Dangerous Faith
Dangerous Faith is a ministry that strives to light a fire inside of Everyday Christians to live radically for Christ so that we can glorify God by advancing His Kingdom.
Dangerous Faith
101: How would YOU rate 2024? (Dangerous Life)
How would you rate your 2024? Nate Williams and the Dangerous Life Team walk thru this reflective exercise by rating their year 0-5 stars, sharing their pros and cons, and finishing up with whether or not they "would recommend" their year to someone else.
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This is the Dangerous Faith Podcast. My name is Nate Williams. With me we have Zeke, blake, isaac and Mariah and we're going to be reviewing 2024. And we're going to be reviewing 2024 and our format will be zero stars to five stars, pros and cons, and then at the end we'll ask the question would we recommend this year? For someone else? It's like, hey, you're going to have a year like the way I did, I would recommend it or I would not recommend it. So we're going to go ahead and kick us off. All right, let's just walk down the line Reviewing 2024, zero stars to five stars. Zeke, we'll start with you. What would you rate your year that you're leaving a review? Right, it's a product. You're leaving a review.
Speaker 2:What'd you give it? Five out of five.
Speaker 1:Five stars, Great Blake review your year.
Speaker 2:I'm not allowed to have a good year. Isaac 5 is perfect, so you're never going to be able to beat it 4.9 4.9 Blake 4 out of5.
Speaker 1:I don't think it registered and then Isaac, what would you rate your year?
Speaker 3:4.325.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, very specific, mariah.
Speaker 4:Three.
Speaker 5:Three out of five yes, pretty, mid, pretty, mid, pretty, mid year.
Speaker 2:Not bad Nate. What would you rate your year?
Speaker 1:I think for my year I would give it a four out of five.
Speaker 2:I think it was a good year.
Speaker 1:Wow, pretty solid. I see things I could have done better, but overall God's been very good to me. Lots of blessings, isaac.
Speaker 3:I'm feeling conviction. I need to raise my number a little bit 4.7. 4.7.
Speaker 5:You don't have any numbers after that. That's a good year, just 4.7.
Speaker 4:Okay.
Speaker 1:Now looking back pros and cons of the year. This is where you can go. Big picture, mariah, before we started recording, you mentioned, like the election. You can mention that as a pro or a con, or you can get very specific to what happened with you individually.
Speaker 2:So, zeke? Sorry, Chloe told me that hers was four out of five, but she didn't specify.
Speaker 1:Four out of five stars. Chloe was not able to be with us today. Rip. No, just kidding, she's okay, just busy at the moment.
Speaker 2:Awesome, she's in school. Yeah, she's in school. Rest in pharmacy.
Speaker 5:Rest in pharmacy.
Speaker 1:Okay, so pros and cons, Y'all list them out for your year. This can be up for anyone, everyone. Pros and cons. I had my first son.
Speaker 5:Was that a con? So is that a con Isaac.
Speaker 3:That is a pro. You didn't really state it.
Speaker 2:That's like a five out of five. It goes without being stated.
Speaker 1:So Isaac had a son, which is amazing. Isaac, that's awesome.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Pretty cool, all right, anyone else Pros and cons. What happened in your year?
Speaker 2:I graduated college. That's great. It only took 10 years, but I did it.
Speaker 1:There we go, there we go. So proud of Zeke graduating college. Was it everything you wanted, and more?
Speaker 2:Yes, Okay great.
Speaker 1:All right anyone else I became a youth pastor so Blake became one third of a leadership team, obviously of three people.
Speaker 2:I feel like what he's about to say is whenever Dwight is like, I'm the assistant manager, and then he's like no assistant to the manager, and then he's like no assistant to the manager.
Speaker 1:Blake has joined a team of three people leading the youth group, the student ministries at our church, so we're very proud of him. Blake, that's awesome hey you got Platt.
Speaker 5:I did get Platt. I'm actually Platt too now nice Rocket League.
Speaker 1:Okay, so Blake is just crushing things over there. Basically he's moving up in rocket league, the video game. Have you heard of rocket league? No so you're a car and you're trying to hit the ball into the goal. It's a video game.
Speaker 5:Yeah, it's awesome. It's way like it's too complicated for your level of thinking.
Speaker 4:The ways you spend your time.
Speaker 5:Don't even like worry about it. It's only something that elite people do.
Speaker 1:One thing we've had three people who have been diagnosed as Call of Duty video game addicts Only three.
