this or this. And I would spend like a week or two, including like chores, grocery shopping, going to the gym, whatever I would usually feel busy with on the days that I didn't work.

And it kind of allowed space again that I don't think I allowed all year for like a sanctification, I guess. Like I feel like I was too busy to ever think about anything else besides what I had to do. And that, that space kind of did it. And so I think Sabbath was like the biggest. Highlight of the year. And then even the littler times throughout the week when I can't spend, you know, a whole 24 hours and making like those more formatted and planned, I guess.

Yeah, it was incredible. What did you notice grow in yourself? You mentioned like sanctification, which is a fancy word for like growing. Growing more into Christ likeness, right? What did you notice in that process? What was growing in you? I feel like just the act of like slowing down made my whole perspective on everything that's like happening to me and what I'm doing change. So I became hopefully like a little bit more patient, I feel like. Brooke? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, yeah. The ultimate measure. Just like me taking time to slow down. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I slowed everything down so I could have like proper reactions to things and time to think about other people instead of what I need to do. So like, you know, oh, I haven't seen this friend in a while. Oh, this friend had this important event coming up. I can talk to them about it. Whatever.

Yeah. Yeah. No, it sounds like it turned you back outward, right? And Augustine talked about how sin turns us inward on ourselves, right? And hurry often does that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it allows you to say, no, hold on. How can I be more patient and slow down and then prioritize others around me like my wife or friends or others? Yeah. No, that's great, man. Thanks. Kind of last question, thinking forward again to the next year, you've done this practice of remembrance, what God has done in you over the last year. What are some spiritual growth markers you'd like to see in yourself the next year? Yeah. I, one, I want to get like really good at Sabbath. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Sure is skill. Um, and I'm like still not good at it. Um, where I catch myself Sunday, like even still thinking about the things I need to do, even though I'm not going to let myself do them. Um, and so I want to get better at that and keep that a consistent thing. But also, um, I would say like, I just want to not be busy, which life sometimes doesn't allow that, whatever. But, um, I feel like. I'm going to take a month off, which will be incredible. And then once I get slowly back into work, I still want time to, you know, like look outward and spend time with friends and think about them instead of just like, oh, I have time, you know, I have an hour, let's go hang out and do something. Yeah. Um, yeah. Nice. No, it's good, man. Not be busy. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Man, that if, if all of us can manage that in America, that'd be amazing. Right. That'd be so radically countercultural. Um, yeah. Thanks, Jackson. Thanks for sharing a bit of your story and inviting us into it. Everyone, uh, put it together for Jackson.

Um, as, as just a quick note, if, if anyone is interested in the practice of Sabbath, if that's a new thing for you or that's something that maybe you're wanting to explore, uh, the idea behind it, it starts actually in the opening pages of the Bible where God's, uh, the culminating day of God's creation is a day of rest, a day of ceasing where all things work together harmoniously for, for mutual flourishing. And there's this sense of like ease. It's like easing into the beauty of creation and goodness of creation and enjoying with gratitude what God has done. And throughout Israel's history and into Christian history, Sabbath has been a, a spiritual practice where we do that, where we rest in the goodness of God and do not work and do not try to bring anything from the land or move the land or manipulate the land or our work or the rest. Uh, and it's, it's a way to reconnect with God. So if you're interested in that, uh, we actually have a, a Sabbath handout that we can get you. It's a PDF that kind of walks you through how to build Sabbath in different stages of your life. Uh, so if you have kiddos and it feels impossible, there are ways to practice Sabbath even with your kiddos. If you're someone who's single, there's ways to do that. If you're someone who has a big work schedule, there's ways to work Sabbath in. So if you're interested in that, let me know. I'd love to get you that Sabbath resource. Uh, our final, uh, interview today for story Sunday, I've got a third mug that is quite Christmas themed. So right on brand for this week, uh, I'm going to be inviting Bailey, uh, Bailey, come on up.

Welcome Bailey. Merry Christmas. Happy new year. Are we, I guess I don't. I don't know what to say in this in -between time. So you just say it all. Merry Christmas. I'm feral during this time. You're feral. Nice. Nice. I like it. I don't know what to eat. I don't know if I should cook. Yeah, totally. I have the same problem this week. That's great. That's a perfect introduction. No, Bailey, tell us a little bit more beyond your, your, your feral nature. Uh, tell us a bit about you. Tell us your name, where you grew up, uh, what you do with your time during the week and then favorite ice cream flavor. Yeah. So I'm Bailey. I'm feral. Hi. I hope everyone's cool with that. Um, I am from Arkansas. So if I say y 'all or talk really Southern, that's why, um, I like just moved here in August. So I'm brand new to being an Arizonan, Arizonian. I don't know. Arizonan. Yeah. You got it the first time. Cool. Uh, great. If you want to sound fancy, you go Phoenician too. Oh yeah. I'm a Phoenician for sure. Yeah. Um, a feral Phoenician. Nice. There it is. Um, what I do with my days. So I work for a nonprofit organization that works with unaccompanied minors. So I provide legal aid to unaccompanied minors as right now as a law grad, hopefully if I pass the bar, um, then I will be an attorney. Um, so I also spend my day studying for the bar exam. So T's and P's for that. Thank you.

