Ministry Mindset with Mrs. Brianna Simpson

Ministry is the spiritual work or service of any Christian. To minister to someone is to attend and serve; to perform service in any office, sacred or secular.

We are all in the ministry! 

Join Crystal as she chats with Mrs. Brianna Simpson about how she stays involved in her local church while traveling as a missionary family.  

Quiet Resting Places Ladies Meeting

Quiet Resting Places Podcast (also available on Apple)

REMINDER - We'll pick up our study of I Thessalonians next week with chapter five. 

Available Bible Studies and Bible Study Guides (affiliate links):

• It's Time.
• Arise, Go.
• Pullin' Weeds, Plantin' Seeds
• There's a Fly in my Tea!
• Study Your Bible With Me Series

Connect with me:

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hi there, welcome to Wisdom for Wednesday, your midweek pods for truth, encouragement, and practical faith. I'm your host, Crystal Ratcliffe, author, speaker, and fellow traveler on this journey of growing in God's Word. Each week we'll dive into scripture together and have the opportunity to be encouraged in the truth that never changes. If you're able, grab your Bible, a cup of coffee, and let's seek God's wisdom together. Hi there, welcome back to Wisdom for Wednesday. I'm very excited that you're here. We have another episode from our Ministry Mindset series. This time we have Brianna Simpson, also known as Brie, to her friends, and I'm so glad to have her with us today. Well, thank you so much, Brie, for being with us today. And why don't you start out by telling the listeners a little bit about yourself?

SPEAKER_02 0:57

Okay. Hello, everybody. Um, my name is Brianna Simpson, but y'all are my friends, so you can just call me Brie. Um I have been saved for 10 and a half years now, and I just absolutely love serving the Lord. He has made my life worth living. Um, I didn't grow up serving the Lord, so maybe get into that a little bit more later, but uh he just makes life worth living. I know what it is to live without him as an adult, and I know what it is to live with him. And just first and foremost, I am so thankful to be God's child, be saved.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

And um for me, so I'm married. I'm happy to be saved, but also I am married, and my husband is Jeremiah Simpson. He is an evangelist, and we're a missionary family, so we spend a lot of time traveling. Uh, we have three kids. Israel, my oldest child is eight, and she is an excellent singer. She absolutely loves singing. The Lord has given her a very special talent for singing and really empathizing with people too. You sort of see in your children, even from a child, I think, just little gifts that they sort of have a knack at. But that's my Israel. And then my middle child is Ezekiel. Uh he is a six-year-old boy. He is a miracle. Um, I a lot of y'all maybe haven't ever heard his story, but he is a miracle child. He truly is. Um, he survived bacterial meningitis as a baby, and so that's sort of really where I feel like the Lord is leading him. He he relates to people even from an early age that others don't. Yeah. And so I see the Lord using him in that way. And then my baby, oh, my sunshine. Is there just something about a baby? My youngest child, Jana Ray, she is four, and she is just a ball of sunshine. I love her so much.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Oh, yes. Now we met because of quiet resting places. So why don't you tell us a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_02 3:05

Okay. Yeah. So quiet resting places was birthed out of Isaiah 32, 18. It says, and my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation and in sure dwellings and in quiet resting places. And so for me, um, kind of a little bit about my testimony. Um, I know what it is to be saved as an adult and really not know a lot about how to be a Christian. You know you're saved, but you don't really know how exactly to behave like a Christian every day. Yeah. And so um Quiet Resting Places was birthed. Truly, um, the Lord, I was in my prayer place and I was praying. I was really asking the Lord. I serve pretty heavily in Mercy and Truth Ministries, which was founded by my mother and father-in-law, Dr. Jeremy Simpson and Miss Rebecca Simpson. And so I've always just been really connected through that ministry to the women that we help, the moms that we help. And um, I was just praying and asking the Lord, what can I do? What can I do more for these women? I see them struggling. A lot of them aren't saved, a lot of them who are saved, they don't know anything about serving the Lord. You can just tell their life, they're not living a holy life, they're not lining their life up with the word, and they're just not being blessed because they have so much sin in their life. And I don't mean that judgy, but it's true. Yes, yeah, yeah. And so that's really the heart behind when God um just really gave me that verse. I thought, you know, that's what we need a quiet resting place. And all the chaos and the busyness of this world, we have to take time to get filled up and have a quiet resting place. So I took that to my pastor's wife, my mother-in-law, um, my mentor, Miss Rebecca Simpson. Um, and from there it just has grown and grown and grown into something so different and bigger than what we could have ever expected.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

Yeah, yeah, that's amazing. I know I enjoyed my time at the meeting last year, and you guys are like in the thick of getting ready for it again this year.

SPEAKER_02 5:12

Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. We are. Um, so annually we have a big ladies' meeting in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. This year it's gonna be June 25th and 26th. The way we do it is it's a Thursday evening. Um, so we do a Thursday evening session with two speakers, and then we do a Friday morning session with two speakers, and a Friday evening session with two speakers. And that Friday evening session on the 26th, you're gonna hear Miss Crystal Radcliffe.

SPEAKER_00 5:41

Yes, I'm looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_02 5:44

Everybody's so excited to hear you. Uh, people have just been, it's funny because I've been around you now. And so you know how you meet somebody and you've read their books or you've just kind of known them on social media, it's almost like you're meeting a celebrity. And I think that's how I felt the first time I met you because I just think so highly of you. I love your books and I love you. But after I've got to know you, I'm like, oh, she's just down to earth. She's so down to earth.

