Finding Peace & Hope in a World of Bad News: Celebrating 1 Year of Thrive in the Mess

Lisa:
Happy one year, Thrive in the Mess! Welcome to Thrive in the Mess. I'm your host, Lisa Hutchcraft Whitmer.

So hey friend, welcome to Thrive in the Mess. mess. I am so excited.

I have a cake here that is Thrive in the Mess colors and we are celebrating one year of Thrive in the Mess podcast. Woo! And thank you For being a part of it.

I am so glad for the opportunity to speak some help and some hope for people through my guests who have been on this year and talking about a whole variety of topics, thirty-two episodes so far. So I encourage you to go back and look at those on YouTube wherever or in wherever you listen to your podcasts you can go back through and there's a whole lot of messy topics there and a whole lot of encouragement and that's why I can smile because my friend I feel so alone sometimes in the messes I walk through and we are not alone. I just got something in the mail today for some medical thing that I don't even have.

You know, one of those junk mailer things what that we get and it said you are not alone and I just had to smile because that was my heart with wanting to start Thrive in the mess a place where people could come to a safe space and a place to feel like they're not alone no matter the mess whether it is something with a relationship with a family member, a a spouse with a child, um something you're walking through personally, uh uh like I said, relational. It could be medical, it could be a medical diagnosis. that we didn't want.

It could be something financial. And I'll even tell you about my financial one today I got a phone call about. But Guys, we're not alone.

And thanks for being here. Happy one year. We will blow out a candle a little later, but so far it says happy one year, thrive in the mess.

So very excited. And so Friend, welcome and I'm thankful to have my very first guest who was on a year ago with me. My husband Rick.

He knows all my messes. And he is still here. He and still willing to even

Rick:
Thank you very much, Lisa. Thank you. It's an honor to be here and congratulations.

One year. What a what a big milestone. And uh it's just Been uh exciting to see uh this uh program continue to grow and to impact lives, the comments, the the feedback, uh the response Uh I just know a lot of people out there are so grateful for just your wisdom, your insights, and uh it's it's really just been exciting to to watch this uh new chapter of your life unfold and the way that you've been able to uh share your uh gifts of encouragement uh to to many people um uh across this country and even around the world.

So uh welcome to all our international watchers and listeners as well. And uh we're so excited to celebrate with uh everyone uh one year for this uh podcast. Good job.

Lisa:
I do love hearing from people from around the world. I have been amazed The power of technology. You know, I know yes, we can feel positive or negative.

There are pluses and minuses to everything and including with technology. But one thing I love is being able to the technology just, you know, squirts its way around the world and we're able to hear from people who have been uh impacted and encouraged by uh my amazing guests uh uh through this past year. So thankful.

And I thank you for your encouragement and our children's encouragement. and others in my life and world who encourage me to be able to reach out and do something like this. So I everyone has different gifts.

Everyone, God has made each person uniquely them. And there are a lot of gifts I don't have, but I do like to encourage people. And so this has been so special to me to be able to speak into the lives of others.

So today we're gonna we're celebrating, but we also are touching on Life is really messy.

Rick:
It's a very messy time to be alive and And getting messier.

Lisa:
Yes And I kind of want to you did a little looking around on the internet to be able to kind of see some of the Top messes, some of the top concerns we have as people living in our world today. And we're only gonna talk about some of the stuff for a little while and we're gonna get to the help and hope like we you we always do. Uh but share a little of that. It's a little overwhelming living today with all kinds of Stuff out there.

Rick:
Well, I I think we all feel it. We all experience, you know, it just feels like this world is just up for grabs. I mean, uh you just can't help but turning on the news and and it's like come on show i any good news any good it's like it's never good news.

It's like always more bad news, you know, and and like every time you think things are gonna get a little better than More bad news comes and we we kinda divide it into into two two parts. It's it's you know, bad news is going on in the world and then we'll talk about bad news in my world. But we'll we'll start with just bad news in the world.

You know, I mean you t you turn on the news and I did a little research and and like what are what are people so concerned about? And uh at the top of the list it's it's this economic insecurity. I mean that's that's like the number one everyday fear and and so many people are just feeling that just like you know, is Is my money gonna stretch?

Can I afford, you know, groceries? Can I afford gas? Can I afford just uh the uh the basics of life, you know, and

Lisa:
I actually I'm I'm gonna jump in right there because the first one you mentioned, uh we got a phone call today. Our car we were out of town It was parked somewhere where it was hit by some natural stout weather event that happened. And it we got the call today.

It is totaled. We thought it might be we were hoping for the best. And that's a hit when you still have a you know, you still owe money on something and you know, it's um I you know, with it between insurance and all the things, it's a little uncertain for us right now.

And that was our family car. That's our car that um is the reliable vehicle and so yes, the I that was something right there. I'm with number one right there of the mess and the uncertainty of the financial stuff right there.

How are we gonna do it, you know

Rick:
That's our bad news this week, you know, and and you know, there may be something else next week and something else last week. You know, I think of like uh uh we we've got some young adult children who are like, you know, kid Do do will we ever be able to afford a house? You know, like your generation, like you know, like ha you know, the you they they show in the numbers, like percentage of like income then versus percentage of income now that you have to put into housing And and people are just like, wow, I I have no so that's just one of the big fears. I mean we're we're we're seeing plenty of things.

