ThanksLiving- A conversation with my Husband, Omar Calvillo

In this episode, I am thankful to have a conversation with my husband Omar Calvillo, the host of Wrong to Strong Chicago Podcast. We talk about gratitude and being thankful to God for who He is and all the blessings He gives to us.
As we approach Thanksgiving the whole world gathers to give thanks. As a  believer in Jesus Christ , we are often urged throughout scripture to give thanks to God. I'll be the first to admit my initial response in troubling times, isn't one of thanksgiving. I'm learning that even difficult and trying times are opportunities to give thanks to God for being with us and leading us through such difficulties. I'm grateful for my Lord's love, grace and patience. He keeps us and gives us strength to keep going and seeking Him.

Friends, I'm thankful for all of your love, support and prayers.
Thank you, to the courageous women who have shared their stories for God's glory.
I'm thankful for my sweet blessings, my husband Omar and my children Angel, Angelina and Moses. I'm thankful for my family, friends that became family and all my brothers and sisters in Christ. Blessings to you all this Thanksgiving. 
With Love, Ann Calvillo

Transcript

0:15

Hey there friends, my name is Ann Calvillo and welcome to Her Scars Tell a Story podcast, a safe space for women from all different walks of life and different backgrounds coming together to share their stories of God's redeeming love. So grab your cup of coffee and journey with us now.

Ann: 0:45

Hey there, friends. Welcome to Her Scars Tell a Story podcast. I'm your host, Ann Calvillo, and today I just wanted to roll out a Thanksgiving, uh, special edition podcast episode, seeing that Thanksgiving is this upcoming Thursday. And so, um, I have my husband, Omar, with me. he's just going to be sharing a little bit about gratitude too. So we are excited to just be, um, doing this podcast together and being able to share it with you all. Omar?

Omar: 1:21

Yes. Thank you, uh, for having me on here and yeah, so right here being on Her Scar's Tell a Story podcast and more than likely I'm going to put this on my podcast as well, Wrong To Strong Chicago. So that way, you know, both of our listeners, those that tune in to us will be able to hear, you know, this a message that we're going to get out there to you guys.

Ann: 1:41

So there's a couple things. I know that, you know, we were both wanting to do an episode on gratitude. And, this is just the perfect timing, uh, because again, we are up on Thanksgiving. And, you know, I just have so many thoughts on gratitude. But before I get into that, share, share a little bit of your thoughts on gratitude.

Omar: 2:07

Gratitude, man, just, I guess, being thankful. What comes to my mind is I believe me personally, and maybe some of you that are listening to this, we take a lot of things for granted, a lot of the blessings that we have in our life. Um, a simple statement that comes to my mind is, man, there's nothing to eat, you know, somebody, you know, like me going in my, in my refrigerator, going in the pantry, man, there's nothing to eat and there's plenty of food in the refrigerator, plenty of food in the pantry, but it's not what I want to eat. And what comes to my mind right now is a story where we went to this place where we're bagging up food. Um, a ministry, they pack up food and they send it, you know, to people in other countries that, that don't have food. they don't have anything to eat and they give them these, uh, packages filled with, you know, with rice and just beans and simple stuff just to feed them. And I think simple things like food, man, like, like just being able to, being able to put something in your belly, maybe it's not to our liking. Yeah. But, I don't know, that's something simple. That I believe a lot of us complain about and we should be grateful for everything even clean water The simple things that we take for granted here in this country, you know, cuz I believe here in this country. We're very blessed so gratitude, yeah, I would say man just You know getting down to the start counting your blessings, you know, a lot of times we complain about what we don't have Yeah, I heard somebody say, make a list. I think that's what will make it easier for us to, to obtain gratitude is make a list of the things that you are thankful for. And I bet you if you guys start writing down what you do have, what you're thankful for, that list will get pretty long as you go along. So that's, I don't know, just a thought that came to my mind when you asked that question.

Ann: 3:51

And I love that you mentioned that because I believe that gratitude is a choice. Right, gratitude is a choice that we must make because it's easy to default to complaining. It's easy to default to, you know, pointing out the flaws or, um, what I don't have, what I'm missing, right? What needs to be done, what needs to be accomplished, you know, the moment that we wake up out of our bed. And I'm just thinking of that very first moment, you know, when we're, when we wake up, you know, not a lot of us default to thank you God, thank you God for, for allowing me to wake up. Thank you God that I opened my eyes. Thank you God that I'm in a home with the roof over my head and in a warm bed God, right? I think some of us default, you know, and I've, and I've been guilty of this, of Okay, this is what I got to do checklist, you know, boom, take a shower, do this, you know, do that, fix the bed, do you know, do everything that I have to do where when I'm intentional about being grateful when I'm intentional about giving thanks to God, that changes my mindset. I don't know about you. It's