Thoughts and prayers in case you're wondering what that is for. Um, sorry. Um, and then my favorite ice cream flavor. This is like the most basic thing I could say. And it's not vanilla, but it is chocolate. Like if I walk into an ice cream shop, I'm like, please just give me a scoop or seven of chocolate. You've got an amen over there. That's fine. Yep. Yeah. Right there. Let's got it. So love it. Love it. Thanks. Um, yeah, as you think through, you, you mentioned like a big move. Obviously there's been a few things that have happened in our culture that maybe affect your work as well in the last little while. Um, and, and just language in our culture around unaccompanied minors and folks maybe who, who aren't American. I can citizenship and that sort of thing. Uh, tell me a little bit about where you've seen God in the midst of move in the midst of settling into a new place. Where have you, where have you experienced God or Christ in the middle of all that? Yeah. So I feel like it's easiest to see God in a season of transition. Um, and this whole year has just been a theme of transition. So, um, I graduated law school in May. I sold my house. Yeah. Um, done with that part. Um, I sold my house. Uh, started saying goodbye to all my friends, um, while studying for the bar. So I did take the bar in July, did not pass, but that's okay. Um, it's the bar. That's right. It's always the bar's fault. Somebody gets it. Um, yes. And, but when you're like studying for an exam, you should like never try to move across the country, move in with a friend and also say goodbye to everyone you've ever known. Um, all, I make great choices in case you're wondering. So I feel like, you know, the whole summer, I just really was like, this is really hard. You know, like also I cry a lot. It's just part of who I am. Um, but I just felt like it's like, I'm going into something new. I'm going into something great, something that I've always wanted. And I was thinking about when you were talking about agriculture, the house that I had, I had this cute little, um, urban garden because that is who I am. And I had like started planting all these things. Like my sunflowers were growing, my watermelons were growing and I had planted, I had watered, I had watched growth and then I had to leave it. And I just kept thinking, isn't that true of so many things? It's like we can plant seeds with people, we can water them, we can watch growth and then transition happens and we are gone. And. I feel like. That's kind of the season that I've been in is I think specifically at the first, it's like you can plant, you can water, but it is God who gives the growth. And that has been like, so true this whole year.

and I think that's what I want in my life. It's like, I want to plant, I want to water, I want to watch the watermelon grow, but I would like to eat the watermelon. I really like them.

but we don't always get to be the one who harvests and, um, it's still sweet that there is a. Harvest, but it's hard to not be the one to see the, see it all the way through. So, um, yeah, yeah, yeah, there, ah, yes. Thank you Bailey for sharing that. It, it reminds me of a, it's a poem by a guy named Wendell Berry, uh, who, who talks about the importance of planting Sequoias. Sequoias are massive trees that take forever to grow. If you plant a Sequoia, you will not see that Sequoia grow to its full, but he, he encourages us to continue to be faithful because we. Trust that there is a larger story that we are a part of and the things that you have given your effort to, to grow will come to fruition in a, in a kingdom that God is building a redemption and restoration and goodness. And, uh, it's hard to not see those. And I appreciate your, your reckoning with that tension and also the hopefulness that you have, that what you're doing now is contributing to this bigger thing. So thanks. Thanks for inviting us into that. That's good. Um, yeah, you mentioned a kind of a situation that tested your faith this year, a little bit, just in that move. Uh, what were some. Spiritual disciplines or practices that you noticed along the way that were fruitful or helpful for you? So spiritual disciplines are pretty new to me. I grew up super Baptist. Like I could be the superhero called super Baptist girl, um, like could have had a cape and everything. Um, you're giving us great fodder for future, like sketches or something like that. Listen, I am nothing. If not just churning them out over here, um, with my chocolate ice cream. Um, but so that was something that was for the Catholics or for other people. And so like, we had never really learned about that. Um, right before COVID hit, like in 2019, um, one of my guy friends who is not a Christian was like, Hey, uh, there's these, the sermon series, I think you would really like, and it was like, great. I don't know why you're listening to a service, but fantastic. Please keep going. Um, and he was like, it's about these things called spiritual. Disciplines. And so I like literally spent a whole year trying to learn what the spiritual disciplines were. So it's like each month I took, and I was like, learn about this, learn about this, read a book would like, I don't know, dive hole in, um, if you want to know one thing about me, if I don't know something, I'm going to spend a whole year trying to figure it out. Um, like I will write a curriculum for myself again. I am feral. It is crazy. Um, I did this with like fruits of the spirit when I was in college. Cause I was like, tell me more. Um, again, super fast. Uh, so as I like move in to thinking of like how spiritual disciplines have like impacted me through like a season of failure, a season of transition, a season of like, so like saying goodbye to so much, I had a 20 hour drive from Arkansas to Phoenix. And, uh, that's a lot of solitude, uh, especially for someone who has like big extrovert energy. Um, so it was a lot of prayer, um, just like crying in my car being like, okay, God, sure.

