Fighting Fear and Anxiety with Jan Greenwood

Good morning everybody, it's Chrystal Hurst, and I am grateful to be with you this morning even though I'm a little, um, hurried would be the word. I woke up this morning to no internet, no internet, and I was scrambling around trying to figure that out. So you know, you figure these things out, but sometimes it does put you a little bit behind. I went to bed with internet, but I woke up without internet. And so I'm here and Jan is here, and I wanted to just welcome you to what will be something that I'm doing fairly consistently, uh, at least for the next week. Why 7 AM? I'm sure Jan was asking that too, but here's the deal. I, um, believe that first of all, this is social media. Good morning, Asia. Y'all can say good morning when you get on. If you're having any issues with the sound or the quality, let me know. Let me know, uh, where you are listening from or watching from too. But, um, here, here's the deal. I really believe that how you start your day, um, determines how your day goes to a certain extent. I believe that even if you're not a Bible study person like a full-on 2-hour dig deep in the morning, that starting your day with God, starting your day with prayer, starting your day with devotion, starting your day with worship, you know, whether that's when you're worshiping in your car on your way to work or starting your day with looking at your to-do list and deciding before the day directs you that you direct your day. Starting the day reframing your mindset changes the way you live your day. So I know that everybody's not going to watch this at 7:00 in the morning. I understand that. Um, but, um, I mean, and honestly, y'all, I'm a pretty early riser, but if I'm gonna ever have friends on here with me, I can't ask them to join me at 5 or 6, so 7 it is. But I wanted to put this out early enough so that those of you who want to start your day with some encouragement and start your day with reframing your mindset can do so. And then whoever else watches this throughout the day can be encouraged at any point throughout the day. So that's why 7:00 AM. I want you to also know that I'm really excited about the things we're going to talk about because my goal is always to encourage you to live moments that matter, but also to encourage you to be practically helped. Meaning, I don't want to just tell you, yay, You can manage your kids all day. I want to give you ideas for how to do that. And in my conversation with Jan today, I don't want to just say, be a good woman of faith. I want to give you some practical, tactical, um, tips and tools for how to do that, starting of course with God's word. And Jan Greenwood is the woman for the hour in that department. I mean, before I ever even thought about going live and talking to you every day I got a text from Jan, and she literally texted me to tell me she was praying for me and to say, hey, I've been praying. She said, how you doing physically and emotionally? I am already quarantined and praying Psalm 91 pretty aggressively. Let me know how I can pray for you. And so when I thought, what ways can I be helpful? To women who are, you know, needing some practical, like, for real, how do I put this to work in my mind and in my heart and in my life? You know, of course, I thought about— I thought about Jan. I also want you to know that I will be resourcing those people who are on my email list with lots of things. We've already been doing that. And if you're not on my email list, No worries, because I will be linking back to previous resources in new— in emails to come. So the important thing for you to do is to get on my email list. You can simply do that by going to ChrystalEvansHurst.com. And when you do that, you'll see right below my picture on the home page that there's a little spot for you to enter your email. And when you do that, not only are you going to get any resources that come because of all the lives that we're going to be doing, but you're also going to be receiving a 5-day prayer journey. So if you've been looking for a way to, uh, dive deeper into your relationship with God and just need a little assistance or help in, um, diving into your prayer life, just talking to him more— because honestly, y'all, whether you work or don't, whether you're in a non-essential place of business or not, we all right now have more time, all of us, because all of our extracurricular stuff has gotten canceled. And even if all you were doing was going to church even if that's all you were doing, you can't even do that now. I mean, now you could have— you could do it if you had a home church under 10 people, but, uh, apart from that, that's not the story for most of us. And so we all have some discretionary additional time. So I want to encourage you, uh, as I did in my Facebook, um, live that I did a couple of days ago, and we'll put a link to that in the resources that we send out if you haven't seen it yet, not to waste your time. Because y'all, here's the tendency for many of us. It is going to be to be on social media all day long. Like, we're going to be memeing ourselves to death and we're going to be on getting caught up on all of our friend things, or we're going to be Netflixing. And there's nothing wrong with that. But if you're not careful, the additional time that you could have used to invest not just in you, in the things that you want to do, in cleaning out your closet and spending time with your kids and learning how to cook, but investing time in your relationship with God. You always have said that, I wish I had more time. If I had more time, I'd spend more time in God's word. Well, guess what? Now you've got it. I don't want you to waste your time, and I don't want to waste mine either. So our 7 AM calls are designed to help you to think differently about each day, about what you're facing, and to be practically helped by some things I want to share with you, uh, in ways I want to equip you. But honestly, y'all, I don't know everything. Enter the Sister Circle. Enter friends that I have that are solid in their own walk, in their own life, and that probably have a skill and ability, knowledge, wisdom, maturity in an area that is— that God has especially gifted them in, and that they can equip you from their own source, their own overflow of the wellspring that is within them. So this morning, I am so excited to be joined by Jan Greenwood. I want to give you one other thing to consider doing while I have you here, apart from joining the email list. And again, you can do that by going to chrystalhurtz.com. But I want to encourage you this morning, if you are, um, looking for a community, there is a group on Facebook where we're abuzz with all the things. We've got a book club going right now, but we're also talking about, and we'll be talking more about, practical ways that we can help each other, because I really believe that women helping women is where it's at. It really is. And so I want to encourage you— I know this is a crazy long link, um, we'll put a pretty link on that next time. But am I at the right link? Yep, I think I am. Maybe not. Anyway, nope, that's not the right link, so we'll fix that. But, um, I'll put that up later. I want you to consider looking at the Facebook group that we have for the Sister Circle because Not only can you join me here at 7 o'clock in the morning, but you can also join a group of women. There are over 3,000 women that are in there, and we're helping each other. We post the questions that people have, and then everybody jumps in and shares their knowledge, and it's a pretty cool place to be. Okay, so without further ado, I want to bring, um, Jan on with me, and here we go. There we go.

Hi, all right, good morning.

Good morning, Jan. Now I want to know, you look like you're in a bedroom. This can't be your bedroom where your husband— did you have to wake him up and make him get up to do this?

No, I, uh, actually this is my guest room and I'm in here this morning because my husband is still asleep. He did hear me get out of the shower. It's like, what are you doing? And I've also, like many of you, I've had a college student come back home, so I've got one of those asleep. Sleep. And I have two dogs with me who are quite happy to be up because they made me feed them. So I was actually running all over the house trying to find a place that would be quiet and I could light sufficiently. I really need more lighting for this. So I'm a little bit like you. I had Wi-Fi, but I had to do a little more prep to even be able to see you.

Well, I know that's the thing, right? Like, I have all of the accoutrements. I have all— I have my microphone, I've got my earphone in, but like, I have this other camera It's this little mountable camera and I have it on top of my laptop and I don't know why it's not turning on, you know what I mean? It's just like, whatever.

But as long as you can see me, you know, you look beautiful and like you've been up since 5 AM, girl.

Well, yeah, I mean, I don't— that doesn't mean out of the bed. That doesn't mean active and productive. That just means my body wakes up.

I'm glad you spent a few minutes telling me why we're up at 7. You know, I'm an old person. I tell my kids, ancient of days. And I finished my child-rearing days, so I don't have to get up so early. And I was like, 7 AM? What? We're in quarantine.

Well, I'll tell you what's funny. My dad, he gets up early. Like, I send him a text almost every morning and I say, "Awake?" And he calls me when he's awake, and there's always something we can talk about. But he normally calls me like between 6 and 7. Like, he just gets up.

Yeah.

So, so I— he— and he told me a while ago, he and my mom both told me that, you know, as they've gotten older, their sleep patterns have changed. Like, they, they'll get up in the middle of the night, or sometimes they wake up earlier than they used to. And I, um, but mine, my sleep patterns changed because a few years ago, 5 years ago now, 6, I ran a marathon and I had to get up at 4 o'clock in the morning to do my daily runs, which was murder. But then once the marathon was over, my body never stopped. It never stopped getting up at that time.

That's called spiritual, girl. I could preach.

That could preach. You're right, that could totally preach.