Speaker 2:Wait, where's Justin?
Speaker 5:Justin's not here, so I said these three yeah, I said three we're not addicts, Like I don't fiend, Like I'm not thinking about going home and beating Citadel right now. I twitch a little bit when I'm not playing.
Speaker 1:Hey Blake, what place are you not thinking of? What?
Speaker 2:Citadel. You're not thinking of Citadel I? The worst it gets is I close my eyes and that's all I see. That's the baddest it gets.
Speaker 5:Okay, I'm going to be honest with you Last night because we played Citadel when I was trying to go to sleep, all I could think about was waking up the next day to beat the map.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's so close, it is so bad oh man, we're going to beat it today. So, anyways, they're doing that, mariah, what about you? Pros and cons?
Speaker 4:anything stick out. Oh no, I'm trying to think.
Speaker 1:You have a pretty cool job.
Speaker 5:Got a pretty hot man.
Speaker 4:I traveled a little bit this year. That was a pro. Always fun to travel Where'd you go. In August I visited my friend and we went to a wedding in Michigan.
Speaker 1:Michigan is beautiful in the summertime, yes, okay, and then out there, uh, mckenzie's a little preoccupied with john isaac, but mckenzie's with us as well in spirit and so anyways, so pros and cons to the year, I think, for me. I just I enjoy my jobs, uh, alcap, and uh, uh, being a interim associate pastor as well. So, uh, very blessed to the for the jobs that I have, zeke.
Speaker 2:Sorry, mariah, if you said it, it was. I was distracted because Blake won't stop touching us Um inappropriately.
Speaker 5:I'm not doing anything. Good one one.
Speaker 2:What did you say? Your reason for the three out of five was um my reasonings, I think why not higher? Why not lower?
Speaker 4:to say this on it. Let's see um some personal things that happened to my life. This year was kind of crazy, gotcha.
Speaker 1:But it was three out of five, and so not everything was terrible.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:It could always be worse. Gotcha Isaac you wanted to say something.
Speaker 3:I was sitting here thinking about my year.
Speaker 1:He's going to change his answer again.
Speaker 3:I was sitting here thinking about my year and I go. What else happened this year? That was like pretty amazing. And it's crazy how having a baby will skyrocket your year to like a thousand. I know, tell me about it Because, shut up, thinking about the rest of the year, it's like just a normal year. It's just like a normal year and I'm like, yeah, we had some good things, we had bad things, blah, blah, blah. Nothing crazy happened, but we had him, and so it makes it like the best year ever.
Speaker 3:He's a blessing for real Everybody. Have kids Right now Sounds a little painful. No, not really.
Speaker 1:I mean, it didn't hurt me at all If men had kids the way that women do. That would be painful.
Speaker 5:That's what I'm saying. He's telling me to have a kid now. I don't have a woman, so I'd have to do it by myself.
Speaker 1:That would well. Yourself or you'd have to engage in behavior that we should avoid.
Speaker 2:Well, that's why he said himself or adopt. That's why myself, or adopt.
Speaker 5:Yeah, oh, I could adopt. I didn't have a lot of money. I don't have a lot of money you can always do crime. I always do crime.
Speaker 2:I could steal somebody's baby, as long as you don't get caught because they look at backgrounds, yeah. So, that's the hard part.
Speaker 1:One of the greatest ethical lessons I often talk about is it's only wrong if you get caught.
Speaker 4:Yep Remember that Spoken like a true associate pastor.
Speaker 2:Yep, well, that's why he's getting replaced.
Speaker 1:That is why I will be shortly replaced.
Speaker 2:Babies are great.
Speaker 1:Babies are pretty great.
Speaker 2:Nate, what did you say? Your answer was To what Four?
Speaker 1:You said four.
Speaker 2:Four out of five. What was your reason for four out of five?
Speaker 1:So I feel like a little bit like Isaac. If I'm going to do five out of five, it might have to be just one of the greatest years I could imagine, but it's been a very good year. But I could see, let's say, one day if I have a kid that would be a big boost, or something else at that level.
Speaker 1:That would probably bump it to a five out of five, but it's still a four out of five because I'm still very blessed. Think about all the stuff that I have. I love y'all. Y'all are great and just my jobs, my family, immediate extended. I just think about how good God has been to me and so it's four out of five.
