How to Get Further Faster #alittleQC

Good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning. Good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning, you guys. I've been sitting here for about— let's see here. I was sitting here— let me make sure my volume is up. Computer's doing weird things today. Okay, um, I was sitting here this morning, um, wrestling with something that I wanted to share with you. Good morning. You need me, babe? No, you know what it is. It's Mondays. Always the same thing on Monday. Okay, so I was wrestling with what to share with you this morning because I wanted to you know, have my thoughts together. And so I was just sitting here, just sitting here like this in the closet thinking, hmm, had a busy weekend. I didn't really think too much about what I was gonna talk about, but I don't want to get on here and talk about nothing, like just nothing, just ramble. I get in trouble when I do that. So, which I could do that, I could totally go on a little rant and and keep y'all entertained for a solid hour. But I'm not gonna— I don't want to do that. I want to be helpful, and I want to be useful, and I want to be practical. So I was really thinking about what can I— what can I talk about? And then I was trying to choose a picture for the COVID of the photo, because if I choose anything that's too put together, then people click on the video and go, is that the same person? So then I had to find a photo. That matched my decency, or lack thereof, today. Yes, I'm still in the closet. It is what it is. I'm working on a space so that I can have a space, because listen, what I have found out is when you do stuff on, um, social media, people look and they notice the thing that you have in the background over there. So I'm trying to get my act together. Hi Freya from India! Wow, what a treat! Thanks for joining us. Okay, so if you've never joined me before, my name is Chrystal Evans Hurst, and I come on and have been coming on for a while every Monday to encourage you, to help you kick off your week and to think intentionally about your life. Thank you for showing up today. Thank you for showing up today, Mary. And so I got sucker punched into doing this. I was going live every day, and then when I stopped doing it, people were like, ma'am, I need you, I need you to come back. So every day wasn't going to work, um, but every Monday could work. And I'm gonna get my kids off to their homeschool co-op today, so I'm gonna be concise because it took me a second to get my thoughts together. Before I do that, I want to tell you that, um, I— y'all know if you've been watching me for any length of time that I don't like to get dressed, okay? So this is what I had on yesterday. Didn't do anything important. I was clean. So after making sure that I was clean last night, got up this morning, put it back on. Because it's the quarantine and why not? Who do I have to impress? And if I wouldn't have even told y'all that I had this on yesterday, you wouldn't even know. And I, you know, am comfortable. Can somebody say there are some things post-quarantine that we just don't want to change? And being comfortable on a regular is one of them. The other thing that I don't want to change that will need to change is I got to do my hair. I'm just like, I don't want to touch my hair. I did an Instagram this weekend that I immediately deleted because it was a ramble. And the whole thing was about me wanting to cut my hair off. I'm done with it. I'm done with fooling with it, straightening it, twisting it, curling it, braiding it up, you know, wearing it out, detangling it, conditioning it, co-washing it, moisturizing it. It is like, it has a, it's like a pet. My hair is like a pet. It's like, I don't want, I'm just done. I'm just done. I'm just like, oh my gosh. Oh, and then the thing is, is I, you know, then I see pictures of myself and I'm like, you do realize that this will be a season that is recorded, Chrystal Hurst. So do you want to do your hair or what are you going to do? And the thing is, is I don't want to, you know, if I cut it off, what I hear is that for a hot second it'll be less work, for a hot second. It'll be less work. And then short hair is its own situation. So no matter what I do, hair is a whole thing and I just don't want to do it. That's what I, that's what I'm saying. That's what I, you know, and for some reason in my head quarantine means I don't have to do it. So I just throw it up here, you know, put a little bobby pin in there, push it up, make it look intentional. But I've been walking around looking like somebody's project for, you know, a few days. So we've got Facebook and YouTube right here, we've got Instagram Live right here, and, um, yeah. But Tiffany, Tiffany, uh, the problem with a wig is— I mean, it's about to get cooler, but the problem with the wig is it's hot. Then you have to braid your hair down so