I could preach.

I love that you have your Sister Circle cup.

Oh, I love my— how does it show best? There you go. I love my Sister Circle cup. And I just say, uh, one of the highlights of my 2019 was the Sister Circle retreat. Oh, you're such an incredible host. You have your mother's gifts for hospitality. And thanks. Um, you know, you invited me to come serve. What that really meant is you invited me to come get blessed, and I did. And so, you know, it's on my regular rotation. So, oh, so I'm giving you the brand this Well, listen, I appreciate that.

And I love that you were able to come because one of the things that I heard, well, of all the encouragers that were there, but one of the consistent things that I have heard about you and still hear anytime somebody listens to a podcast or somebody talks about you from being at the retreat, and I know I'm going to hear it even after today, is she's so wise. Now I know that that wisdom has come from many, many years of loving Jesus and studying his word, but I also know that that wisdom and maturity and spiritual depth has come because you've walked a lot of hard roads. And instead of allowing those roads to drive you away from Jesus, you've allowed them to drive you to Jesus and to his word, which has made you a wealth, a wealth. And I'm, I'm speaking now personally, Jan. Because, you know, I called you recently about an issue and I was like, I just need your spiritual, godly maturity and wisdom. And, you know, you paused before you ever said a word, you prayed, and then when I tell you, you spoke like bone and marrow speaking to me, um, where my mind, my heart, my soul was resonating. I mean, it was just wisdom and maturity that only comes from somebody who's walked the walk who's walked the walk with Jesus and who speaks with authority and assurance, with humility, but you just know what you're talking about. And I'm just so grateful to have you join me because I just— I'm so excited for women who may never have heard of who you are to be blessed with the deposit of spiritual overflow that has come as a result of God's work in your heart and your soul through the hard places, through the hard places. So can you give everybody just kind of a brief orientation to just why you even were like, I'm self-quarantined, and why you've even had to— why hard places and knowing Jesus in hard places is a part of your story.

Yeah, well, first of all, I am the Ancient of Days, so I've had a lot of life to live. And, um, I've been married, I think it's 36 years. Mark and I keep going back and forth every year, so we've been married a long time. I've raised 4 kids, and I've been in love with Jesus pretty much my whole life. But I really gave my life to Jesus in the midst of the pregnancy of my second baby. I was 30— um, let's see, how old was I? 31 years old, and, uh, in the midst of a marriage that was struggling. And so that moment, uh, began, you know, a real deep, earnest learning to lean into God when I didn't have answers or solutions. And so I began that pattern years ago, and I was very fortunate at that time. Mark and I started started attending a small group for our marriage, and I started attending a women's Bible study. And so things that— although I'd grown up in the church my whole life and loved Jesus my whole life, I had never really learned to go see what his word said about him and to eat it and to lean on it when my circumstances didn't match. And so the hardship of like, um, I guess like a lot of us, like I'd been married, um, like 8 or 9 years at that time, and It was just hard. It was a hard season for us. And God restored our marriage. We always laugh because Mark and I got the Most Improved Couple Award for small groups. If you know me, I like to, you know, get the award. I like that. So I've never failed to just be grateful that a couple who had walked through a struggle just like us before would stand up in front of a group of broken marriages. And say there's hope and let's talk about it. And it changed my life. It taught me about small group ministry. It taught me about the church as a body. I just— that was like the seedbed of my own personal journey with Jesus. I've had some other challenges over the years. I am an only child and I've had a mom who's been chronically ill her whole life. My dad's been deceased 20 years. Last year I finally ended up needing to put my mom in a nursing home, which was all my life she had threatened me with, you know, All you really want to do is put me in a nursing home. And, um, I dreaded so much that decision for her and for me, and, uh, just walking that out and finding her content and even safe. Like, today I feel like she's in the safest place I can have her be in this moment. So that was a lifetime of a really codependent relationship, um, and my dad's death, you know, multiplied the effect of that. So that was a lot of my journey. And then in 2009, the reason I'm self-quarantined is I was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. And I had the most common type of breast cancer, but it's also very aggressive. And I went through an initial season of 2 years of treatment and really fell into healing. It was so incredibly miraculous. I went 6 years with no recurrence. At the end of 6 years, which was 2016, I had a recurrence. And I've not had any disease in my body since 2016, but I have had several recurrences in my brain, And periodically I have to go and have my brain examined, which isn't that funny. And, um, I just think it's hysterically such a ploy of the enemy, you know. Now he literally wants our minds. And so, uh, like, just being defensive of my body and my life is a normal part of my life, and I am not afraid, but I cannot afford to be foolish. And so when the government says those who have a compromised, a weak immune system, and who are elderly, which I'm not over I can see it coming. So we'll have to talk about that another time. We'll talk about aging another time. But I can see it coming. And I just, I knew I was gonna have to yield. And so before even we were in the place that we were in, I had already told my team at work, like, I won't be back after this weekend and we'll have to work remotely. And they were like, of course, and you should. And then, And really by Monday, you know, really the whole world was beginning to make huge adjustments. So I am at home for an extended time. I've been home a week now without going out except to the mailbox and to take a walk. And so far I'm pretty content. So that's kind of my story, my journey. I love God. I work at— I work— I am employed at a local church and I have loved the local church since I was very young. I have a very faithful servant grandmother who served in the kindergarten department at the Second Baptist Church for 40 years, if you can believe that. So, uh, service in the church, uh, is in my blood. I'm so grateful God didn't ask me to serve kindergartners for 40 years because I don't think I could do it. I'm a grandmother a lot. And, um, I'm thrilled, of course, to have been a part of the staff at Gateway Church 4 years. I've literally been on the team now for like almost 14 years, and it is home and family to me. And I will say that when you enter a crisis moment, there is nothing like the body of Christ to surround you, no matter how bad the circumstance or the situation. I've been literally carried by the grace of my co-workers and my leaders and just had people be Jesus to me when I was so devastated and broken.

So, so many people, um, right now are— and I'm not a fearful person, let me just say that. I'm not a naturally fearful person, but there, I have to be honest and say, I have found myself, um, here and there feeling this underbed of anxiety. It's, it's just like this underbed, and the way that it works itself out is because I keep running to the store. It's like, I mean, like, you know, I mean, yesterday my husband went out, um, to go get gas or something, something simple. So I was talking to him and he said, yes, I'm pulling up at Costco. And I said, oh, you're back at Costco? I said, go in and get some butter, we only got 4 sticks left, you know what I mean?

Well, the way you're cooking, 4 sticks is not very much, girl.

It's, it's not. But I mean, like But the reaction, it's not like, you know, it's just kind of like, oh, you know, and he kind of laughed at me and he said, you know, like, we're stocked. And we totally are. Like, we're not like hoarding level or anything like that, but I know how to plan meals and I know how to, you know, think forward a couple of weeks or whatever. But that's been the thing. It's kind of like the angst of Black Friday or, you know, the day after Christmas. It's not anxiety in a like, I'm afraid sense. It's just this underbed of, I gotta do it and I gotta do it now. You know what I mean? It's just this, it's just an underbed. Now, I know some people, you know, are full-out anxious, you know, they're, they're full-out fearful, they're really having a hard time sleeping, they're worried about their loved ones that they can't get to. Um, you know, there, there's, you know, there, there are tangible, actual, um, pain points for that fear and worry. But for a lot of us, it's just kind of You know, the news is on or our social media is on, so we keep getting notifications or, you know, it's the conversation, or at least it was for many of us at the water cooler until we could no longer go back to work. And then if we are at work because we're in an essential function, then it's a part of everything that we do. I mean, you know, I called before my husband went in to go get that butter. I called Costco and the lady was so sweet and she just said, I said, so how are things really going? And she said, well, you know, we just have to work really hard to make sure there's enough for everybody because people are so afraid and they're coming in here and they're rushing. And she said, and if somebody turns their back, they're going to take their toilet paper and their paper towels out of their basket. She said, there's just so much fear. And so she was even commenting, we went into Costco last week, my daughter needed some paper towels and toilet paper. I said, well, we have to get there first thing, it'll be gone. And when I tell you, in 5 minutes the whole pallet of paper towel and paper towels were gone. But the frenzy— it was, it was the frenzy around it, um, you know. And one lady, the husband said to her— I felt so bad, I was like, Lord, do I ever talk to my husband like this? But the husband said, um, uh, to his wife, whatever her name was, he said, he said, they said there's no more left, because she, she was pulling. She said, come on, come on, we have to get back there. And he said, Honey, that what they said, it's all gone. She said, just shut up and follow me. I was like, oh my God. I was like, oh my God. I mean, it wasn't like to him in a corner. I mean, the whole—

out loud in front of everyone.