Speaker 2:Sorry, I'm taking over this podcast. Isaac, what was your reason for not having 0.3 more? You had a kid, so what's left?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I didn't have more kids.
Speaker 2:So your other kids are going to be better than the first kid.
Speaker 5:No, no, that's essentially what you're saying, no, so?
Speaker 2:how do you get from 4.7 to five?
Speaker 3:When you have the 10th one, jesus comes.
Speaker 4:How do you get to?
Speaker 2:4.9?.
Speaker 5:Nine we beat the zombie man.
Speaker 3:Auburn has to win the Iron Bowl.
Speaker 4:That's a good one, jesus is only 0.1% better.
Speaker 2:0.01% better.
Speaker 3:No, 0.1% better is a lot when you get to the end. It's like when you're downloading a game and it goes all the way. It's fast, fast, fast. It takes three hours. When you get to the end, you know what I mean. It's like when you're downloading a game and it goes all the way, it's fast fast, fast, and then it gets to the end.
Speaker 5:It's like it takes like three hours. That 1% is very dense, very dense. Not if you have.
Speaker 1:Sprout, not. If you have Sprout, blake comes in with a commercial Shameless plug and so all right.
Speaker 2:Jesse said thank you. By the way, Y'all got the sprout put in.
Speaker 5:The week he said you would, you're welcome.
Speaker 1:Okay, so going back over the last 12 months or so, is there anything you would have done differently? So think about life decisions, think about different plans you've made. What is something that you would have done differently Before we?
Speaker 3:talk about that. Isn't it crazy how you can go through life and your whole year seems bad, or like you have situations here or there where you're stuck and you're in the present and you're like this is terrible, but then when you get down the road and you look back at the year, you're like eh, wasn't that bad.
Speaker 1:Perspective. Yeah, that's powerful. We always think, when we're going through a trial in the moment, that it's the end of the world, but then, like you said, you look back and you're like, oh, it wasn't too bad.
Speaker 3:Very true. We should all take that to heart for the next year and for the end of this year.
Speaker 1:I agree, way ahead of you and for the end of this year.
Speaker 5:I agree Way ahead of you.
Speaker 1:God will see us through.
Speaker 2:What was your question?
Speaker 1:The question was looking back at the 12 months, would you make any different decisions? Would you do anything differently? I hate this question.
Speaker 2:so much, yeah, because you don't make mistakes.
Speaker 1:No, Like you have not done a single thing wrong this year?
Speaker 5:No, I've done so many things wrong. But I hate that question because if I could go back and change things, the way I look at it now is like if I could go back and change things, yeah, I might be able to make a better decision in the moment, but then I look at what Christ has done through my mistakes.
Speaker 2:And that's why I hate that question why not just make more mistakes? Great, great. That's why someone asked Paul, great point, that's actually a good point, that's why someone asked Paul Great point, that's actually a good point.
Speaker 3:I think it's more of a thinking exercise no-transcript.
Speaker 5:Yeah, a lot.
Speaker 1:Anything you feel like sharing. No Okay, so anyone else?
Speaker 3:I don't really make mistakes. I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1:Isaac does not make mistakes Really, doesn't? It's like that Chuck Norris joke. The only time Chuck Norris was wrong was when he thought he had made a mistake.
Speaker 3:To be serious. If I could go back, I would and I say this every year, no matter where I'm at but I would take my faith more serious as in, like you know, you don't you have to be at the beginning of the year. You always say, oh, I'm going to read the whole Bible, book to book, I'm going to read every day all this stuff. And you don't, you have to be at the beginning of the year.
Speaker 3:You always say, oh, I'm going to read the whole Bible book to book, I'm going to read every day all this stuff and you don't do it. And the more years that you don't do it, the more, the less time you have to actually grow and be closer to Christ. And sometimes I sit and I think I'm like, if a year ago I would have really, really, really been like I'm going to make this a habit, where would I be at compared to now? And so now I'm like, okay, let's not think about the last year, let's think about right now.
Speaker 3:If I make this a habit where will I be in a year? And there's things in my life that I think about that right now and I'm like, okay, I want to change those things and go forward. I agree and go forward.
Speaker 1:I agree, and I think for me, one thing I'm trying to do is I've lost about 10 pounds, but off of Isaac's thought I'm like, so I've lost that weight, but like where could I have been had I started much earlier? And so it's kind of that thing of well, what I have to tell myself is that would have been nice, but I didn't. And so what matters is today, as we try to make decisions forward, so that's a good point, isaac. What could have been? If we're building up healthy habits, and so we try to start when we can, anyone else Different decisions?
