Designing Your Faith: J. Marie Jones on Intentional Journaling & Affirming the Word

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J Marie Jones: It doesn't work.

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So something must not be right.

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So God, I'm willing for you to completely tear this whole thing apart and show me

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the right way so that I can have true and lasting peace in my life so that

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things can really get back on track.

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And I can know within myself that I'm truly following you and not making

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it my own hodgepodge of a religion.

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Because that's what I've been doing.

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You ready to transform your daily walk with God?

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Welcome to today's episode of Seek, Go, Create the Leadership

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Journey, where we're joined by J.

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Marie Jones, founder of Affirm the Word Literary.

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J.

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Marie is dedicated to helping believers internalize and affirm God's word in every

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Every aspect of their lives, from health and relationships to business and faith.

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In this episode, Jay Marie shares insights from her journey of faith and the powerful

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role that scripture and affirmations play in personal transformation, discover how

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her experience as a mother and mentor have fueled her passion for producing

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spiritual books and journals that support believers in living out their true faith.

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calling.

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J Marie, welcome to Seat Go Create.

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J Marie Jones: Hey, thank you so much for having me.

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Great to have you here.

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J Marie, we have just met.

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So this is not a fake type question, but let's just say we're out and about

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somewhere and we bump into each other or we're meeting or something like that.

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And I ask you what you do.

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What's your response when somebody asks you what you do?

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J Marie Jones: I try and keep it simple and I just say I design things.

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Because usually when I come across folks in New York, especially having a

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background in communications, design, media, when I used to tell people

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what I did every day, especially if I said I was an author, either they

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have a book they've been trying to write, They're trying to get produced.

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They want to know about the company.

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So I don't say that if I said that I work for a particular agency, which

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I have for so, so long, then they asked me if they can give me a resume.

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So to keep it simple, I just say I'm a designer.

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And then once we start getting, we stay there for any length of time and we start

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talking about our lives and our walk, I just say, I'm a vessel that's willing

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to do and be and go whatever God wants.

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That's it.

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Be obedient.

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Is it, what is the relationship between someone who's a designer and someone

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who would call themselves an artist?

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What's the relation?

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Are they siblings, cousins, not related or similar?

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J Marie Jones: I think that this really.

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determines whether or not you're looking at this as a profession or

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just something that you do because it's a part of your creative identity.

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And for me, for a long time, that was my profession.

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I was a designer that specialized in media production, communication, and

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mostly video for the city of New York.

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So this is my profession.

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And when people hear about, especially being an African American and a female.

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In a technology driven profession, it's very rare, and if you get the opportunity

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to do that in city government, that's another level of rarity for people.

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So the fact that I was able to do that, that I went to school for it and actually

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worked within the profession that I went to school for was very interesting

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to people and exciting to them.

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Were you interested in that?

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Or was that something that started like in, you know, as

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you matured and went to college?

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I mean, like as a kid, where you want to do video or things related to that.

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J Marie Jones: I'm glad you asked that question because when I was younger,

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I actually, I started off in Catholic school and then when I went to junior

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high school, I went to the Parsons Junior High School for Performing Arts.

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But I went to the Parsons Junior High School for Performing Arts and the

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majors there were, art, chorus, dance, all these out front type of majors.

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And I picked art because I didn't want to be out front anywhere.

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And while I was taking art, I found out about the high school of art and design.

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I was like, well, if I can go to school and just really draw a

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day and not really have to do any work, I definitely want to do that.

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And by God's grace, I got into art and design.

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And then of course I had been doing it.

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So you might as well just keep on going.

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And by the time I got to St.

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John's, I was also in ministry and my pastor was starting a television, like

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the public access television program.

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And at that time, because I was really trying to find out who I was,

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everything that came up, I would try and be, you know, the song like, come

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on, come on, come on, come on, come on.

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I mean, I, I guess that was probably me because if it seemed like it

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was going the right direction.

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It was something that I could receive validation for, then I would try

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and do it, anything from building technology to design and because

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he was moving into video, I said, well, why don't I start doing video?

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And I really found through that, that not only did I like to do video production,

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but video really incorporates all elements of design because you have graphic

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design, you have photography, you have all the different elements of it, but it's

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moving, you have sound, you have motion.

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So I found that I really liked it.

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And when I was preparing to drop out of ST john's, one of my professors gave me

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this entire breakdown of the disparities in income for, you know, for high school

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dropouts versus high school graduates.

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And so I said, you know what?

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Yeah, that makes sense.

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And he said, well, listen, it's not a dropping out.

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Why don't you find something you really, really like to do

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and just transfer to that major?

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And I dropped public administration and went into television and media

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communication and got straight A's and the rest is history.

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Hmm.

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I do want to make note that I believe of all the episodes we've had here at

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Seek Go Create, you are the first person that has referenced a Boy George song.

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So I do, well, we don't have a special award for that or anything.

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I don't think we should, but, thanks for that obscure reference from the eighties.

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You're just, you're just trying to, you're just trying to pander to the

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old dude that's interviewing you.

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So, but, you know, you know, what's cool about that conversation, I'm glad

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I asked that question because as we get into later talking about, you know,

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affirming the word and the intentional journal, journaling and all that God

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has you doing now, a lot of the reasons.

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That people want to do those things is to find out what they're created for.

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What is their purpose on this earth?

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God, why did you put me here?

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But I think if we go back even to the playground or the, you know, the

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playrooms or the, you know, churches or schools, wherever we grew up, I think

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that God has given us clues along the way if we, if we pay attention to it.

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And it sounds as if the story you just told, the answer to the question I

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just asked, kind Affirms that, to use the word affirm here, and, and you

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were kind of on this path that kept being moved around and all to, to move

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you towards your purpose, correct?

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J Marie Jones: Correct.

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And I use all of it today and it really affirms to me that God wastes nothing.

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Yeah,

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J Marie Jones: You may be taking these steps and you work here,

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you do this and you do that.

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And I would have never imagined that all those things that I've done throughout

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my life, volunteering in different ministries and having people say to me,

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well, what are you getting out of it?

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And you're not even getting paid and got to use.

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All of it to give me so many wonderful opportunities, even

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for the city of New York.

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I mean, I've done the, Times Square ball drop.

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I've done the Thanksgiving Day parade.

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I've done so many different things and now I'm doing all of this and

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I would have never imagined that I would be here doing it and loving it.

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Every day I love it.

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It's something different.

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The way that God gives you gifts, talents, and abilities that really

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tie into your personality, because I could never do an office job.

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I remember going and getting interviewed someplace.

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And it was for me at that time, a whole lot of money.

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And the recruiter there said, There's so many things that you can do.

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I see on your resume, you have so many talents, and I'm just concerned you'd be

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bored here because it's really just Excel.

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I can even see you ascending to be a buyer, but until you became the

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buyer and had more of a challenge, I just see you being bored.

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So she said, you know, today's Friday.

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Think about it over the weekend.

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If you don't want to come back, then we'll just, you know, we'll let it go.

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And that's it.

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And I never went back.

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But the fact that even other people could see, I know your personality

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and even God throughout the years placed me even in civil service.

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Cause it's so rare that you get something that is not humdrum day in and day out.

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All of my positions have been me moving and shaking and doing different things

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because when you really at least intend to give your life to God, even if it's

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not for the right reasons, but your desire is to give your life to God, he

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still works everything out for your good.

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And I'm so grateful for that.

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the unfortunate thing is, I think that we will often get this.

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Paradigm or dogmatic view of what we believe God can do for us.

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Maybe it's one career, one thing, whatever.

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And then as we are, we use the word surrender as we surrender more,

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we recognize that he can do so much more than our, my words here,

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puny little minds can, can do.

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Imagine, you know, it's interesting you brought up that

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God uses all of these things.

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There was a period of time we, we had some businesses that did very well.

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they were all in real estate leading in 08 and then they didn't.

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It's kind of what's led to this beautiful, what I consider

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miraculous life that we lead now.

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We never would have done it were it not for that.

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And I remember having conversations with God in Part of my journaling experience,

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by the way, where I was feeling a little bit, of, failure may not be the

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right word, my identity had been tied up in certain things with business.

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And I was just kind of in my own way, crying out saying, Lord, it

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feels like, this time has been wasted that, why did we do this?

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What happened here?

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Blah, blah, blah, sort of probably not prayer.

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It was probably more whining.

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If I, you know, would admit it.

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I felt as if the Lord told me that nothing that I have done or been through will be

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wasted for the advancement of his kingdom.

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And it really kind of changed the perspective and that's roughly what

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you've just told me with your life.

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Correct?

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J Marie Jones: That's correct.

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Nothing is wasted.

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He showed me every relationship, every encounter, every affiliation

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within the organization, even if the organization wasn't legit and

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they had stuff, doesn't even matter.

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Everything is for your good.

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If you love God and are called according to His purpose, as per Romans 8.

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28, He's true to His word in that essentially, in a

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nutshell, He wastes nothing.

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He's just that good.

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Yeah.

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And I think sometimes we try to shape and frame things.

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You brought up something when it might've been the first question

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I asked, you mentioned that the role you were, you were in.

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was, I don't know exactly how you worded it, but because you were

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an African American woman, it was a unique role for you to be in.

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And for those that are listening and can't see us, I am a older white dude.

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You're, I'm going to call you a youngest, youngish African American.

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I'm not going to ask your age.

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My wife would be so upset if I did that.

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Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

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You know what I mean?

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For us to say, this is why that would be a potential challenge

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for an African American woman.

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just tell me more.

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J Marie Jones: Yeah.

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the media to television and media production profession

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is a male dominated, mostly.

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White male dominated profession.

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And if there are other men, you know, of course there are different, racial

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backgrounds that are represented, but most of the majority of white male,

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and then you may have some other ethnicities, but they're also male.

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And then you start to have a little sprinkle of females present, but

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then they're white male dominated.

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females.

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So to have an african american woman who's not only in this male dominated

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profession, but in a leadership role is very rare because in both of my

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roles with the city of new york in one, I was director of videography

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for one of the largest city agencies, which was the department of sanitation.

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And the second was a director of digital communications for the new york

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city department of human resources.

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So that alone is the largest municipal city agency in New York City behind the

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police department There are many times I went into a meeting and I was the

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only African American in the meeting.

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There are other times that I went into the meeting, I was

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the only female in the meeting.

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So to go into these environments and to have the opportunity to

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many times work around only men, especially at the department of

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sanitation, we're out of almost 9, 000.