Lisa:
is this verse that always comes to me out of Proverbs 31. I cannot the Proverbs 31, if people aren't familiar with it, it's talking about a woman who's very Oh, but I don't have all these gifts. She has, but we don't compare.

That's a huge thing with messes. We don't compare. So no, I don't have all the gifts.

Here's this it says she can laugh at the days to come. And I remember thinking that after my mom died, can I really laugh at the days to come? I don't know if loss is in there.

We'll see what your is on your list there, but the financial stuff can I really laugh at the about okay trying to plot our way through insurance and well the gap insurance and then well will we have any money left for a vehicle or a I have no idea how this is gonna play out, honestly. And yes, we took time to pray about it this morning and we'll just kinda go from there. And I can laugh at the days to come because I have chosen to I don't say this trite.

But I do trust in God. He is my anchor in life for any kind of mess. And so we will do this one step at a time.

That's another big thing that I say on on the on N each week probably I'm thriving the mess. Uh because I've had to choose to do this one step at a time. I can't do tomorrow God gives us strength for today in twenty-four hour chunks of time.

And I sure don't have strength for next week and we get into big problems emotionally and mentally and anxiety, which we'll touch on. If I try to move beyond right now. So one step at a time.

And yeah, I can laugh about it because we had to. What what else can you you know?

Rick:
So yeah, before we're done, we're gonna cover so many of these practical things. Possible, no matter how messy our world gets, no matter how messy our personal world gets, there are some anchors that we can hang on to that Uh allows us not to just get blown around and blown to the winds and and I just I know a lot of uh people watching, listening right now, maybe you is just like How can how can you smile right now? I mean, th there's just just you wake up and you just feel so bad.

I mean here's some of the other things. I mean people are just so stressed out about just the war. And geopolitical conflict, you know, and that's that's going on.

We see that in the news. And who's bombing what and you got, you know political instability and distrust. You know, can we even trust our government leaders and you know do they have our best interest in mind or do they have their own interest in mind?

Uh is it this is about power, is this about, you know, truly helping the people Uh how about crime, safety, you know? I mean that's that's a such a big one. Just people want to feel safe and you know, do c can I even just Feel okay driving my car down a city street and not fear that somebody's gonna come and take it from me.

I mean just that that's a thing these days. Uh how about technology? I mean that's been a big one.

You know, this ooh AI is this gonna take over the world and you know uh will will we even be you know computers are gonna be the last one standing. Scared about this. A lot of people are scared about just, you know, climate and environmental collapse.

You know, what's what's happening in our world.

Lisa:
And these are all things you found online that are the biggest concerns right now for people.

Rick:
And and so I mean so these are just things that are happening in the world. And so I get this on the news all the time and I just I feel so out of control. Like how can I even manage any of this?

But then what about my world? You know? Uh you know, it's it's this like You know where where I live and I I'm thinking about just my Monday through Friday.

I'm thinking about just my kids, my family, my relationships and

Lisa:
And uh just every day, that one step at a time can be an awful lot sometimes. I one of my friends right now, her dad was just put on hospice. So my car thing we're facing Uh yeah, that is like way down here compared to, you know, your relative, your loved one being on hospice.

So but even then I know she has that she chose to have a relationship with God years ago and her anchor is Jesus and her dad's anchor is Jesus and that gives us hope in the middle of the most terrible things. You know, I think of some of the time uh every movie, you know, there's either a broken relationship or there's some kind of loss or the fear of something. It's a fear of losing something.

It's a fear of dying. It's uh, you know, an action movie. They're they're trying to not die.

They're trying to, you know, battle good and evil, whatever it is. But that fear can really dissipate when we have the hope that only God can give. I know there are so many times I feel a peace When everything is just like you know, up and down and roller coaster all over the place and you know you live with me But I have to uh my emotions might be all over the map sometimes and I might be like, I need need to take a little time just to kinda you know, think, pray, just settle, but honestly I have to I I have that anchor where you talked about a boat If that boat is not anchored, it's just gonna float off to sea.

Or better yet, if something explodes. A friend just was telling us the other day about their boat. was at a dock with twenty seven other boats, one of them exploded, all the boats sank.

Well, I don't want to be the boat that sinks when there's an explosion. And so my I literally am anchored in that relationship. with God that gives me that peace that honestly gives me that laughter.

There are times I will start giggling when it might not be why are you laughing? You know it. You know it.

You know it's a win. I you know, I start giggling at moments when it might not be but you know what? It's It's fine.

It's my life. It's my mess. I can laugh because honestly, we don't laugh.

The Bible even talks about that. The Bible talks about everything. I love it But it talks about how laughter does good, like a medicine.

All those things you just mentioned, when I go on my phone, when I go on my computer, when I'm scrolling through news headlines and things uh or th all the people telling me what to do, how to handle my life in different ways, it's too much. It's too overwhelming. And I think we kind of need to get to the point, like I'll set it down put it away.

