[LIVE] Coffee with Chrystal

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Happy 2025. So glad that you are in the room. Thanks for joining me. Now is an amazing time to shoot the link to somebody you know who's awake, who's not at work. We don't want to distract them from their work, but who might want to join in and watch us. It is that time of the month where I drop in to say, what up, y'all? What up, though? According to the people in Detroit. Ajane, if you're in the room, I am glad to be with you in January of 2025 because that means hallelujah, I made it over, I made it over. That's what that means. That means we made it over. I don't know what you're drinking this morning. I have been going through a cacophony of additional, uh, kerfuddledness when it comes to my drinking situation. So let me go ahead and give you that ASMR. Praise the Lord, saints. Here we go. There we go. However, um, I talked a little bit, uh, last week in the Inner Circle about the fun of Rise Mushroom Coffee. Uh, let's make a note about that. I need to get a version— I need to get a bag for the office. I got a bag for the house, I need a bag for the office. Um, that is great. I also— what What did I also discover this weekend? I bought a rooibos tea because I love rooibos in other blends, but I bought a straight rooibos because then I can add it, just a second tea bag to whatever tea I happen to be using. And rooibos tends to give it a super, super, super, super duper smooth taste. See, these are the things. These are the things. In addition to that, What else did I— oh, and then I realized, because, you know, social media teaches you all the things, I realized that I'm missing out on saffron. I'm missing out on saffron that can be put into a tea, that can be blended with ashwagandha, that you can take in a gummy, um, that is just as effective. I read— now, this is not me telling you to get off your meds. Uh, this is me. This is not me being a medical doctor. Consult your medical practitioner. But there have been studies done that show that it's just as effective as Lexapro. Now, I don't know nothing about no Lexapro, but I know I done seen a lot of commercials about it. So I'm just saying, you know, if you are needing to fight the winter blues, get you some saffron. But I'm not your medical doctor. It is freaking cold up in here, which is why I am layered to the hilt. I got my undershirt on, my t-shirt on, my long sleeve shirt on, my sweatshirt on, and the sweater on top of that, because I'm not gonna be cold. If that's one thing I'm not gonna do, I want you to know I slept in the Ugg thing that you got me last night. Because can I just say this? My heat is still off in my bedroom. You want to know why? This is how I know I am full grown, because it is under 30 degrees outside in Dallas. You want to know how I know I'm full grown? Because we're not about to pay that heat bill. That's what we're not gonna do. I turned on the floor heater next to me. I am under 4 layers of blankets. I have an Ugg pullover robe that Miss Candace Side Hustle here over here gave me last Christmas. And listen, I slept like a baby. I was warm, I was toasty, my bed was amazing.

I was great.

Now I did say this is probably the week. This is probably the week where you just give in and you turn on your heater. This is probably the week that you do that. This should be the week. This should be the week. We are praying for no blackouts in power because Texas can't handle that. We are also praying for no black ice. We can handle a little snow. The forecast has changed on Thursday in the Dallas area from rain, which equals ice, which equals Texans can't drive, to snow, which is we still, we still go, we still gonna stay in the house, we still gonna cancel everything. However, it's actually safer, you know, the snow is actually safer. So we are getting ready, you know, we are triggered from Snowmageddon in 2021. We don't know, we are still deep in our, you know, parasympathetic systems. When we see ice and snow and cold weather, We, we are not, we are not okay. We are not okay. We start having reactions. Um, so we are prepared. Yesterday, y'all, I went to Costco. I shouldn't have done that without a list. Hey, I was with Michelle and she, when we walked in, she said Do we need 2 baskets? I was like, no, I'm just getting a few things, you know, just to make sure I don't have to come back out. We should have got 2 baskets. Mainly because, mainly because once you have, once you have to buy paper towels and toilet tissue, which even if you have it, when there's the threat or people think there's a threat of Snowmageddon now in Texas, we are all triggered to stock up on toilet paper and paper towels. It is not even because you feel like you can't get it. It's because you afraid everybody else is gonna think they can't get it. And then when you really need it, then you won't be able to get it. So I double down. I double down on my paper towel. So once you have paper towels and toilet paper, there's not room. There's nothing else left for your basket. Listen, and then I have not been in a cooking mood. So then I bought all of these, not all, but some pre-prepared foods., which cost you time and a half. So I was like, the paper towels, and then I bought some heaters. Even as we walked by, Michelle was like, don't buy those heaters, you don't need those heaters. I was like, they got a rebate on them. I was like, they on rebate. I don't want to regret this later.