that the wig won't look lopsided. I just— it's just too much. It's just too much. So anyway, okay. So what I wanted to talk to you about today is how you can go further faster. I want to be very practical today if it's possible for me to do that with you. Yeah, Latasha, I just don't know. I just don't know if I can commit. And I just had a friend who cut her Sisterlocks off and then I just don't know, like some people's hair with Sisterlocks, it actually feels like hair. And some people with Sisterlocks, their hair feels like a Brillo pad. And I just don't know which category I will be in. And so, um, that's my problem. If my hair feels like a Brillo pad, I— then we have a whole nother issue because I still don't want hair on my neck anyway. Okay, let me, let me, let me digress from that. Okay, so a couple things though I want to tell you about first. Um, while I'm getting to my little announcements here, I would love it if you're here for the first time, if, um, you can let me know, give me a thumbs up in the comments. If this is your first time, I'd love to know that you're here. And while you're doing that, I want to make sure that you know that if you haven't yet picked up the 28-Day Prayer Book, which is the 28-Day Prayer Journey, um, it is out now. Oops. And, um, while the preorder bonuses are gone, um, you can still get the audio prayers with your purchase. So all you have to do if you grab the book is go to chrystalhurst.com/pray. And we had over 30, uh, 30 prayers. And some of those, a lot of those I recorded in audio. So if you want to hear those prayers and you bought the book or you haven't bought the book and you want them, then grab the book anywhere books are sold. You can also go to chrystalhurtz.com/pray. Okay. Um, and hopefully I've seen some of you tell me that it has been helpful to you. And so that's really exciting. It's really exciting to me. So hi Jackie. Hi Shanika, maybe hopefully I pronounced that right. Nakia. Hi Kate 254 and Becoming Lovely Leah and Java Jen and Home on Spyglass Hill. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Glad that you're here. Glad that you're here. The other thing I want to tell you about is— this is— I'm so excited about this. Okay, so the first thing is, uh, well, that was number one, was prayer. Okay, number one was prayer. The second thing I want to tell you about is the Inner Circle. So the Inner Circle has been closed because we've been working through a 90-day journey. Well, there's one level that's open that gets bonus stuff, a little few bonus, bonus things, but all the other levels have been closed because they get other stuff, but they also have been able to participate in this 90-day journey. And October 1st, it opens back up. Okay. The Inner Circle opens back up. So the great thing is— Renee said, cut it off, cut it off, cut it off. The great thing is we will be— this is what I want you to understand. I want you, whether you do it with me or with me, whether you do it by yourself or you do it with me as a part of the Inner Circle, The last 90 days of 2020 is coming, and that is how you prepare for the first 90 days of 2021. So what we'll be doing in the Inner Circle, um, is spending really intentional time together for the last 90 days of 2020. Some great things I have planned and my team is planning. They're working really hard for you. Um, and then it will all be geared towards getting ready for the first 90 days of 2021. See, here's what we normally do. We wait until We're going to start the year, the week on, you know, November 1st, you know, maybe a couple of days before, a few days after we start thinking about all the things we want to do. The problem is 2021 has started and then you're recovering from all the work you did at the end of 2020. So that's not the way you do it. You start way before thinking about, reflecting about what has gone well and what has gone not so well this year, what you've accomplished, what you still want to accomplish. You identify those things and you make a plan so that when you start the year, you're not trying to get your thoughts together. You celebrate January 1st and then you get to work and you know where you're running. Okay. So regardless of whether you do it with me or not, okay, I would want you to know, don't wait till January 1st to think about 2021, but in the Inner Circle, we'll be doing this together. So here's, here's what we have planned. Um, a little bit, a little sketch. Okay. The first thing is, um, If you are in the inner circle, even at the, even at the, the level, level 1 kind of right now, you can go there now and you'll see there's one, one way you can get in. We will be having discounted tickets to Fervent and also we'll be going to Fervent together. So basically I talked to Anthony and Priscilla, I said, give me a group discount. There are enough women in the Sister Circle that have joined the Inner Circle