SPEAKER_00 6:11

I know there's always, well, especially when I first started being asked to speak, there was a little bit of fear like to go somewhere. And the people who follow me on social media or they've read the books and they have this kind of, I don't know, they have an idea of what they think I'm going to be like. And I I I remember kind of wrestling through that the first time that um I was asked to speak at a ladies' retreat in Georgia because I was like, they're gonna find out I'm just a real person and I didn't want to disappoint anyone, you know. And so the Lord really had to kind of help me through that to recognize that, you know, I'm just the messenger giving the message, um, whatever he lays on my heart, and that that's all I'm supposed to do. I don't have to worry about how I'm received, you know. Yeah, and so I did wrestle with that a little bit, and still sometimes that will creep up because I think you're right. It's it's when you're reading someone's book or you just see them from afar, you you do kind of think of them as a celebrity or you know, something like that. And I'm like, no, I'm just a real person. I have the same I really, really struggle every day, just like you. Yeah, I have the same struggles that other people do. So, but I am excited to get back there this year and uh go to the meeting. I know last year it was just a huge blessing. I went as a vendor. Um, and I was actually late because my flight didn't get in. I don't know if you remember that. I didn't get to go to the Thursday night session. So I'm really excited. I'm gonna come make sure I'm there early so that I don't miss anything, and I'm just gonna enjoy the time. And then, of course, getting to visit with you more and Miss Rebecca. And so I'm excited to see you all again, too. So now you mentioned that you are a missionary family, so and that you're sent out of your church. So um how long have you been a member of your local church? Has it been the whole time you've been saved?

SPEAKER_02 8:18

Yes, ma'am. Um, I I became uh started attending really. I started attending my church um in 2014. Um so I'd mentioned I did not grow up in church and it was uh uh we probably visited for the first time on a Sunday morning. I would think so. I can't hardly remember that. But um my mom was kind of on one of her kicks of let's go to church. We need to go to church this Sunday, you know, when life would get bad and chaotic, yeah. That would kind of be her go-to, which, you know, it's like that for a lot of people, yes, um, truly, who are just not totally sold out and maybe just hadn't had proper discipleship. And so my mom was like, we need to go to church this Sunday. And so we went, and um, my husband's dad is my pastor, so my father-in-law is my pastor, and I mean we didn't know them at all, but there's a church about maybe three miles up the road from where I grew up, and we had never been to that church before as a family. We had tried some other ones in the area, but we went and we tried that church, and everybody was just so sweet. I literally remember my mother-in-law, who I had no clue was gonna be my mother-in-law. I just remember her walking up that aisle, the first lady of the church. I mean, if you know her, she's always dressed to a T. She's got a big old smile on her face, big hair. She's just like, you just love her. As soon as you meet her, you just feel like drawn to her. And I remember her coming over to us and just welcoming us and shaking our hand. She might even give us a hug, really. Probably. But I I remember just how welcome that my family felt. And, you know, we wouldn't have necessarily been like the people you were looking for to come to your church. Don't necessarily know that we had a whole lot to offer, but my church was just so sweet to us and and we felt really comfortable. So that was really the start of when we started going. Um, and then soon after, through the preaching of God's word, um, I realized that I was lost. I wasn't saved. And so I got saved through that ministry. Got saved in 2015, and then I married the preacher's son. We got married in 2019. I'm sorry, 2016. So I started going to church there in 2014, got saved in 2015, married your mite in 2016, and we had our baby, our first little baby in 2017. So life was kind of crazy. Um, but he he announced his call to preach before we got married. We'd already started dating, but he announced his call to preach um before we got married. And I looking back on it, I was thinking, I was like, I did not even know exactly what that meant. Like I knew he was called to be a preacher. I got that, I understood that, but I had no clue what I was hitching myself to when that happened.

SPEAKER_00 11:05

Oh, I'm sure. Because it sounds like you had a lot of newness going on as you got saved and then started getting into church and a lot of changes.

SPEAKER_02 11:16

I will never forget. So, I mean, I grew up, it was me, it was it's just, you know, not the best. I grew up in a broken home, just had a lot of struggles as a young person. Um, and so for me, I truly did not realize people lived the way that my husband's family lived. And I remember when we first started liking each other a little bit, um, we first kind of realized maybe something was there. I'm a little bit older than him. I'm actually five years older than Jeremiah, and I was not interested at all at first. What really more so was kind of like, hey, you know, I'd already graduated from UNC Charlotte with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. And my husband was looking into maybe going into law enforcement before he announced this call to preach. And so we kind of just talked and we realized just how much we had in common and it kind of just led to more. But I remember sitting him down and saying, now look, I don't really know what's gonna come of this, but I'm not like you, okay? Like I'm not like you. You need to get that. I don't understand all this. I don't understand why we have to go to church like five times a week. I don't really understand, you know, why we can't do this and why we have to do that, why you should wear this and why you shouldn't wear that. So you're gonna have to like be patient with me.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

Yeah, yeah. And truly, he was because you know, I was even just kind of as I've been studying through First Thessalonians, that kind of came up on one of my um episodes that I was going through was just we need to be patient with new believers. I think sometimes we because if we've grown up in church, like I grew up in church, um we kind of know we know stuff, and we don't realize how much people don't know or that they just need to learn. And then also to remember, I mean, even me growing up in church, I had my own journey toward growing in the Lord and things I had to learn and things that I had to change in my life, it didn't happen overnight, and so I think sometimes we need to be more patient with new believers, people that are newly saved and haven't had any experience with church and just love them along the way.