And there are sometimes maybe we need to hurl it across the room, maybe on a pillow so it doesn't break. But you know, we just need to pull our mind away from that. And I think the the um The words that we have over our bed of above all else, guard your heart, for it's the wellspring of life.

And we put that up there because we're life everything that goes into the well of our heart is going to come out in some way in my life. So that is one little tip that has really helped me of not watching a lot of stuff. I tend to read my headlines now instead of watching them because it just helps me.

I can choose to pull back. and instead of just letting the T V go or letting, you know, um watching something endlessly. So that has really helped me.

That's a way I protect my heart because if I'm not protecting my heart from what's coming in I'm gonna be stressed out. I'm going to become anxious. And I'm no good to me.

I'm no good to you. No good to my children. No good to anyone in my world because it's just I've become overwhelmed.

And so that's a very tangible thing that has really helped me a lot.

Rick:
I think there's a lot of fear. A lot of anxiety out there. Um we all feel it.

It's it's very permeating. I think uh people are looking for solutions, they're looking for help and they're looking all sorts of places to you know, what wha how do I do this? What should I do with you know uh to avoid this health thing, you know, how do how do I help with my kids?

I need help with my bar you know, and and we get I mean there's th there's a whole industry of books and social media and you know even movies and you know culture is all trying to give us a message

Lisa:
Right.

Rick:
And it's always this message of of you can improve here and you can succeed here and you can win here and you can get this right here and

Lisa:
And and like like I'm sorry I'm giggling because I'm thinking of we live in a world where it's like how much protein do you need to I even asked one of our sons today, how much protein does he ha strive to have each day Uh because I'm trying to figure out how many and I'm like Lisa, you know, you are eating more protein. Just sometimes we have to tell ourselves it's okay. I'm me I'm putting effort in in this area, but I'm uniquely me.

Each one of us is uniquely us. We are smart. God has made us as smart people and human beings, uniquely us with our unique gifts and talents.

There's only one me, there's only one you, there's only one of each person listening to this, watching this, and so how many protein grams do I have to have? Is it cardio versus resistance training? Is it uh how old does my child have to right?

Yes. How old uh like my child isn't potty trained yet, uh my child isn't walking yet. Um no screens for my child.

Is my young adult child going to get a job? Like AI is putting people out of jail. Are they gonna be able am I gonna be able to buy a house?

You touched on that.

Rick:
are coming at us that are telling us make sure you do it this way and don't do it this way.

Lisa:
And we will go crazy.

Rick:
It will. I think it's driving us all crazy. I mean it's just if I'm articulating what people are feeling, this is we're just being stretched In so many ways. And and a lot of times it's just well intentioned folks, like you know, your mother in law says, you know, hey, so when you guys gonna start having kids, you know, and that was a Nice thing, but like, you know, maybe you decided not to.

Lisa:
Your mom ever asked me to actually fictionally here. No, I know that it's out there.

Rick:
But I'm just saying the cultural pressure. You gotta get a relationship. You've gotta move to the next phase of the relationship.

Then you gotta have kids. You gotta have more kids. You know, have this kind of house, you gotta have this kind of income, you gotta have this kind of car, and then we'll just never end and how can I make it all work?

Okay, so We're gonna get to some solutions here 'cause 'cause this is a very real problem. I I'm thinking right now, you and I we're just on an airplane and and the the flight attendant comes on and and says, you know, in in light of an emergency the oxygen masks masks will fall. Right?

You remember this? And and now like you're a mom, like, you know, and and you really care about your kids a lot. I know you do, because this is very important to you.

Now we we used to fly with our kids when they were much younger and stuff. If fortunately we never had that situation where the oxygen mask came down. But if it did, what's your first natural reaction as a mom?

Because I got kids there. They need oxygen. I need oxygen.

Who are you going to help first?

Lisa:
Yeah. I uh well, you you want to be like, gotta get it on them. But like they say, you have to take care of

Rick:
Put it on yourself first. That's that's a really truism on an airplane, but it's also true about life. You know, you you're not gonna be any good to anybody

Lisa:
Right.

Rick:
If you don't have your oxygen mask on first. And I love that.

Lisa:
Because I feel my um I I feel stress and anxiety kind of just it's just a feeling within me where I literally feel it rising in my body and my chest and I'm like, Lisa Put it down. You're done reading the headlines. And or or done trying to find out is cardio or resistance training best?

And you said yes to both. Thank you. No help.

Rick:
I am not the expert, I promise you

Lisa:
And you can find things on social media where well intentioned people have done wonderful research on this is this is the way it should be, this is the way it should be. And that's all great, but there's conf conflicting information. I c end up calling all of these things noise.

You know me, even at home, I'll be like or in the car, can we turn that down? You like to have maybe some light music on. For me, I can't I if I'm focusing on something, I need to have it quieter.

And uh so I really intentionally have to turn off the noise. And then when I want to go there, I can turn the flip that switch and say, okay, I'm ready for a little bit of this, but then shut it down. At a certain point.

Because it just leads to increasing uncertainty, which leads to anxiety. Right. Which leads to not great mental well being.