who, uh, we can make our own group. Give me the group discount. So we got the group discount and that'll be coming very soon to those who are in the Inner Circle. And then, um, because technology and why not, we're at home, um, we can go together. So we'll have a way to chat and experience that event together. So you don't have to feel like you're at home by yourself and, um, you know, you're not a part of the whole situation. So We'll be, we'll be doing that together. Let me give you an opportunity to discuss what you're learning with a group of women who are learning with you. Okay, then we have an exclusive Inner Circle event October the 16th. Now, you know that if you've again been following me for any length of time, that last year we had a Sister Circle retreat, which of course we couldn't do this year because of COVID-19. So we're gonna do a little something for our Inner Circle. Something small, something intimate to celebrate that weekend. And so those are the two big things for October. And then we got a little something happening mid-November. I'm just gonna drop it there like it's hot. Just gonna drop it there like it's hot. And the people who are in the inner circle in November get all the extra things that come along with that little thing. That's all I can tell you right now. I mean, there's just— I mean, I'll keep telling you more as I can, but the bottom line is we are trying to go out with a bang in 2020. And so So if you are not already a part of the Inner Circle, um, check it out. Jump into level 1 because at that level, um, we talk to those people first about what's coming. And then when we open up the other levels, because they— those are limited, some of those are limited, those group, the people that are in there get first dibs. So there you go. There you go. The bottom line, y'all, is you can't wait to get ready. The time to get ready is right now. Like, it is time, believe it or not, to start thinking about what you're doing with your life in 2021. Don't let it catch you off guard. Okay. All right. The last thing I want to tell you about is people say, well, how can I know what's going on, Chrystal? How can I know? You've always got this going on. I see this and I didn't know you did this. And how do I get the podcast? And there you go. ChrystalEvansHurst.com. Drop your name in the little box below my picture and you will get the emails that come out to let you know what's happening. Very easy. Last thing, last but not least, if what I'm about to share with you today blesses you, if it doesn't stress you, if it's helpful, share the video, because when you share it, it helps other people to find it. And, um, hopefully what I'm going to share with you this morning is helpful. All right, this week is going to be a double hitter because I ran into some trouble last week, and so my, um, podcast One is going to be about the Psalms, using the Psalms as a guide to life. The other is about friendship, the art of friendship. All right, so here's what I want to talk about. So in our new house, there is an area that I had to recarpet, and, um, I didn't intend to recarpet it, but we were moving some things around, moved a piece of built-in furniture, and when we moved that piece of built-in furniture there was a— they'd never carpeted under it. They carpeted around it. So then I had to patch. So then we tried to match the carpet. I tried, y'all, so hard, so long, trying to match the doggone carpet. And then I had to— it wouldn't work. And it was a small room. So I was like, I'll just recarpet it. I mean, this is taking too much of my time. So then I went to go find carpet and y'all, I totally rabbit, rabbit. What's the word I'm looking for? I went totally down a rabbit trail. I totally Chrystalized on it. That's a word I used to describe when I start reasoning upon reasoning upon reasoning upon reasoning, because I want to make the right decision. Oh my good Lord, y'all, carpet is a whole thing. It's a whole world. It's a whole situation. Do you want tuft or do you want loop? How loose do you want the fibers to be stitched together? Okay, do you want this gray that leans a little bit towards the white? Do you want the other gray that leads a little bit towards the beige? Oh my gosh, and then there are 27 options in between. Y'all, I went to go look for carpet and I thought I was going to lose my mind because I'm Chrystal Hurst, and when I want to make a decision, I go all the way in and I'm trying my best to make the right decision because I don't want to spend the money and then realize that I wasted my money because I got the wrong thing. So I just wanted to, um, I just wanted to, to do the thing. I just want to do the thing and I couldn't do the thing. Yes. Brenda, houses in general are a whole thing. So first of all, I'm still trying to figure out where my spoons are. You know, I mean, things have a home, but you know, they don't, I