Omar: 5:13

definitely. I think, yeah, putting God in the center of it, you know, uh, letting God in, definitely, he'll definitely change your perspective on our, the way we view things in a natural

Ann: 5:23

sense. Yeah. And so, again, because gratitude is a choice, I have to be intentional about that. And that's a word that we throw around lightly. but even being, just mindful. Mindful of what God has done in our lives, because again, our mind is It's so, it's bombarded every day with what I have to do, but do I stop and give thanks? Do I stop and give thanks for the obvious things, for the mundane things, you know, for the, for the people in my life? Do I, do I wake up and I thank God, you know, Lord. Thank you that you gave me my husband. You give me children. God you my parents are alive God, thank you for you know, just the people that come to my mind and my heart That are just blessings in my life right and that doesn't mean that Gratitude means living in denial of hardship, or trials, or, um, just tough circumstances that you're in, right? Uh, but it's saying, in spite of, God, you are good. And I'm grateful. God, you, you are good. You are gracious. And I'm grateful. Right, Lord, I can think of many things right now that I can be grateful for. And beginning with you, right beginning with you, God, what you've done for me, God, right. So sometimes we have to even remember everything that God has done for us. Yeah,

Omar: 7:02

definitely. Like, for us, it's been 18 years, you know, since God grabbed a hold of both of us. So, as you go along, I think we get into this mindset of God, what have you done for me lately? And, uh, I think about like the Israelites, they used to set up memorial stones so that anytime that they looked at that, um, basically a pile of rocks it signified an answer to prayer. The provision of the Lord, he provided for them, whether it was rescue, whether it was deliverance, healing, or it was water in the desert, uh, whatever it was that he, he made away from it. At the same time, we need to set up some. Memorial stones in our life, things that we look to, maybe answers to prayers that we have received, that we have experienced and, and going to those things when, when things get rough in our lives, having something to look back at, man, God, even my first prayer, when I cried out to you as a sinner in need of a savior, that's a memorial stone. And that's the most important one there. You know, like even if he would have just done that for me, that would have been enough. Turning my life around, bringing me from darkness to light, you know, from that wrong lifestyle into just seeking Him, loving Him, knowing Him and making Him known. And that was enough, but that wasn't all he's done. He's, you know, this, he's blessed us immensely. So I would definitely say that we're, um, there's a word for it, like. short term memory almost that we can get like that like right where you just remember like what's recent but when you look back man his faithfulness his uh His grace, how gracious he's been to us throughout the years, man, he's been good, simply put.

Ann: 8:46

God is good. Yeah. God is good. I just thought about, uh, first Corinthians 15 57. It says, but thanks be to God. He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And I think about that. I think about, um, you know, he's given us victory in Jesus Christ. How can we not thank him? Right. Right. Like, how can we not thank Him? You know, I remember where God brought me from. And even the battles we face now, I have a reassurance that in Christ Jesus, I have the victory. Amen. Right? Thank you, God. Thank you, God. I, I just, when we fully wrap our minds or when we try to fully wrap our minds around that, it's like, wow, you know, it's wow. And you know, going back to, thanking God, I, I want to give another scripture. First Thessalonians 5, 16. Through 18, it says, always be joyful, never stop praying, be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Um, he's talking about, you know, rejoicing. He's talking about being prayerful. But then he says, you know, to be thankful. He says, because this is his will for you. for those who belong in Christ Jesus, His will is for us to be thankful, to give thanksgiving and that really, that really stands out to me because we can lose focus of that. We, we can become, absent minded of being grateful. Right? we focus on what needs to be done, what's missing, and we find ourselves, at least I can find myself complaining and not being thankful. And so this has really You know, I, I've been challenged at work with the message of gratitude and really being intentional about giving thanks to God. And so these verses are really hitting home with me. They're bringing conviction and they're making me realize, um, how much God desires. For us to be grateful and to have an attitude of thanksgiving.

Omar: 11:21

Yeah, definitely. I would agree there. And, just, the one of the things that comes to my mind, I know you mentioned like just waking up a little while ago, waking up, thanking God just for being able to wake up, roof over your head, warm bed. Yeah. But, uh, even the fact that a lot of people complain about their job. Man, I have to go to work. Just turning that around, and I get to go to work. Work is a means of God providing for you. I know a lot of people don't look at it that way. A lot of people, like I, like what Pastor was preaching today, a lot of people make work their identity, right? And they put so much effort and into it, like, what I do is who I am. And unfortunately, you know, that's a bad way of looking at it. You know, we distort like the blessing of God. I believe he says something, almost like we look to the, the gift and not the giver of the gifts, I guess. Like, and, work is a blessing, you know, like a lot of people are looking for work and then can't get no work. Like he mentioned too Uh, when people get laid off, you know, and you know, they're unable to provide for their family. So if you, if you're maybe waking up in the morning complaining of your job, yeah, maybe it's rough. Maybe you got, you know, you got bad characters, you know, uh, personalities that you have to work with and deal with, but man, if there's a place that God is using to provide financially for you and your family, man, be grateful and thankful for that. You know, go in there, work as unto the Lord and, you know, ask God to just give you the grace, the patience to be able to, you know, to endure, you know, unfortunately, anywhere you go where you have people, you're going to have issues, right? Yeah,