Yes, the whole gathering of people were like, oh Lord. So I mean, it is stressful. Um, so When you start speaking to, as I'm sure you've already been, to friends, um, to, to women who you see, you know, here and there and everywhere, that you're texting, that you're, um, reaching out to, that you meet on social media, what have you, um, where are you pointing them? Why, why Psalm 91? What is so— what has God revealed to you in that scripture? And why are you reading that even though you know it, I'm sure, by heart over and over and over again?

I wish I had it memorized, but I only have parts. Well, I feel like Psalms 91 is familiar to those who, uh, have been part of the church for a long time. And even for me, it's like, oh, I'm praying Psalms 91. It's almost casual or flippant. And in this moment of dealing with that underlying anxiety and really trying to understand, should I be afraid? Like, in— to what measure, Lord, should I have an appropriate fear that would cause me to take wise action? Um, I can get really confused. And when I read Psalms 91, it clarifies for me God's heart for me, and it is so pertinent to our moment. I mean, it could not speak more than to this moment in God's timeline where he's talking about you don't have to be afraid of the plague by night and you might see a thousand fall at your right and 10,000 fall at your left. And he specifically even speaks about how it's not going to come near your tent. My NLT version says, not come near my home. So when I read these things, first of all, it's a confirmation to me that I'm making a wise decision and I'm positioning myself to receive the blessing of Psalms 91. Now, I don't know that it necessarily means that no coronavirus will touch my house. Um, I don't understand. Sometimes things do happen that seem to me like God promises me, and then maybe something similar will happen, but that is not the focus for me. I cannot be fearful of the what if. What a waste of time. And instead, I'm putting my focus on his power, and his heart is to protect me. And so because he is wisdom, I am going to get under the wing of wisdom, and I'm not coming out till he tells me, um, it's wise. I think the thing that I've been, uh, really pondering the last few days is the difference in all of Proverbs 1 through 4, uh, is really about wisdom and about how there is a Lady Wisdom, the voice of wisdom that calls out and what it says to us. And then there's the um, counterfeit voice of wisdom, which actually stands in the same place and sounds just like wisdom. But one door, one lady, leads to life, and the other door, the word says, is a, uh, an open throat to death. And so, Lord, I really need the Holy Spirit to discern for me what is wise and what is foolish. And so the more I read in Proverbs 1 through 4, the more it becomes so common sense to me. It's so clear how to do that. Can I read you something from, uh, absolutely, absolutely. So this is just how easy it is to use God's word. Like, I didn't go to the— your dad's incredible New Concordance and look up fear, although I could and would be so blessed I'm just reading about wisdom and listen to what this says. I'm in chapter 3, which by the way, my Bible says the entire chapter is about trusting God. Can I just say that the root of fear is always an antichrist spirit that wants us to not trust God? Think about when Jesus went to the wilderness and he— God sent him out after being, um, the dove came on him and spoke about who he was. And, and God said for us to— he's proud of him— and then sent him out immediately into a wilderness. We are in the wilderness. And when he was hungry and weak, the enemy came and began to, um, ask him to pervert God's plan for him and to take it into his own hands. And because Jesus trusted God and because he knew how to use the word to defeat the enemy, he demonstrated wisdom. And guess what? I love that it ends with, God sent angels to feed him, to give him water, and to strengthen him. So you and I need daily strengthening in the midst of this crisis. And when I trust God, I'm able to receive strength. So sorry, that was a side tangent, wasn't it?

Okay, that's all right. It's a good side.

It's about trusting in the Lord. If you're afraid, you need more trust. Okay, and it says, uh, I'm just in verse 21. It says, my child Don't lose sight of common sense and discernment. I can't tell you how important this is. Many times I'll be talking with someone and I'll be like, is that common sense? Does that, does that actually make sense? And sometimes we get hyper-religious or hyper-faithful and we start reverting to the old, um, claim it, name it and claim it and we think if we're not walking at that level of declaration, we're not being faithful. I just don't— I don't believe that. So for me, don't lose sight of common sense and discernment. There's a practical tip: if you're thinking about letting your kids go over to your neighbor and you're not sure if that's a good idea or not, you just need to ask yourself, is that wise? Is that— should I do that? Is that— is that the best thing at this moment? Or maybe you have to go to work and you need to take your kids to your mom's house because suddenly they have no daycare., and you're thinking, gee, I hate to take my kids to my mom's, but I have to work. Okay, based on what I know today, this is the best, safest solution I have. So it's not like everything is black and white. It's about how you talk to the Lord and think through what is common sense and discernment. So it says, hang on to them, for they will refresh your soul. They are like jewels on a necklace. They keep you safe on your way and your feet will not stumble. Did you hear safety? I heard safety. And you can go to bed without fear. How many of us are not sleeping because we've listened to so much negative news and threat? Or even like, maybe you're like me and you're compromised in some way and you really are fearful and you can't sleep. It says you can go to bed without fear. You will lie down and sleep soundly. You need not be afraid of sudden disaster or the destruction that comes upon the wicked, for the Lord is your security. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap. So I know those verses are not saying anything about fear, but to me they're just shouting to me about how to, uh, walk in godly fear, which it says is the beginning of wisdom. And to fear the word of God and the counsel of God more than I feel an invisible virus I can't see and cannot— no matter how hard I try, I cannot control it.

So when the feeling of fear rises up, yeah, because you know, there's the, there's the truth of I should not fear there's the tangible things I can do to turn to God's word, to my faith, to truth, um, and not be reactive. There's the— there are facts.

That's right.

But when the feelings rise up, what do we do? What, what in that moment where we feel the, the turning, the anxiety, and we honestly are like, why is this happening? Like, I believe in God, and I do, and I, you know, but, but, you know, not just in this scenario, but when we go to the doctor and the doctor tells us that there's something going on in our bodies that we don't want to be there, when we really want our marriage to work but our spouse is threatening to leave.

Yes.

When we have done our best to raise our children in the fear and the knowledge of Christ and they're out there acting cray-cray, you know, when we are the faithful person on our job and we do show up in excellence every day, but because of things that our job cannot control, like Corona, then we're worried about the money that we're going to be able to make or whether or not we're even going to be able to keep our job, right? When we have the, the loved one that's 1,500 miles away and they're pretty self-sufficient, but now, oh my goodness, I wish they live across the street from me. When we are faced with those circumstances and the feeling of fear stirs up in that moment, what, you know, what, what can I, what can I do? How do I address that? Yes, I'm gonna read God's word, but I want to tell you, I mean, and I'm not saying God's word is not enough, but I'm just saying when I read God's word to help my mindset, to help my heart, to feed my soul, sometimes the place that I need to go, what needs to change, that change does not happen instantaneously, right? And I'm still walking around with my heart, you know, palpitating, or with my, uh, with my mind going a million miles a minute. And, and calming those things down, like, what, what does that look like for you? Or what have you learned over the years to help you when, as much as your faith is strong, your mind, your soul, and your body kind of want to run away? They want to run beyond where you're dictating it should, it should go.