Speaker 2:I don't know. I don't know where this sentence is going, but we'll find out. I gave a 4.9. As y'all start giving your answers, I'm like I don't know if it's really a 4.9, but I'm having a hard time and this is going to be. I hope it doesn't come off as bragging or arrogant, but I'm having a hard time of thinking of bad things, like truly bad things that happened to me this year. You know, praise God for that, but I'm sure there were things. It's just harder for me to think of them and I don't know why. That is because I could look back at other years and I could easily pull up bad things that happened, but I don't know.
Speaker 1:So maybe you had a five out of five year.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's good, that's a good thing.
Speaker 2:No, impossible Jesus did not come back. No one's using your standard besides you. Jesus is using it.
Speaker 1:So, zeke, does that mean, because you can't think of anything, you would want differently?
Speaker 2:that a I mean, I guess there was some bad things, I guess at the start of the year.
Speaker 3:That was last year, See I can't keep up my years.
Speaker 2:Wait, when was that Last Christmas? For some reason I can't keep up my years. When was that Last Christmas? I gave you my heart.
Speaker 3:I think, or September, did you get married to Chloe this year?
Speaker 5:No, that was last year.
Speaker 2:We already had her one year.
Speaker 5:I can't even keep up with you guys.
Speaker 1:What's stopping you from having a 5 out of 5 year?
Speaker 2:Ozzy told me I couldn't.
Speaker 1:Don't let Isaac control your decisions.
Speaker 2:Isaac has the perfect standard, though.
Speaker 3:Look, I'm telling you if Jesus comes back. You're going to be like okay, this was a five out of five year.
Speaker 5:I don't know, have you read Revelations? Are you a Christian? Yeah, okay, I'm just saying like it's pretty scary. Are you a Christian? I'm a Christian, okay.
Speaker 1:Mariah, what about you? If you don't want to share, that's fine.
Speaker 4:I was going to say, like back to the, when y'all were saying things you wish you would have done earlier, like man, like mine's, like school, like I wish I would have taken a little bit more classes, or like done that.
Speaker 1:But you know it's all going as it goes going as it goes and and you're right, we all could look at habits that we have. It's like, man, we could be different spot by now if we had done it. Just think, in 2008, instead of whatever we were doing playing video games and running around outside we should have been buying up houses. Yeah, you know just, I should have started back then, you know isaac, but not to harp on that.
Speaker 3:I think that's good, like so, now you know just should have started back then you know Isaac, but not to harp on that. I think that's good, Like so, now that we know we should have done not the buying the house thing, but now that we know that we should have been doing those habits or doing those things, we can do them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 3:At least we're in the know now and we're not blind. Good point.
Speaker 1:Yeah, start now because you really don't have any other option. You can't change the past. And so, looking at this past year overall, let's go a little bit bigger. Culturally, politically, um, how would y'all write things? Not just your own life, but the direction our country's heading in, the direction you could go a little bit smaller, to Alabama or whatever. Do you think this was a good year for the country or what are any thoughts there?
Speaker 4:at a bigger level, I think it definitely marked a big shift, even leading up to it, and then the results was just a big shift, but either way it would have gone. Then the results was just a big shift, but either way it would have gone. It would have been a big shift, in my opinion, of like the culture so it would have been a big deal regardless.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, okay, I think, yeah, sorry, I think you're right. I think it's. It's kind of interesting to see how it turned out of. Like I could see us winning, like the electoral college, but I wasn't. I was surprised when we won the popular vote of. Like the majority of americans voted republican.
Speaker 1:I was at this point it has dipped below 50. Oh, but my bad. That's one way of doing the popular vote. However, in terms of just who had the most votes, trump still won wait.
Speaker 2:What do you mean by if he had the most votes? That's the popular vote. What do you mean by if he had the most votes? That's the popular vote.
Speaker 1:So let's say you have three candidates, yeah, okay, there are two different ways of looking at like majority vote. If you have three candidates, split perfectly three ways. Nobody would be over 50% because there are three candidates. This is what happened with Trump. He's below 50% overall of the total amount of votes casted, but he so that's one version of the popular vote Between him and Harris he got more, right, he got more than her.
Speaker 4:Ok, that's what I meant, yeah.
Speaker 2:It's third-party votes don't really matter.