Ann: 13:05

yeah, that's true. But even being grateful for those people, because I, I think it's easy to be grateful, when you get along well with people, when people are kind to you, when they're nice, respectful, you know, but I think the challenge really comes when, you know, you're met with difficult people, right? I think that that challenges us to be more compassionate. It challenges us to be more understanding. It challenges us to be more patient, right? it, it challenges, it challenges us to be, people led by God's Holy Spirit, because that everything I mentioned is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, right? And so it takes for us to really. acknowledge that the Holy Spirit is in us working in us, moving in us and, helping us to be able to live a life of thanksgiving, even being thankful for people that we may find challenging to work with and deal with. Right. that's a work of God. That's the work of the Holy spirit in us. But I wanted to share was that part of the scripture in verse 18, it says, be thankful in all circumstances. And I think that's always spoken to me where be thankful in all circumstances. Like, God, do you mean all like, does that mean all, does that mean when my day is just going Chaotic. Does that mean, when, you know, I've just experienced a loss, right? there's people that have experienced losses of loved ones and losses of jobs, losses, you know, all kinds of things. Does that mean I got to be thankful in that too? Yeah, that's that's

Omar: 15:00

a tough question. I mean, I don't think there's an easy answer, but what comes to my mind like at the loss of a loved one. Thankful, I guess, for the, the ability to have shared time on earth with that person. You know, if you're really hurting, you know, because of that loss, whoever that, that was, man, I'm, I'm sure you're missing them because maybe they poured into you, they loved on you, you know, they nurtured you, cared for you, you know, there's a reason why you're missing them. So, I guess, thankful to, to have been able to know that person, to have been able to do life with that individual. And man, I guess, to, cherish those moments, you know, that, that you did have with that person. And I believe that nothing goes wasted with God, you know, like he'll even turn like, like a season of mourning, you know, he'll, I think there's a scripture, he'll turn my mourning into dancing, you know, but like I said, that's not an easy answer, but just something that came to my mind just to. Be grateful for the, for the family, the friends, whoever it was, you know, that, that you're missing in this season and just thankful to have known them and, you know, be loved by them.

Ann: 16:11

Yeah, yeah. And that's, that's important. And I want to be sensitive toward that because I know that the holidays are right around the corner. And a lot of people, again, there will be, you know, places at the tables where loved ones won't be there, right? it can be from loss in death or loss of a relationship. Maybe there's been a disconnect, with people in your family. but giving thanks, like you said, for them, for their life. For having been a part, you know,, of their life, and for having those people in our lives, we can still, show gratitude to God for them and pray for them. I think that, one of the greatest ways that we can express gratitude is through prayer, right? Praying for someone, praying and lifting them up to the Lord and also, truly loving them. Right. knowing that you love them, you're able to pray, you're able to, just remember the good times with them. Yeah.

Omar: 17:17

I guess what comes to my mind, what are some ways, some practical ways to love someone? Cause love is like, yeah, you know, you can tell somebody loves somebody, but what are some practical ways that we could show love in this season, I guess.

Ann: 17:31

I think being mindful, calling someone that, you know, may be alone. This Thanksgiving, checking in on them, you know, stopping by, dropping off a pie or, you know, just, just letting them know like, hey, you're not alone. we're here, you know, we're here, even inviting someone as a guest to your, to your dinner, you know. I think there's plenty of practical ways that we can show Thanksgiving, a phone call, a letter in the mail. you know, dropping something off to someone, I think it's whatever you're able to do, do it because even if it's something small, it goes a long way for somebody who may be grieving or, who may feel alone in this season.

Omar: 18:20

Yeah. Yeah. Unfortunately, I know you mentioned the loss of a loved one, but even a broken relationships, you know, maybe Yeah. Separation in a marriage, you know, husband and wife not getting along, not being able to have the family together and the holidays seem to, you know, like, uh, magnify those, though, that separation or that difference loss of relationship and yeah, to anybody out there that's, I guess, going to be spending, you know, Thanksgiving alone, you know, like I had somebody tell me that, Like, man, you know, like Thanksgiving, it's just another day for me because, you know, just loss of relationship, maybe separation, divorce, whatever it was. And it's tough, you know, it's not, it's not an easy season.