Well, let me say, every one of those circumstances that you listed to me are real reasons to fear. Those are not false fears. Those are not imaginary fears. Those are not a torturous spirit of fear laid on top of a real fear, something that actually could harm us or that we can't control or that is a challenge to us. Those are real fears. Sometimes I'll say to people, like, that's something worth crying about. Don't be ashamed of you're crying, or don't be ashamed that you're afraid. Like, that's actually something to be afraid of. But it's what I do with what I feel. Like, even for me, the last couple of days there's been these moments where I'm like, wow, this thing really could take my life. And that's truth. That's not a lie. That's true. So to just say to myself, oh, Jan, you must be faithful, you must be brave— no, it says to me when I'm feeling that concern for my mom in the nursing home, or I'm worried about my children who all have their own homes now, uh, first of all, my first response is to acknowledge, geez, that's fear, and it's very uncomfortable. But godly fear has a purpose, and it will be, um, satisfied only in prayer and trust in God. So I might be praying my head off, I might be telling the Lord I trust him, and be anxious all day long because the— you know, we're at code level. What's the threat level? Like green, gold, you know, the highest threat level.

Red, red.

Yeah, if someone were sending a nuclear weapon over the United States, I wouldn't be like, ah, don't fear, you know. I'd be saying, are you ready to see the Lord? That's how you don't get afraid, right? That ultimate trust. So I just want to say, to be afraid is not a sin. It's kind of like being angry— it's not a sin, but it's what you do with it. And I think that when we walk in a sustained time of frame— the way— fear— the way that we are going to have this, uh, longer stretch here, these weeks at least, where anything seems like could happen, uh, we have to be careful that we don't open ourselves to a spirit of fear. A spirit of fear is torturous. It creates— it brings on all the symptoms of a panic attack. If you've never had a panic attack, God bless you, but if you have, you know what it feels like to be short of breath and can't close your eyes and trying to eat to stuff your feelings or crying at a moment's notice. Or like the poor lady at Costco yelling at her husband, right? It boiled over. And, um, I, I wouldn't criticize you for that. Can I just say that would be human? But there has to come a moment where I put my foot in the sand and I say, that kind of terror I'm not going to receive. I have had a few times in my health journey where I've gotten in a situation where I'm just so, so afraid. I feel like death was breathing down my neck, and the only way I could break fear was I finally went to my husband which I don't like to do because I'm prideful and I don't like to be weak. But I finally went to my husband and said something to the effect of, uh, look, I'm so afraid I can hardly breathe, and I've been praying and I've been trying to take care of it myself, but I just can't. So I think you're gonna have to pray for me. Like, as if he didn't want to pray for me. And I had my husband just very casually even lay his hand on my shoulder in the middle of cooking dinner in our kitchen and rebuke fear and and ask the Lord to remind me that I belong to him, and then walk away from me. And I remember being like, what? That is it. Did you hear me? I am having a panic attack, and that's all you think of me. So I turn around and I go back to my bedroom, and by the time I get to my bathroom, I suddenly just realize it's lifted. And in that moment, the Lord told me that all my married life I had denied myself the power of my husband's headship and anointing because I was too prideful to ask for help. And so what I do now— yes, ma'am— what I do now, I still have to work through this. I had— I have to be struggling enough that I'm aware. I'm like, oops, I'm in this place, right? Because I'm just— I don't like to be weak. And I— and I have a lot more faith than I used to have. I actually really do am able to war against fear more than I have in the past. But sometimes at work, like, this is another example of when fear will overtake me, is at our church we'll have 5 services and I'll work an entire weekend and we have altar ministry at every service. And for whatever reason, in a particular weekend, every single person who will come to me at the altar will have an issue with cancer. That some of them might know that I'm recovering from cancer, but some of— many of them don't. And it'll be like, my mom has cancer, or I have a biopsy Monday, or You know, my husband has had a recurrence. All the terrifying things that I'm so, you know, trying to stay away from. And I've been known to, during the break, go to the room and call my husband and say, I'm having a bad day up here. And I believe that the Lord is allowing these people to come to me because he's given me an authority, but it's starting to try to break through my shield of faith, and I need you to pray for me. And only Mark— I can't explain it, but only Mark has been able to do those things for me. So I would ask you, if you feel alone, find someone you trust, especially if you can get someone if it has spiritual authority for you. So that could be your parent, that could be your brother or sister that you, that you're willing to submit yourself to. Of course it can be your spouse, it could be, um, you know, your small group leader, someone that you are willing to stop thrashing and, um, sweating and anxiously swirling and crawl up under their wing for a moment and allow them to intercede for you. There is an alignment that happens in the spirit of that person connecting to God on your behalf and you receiving instead of warring or Uh, having anxious thoughts, you just receive. And then when I came out of that, I had to breathe for a while. It was like having run a marathon. Well, I don't really know how it is. You can imagine, you can imagine, uh, you know, like I've been in a minor car wreck. Like, I literally had to take a nap. I was worn to the bone. But I can just assure you, I will go ask my husband for anything. That I feel I need, and it makes the enemy mad, but I don't care. Did you— like, someone was living in my home who could have helped me, and I was too prideful to ask.

I think that's such a great point, what you just said about the fact that after this you had to go and rest, because I think we do not give enough credence. We do not give enough— not that we're giving it power, but just the awareness that, you know, and this, this could be— this is a statement that's true for a, a long list of emotions, but fear and anxiety particularly, that when we do not address it, that it wears us out. It's not just an emotional pull, it, it is a physical pull.

We are, we are chemical pool.

Yeah, we are connected, mind, body, soul, and spirit. And what happens in our emotional the emotional part of us, whether we're talking about the heart, the soul, like the scientific technical location of the soul in our brain, all those, however you, wherever you want to look at it being, the point is, is it connects to other things. And we know this, like we know that stress results in the production of cortisol and cortisol is not good for you. So we know that there is a psychophysical connection. Between how we think, how we feel, and how healthy we are as human beings. And you talked about being worn out, like the fear and anxiety literally wore you out. So this is not something to say, y'all, well, you know, I'm just an anxious person. You may be, you may have that tendency, but to accept that tendency as a place that you have to live is A, not to believe that God's word is a two-edged sword, can deal with that. But it's also to cheat yourself out of the peace that God wants to offer you, often through spiritual authority. If you can't pray for yourself or God's word, if you need help, that you can't seek God's help through the prayer and the wisdom of other people, which is, you know, why, why Jan's here today. I'm curious, um, in this last week or two, um, you know, you kind of talked about in the past how you've dealt with that fear and anxiety and how your husband has prayed for you. Have you had any— well, let me ask you this. Have you had people asking you in this season to pray for them? Have you had people texting you back saying, yes, I am? Have they been honest with you about where they are emotionally?

I've had a few people. To be perfectly honest, I think it's really early in this fear fight. And that people are focused on making immediate adjustments. For example, myself, I'm suddenly remote working, which I'm not very good at. So, like, I'm having to learn. Like, this week I tried not to set up a desk, you know, I was trying to work on the couch, and it's like, I can't. I've got to have a place to work. So I feel like a lot of the anxiety is being relieved by grocery shopping, hoarding toilet paper, preparing ourselves for a sit-in, you know. Yeah. And I believe that this is the moment where you, you do what you need to do. Man, I need some toilet paper, I really do. I have to have some. So you do what you need to do, get your meds, buy your groceries, whatever it is that will allow you to feel confident. But then when you've done everything you know to do, if you don't turn away then from the kind of fear we talked about a moment ago, the kind of fear that is— becomes irrational or overbearing, then you've got a lot of days here to let fear knock on your door every single day. So I kind of feel like the longer we're in, the more people will ask me, and maybe if my friend Chrystal Hurst keeps rubbing off on me, I'll get braver and more proactive to offer to pray, to make myself available. So much too is like people are just afraid to ask you to pray. And like I was talking about at the altar, people know sometimes they're like, we don't want to ask Jan, she gets— everybody asks her to pray about cancer, and they'll avoid me. And I'm like, why would you avoid a shovel in the, uh, you know, the garden tools if you needed to plant a plant? Why would you go out there and get a spoon? You know, if I'm a shovel call me and I'll pray with you. And when I'm not doing great, guess what? I'm gonna call you, Chrystal Hurst, and you're gonna speak life to me. It's not a one-way street. It's a true— it's a relationship. It's a community.

That's so true.