Speaker 1:Third-party votes don't matter. That is a whole. Its own topic right there, but OK, yeah, its own topic right there, but okay, yeah, blake Isaac, thoughts on a bigger level Direction, culture, direction of the country this year. Would recommend, would not recommend.
Speaker 3:We got to say we lived through a president getting shot.
Speaker 5:That was pretty dope Pretty sweet, not for him.
Speaker 3:Not for him, I mean, he didn't die. A lot of people would. That was pretty dope, pretty sweet.
Speaker 5:Not for him, not for him.
Speaker 3:I mean, he didn't die A lot of people would say it was faked.
Speaker 5:Some have. If that was fake. That was pretty cool, Pretty stellar acting and shooting yeah.
Speaker 1:A lot of different things there. Yeah, that was historic and it's very telling. It was a historic event for us, but because we become so desensitized, it was just the latest thing, just on to the next. But if you stop, that's awful for something like that to happen, if it indeed was real.
Speaker 5:But for us, with our social media brains, it was just on to the next whatever, I think another like pretty, like cool moment in history and I hope they put it in the history textbooks but the fact that Kamala Harris got Meg the Stallion to twerk at a DNC rally.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was something.
Speaker 1:What does that say, Blake?
Speaker 5:I don't know what that says I can do that.
Speaker 4:I mean, that's straight up, like out of a south park episode yeah, I'll get another one. Another big thing that happened all the coming out of all the hollywood like diddy, like sexual, like stuff that came out which obviously we know hollywood's already like that, like we know. But I didn't know, all the stuff that came out heavily was just crazy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, diddy getting busted. And then, oh, our favorite, the Hawk Tuba girl becoming popular.
Speaker 5:And now she's got the rug pulled out from under her and she might be going to jail. Yep what she did a crypto scam.
Speaker 1:Did you hear Okay?
Speaker 2:Mr Beast, you're caught up.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, she started her own, I guess, Bitcoin type thing.
Speaker 5:Cryptocurrency Was the Hawk coin. What is it called? Something?
Speaker 1:like that, but anyways, it debuted, a lot of people bought it and she some detail what she did. She went and maybe sold it or she took their money. Something happened they, she took their money, something happened. They all lost their money and she's going to jail. I'd have to get the details back in my brain, but that's illegal. Whatever she did to start something like that and then take their money, yeah it was a scam, isaac.
Speaker 3:I think culturally this year has been pretty bad.
Speaker 3:Why would you say that Just so many things happening and there was so much hostility before the election and during. Like, you see, how, what do you call it? Brain rot, yeah, our society is when people like the hot, yeah, get super famous off of stuff like that. And then you got all these wars like israel and gaza, and some people say that both sides are bad. You know, like and um, like the ukraine stuff. It's just like I feel like culturally like if I, if I don't look at my life and I look at a broader scale, I feel like it's not where we want to be.
Speaker 3:I agree, maybe it's shifted, maybe it's changing.
Speaker 1:Isaac, and that's why God made you.
Speaker 3:For the ups and downs.
Speaker 1:For the ups and downs, for the days of doubt. Yeah and no, I agree, they're different.
Speaker 3:It's a song. It's a song.
Speaker 1:Anyways, like Shelton, I think God gave you now my mind's blanking on who sang it but, anyways, a lot of unrest at the broader level, and so alright, last question you're reviewing the year and if you're listening, you can do this exercise as well. Just walk through your year. It's good for us to practice, good for us to reflect that's the good word. Reflect on what's happened. What are y'all?
Speaker 2:God gave me a year. That's the name of the song. There we go.
Speaker 4:By who, though, blake?
Speaker 2:Shelton.
Speaker 4:Okay, okay, that's who. But who, though, blake?
Speaker 1:Schaun. So last question and, like I said, if you're listening you can do this exercise yourself would you recommend if someone was gonna have a Mariah year, an Isaac year, a Blake year, a Zeke year, just for themselves, their own version of it would you recommend your year to someone else, zeke?
Speaker 2:I mean, I guess I have to after what you just said.
Speaker 1:Would you recommend your year to someone else? Zeke, I mean, I guess I have to.
Speaker 2:Yeah, after what you just said, you have to. I mean to be fair, though I don't even if I had a crappy year I'm not saying I would always have a good reaction but I try to look at the bigger picture and that's why we've talked about as Christians before, like we always can point to the bigger picture of even in our bad years or our bad times, we still have the ultimate hope. So it's really hard for me to have a truly awful year, like the worst things could ever happen, and as long as I still have Christ, it's still a good year. So I may not always act that way.