You know what I'm saying?

I don't want to be thinking I need a heater and then thinking, I should have got that while it was on rebate. Let me tell you what I do. Let me tell you what I do to try to stave off buying things I don't need. This is what I try to do in Costco specifically. I take pictures because in my head, as long as I don't forget that it's on rebate and as long as it doesn't go off a rebate today, I got time to walk away and ponder. I took a whole lot of pictures yesterday in Costco. I took a picture about Queen mattress. I don't even know if I need a queen mattress. Ah, I don't even know if I need a queen mattress. Let me see, what else did I take a picture of? I took a picture of— let's see, let's see what the Lord says. What'd I take a picture of? I took a picture of a queen mattress. Sure did. I'm not— I didn't even make this a part of the— part of the show, but here you go, proof that I took a picture of the queen mattress. In the box. Uh, I also— I don't even know why I took it. I took a picture. I took this picture from Miss Sonia just in case. I took a picture of heavy-duty Scotch tape because you never know when you need packing tape, but I sure don't want to miss it on rebate. Uh, I also took a picture of those little Solo stoves, you know, that you put outside, and they're like in the silver stainless steel. They're like a stainless steel round and they have a fire. Because if Snowmageddon happens, we might have to cook outside. We might have to put our hot dogs on a stick, you know. That's the thing. I took a picture of the oxtails mainly because— mainly because— come on now, come on now. There you go. No. Oh, come on. There we go. I took a picture of the oxtails because I need to send this to my Aunt Bernice and ask her if there's a good price. Because really Christmas is over. But if there's anything that I still need for Christmas, now's the time to buy it. And those oxtails will keep, you know, in the freezer till next year. Last year, yes, yes. Okay, let me tell you about— oh, you know what, where is that video? Where's that video that you took of me and the boys? Please airdrop that to me, y'all. I am, I am made of the generation that it ain't bad unless it tastes bad, smells bad, or looks bad, okay? The expiration dates on the food at the store is for the store's legalities, okay? So I believe, this is what I believe, I believe that you don't throw food away that looks good, smells good and tastes good. And listen, I'm willing to be the tribute. What is it, Tribune or tribute? Tribute. I'm willing to be the tribute. If y'all are not sure, it's okay. I will take the first bite. No problem. No problem. I will take the first bite. So, you know, so the boys went in there and cooked some pepperoni pizzas from Costco. That were beyond the best used by date. But my statement to them was, he said, well, Mommy, the bread is soggy. I said, well, let me taste it because that could be because I gave you the wrong temperature to cook it on. They come in a box of 4 and we take them out and put them in the freezer. And when I'm making them every week when kids are at home, I remember the temperature. It's been a while 2 of the boys are at college. You know, I've launched 4 out of 5 at least out of the high school stage. So I don't, I don't make it every day. I forgot. I said, I'm not really sure if it was my instruction or if it's bad pizza. So I said, bring it in here. So I ate the top of the pizza. I was like, it tastes fine. And then we realized, we Googled pepperoni pizza cooking temperature Costco and realized that I was 100 degrees under the said— I was 100 degrees under the, the suggested temperature cooking time. So long story short, um, we had a little situation in the office because I— because everybody was against me. Candace, you were against me.

I was.