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workers, maybe only 500 were women.

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So I'm really grateful to God that he allowed me to not only

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work within this profession, but to love it at the same time.

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You know, there's many times in the gentleman that I work with were absolutely

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just that gentleman to go out there on the routes with sanitation workers many times.

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And at that time, our commissioner was a female as well.

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So to go out there in the route and to actually climb into the top of a

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snow melter or to go into a cut down truck or so many different things

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was an experience and opportunity.

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For me to see that God is able to use you in ways that you

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could have never imagined.

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And that it's only us who placed the limitations on us.

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If we really give ourselves to God and let him lead it and do our best

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to block out the noise, because mind you, With that understanding in mind

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about what the industry looks like, I grew up with people saying, what

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type of money are you going to make?

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What are you going to do doing this art thing?

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And you need to get yourself a good government job so you can take

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care of yourself and get a pension.

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I heard all that stuff growing up, but still decided, listen, I

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really want to enjoy what I'm doing.

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And it's not really about me making all kinds of money and being miserable.

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I'd rather at least try to get out there and see what can happen.

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And this is what The result was, you

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One more question related to that.

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I don't deny that there are some people in those roles, in those

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boardrooms, the meeting rooms and all of that, that they all look the same

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and they want to keep it that way.

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I don't deny that at all.

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However, I just have this thought, this belief, this hope, this prayer, this

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wish that most people that are there and they look around the table and they

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all look the same, it could be that they just don't know any different.

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They could be naive.

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I don't know.

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But what would you want to tell?

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A group of people that look like me that are sitting around the table that

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May not know how to have more people that look different to come in to

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those rooms What would we need to know?

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I've learned I think we're some of us are just kind of ignorant

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to what it looks like to not be at that table, if that makes sense.

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what would you like to tell me about that or people that are going, well, we're

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open to people coming in, but yet we look around and the table still looks the same.

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J Marie Jones: mean, I believe them when they in many instances, and I can

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only really speak to the public sector.

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I did work in the private sector in production because I was a graphic

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production manager in the private sector.

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And it was all, it was diverse there.

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However, I do believe that there are a lot of organizations and upper management

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that are looking to diversify and have different backgrounds come in.

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But those other, racial backgrounds need to Try you have to put yourself out there

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and really seek out those positions.

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Because when I first came to sanitation, I believe this particular title was

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public administration specialist, a public association specialist, and they hired,

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I think, 18 people just to come in and do graphics, public relations type work.

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And out of all those 18 people, only two were minorities, maybe.

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Six were female.

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Eighteen, only two minorities, and they're looking for diversity.

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They're looking to bring in different people, but you got to really believe,

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and you know, your self talk and your environment are two crucial

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aspects that can really affect how you advance and progress in life.

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And if you speak negatively to yourself, If you focus on all the things that

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won't go right and all the things that aren't happening, and then you allow

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people to come into your headspace, into your ear gate, and say how you're gonna

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make it and challenge every single thing that you're trying to do, there's a

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good chance that you won't go anywhere.

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Because the things that you listen to and the things that you consume

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that speak to who you are and where you're going, and then essentially

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against where you want to go and who you want to be, are what determine.

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Your outcome.

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So if you see that you're not moving, you're not going anywhere.

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You need to really look at what am I saying to myself and what am I listening

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to concerning at least the hopes and dreams and desires that I know God

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has placed in my heart, because if God has places here and I know I belong

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to him, he doesn't just do things.

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for nothing.

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He does everything for a purpose.

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So if he's giving it to me, he hasn't given it to me as like some type of

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spiritual carrot to hold out in front of me and say, listen, you can have

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this, but you're never going to get it.

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If he's putting it there, it's because it's something that he

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wants to manifest in my life.

Tim Winders: 00:18:09

And if I really believe that and trust that, then that means I submitted

Tim Winders: 00:18:13

to God in anything and anyone.

Tim Winders: 00:18:16

And that's what That rises up in opposition to that has to take a backseat.

Tim Winders: 00:18:21

And it's not about me saying, listen, get out of my life.

Tim Winders: 00:18:23

Stop talking.

Tim Winders: 00:18:23

No, you have to make the effort to go in a different direction to move in a

Tim Winders: 00:18:29

direction toward what God is saying.

Tim Winders: 00:18:31

And that's it.

Tim Winders: 00:18:31

Because you can't change anybody's words.

Tim Winders: 00:18:33

You can't change their mind.

Tim Winders: 00:18:35

And unfortunately, sadly, many times it's the closest people to us.

Tim Winders: 00:18:39

Sometimes it's your parents.

Tim Winders: 00:18:40

Sometimes it's your siblings.

Tim Winders: 00:18:42

Sometimes it's a partner that you've had for a long time, But

Tim Winders: 00:18:45

you have to be willing to say, okay, God, I don't know how to take

Tim Winders: 00:18:48

a step in a different direction.

Tim Winders: 00:18:50

Show me the way to go.

Tim Winders: 00:18:52

I bless that person.

Tim Winders: 00:18:53

I released that person and you leave the rest to God

Tim Winders: 00:18:57

I think one of the things that we also need to recognize, which

Tim Winders: 00:19:00

you said this in a great way is We also have to recognize that the world

Tim Winders: 00:19:08

system is not about that, you know, diversity, bringing people together.

Tim Winders: 00:19:16

It's about division and strife and chaos and all of those things.

Tim Winders: 00:19:22

Yeah.

Tim Winders: 00:19:23

And so we have to recognize that God's kingdom, that's not the way it operates.

Tim Winders: 00:19:27

And, you know, we, and people listening in have got our passport

Tim Winders: 00:19:32

stamped with the kingdom of God.

Tim Winders: 00:19:33

But yet we still are kind of hanging out in this.

Tim Winders: 00:19:37

World system that is all about junk and mess and all this ugly stuff.

Tim Winders: 00:19:43

Right.

Tim Winders: 00:19:44

And so it's one of the reasons why all this is important that

Tim Winders: 00:19:46

we're talking about here, right?

Tim Winders: 00:19:48

J Marie Jones: Yes.

Tim Winders: 00:19:48

I'm so glad.

Tim Winders: 00:19:49

Go ahead.

Tim Winders: 00:19:50

J Marie Jones: I'm glad you said that because whenever I start.

Tim Winders: 00:19:54

with any type of interview or podcast and people ask me

Tim Winders: 00:19:57

about my life and what we do.

Tim Winders: 00:19:59

I always like to reference Luke 9 23, where Jesus said, if anyone would come

Tim Winders: 00:20:04

after me, let him first deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.

Tim Winders: 00:20:08

For anyone who seeks to find his life will lose it.

Tim Winders: 00:20:11

Anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.

Tim Winders: 00:20:13

But what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?

Tim Winders: 00:20:16

And I reference that I speak it every single day in my life,

Tim Winders: 00:20:19

because the believers walk in a nutshell is about surrender.

Tim Winders: 00:20:23

When Jesus Christ was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit,

Tim Winders: 00:20:27

he was led there to die to self.

Tim Winders: 00:20:30

to completely surrender.

Tim Winders: 00:20:32

And when we give our life to Christ, many people think that

Tim Winders: 00:20:34

it's about going to the altar.

Tim Winders: 00:20:36

You say, okay, God, I'll give you my life.

Tim Winders: 00:20:38

And then that's it.

Tim Winders: 00:20:39

And now everything is going to start going your way.

Tim Winders: 00:20:41

Now God is going to do everything you want.

Tim Winders: 00:20:43

And that may be implied in a whole bunch of sermons all across the country

Tim Winders: 00:20:47

for decades and decades, but that is not what God says in his word.

Tim Winders: 00:20:50

When you go, you're going to give all of yourself.

Tim Winders: 00:20:53

All the plans that you had, everything that you thought you wanted to do,

Tim Winders: 00:20:56

you go and you lay that before God.

Tim Winders: 00:20:58

It's not to say it may not happen, but if it isn't something that God has for you,

Tim Winders: 00:21:03

we should be willing to say, God, here, take it because you know why you created

Tim Winders: 00:21:06

me and you know what you created me to do.

Tim Winders: 00:21:08

And if this is what you had me to do, great.

Tim Winders: 00:21:11

If you had me to do it, but in a different way, great.

Tim Winders: 00:21:13

If you have something completely different from me, great.

Tim Winders: 00:21:16

But whatever it is that you're doing, I'm surrendered to it and I'm willing

Tim Winders: 00:21:19

to come and ask that you lead me and guide me each day so that your will

Tim Winders: 00:21:24

can be done Your way and in your time.

Tim Winders: 00:21:29

Amen.

Tim Winders: 00:21:30

When did you figure that out?

Tim Winders: 00:21:31

This

Tim Winders: 00:21:33

J Marie Jones: in the last just in the last couple of years

Tim Winders: 00:21:35

morning, this morning,

Tim Winders: 00:21:39

J Marie Jones: Like in the last two or three years I wish I didn't know

Tim Winders: 00:21:42

this when I given my life to Christ at 12 years old, because only God knows

Tim Winders: 00:21:46

where I'd be right now if I knew that, but it's just only been in the last

Tim Winders: 00:21:49

two to three years, especially since COVID, that I've come to a real thorough

Tim Winders: 00:21:55

understanding about, about what this is all about, especially being in surrender,

Tim Winders: 00:21:59

because we're, when you mentioned that our life is not about the world's way,

Tim Winders: 00:22:05

That really is what you're saying.

Tim Winders: 00:22:07

Like the world is saying, listen, you need to get to a place where

Tim Winders: 00:22:09

you can pull yourself up by your own bootstraps and you can do what you need.

Tim Winders: 00:22:11

And God's way is about total dependence on him.

Tim Winders: 00:22:14

It's a totally different thing.

Tim Winders: 00:22:16

You know, the world is saying you got to look out for yourself and you're

Tim Winders: 00:22:18

going to get a maid and you know, you got to make sure that it's 50, 50.

Tim Winders: 00:22:22

And God is saying, listen, you going into something, want to lay yourself down.

Tim Winders: 00:22:25

for the other person in the same way that you laid yourself down for him.

Tim Winders: 00:22:29

You're now going into partnership to lay yourself down to another person who

Tim Winders: 00:22:33

prayerfully has already laid themselves down before God and they're looking to

Tim Winders: 00:22:37

lay themselves down before another person.

Tim Winders: 00:22:39

This is not about you going to get your own objectives met in

Tim Winders: 00:22:43

partnership with somebody else.