This is my personal take on this from me. And I need to be in a good place where I can uh feel healthy and uh have don't have that anxiety affecting me and have that peace. And I love how uh you know there are uh every situation in life I often come back to, okay, if I feel like that anxiety or whatever is rising in me, what does the Bible say?

God's got it right. Be anxious for Nothing. And there's no asterisk after it.

Like, but my dad is cancer. Your dad had cancer. But my child But um my husband, but the car is total but literally we got that call.

So I whatever it is Be anxious for nothing. Now I'm not saying just be chill and float in an inner tube down the lazy river, though that sounds really fun. And I'm not saying run through the fields and say God will take everything.

care of everything. Yay. No, it's not a little trait thing.

It is a real choice and an intentional choice to say, I'm gonna trust God with this and I'm not gonna be anxious. I don't like to fly much because we've had some not great flying experiences. I d I just was flying a couple weeks ago and you know I I I told you afterwards we were headed you were not I was flying alone and I was about to land in a city and I know they speed up to lead to land a little in the city to get over some trees, I always feel like We were speeding up and then the guy next to me and I were like, We're not landing.

We are headed back up in the sky. All of a sudden we were tilting up. And the plane's gunning it back up in the sky and then we are banking hard in circles.

Like Yeah. No, you don't usually bank like that in the plane, even when you usually take off. So you're sitting and there's no word from anybody.

about are we gonna be okay? And in those messy moments that are uncertain, that is not normal Right. And I'm thinking, Okay, God, please protect us.

Just don't let any planes be in the way while we're taking up and that's only happened one other time in my life when our son was six months old and we were on a plane. And that one was at night. Well, after a little bit the pilot came on and he said, Uh sorry about that, uh you know, Talvis, he said, uh we were getting close to the traffic ahead.

And I'm like, wow, thank you, God, for answering my prayer about flying Mm that I didn't even know about that whoever, the pilots or air control, they said, you know what, you gotta get back in the sky because you're way too close to the people in front of you. And That's what I feel like my relationship with God does. When I am like, oh my goodness, this is out of the ordinary.

This is way uncertain. We're gunning it back up in the sky. No one's telling me it's gonna be okay.

And I'm c trying not to freak out, but boy, the people are on me. They're this young guy, young twenties something guy next to me across the aisle. He was gripping the seat in front of him.

People the guy in front of me was just looking you know, everyone, it was a fear. that struck the plane at that moment of what's going on. We were almost on the ground.

We saw where we were out the window. And at those moments, if we can say, you know what, okay, I don't know what's going on, but it's going

Rick:
and all the preparation you can't cram for the final exam at that moment. You have to have previously studied, prepared for that final exam if you want to pass. And that's what we're gonna turn uh a corner on here.

The name of the program here is called Thrive in the Mess. I think we've covered the mess. This world is messy.

I think we've got a lot of folks who are watching, listening right now, nodding their head, uhhuh, yep, I've got my list of messages.

Lisa:
Your Google search right there. You know, it's comes up. So honestly we don't even need to Google all those things 'cause we know and we feel it.

Rick:
You know. I wish I could you know ask each person watching right now. So what are your messes?

We all get all the messes. So so how do we thrive in the mess? And I love the name of your program because you know this is this is just such a a very practical thing.

We've all got the messes Nobody's got a perfect. Sometimes we think they do because like we'll we'll project like the best of our lives on social media and you know it's like Uh you know, I'm sure so many people think, you know, Lisa, you just you must have just the most grand life as you just, you know, skip through and smile and laugh all the time.

Lisa:
I've shown the the unfortunate.

Rick:
time I I can only imagine going to sleep next to Lisa with the smile on her face with the sunshine just fading off into bliss. That's life with Lisa. It's just so perfect. So we all have our messes. So um And and so so what are we gonna do about it?

Lisa:
And then I have to have it off and fold it and away. when you come home. So it's only short lived, you know.

The messes of life. I'm not always thriving in the mess, but I seek to say, you know what? I can choose peace I don't have to be anxious for anything, be anxious for nothing.

Instead, we present those requests to God Those words from the Bible s they say that. And that's what I do. In that moment on the plane when I'm like, this is uncertain.

This is not normal. Like I fly all the time. And that is not normal.

But you know what? I'm going to present that request to God and I have to trust Him with the outcome. I have no control over that situation, but I can choose my response.

That's a huge thing that a lot of times we can't change how other people are going to be, how they're going to respond, what they're going to say, how they treat us. But I can choose to say I'm going to be me. I'm going to be peaceful.

I'm going I can control how I respond to this. And I can sure re re present those requests to God too. And then the rest of it talks about how God gives us peace that goes beyond our understanding.

Like W I when I have peace sometimes, I'm like, why do I feel this right now? I really should be freaking out at this moment. But we can have that peace in that moment because it is only God.

And we say that a lot in our family of only God

Rick:
Well, that that verse um uh is is is so significant that you brought up um do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your request to God. So God does want to hear our requests. All right.

But we have to have the spirit of Thanksgiving. So even, you know, the the bad news, can we thank God for that? When my dad died, you know, am I willing to say God thank you for the times that I had with my dad And thank you for his life.