You were against me. They were against me. They didn't want me to feed the children expired food. But I just believe that, again, the dates are for legalities. They are not for me and my monies. My money says if it's still good, I pay for that joint and we gonna eat that until it's not good. And I think food tells you when it's not good. Food tells you. It tastes freezer burned. So you have to cook it to find this out? Like how do— You cook it to find it out. Yeah. Yeah. I just believe this is what refrigeration is for. Okay. This is what refrigeration is for. Okay, now y'all are talking back to me in the chat and I haven't even done the due diligence of saying hello. So let me just say hello. Sharice Jones, come on, great start to a Monday. I see you, Yakima, laughing your brains out. I believe that, I believe that. Come on, Joanna, it's a suggestion date. And Joanna is a full-blown certified medical practitioner, so if Dr. Joanna says it's okay, we are all right. Melanie said, clearly Chrystal Hurst has never had food poisoning.

I have not.

And I have built my whole life on if it looks good, it's fine. If it tastes good, it's fine. If it smells good, it's fine. And I'm good. Did Nani do this? Nani did this. Nani did this. Was it like a West Indian? No, it's not West Indian. It's generational. Because I heard a pastor say from the pulpit that his children were freaking out because the grandchildren came over and he was giving them milk. That had gone past the best use date. And he said, I'm from the generation that if it looks good, smells good, and tastes good, it's fine. And listen, when milk starts to go bad, let me tell you what you do with it. You don't throw it out. You use it in something else. That's when you make biscuits with it. That's when you make pancakes with it. That's when you put it in something where it's not as a direct hit. It's like you putting it in cereal. You know what I'm saying? You can put it in your oatmeal or your cream of rice or your cream of wheat. I'm just saying, I'm just saying. Good morning, y'all. Good morning. I believe it, I believe it. Come on, Chrystal Hurst. Yes, shout out to oxtails and all my Caribbeans. Let me tell you what I did not make this Christmas. I did not make— I did not make, uh, pepper pot. I didn't make pepper pot. Let me tell you why. Because this Christmas I was tired. I didn't make nothing. The thing that I was supposed to bring to Priscilla's house, I called in the backup. I called in, uh, Miss So-and-So and said, Miss So-and-So, can you bring me a 9 by 13 of greens? Can you also bring me a 9 by 13 of a pound and a half of brisket so I can meet my quota for the family dinner? I can't do it. Not doing it. Not doing it. So yes, I didn't do it because oxtails are the million dollar dish. Wanda says that's a good price. Okay, I need to go back to Costco anyway. Yes, oxtails can last in the freezer. Good morning for those of y'all who came in the room a little later. Uh-huh. Good morning. Yeah, I went to Costco with no list, Michelle. That was not a good thing. Good morning to my Inner Circle girls. I know you're Inner Circle if when you make a comment you drop that yellow circle. That helps me to cue in on you. If you are here for the first time, you have never been on a Monday morning live in the Inner Circle or not in the Inner Circle, it's your first time give me a wave. Let me know that you're here. Use your emojis, and if you can't find it, that's okay. Just type wave. We understand that. The second thing is, is if you are here and you are— let's see, what do I want to say today? If you are under 35 and you are in the room, I want you to give me a fist bump. Bam! Glad to see you. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. If you are in the room and you are over 70, If you are over 70, I want you to give me a thumbs up because you are the wisdom in the room. Hello, we see you in the room. First timer, Miss Adrienne Francois. Did I say that right? Praise the Lord. Miss Anita McQuarrie, I see you in the room. Marsha Glenn, I see you in the room. Welcome, welcome. I see you in the room. Is it Gina? Help me with the pronunciation. Give me the phonetics. But Miss Bolton, I see you. Hi, Miss Chrystal Hurst. I am glad you are in the room. Shanika, I'm glad you're in the room. Uh, yes, how did I miss the oxtails at Costco? You got to go on the back side, okay? Go all the way to the back and then turn your basket around. It's right there on the end cap. Barbados in the house, I see you. Miss Vivian, I see you. Miss Brenda Blair, I see you. Yay, yay, yay, all the people. Come on, Inner Circle girls, I see y'all. I want you to know that the reason why I'm here is because the Inner Circle girls keep the lights on. We're grateful for our Inner Circle girls, and I am grateful that you all are able to join me on this morning. So I have some good news and some bad news. Which do we want first, Candace? We want bad news. The bad news is I'll tell you what the plan is, but I just don't want to promise. Can I, can I start with that? The, the bad news is no podcasts after today. That's the bad news. And the plan is that we'll resurrect things in 4 to 6 weeks. Here's why I'm afraid. I am afraid because, um, now that does not apply to Inner Circle. Inner Circle girls, I'm still seeing you every Monday. But that is because there's a lot of reasons. Okay, the reason why is because in theory, this is what's supposed to happen. In theory, what's supposed to happen is I'm supposed to take the time and process and think about what it is that will be meaningful this year for me to release. I'm supposed to batch record. I'm supposed to have the discipline to plan and batch record. I'm supposed to give the team a breather. Let me tell you why I'm a little concerned. Tell you why I'm a little concerned. My personal history, my personal history, my personal track record with taking breaks is they— is why are you over here shaking your head? Oh, ye of little faith. I'm so sorry. Um, I am, I'm, I am, I am concerned that sometimes what I, what we plan to do in the empty space doesn't necessarily happen, and the break turns into a slumber, it turns into hibernation. So I'm not making promises, I am, I am setting intentions. So what you can do to solve that is binge on old stuff because there's a ton of— apparently I I have so many people that come to me and say, Chrystal Hurst, you ought to be able to take a break because you have tons of content. You could re-release old content and not see the light of day for like 3 years and nobody even know you were gone. I don't know if that's true or not. Um, I don't have anybody who would take on that feat. So until somebody shows up that does that, I'm just here and I like being here, being current.