Tim Winders: 00:22:44

You know, everything that we do when it comes to our walk with God

Tim Winders: 00:22:48

is about his design and purpose.

Tim Winders: 00:22:50

For it, not the world's understanding and interpretation on how we should be living

Tim Winders: 00:22:56

so that we can have this great life.

Tim Winders: 00:22:58

yeah, the battle, I think that many of us, and I think

Tim Winders: 00:23:02

you fit in this category too.

Tim Winders: 00:23:03

You're, you're an achiever.

Tim Winders: 00:23:05

You're one that was probably wired to achieve and accomplish

Tim Winders: 00:23:10

things, which is a good thing.

Tim Winders: 00:23:12

You know, I, I probably am wired the same.

Tim Winders: 00:23:16

I think the Lord's working on me in my, I call them my second half of life here to

Tim Winders: 00:23:22

just be a little more at rest and peace.

Tim Winders: 00:23:24

but you know, that, that world system is all about ownership and control.

Tim Winders: 00:23:29

I own all this and I control it, which also leads to covetousness

Tim Winders: 00:23:33

and a lot of other things.

Tim Winders: 00:23:34

We won't, I won't start preaching here because I'm going to let you do more

Tim Winders: 00:23:36

preaching, but God's kingdom is about stewardship, not really owning anything

Tim Winders: 00:23:43

and surrender that you brought up.

Tim Winders: 00:23:45

and I think part of the battle in first world, I think if you and I were

Tim Winders: 00:23:49

having this, we wouldn't be having this conversation because we've got

Tim Winders: 00:23:51

all the recorders cameras and all that.

Tim Winders: 00:23:54

If we were in some part of the world that they don't have the

Tim Winders: 00:23:57

luxury and abundance that we have, we wouldn't be talking about it.

Tim Winders: 00:24:02

In the same way, I do think that,

Tim Winders: 00:24:08

I'm going to use a word that is, it's kind of a tough word sometimes in especially

Tim Winders: 00:24:11

modern church world is prosperity.

Tim Winders: 00:24:14

I do think that prosperity messes with us and I'm not anti prosperity, but I

Tim Winders: 00:24:19

also think that prosperity and comfort, you said it earlier, a lot of people

Tim Winders: 00:24:24

believe that once they give their life to Christ or become a Christian,

Tim Winders: 00:24:28

it's like a magic pill for all of a sudden, now everything is sunshine

Tim Winders: 00:24:32

rainbows and their life is great.

Tim Winders: 00:24:34

And there's nothing scriptural about that,

Tim Winders: 00:24:39

nothing

Tim Winders: 00:24:40

J Marie Jones: at all.

Tim Winders: 00:24:41

but so here's something that kind of nags at me.

Tim Winders: 00:24:44

I've had this often.

Tim Winders: 00:24:46

Did I see that you're a preacher's kid?

Tim Winders: 00:24:50

J Marie Jones: Yes, indeed.

Tim Winders: 00:24:52

you kind of respond the way most people respond.

Tim Winders: 00:24:56

Isn't that the greatest, isn't it the greatest thing

Tim Winders: 00:24:59

ever to be a preacher's kid?

Tim Winders: 00:25:01

Or is it the worst thing ever to be a preacher's kid or somewhere in between?

Tim Winders: 00:25:05

talk to me about that.

Tim Winders: 00:25:09

J Marie Jones: I'd have to say it's somewhere in between because the

Tim Winders: 00:25:12

reality is that none of us are perfect.

Tim Winders: 00:25:14

And I'm sure there are many folk out there that could say

Tim Winders: 00:25:17

their parents weren't perfect.

Tim Winders: 00:25:19

And when you are a quote unquote preacher's kid, you get to see

Tim Winders: 00:25:22

that imperfection up close.

Tim Winders: 00:25:24

But when you get outside the house, people see another version of that.

Tim Winders: 00:25:28

And so you really deal with the dissonance Okay.

Tim Winders: 00:25:34

The person is holy.

Tim Winders: 00:25:35

They are kind.

Tim Winders: 00:25:36

They are charismatic.

Tim Winders: 00:25:37

They are caring.

Tim Winders: 00:25:38

They can pray.

Tim Winders: 00:25:39

They can pray, you know, the lights out of a place possibly.

Tim Winders: 00:25:42

But when you deal with also the imperfections of that and learning,

Tim Winders: 00:25:46

okay, what is it that you accept?

Tim Winders: 00:25:48

What is it that you don't accept?

Tim Winders: 00:25:49

What is really not okay.

Tim Winders: 00:25:51

And what are the boundaries I think it makes it more complicated because

Tim Winders: 00:25:54

now you have this God aspect of puts me in a place of do I have to accept?

Tim Winders: 00:25:59

Do I have to deal?

Tim Winders: 00:26:01

Do I have to conform?

Tim Winders: 00:26:02

Is this the way that I should be?

Tim Winders: 00:26:03

Is this the way that I should not be?

Tim Winders: 00:26:04

Because it's so much confusion with it to where you're trying to

Tim Winders: 00:26:08

live and find and at the same time trying to find out who you are.

Tim Winders: 00:26:12

In the midst of that, because you have all this, this is the way

Tim Winders: 00:26:15

you're supposed to be on top of that.

Tim Winders: 00:26:18

And you see the disparities between, okay, what seems, looks like it's

Tim Winders: 00:26:21

supposed to be right and what's not.

Tim Winders: 00:26:23

So it's a, I say at an, in a nutshell, at the ball of confusion, because

Tim Winders: 00:26:28

trying to find yourself in the midst of that, but you don't want to be

Tim Winders: 00:26:32

displeasing to God, but you also want to be true to who you are.

Tim Winders: 00:26:36

It's, it's very difficult.

Tim Winders: 00:26:38

And the folks that haven't grown up, I think it's enough to grow up in the

Tim Winders: 00:26:41

church, but to grow up in the church and then have this, this kind of veil

Tim Winders: 00:26:47

or covering of righteousness or proposed righteousness or whatever the case may be.

Tim Winders: 00:26:53

But then you don't see that you're looking at, okay, what exactly is going on?

Tim Winders: 00:26:58

And I think that's why a lot of PKs, preachers, kids.

Tim Winders: 00:27:02

Usually walk away from the church when they grow up for some time many do come

Tim Winders: 00:27:06

back after a while They've been out there to get it to have their own personal

Tim Winders: 00:27:09

encounter with God and see that Listen, if I didn't do everything right and I

Tim Winders: 00:27:12

haven't been going to church for the past 10 years But God still loves me and he's

Tim Winders: 00:27:15

still here and he's still been blessing me You know many come back because they

Tim Winders: 00:27:19

begin to have their own encounters with God and say, okay God is not a boogeyman

Tim Winders: 00:27:22

standing behind the door waiting to bash me upside the head with a holy ghost bat.

Tim Winders: 00:27:26

He really loves me and he really has a plan and purpose for me and it's not

Tim Winders: 00:27:30

about me performing and it's not about me being perfect and it's not about me

Tim Winders: 00:27:33

never making a mistake, but he really does have my best interests at heart.

Tim Winders: 00:27:36

They come back.

Tim Winders: 00:27:37

But many don't because they can't really reconcile what they've grown up with

Tim Winders: 00:27:43

as far as seeing behavior that wasn't Christ like, their own personal desires

Tim Winders: 00:27:47

and wants and dreams, the failures that have happened in their life.

Tim Winders: 00:27:51

You know, I think it's really complex for a lot of preacher's kids and it

Tim Winders: 00:27:55

shouldn't be, but it just is sometimes.

Tim Winders: 00:27:57

I think as we grow up in our households, we look at our parents

Tim Winders: 00:28:03

and if we see people that act one way in one situation and another way, behind

Tim Winders: 00:28:10

closed doors in the home, I think it does something to our core, maybe our

Tim Winders: 00:28:16

identity, because hypocrisy is that word.

Tim Winders: 00:28:19

you're not consistent.

Tim Winders: 00:28:20

You're doing something in one place.

Tim Winders: 00:28:22

In church world, it's magnified because there's an expectation of

Tim Winders: 00:28:29

people acting and being a certain way.

Tim Winders: 00:28:31

I don't think that expectation is justified because I think we need to

Tim Winders: 00:28:35

be a little more human in church world.

Tim Winders: 00:28:38

That's just my opinion.

Tim Winders: 00:28:39

I was saved in a business setting, so I didn't really even grow

Tim Winders: 00:28:43

up around church and all that.

Tim Winders: 00:28:44

So I have different views about this, but from the outside looking in, I'm

Tim Winders: 00:28:48

going, you know, we just, need to kind of let that, putting on airs, we

Tim Winders: 00:28:52

would have said it, we're putting on whatever, because I think as a child,

Tim Winders: 00:28:56

it kind of makes it difficult if you see hypocrisy and we all see it.

Tim Winders: 00:29:02

I'm not, I'm not throwing our parents under the bus or anything like that.

Tim Winders: 00:29:05

J Marie Jones: Okay.

Tim Winders: 00:29:06

And what it does is it makes it difficult for

Tim Winders: 00:29:08

us to know how we should act.

Tim Winders: 00:29:10

Should we act the same way?

Tim Winders: 00:29:11

Do we need to do that?

Tim Winders: 00:29:12

Is that how we need to prove things to God and around other people?

Tim Winders: 00:29:15

So preacher's kids usually do one of the things, one of two things.

Tim Winders: 00:29:18

They walk the line or they rebel.

Tim Winders: 00:29:21

I think you brought up that earlier that, you know, some would leave the faith.

Tim Winders: 00:29:26

It sounds like if you were saved at 12, that you were more in

Tim Winders: 00:29:30

that walk the line category.

Tim Winders: 00:29:33

Would that be correct?

Tim Winders: 00:29:35

What are some pros and cons of walking the line as a preacher's kid and in

Tim Winders: 00:29:40

your faith journey, especially as we start talking about some of the things

Tim Winders: 00:29:42

we're gonna talk to in a little while.

Tim Winders: 00:29:45

J Marie Jones: Well, I'm glad that you mentioned, it's not like we're throwing

Tim Winders: 00:29:48

our parents under the bus because every time I mentioned I speak about

Tim Winders: 00:29:52

this, I feel like I have to throw this caveat in there when in all truth,

Tim Winders: 00:29:56

I don't feel that we should have to.