And no, I didn't want to see him go, but uh uh I i I think God wants us to have that spirit of Thanksgiving.

Lisa:
I did have a little hard time with that after my mom died suddenly.

Rick:
Yeah.

Lisa:
Um And I I literally asked God I I and I wa I I was thinking, how am am I to be thankful for this? You know, when there's no goodbye. Yeah. When yes, you'd love to have your parent there to see your children. Yeah.

Rick:
The milestones especially.

Lisa:
Graduation season. And that was the only grandchild you know, our s oldest son is the only grandchild our mom got to see graduate, uh, because then she was, you know, with Jesus after that. So yeah, I did but I did choose to look at that and say, How can I be thankful?

So I like what you're saying of thankful for our person and that's a process. That's not bad to step back. And we can't we're again we d I'm Thriving in the mess is not skipping through the field carefree.

Yeah, that's kinda nice and all, but it's not real life most of the time And for us to be able to say, Hey, I need to pull back a little bit, just kind of process this. Maybe journal, some people journal. some people I might want to sit and listen to music.

Someone uh for me, I just need some downtime. Um and uh and yeah, I may journal some things. Sometimes I might just pull up my Bible and read in Psalms, which has so much from King David who talk about a roller coaster life and a lot of the hard things that in his life he dealt with.

And uh and yet he cries out to God. and ask him for joy and in in the middle of his sorrow, ask for forgiveness and Those really speak to my heart. So those are some things I en encourage others to do also.

Rick:
But I love the promise here, the peace of God which transcends all understanding and and just It's just transcends understanding. We d we can't understand this. And and I I I I want people to understand that for you and me, you know, we we have a lot of messes in our lives, just like we everybody has messes.

But we're that I'm so grateful for is we just we have glasses to see a perspective that allows us to get beyond what the culture screams, what the you know, kind of our earth situations, the circumstances. If you look at it all at face value, yeah, I mean it's it's doom and gloom, you know Far and away most of the time. And and yet how can we thrive in those messes?

Lisa:
So I think we've already had on a intentional choice about the glasses because I tell you the times I don't I pop on my glasses at home at the end of the day. And if there's a smudge on them if they get anything on them, they're I'm not gonna see clearly. Or a window.

Like we seriously need to clean our window over the kitchen sink. Right now we talk we're not exactly thriving. The window is not thriving in the mess because There's like water splooses, you know, on there and stuff.

And we see the outside. We've a beautiful yard to look out into. But you can't see it clearly because of there's some dead bugs in the screen.

Uh you know, we're just gonna let it all hang out there right now of dead bugs in the screen, water splooshes on the thing. So we're not seeing it clearly. And then when we do clean that off and do vacuum out the dead bugs, we get a really pretty view And I like what you're saying of that's a choice though of are we going to choose to clean our glasses 'cause it's either gonna be blurry dirty, but the bottom line is it changes the perspective.

It changes our view. And to have the choice of you know what? We're gonna walk through this one step at a time and yes, have peace in the process.

And for me, only God has offered that. I would be an absolute wreck. if I didn't choose peace, the peace that only God can offer.

Rick:
Um that's an inner peace, you know.

Lisa:
No matter the mess.

Rick:
You know, uh uh you know, I I I think of uh a submarine that get went too low one time and and it imploded. Why? Because the pressure on the outside became greater than the pressure on the inside. And a lot of us We we're we're we just the the pressure on the outside is just crushing us, you know. And and so we And it is.

Lisa:
There's even more pressures nowadays, even with social media and so much online coming at us.

Rick:
is able to say no matter what that pressure is from the outside, we're not gonna just crumple and implode.

Lisa:
So And we always prayed we could bring up children who would be that way. Like as young parents, if you're a young parent that's The biggest thing, it's not about how old are they when they walk, how old are they when they start solid food, how old are they When they're potty trained, it's about are they going to be able to withstand the external pressure when life comes over when we're not around, you know.

Rick:
Right. And and 'cause we can't be with our kids forever and And uh so all right, I here's here's just a couple of my thoughts that as I was just kind of thinking through where do we go from here? And and and I'm gonna start with some bad news.

The bad news is I think it's gonna keep getting worse. I I I I really do. I I I I just I I just want people to know that culturally somehow we seem to live with this idea of If I could just this, if I could just do this, then this will be better and then and then I'll have this and then we'll move forward and then I'll have this and then we're g and and and I think we're kind of conditioned, probably because we all watch so many movies that all kind of end with a happy ending and they live happily ever after.

And and like oh good, we just kind of wrap that literal, but it's just that that's not life. I mean it's just like there's there's there's uh Always another shoe to be dropped and then another you know thing to happen and and just when we think, you know, maybe we're kind of wrapping this thing up Then boom we get hit with something else and these storms of life just kinda keep coming at us and sometimes we don't live life.

Lisa:
in the moment when we're like when we think like that of if I can just whatever, if I can just get that job, if I can get that degree, if If I can feel get that relationship or if I can lose ex a number number of pounds, you know, uh or kilo whatever, you know, if I can lose whatever just uh um I it but then I think that keeps us from living in right now and saying, hey, I'm gonna treasure today. And wow, I I don't always see the sunrise, but I see a lot of sunsets and and I'm like, wow, what a gift, you know, to have a a new day where we can be alive touch the lives of others in our world and encourage them because no one is encouraging anyone, it seems, so many of our days. And it's not that hard to do.