straight up, uh, driving through Oklahoma, that'll make you pray. Uh, yes, it will. Yes, it will. Sorry. If you're from Oklahoma, um, love you mean it. Um, but yeah, it's just, I spent a lot of time alone, a lot of time, like, especially moving to a new place. Like where you're getting to know yourself. You know, people just like really having to contend with like the silence, especially as someone who like would spend all my time with all people, if I could all the time, um, like racking up them friendship hours, uh, like it was my job, like punching in the friendship clock. Um, so being alone has been really good of just being like, God is present in the silence. God is present in the rain. God is present outside. God is present in the mountains. And I was telling Clint before this. Christmas, I didn't go home and I drove up to the Grand Canyon for a sunrise and it's like, there's nothing like seeing sunrise over the Grand Canyon, especially when you've never seen the Grand Canyon before. That is a surprise. Um, and it's just like, wow, that is huge. Um, hope your year is as grand as the Canyon. Oh, it's what I came up with on my way home. Nice. Um, but really wanting to like invest in the silence and the solitude as someone who I take in a lot of content. I take in a lot of friendship, like, so I like, I like the noise and trying to settle the noise. Yeah. Yeah. No, thank you so much. I, similar to what Jackson was mentioning on hurry, right? The way that we just kind of go through life is this rushed, hurried, constant intake of noise. And oftentimes God is present in the still small voice, not in the loud things. So yeah. There's a great book on that. Uh, the ruthless elimination of hurry by John Mark Homer. So yeah. Not to them. Yep.

I speed read it 1 .5 speed. If that doesn't say anything about her. Yeah, that's right. That's right. All right. Uh, yeah. Last question, Bailey to kind of move us. Yeah. Yeah. Um, what are some things as you look forward to this next year? What are some specific spiritual growth markers that you are looking for? I want to continue to develop it. So I really love Bibles. Like that's a weird thing about me. Um, and there's a lot of weird things about me. But as a pastor, I would say that's a great thing about, yeah, well, you don't know yet. Um, no, um, I really like reading different translations. So I try to like pick a new translation every so often. And for graduation, someone gave me, um, a native American new Testament. And so, yeah. So amazing. Yeah. I'm really pumped about reading through that. I took it with me to the grand Canyon, but I forgot my jacket. And when it's like 27 degrees outside, you can't really like sit and read. Um, yeah, it was not a good idea. I make great choices again. Um, but I want to read through the native American new Testament and just see how it differs from, I don't know, my own tradition and upbringing. And I also want to get the, uh, Jewish old Testament. Um, haven't done that yet. That's, that's for like the second half of the year. Um, but yeah. So those are things that I would, I really, I'm really looking forward to. Yeah. This year, post bar exam. So, yeah, it's different. Having different Bible translations can be so helpful to see different nuances or, oh, I didn't think about it that way. Or, oh, that phrasing really helps illuminate this. So, yeah. Especially when it's from a different tradition, like growing up white in the South, uh, you really only get one, one way of how things are. And as I have like kind of deconstruct, reconstructed, figuring out like my faith. Finding, finding different translations and looking at like what, what in my faith is actually foundational and what is, this is just a Southern way of doing things. So it's good. It's good. Well, thanks, Bailey. Everyone put it together for the Phoenician Bailey.

Ah, yes, guys. Thank you so much to those who are willing to gift us, uh, with their stories this morning. It truly was a gift for me to get to hear, uh, and process. And, and see the ways that God has been at work in all of your lives. I hope that that was true for all of you who are able to be here as well. And that, uh, as an encouragement, connect with those people. If there was something that stuck out about their story, you want to learn more or you care really deeply about different Bibles or whatever it is, right? Connect with these folks. They're part of our community. We want to make sure that we are continuing to mutually encourage one another in this following of Jesus. Uh, we're going to close our time, uh, by moving to the table, uh, together and partaking of Jesus, remembering who he is in our lives. So I'm going to pray and then we'll, we're going to move to the table, friends.