Tim Winders: 00:29:58

You know, the reality is that there's a lot of times our parents do things

Tim Winders: 00:30:02

that may not be the best things.

Tim Winders: 00:30:04

And as long as I'm not condemning them and saying that, you know,

Tim Winders: 00:30:07

they're X, Y and Z, I I'm just sharing what the experience was.

Tim Winders: 00:30:11

This is actually what happened.

Tim Winders: 00:30:13

And I try and teach my daughter now, you know, circle back to walk in the

Tim Winders: 00:30:17

line that the first issue you have is when you just walk the line, many of

Tim Winders: 00:30:22

times you move into lying to yourself.

Tim Winders: 00:30:26

And in this life, you can only attract who you are.

Tim Winders: 00:30:28

So one of the things that would happen to me a lot in my life was

Tim Winders: 00:30:32

that I would encounter people, especially men who presented one thing.

Tim Winders: 00:30:37

But on the inside of themselves, that substance was not there.

Tim Winders: 00:30:41

And I was trying to understand like, why am I, and even other people,

Tim Winders: 00:30:44

different situations, why am I encountering people who present this

Tim Winders: 00:30:47

and they say this and they have that.

Tim Winders: 00:30:49

But when you really get up close and see, it's not there.

Tim Winders: 00:30:51

And the truth of the matter was because that was me.

Tim Winders: 00:30:55

I was presenting something to people as being X, Y, and Z, but at the

Tim Winders: 00:30:59

core of me, that was not there.

Tim Winders: 00:31:01

And I have walked so long in my life, just doing what I had to do

Tim Winders: 00:31:05

because you want God to be pleased.

Tim Winders: 00:31:06

Do I like being here?

Tim Winders: 00:31:08

Do I like serving in this area?

Tim Winders: 00:31:10

Do I even want to be serving with these particular people?

Tim Winders: 00:31:12

There were so many things that I just completely shut off

Tim Winders: 00:31:15

because I have to do this.

Tim Winders: 00:31:16

If I want to be blessed.

Tim Winders: 00:31:17

So you're walking around a liar as well.

Tim Winders: 00:31:20

You may not be trying to deceive people out of their inheritance, or

Tim Winders: 00:31:23

their trust fund, but lying is lying.

Tim Winders: 00:31:27

And when it comes to energy and like, attract likes and all that kind of stuff,

Tim Winders: 00:31:31

there's no distinction between a lie.

Tim Winders: 00:31:33

There's no distinction between theft.

Tim Winders: 00:31:36

It is what it is.

Tim Winders: 00:31:37

So when you start to walk the line and you're not being truthful to who you are,

Tim Winders: 00:31:41

especially what God has placed in your heart, and you do feel a dissonance, you

Tim Winders: 00:31:44

feel that resistance, but you ignore it because you want to make sure that you're

Tim Winders: 00:31:47

going to be blessed and pleasing to God.

Tim Winders: 00:31:50

That's the danger of that.

Tim Winders: 00:31:51

Because now you imagine going into prayer.

Tim Winders: 00:31:54

And you're saying, God, open the eyes of my heart and use

Tim Winders: 00:31:57

me however you want to use me.

Tim Winders: 00:31:59

I'm a broken vessel.

Tim Winders: 00:32:01

And you're not even truthful about that within yourself.

Tim Winders: 00:32:03

And you're saying that to almighty God.

Tim Winders: 00:32:05

And he's like, really just lay everything at my feet and let me guide you.

Tim Winders: 00:32:09

And don't worry about being excluded.

Tim Winders: 00:32:11

Don't worry about being ostracized.

Tim Winders: 00:32:13

Don't worry about somebody not showing up for you.

Tim Winders: 00:32:16

Because when you have me in all truth, in spirit and in truth, you have everything.

Tim Winders: 00:32:22

And once you have that as the base, now you grow and attract what's real and

Tim Winders: 00:32:27

like, and all that kind of stuff, not just walking in something that's not real

Tim Winders: 00:32:32

and true for the sake of the status quo or denomination or anything like that.

Tim Winders: 00:32:36

So that's the danger.

Tim Winders: 00:32:38

Being in a constant place of deceiving yourself, even for the sake of good,

Tim Winders: 00:32:44

which is, which is a deception in itself.

Tim Winders: 00:32:46

and there's so many things that I'll say make it difficult, money.

Tim Winders: 00:32:54

Is one we may talk about that in a little while.

Tim Winders: 00:32:56

I know you had some opportunities with some high paying jobs that

Tim Winders: 00:33:00

Were maybe tempting or whatever and comparing ourselves to others I call

Tim Winders: 00:33:05

that covetousness, but you know, just comparing thinking that I need to

Tim Winders: 00:33:08

live That life instead of my life.

Tim Winders: 00:33:12

I think so many things are thrown into the mix that confuse and complicate

Tim Winders: 00:33:18

and may lead people to attempt to lead lives or to go down journeys or paths

Tim Winders: 00:33:23

that are not the paths that they were created for going back to what we started

Tim Winders: 00:33:27

talking about at the very beginning.

Tim Winders: 00:33:30

That brings us to a great point to kind of start transitioning into

Tim Winders: 00:33:36

somewhere over the last few years.

Tim Winders: 00:33:38

And I think COVID had a little bit to do with it.

Tim Winders: 00:33:40

You had some work situations somewhere over the past few years,

Tim Winders: 00:33:46

J Marie had opportunity situations.

Tim Winders: 00:33:50

Two by four to the head.

Tim Winders: 00:33:51

I don't know.

Tim Winders: 00:33:52

We all have to go through certain things to where the Lord said, okay, now I could

Tim Winders: 00:33:59

start moving her closer to the purpose that I have her on this earth for.

Tim Winders: 00:34:05

What do you want to tell us about?

Tim Winders: 00:34:07

About that.

Tim Winders: 00:34:07

I mean, if you want to give your story, if you want to give us some

Tim Winders: 00:34:10

high points, cause I do want us to have plenty of time to maybe talk about

Tim Winders: 00:34:13

some practical things that people can do with the affirm the word books and

Tim Winders: 00:34:17

journals that we want to talk about.

Tim Winders: 00:34:19

So, give me a little bit of that transition and how you went

Tim Winders: 00:34:24

from what we were just talking about to where you are now.

Tim Winders: 00:34:28

J Marie Jones: Well, I had been married for 16 years I was in relationship

Tim Winders: 00:34:32

with my ex husband for two and a half years since I was 17 years old.

Tim Winders: 00:34:37

And after having been married all that time, I was now divorced at

Tim Winders: 00:34:42

the height of the COVID 19 pandemic.

Tim Winders: 00:34:44

I had my daughter who, Before the pandemic, we had a total of five people

Tim Winders: 00:34:49

that were assisting with her care.

Tim Winders: 00:34:51

She lived between my house and his house back and forth, which

Tim Winders: 00:34:54

was chaos in and of itself.

Tim Winders: 00:34:56

And all of the caretakers that were also assisting us now,

Tim Winders: 00:34:59

COVID's here, everything is remote.

Tim Winders: 00:35:02

They're no longer involved.

Tim Winders: 00:35:03

The first few weeks of trying to work with her at home remotely, we tried

Tim Winders: 00:35:07

to work out a schedule where she'd be with me the first part of the week,

Tim Winders: 00:35:10

would go with him Thursday and Friday.

Tim Winders: 00:35:12

But the two days she would go there, she wouldn't do any work.

Tim Winders: 00:35:15

And now Sunday she's back and we now have to make up.

Tim Winders: 00:35:17

So I was like, that has to stop.

Tim Winders: 00:35:18

So now I then have my daughter every single day.

Tim Winders: 00:35:22

And I begin to see in this time, because once it happened, I had already been

Tim Winders: 00:35:27

transitioned to a point where I'd stopped.

Tim Winders: 00:35:29

Giving God an unequivocal, yes, that moment a little while ago when I mentioned

Tim Winders: 00:35:33

how people give their life to Christ and they come with their own agenda.

Tim Winders: 00:35:36

And that's, I had done all of that because that's what I saw.

Tim Winders: 00:35:39

And I begin to realize after the divorce, which actually happened a few years before

Tim Winders: 00:35:43

COVID, but everything was still chaotic because the way, We finalized the divorce.

Tim Winders: 00:35:48

It was still set up to where he would have to give money a certain amount of time.

Tim Winders: 00:35:51

It was just a mess.

Tim Winders: 00:35:52

It was not completely cut because I felt like he was not

Tim Winders: 00:35:55

capable of handling things.

Tim Winders: 00:35:57

So I had to still handle it the way I did before.

Tim Winders: 00:35:59

Again, my own planning, nothing, God not involved at all,

Tim Winders: 00:36:03

even though I'm a believer.

Tim Winders: 00:36:04

And so I'd gone to God and I said, God, listen, I've been doing this my way.

Tim Winders: 00:36:09

For as long as I know, because this is what I've seen and I want to

Tim Winders: 00:36:12

now give you an unequivocal yes.

Tim Winders: 00:36:14

However you want to do whatever you want to do, whatever you

Tim Winders: 00:36:17

want to say to me, wherever you want me to go, I want to do that.

Tim Winders: 00:36:20

And I did this by every day, getting up at five o'clock.

Tim Winders: 00:36:24

I went into prayer, went into worship, went into meditation.

Tim Winders: 00:36:28

I will write out scripture affirmations.

Tim Winders: 00:36:31

And I began to practice this daily because I could, I realized that

Tim Winders: 00:36:34

my life was not surrendered to God.

Tim Winders: 00:36:36

I was in my own quid pro quo.

Tim Winders: 00:36:39

type of arrangement with God.

Tim Winders: 00:36:41

To where if I go to church and I give money and I do all these

Tim Winders: 00:36:43

things, God, you gotta bless me.

Tim Winders: 00:36:45

And everything was chaotic.

Tim Winders: 00:36:47

Even though I've seen people do this, this is the only example that I've seen of

Tim Winders: 00:36:51

the believers walk up close and personal.

Tim Winders: 00:36:53

It doesn't work.

Tim Winders: 00:36:54

So something must not be right.

Tim Winders: 00:36:56

So God, I'm willing for you to completely tear this whole thing apart and show me

Tim Winders: 00:37:01

the right way so that I can have true and lasting peace in my life so that

Tim Winders: 00:37:05

things can really get back on track.

Tim Winders: 00:37:07

And I can know within myself that I'm truly following you and not making

Tim Winders: 00:37:13

it my own hodgepodge of a religion.