SPEAKER_02 13:27

Yes, absolutely. It was an adjustment period, and and I'm like you. I I know um looking back on it, I'm I've I've even asked him many times, why did you marry me? I mean, I've learned a lot, you know. We've been together for 11 years now, and I've been saved for you know, over 10. And so it's kind of one of those things like we've known each other for a long time. So I have learned a lot, but I still just rely on him so much because I guess I'm just afraid I'm gonna just say something wrong or do something wrong. Yeah. But the Lord truly is long-suffering, and he, the Lord, has been patient and kind, and the Holy Spirit, you know, I have the Holy Spirit inside of me, and the Holy Spirit is my guide. So I just wake up every day and I had to surrender myself to the Holy Spirit and try to make sure that I'm not doing what I want to do, but doing what he wants me to do.

SPEAKER_00 14:21

Right. Yeah. Um, so when did you when did you start being sent out of the church then as an evangelist or your husband?

SPEAKER_02 14:30

So we um in in 2017, he started teaching inside of the public schools of North Carolina as a missionary. Um, we went through a training program called Character Under Construction. It's a rock of ages curriculum. And so we had to go through a training program to be able to teach that um curriculum. But we did that, and so in 2017, he started going into the schools teaching free character education classes. It's not Sunday school. You don't go in and say, for God so loved the world, that's not what it is. It's more so integrity, respect for authority, is more so biblical principles that truly every person in the world should have. But like me, if you didn't grow up that way, you maybe are missing a few of them. Right, right. And so that's he started that in 2017, but then I quit my job and we surrendered full-time as a family in 2019. So we have been full-time as a family in the ministry since 2019.

SPEAKER_00 15:31

Okay. And you said your degree, excuse me, your degree was criminal justice. So what what was your job?

SPEAKER_02 15:38

So it's kind of that's sort of funny too. Um, I graduated with a criminal justice degree, and I was in my first year of law school at Wake Forest whenever I met Jeremiah, got saved. Um, I was literally a step away. I had just started, I was in my first semester, and I was getting ready to sign on an apartment to live there. Um, and the Lord just changed my path. I mean, I'd been saved, and for me, I just everything I had desired for my life was before I got saved. So, I mean, I wasn't in the will of God. I was not in the will of God, you know, whenever I chose to go to law school or whenever I chose to get my undergrad from UNC Charlotte. Those were choices I made with fleshly pursuits that was nothing to do with me being in the will of God. And so when I got saved, I truly surrendered myself to his will, and that was not God's plan for me. And so I kind of went down. I ended up um, I worked at a bank. I was the branch manager of a bank, and I had done that for a year um between undergrad and um graduate school at Wake Forest. Actually, I had taken a year off to work, and so kind of just ended up. I started out as a teller and moved up to an assistant manager, moved up to a branch manager, and then my husband says, You got to quit your job. We're gonna we're gonna surrender full-time in the ministry. Um, and God is going to take care of us. And so that was a new set of struggle and faith growing for me.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

Yeah, yeah, I can imagine. I know, even just for us this last year with me um leaving teaching, it was kind of that feeling of, okay, Lord, I know, because you do get used to the income that you have coming in. And so it's like, okay, Lord, we're gonna trust you.

SPEAKER_02 17:28

So well, when when he quit his job, he was um doing, he was working at a hardware store. And um, when he quit his job, I was still okay because we still had my income. I mean, it hurt, but we still had my income and my benefits. Like my job gave us health insurance and a retirement, three weeks a year, paid vacation. It was really a great job, and I loved it. I mean, I didn't hate going to work every day, and so I still had that security. And so then when he was like, Okay, now it's time for you to quit too, because we're gonna do this together. I mean, I can't say it was one of those situations where I was like, Yes, honey, yes, whatever you say, we're gonna do that. I was like, I don't know about this. Maybe I could just work for like one more year, you know, are you sure? But I can look back and see how if I had continued to use that crutch of my job when in reality, God's will for my life, at least my life, you know, I can't speak for anybody else's life, but for my life, God's will was for me to be with my husband.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:31

And he has allowed me to have a ladies' ministry through the years. I mean, that was back in 2019. And so, you know, now in 2026, I can look back and see he had to grow me and strengthen me in my relationship with him and my surrender to my husband, or he couldn't have used me to do the things that today he lets me do.

SPEAKER_00 18:52

Yeah, yeah, that's so good. Um, I know sometimes taking that step of faith is hard, but okay, so let's talk a little bit about your church. So, what are some of your favorite things about your home church?