I just want you to not be so hard on yourself these few weeks. I don't want you to beat yourself up about the anxiety that you feel. First of all, there's real fear, there's a real threat, but also there's a global principale— like, the principalities of the world are cooperatively working to wash our world in fear. So this is a real fight, and it's not just somebody down the street has, you know, a bad bag of lettuce they don't want you to eat. This is a spiritual war, and there's no escaping it. It's worldwide. So we are going to sit under the war that is happening in the heavenlies above it. And we're not to be passive, but we are not to get in the front line. That's not our place. We are to continually make our intercession known to God, to add our witness to the cloud of witnesses, to properly arm ourselves with the armor and the weapons of God. Like, we— I'm just a little old private in God's army me. But I have an incredible armor. I have incredible weapons. And I'm— it's not the moment for me to be at home and be like, and I don't need to, you know, pray or whatever. No. So I need to pray, and then I need to have fun. I need to pray, and then I need to cook. I need to pray, and then I might need a nap because it is exhausting. And I need to pray, and then I'm going to need to talk to my friends because I'm gonna maybe even get lonely. All— can we just be real?

Yes. Yes.

Like, I don't know, I don't want you to say such nice things about me that people think I don't have the struggle.

Oh, well, no, no, no, uh-uh. But I think you admitted that. You just— you said, no, I, I deal with it. Um, and, and this— but this is how— I mean, I think that's the— I think— well, and you know this about me, you know that I'm all about keeping it real.

Yeah.

And then— and that the people who— listen, and the people who a lot of times have the wisdom is because they've walked it out. And we have to talk, yes, about what we've learned in the walk and where we've arrived, but also the getting there. And you saying, listen, I was doing this by myself and this was not smart because my husband was right here and willing to pray for me. Like, I mean, that's, you know, and I'm sitting here like, for real, ouch. Because I mean, you know, like, I'm sitting here going, I totally should. My husband would probably be shocked.

He'd probably be like, my God, you're gonna let me pray? And I'm a ton of words and he's very few.

Exactly.

Hey, let's pray. He'll be like, okay, go ahead.

Right. Well, I want to pause for just a second because I do want to give some time for some questions. And, you know, we may not be able to answer all of them, but if you have a specific question for Jan or for me about this topic of dealing with fear and anxiety and how to engage in the fight, what are the tools, how to use those tools, totally want to do that. But I want to tell you, Jan, while we're waiting for them to put some questions up, that the whole reason that, you know, the whole purpose of going live every day, not And see, here's the thing, I will overcommit. So, you know, one of the girls on my team was like, so we're going to do this like every day until we're out. And I was like, I don't know, I'm going to commit. I was like, I'm going to commit to doing this every day for the next week for sure. And then we'll reevaluate and see what's working, see what's not. But I will tell you that at least a couple of times a week I will be going live in the afternoon. My quiet time with my kids historically has always been 2 to 4. So when they were little, they would nap. And then, um, when they got older, then that just became the time where, go do you, do something independent. Because, you know, we homeschool— leave me alone, I need to make a phone call, I need to work, or whatever.

Yeah.

And so there's a time of reprieve in the afternoon where even if your kids are home with you, which for many of us they are, you can skedaddle them. And we're going to talk about what to do with these doggone kids all day. Like, there is a— there is a do not fear, don't be anxious, but You do need to know what to do. I did a whole, um, Instagram— in fact, I, I took it down and put it up in the highlights because I did a whole series of videos on Instagram of how I cook spaghetti because I had a friend— well, I had a friend who texted me after that. She said, please put that in your highlights because I'm gonna need to like go back and write it down step by step. Because she said, it's not that I can't cook at all, she said, but it's not good. My family doesn't like it. We eat out all the time. And the most stressful thing for me right now is that I have to feed everybody. Like, it's, you know, and not that we can't eat out because we know that to-go is an option, but I want to feed them at home as much as I can. And, but that's stressful, you know? And so I was like, yeah, but, but I literally, after I did that, not only did I have people in my DMs telling me, you know, thank you so much for showing me how to cut a bell pepper. I never thought about doing it that way, or I never thought about keeping the flat of an onion down so that it would be easier to cut. But then I had other people coming in saying, oh, let me tell you how not to cry, like put a piece of bread in your mouth.

Yeah.

So then not only did it help people, but it brought out other people that had help. They had practical advice for how to do the thing. And I really believe, you know, that that's what this is going to bring out, like in all of us. Us that yes to the faith, into the prayer, into the maturity, into the wisdom, but yes to the practical. Yes, let me tell you how to do this. And everybody who, you know, they're in a situation like this, we can't help— we can try to be prideful, but that's really not to our advantage. It's to our advantage at this stage of the game to say, I need help, like, show me how, teach me how to do this. And, um, I mentioned at the beginning of our call. I'm going to put it up right now again while we give some of you a chance to leave your questions here. But if you are looking for— I mean, I want you to engage in your community, so your church, if they're on Facebook, your friends, text them, FaceTime them, whatever you need to do to stay connected for sure. But I also want to encourage you, if you need community or if you have questions and you want to join a community that we have, um, on Facebook. There is the, um, Sister Circle group on Facebook. Oh, let's see, can you see it? Yeah, you can. So it's chrystalhurtz.com/facebookgroup. Yeah, that is the Sister Circle group on Facebook. And what we're doing is aggregating the questions that you ask, because when you join, it says, what question do you have? Not that that's your only question, but what's your question? And then we realize that here's— everybody's asking the same question about this thing. We post the question and then we let everybody join in and answer the question. So if you're looking for community, that's a good way, a good way to do that. It's a good way to do that. So, okay. So we do—

Yes.

Yes.

You're making spaghetti is a perfect illustration and sharing how to do it is a perfect illustration of the Sister Circle. It is exactly the concept you keep trying to explain. The practical and the spiritual, caring for your family, learning how to cook, providing something delicious, which by the way is pure ministry, and then saying, but I'm not the only one who knows about how to cut an onion or cook spaghetti. What do you know? That, Chrystal Hurst, is such a simple illustration of the heart I have experienced with you so many times, that you never make me feel stupid. And that you always are willing to like drop a profound bomb in my spirit, but also, uh, just the importance for you of sharing your most intimate life. Like, not all of us can go live at our kitchen stove. That would be me. I'd be teaching people how not to cook. So, um, I just admire like the lack of pretense and the openness of your heart and the ease with which you make the Sister Circle feel easy to be a part of community. If I have to work hard to be a part of community, I literally will ask myself, well, maybe that's not my community.

Yeah.

And I always feel drawn to the work that you're doing, Chrystal. I'm— I feel drawn to you, and then you introduced me to so many people I have just grown to love so much. So thank you for cooking spaghetti yesterday. You did make me hungry. My problem is I'm not eating noodles, which is my absolute favorite food in the whole world. So maybe I'll send Mark to the store for some, um, what kind of squash is it? You swirl it up.

Spaghetti squash. Yes, yes, that's a whole wonderful thing. Listen, and the family, they don't, they don't know the difference. I don't know if it's easy to get right now, like it's a fall, you know, it's a fall crop thing. Yeah, but I mean, do you not do noodles at all? Like, can you do— because they sell like dried noodles in the store, like you can buy, like just like you can buy rice noodles, or like, I think they sell dried vegetable version. Can you get those? I've never looked, actually.

We do. And this is like, I'm temporarily, you know, Mark and I, before this whole thing started, we agreed to drop some pounds because our metabolism is not what it used to be. And so of course we always go low carb. That's only thing that really works for us. So before I was a shut-in, uh, I was already low carb. Now that I'm shut in, I'm like I'm like, what, can we stop? And he's like, no, our bodies are burning, we have to keep going. So if I had a choice, I would never eat vegetable noodles. Why would you? I would rather have no noodles than vegetable noodles. I'm not, I'm not really good at making good vegetable choices anyway, so I would rather eat spaghetti sauce with no noodles than eat that. But I do like zucchini noodles, I like that. It, it the texture, which I think is part of what—

yeah, the texture is, is a part of it. And you know, I will say that, you know, I have so many cookbooks because, you know, I was vegan in 20— um, 2014 for 6 weeks. Listen, and I lost— I mean, healthily. I was not hungry. I was— because I— it was a low-fat, low-carb, uh, situation I couldn't be caught hungry because you couldn't eat out. I mean, there was nothing out I could eat. But in 6 weeks, I lost 25 pounds without being hungry. And the brain fog lifted. I was like, oh, is this how I'm supposed to be thinking and feeling all the time? So there's, you know, there's a lot of value in finding replacements to what you eat. So I went and bought all these cookbooks that were like how to make these favorite dishes in new ways, you know. And I, and I was strong for, for a hot second.