Just uh that text, that note, that uh you know, that card uh uh will give a Cupcake, we'll give it um, you know, maybe bring 'em a little meal, you know, whatever it is. Just Venmo something to that you know, just There are so many ways to encourage someone. And we don't have a huge we don't have a huge budget to do that with so m big extravagant things, but little things.

can make such a difference to encourage a heart. And you do have you done with it.

Rick:
I'm very impressed with uh your s gift of encouragement with that. I I do believe that as we look at kind of what's happening in the world that it's helpful to have a what I call a biblical worldview. It allows us to be able to realize that the Bible actually explains a little bit of what you can't anticipate as the world uh uh approaches this inevitable climax that we all kind of are feeling like our world is cascading towards something where Something's all gonna happen here and and I just I love the fact that even Jesus himself came and and uh answered this question.

He was you know, his disciples said When will all this happen? Uh uh what will be the sign of your coming in the end of the age? And it's it's really fascinating.

Some of the th things that Jesus specifically mentions. He said uh you will hear of ready for this? Wars And rumors of wars.

And then he says this, but see to it that you are not alarmed. I love that. Jesus, there's there's wars and rumors of wars going on.

I mean, I to me that's like

Lisa:
Reason to be alarmed, no.

Rick:
And then he says this such things must happen. But the end is still to come. He says this nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

All these are the beginning of birth pains. And I and and Jesus is literally telling us this is gonna happen. And you can read a whole lot more in Revelation.

I mean the Bible's full of projecting and explaining kind of how this works. Um but what we do know is that uh we're closer than we've ever been before. And and I do believe this.

I believe God wants to get our attention. You've been talking a lot about planes today and and there was a another plane I heard about that was kinda coming in for a landing and in this case they did land but it just went all the way down it was kinda like two for the price of one landing kind of a thing you know and like And uh it was really funny 'cause the uh flight attendant then gets gets on the thing and like, what do you say after that? All these businessmen are just like, that is not normal.

And uh the flight attendant has a little sense of humor, comes on and says, Um, uh now that I have your attention I I'd like to make a few announcements. And uh but I think that's a lot of times that's what God does for us, is is God is literally trying to get our attention because if he doesn't get our attention, we'll probably just keep spinning in our own little, you know, world and we you know, we don't uh a lot of times have much room for God in our lives. And I think God sometimes allows some really bad things to happen because it's at that point we realize We find the end of ourselves.

We are not enough. We need something beyond ourselves. And if there's somebody watching right now, listening to this and realizing, yeah, I've been trying to do this in my own strength.

And I never feel like I'm enough. That could be God explaining to you, you're right, you were never meant to be enough.

Lisa:
Yeah.

Rick:
We were meant to live our lives to depend on the one who made us, and that's God And so I j I just think that when we understand the perspectives, things probably aren't gonna get better. Expect them to get worse and worse and worse That's why we must be able to depend on God to be able to see us through.

Lisa:
Because of the hope that He offers no matter again, no matter the mess. One thing I love about people throughout the Bible. And uh I lift this up.

I encourage anyone if they if your Bible's dusty, pick it up and go Blow the dust off. And there's so much hope in there because it's full of people like me, like you. And full of all their messes and how they made it through, and there's everything There is probably every situation.

It's a rated R book for all of the stuff that's in there and all the life messes. It's not some little little mess that's rated PG. No, it's hardcore stuff.

And whether it's murder, violence, sexual uh things or uh you know, whatever it is, incest, um Abandonment, betrayal, and it's all there. And it shows when they trusted God And when they didn't. And it makes a big difference. And when they uh some of the people said, I have no place in my life for God and how their life was.

And then other people said, you know what? I do see that who God for who he is. And I do also want to touch on that if anyone has been around believers in Jesus and has been wounded by people that's It I I'm so sorry that has happened because that's not right.

It's not wrong it it's it's wrong, and I'm sorry that has happened. I do ask you to please give Jesus a chance. Look at God.

God will never do that to you. Some things on earth are man-made and certain ways of living and things. And I but God made you He loves you more than anyone ever will.

And there are times, even with me, where I have to come back to that is not truth. What does God say about who I am? And that's another reason why I can walk through life really being okay.

I don't compare myself with other people. Um, I really try not to. If I've ever gone down that road, I catch myself because I just I know I am who God made me to be.

Rick:
That's such a trap. The social media today, the comparison is is just killing a generation.

Lisa:
I will tell you one thing I don't see on my social media recipes because I am not a stellar cook. I don't seek to become a stellar cook.

Rick:
You didn't get my little subtle text that I was sending to you with the recipes I was looking for.

Lisa:
No, that must have gotten way long Years ago. And the reason why our children are alive is, you know, yes, partially I nursed them and partially you've had them probably the other years. No, I did so but that's not I d different people have different gifts.

And different interests. And that's the way God has made us. And uh sure we can all, you know, step out and learn more in certain areas, but honestly We have to say, you know what?