Tim Winders: 00:37:15

Because that's what I've been doing.

Tim Winders: 00:37:17

And I had since given him that unequivocal yes, the only thing I

Tim Winders: 00:37:20

had not surrendered was my career.

Tim Winders: 00:37:22

Because how do you just jump out of making six figures and you have a

Tim Winders: 00:37:26

mortgage to pay and a car note and all these type of responsibilities.

Tim Winders: 00:37:29

And my understanding up to that point of raising my child was making sure

Tim Winders: 00:37:33

that I had the money to get all the things that she needed Because although

Tim Winders: 00:37:36

my parents were kind of in and out, they weren't necessarily there So

Tim Winders: 00:37:40

if I could just give her all those things, then I'm at least doing a

Tim Winders: 00:37:43

little bit more than what I had before.

Tim Winders: 00:37:45

once the pandemic happened, I really began to.

Tim Winders: 00:37:49

Feel that the Holy Spirit was leading me to now start

Tim Winders: 00:37:52

walking away from that career.

Tim Winders: 00:37:54

And I was just like, God, I know that I feel you're leading me,

Tim Winders: 00:37:58

but how is this going to work?

Tim Winders: 00:38:00

And the first door that he opened, because even though I was a director

Tim Winders: 00:38:04

of digital communications, When you have an issue like this come up

Tim Winders: 00:38:08

where we have everything shut down, you can't go anywhere in person.

Tim Winders: 00:38:12

Digital communication doesn't stop because we've already been operating that way.

Tim Winders: 00:38:15

Everything is already through networks and emails and everything else.

Tim Winders: 00:38:18

So I was just as busy as I was when I was in the office, but I'm also homeschooling.

Tim Winders: 00:38:23

a third grader who one of her teachers is out on maternity leave.

Tim Winders: 00:38:27

So now I'm also a co teacher in the classroom and trying to rebuild my

Tim Winders: 00:38:31

life and get things back on track.

Tim Winders: 00:38:33

And I remember talking to my director, executive director at the, at that moment.

Tim Winders: 00:38:37

And he was saying like, what's going on?

Tim Winders: 00:38:38

What's happening, blah, blah, blah.

Tim Winders: 00:38:40

Long story short, when I was saying to him, listen, this is a pandemic.

Tim Winders: 00:38:44

I haven't even checked in with my team.

Tim Winders: 00:38:46

And he said, ultimately would listen.

Tim Winders: 00:38:48

If you're not able to do such and such, then, you know, I guess

Tim Winders: 00:38:50

you're going to have to leave.

Tim Winders: 00:38:52

And I was like, huh?

Tim Winders: 00:38:53

Yeah, you have to find something.

Tim Winders: 00:38:54

I was like, what?

Tim Winders: 00:38:55

So when I got the phone, I said, God, did you hear that?

Tim Winders: 00:38:57

Did you hear what he said to me?

Tim Winders: 00:38:59

And the Holy Spirit said to me, clear as day, take a leave.

Tim Winders: 00:39:03

And I said, you mean the pain medication?

Tim Winders: 00:39:06

I mean, I literally said out loud, do you mean the pain medication?

Tim Winders: 00:39:09

He said, take, I'm serious.

Tim Winders: 00:39:11

He said, take a leave.

Tim Winders: 00:39:13

I'm like, well, how am I going to take a leave?

Tim Winders: 00:39:15

He said, I've made provision for everyone in this season.

Tim Winders: 00:39:18

Go read the provision.

Tim Winders: 00:39:19

I never thought to read the hallmarks of the CARES Act.

Tim Winders: 00:39:22

When I finally went and read the outline, I saw.

Tim Winders: 00:39:25

that they were offering paid pandemic sick leave to all parents

Tim Winders: 00:39:29

who had school aged children, even if they were able to work remotely.

Tim Winders: 00:39:33

So even if you could work remotely, you could go on a paid pandemic sick leave and

Tim Winders: 00:39:37

your employer would have to pay you and it did not come from your annual leave.

Tim Winders: 00:39:42

Most people didn't notice because of course they're not going to advertise this

Tim Winders: 00:39:45

on news because of most of the workforce We got a whole bunch of women who are

Tim Winders: 00:39:48

even on the networks that could possibly leave so we're not going to advertise that

Tim Winders: 00:39:52

So I took a leave for about four months.

Tim Winders: 00:39:55

My job paid for three and a half of those months And during that time,

Tim Winders: 00:39:59

that little journal that I had been writing in for all those months, every

Tim Winders: 00:40:02

single morning, I began to organize and really get the scriptures together.

Tim Winders: 00:40:07

And that was the first affirm the word.

Tim Winders: 00:40:09

But for me, I would have to say that the key that I got from

Tim Winders: 00:40:13

COVID 19, if anybody gets sick.

Tim Winders: 00:40:14

I would hope it's this.

Tim Winders: 00:40:16

When a tragedy happens, usually in your life, usually the world keeps going.

Tim Winders: 00:40:21

When a tragedy happens in the world, you have to keep going.

Tim Winders: 00:40:26

But when COVID 19 happened, everything stopped.

Tim Winders: 00:40:29

So, Even if you needed to get off the ride, all you had

Tim Winders: 00:40:33

to do was step off the ride.

Tim Winders: 00:40:35

You didn't have to worry about doing a tuck and roll and getting all scraped

Tim Winders: 00:40:39

and bruised and everything else.

Tim Winders: 00:40:40

All you had to do was just step off and say, I'm doing something

Tim Winders: 00:40:44

different and really trust God.

Tim Winders: 00:40:46

And I think to be able to do that and have.

Tim Winders: 00:40:49

At least a limited amount of provision to say, okay, God, I

Tim Winders: 00:40:52

know the starting point of this.

Tim Winders: 00:40:54

Yes, that's there.

Tim Winders: 00:40:55

Then when I finally left, I read with the city of New York and state of New

Tim Winders: 00:40:58

York, department of labor, that if you have to quit, because I ultimately had

Tim Winders: 00:41:02

to quit, wasn't able to go back full time and you have a compelling reason,

Tim Winders: 00:41:07

They will grant you unemployment.

Tim Winders: 00:41:09

So although it was initially denied, once they reinstated it, I got all the back

Tim Winders: 00:41:13

money This is the way God will work things when he begins to lead you out because

Tim Winders: 00:41:18

you decided to follow him and trust his lead step by step, moment by moment.

Tim Winders: 00:41:23

I can't say overall, you know, I'm going to have my, you know, 100,

Tim Winders: 00:41:26

000, a million dollar pension and whatever, but I know that my needs are

Tim Winders: 00:41:30

provided for going into this season.

Tim Winders: 00:41:33

And I know that God has set this up for me in this season.

Tim Winders: 00:41:35

And I know that he has me right now.

Tim Winders: 00:41:37

And for me, that's good enough.

Tim Winders: 00:41:40

How, this might go back to the little bit of the preacher

Tim Winders: 00:41:43

kid upbringing that you had.

Tim Winders: 00:41:45

How important is money or was money in your life?

Tim Winders: 00:41:51

And maybe the word is provision, but we could call it money too.

Tim Winders: 00:41:55

Was, was that?

Tim Winders: 00:41:58

Kind of something that you had to work through some money things I have.

Tim Winders: 00:42:04

I mean, I, I always thought I was really good at making money, at creating

Tim Winders: 00:42:08

it, at building things, and then when 2008 hit, I went, Ooh, maybe I'm not

Tim Winders: 00:42:14

that good at it and what do I do now?

Tim Winders: 00:42:17

And it was more of a final surrender for me also, but what, I mean, just

Tim Winders: 00:42:22

when we talk about money, what comes to mind and what is, what is your

Tim Winders: 00:42:25

money tapes or whatever that you've had to kind of, think through.

Tim Winders: 00:42:30

J Marie Jones: Well, I think at that time, my career and my salary, six figures,

Tim Winders: 00:42:35

my rental income, this, that, and the third, it was mostly about status.

Tim Winders: 00:42:38

These were things that helped to validate that I had made it, that I was

Tim Winders: 00:42:42

making it, that I was going someplace I really had no real understanding.

Tim Winders: 00:42:47

As to the type of money I was making, what it could do, how

Tim Winders: 00:42:51

to be a good steward over it.

Tim Winders: 00:42:52

Just nothing.

Tim Winders: 00:42:53

It was like, okay, you're making six figures.

Tim Winders: 00:42:55

People can ask what you do.

Tim Winders: 00:42:56

They can imagine you make it.

Tim Winders: 00:42:57

So now you've been validated as being a success.

Tim Winders: 00:43:00

It wasn't until again, even in the most recent few years, I began, and I have to

Tim Winders: 00:43:04

give this person credit because my eyes were opened after listening to him, Dave

Tim Winders: 00:43:09

Ramsey, a believer, listening to him about debt and the word of God that says, you

Tim Winders: 00:43:14

know, I'm called to be a lender only.

Tim Winders: 00:43:17

A lot of people leave that only out and not a borrower.

Tim Winders: 00:43:20

I would say it all the time, but it really did not believe that was really

Tim Winders: 00:43:23

not walking in it because you just say it.

Tim Winders: 00:43:24

Everybody has a car note.

Tim Winders: 00:43:26

Everybody has a mortgage.

Tim Winders: 00:43:27

It wasn't until I really began to listen to his teaching and say, okay, listen,

Tim Winders: 00:43:31

I've had at this point in my life, millions of dollars flow through my hands.

Tim Winders: 00:43:36

Why is it that I'm not debt free?

Tim Winders: 00:43:38

Because I was not a good steward.

Tim Winders: 00:43:40

This life is not about you having oodles and oodles of money

Tim Winders: 00:43:43

because there's plenty of money.

Tim Winders: 00:43:45

What are you doing with the money God has given you?

Tim Winders: 00:43:48

What are you doing with the assets and the resources that he's giving you?

Tim Winders: 00:43:51

And I can assure you, many of us are not even optimizing what

Tim Winders: 00:43:55

he's already placed in our hands.

Tim Winders: 00:43:57

But we believe that if we just got a whole lot more, it would get better and easier.

Tim Winders: 00:44:02

I now am of the understanding that it has nothing to do with you

Tim Winders: 00:44:05

having vast and vast amount of money because once your needs are met,

Tim Winders: 00:44:09

once you're abundantly supplied.

Tim Winders: 00:44:12

It's now about service.