don't have a rhythm yet. I'm trying to figure that out. So anyway, carpet is a whole thing. And so I then was trying to make a decision. I said, I don't have time for this. Like I literally don't have time to spiralize, spiralate and decision, decision drive and crystallize, all these words that I make up, make up. Over carpet. I was actually trying to get things put away, and I couldn't put things away until I put the carpet in the room. So the carpet was holding me up, and I was like, I gotta, I gotta push through this, I gotta get through this. So I placed a phone call, place a phone call to my daughter Charis, and I said, tell me what to buy, just tell me what to buy. She said, this is what you buy. Now what she wanted me to buy, y'all, was too much money. Money. It's too much money. And I told her that, I said, too much money. That's not what I'm trying to spend in here. This was not even a part of my budget. So, you know, she said, okay, well, these are your guidelines. So I went to the store, took her, took her with me on FaceTime, took some carpet samples. Y'all, I had to, I had to, I had the carpet up under my feet. I had my foot out of my shoe with my foot on the carpet in the store because I was trying to figure out, does this feel right? And it looked right on the, on the picture, but then when I went there, it felt like, you know, chicken scratch. And then, so anyway, but my daughter is along with me on the store. I know people are like, she can't pick pick a parquet, pick a parquet. She can't pick some carpet by herself. She can't, she can't do that by herself. No, I couldn't do it by myself. Not quickly anyway. So I called my daughter. Let me tell you what else I did. I also needed to paint some cabinets and I could have painted cabinets. Painting isn't hard, you know. But if I painted the cabinets by myself, I probably would have, first of all, been still picking the color. I also would have been figuring out which do you use. Do you use, you know, oil-based paint? Do you use water-based paint? I don't know. How would you decide that? I have to watch a million YouTube videos, and then I have to make sure I have the right brushes, and then I make sure that it doesn't dry different than what I thought it was going to dry. And so I called a painter. Yeah, I called a painter. And then I realized that in this room, because there was a closet in this room and it's going to be used, um, actually it's going to be used as a space where I can do some videos and stuff, that I would have more room if I knocked out the closet. I've never done anything like that before. Like, I watch a lot of do-it-yourself, I watch a lot of HGTV. Of course I'm a Chip and Joanna fan, and, and they're always doing it. But I'm like, good for them, good, good for them, because they can do that. They have skills. I was like, and what if I knock out the closet and I don't like it? Then I would be late. I would have knocked out the closet. And I know I could get a sledgehammer and just, you know, like, knock it out. But uh-oh, what happens if I don't like it? But you never know until you try. But I didn't wanna take a sledgehammer. I didn't wanna figure out how to repatch a wall and how to redo the drywall and then how to paint over that and make it look smooth. So I called a guy, gave him a list of things of which knocking out the closet was one. Everything that I've done to this space, I called somebody. I called somebody who knew what they were doing. I asked some questions at Home Depot. I called my daughter and said what to do. Um, I called the carpet guy to put it in. And as I watched the carpet go in and I watched the guy put the carpet down, and as I watched the guy put paint on the wall and on the cabinets, and as I watched the guys knock out the closet, I was thinking, I could have had a warrior weekend. I could have had a warrior weekends, cuz you know how that goes. It never happens in the weekend. Like, you know, it takes forever because when you do something and you don't know what you're doing, you have to discover what you don't know as you do it, which means you can get it done. It just takes you longer. You wanna know how you move faster? You call somebody. You call somebody who knows what they're doing, who's been where you are, who has a skill you don't have, who has wisdom that you have, that you can learn, but you don't need to learn the hard way. You call somebody, you just call them and you say, would you please show me? Would you please do it? How can I trade, uh, with you? Um, you know, one of the things I get asked all the time is about mentoring and women will say, can you mentor me? And often what I say, often is, you know what, I would disappoint you because I would not be able in this season of my life to be consistent adding someone into my rotation of people that I'm currently in relationship with. And I don't want to disappoint