Ann: 19:05

Yeah. I wanted to also share Philippians four, six, and it says, do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving, present your request to God. So even in that, if you find yourself, having difficulty finding a reason to give God thanks, right? I mean, and even just, just saying that, it's like, man, there's so many reasons. There's so many reasons to give God thanks. But sometimes when you're grieving, it's hard to see that. It's hard to see that past the pain. It's hard to see that past the suffering, right? But in this verse, it's saying Do not be anxious about anything but in every situation by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving present your request to God so lean into prayer, right if if You can't think about reasons to be thankful, especially because you're grieving. Lean into prayer. I mean, even if it's just, God, thank you. God, thank you for being here with me. It may just be that. It's as simple as that.

Omar: 20:19

Yeah, you know, letting, letting God in and just knowing that, that you're never alone. He's with you, you know, even if, it's

Ann: 20:28

definitely tough. Yeah, I think it's thanking him for his presence as he's with us and we're not alone when we go through, you know, those type of situations. And so I, I do also want to share, gratitude also leads to happiness. It leads to joy. because when I wake up and I make a choice to be grateful, to be thankful, that affects my whole mindset and it affects my behavior, right? Because if I'm, if I'm thankful, right, my point of view, my perspective is now looking to the good in my life versus the not so good versus the things that are all going wrong. But it's taking time to notice the good. It's taking time to appreciate the good, right? Even in the midst of difficult circumstances.

Omar: 21:29

Yeah, you mentioned it's a choice. I think about at work, you know, and maybe you have a co worker always complaining, always negative, always finding something to get angry about. Like my go to statement is like, so what's the good news? Hmm. You know, like they say, every, every dark cloud has a silver lining, so we have to be intentional, make that choice and look to those good things that we mentioned earlier, you know, that make that list of things that you're grateful and thankful for. So definitely, it's a choice that we need to make, but how does somebody that's listening, maybe they've been finding himself in a season of maybe complaining, you know, murmuring, why me? how could somebody make that switch? I mean, how does that look like to be able to, I guess, turn that way of thinking, that way of living, around?

Ann: 22:21

I think for me, it's, again, what's the good in all this, right? And not so much, God, why are, why is this happening? But God, what are you teaching me through this? Because if I can say, God, what are you teaching me through this, I'm going to look for him in this and he's good, right? So we're talking about looking for the good. God is good. And so when I begin to look at the situation that I'm going through, I'm like, okay, God, what are you teaching me? What are you showing me? What are you doing in me through this? How are you? Shaping my character, God. How are you refining my character, God? How are you growing my patience, God? Right? and then make it about him and not about the circumstance or about myself. Because I know that he's got the best interest for me.

Omar: 23:22

Yes. And that's, that's a great way to turn it around. Yeah. You know, like, even in. In seasons of life where you go through, I don't know, illness, sickness, injuries, whatever. Man, God, why, why are you allowing this, you know, to come to my life, like, to sit me down? I know one of the messages, uh, that Pastor shared, I believe it was last week, on rest. How we're always on the go and never find time for that Sabbath rest, you know, that God gave us as a blessing. So, rest, resting in God. Like you said, allowing God in definitely will change that the perspective on the way we view things that we're going through and not like I mentioned earlier, nothing is wasted with God. I'm thinking about what Paul said, uh, that three times he prayed for God to take that thorn out of his side, but the Lord told him, you know, that my grace is sufficient for my power will be made perfect in weakness or perfected in weakness. And I think seasons of that we go through that are rough, like you mentioned, God, what are you, what are you trying to teach me? And I think in that, in that story in the Bible is trying to teach him, uh, humility. Yeah. Trying to keep him humble. So God, you know, what are you doing? You know, that's a great question. I think that for people to ask themselves, what are you trying to teach me

Ann: 24:44

through this? I think it takes a great deal of humility, right? The Bible tells us to humble ourselves. It takes a great deal of humility, to be able to get in that place where we are grateful. Because being grateful is being aware that we're needy. I'm needy God. I'm needy and you have supplied my needs beginning with what Christ Jesus did in my life. The need for a savior, the need to be healed, the need to be redeemed, the need to be forgiven, the need to repent and be restored. Right? I'm a needy person, God, and I thank you that in Christ Jesus, you have supplied and met all my needs according to His glorious riches, right? He has met all my needs. in Christ Jesus, right? And so it's, um, being mindful of that, humbling myself, and seeing the work of God through Christ Jesus is good in my life, no matter what I'm going through. And, um, Ann Voskamp, she's an author, and I've read a couple of her books, but there's this quote that she has, it says, Satan's sin becomes the first sin of all humanity, the sin of ingratitude. Adam and Eve are simply, painfully ungrateful for what God gave them.

Omar: 26:17

Man, because they had everything. Everything. God gave them everything they needed. I never looked at that story, like, of them, that being it, in gratitude. What comes to my mind is the pride, you know, like, they wanted to be like God. Yeah. But they were ungrateful because they still wanted more. Yeah. That's deep.