SPEAKER_02 19:07

Well, I love the preaching. I love, love, love, love the preaching. Um, if anybody out there is looking for some good preaching to listen to, not to take the place of you going to church, but to listen to some good preaching. Um, thanks to Calvary Baptist Church in Elkin is my church, Elkin, North Carolina. And Pastor Jeremy, I'm just telling you, he just brings it. I don't know how else to say it. He brings it every service. Um, and I love it because he challenges us. If you're around him for very long, you will just see, man, I need to read my Bible more. But he does a great job of portraying the Bible in a way that's understandable, but it also just challenges you to get in it for yourself. And so I love the preaching, I love the music. We have a wonderful spirit-filled music program. Um, I love, I wrote this down, uh Psalm 100, verse 2. Serve the Lord with gladness, come before his presence with singing. And I just feel like when I when we do get to be at my home church, which is not often, but when I get to be there, that's one of the things I look forward to most, is just getting to hear our choir sing. And I mean, they sound so beautiful, but more than that, I mean, we worship, we praise the Lord. And so I love that. And then the people, I kind of said that earlier, but um, they're just our church is the most welcoming, friendly church, and it's not a situation where you walk in and you have to look a certain way or act a certain way. People will love you where you are and be patient and understanding in your walk with the Lord. And and I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_00 20:43

Yeah, I love that. So, as since you are gone a lot um traveling, how do you stay connected with your church family?

SPEAKER_02 20:53

Well, our church supports us as missionaries. Uh, we are fully, fully funded. Our we eat and pay our bills and live um based on churches supporting us. I mean, we're missionaries. And so for us, we do submit a quarterly prayer letter, of course. We do that for all our supporting churches. Yes. Um, but our church is really, really good with technology stuff. Um, they have a live stream, and so we do our best to go back and watch, I'd say 90% at least, 90% of all the live streams, even though we're in church and my husband's preaching, I'm hearing him preaching. We try to stay involved with by going back and listening to the services, listening to the singing, the updates, and the announcements. Um, and then this is really neat. So, Miss Rebecca started a private Facebook group with it's called like TT C B C Ladies or something like that. But uh, you can go on there, all of the ladies of of the church can go on there and share prayer requests, or if there's special things coming up in the church, we'll put reminders on there, and it's just a really Good way to stay up to date with everybody. Um, and so you know, those are some some things, and I serve, I do still get to serve. Um, I asked, I really prayed and asked the Lord to help me find a place. I was kind of feeling a little disconnected. I mean, we've been doing this since 2019, and so I was feeling a little disconnected about probably a year and a half or two ago. I was just starting to kind of feel like, you know, just that sense of I want to be there. I know I'm doing what God wants me to do, but I miss homecoming and I miss, you know, just different Palm Sunday. I miss some of that special stuff that you just so look forward to. And so um, my mother-in-law actually lets me help out by doing meal trains. That's something that I do through our local church. And that helps me. Um, if if anybody's not familiar, Meal Train is pretty much like a website that you can use to help set up meals for people who are sick or going through a hard time, maybe even if they just got married. I mean, whatever you want to do. Um, but I I handle that. Um and and the Sunshine Sisters, that's another little group that I handle at our church too.

SPEAKER_00 23:11

Okay, so um the Sunshine Sisters, how did that start? And what kinds of things do you do?

SPEAKER_02 23:18

So the Sunshine Sisters started out as a group for older retired ladies. Um, and over time it has ended up being really more of a Modge Podge of some homeschool moms, some ladies of various ages that have like flexible work schedules, and and definitely some older retired ladies too. But we meet once a month from 10 a.m. to noon, and I do a little devotion, and we'll uh usually eat brunch. We'll have a little brunch and we do some kind of community outreach. Lots of times we have written cards, we've took time to I always put on like some soft piano music or something like that, just really try to make it an inviting place to be and to worship, and so we'll make cards for shut-ins or um we have we really honestly we have done so much stuff in the last year and a half. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:13

I love it. It is a lot of fun. Yeah, I love the name Sunshine Sisters. I just think that's so cool. Um then that you that you do try and get involved and do some things to um reach out to others. I think that's really neat.

SPEAKER_02 24:30

Yes, my husband. I mean, I we have a shared Google calendar, which I would recommend to any couple out there if you don't do that. But uh that's just one of the things I put on the calendar, went ahead and set the dates for the whole year. And so, you know, for the most part we just we honor that, and he's he's really good to honor that because I mean he don't have to. I mean, he's a preacher, and that is our top priority, yeah. But he's real good to not plan things on that day, right?

SPEAKER_00 25:00

That's good, that's good. Okay, so how has being involved and being a part of your church family been an encouragement to you? And do you have any specific examples that you could share?

SPEAKER_02 25:11

Yeah, um, that's a really good question. So my church family is just they're so good to us. They're so, so good to us. I know that even when I'm not there, I know that my church family is praying for me. Um, they cover us in prayer, and that's one thing that makes me feel so loved and supported because I mean, we put probably 75,000 miles a year on our car.

SPEAKER_01 25:37

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_02 25:38

And knowing that they pray for us, I mean, since 2019, we've been full-time. We've never had a major accident. That could have that could change tomorrow. Right. But I just believe with all my heart that is because people praying for us.

SPEAKER_00 25:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:51

Um, and then specifically, uh, my son, I mentioned he had bacterial meningitis uh when he was 18 months old. Um, it was the hardest thing that I've ever been through. And during that time, you know, we had to come off the field. We're missionaries, we had to come off the field. Um, they continue to support us through prayer, even finance. You know, they were really backed us and were good to us during that time. And they just were so abundantly above and beyond kind, bringing us meals and just the text messages. And and my birthday actually fell. Um, my son got sick on March 4th. My birthday is March 21st. We had just been released from the hospital because he spent almost three weeks in the hospital. And they actually had almost like a little parade in the church parking lot, which was so sweet. I will never forget it. But they just do things to try to be sunshine for people who really need some sunshine in their life. Yeah. And I have been on the receiving end of that many times.