That sounds like me.

Okay, so let's answer some questions. So Veronica said, um, she just started her, um, job. She prayed for this job, um, when she got to the job. She prayed for this as her dream job. That she got there, it wasn't a dream. So different. Everybody's in a silo. Yeah. Now the quarantines happen, and her husband just recently had a kidney transplant, so she has to go home because of course he's in a special group and needs care. They want her to be home with him. But now she's fearful of her job status. She's like, I don't want to be known as the girl who has a special husband, so she can't work. So if anybody else cannot be depended on, it's her. And if we're going to let people go, it's a person who probably can't come anyway. So she's afraid in this season that she'll lose her job because of the need that she has to be at home with her husband. So that's real, that's real talk. That's real deal. What encouragement do you have for her?

Well, first of all, I would encourage her by That's saying regardless of the consequences, you're making the right choice.

Hmm.

So sometimes it's hard to do what's right when it really will cost us. And, um, I just want to encourage you that God did lead you to that job. I'm sure you were prayerful and you had very high hopes, and kind of your hopes have been a little dashed. But I want you to not be too concerned about losing your job in this moment because of what you're saying. You're saying, I don't want to be the person who's weak and not contributing. I— that's, that's my mantra. I understand that lie. Um, and so maybe God is going to use this moment to break that lie in your heart. And if it cost you the job, well, it wasn't quite what you thought it was. But secondly, what if instead it endears people to you? What if your co-workers actually will connect with you more because they have compassion for your husband and the choice that you're making. See, we always anticipate that others will judge us the way we judge ourselves. Actually, I don't want to hurt your feelings, Veronica, so hear this with love. It just means that you're hard on yourself, but you're also hard on others, and you're assuming how they're going to feel about you, and you're projecting your own feelings. And I would just present to you, what if in— let's say you get to go back in a month And in a month, the things that were so different but didn't feel like you expected, that left you feeling like, have I made a mistake, have been overcome because we've been through a war together. And you made a choice to stand with your family. The other thing I will say to you is that everyone is learning to work from home. You are not different. It feels like you're the only one, and maybe in this moment they're not going to be quarantined. But I mean, we are this close to being sent home by martial law— or I shouldn't say those terms, it freaks people out— but like mandatory quarantine. And you are not alone. There are tons of us who have chosen to go home to preserve and protect the life of our loved ones. So first of all, you're making the right decision even though it cost you. That sounds like Christ to me. You're projecting your fear and your, um, your image you want them to see onto your own heart. Could you let them just see you as a little weak, or even a strong— like, what if your weakness is made strong? Uh, that would be scriptural. And then, don't give up hope on this job. God is doing something radical. In the world among people. The enemy thinks he's isolating, separating, uh, reducing our power. He thinks he's like, you know, I got Jan alone at home, I'm gonna get her. But the truth is, I'm not a natural being, I'm a spiritual being first, and he cannot separate me from the love of God or the body of Christ. And so while he thinks he's taking you and your husband and isolating you and telling others how weak you are, Actually, if you put your faith into action, he's connecting you to the supernatural source of your real power, and you are getting stronger while he's looking away. While he was mocking Jesus on the cross, resurrection was coming. So girl, you just take strength, and your husband is worth it. If it costs you the dream job, so what? He is worth it and So are you.

Wow, that's so, so good.

What's hard to feel? Ask God to help you feel it and believe it.

Help you feel it. Help you feel it. Um, Cookie is asking about how you practically kept or keep the faith, uh, during your cancer battle, and she specifically asked about particular scriptures that you can share that have been a bedrock for you, that have been your go-tos, um, during this journey?

Well, first of all, let me say again, I think we over-spiritualize faith. I believe the word says that God gives me a gift of faith. So, and it also says that I can't even be saved unless the Holy Spirit comes and removes the veil from my eyes. So really What part of faith was my work? So on my worst day, I mean, I can have a really, um, bad day. No faith, no hope. And somehow the Lord made us where we go to bed at night and we get up tomorrow. And the beauty of that is that I don't get up in the morning, put my feet on the ground, and go, devil, you should be afraid, Jan Greenwood's awake. I might feel the same way the next morning, but what I discovered in my journey is that I have a rod of faith that works much like my spine. And when I am slumped over and weary and unsure and beaten down, that rod rises up every morning and lifts my body, lifts my spirit, lifts my soul. I'm trying to show you my finger. I don't know where it went. I gotta be careful. This is the first finger. So how did I maintain— how did I keep my faith? I didn't. I— God kept my faith, and it is a gift. And when I feel weak, I ask him to increase the awareness of the gift of faith that's in me. So first of all, faith is not a work, it's a gift. Secondly, um, I did have to encourage myself. So two things: I had to guard myself against negativity, and especially against people who thought they were encouraging me who were speaking death, and they wouldn't even know it, they meant good, but You know, it's kind of like when you're pregnant and everybody wants to tell you their worst delivery story. Like, really? You know I'm pregnant and I can't go back, so why are you frightening me? You know, I found that to be true about fear and death and sickness too. So I did guard myself from what I let in or listen. And the more, the more I'm in a moment of fear that I'm struggling with, the less I can watch on TV, the, uh, the less I can read, you know, whatever, because death will meet me everywhere to prophesy to me. So I have at times had to restrict or guard myself, but also restriction and guarding myself long term just made me more afraid. I had to learn to go face it. So I want you to ask me about cancer. I do. And it's not going to upset my day. And if it gets on me, then God's going to help me. So I encourage myself by being real. About the struggle and by, uh, talking about it a lot. And every scripture spoke to me in an unbelievable way in the beginning of my journey. As a matter of fact, I was so afraid that I literally put scripture every place in the house my eye would fall. I could not go from the bedroom to the kitchen and not find the scripture on the microwave when I got to the kitchen because my heart would begin to beat and I would begin to get afraid between my bedroom and the kitchen. So I covered my house, and I walked around my house with little slips of paper and all the healing verses on them. And I did write them out in a declarative way. I didn't just quote the word. I like put my name in the word. I declared the word for me, and I wrote it out that way. And so let's say the doorbell would ring, and I'd go to the door, and right there on the back of the door would be a verse for me waiting. There was one at my mirror one at my desk, one on the microwave, one by my chair. I mean, after a while my husband was like, it's like confetti in here. But I had to put the word in front of my eyes at all times because my spirit was weak and my body was weak. Um, over time, uh, the verse that has been most profound in my life is Hebrews 11:23, and it says, um, hold Stand fast to the confession of your faith, because he who promised is faithful. I think it's interesting that God didn't give me like— I love Nahum 1:9, you know, it will not arise again. Hello, I, you know, I can shout that from the rooftops. But the one that anchors my soul is on the worst day when I have no faith, when I am drowning in my fears and my anxiety, I can just begin to declare my faith It doesn't say, Jan, when you believe it, declare it, or when you feel it, or when it's convenient. It just says to hold fast to my declaration of faith. And so I can declare even when I don't feel it or believe it myself. That's not the point. When I declare, I believe, God, I believe you, I trust you, I know I don't feel it right now, help my unbelief, like the guy in the New Testament, you know. And I'm depending upon his steadfastness, not mine. I actually don't have to be steadfast, but I do have to steadfastly confess. So don't steadfastly confess your fear, steadfastly confess your faith.