Ann: 26:40

They wanted more. And so, ingratitude, you know, I think that as I'm focusing on gratitude, again, there was a challenge that I was given at work, and that was, it's called the Thanks Living Challenge. And, myself and, my coworkers, we're focusing on how to be mindful about being thankful. And expressing the attitude of gratitude, right? And um, this has really been ministering to me, but also what does ingratitude look like? Right? What does it look like? And it looks like thinking that God's withholding something from you, that God's not meeting all your needs ingratitude, looks a lot, it looks and sounds a lot like pride, right? but it's also knowing that God has supplied all your needs because his word tells me that, but not trusting him to, not trusting him to provide all my needs. It's not trusting him. and that's, that's what ingratitude is, knowing what he has said and what he's promised, but still not trusting him. To provide and meet those needs that we have, that he knows that we have.

Omar: 28:01

Man that, that word you just said, thanks living. I like that. And that's the first time I've heard that word that it's, man, that's the title of the podcast right there. Things living, but nah that's, that's deep as it's that word. There's so much in that word to be able to have a life where you're thankful, like to, to, to living it out in thankfulness and gratitude. Yeah. Man, what a huge difference that word would make in the lives of many

Ann: 28:32

people. Just think of Adam and Eve. What if they would have been thankful? What if when the, when the serpent came to them, they would have said, thanks, but no thanks. Yeah. Yeah. What if they would have looked around and said, you know what, we're okay with not having that one tree because he's given us everything else. gratitude, right? What if, and so, that's where we need to have that mind shift of, thank you God. Thank you for everything. One of the things we talked about with my coworkers was this, was, you know, if I woke up With the mindset of thankfulness, right? I would view my spouse different. I would view my children different. I would view the drive to work in traffic different. Chicago traffic. I would view my co workers different. I would see things differently, right? I would appreciate I would appreciate my husband more. I would appreciate my children more. I would appreciate the fact that I even have a car to get me to work. I would appreciate, the fact that I have these coworkers that God has put in my life for a greater purpose. Right? When I start to view things through the lens of thankfulness, things shift. I change. My heart posture, the disposition of my heart is on Jesus, giving Him thanksgiving for who He is and what He's doing in my life.

Omar: 30:25

Amen. that's great. I'm thinking about just the difference that it'll make in you individually, but we have through God, the power and ability to change the atmosphere, wherever we go, like in the workplace, just by our attitude, the way we carry ourselves, that there was a situation where, one of my coworkers always has a, like a positive attitude, you know? And, uh, another coworker confronted him, like, man, that's, that's being fake. You're being phony because there's no way you could be like that all the time, you know? And, I guess that you mentioned it's a choice, like in the midst of the pressure, in the midst of, difficult, uh, people, difficult situations in the workplace choose, like, like my coworker, he's choosing. To have a positive attitude, even if those around him are giving negative or just bad attitude or whatever, and he's choosing that, and for somebody to say that's being fake or you're being phony. It, that's a person that doesn't understand that somebody could be thankful in the midst of a difficult situation or difficult circumstances. So yeah, I think it's, not normal or people are not used to seeing somebody have that perspective, but maybe you could be the one that begins to bring that, positivity, that, thankfulness, that, that gratefulness to wherever you're at. Maybe it could be even in your own home, you know, your family, like you mentioned. like being thankful for your spouse, being thankful for your children, uh, even in the midst of them being rebellious, you know, like what God, what are you trying to teach me? Like. You know, I know we pray, God, give us, give us wisdom from above, you know, give us wisdom to handle any situation we encounter, not in our, what we desire, not in our own human wisdom, but praying like, man, give us wisdom from above, give, give us that wisdom, that kind of wisdom that you gave Solomon, you know, when he asked, you know, God, when God told him like, man, Uh, tell me what you want and I, uh, you know, and I, and I will give it to you. And, and, and Solomon basically said, uh, give me the wisdom to lead your people. And I think that's, that's been our prayer lately, right? Like even this morning, God give us wisdom, uh, to, to lead your people, give us wisdom to handle this situation in a godly way from a, from a heavenly perspective, like download that wisdom into us. Where we could put it into practice and not just going off our emotions. It's easy to get, to go off our emotions, what we're feeling at that moment, but a lot of time that does more harm than good, than good in, in certain situations.