SPEAKER_00 26:50

Yes, that is so nice. And that's one thing about church family, even just with the passing of my dad, how your church family just loves on you. And yeah, I think sometimes I know for me, like when I was working um full time, it's almost like the world is trying to step in and mimic some of those things in certain situations, because so many people have gotten out of being plugged in and having a church family. And I I'm always like, the church family is, you know, that's what we do. That's what we do for each other. Provide meals, you know, be an encouragement. And so I just think that the church does it so much better than the world does.

SPEAKER_01 27:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:38

Um, and that's what we should do as a church family, you know, we should come alongside when people are struggling and and try to fill the gaps, you know, and and be an encouragement and be a help. And um, I just think that when you're doing it with the love of Christ, it can be done so much better. And um, it's just an encouragement to be, like you said, on the receiving end, but it's also an encouragement to be a part of it and helping others as well.

SPEAKER_02 28:10

Yes, I love Galatians 6, too. Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 28:17

Yeah, very much so. And I think what I have learned even through this is I want to be better at, you know, not saying, Well, if you need something, let me know. I just want to do it, you know. Yes, I just want to be that person that just says, Hey, I've got a meal, I'm bringing it to you. Or, you know, and so I want to do a better job of that because sometimes when you're in the middle of something, you don't even know what to ask for, or you wouldn't want to ask someone, but just letting letting them be a blessing to you. And so I want to be that person who who sees the need, the Lord puts it on my heart, and I just do it.

SPEAKER_02 28:54

Yes. Oh, yes, a hundred percent. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 28:58

Okay, so um, you're often traveling to other churches, so you get to see a lot of different ways of doing things, such as you know, ladies' ministries or the nursery, things like that. So one of my questions was for you was are there, have you been able to see any brilliant ideas or like aha moments that you're like, oh, this is so fun. We should do this at our church.

SPEAKER_02 29:22

Well, you know, I do see a lot. I do see a lot. And I definitely think something that plays in here is a pastor and pastor's wife knows they're people. What works for one don't does not necessarily work for another one. But for me, um, I really like churches that have a digital missions board. Now I know there's some sort of um maybe more remote churches, especially with a bunch of older people there, they may not like that, they may hate that.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:49

But I love a digital missions board. Um, it's something that I think is worth the investment of finance and time because it's really neat, you know, when a missionary sends in their most up-to-date prayer letter. I mean, a pastor, if they church, if they um support, you know, 50 missionaries, one, it's hard for the pastor to even read all that. But then to try to read it all from the pulpit to you could come across really dry. And so true. Um I think the digital missions board is a really interesting way for people to stay up to date and want to continue to give to their missions program. They can see what the missionaries are doing, they can see where they're going, how their money's being spent. So I love that. And then um, I really love the small group Bible studies. A lot of churches that I go to, um, I see different ways that people have found to do small group Bible studies. You know, some churches will have a ladies meeting like once a month, and it'll be everybody in the church, and that's great. Yeah, and then some churches they will have small groups and it'll be five or six or seven, and they'll meet at a coffee shop. Um our church just recently I started doing some stuff for men in particular. Um, at least right now, I think it's more of a once a month type of thing, but the men will get together, and sometimes men don't always do that, so I think that's a good thing. Yeah, get the men together. Yeah, yeah. Oh, lots of lots of good stuff out there, really and truly. It's I enjoy seeing how a pastor applies something that he thinks his church is gonna enjoy, you know, taking the Bible and just trying to encourage them and give them ways to get involved that will work for their flock.

SPEAKER_00 31:26

Yeah. I like how you said that too, that it's very individualized. It has to be because the pastor knows his people and what will, you know, what will be good for them. So it doesn't always work wherever you go. But the digital missions board, I actually have only seen that once, and it was at my daughter's church in Florida. And I thought that's really cool. Um, yes. So I know people have different ways of displaying that. Ours, we have pictures of our missionaries all throughout our four-year, and then we have binders that you can pull out and read the letters because we keep them right there. And then we share, we highlight two missionaries a week and read their letters on Wednesday nights for our prayer meeting time. We always read two letters, and that's kind of how we do that to try and keep it in front of them. So, and then you mentioned the uh small group Bible studies or the way that they do Bible studies differently, and that's what I just hear about often from when people contact me to order the Bible studies in bulk. Some of them are actually like they meet weekly and go through a bit through it. Some of them actually I think they have ladies' Sunday school classes, and so they go through the book in their Sunday school class, so they use the books a lot of different ways. So um I know that people do it differently. I know for our church, we have a monthly ladies' meeting, like you mentioned, usually. Um, I think we kind of take off a couple months, you know, a couple of the busier months in the year, but mostly it's a once-a-month thing that we do.

SPEAKER_02 33:04

Yes. And I um I always recommend to people, I do have ladies, we travel a lot. I meet lots of women on the road. We're in a different church every week. Um, and I do tell people about your books because not just because you're my friend, but because they're very, very good.

SPEAKER_01 33:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:21

But I I do um always recommend that people go to the back and if they can follow the recommended reading plan because I love that you do that. That is so wonderful. I love the recommended reading plan.