I am who God made me. It doesn't matter what the voices of my world have told me. Again, that's noise.

We have a lot of noise on social media. We can get that noise even from the people closest to us. If a spouse has told you something, if a a a parent has said something.

that is not truth of who God made you to be. If maybe you grew up hearing those words of maybe you've heard you're a failure. You are not Yes, we can maybe make mistakes in life, but we are never a failure.

And uh uniquely made by God, one of a kind so valuable. There's so much in the Bible that talks about that that I love. So knowing who we are and something else that really helps That has helped me is where is my focus.

Rick:
That's a big one.

Lisa:
And I think of uh the Bible talks about um there was one time that Jesus and his followers, he he just had twelve guys who were fishermen. who and one was a tax collector, different people and he g got them together and they traveled around with him and did life with him And there's a word in the Bible where they say they were disciples. They were learning to do life with Jesus.

And I love that Jesus walked through everyday life and said, Oh, this he talked about everyday things. Oh look, there's a tree. I'm gonna talk about, you know, life.

There's uh uh things growing or dying. I'm gonna talk about l you know, growing and dying. There's water, you know.

I It just he talked about everyday life. I love it. But at this point, they're out in a lake.

Jesus is not with them. A big storm comes up. They see someone coming towards them, the disciples, his followers, and they it looks like a ghost.

Like they're already freaking out because this storm. Like if I was in a boat Out on the world, I'm not I'm not gonna be liking that either. That's talk about uncertainty and anxiety at that moment.

So they're all really freaking out. Well This person gets closer. It's not a ghost.

It is Jesus walking on water in the middle of the storm to the boat. Peter was this really kind of rambunctious fisherman, very if you are someone who just blurts things out and is really highly emotional and just says whatever comes uh to the to your mind in the moment, that's Peter And I love the relationship he had with Jesus. It just shows us all the the disciple, the followers that Jesus had at the moment.

They were all different personalities, again uniquely made by God. for better or for worse, all the all the things. They were not perfect people.

Well Peter, impulsive Peter, gets out of the boat and starts walking towards Jesus. And you know he was walking on water. The Bible documents that.

While he's looking at Jesus. But guess what happens? Peter starts looking at the storm.

How many times do I start looking at the storm? the wind, the waves, probably lightning, just everything is just going crazy in the middle of this storm. Thunder.

Right now we had a wave come along this morning of your car is totaled. And am I going to look at that wave right now? Or that wind hitting us?

Or am I going to keep my eyes on Jesus? Because as soon as Peter looked away, what happened? He began to sink.

And I start to sink every time I take my focus off of Jesus. When I start you know there are times that I start looking at all the stuff, blowing around crazy. And I start to say and I'm like, Lisa, you no, we're not doing this because you know my focus needs to get off the stuff and off the circumstance and off the mess and look at Jesus.

And that's how I seek to try to walk through messes. I don't always get it right. We're not gonna get it right.

We life is not perfect, but that has helped me time and time again. So I I ask where is your focus.

Rick:
Um it's just so important for us all to have an eternal perspective. You know, and and so with those glasses on to realize

Lisa:
What do you mean by that?

Rick:
In in the New Testament, uh the Bible, uh Book of Hebrews says this for the world, this world is not our permanent home. We are looking forward to a home yet to come. And I know for me that just gives me a lot of security to know that, you know, while things are falling apart all around me, this is not it.

If if this was it If it's just live a good life and try to make an impact for society and then you die. You know, uh that that's just that's just not a lot of hope there. So uh to be able to look beyond that, no, the this entire life is designed to prepare us for the real life that's ahead and that's when we get to spend forever with God.

I I feel so important that we just pursue peace.

Lisa:
There's a verse for that.

Rick:
There is. Do you have that verse look it up? I got it right here.

Psalm 34, 14. Turn from evil and do good. Seek peace.

And pursue it. This is David wrote these words. See peace.

Lisa:
I love that. I like that I I love looking at verbs in the Bible because They're not just like, hey, maybe every now and then look for peace. And I do want to say Our world looks for peace in anything.

It could be that drink, that pill, that relationship. that sexing, that uh activity, working harder, whatever it is. We're trying to find peace and satisfaction and uh uh you know, in other places And that doesn't do it.

None other or is sitting there, you know, oh go uh yeah, getting relaxing somewhere is great. But it's not going to be that extra vacation. It's not going to be that prescription.

It's not going to be anyone else. It's going to be the peace that only God can offer. So I love that.

Seek That's an action verb.

Rick:
Yeah. Yeah.

Lisa:
It's not like maybe. And then pursue, like pursue. That's a verb.

I I I now I'll have to look that up. I love looking up verbs because I know what it means, but that's like running after. And here's something that's the opposite of peace that has been my little thing talking about.

We so often hurry and scurry I feel like. And when I start to get into that, I'm like, Lisa, no. We I don't need to hurry and scurry. You don't need to hurry and scury.

I love our our oldest son has been saying lately God tells us to rest and then run. And I love that, to rest in who we are, we know who we are because God made us and then run after what God has put on our heart. Purpose.