Ann: 33:17

Yeah. And you said a lot, there's a couple of things I just wanted to address. You said that coworker, how, when your other coworker sees him, he says, Oh, you're just being fake. Right. Right. And. That's, you know, when I think about somebody who Is, you know, and positive is one thing, but I like to think of it as the Bible. The Bible tells us, it says, therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved clothe yourselves, right? Clothe yourselves with compassion. Kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. When I think of clothe yourself, it's a garment you got to put on, right? And so when I see a person, a believer who's filled with these fruits, right? and is, living these fruits out, it's not that they're being fake. They just know they're clothing themselves, putting on that garment. They're saying, I choose to, right? I choose to be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, and patient. And it can look very fake to people who are not used to that treatment. It can look very fake. It could look very, insincere, right? But that's what God's called us to do as his chosen people, right? To put on to clothe ourselves in all those things and what the world calls positive is really God's love is really his spirit at work in us broken fragile flawed people right and so that really speaks to me when I think of You know, people being, I guess, categorized as fake because they're just oozing of God's presence. They're oozing of his spirit. And the world, the world can't distinguish. They can't, they can't tell the difference. They can't, you know, they don't know what that is, right? And so that's, another way of expressing gratitude is saying, God, thank you. That you've allowed me, to be able to glorify you through my actions, my choices, God, right?

Omar: 35:52

I like the image of that, like clothing yourself. A lot of time we could pray like, God, love through me, God, give me patience and this and that. But I think God requires something of us too. That intentionality, making that choice. Obedience. Clothing yourself. So that's... Something you got to do every day and even in that moment when you want to take that, that off and maybe vent or respond and maybe in the way that you're being treated, let's say if it's in a negative sense, a lot of times you want to respond in that way, but even in that moment, like clothing yourself, like reminding like, nope, I can't, I can't respond the way the world responds because that's not what God requires of me. So having that mindset, I know it's hard because even in the moment, like I had a few situations throughout the years in the company I've been with. I think like. At least two that, that come to my mind where I finally snapped, where I was clothing myself, like, you know, but you know, I had a snap and I had to put my foot down. Maybe some boundaries were crossed that was just too far, whatever that may, that may be. But yeah, being intentional clothing. So I like that because that's a requirement on our part. Yeah. We can't put everything on God. Yeah. And like you mentioned, like God, what are you trying to teach me through this? Maybe he's trying to grow us. He's trying to. Uh, shape our character, you know, he's trying to, you know, like, like they say, if you want to know what's in something, like squeeze it and that'll come out. A lot of times we want to blame the other person, the circumstance on why we responded the way we responded. But, but even the Bible, like Jesus said, it's, it's not what goes into the mouth that makes a man unclean. It's what comes out of the mouth because what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart. So, when I think maybe these difficult situations, these difficult circumstances, that a lot of times people find themselves in, what's, what's coming out of your mouth would be one question to ask yourself, because that's not that person. It's not the job. It's not that situation. It's in you. And maybe God's trying to reveal something that is in you that he's trying to work at. Even as believers, you know, uh, well, you know, salvation is one thing, but then we go through what's called a sanctification process as, as we continue to see God and walk with him, he's sanctifying us. He's in a sense, almost like cleansing us, like as we go along, like, uh, perfecting us never being perfect, but perfecting like in the process as we go along, you know, on this side of eternity. So. It's for us, it's been 18 years and, and you know, this, like God's been revealing stuff to me now, 18 years later, you know, walking with Him, serving Him, following Him, trying to be obedient, trying to keep his commandments, but situations arise where God's revealing, things in my character, things that, man, I want to help you in that area. We got to deal with the root issue. And, on things that seem to arise at times, maybe there's some anger or whatever it may be in your life, you know, going back to what you said earlier, God, what are you trying to teach me through this? God, what are you doing in me? Not in the situation, not in the other person, in me? what's my responsibility in this issue or in the situation that I find myself in?

Ann: 39:29

Yeah, and I can, agree with you on that. I'm a constant work in progress, and the Lord is constantly, teaching us, constantly growing us. the Bible says that he disciplines those that he loves. He corrects those that he loves, right, his children. And that's part of our Christian walk, right? God loves us so much, he wants all of our heart. And he wants us to give it all to surrender, to submit to him, and that's where it begins submission and, surrender, surrendering our lives to him. But I wanted to quickly, before we wrap this up is to share this word, the, the scripture on ingratitude. And, this is in Romans 1, 20, 21 for it says for. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky, through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, so they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship Him as God or even give Him thanks. And they began to think of foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. And this is the unbelievers, right? They know there is a God, but they wouldn't worship Him and they wouldn't give Him thanks. That verse, those verses really, Spoke to me and they're still speaking to me. They're still ministering to my heart, because as believers how much more how much more? Should we worship the Living God the one true God how much more should we give him? Thanks Right? How much more? I think that we need to remember all that God has done, all that he continues to do, and all he has yet to do, right? He saved us. That's enough. That's, that's enough. And so my challenge to those of you listening to the podcast, I just, I want to challenge you the way I was challenged. You focus on Thanksgiving, right?, what are the choices you need to make when going through your daily life, including hard circumstances, how can I be thankful to God through it all?