SPEAKER_00 33:35

Oh, praise the Lord. Yeah, praise the Lord. I know I am I enjoy writing the books. I enjoy studying to write the books. Um, so right now my project is a devotional book that I'm working on. So it's not a Bible study, but I'm almost done and I'm excited because I'm ready to jump into the next study. So I really enjoy that. And I just really want to share that passion with ladies that they can get in and study their Bibles for themselves because I get messages all the time. You know, I had one one time, I think it was like she said she'd been saved like 50 years or something, and she had never um just never knew how to study her Bible. And I'm like, this is so important. And so I know I just kind of figured it out on my own, you know, but I think it's so important that if we can encourage ladies to get into their Bibles for themselves, and um, there's just so much growth there. The Lord wants to meet you there, and so that's really my heart for the books.

SPEAKER_02 34:44

Yeah. Well, it is a need, and because truly I meet women all the time that, you know, just because they've been saved forever does not necessarily mean that they know. I think sometimes we assume that people know more than they do, um, but it's not a situation where you get saved and then you know everything. Right. There's such a growth period of your whole life, and it's not the same. Somebody who's been safe for five years, you know, could be further along in some ways than someone that's been saved for 50 years. Yes. Not, you know what I mean? It's just we can glean from each other. I love, love, love being around other Christian women that I can invest in, but also that will invest in me.

SPEAKER_00 35:24

Yeah, yeah, yes, that's good. So uh my next question, and this is kind of because you are so busy. I watch your stories and how you guys are always on the road. So, how do you balance ministry, homeschooling, family time, all those things? And what encouragement or advice would you give to a mama who's trying to do it all?

SPEAKER_02 35:47

Well, I said this recently. Some days I feel like I can't swim and I've been pushed into the deep end of the pool.

SPEAKER_00 35:55

Probably a good way to say it.

SPEAKER_02 35:57

Yeah. Sometimes I feel that way. Um, but you got to take it day by day. Um, I'm not necessarily, I need to stop saying, um, I told myself to not do that. But chat is a big help to me. I don't know how everybody feels about chat. Now I chat hasn't took the place of my mind, but I do allow chat to help me when I'm feeling overwhelmed sometimes. I was feeling really overwhelmed a couple days ago with thinking I have so many things to do and I don't know how I'm gonna get it all done. And so when I get to those positions, um, stop it. I there is something that I kind of come back to. I've heard this before, and I'm sure a lot of y'all have, but don't let your schedule decide your priorities. Let your priorities decide your schedule. Oh, that's so good. So many, I mean, we make these long to-do lists, and then we feel so overwhelmed trying to think, well, what do I do first? What do I do next? When do I do then? But in all reality, you've got to get to the basics. I'm at a stage in my life right now that I can only do so much. So I have to get back to the basics. First of all, time with God. I need time with God. I feel like more than other people, I'm we all need it. But if I'm gonna be kind to my children and my husband, I need time with God every day. So even if it means, you know, less sleep and less of I can't do this and I can't do that. I just have to, there's some things I have to get back to. Time with God. Uh, time for my children. Maybe my phone is blowing up, and there's five people that want to talk to me about something very important, things that are important. But I'm a homeschool mom. And so I have to put my phone aside sometimes and just focus, unless it's an absolute dire emergency. Yeah, I have to take that time because that's one of the most important parts of my life right now. And then my husband, I've kind of said this a little bit already, but with my husband, I I can't speak for any other home's dynamic, but for my home, he is, you know, God gave him to me. I get to take care of him. I get to, I mean, he leads our family and he's he's everything for us, but I get to be right there beside him. And he don't want to travel alone. Maybe some people out there do, but my husband doesn't want to travel alone. So I build my life around his schedule. And that's just something for me. It gives me, it gives me that peace of I know where my priorities are. I guess that's what I'm getting at. You have to sit down and nail down your priorities because if you're trying to please everybody around you all the time, nobody, they're not gonna be. You're not gonna be, and they're not gonna be either. Right. Yes. And you can't you can't pour out of an empty cup. So, some of the best advice I ever got as a new Christian is to make sure that you wake up every day, pray, spend some personal time with the Lord, because you cannot pour out of an empty cup.

SPEAKER_00 39:00

Yeah, yeah, it's so important. I know for years because of my work schedule, I would get up at like 4:30 in the morning. And people are like, does it take you that long to get ready? And I'm like, Well, no, but I want to spend this much time with the Lord, you know, before I actually would start getting ready. I mean, I only spent like an hour getting ready, but I was like, I need that time to start my day off right. And I knew myself, I and I know myself still enough to know that if I get up and I let the day start taking me where the day is taking me, it's gonna be that much harder to sit down and focus and spend time with the Lord. So for me, mornings were always the best time. Um, and I'm also a morning person. And I know some people say, well, I'm not a morning person, but I think it's interesting that like my family, um, my two kids and my husband are not morning people, but they have, as they have grown in their walk with the Lord, they have all shifted to the morning because they recognize, I think, the importance of that, that um it's too easy to get to the end of the day and be like, oh, I'm tired, you know.