So good, so good. Um, Britt, uh, Joyner, who's actually one of our 2020 interns, asked, hi friend, just for practical help on using this time to pray, using this time to study God's word. Like, for somebody who's like, okay, you're right, like, this is a great time for me to connect more with God, to spend time with him. But even with all the options that we have today, we've got YouVersion and we probably have 3 Bibles at home and we've got all these devotionals on our phone. And because everybody's jumping online, there's going to probably be a million Bible studies I could jump on. But really What I want to do, what I want to do is to pray more. What I want to do is to study God's word for myself. What I want to do is to go deeper in my faith and to use this time to hear more from God, to learn how to talk to God, to learn how to let his word do a work in me, because I can do a Bible study online anytime, and there's nothing wrong with that. And I can go to church anytime, and there's nothing wrong with that. You should, if your church is going online, attend, stay connected. But because I have a little extra disposable time, I want to use this time to deepen my faith, to talk to God and have him talk to me. What can someone do to use this? Like, what— like the basic 1, 2, 3. Here God, here I am, what do I do? Um, what would you say there?

Well, you know, I apparently am not big on working very hard at my relationship because, um, I don't want you to give yourself an assignment at home like you're— um, maybe this will work for some personalities, but, um, I love several things you just said. You just named several things like to just slow down and listen a little more. I would like to think about this time with me and God instead of it being a 2-hour time in the morning, which I actually do love and morning's my gig because I can drink my coffee and it's quiet in my house now and I don't have to get dressed. So like, I feel like I have all of this time. But actually, my focus and encouragement to you is that God is in the everyday. So what if you just took him on your day, you know? And if, if the awareness of his presence was what you hope to gain, then your word will— his word will meditate in spirit. You'll think about something fun or funny or even faithful you want to share with a friend. And so instead of so much thinking, like steps 1, 2, and 3, which I do believe in those— you should open the word, you should literally pray, I encourage you to journal— like, God is going to speak so many things to you in this season, and we will forget them in 6 weeks. I do. So those things are very practical, and I think a set-aside time each day like it would be foolish if we go through this reduction and we don't make time for that. But then I don't think he expects us to live in a spiritual bubble, or even like, um, we're kind of on sabbatical, sabbatical. And so you can heal on the sabbatical and you can listen to good teaching on the sabbatical, but you shouldn't really be working at it. In the sense of like, I have a mountain to climb, and if, if I don't, if I don't work today, I'm gonna be a failure. You know, let you— the word says that we should hurry up to enter his rest. So can you just hurry up to be restful in the middle of everything that you're doing? And last year, the word that God gave me and the whole focus of my year was learning about becoming present to God, which by the way was meaning like stop working, stop it, stop dreaming up new ideas, stop worrying about ministering, stop trying to share what I've said. Like, just could you just sit down with me a minute? And I'd be like, I really— I don't have time, you know, I got people to encourage. So don't, don't waste it. Have an appointed time. Don't you agree, Chrystal? An appointed time.

I, I do. I, I looked up that scripture because I was like, I think I need to post that up on my Uh, it is Hebrews 4:11. I put it in the comments. Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest.

Yes.

Yeah, that verse. So, but I will say that like one of the things I learned a long time ago, because I was at a Bible study for moms and everybody was kind of asking this question, because where do you find time? Have you— you know, because we have this vision, there's this chair in the living room. Yes, with the basket on the side, and you have all of your colored pens and your journal.

And your friend who has that, who really—

and I admire— there's a girl I follow on social media who, who shows us what she's studying in God's word, and she— how she does, and it's beautiful and it's encouraging to me. However, I was struggling in this season because I was like, my stuff doesn't look like that. And, um, she said, and it's not going to. That's not the season that you're in. She said, let me tell you what you can do every morning to connect with God and to invite him into your day. She said, before your feet hit the floor, when you open your eyes, stretch your hands to heaven and say to God, good morning, what is on your agenda for me today? And she said, and just give yourself 5 minutes to lay there, even if you're still nursing a baby, even if you have to invite the 2-year-old to join you. She said, um, invite God into your day and then just sit there and listen.

Profound.

And I was telling some girls last night, the interns, we have a meeting every Tuesday morning at 7 o'clock in the morning, but once a month on Thursday night we have a coaching session. And last night my coaching with them was how I get things done. And I, and I showed them through the years all these different journals and planners. And because we always think it's the planner and it's the journal, but really the tool is not the planner and the journal. The tool is us. We're the tool and we're just choosing what to bring in. But I said my greatest thing that I've ever learned was that thing was asking God, what's on your agenda for me today? Because often the top 3 things that bubble up in my mind are not the things that I wrote down yesterday. They're the person that God wants me to call today. And he— when I give him the space to let that rise up in my spirit, right, he tells me. There have been like practical things, like, like, this is just dumb, and we think, oh, it just came to my mind, or, oh, I just thought of this. Nope. When you're in the shower and you have dead time and you have all these things that come to your mind, those are either Holy Spirit derived or the work of God, because your brain goes to work when you're still and it helps you, right? So like, I never— I'll never forget the time where it was like, and I just laid there and the thought was because I was making spaghetti and spaghetti came to mind, and then it was like double up, okay? So I doubled up. And then later on that day, a friend, we were just talking and she talked about how she was struggling. And today this person was in the hospital in her family and she had to pick up her kids. And I was like, that's why, that's why I doubled up, because God knew that at 3 o'clock today I was going to talk to somebody who I would want to bless. And if I was only going to be able to do that if I'd prepared— it doesn't always happen like that, it's just you, you just don't know. Yeah. So I think that starting your day just saying to God, yeah, I'm going to study your word and I'm going to pray and I'm going to learn how to do these things and I'm going to do more of it because I have time. But just inviting him to speak to your day and then to continue doing that all day.

Um, with marriage, I, um, Chrystal, excuse me, I'm going to go down underneath here and plug in my charger. Keep talking.

Do it. Do it. Do it. I, um, when I, when I was talking about marriage with somebody, um, and, and they were, they were talking. It was, it was a three-way conversation, kind of like today. It was somebody watching, and I had a friend who had wisdom, and it was me. And they were talking about, you know, my husband does this and my husband does that, and I wish he would do this and I wish he would do that. And the friend said, my wise friend said, well, when he does those things and you're tempted to speak and probably say too much and probably say things that are unproductive, have you ever thought about instead of speaking to your husband or even speaking under your breath to speak to God and to say, do you see what he just did? Do you see what he just said? Are you seeing what's happening here? And, um, and giving it to God like in the moment, like that is just as effective of a prayer and of a connection with God as it is to have this 90-minute Bible study in the morning. I think the key is inviting him into your day and not just saying I have to have the Bible study. Now to your question, Brittany, you know, I will say that I do think this is a great time, but I don't really think it matters. I don't think whatever you pick for Bible study, I don't think whatever you design in terms of your day, I don't think that there's a magic pill for study this or pray this, or— I think you can do anything. It's kind of like learning to run a marathon. To get started, it doesn't matter what you do. Just put on some shoes and go outside, you know, walk, jog, you know, meander. The key is just getting started. And every day you begin to learn more about your body, learn more about your mind and the mindset. And as you go, you do your homework and you discover new things. So I agree with you, Jan, that right now it's a time to learn to rest in God, talk to God, and, and learn how to meander with him throughout your day. And yeah, look at the YouVersion and do the Bible studies or whatever, but not to make it a to-do list. I think that's where we bring in stress and we don't need stress. We don't need any more stress right now.

Yeah, I totally agree. That is so profound, Chrystal. As you go. I'm going to write that down.

Well, I have a question for you because I know that women have loved hearing from you this morning. And I know, like, you alluded to working remote is not your favorite thing. We've talked about all of the online spaces and all the things. But if people want to connect with you, just to, just to connect with you further, like, where's the best place to do that? Like, is it online with social media? Is it, you know, on a blog? I mean, what— where are you if they want to find you?