you, you know, can I pray for you that God would send you somebody? Or maybe here, I know someone, you know. And so often this is my way of sharing and pouring in because I can do this. And then there are, you know, some might think there's 800 of y'all watching right now. And then by the time this is done, 10 to 15,000 people would have watched it. And And so, you know, I, I, I want to do it, but life, right? We have, we have limitations. But one of the things that I have said in the past when a woman wanted to spend time with me, you got to come and learn from me while I'm doing the thing, right? I think it's great that you want to be mentored. I think it's great that you want to learn. I think it's awesome. Okay. So come with me and talk to me while we fold laundry. When my children were young. Come with me and walk with me while I'm letting my kids play outside. Okay, help me cut this up while we make dinner. Because if I'm going to mentor you, I got to, I got to fold you in, you know, to my life. So here I am, I am, you know, in my 40s, right? And I was talking, I interviewed Lisa Bevere. That interview is going to be coming up soon. I love Lisa Bevere. I love her. I just absolutely love her for a variety of reasons. But I said to her, Lisa, I'm not that girl. I'm not that girl. So what I'm about to say, I need you to believe that I'm not that girl. And she was like, okay. I said, I'm not the girl that's going to ask you to spend time with me and call me every Friday so that we can sip coffee over Zoom and have a conversation. But I need your wisdom in these 3 areas. I need your wisdom with parenting boys. I need your wisdom with being a woman in ministry. And I need your wisdom with being a woman in ministry and business. And I need your wisdom in being a family in ministry and how you all work together. You know, just, I want your wisdom, things that you guys have done over the long haul. I want to ask you for that. But here's the thing, I don't need you to meet me every Friday for coffee on Zoom. I need you to tell me how I can be a part of what you're doing, how I can be behind the scenes when you are creating something, doing something. Let me watch, let me learn, connect me with people who can help me in these areas. What have you read that I should read? I said, I'm not that girl. What I'm telling you is Wherever I can get in and fit in, if God brings me to mind, then I would love to learn from you. Yes, you've written the books and I've read the books. Thank you for mentoring me through your books. Yes, you've done the teachings. I've read some of— I've gone to some of those, listened to some of them, joined your membership. Okay, because I'm allowing you to mentor me in the ways that you're putting out there, because you can't meet everybody for coffee. But here I am also saying, listen, if I can get in where I can fit in along with you in life, because I want to go further faster. I don't want to figure this out on my own. I don't want to do this stuff and realize that I was barking up the wrong tree when somebody who had more wisdom than me could have just have told me. I was giving my children a lesson yesterday in statistics because my cousin shared something statistically with me about finances and people and the amount of poverty in this world and homelessness and what that looks like for people of color. And I said, listen, you got to do your job here because the reason why I'm doing mine and making sure you get your schoolwork done and on you about doing excellent in your schoolwork is because you have a future and I want you as a part of that future to have options. And options require that you do the work. Options require that you put in the effort. Options require that you do in this season what you have to do so you can do in the next season what you want to do. Thank you for that line from the Great Debaters. It means you have to do this. And here's the reason why. Because I want you to have a great life, but I want you to have a great life not just on your efforts. The reason why I work hard right now, the reason why I'm doing what I'm doing right now, the reason why I'm teaching you right now, the reason why we sit down at the table, the reason why I pray over you and anoint you with oil and teach you the Bible The reason why I speak life to you, the reason why I make sacrifices for you is because I am in for your future so that you don't have to start from scratch. I'm making an investment in your life even while I make an investment in my own so that when you get started, you're not starting from the beginning. I want you to go further faster. My grandfather wanted that for my father. My father wanted that for us kids and me and your father, we want that for you. So that means Use us. Don't make dumb decisions because you didn't ask. Don't ignore wise counsel because you thought you were wiser. Your frontal lobe will