SPEAKER_02 40:11

Yeah. So well, when you wake up and get filled with the spirit, you get yourself right with the Lord, pray. Um, when you do that, the whole day, everything you just goes better, even when things aren't going well. Like I can suffer through difficulty so much better with a better attitude if I have taken the time to get prayed up and filled up. And and I don't think people, I just didn't know these things. I'm sure there's people out there that don't, but I mean, if you're not filled with the spirit, then you are filled with your flesh. If you're not waking up, filled with the spirit, surrendering your day and your attitude and your time to the Lord, then next thing you know, there's probably something you're gonna say that might offend. There's probably somebody you could have witnessed to that you didn't. I mean, just such missed opportunities. And then also, I mean, armored up, not just filled up with the spirit, but also just armored up because the devil and this world and our flesh are constantly trying to fight us being, you know, the warriors that God wants us to be. But it's it's just a call in that we spend too many days, myself included, we spend too many days just not all not being all that we could for the Lord. Right. Um, and I don't believe He would have have that for us. He we get caught up on the wrong things. I get pulled. I get pulled. There is nothing openly terrible going on in my life. I mean, I'm not fighting, having to go to the wrong places or necessarily, you know, I'm not fighting with that stuff. What I fight with is keeping my focus on the most important things.

SPEAKER_00 41:47

Yeah. And I know for me, there's been times in my life too, especially when I was working, where okay, I would get up, I would spend my time with the Lord, and then I would still let the day take me. I I say, and so then I would, I had to start finding opportunities even throughout the day sometimes to recenter my thoughts on the Lord. So I would like read a short devotion over my lunch break or something, you know, something to bring my mind back to what the Lord had showed me that morning, because it's just too easy to say, oh, I did it. And then you go about your day, and like you're saying, you get kind of something bombard you and you say something you shouldn't, you you know, you're you're just not in the right spirit. So I think it's important to sometimes just if you're even throughout the day, if you need to take a moment to reorient your thoughts toward the Lord. Um, I think it's easier for me now because I'm at home. Obviously, you know, you have less distractions coming at you than when you're teaching full time or whatever. So it's just kind of one of those things where everybody kind of knows, knows their schedule, knows their situation, and they know what what they need. So starting with the Lord, and then if you need to add in more, add in more, find that moment at your lunch break or something like that.

SPEAKER_02 43:06

So I think where people get in a very dangerous place, and I can say this because I've been in this place, is I don't have time. You can let the devil fool you into thinking that you don't have time. And actually, Miss Tiffany Poplin, her husband brother Brent, said something recently that was so profound. Um, he was telling her, you know, well, what do you mean you don't have time? I can find time, let me see your schedule. And she's like, You're gonna find time in my schedule that I didn't find. He says, Yeah, let me see your schedule. I'll find time for you. And it was just kind of a really that was maybe more of an aha moment that I've had recently than anything, because I thought, you know what? How many times do I feel so overwhelmed thinking this can't work? I can't do this, I can't do that. And sometimes I think you need a fresh set of eyes. If you're in a place in your life where you're thinking, I'm doing all I can, I go. To work, I come home, I cook supper, I take care of the kids, I go to bed, I'm exhausted. You know, I attend my church faithfully. If you're feeling just so overwhelmed, truly, maybe your pastor or your pastor's wife or a Christian friend or your spouse, surrender your schedule to them and say, Help me. What is here that I'm not seeing?

SPEAKER_00 44:18

Yeah, that's good. That's a really good idea. Yeah. I think it's good sometimes to get that outside perspective for sure. It's we get tunnel vision. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and you have to get to do that requires that you be a little bit vulnerable with people, which is probably why we don't do it that much. You know, we don't want to ask for that help or ask for someone else to look at it and see because we think it's going to feel like, you know, instead of a help, we would see it as they're pointing out what we should already have known or something like that, you know, or a failure of ours that we didn't make the time. But truly, it's just about asking, asking for help. And I think that's so good. That's I really like that thought of letting someone else look at your schedule.

SPEAKER_02 45:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:05

So, okay, so take a minute here and talk to the woman who is reluctant to get involved in their church. So it could be for a variety of reasons. I think some people are just shy or they're busy, or maybe they're just comfortable attending church. Um, but how would you encourage them to really get in and get involved beyond that?

SPEAKER_02 45:26

Yes. Well, first of all, I will say there is no life like serving the Lord. Um, as you know, you got your salvation nailed down. Well, then what next? Get to serving. You got your salvation now nailed down. You need to get spirit-filled every day, but then get to serving the Lord. My pastor, probably many people have said this, but my pastor says, God isn't looking for your ability, He's looking for your availability. Please shuck all that ability that you have and just give him your availability because truly, I know for me, there probably was something in me that thought I had quite a bit of ability when I came into this Christian walk. I mean, I, you know, graduated and I was sort of pursuing higher education and things. So I guess in my mind, I'd sort of, you know, gotten somewhere, which is so silly because he humbled me to where I knew nothing about the life that I was gonna live. But humble yourself and just trust that God does not need the best speaker, he does not need the prettiest, he doesn't need all these things that you can fill in, whatever all the things are that you can fill in. Um, he needs you. So just surrender yourself to the Lord and just trust him to fill your schedule with opportunities to serve him. If you go to your pastor's wife or your pastor and you say, Look, I don't know a whole lot and I'm kind of shy, but I really would like to start doing a little bit more around here. Is there something that I can do? They will probably just fall down on the floor and say, Praise the Lord, hallelujah.

SPEAKER_01 47:02

Yes, that is such a need.

SPEAKER_02 47:05

That is such a need. Most pastors would tell you they ain't looking for for that ability, they're just looking for some people that have some availability. Yeah. So just do it. Don't be scared. Don't be scared. It'll work, it'll all work out. The Lord will give you the right opportunities and He'll even train you. He will train you to do what He's asked you to do. Yes, I love that.