Tim Winders: 00:44:13

It's now about purpose that you should be looking to use your

Tim Winders: 00:44:17

money for, because it's only about so many bedrooms you can live in.

Tim Winders: 00:44:19

It's only about so many cars you can drive.

Tim Winders: 00:44:22

And when you understand that it's not about accumulating all kinds

Tim Winders: 00:44:25

of credit card debt and loans and everything else like that, but being

Tim Winders: 00:44:28

a good steward over what you have, You really see how much more money

Tim Winders: 00:44:33

that you have to be of service with.

Tim Winders: 00:44:36

So for me, it was just about status and validation.

Tim Winders: 00:44:38

So I can say, Oh, you make six figures.

Tim Winders: 00:44:40

and at the same time, you don't want people to know cause you don't want

Tim Winders: 00:44:42

anybody asking you to borrow money.

Tim Winders: 00:44:44

So I must have made it.

Tim Winders: 00:44:45

So I must have accomplished something.

Tim Winders: 00:44:47

But I now understand, especially because of the last few years, Me succeeding

Tim Winders: 00:44:53

is about my level of surrender.

Tim Winders: 00:44:55

Am I really surrender to God?

Tim Winders: 00:44:57

Am I really open to what he has to say?

Tim Winders: 00:44:59

Am I willing at any given time to pivot and go in another direction through the

Tim Winders: 00:45:04

power and assistance of the Holy Spirit?

Tim Winders: 00:45:06

Those are indicators of success for the believer, not just accumulating

Tim Winders: 00:45:10

all type of material possessions to say that you're somebody.

Tim Winders: 00:45:14

My guess is part of your intentional journey, journaling

Tim Winders: 00:45:18

process, part of what spun off from your experience over the last

Tim Winders: 00:45:23

few years with now the affirm the word books and journals is part of.

Tim Winders: 00:45:29

Internalizing this instead of, I went to Bible school for two years and

Tim Winders: 00:45:33

people would run around in Bible school.

Tim Winders: 00:45:35

they could spout scriptures at the drop of a pin.

Tim Winders: 00:45:40

very similar to being a preacher's kid.

Tim Winders: 00:45:42

I would look at them and I'm going, I'm not sure you believe that.

Tim Winders: 00:45:47

Or know that.

Tim Winders: 00:45:48

So talk to me a little bit more about your process, your

Tim Winders: 00:45:53

products, what you have available.

Tim Winders: 00:45:55

Let's just, dive in for our last 10 minutes or so here.

Tim Winders: 00:45:59

And let's really get into what all you've learned and especially have

Tim Winders: 00:46:05

began applying, and allowing other people to apply over the last few years.

Tim Winders: 00:46:08

So,

Tim Winders: 00:46:10

J Marie Jones: first.

Tim Winders: 00:46:11

original Affirm the Word book, it is a compilation of all the scripture verses,

Tim Winders: 00:46:16

affirmation, and prayers that I compiled throughout that three years leading

Tim Winders: 00:46:20

into the pandemic and beyond that.

Tim Winders: 00:46:22

And the reason why I organized it was because when I was in the process

Tim Winders: 00:46:26

of getting my house in order and contacting GEICO and Different lenders

Tim Winders: 00:46:31

and saying, okay, what do I need to do?

Tim Winders: 00:46:32

The first question I would ask them because we were still in the middle

Tim Winders: 00:46:36

of a pandemic was how are you?

Tim Winders: 00:46:38

And when I asked that question to people, I let them answer it.

Tim Winders: 00:46:40

sometime I'll be on the phone for about 20 to 30 minutes before we even

Tim Winders: 00:46:43

got to the business of my accounts because that representative would

Tim Winders: 00:46:47

be telling me about how they have so much anxiety and that the key word

Tim Winders: 00:46:50

was constantly my anxiety, my anxiety.

Tim Winders: 00:46:53

I had one person who had such an issue with fear that they Couldn't

Tim Winders: 00:46:59

go out and drive with their kids.

Tim Winders: 00:47:01

She said, I'm afraid to take them out in the car because I don't

Tim Winders: 00:47:03

know if we're going to have an accident, somebody's going to hit us.

Tim Winders: 00:47:06

I mean, this was the level of her anxiety.

Tim Winders: 00:47:08

And I would let people talk, and once they were finished, I would say, you know,

Tim Winders: 00:47:11

can I make a suggestion that instead of saying my anxiety, you say I'm overcoming.

Tim Winders: 00:47:17

anxiety.

Tim Winders: 00:47:18

Because if you say that to yourself, not only are you acknowledging that

Tim Winders: 00:47:22

it's there, but you're also speaking to the fact that you're overcoming

Tim Winders: 00:47:26

it, that you're putting the steps and the keys and resources, whatever you

Tim Winders: 00:47:30

need to do in place to overcome it.

Tim Winders: 00:47:31

And then I recommended that they take like one or two scriptures

Tim Winders: 00:47:35

or one or two affirmations.

Tim Winders: 00:47:36

And when they have those anxious thoughts about, Oh, gosh,

Tim Winders: 00:47:39

what happens if I go here?

Tim Winders: 00:47:41

And what happens if this doesn't work?

Tim Winders: 00:47:42

That they say those affirmations, the scripture verses in those places, even if

Tim Winders: 00:47:46

they have to say it all day long, you can just take one and say it all day long,

Tim Winders: 00:47:50

It's only going to make you keep on saying it.

Tim Winders: 00:47:52

So you really have to get to a point where you've replaced that information

Tim Winders: 00:47:56

with something else that you can draw from, because as you begin to get that

Tim Winders: 00:47:59

into your spirit and your subconscious, that becomes the only thing that's there.

Tim Winders: 00:48:04

And your environment, your atmosphere, even the Holy Spirit will allow you

Tim Winders: 00:48:08

to come into contact with things that help you to accomplish that

Tim Winders: 00:48:13

thing that you're calling for.

Tim Winders: 00:48:14

So if God has called us to walk in faith and not fear, if God said that he's

Tim Winders: 00:48:18

our peace, if God said that he is made perfect in our weakness, and that's what

Tim Winders: 00:48:23

you're drawing on, you begin to see, because now you can recognize all the

Tim Winders: 00:48:27

ways that God is manifesting that within your life, instead of resistance to

Tim Winders: 00:48:32

it, because you're constantly speaking that nothing's working out for me.

Tim Winders: 00:48:35

I take two steps forward and 10 steps back.

Tim Winders: 00:48:37

You know, when you speak that, that's what begins to manifest.

Tim Winders: 00:48:39

So you can decide, am I going to have a positive?

Tim Winders: 00:48:42

Affirmation that goes in the direction of where it is I believe that God wants

Tim Winders: 00:48:45

me to be so I have peace and joy and rest and prosperity and everything else

Tim Winders: 00:48:49

or I'm gonna go in another direction.

Tim Winders: 00:48:52

That's gonna keep me stuck in this place But also feeling miserable

Tim Winders: 00:48:56

looking miserable and in a place essentially where I have no

Tim Winders: 00:49:02

so somewhere, you mentioned that you would get up at 5 a.

Tim Winders: 00:49:05

m.

Tim Winders: 00:49:05

I'm guessing you would do this before work and before probably your

Tim Winders: 00:49:08

daughter got up and things like that.

Tim Winders: 00:49:11

And, a practical question that I always like to ask is, is early in the

Tim Winders: 00:49:18

morning, It is that the time is that I, I do it early, but because we don't

Tim Winders: 00:49:25

have kids anymore, I don't, I don't, I get up when my body says get up now.

Tim Winders: 00:49:30

but why is it so important to kind of get started with this process early?

Tim Winders: 00:49:36

J Marie Jones: believe it's crucial And even when my daughter's grown one

Tim Winders: 00:49:39

day God willing it has our own families that are out I believe I'll still

Tim Winders: 00:49:42

be doing it this way because you're setting in the course of your day.

Tim Winders: 00:49:46

When you start, it's just like when you work out first thing in the morning.

Tim Winders: 00:49:49

Once you get going, you get out of the house and this pops up and that pops up.

Tim Winders: 00:49:53

There's a good chance that the further along you get into that

Tim Winders: 00:49:56

day, the least likely you are to actually go and get that workout done.

Tim Winders: 00:50:00

And the same thing goes for your prayer, your meditation, your worship time.

Tim Winders: 00:50:04

The more you get into that day, the further away you get from

Tim Winders: 00:50:07

actually doing it aside from, Oh Lord, please let that work out.

Tim Winders: 00:50:10

Oh Lord, please don't let that get worse.

Tim Winders: 00:50:12

No, when I'm going in with the intention to worship.

Tim Winders: 00:50:15

To be still, to hear what God has to say, to really get my heart aligned to the

Tim Winders: 00:50:21

truth that God is working on my behalf, that miracles upon miracles upon miracles

Tim Winders: 00:50:26

are happening, manifesting before me, no matter what comes up after that point.

Tim Winders: 00:50:31

I've already set the attention.

Tim Winders: 00:50:33

I've already set my heart to be aligned toward that truth

Tim Winders: 00:50:35

because that is truth for me.

Tim Winders: 00:50:37

So if I believe that no matter what type of craziness comes up throughout

Tim Winders: 00:50:40

the day, I know God is with me.

Tim Winders: 00:50:42

I know I'm aligned.

Tim Winders: 00:50:43

I know that if this happened, it has to be for my good.

Tim Winders: 00:50:46

I know if this happened, there has to be something else on the other

Tim Winders: 00:50:49

side of it that's working out for me.

Tim Winders: 00:50:51

So, you know, for us, when we did that affirm the word book to then come out

Tim Winders: 00:50:55

with the prayer journal right behind it, because I realized, okay, listen,

Tim Winders: 00:50:58

as you're writing things down and you are in prayer, I pray that we all who

Tim Winders: 00:51:02

are believers should be in prayer every day because that's our spiritual oxygen.

Tim Winders: 00:51:06

As you are in prayer, the Holy Spirit will speak things to you.

Tim Winders: 00:51:08

Well, he spoke this.

Tim Winders: 00:51:09

Now I'm going to write it.

Tim Winders: 00:51:10

Or somebody may pop up on my mind to pray for it.

Tim Winders: 00:51:13

Let me write that down so that when I come back in here again,

Tim Winders: 00:51:16

I have a reference point.

Tim Winders: 00:51:17

I can see what God is doing.

Tim Winders: 00:51:18

I have a place that I can understand.