Speaker 2:I'm not pretending like I'm perfect, but that's how I try to live my life, even if I'm having a bad day or year.
Speaker 1:You always have, jesus. So yeah, so Zeke, you didn't answer the question. Would you recommend I?
Speaker 2:said at the start, if you were listening, nathaniel. Yes, I guess I have to if it's a 4.9. So, yes, I would recommend it.
Speaker 1:There we go, own it.
Speaker 3:Yes, isaac, I'm with Zeke. I don't think people could handle my ear. I mean no matter how good it was, you know the ups and downs. I don't think they could take that kind of rollercoaster.
Speaker 5:You know what I mean? That's exactly what Zeke said. You're just built different, bro.
Speaker 1:Isaac is built, so the question doesn't apply to Isaac because it's only his year. He's the only one that could go through it, nobody can handle what I've been through, I would recommend.
Speaker 3:It's crazy because I wouldn't want people to go through some things, but I would want people to go through some things.
Speaker 1:It would come as a package deal.
Speaker 5:You get this and that.
Speaker 2:You can't say for something and then say no, you're at 4.7.
Speaker 3:Why would they love my child the way I love my child? They're not getting your child.
Speaker 1:It would be their equivalent in their own life. They're not living your life. I would recommend.
Speaker 3:I would recommend same type of wife and everything.
Speaker 5:It was your year. Yeah, they get McKenzie. They just take your child to McKenzie. Nope, don't recommend, I want them All right, blake, blake, all right. What would you say? If you can handle a lot of crying and a lot of self-reflecting, then yeah, I'd recommend my year.
Speaker 3:Same. He's like a.
Speaker 5:Jeremiah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, this is your Jeremiah year. I'm.
Speaker 5:Jeremiah minus all the cool things about Jeremiah. What cool things Exactly?
Speaker 3:I think he had long hair, did he? I don't know.
Speaker 1:He was a prophet.
Speaker 5:I'm not a prophet.
Speaker 1:He lived a. Yeah, he Anyways.
Speaker 4:Mariah.
Speaker 1:I don't want to depress you more.
Speaker 4:Um, I mean, I Probably not, but maybe because there's some people that they're I mean.
Speaker 2:So no, so no. Just say no, no, there we go.
Speaker 3:I would say Isaac, I want to clarify. I would recommend. These are all jokes.
Speaker 5:I would recommend my youth. I want to clarify. I would say no, just because they're not built like me. I'm the only one who can handle this burden.
Speaker 1:Yes, blake is built different, isaac is built different, all right. I think for me it's been a very good year and so I would say I would recommend. Not everything went perfectly, but that's also part of life and also I get to have a pretty good friend group that I love.
Speaker 2:You have us, so you have a 5.5 year. I was going to say yeah.
Speaker 1:I have y'all. Y'all are awesome.
Speaker 5:We provide you with so much material.
Speaker 1:A lot of material.
Speaker 5:And food, and food.
Speaker 1:Yes, very kind, and so, if you could speak, isaac, you're going to speak for Mackenzie. Zeke, speak for Chloe. Both of them are not here in this room right now. Zeke, do you feel like Chloe would recommend her year?
Speaker 2:Chloe would want other people to have her year so that they would have more grace on her. But she told me before I came here. She said you could not pay me to relive this year.
Speaker 1:But call it a school. So I'm going to say that's a no.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's a no Isaac.
Speaker 1:Speaking on behalf of. Mackenzie who is right there, but with John Isaac at the moment.
Speaker 3:On the opposite spectrum, mackenzie, would 10 out of 10 recommend her year. Okay she had a son which she loves dearly and she wants to be a mom and she gets to be with you. Her flower business is starting to do better. Great, yes, and obviously she has me.
Speaker 5:You know, like what more could she ask? Great year for her? Obviously Great year. Great year for her Because you're just built different.
Speaker 3:And she's a wonderful person and every year is good for her, All right wonderful person and every year is good for her, All right.
Speaker 1:So again, this is less serious in the point of everything. Take everything as gospel and more. It's a good reflective exercise. We're supposed to think about the past, think about the future a little bit, not in terms of a control aspect, but how has God been moving? What have I learned? And so this would be a good exercise for you too. If you're listening out there, Go through your 2024. And actually I said last question, this is actually it.