not be developed until you're 25. I love you, but you're dumb until about your early to mid-20s. I want you to go further faster, and the way you will get further faster is to listen to somebody who's done it before you. So yes, you're going to read these adult books. Yes to reading Mere Christianity in high school. Yes to reading Know What You Believe and Know Why You Believe It. Yes to reading Do Hard Things. Yes to reading Max Lucado books and Chuck Yes, Swindoll books, and yes to reading Tony Evans books, and yes to reading— because I don't care if you're 17 and 15. If you can read some of the stuff I see you reading in high school, you can read the stuff that's going to actually help your life. Why? Because I want you to learn from somebody so you don't have to learn it the hard way. Most of us spend a lot of time figuring out things the hard way because we won't heed wisdom. Proverbs tells us that wisdom is actually knocking on the door in the streets. Tell my— listen, I'm over here, pay attention. You want to know why you are not as far along as you want to be because you won't listen. That's what I'm saying to you. You won't listen. Hi, Marlena. You're 63 and you've got some wisdom, and I pray to God that you are availing yourself to people in your life who are a little bit behind you, not even necessarily by age but in experience, so that they can learn from you. I want to challenge you. If you are a woman who has some wisdom— and guess what? If you are a woman, you have some wisdom. You want to know why? Because you're a little further along than somebody else. Every woman, you're a little further along than somebody else. You should always be pouring into someone and being poured into. And if you can't find anybody in real life that can pour into you, you don't have an older woman, you don't have a woman who's further along in motherhood or in, um, in entrepreneurial situations or in losing weight or in doing her hair or in building her own business, if you don't have that woman, then get her by reading her books. Get her by listening to her podcast. Invest in your future and going faster, further by investing in that membership or that, or that class or whatever. Get that degree, invest, do the work to put the information that you need and the wisdom and the counsel that you need in your path. Someone says, what if you're in a country where there is literally no one? See, the thing is, is we have no reason not to get further faster for getting wisdom. And the reason for that is, y'all, we have the internet. We have the internet, so you need to get on YouTube, find somebody who loves God but who has wisdom, and then listen and, and, and binge. Just like you binge Netflix— I mean, you may have canceled Netflix now, but just like you binge Netflix, find somebody who's speaking truth and wisdom into your life, who's teaching you the Bible, who's teaching you how to— who's teaching you how to cook, who's teaching you how to take care of your family, who's teaching you how to manage your time, who's teaching you how to to, uh, get your YouTube channel going, like whatever it is, like find them and listen to them, okay? There's no reason— find them and listen to them. And then until God brings somebody physical in your life, then you be the physical person for somebody else. Now that may look like a Zoom call right now if you're not comfortable getting together in person. For me, I got a nice kitchen table. I've invited some people around it and I've said— and, but Listen, there was some, one group of ladies from my church that came over, no problem. There was another group of ladies from my church, half of the ladies didn't come. They were older, they were like, "No, I'm not ready to do that yet." You know what we did? We all ordered dinner and we got on a Zoom call and we spent 2 hours talking about our lives. And there were women who were younger than me on that call, women who were older than me on that call. It was the best blessing of women from my church, of Titus 2 in action, but not 'cause of a Bible study. We were just talking highs and lows of the quarantine. What's bothering you? How can you pray for me? Me, or how can we pray for you? How do you find a mentor, Janine Mendez? Look around for somebody who's further along. And then if you don't see anybody in work, in motherhood, in business, in spirituality, in their walk with God, if you don't see anybody who's further along in any way, then get on the internet and ask God, pray for him to bring you somebody. Marriage Nugget said, I'm not gonna lie, sis, the mentor situation that you and your sister from me. Well, good. That's why I'm here. Big sister, right? You want to get further faster? Ask for help. See, here's the other part. It's not just find a mentor. It's not just have a mentor. It's ask for help. It's acknowledging that while you could figure it out yourself, somebody