Well, the quickest place probably to find me in this moment is Facebook. Although I, I haven't been on it all in 2 days. But you know, I will stop and check in Facebook, so I'll see your note. But I would love for you to visit. Um, I do have a, a web page that's called Brave Strong Girl, and really, uh, it's the Sister Circle but not developed. I want, I want what you want, which is a place to land that is safe and practical and encouraging. And you just might find a resource or a person or, uh, even just a moment where God would give you something that might help you. And so I do love so much, um, I'm just following along behind you, watching how you're using the resources you have, and I just haven't been very active lately um, on that personally, I think that my work at the church has been a priority for a while. And so when you go there, it's kind of like going to a library. It's kind of like going to my personal library. And so you'll find some teachings and some recommendations and books or whatever. And, uh, I really encourage you just to explore there. And of course, there's a place for you to contact me. Send me an email and, uh, you know, let's connect. I would love that. And I don't want to be hard to reach, but I don't want to give my, my phone number to the whole world either. So, uh, yeah, so, uh, you're teaching me a lot. I even have a Facebook group for Brave Strong Girl, so maybe you can coach me a little bit about how to activate that in this moment because I don't want to be hard to— I'm not trying to hide.

So yeah, yeah, yeah, I am here for you because you know all that is my jam. I was telling the marketing director at our church, I was like, I'm here, like, this is your time to use me. Like, whatever y'all are trying to figure out, I'm here for it.

I'm like, have a 2-day tutorial and do nothing but fix everything that's wrong and have you train me. Like, girl, you're doing it the hard way. Or did you know about this thing called— what's this thing we're on? BeLive. Yes, I have to talk to my friends. Like, so every time I'm with you, I discover something else that I'm oblivious to. So I don't want to be hard to reach, I want to be easy to reach, and I want to learn more. I do think remote working is going to push me, all of us, to a new level of— yeah, I feel like we're taking back the internet, actually, sort of redeeming. It's overrun me like a locomotive, you know, and periodically I've smashed on the tracks and I have to get back up, but I'm eager to learn more. So visit me personally at Facebook, check out Brave Strong Girl group at Facebook, and then, you know, check out the website bravestronggirl.org.

Awesome, awesome. So y'all have that information. And listen, um, this, like I mentioned, I'm going to be doing this every weekday. So if you're on my email list, which again you can do that simply by going to chrystalhurst.com com. There's also this— I'm about to throw up a bunch of resources, but don't worry, you don't have to write it all down because if you're on my email list, you're going to get these anyway. And if you're not, this is the next step. ChrystalEvansHurst.com/freebies. This is another way to join my email list. But right now on this page, there's a reading list. So if you're like, I want to use this time to read more, my 2019 interns gave reading recommendations and they're on this list. So when you go to this web page, not only will you get that list of reading recommendations, but you will automatically be added to the email list. You will get information about when I'm going live. You'll get information about where— about additional resources. Like, you know, every time I talk to somebody, I've asked my interns to get busy and think about some things that would be helpful to support that conversation. So interns who are watching, our job today is to look up scriptures that deal with fear and anxiety and to compile those. We put them in an email.

Love that.

So we want to do that, and I want to be able to resource you, not just with a great conversation like Jan said that you will forget about in 6 weeks. I want you to have something you can get that you can print out, that you can post on your wall and remember and rehearse. So that's what this is. Also, of course, y'all know my dad Tony Evans is a rock star of content from the word of God that will help you. And I want you to, um, go and check out his web page. And I will figure out by tomorrow how to make this all look good. But honestly, if you just look up Dr. Tony Evans and not down too far, maybe 4 or 5 posts, there's a video. It's called Calm in Crisis. And it's just going to make you feel like your father is speaking to you and speaking love and care to you. So check out his web page. And then also on there, there is another thing he just put up yesterday that is a 7-day devotional about anxiety. It is about— this may be another long one, but nope, there it is. It's an Anxiety Survival Kit. And it is a 7-day devotional to help you fight anxiety. So that's another link. Don't worry about writing it all down. If you're on my email list, you're going to get it. The last thing I want to tell you is that not only are the conversations here going to be live every weekday, and not only is this going to be here and we're going to resource you in the email list, but at times when I do, when I do podcasts with people, The conversations are long and often too long. And so when we cut them down, if we have extra great content, we reserve that for a group of girls who's a part of the inner circle. And so, um, you can find out about that information by going to patreon.com/chrystalhurst. And I give extra things like screensavers, extra content, extra content from me, sometimes teaching from my church. I throw it in there. So I want to resource you and there's lots of free ways to do that. And there's lots of ways that I— lots of people I want to point you to. The Facebook group, I already mentioned that to you. The stuff from my dad. I mean, there is tons of stuff. And what I don't want you to feel like at this time is that you're alone. Don't want you to feel alone. What I don't want you to feel like at this time is that you don't have the information that you need. What I don't want you to feel like at this time is that you don't have people who maybe know something you don't know, that you don't have access to. Access to. Like, myself and my friends like Jan Greenwood are for you, and we are here to help. So with all this talk about prayer and not fearing, Jan, if you wouldn't mind closing us out by praying over those who are watching and listening. And before you do that, because we'll end on that note, y'all, if this video has been helpful to you, uh, let this go far and wide by sharing it on your pages, in your groups, wherever you think that it would be helpful. To those that are in your circle of influence so that they don't feel alone and that they don't have to be afraid. Um, share the video so that way it can go to who needs to hear it. And so with that said, Jan, um, again, thank you so much for being with me. You know I love you. Would you please pray for everybody who's going to watch this video today?

Thank you so much. I love you guys. Well, Father, that we as a community, as the church, lift up our hearts to you this morning, and in humility we I declare that you are our source, that you are our salvation, that God, you are the one who rescues, you are the one who lifts up, and that we are privileged to live in the stronghold of the Lord. I pray for every person who feels the anxiety and the threat of the coronavirus, Lord, that today, even just for a few moments, they would have the capacity to draw up under your wing and to simply abide in your presence. Lord, we do speak against this worldwide plague. We, uh, ask, Lord, that you, Father, would come and rebuke those principalities, disrupt their communication, break up the lies and the threat that are circulating in every place, and that, Lord, you would use the hidden Church of Jesus Christ to go into every corner of the world and encourage people. Bring salvation to them, Lord. Bring hope to them. God, may the church be the strongest it's ever been in a moment where it is prohibited from gathering in a building. Lord, may we gather in the heavens and worship and praise and honor you. And Lord, I lift up these women this morning who rose early, who came, Lord, because they have need, because they want to be encouraged, because they don't want to be alone, because, Lord, they are walking through hard things. I'm reminded, Father, that thank goodness they are never alone, even when they can't get to this, um,— this tool that Chrystal's providing, Lord, they are not alone, that you are ever present with us. So make yourself known today, God. Manifest your goodness to them, your sweetness. Lord, I pray you would lower the anxiety in their heart, that you would change the chemicals of their mind, that you would wash them in the water of the word, that you would speak to them prophetically about how this is a moment in your timeline and plan for the church, and that God, you have great and mighty plans for them. And Father, I thank you that, uh, you, Lord, are so— oh man, you are so wise. God, I pray for the gift of faith for each person, the gift of wisdom, and for the gift of joy. Lord, come by your Holy Spirit, fill us fresh this morning, and Lord, use us in this moment to bring glory to you and to refresh one another. Thank you, Jesus. It's going to be a good day for your people. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Amen. Amen. I love you. And I love you too. And I'm here for all the technical things, so holler.

Well, okay.

Oh, this is so good.

Love a coach. I need one so bad. And like interns— what are interns?

Listen, listen, I will tell you, I will tell you, because I know that somebody— you asked that question, somebody's going to want to know. Internship is the way that I make a, a, a place where I can pour into women while they pour into women. And all I'm doing is connecting women who want to help me pour into women with women who want me to pour into them. So basically I just say, hey, you know, there are some things that I've been called to do, and so— and I can't do it by myself. So if we're working together, that gives us the space for us to fulfill the call of God on my life and probably on yours. And because we're working together, that gives us the space to connect. So yes, I'm available to you every week to get the job done, but also to answer your questions, to pray for you, and all these different things. And so So it's like this mutually beneficial space where, you know, I pray that I'm able to disciple and care for women while we work together to disciple and care for women.

Yes.

So there you go. You should get one or two for sure, girl.

I'm gonna call you later, okay?

All right, y'all have a great day, and I will see you on Monday morning at 7. Get on the email list. Chrystalevanshurst.com and search out Jan on Facebook and go to bravestronggirl.org. I have a favorite—

yeah, all right. Oh, love you guys.