That purpose that we that keeps us going until the day we die. And it all comes back to where's our focus and do we have that anchor? And we don't we don't say this This doesn't mean life is perfect.

Again, knowing God and having that relationship, but boy, he is that calm through the storm. He is that constant peace. And uh that constant hope.

I I know earlier you were talking about um thanking God like after your dad died, you know, a few years ago and my mom, we're coming up this month is ten years that she passed away. And so I think of when I was walking, when we were walking out of that church, um, behind her casket, I was like You know, okay, the only only the peace that God gives, only the peace that God gives and the comfort that God gives And I love that he is the peace giver, the joy giver, the comfort giver, the life giver, the hope giver, all these things that our heart longs and desires for. God offers all that.

And He sure has done that with me. Otherwise, my life would be very different

Rick:
is uh I just think of some final thoughts to share with our friends um who are with us today and thank you so much for just uh allowing Lisa and I to just to speak into your life today. I The when your university Yeah, I I just feel that, you know, um Uh I there's no way I could do this life if it weren't for Jesus. You know, I think of who I would be if it weren't for Jesus in my life, and I I I I I know I would be that anxious person.

I would be that person filled with wow, the world's falling apart around me and I can't control it. I like to feel like I'm a fix-it guy, you know? And uh um and and and and I want to solve things, and I wanna fix things, I wanna get them back in order.

I think God's wired all of us that way, especially men though. It's just like like we want to be fix it. We want to kinda get it all put back together again.

But I I just know that if it weren't for Jesus in my life, I'd be trying to fix things and they would just keep breaking and breaking and I would just I would get angry. I know I'd be a very angry person.

Lisa:
And and not just fixing things, but trying to fix people.

Rick:
Exactly. I just wanna fix it, you know. And and I also know that um Uh I would have tried to do that with my marriage and and uh I d there's no way that I'd be married thirty-five years if if it weren't for Jesus.

Uh I know I'd be uh trying to make a lot of money thinking that I'd buy happiness in that And and and all of that is fleeting and and I know that now and I'm just so grateful that Jesus in my life to be able to have perspective on all those things. Um, you know, marriage, you know, having a job, all all that is very fine, but it's just how do you approach it? Do you approach it with putting Jesus first?

And so my encouragement for anyone uh who's been with us today, um if there are things in your life that you know maybe you have fears That you're hanging on to and you realize this I'm I'm I'm trapped in this anxiety.

Lisa:
Uh that fear comes because of the uncertainty. And the anxiety.

Rick:
That's it.

Lisa:
It's all goes together. And what did Jesus say?

Rick:
Do not worry about tomorrow. You know, there's enough trouble with today. Um I I I just love this word just surrender.

I you know God just I I give it to you because I I I've been trying to control it. I've been hanging on to it. And and Lord, I just I just I just give it to you.

I just give you my fears. And and we've had people just even just write out what are all their fears, you know, and just just I've got this fear and I'm worried about this and I've got anxiety about this and just

Lisa:
Just literally take a piece of paper and just just write all these out and then just It helps to get it on paper. And then give it to God.

Rick:
You know? God I I can't handle all this

Lisa:
If you write them on a white piece of paper, it's like waving a white flag of surrender and a way of saying, Okay, God, these are yours. I can't carry those things. I know God can carry it.

Because God's shoulders are way bigger. And uh we've talked before uh so often about casting all our care on him. Because he cares for you and the casting it, throwing it on God, and He will take that He loves us so much.

And I just thank you so much for being here today, Rick. We do have some very important business, but before we do that, I do want to say, friend, if you have not chosen to have that relationship with God. You've heard us talking about it.

And if you're like, you know what, I've tried that. I've been burned. I have no place for God.

I'm not interested. Friend, I'd love to say, hey, he can be your only hope. He can be your help through everything single life.

mess and situation. I know he's done that for me. I speak from my own experience and we have a year of stories and hope from friends I've had on here.

talking about how God has walked with them some through some very everyday moments and some very horrific moments in life, loss or choices they made that affected them badly, whatever it was. And friend, if you'd like to choose that, I encourage you just to say just to turn to God and say, God Thank you for loving me. Thank you for dying for me.

Will you please forgive me for trying to do life my way? And I want to do life your way. And my friend, it can make all the difference in your world because life stinks when I do it Lisa's way.

Doesn't it, Rick? Maybe don't count in on that. He you backed away from the microphone on that one.

So but when I choose to do life God's way, and it's a choice every day and every hour and and we Do you have some important business? We need to put a candle in the cake. There we go.

And it says happy one year, thrive in the mess. And then we're going to blow out the candle. And it's so pretty.

It's pretty colors like turquoise and some of my favorite colors. And a pink candle in the middle because I'm partial to blues and pinks. So anyway, you're gonna be able to join us.

You want to join me in blowing out the candle?

Rick:
Oh, I'd be happy to.

Lisa:
Okay, one, two, three. There we go. So friend I hope next time I would love you to join us for some cake right now, but get your own goodie. Celebrate you, your life.

Lisa:
And the hope that God offers and can offer you, my friend. And I hope you'll join us next time on Thrive in the Mess.