else could probably help you figure out a little further faster. And ask for help. Say, I don't know. Yes, Jeanette, pray that God shows you, okay? And I think that it's a lot easier that God can— when you are willing to pour yourself out, there's something that happens. And it's like buying a car. As soon as you are looking for a car and then you go and you identified a couple cars that you're interested in, okay, then all of a sudden All of a sudden cars start showing up everywhere. You never paid attention to those cars before, and now all of a sudden you see that car everywhere. You want to know why? Because you identified it and you were looking for it. I really believe that once you say, okay, Lord, I want somebody. Now this is not their job to serve you. It's not their job to like, you know, chase you down. It's your job to seek them out and then to take what's available. It may not be how you want it, but to take what's available. Um, once you start looking for it, they— you start seeing it. I also believe that once you start pouring yourself out, then you more easily are able to identify women who are willing to pour into you. And, you know, maybe we need to get away from the word mentoring because it weirds people out. I just think you could say, um, hey, I would really love to learn from you. You know, I see this, I see that you have a great marriage, or I see that you're successful in your work or your I see that you are able to keep your weight down. I see that you seem to always have joy. I see that you— I see you around church and you know your word. I would love to learn from you. You know, is it possible for us to spend some time together? I don't want to burden you. I just want to be around you and I want to have some of what you've gotten in life to drip to me. So let's change the word because mentoring has all these connotations, you know, like we got to meet for coffee. You know, you got to meet me once a week. We got to have a Bible study. It's not what mentoring is. It is along the way. It is the principle of someone walking with you along the way. So I'm going to say this real quick and then I'm going to jump off. Okay. And I've seen y'all's questions. So let me put this back up because, um, oh, where'd it go? Put this back up because y'all were like, what, what do we do for the Inner Circle? What do we do for the Inner Circle? chrystalevanshurst.com/innercircle. So the Sister Circle is the big old thing in the whole world. We are all a part of it. And I'm encouraging you all the time to find your Sister Circle that's in person, or that is, you know, that you can connect with ongoingly. We try to help you connect in the Sister Circle group on Facebook. Um, that's chrystalhurtz.com/facebookgroup. The Inner Circle though is where you're like, I want to actually find people like for real, for real online. I want more from Chrystal Hurst. I want more teaching, more training, more downloads, more product, more, more encouragement, more specifics, more accountability. Like, that's like I'm wanting to— I'm wanting to be in something that I'm receiving more and I'm doing the work. So that's a little— that's like short and punchy what it is. Okay, so that's it. My mother, my mother— I'm gonna show you something. Hold on one second. I'm gonna go grab something. I'll show it to you. Hold Okay, I wanted to show you something, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna get back to what I was about to say about my mother in just a second, okay? Okay, that's what I'm about to say. First thing is, this is a letter I dug out of a box when I was moving. Okay, this was written to me in 1993. 1993. My dear Chrystal, greetings in the name we both love. I received your letter and decided to reply right away. I hope that you— I was surprised when you suddenly decided to continue going to school. This is after I had Charis. I hope that you will continue to keep your grades up. That's very important as you know. Yes, dear, I will continue to pray for you. I do that regularly for all of you, and I know the Lord answers prayers. You are his, and he will keep an eye on you always. Are you tired of reading your Bible, my dear? That's the enemy's way of encouraging you to slip into his snare. He is busy causing God's children to slip back into the world, and believe it or not, when he gets you there, he sits back and laughs at you. There is nothing he can give you but pain and worry and everything that makes you sad and unhappy. And at the same time grieving the Lord. Yes, dear, stick to reading the word. It is the sword that will keep the enemy at bay. Without that, he could use you any way he wants. Then she goes on to say, keep friends who will help you to keep sweet in the Lord. Any others will just pull you down in the mud. Keep your self-esteem up. You will have to think of things a better way. Don't think of yourself, um, Think of