Tim Winders: 00:51:21

God is hearing me.

Tim Winders: 00:51:22

God was in the midst of this prayer and he's answering it in this kind of way.

Tim Winders: 00:51:27

And now I have something else to give him glory for.

Tim Winders: 00:51:29

So I started out saying, okay, look, Once you start your business, they

Tim Winders: 00:51:33

said, Hey, look at your competitors in this world that we live in.

Tim Winders: 00:51:36

As far as believers, I don't call the folks that do what we do a competitor.

Tim Winders: 00:51:40

I call them co laborers.

Tim Winders: 00:51:42

And when I began to look at co laborers, one of which had a prayer journal, I said,

Tim Winders: 00:51:45

well, let me order this prayer journal.

Tim Winders: 00:51:47

And I got the book and I had like about, maybe throughout the

Tim Winders: 00:51:49

whole book, 20 scripture verses.

Tim Winders: 00:51:52

And that was it.

Tim Winders: 00:51:52

And I said, no, we can do better than this.

Tim Winders: 00:51:54

When somebody is in prayer, you need to see actual word.

Tim Winders: 00:51:57

You need to have some gratitude prompts.

Tim Winders: 00:51:59

You need to have places to really write that coincide with those sections.

Tim Winders: 00:52:03

And I began to design a prayer journal.

Tim Winders: 00:52:06

And once it released, it became an Amazon number one new release

Tim Winders: 00:52:09

within the first, I think, 60 days.

Tim Winders: 00:52:11

And then a year later, Broad Street Publishing acquired it.

Tim Winders: 00:52:14

And we just released a new 52 week prayer journal for women, which not

Tim Winders: 00:52:18

only includes those scripture verses, those affirmations, but it also

Tim Winders: 00:52:22

includes 52 devotionals that tie into practical ways that you can actually

Tim Winders: 00:52:27

live out your faith and a space for you to craft your own affirmation.

Tim Winders: 00:52:31

Because this is not just about you saying cookie cutter things like I'm

Tim Winders: 00:52:34

bold, I'm powerful, I'm courageous.

Tim Winders: 00:52:36

if you're a believer and you're really trying to internalize the word of God,

Tim Winders: 00:52:40

you need to speak the word of God.

Tim Winders: 00:52:41

It's not enough just to try and write it and memorize it, but you really

Tim Winders: 00:52:44

should be speaking with power and authority, affirming, that's why

Tim Winders: 00:52:49

we're called affirm the word, the word of God over your life every day.

Tim Winders: 00:52:52

Because day in and day out, not only, you know, is the enemy

Tim Winders: 00:52:56

present, but they're also just life.

Tim Winders: 00:52:59

Lifing, you know, real things happening, real loss happening,

Tim Winders: 00:53:03

real challenges happening that are before you and you have to really

Tim Winders: 00:53:07

be diligent and intentional about saying, listen, yeah, all that's there.

Tim Winders: 00:53:11

But this is also here and i'm choosing to affirm and speak that god says this about

Tim Winders: 00:53:16

me god said i'm going here This is stuff that's happening in my life God says that

Tim Winders: 00:53:21

I am this regardless of what else is going on and i'm choosing to stand on that and

Tim Winders: 00:53:25

affirm that No matter what because it's so and I see it coming to pass I see it

Tim Winders: 00:53:30

manifesting and you really will begin to see more and more of it to where That

Tim Winders: 00:53:35

will be so present and real in your life.

Tim Winders: 00:53:36

That's no longer an affirmation.

Tim Winders: 00:53:38

Now you're looking at other things that God is bringing to your attention

Tim Winders: 00:53:40

in your prayer and worship time.

Tim Winders: 00:53:42

Well, it's moving you towards growth, which is, we're

Tim Winders: 00:53:46

all in some form of a growth mode.

Tim Winders: 00:53:50

And I think the kingdom of God is about growth and life.

Tim Winders: 00:53:56

The world system is about death and stagnation, but right before we

Tim Winders: 00:54:01

hit record, I brought up journaling and you in a great way, you kind

Tim Winders: 00:54:04

of jumped on me and said, well, this is intentional journaling.

Tim Winders: 00:54:09

And so the word intentional journaling to me means that even though there

Tim Winders: 00:54:15

are a lot of people out there doing what they would call journaling,

Tim Winders: 00:54:19

theirs would be scattered or random or some word that's not intentional.

Tim Winders: 00:54:26

Speak about that for just a few minutes.

Tim Winders: 00:54:28

And then I'm going to have you tell us, cause you've got so many resources

Tim Winders: 00:54:31

and bundles, I want to talk about that before we finish up, but just give the

Tim Winders: 00:54:35

contrast between what a lot of people are doing when they're calling it journaling

Tim Winders: 00:54:40

and what intentional journaling is.

Tim Winders: 00:54:43

J Marie Jones: Yes.

Tim Winders: 00:54:44

So I call it traditional journaling versus intentional journaling.

Tim Winders: 00:54:47

Traditional journaling is you essentially just venting everything that's going

Tim Winders: 00:54:52

on in your day, your circumstances with people, with this, with that, a hodgepodge

Tim Winders: 00:54:57

of whatever, throwing it on a piece of paper and trying to get it out there and

Tim Winders: 00:55:00

saying, this is what happened in my day.

Tim Winders: 00:55:02

However, Continuing to focus on these random, scattered, happenings does

Tim Winders: 00:55:08

not propel you toward a goal, your vision, your purpose, or anything.

Tim Winders: 00:55:11

You're just venting to get it out so that you can live another day.

Tim Winders: 00:55:14

When it comes to intentional journaling, again, you're not denying.

Tim Winders: 00:55:19

That these things have taken place in that day, but you're choosing to

Tim Winders: 00:55:23

focus on, okay, this is what I did in my pursuit of what God has told

Tim Winders: 00:55:28

me about my life and my purpose.

Tim Winders: 00:55:29

This is how I'm moving in that direction.

Tim Winders: 00:55:31

You know what, this happened today, but I thank God that he allowed me to connect

Tim Winders: 00:55:34

with this person because now I'm one step closer to moving in that direction.

Tim Winders: 00:55:39

You know, I thank God for the nurse that he allowed to come and give

Tim Winders: 00:55:42

me this information so that I can now get the resources that I need.

Tim Winders: 00:55:45

That's intentional journaling and really documenting the way that you see God

Tim Winders: 00:55:49

moving on your behalf concerning the person that he's called you to be, the

Tim Winders: 00:55:53

purpose that he's called you to, and the people he's called you to serve.

Tim Winders: 00:55:58

It really takes a lot to decide that, listen, I'm going to focus on that.

Tim Winders: 00:56:02

That means.

Tim Winders: 00:56:04

That when I see it, I write it.

Tim Winders: 00:56:06

Yes, this came up.

Tim Winders: 00:56:07

It was a distraction.

Tim Winders: 00:56:08

It happened, but this also happened.

Tim Winders: 00:56:11

And I'll give you an example.

Tim Winders: 00:56:12

You can say, listen, you know what?

Tim Winders: 00:56:13

I'm so tired.

Tim Winders: 00:56:14

I've been depressed.

Tim Winders: 00:56:15

Nothing seems to be going right.

Tim Winders: 00:56:17

the car's not working right.

Tim Winders: 00:56:18

You know, my child is acting up, but at the same time, somebody came along and

Tim Winders: 00:56:23

said, listen, you need a ride this week.

Tim Winders: 00:56:24

I'm going to be heading your way this whole week.

Tim Winders: 00:56:26

You know, I'm willing to work with you.

Tim Winders: 00:56:27

And I also got a good guy.

Tim Winders: 00:56:28

Here's the telephone number, but don't worry about it this week.

Tim Winders: 00:56:31

I'm going to pick you up.

Tim Winders: 00:56:32

not only do you have to worry about your car, but you had transportation and now

Tim Winders: 00:56:35

you have a new contact to get it fixed.

Tim Winders: 00:56:37

The things that are happening in life are going to happen but God is there

Tim Winders: 00:56:41

to provide you with a provision.

Tim Winders: 00:56:43

He didn't say, when the rain fell on the just as well as the

Tim Winders: 00:56:45

unjust, that it would not fall.

Tim Winders: 00:56:47

He just said, he'll give you an umbrella.

Tim Winders: 00:56:49

So thank God for the umbrella.

Tim Winders: 00:56:51

When it falls, you got an umbrella, you have support, you have resources, begin

Tim Winders: 00:56:56

to acknowledge and thank God in it.

Tim Winders: 00:56:57

And that's the stuff that you write.

Tim Winders: 00:56:59

Don't focus on that.

Tim Winders: 00:57:00

The car broke down and it just messed up.

Tim Winders: 00:57:02

And I really hate this and nothing's working on my behalf.

Tim Winders: 00:57:05

Focus on all the things that God is doing in consideration of that or despite

Tim Winders: 00:57:10

that, or in light of that, focus on that.

Tim Winders: 00:57:13

That's what intentional journaling is all about.

Tim Winders: 00:57:15

Yeah, that, I think that's good, and I love

Tim Winders: 00:57:18

that mindset and attitude.

Tim Winders: 00:57:21

And I guess I do want to say, I mean, listen, God's there

Tim Winders: 00:57:24

for the people that cry out.

Tim Winders: 00:57:25

I cried out some even during COVID, and finally, I think God, I felt like

Tim Winders: 00:57:30

God told me this within my heart.

Tim Winders: 00:57:31

Quiet time, journaling time.

Tim Winders: 00:57:33

He says, I've told you this multiple times.

Tim Winders: 00:57:35

Are you going to keep asking and whining and all that the

Tim Winders: 00:57:37

world system is crumbling.

Tim Winders: 00:57:39

It always has been.

Tim Winders: 00:57:39

And always will.

Tim Winders: 00:57:41

Why do you act surprised and shocked by what all's going on

Tim Winders: 00:57:44

around you with, with all of this?

Tim Winders: 00:57:46

So I think it's so powerful.

Tim Winders: 00:57:48

And the thing that I love about.

Tim Winders: 00:57:50

Journaling and especially when you add that word intentional is that you can't

Tim Winders: 00:57:56

Multitask when you're doing it we are in a world that everyone is so distracted

Tim Winders: 00:58:03

They're trying to do like 15 things at once and if you're doing it, well in my

Tim Winders: 00:58:08

opinion You can't multitask so we are pressed for time here, but you i've got

Tim Winders: 00:58:14

your website pulled up here And I didn't realize you've got All kind of bundles

Tim Winders: 00:58:20

and books and man, there's a lot here.