SPEAKER_00 47:25

I think the Lord actually He prepares us even before we know that we're being prepared for anything. He's already working in our hearts and preparing us for what he has for us. That's um just what I believe. So, okay, my last question. This is part of my ministry mindset series. So, what does that phrase mean to mean to you, ministry mindset? And how do you think that we could all do better to see our involvement in our local church or even our daily walk as an opportunity for ministry?

SPEAKER_02 47:59

Yes. Okay. Well, let me start with a short story. Uh, this morning I was doing homeschool with my kids and really feeling that pull of, you know, I'm a teacher to so many women, I teach so many things in my life, but do I always teach my children the Bible? I mean, they have a Bible-based curriculum, but I was kind of feeling that this morning. Most of you mamas out there, especially homeschool mamas, you'll understand that. It's like, do I do enough for them? And so we sat down and we were having our little Bible study, and I read Colossians 3, 23. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men. And I told them, whatever you do, like I said, what's your job right now in life? What has God given you to do? And they said, Well, school. I guess school is my job right now. I said, Yes, absolutely. School is one of the biggest jobs you have right now. And so we said, Well, so every day if you wake up and do your job, do your school with the right attitude, and you do it with everything you have, you write nice and neat, and you try your best to get the right answers. If you do that, do you think that pleases God, or do you think it displeases God? And like, oh yeah, he'll be so happy about that. And I'm like, Yes, absolutely, 100%. Wake up every day and do your job, do what God has given you to do, whatever that is, with all your heart. Give it all you've got, do the very best you can, and just trust him that he will work out all the other details. And so we were talking about that, and it was like the Lord really spoke to me because I thought, oh, how many days do you wake up, Bree? And you're thinking, man, I have to travel again, have to get on the road again, have to pack another bag, I have to do homeschool. I don't even have time for homeschool today. I have so much stuff to do. How many days do I wake up and I just I'm not worshiping the Lord when I'm bellyaching about the job that he's given me to do? And so for me, I feel like we can look at we can look at our Lord Jesus and we can see, he said, Well, the Bible says he but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. I mean, we just have to humble ourselves. We've got to humble ourselves. A ministry mindset is not just what you do, it's how you live. It's literally choosing to see your entire life as a place where you can worship God. I can worship God in washing the dishes, in loving my husband, giving him a big old hug and a kiss when he gets home. I can worship the Lord by giving everything I have to homeschooling my babies and being a servant in my church. And so I just feel like I don't want to pick on anybody, but when you look at churches as a whole, I'm not trying to pick, but you probably heard this statistic. 10% of people do 90% of the work. 10% of people do 90% of the work. And I don't think it's that God gave 10% of people the 90% of the work. And so I would just challenge anybody out there, consider if your church has a hundred people, 10 of those are doing the great majority of what's going on. Are you one of those 10? Are you one of the people that's doing that? Or are you somebody that's just kind of showing up? And if somebody asks you and if your schedule will allow, then you'll get involved. But I would challenge you to change your mindset. Change to a ministry mindset because ministry mindset is not showing up to Sunday morning church, having missed Sunday school. I'm so sorry if that hurts anybody. I really don't mean it that way. But a ministry mindset is showing up, being faithful, unless there is absolutely something intervening you, and not just showing up expecting to be blessed. Lord, bless me if you can. Don't show up like that. Show up and say, Who can I bless today? Show up and say, Who will you let me help today, Lord? And when you do that, he is going to help you. You're gonna be helping others, but then he's gonna be helping you.

SPEAKER_00 52:01

So that's so good. Yes, I think that's so good. Oh, yep. A lot of wisdom there to think about and consider. I think how we how we show up is important. And you're right, if we are going in thinking, what am I gonna get out of this today? instead of what can I give? That's a huge, huge mindset shift that will help us because, like you said, when we go in wanting to bless others or invest in others, then the Lord is gonna bless us. We're gonna be blessed. I know I see that even just as part of going and speaking at different ladies' events. You know, I'm always praying that I can go in and be a blessing and be an encouragement. And I walk away so blessed and encouraged myself. And so the Lord just does that for us. So thank you so much for being on the podcast and taking time for the interview. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 52:56

Well, thank you for having me. I love all that you're doing, and I just thank you for your mentorship in my life. You have made a difference in my life.

SPEAKER_00 53:03

So thank you. Oh, you're welcome. Praise the Lord. I will put links to the meeting because they can still come, they can still register, right? Yes, ma'am. They still can. Okay, I will put links in the show notes so that they can register for that ladies' meeting in June. Um, hopefully they can come because it's it's gonna be great.

SPEAKER_02 53:26

Y'all do not want to miss it. You do not want to miss it. It's gonna be so much fun. We're gonna have a good time.

SPEAKER_00 53:33

Oh, yes. I can I can speak for that. These ladies are a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02 53:39

Uh, we pray that you're gonna get a lot of spiritual help, but you are also just gonna have a lot of fun. Yes.

unknown 53:44

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 53:45

Uh it's a good balance. It's a good balance. So yeah. All right. Well, thank you so much. All right. Thank you, Miss Crystal. Bye. Okay, thank you so much for joining us for this week's episode of Wisdom for Wednesday next week. We'll be back to our study through First Thessalonians. We'll be on chapter five. So make sure you tune in for that and look for those links to the Quiet Resting Places ladies' meeting in Pigeon Forge. It's in June and June 25th and June 26th. And if you are able to go, I know that you will not regret it. See you next week.