Omar: 42:25

That's a great question to, to leave the listeners with it. And to, you know, to leave even me with, like I said, that's the first time I heard that word, but. Going back to that, um, that statement, worship, they said they wouldn't worship and wouldn't give Him thanks. I'm thinking about what pastor was preaching today, and he put a quote up there, I forget who it was from, but it was talking about how we have our priorities, not in order or like mixed up. And I think the quote said something to, we worship at work was the first statement and basically how we put more value into what we do. Like we worship that, that becomes our idol, right? Brought up idolatry. And then it says, so we worship at work, we work at play, and we play at worship. Meaning, we don't take the worship of God seriously. We don't take our, the time we spend with God seriously, even at church. We could be at church physically. And be tuned out, like in a sense, you're just checking the box, like here I am, you know, I'm doing my, due diligence or my duty as a believer coming to church, tuned out, zoned out, even during worship, um, I'm saying worship in the sense of like the singing part or, but worship is everything, you know, even when you're reading the word of God, when you're praying, you're worshiping, But to take that time, I guess, seriously, the worship of God and, for me, worshiping God, listening, just the music aspect, uh, you know, putting on some praise music, singing along, changes, my heart posture, my focus turns to God, even in the midst of a difficult situation. It changes my heart, my perspective and, the way I view life. Like you mentioned, things living. Thankful for God. Thankful for what he's done, what he's doing and what he's getting ready to do. so yeah, definitely worship of God. If you haven't been taking it seriously, if you find yourself in just like a routine, I you know, just going to church, just doing that has got to, you know, like examine your heart. You know, what, what, why are you like that? You know, God, the Bible throughout scripture, God is worthy to be praised. You know, the angels are constantly worshiping, heaven is filled with worship, you know, and we should bring some of that here to earth, you know, like people, people need to see us worship. Yeah. You know, if you're saved, if you're born again and you're not worshiping God, there's something wrong.

Ann: 45:06

I think it all goes back to the heart. More than just an, thank you God, he's looking at our heart. Is my heart a grateful heart? Because if it is,, I'm gonna worship God. I'm gonna praise him,, I'm gonna treat people different. I'm gonna respond different, because it starts in the heart. Thanksgiving begins in the heart, it's a, the heart disposition, and so gratitude is a choice and it stems from the heart, the heart attitude of gratefulness. This is a challenge for all of us, this is, this is a time to, to reexamine ourselves. God, am I being grateful? Is, is my heart... Truly grateful God for who you are and all that you've done, right? This is a time to, examine ourselves. And the beautiful thing is that if we're alive and we're breathing, we can be grant, we can express gratitude. We can begin to live with thanksgiving to God, right? Yes, definitely. And I think so, as we step into Thanksgiving. Again, there's so much to be grateful for. I know I'm grateful for, this podcast. I'm grateful for the listeners. I'm grateful for the ladies that, I've had the honor to sit across from and listen to their stories and share their stories. I'm grateful to God for them, for the connections and the relationships that have come, about through this podcast. I'm just, I'm grateful. I'm grateful to you. I'm grateful for you. and I'm grateful for just, just who God is. I'm just. I'm grateful and, and I want to be intentional about being grateful every day and every moment that I can be grateful to God.

Omar: 47:34

Yeah, definitely. I know you mentioned this, what we're doing and I'm, thankful as well for this. Like. The ability to, to share these stories, to, to share our story and it's, it's a blessing, it's a gift and it's from the Lord and just this past year plus it's been, it's been a blessing, all these stories, we've been hearing lately, with the impact, you know, like from, let's say like on my side from, from our Wrong To Strong, just the impact that JC has been making the change that's happened in his life. Yeah. And we had the chance to encounter a few men lately that have been impacted by the change in his life. And it's happening, you know, he's in Arizona, he's making his videos, but people here in Chicago are being impacted. And, I shared with you earlier when I asked him, Hey, what's, what's the creed? Well, what's the model for, for wrong to strong? You know, like, well, what is it we're about? What is it we're believing? And he just gave me one short statement,"Reaching the Unreachable." And that's one thing that God's been doing through this, you know, let's say through the podcast that we've been doing. So I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful that we're seeing the fruit of it. You know, we, we do this for God as unto God when we pray that God will use. You know, us talking this audio that's going to go forth, you know, there's audio that's coming through, uh, through, uh, people's speakers, uh, the video that they're watching, that it would draw them close to God. Yeah. The God will use us as instruments. Yeah. Of. Of his work or what it is that he desires to do on this earth for his glory. Yes, for his glory that I know, we prayed before we, we hit record and God, you do what you need to do. It's not about us and our prayer. God speak through us. God, do what, do what it is that you need to do through what we're getting ready to share today. And yeah, you're right. It's all about God having that perspective that it's all about him and letting Him in. To this, and to other areas of our life, and Thanks Living.