Tim Winders: 00:58:24

Tell us about it.

Tim Winders: 00:58:25

J Marie, tell us where people can get your stuff and find you or connect with you.

Tim Winders: 00:58:30

Some people are probably going to want to connect with you.

Tim Winders: 00:58:34

J Marie Jones: Our website is affirmtheword.

Tim Winders: 00:58:37

org.

Tim Winders: 00:58:37

So very simple, just like our, most of our products.

Tim Winders: 00:58:40

And of course we have our original affirm the word book.

Tim Winders: 00:58:43

We do have our newest 52 week, prayer journal for women on that site.

Tim Winders: 00:58:46

And about the next two weeks, we're coming out with a digital fillable version.

Tim Winders: 00:58:50

of that prayer journal as well.

Tim Winders: 00:58:52

However, for all those who feel like they have a story to tell, because I

Tim Winders: 00:58:56

have women reach out to me all the time and say, you know, listen, I'm writing

Tim Winders: 00:58:59

a book about, you know, women who are barren or women who've overcome trauma.

Tim Winders: 00:59:04

We now have a new tab on our site that is specifically for authors

Tim Winders: 00:59:08

where we've partnered with bookbaby.

Tim Winders: 00:59:10

com so that we can help women who have already began to write their story.

Tim Winders: 00:59:15

be able to finally publish it.

Tim Winders: 00:59:16

So there are various packages there, And we also offer free resources that they can

Tim Winders: 00:59:21

download right to their computers so that they can learn about how to self publish.

Tim Winders: 00:59:24

They can learn about how to plan out the launch of a new book.

Tim Winders: 00:59:27

If they're ready to publish the book, they can also go on that page

Tim Winders: 00:59:30

if they want to consult with me.

Tim Winders: 00:59:32

Another new resource that we'll be listing is a downloadable ebook, digital

Tim Winders: 00:59:36

content, so that women can on a consistent basis, download more devotionals.

Tim Winders: 00:59:41

We offer for this particular journal on the product page itself, a free printable

Tim Winders: 00:59:46

download on how to use this for a journal.

Tim Winders: 00:59:48

the first week is right there so that you can see some tips on how to use it,

Tim Winders: 00:59:52

how to make the most of it, how to craft your affirmation so that right away

Tim Winders: 00:59:56

before even having to go make a purchase.

Tim Winders: 00:59:57

This is not only about us trying to quote unquote convert and make sales, but it's

Tim Winders: 01:00:02

about you getting resources that you need so that you can right now start

Tim Winders: 01:00:06

crafting your own spiritual practice and growing in your walk with God.

Tim Winders: 01:00:10

When it comes to this intentional journaling, this doesn't take all day.

Tim Winders: 01:00:13

If you can just devote five minutes to taking some time in the morning

Tim Winders: 01:00:17

and just writing out one thing.

Tim Winders: 01:00:19

And that's the one thing I love about this devotional that it's 52 weeks so

Tim Winders: 01:00:23

that, you know, if you, it's not 365, if you miss a day or two, you haven't

Tim Winders: 01:00:28

fallen off the wagon, like a treadmill.

Tim Winders: 01:00:30

You have a whole week to sit there and meditate on this word that God has

Tim Winders: 01:00:33

placed in your heart or meditate on the affirmation that you're crafting.

Tim Winders: 01:00:36

So you can really focus and be intentional on internalizing that into your spirit.

Tim Winders: 01:00:41

But secondly, I want to note that sometime life can get to a place where

Tim Winders: 01:00:44

you get kicked so hard in your gut.

Tim Winders: 01:00:47

you don't want to do anything.

Tim Winders: 01:00:48

You don't want to journal.

Tim Winders: 01:00:50

You don't want to pray.

Tim Winders: 01:00:51

You don't want to talk to anything.

Tim Winders: 01:00:52

Sometimes you don't want to get out the bed and with God is not so much

Tim Winders: 01:00:56

just about you having a practice and you getting up at a certain amount

Tim Winders: 01:00:59

of time and praying for 20 minutes.

Tim Winders: 01:01:01

You can lie right in your bed and say, God, here I am.

Tim Winders: 01:01:04

I don't got the strength to get up.

Tim Winders: 01:01:06

I don't want to write anything.

Tim Winders: 01:01:07

I don't want to pray about anything, but I know that you're here.

Tim Winders: 01:01:10

I know that you love me.

Tim Winders: 01:01:11

I know if I was able to get up and open up my eyes this morning

Tim Winders: 01:01:14

and know who I am, that you still have a purpose and a plan for me.

Tim Winders: 01:01:18

And I'm asking you to come and be with me right here, right now, and

Tim Winders: 01:01:22

to wrap your arms around me and to reassure me that you love me.

Tim Winders: 01:01:26

And to let me know that this is going to work out because I don't

Tim Winders: 01:01:28

know what to do and I don't want to get up and even face another day.

Tim Winders: 01:01:32

God still honors that.

Tim Winders: 01:01:33

He still loves you.

Tim Winders: 01:01:35

He knew that you would be here and he just desires to have fellowship with you.

Tim Winders: 01:01:39

He's still in the midst of even the worst kind of chaos and loss, trying to

Tim Winders: 01:01:44

love on you and get something to you.

Tim Winders: 01:01:47

So no matter what, calling him, even in those situations, calling him

Tim Winders: 01:01:50

right in the bed, calling him right in the chair, calling him right in

Tim Winders: 01:01:53

the hospital and let him show up and show himself strong for you.

Tim Winders: 01:01:58

That's good.

Tim Winders: 01:01:59

Very, very good.

Tim Winders: 01:01:59

And we'll, we'll include links down below for depending on where people

Tim Winders: 01:02:04

are listening or watching this.

Tim Winders: 01:02:07

One of the things, this is going to sound extremely superficial after that

Tim Winders: 01:02:11

message you just gave is I actually love the spiral bound of some of them.

Tim Winders: 01:02:17

my wife just got a spiral bound Bible and I've looked at him going, man, I

Tim Winders: 01:02:20

love how this opens up and it lays so flat and you can write in it so well.

Tim Winders: 01:02:24

So sorry to go from, you know, like you were.

Tim Winders: 01:02:26

Man, super, super spiritual.

Tim Winders: 01:02:28

J Marie, we are seek, go create those three words.

Tim Winders: 01:02:34

And I'm going to allow you my last question to choose one of those seek, go

Tim Winders: 01:02:38

or create that just means more to you.

Tim Winders: 01:02:41

You like it, whatever.

Tim Winders: 01:02:42

Seek, go or create.

Tim Winders: 01:02:43

And why that's my final question for you.

Tim Winders: 01:02:47

J Marie Jones: Go.

Tim Winders: 01:02:49

And I like go, because as the word of God says in Mark 16, 15, that we're

Tim Winders: 01:02:53

supposed to go out into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

Tim Winders: 01:02:57

And a lot of people interpret that as meaning, you got to be in somebody's

Tim Winders: 01:02:59

pulpit, but that's not what it's saying.

Tim Winders: 01:03:01

You can be right at the bus stop.

Tim Winders: 01:03:02

You can be right on your job.

Tim Winders: 01:03:04

You could be walking down the street and encounter somebody the whole point is to

Tim Winders: 01:03:08

just have an open heart of willingness To, as God leads you, you're open

Tim Winders: 01:03:13

and available to speak, to serve, to lend, to essentially go and do either

Tim Winders: 01:03:22

of any of those things at any given time, depending on what the Lord leads.

Tim Winders: 01:03:26

That, that's the word that most resonates with me because that's where my heart is.

Tim Winders: 01:03:29

I desire to go wherever God wants me to go, do whatever it is he wants me to do.

Tim Winders: 01:03:34

and, you know, being a PK and being in ministry, This whole long

Tim Winders: 01:03:37

time, sometimes I get like a little bit, are you sure about that?

Tim Winders: 01:03:41

Because it's still like, okay, is God going to send me over to Broadway,

Tim Winders: 01:03:43

Junction train station and have me stand on the milk cart and preaching.

Tim Winders: 01:03:46

I mean, that's still there.

Tim Winders: 01:03:47

When you say anywhere you want me to go and anything you want me to do.

Tim Winders: 01:03:50

And sadly, we always think about God sending us do the worst things.

Tim Winders: 01:03:53

When I found that when you say, God, send me, I'll go.

Tim Winders: 01:03:56

He send you to the places that you would enjoy being in, that

Tim Winders: 01:03:59

you will feel at peace being in.

Tim Winders: 01:04:01

Even if they may not be the most comfortable in your heart, you're at rest.

Tim Winders: 01:04:05

You're at peace.

Tim Winders: 01:04:06

You have a divine supernatural joy because you know that you're doing what you're

Tim Winders: 01:04:10

supposed to do at the right time in the right place for the right purpose.

Tim Winders: 01:04:13

And that's why that word resonates with me the most.

Tim Winders: 01:04:15

That is awesome.

Tim Winders: 01:04:16

J Marie, thank you.

Tim Winders: 01:04:17

So many great nuggets, so many great, I think it's going to be

Tim Winders: 01:04:21

great clips and all that are going to come from this conversation.

Tim Winders: 01:04:25

I appreciate the time.

Tim Winders: 01:04:26

I encourage everyone to go check out affirmtheword.

Tim Winders: 01:04:29

org.

Tim Winders: 01:04:30

There'll be links down in the notes and just check it out.

Tim Winders: 01:04:33

I'm sitting here looking at the site and just, there's just some beautiful things.

Tim Winders: 01:04:36

I appreciate everyone listening in at the show.

Tim Winders: 01:04:38

If you want to support what we're doing, go to seek, go create.

Tim Winders: 01:04:41

com forward slash support.

Tim Winders: 01:04:43

you can give as little as a dollar or you could give a lot more than that.

Tim Winders: 01:04:47

we have recently had anonymous people give it.

Tim Winders: 01:04:50

85 gifts, 57 just yesterday.

Tim Winders: 01:04:54

And we appreciate that greatly.

Tim Winders: 01:04:56

So go support what we're doing.

Tim Winders: 01:04:59

We would be extremely thankful.

Tim Winders: 01:05:01

We have new episodes every Monday here at SeatGoCreate.

Tim Winders: 01:05:03

Until next time, continue being all that you were created to be.