yourself as just as good as everyone else. Don't let anyone make you feel that you are not as good as them. Dress nicely, get your— keep your hair up and feel good about your appearance so that when anyone is around and tries to make you feel otherwise, you can laugh it off because you feel good about yourself. Mommy, come make breakfast. Mm-hmm, I'm coming. Don't look out for people who will make you feel Um, look out for people who will reaffirm who you know you are. Um, keep your head up, pleasing the Lord and your parents. Hope to hear again from you, your loving grandmother. And then she put in here a daily bread. And then she mailed me a letter. I was driving down the road yesterday and I was meeting a friend at a furniture store in far north Dallas. It took me about 45 minutes to get there. And something happened yesterday and I cried the whole way there. I mean, ugly, loud cry that people probably looking in the car were very worried about me. And, you know, sad that my mother's not here for a list of reasons that will— that's never-ending. But here's the thing, most of the things I want her around for, I have gotten enough of. I wanted more, but I got a lot. I know what she would say. I know how she would cook. I know how she would season it. I know how she would celebrate. I know how she would encourage. I know what she would look like because she always looked like a million dollars. And the thing is— hey, Rebecca Bender— the thing is I have letters from her too. When you decide to invest in someone else, you don't just give them the message, you don't just give them a memory, you give them a mold. And that mold in some way, shape, or form belongs to you. It's one of the ways that you live on when you're not here is because you've shown people how to do it and now they can do it like you do it. But I will tell you one of the feelings of regret that I had last night, yesterday, as I was on that drive, bawling my eyes out, I was thinking, I should have listened earlier. As I was reading the last one of the letters that my mother read me, I was thinking I wasn't listening. I was listening, but I wasn't listening, you know. So here's what I want to encourage you to do. I want you to listen. I want you to find somebody that you can connect with that has something that you do not have, that knows something you do not know, who's lived some life you have not lived. And I want you to listen to their life. Listen to their life. Now you can do this with somebody in real life. You can do this with somebody that's online. You can do this with somebody by reading their books, by, um, going to their classes process by watching their YouTube channels. I want you to listen. Find somebody who loves Jesus with all their heart. They don't have to be a Bible teacher, but they need to love Jesus with all their heart. They need to have a, a, an undergirding in the word so they're not leading you astray, right? And this is for, you know, matters of character and morality. Of course, if you need a YouTube channel, find somebody who teaches a YouTube channel. But my point is, learn to listen and listen earlier. Listen with your life. Listen to their life with your life, and then let your life mimic. The Bible talks about this when Paul is talking to, um, the, the church in the New Testament. He says, look at how I live and do what I do. Like, don't start at the beginning, don't waste time. Like, look at me and do what I do. Wow, Sheila Henry said, is anybody from New Orleans? Email She said, listen, I'm over here trying to mentor some people. Here you go on Facebook. Facebook, where are you? No, you're on YouTube. So what I'm saying is, you all listen, you wanna know how to get further faster? Stop starting over. Stop starting from the beginning and stop starting thinking that you can figure it all out. Just don't. Look at somebody who's already figured some stuff out and say, hey, can I learn from you? And if you don't know anybody, pick up the book, watch the YouTube channel, go to the website, take the class. And the first place— for first place that you start listening is the word of God. Always, always want to get further faster, listen. All right, y'all, that's what I got for you today. Uh, no, Do Hard Things. I'll put it in this week's email. Okay. Um, Harris, it's two twin boys that wrote this book when they were teenagers, and every one of my kids has to read that book at least once before they get out of high school. Yes, YouTube has lives. All right, you all. Love how you encourage each other in the chat. I will see you next Monday. Make sure you're on my email list, chrystalevanshurst.com. And if you want to go deeper and get ready to make the last 90 days great in preparation for the first 90 days of 2021, join me in the Inner Circle, chrystalevanshurst.com/innercircle. Love y'all with my life. Talk to you later. Have a great week. Choose to live.