Ann: 49:45

So, thank you all for listening to this episode on gratitude. I pray that this thanksgiving as you are gathered With family and, and those of you, my heart goes out to you who have lost loved ones. There, there is still something to be grateful for in this life. There's still, if you know God, you have something to be grateful for, right? And my prayers go out to those of you who right now are grieving the loss of a loved one, the loss of a friendship, the loss of a job. Um, I pray that in the, in the midst of this, that you find refuge and hope and strengthen the Lord Jesus Christ, because he loves you. He cares for you and he's near to you. You're not alone as you go through this and, Just know that, you know, you are a part of a body or part of a church community that, that loves you and is praying for you. So I just wanted to leave the listeners with that, that, uh, just that encouragement and words of hope. God bless you all happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Omar: 51:07

You know what? But one thing that came to my mind right now, I know we're getting ready to wrap up this podcast and if you've been listening to it, you know, this far. it came to me on Spotify, um, at the end of every episode, there's a question that they put, like, what do you think about this, uh, episode or what did you think about this podcast? Uh, earlier we were talking about writing down those things that you're thankful for. Do us a favor and if you're listening, I don't know if it's available on Apple podcast, Spotify, there's an option there where you could write and my challenge to you is, you know, we were talking about writing down things you're thankful for. Write it down on this podcast if you have the ability to, or you're listening to it on the app, write it on there. We would love to hear that. Uh, flood this podcast episode with things that you're thankful for. Yeah, that's good. Yeah, that, that's my challenge to those that are going to listen to this. Start there. We want to hear it. And maybe we could share some of those things that the listeners put on there, but maybe that could be your first step. And thanks living your first step and of changing your mindset of changing maybe the way you've been living, the way you, you think you're wired, but no guy could rewire, you will reprogram you and change the way you view life and, and be thankful, grateful, but start there. That's my challenge. Yeah, I don't know. Something that came to me as you were speaking, get on there and while you're on there, rate the podcast for real, give it, give it the five stars. That'll help. Uh, like move it up and, uh, give other listeners a chance, an opportunity to listen to these stories, whether it's on. Her scars tell a story podcast or on wrong to strong Chicago podcast. But

Ann: 52:52

one last thing, one very, very small last thing. There's actually journals that you can purchase target. Um, Marshall's has them and their gratitude journals where you can actually journal every day. Um, things that you're thankful for. So again, if, if you're having a hard time, right, you're, you're processing things, you're processing a loss, you're processing, just trials and tests in your life right now. maybe a journal on gratitude where you can list those things that you are thankful for even amidst your situation. So thank you for sharing that.

Omar: 53:34

Just came to my mind. This thing won't end. See,

Ann: 53:36

that's when you do a, this is what happens when you do a podcast with your husband, but, but I'm thankful. No,

Omar: 53:46

no, I'm not going to say nothing now.

Ann: 53:49

That's

Omar: 53:49

it. No, no, you know what I was going to say to, to the listeners, somebody is thankful for you. Yeah. You may feel that nobody cares about you. You may feel that, man, nobody loves me. You may feel, I don't know, insignificant at this moment. But I just want you to know that you matter, God loves you, people around you love you, they need you, and I just want to speak life over you, like, don't let the enemy lie to you, that maybe, you know, those around you will be better, like, basically you, maybe you're, you view yourself like, man, my life doesn't matter, I'm not making a difference, I'm not making an impact, you matter, God created you on purpose and for a purpose, Maybe you haven't found that yet come to Jesus Christ, you know, just come to him cry out to him call out to him and he will answer the Bible says that you will seek me and you will find me when you seek me with all your heart call out to him wherever you're at. You're in your car, you're driving, you're in the workplace. Wherever you find yourself, cry out to God and He will meet you there. You know, a broken and contrite spirit, He will not despise. Yes. But yeah, I just want to say, somebody's thankful for you. You matter, your life matters, and it's not, it's, it's not over for you. Like, allow God into your life. And he will breathe life into you and give you that second life that I know that we have experienced, but I felt like I don't know that somebody needed to

Ann: 55:36

hear that. Thank you for, wrapping this episode up. And, again, I'm thankful for you, babe. I, I'm really grateful for you. I know that this podcast and even this, this background and this whole setup, I know, It's number one because of the Lord, but number two, because, you've been obedient and, and, and doing all this, right. And even, just encouraging me to be able to share this podcast. So thank you. Babe, I'm grateful for you. I pray that these podcasts continue to bless the listeners, that it continued to point people to Jesus, that he continued to encourage the people that are sharing their stories, that, that they would know that their testimony, is being used by God to touch many lives. And so, thank you to the listeners. for, her scars tell the story and thank you to the listeners from wrong to strong podcast for joining us, through this episode. God bless you. Happy Thanksgiving.

Omar: 56:45

Happy Tha Lksgiving. You know, that's what it's about now. Thanks Living. I just on Thursday, every day, all day, twice on Sundays,

Ann: 56:54

24 seven. All right. We're out. God bless you all.

Omar: 56:58

Love y'all.