I like that.

But I'm gonna try, I'm gonna try it, and we're gonna see what happens. We're gonna see what happens. So there's two ways that you could deal with that. There's three. One is binge old content. Two is, um, you enjoy it too. Maybe you take some time off of YouTube, or if you're a podcast audio listener, just take a break. Sit in silence with Jesus. You know what I'm saying? And then the last thing is, I, y'all are, they're, they're saying, oh, Chrystal, it's okay, take your time. I just want you to know I don't even want to do this. I'm trying to be obedient. I'm trying to see what happens if I walk in wise counsel. We're going to see. Um, but the other thing that you can do to not miss out is, um, come on in the Inner Circle because I'll still be with the girls in there. Okay, so what I'm going to do real quick, because it's 7:30 and I haven't even gotten to the real fun and foolery— this is just Chrystal unhinged. Somebody say, stop it, Chrystal! Okay, praise the Lord, saints. All right, y'all, praise the Lord. Okay, Beatrice says, as one who just started tuning in a month ago, I've been listening to old shows and it's relevant. Okay, praise the Lord. Tanya said, I can definitely and totally binge old content. You like my word, kerfuddledness? I'm looking for new words. I'm looking for new words. I was talking to somebody the other day that said they— their goal is to notice and use a new word um, daily. Notice and use a new word daily. And I realize that there's a lot of fancy— I like fancy words, but I then overuse them, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, but I don't want to sound like a broken record because, you know, if it's a word everybody notices, then it, it, it is remembered. So I gotta, I gotta come out of the kerfuddledness. But I like that word. I like that word. Am I teaching you by taking a break? Is that what I'm supposed to be doing? Can you tell how I really feel about this? Okay.

All right.