Speaker 5:Oh man, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:Last one. Here it is what has God showed you this past year, or what have you learned? So I'll let you sit on that just a moment. I had that one in my brain and then it slipped my mind until just now. How has God been moving? What have you learned? What has he showed you this past year? Anyone anything come to mind?
Speaker 4:I feel like this may be like kind of harsh harsh, but disobedience definitely has consequences.
Speaker 1:Mariah. That is a very biblically accurate conclusion.
Speaker 3:Mariah, with the theology, isaac, every action has consequences. I would say how little control we have, not Calvinistic-wise, but like over, sorry, like you stress over so many different things and they usually work themselves out. Like God usually works it out, or you this or that, I don't know, just you stress over, like when Mackenzie was pregnant, there were times where we would stress, had like little scares and stuff, but God works it all out and whether it's we like it or we don't, but he works it out.
Speaker 1:Good, good thoughts, Blake or Zeke. Anything pop out. How has God been moving? What has he showed you?
Speaker 2:I think it's summarized in a really good quote from the St Mike Winger.
Speaker 1:Yeah, st Mike Winger, yeah, St Mike Winger.
Speaker 2:He was on a podcast and he is. It's actually advice that a single guy gave to him, but it's been some of the best marriage advice he's ever gotten. Oddly enough, he said the advice was any time where your spouse is doing something that is needs, that's on your nerves, or do even if they do something that's objectively wrong, that is the best opportunity for you to reflect christ in in your marriage. And I've had to learn that time and time and time again, and chloe's had to learn that even more than I've had to learn that because I mess up a lot. But, um, that's the hardest thing that before marriage I didn't really think about.
Speaker 2:It's like you're constantly having to give grace and reflect Christ in your marriage and you could apply that to friendships too, but in marriage it just happens a lot more often, even over small things.
Speaker 1:Blake. That's a great quote, by the way. But, Blake, what has God showed you this past year?
Speaker 5:I guess just what he's showing me now is just at the end of the day, my hope and my comfort only comes from Christ Jesus and Christ Jesus alone.
Speaker 2:Yeah, amen, amen, amen, nate, as someone who knows the Bible from memory what has God shown you?
Speaker 1:I wish, I wish I had a photographic memory. That would be so helpful. God showed me this year that if you don't find your identity in him, you will go crazy.
Speaker 2:Stop just copying.
Speaker 1:Blake, and so I will expound upon Blake. God can show two people the same thing, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you are the same person, yeah.
Speaker 1:I same thing, yeah, yeah we kiss after the plug, I mean Pause.
Speaker 1:Alright, where all the other things you could find comfort in your relationship status, your bank account, your job, whether or not your political party's in power, whatever it's like. If you don't have that rock that is Jesus, it is tough because there's so much out there storms that'll throw you around. But you have that rock, you have Jesus, you're going to be okay, you'll make it through, and so I've had to lean on that at different points this year. All right, y'all, I hope you've enjoyed the episode Again. Just maybe different things for you to think through as well. Blake, do you want to take us home? I don't know. No, all right, mariah, do you want to take us home?
Speaker 4:I think Isaac or Zeke sure they never do. I think Isaac or Zeke sure they never do.
Speaker 2:I'm not musically inclined.
Speaker 3:I can't play the guitar. Isaac's a good singer.
Speaker 5:The boys. Since we've been playing so much, what is one of the catchphrases that we say? I don't know.
Speaker 2:You say balls every 30 seconds. No, no, no.
Speaker 5:Give us the SpongeBob. I need it, Zeke. Oh no, Go ahead.
Speaker 2:No, you do it so much better. You just said the other day you came up with it, go ahead. You came up with it. I don't remember.
Speaker 5:Yes, you did, I remember it clearly.
Speaker 4:Any day. Now one of y'all.
Speaker 5:You do it, I do it. I don't even know what you're talking about. Go ahead, I'm good. I don't know.
Speaker 4:Go Blake.
Speaker 5:Isaac Go ahead.
Speaker 1:I need it. He did it.
Speaker 5:Keep that in there. I got it, I got it.
Speaker 3:Let's go, I need it.
Speaker 5:Yeah, still play the guitar. Why you want me to go get it right now and play? You have it with you. Yeah, I got a guitar. You want me to go get it real quick? Yeah, go get it, okay, thank you.