Um, we shall see. We shall see. So let me talk you through a couple of quick things before I get to some more fun and foolery, because I want to make sure you don't miss all the things. First and foremost, this is what this year is about. This year is about Making Your Mark. This year for me, I am talking about, thinking about, and putting out content under the banner of what does it take for you to make a lasting impact? Which every year we should be doing that. But this year it's like, what do you do if you want the taste to linger? Okay, the taste of you to linger. So everything, most things that I put out into the world this year, are about you making your mark, you making a mark, lasting impact, and you making a unique mark and lasting impact because you're the only one of you there is. So that will be the banner of content that's being released everywhere whenever I get back to releasing everywhere. That is also the banner under which I'm operating in the Inner Circle. And so in the Inner Circle, we are kicking off with— because I believe it is impossible to leave a lasting mark um, that actually counts in time and in eternity for the soul of you that will last beyond your physical being here, you got to start with spiritual grounding. And that spiritual grounding is going to be launched in our Inner Circle. We kick it off January the 12th, so that's next Sunday. Um, this week we're giving everybody a chance to get on in, but the goal is to grow spiritually. So it's 12 weeks of our community course, you getting the coaching you need in our 90-day experience. Our 90-day experience is a blend of, um, content, which is going to be spiritual maturity and growth, and goal setting. Because I believe in goal setting. I believe if you aim for nothing, that's what you hit. Just so you can be clear about the Inner Circle and what you get when you get in here, um, you have these benefits. So obviously access to the 90-day experience. We have what we call monthly sister sessions. That's another way of saying a masterclass. Monday morning weekly mentorship with me, the weekly live. Hundreds of online courses and content in our library. Depending on the level you choose, up to 25% always in the Sister Circle shop. Our private online community. And we are waiting for Apple to give us a thumbs up for our new Sister Circle app. And as soon as we have that, you'll be the first to get in. So thank you. That's a few of the things, but the bottom line is the best thing to me about the Inner Circle is the doggone community. If you enjoy the chat here on a live, uh, well, you'll enjoy everything else because what I have found is that there are women who— Miss Christina Barthel, are you in the room? Who, when I have an event They don't necessarily come because I'm having an event. They're just using the event to reconnect. I believe, and I've seen, that the Inner Circle has allowed women to find their people, um, and we are looking forward to continuing to build out a community that allows you to get the information that you need and find the people that you need and all of that. Yes, Android too. Yes, Android 2. You love these graphics. Let me tell you why I'm so happy that you said that, because graphic design is the bane of my existence, mainly because when we have amazing graphic designers, because we've, we've had some amazing ones, the issue is, can we know what we need in advance so that we don't need a graphic designer to give it to us in 18 hours? So praise God for Nate. Who came through. I said, can you work? Can you work over Christmas? And he was like, sure, sure, no problem. All right, praise the Lord, Saints. A couple of other things that I want to tell you about. What over here is in my announcement box? Oh, let's see. Um, let's see. Praise the Lord, Saints. Let me see, try to make sure I'm getting my announcements out here. Uh, okay, there we go. Coaching cohort. Here's another way that you can connect whether you're in the inner circle or not. This is not just for inner circle people. Um, women ask me all the time, Chrystal, how do I get a book deal? Chrystal, how do I get paid to speak? Chrystal, how do I know how to find my people? Chrystal, how do I start an online community? Chrystal, You know, how do I— oh Jesus, okay, Lord, get doggy! It's a bug, it's a plane, and I'm not afraid of it. It just flew up in my ear. Jesus, help! Not on today, Satan. Back to Communicators Cohort. People ask all the questions. So last year I let people apply and I took 12. I'm still gonna take 12, but because that's more involved, because those women come in person for an event, I had to limit it this year. What I'm saying is you can join the cohort, just join the cohort, walk through the content together with a community, with my team, so you actually get through it, so you can ask questions so that you can finish and launch. Things into the world. I am so grateful that I've had women write and send their pitch letters, women that have gotten their books published, women that have launched their newsletters, women that are getting a rhythm with posting on social and repurposing their content, all of that. Um, but I don't want— I want to make sure that women who want the content can have it. So the cohort is open. Anybody can do it. ChrystalEvansHurst.com/cohort. Now, when you join the cohort, you will receive an application for the coaching, which is just for 12. Because I want to make sure that the 12 is a good mix of people. I want to make sure that the 12, what they're wanting from me is what I can give them. And that just means you have a bat line to Chrystal Hurst and team. So you can Vox me is what we use, Voxer, Vox me anytime and ask a question. So if that's you or someone you know, go ahead and jump on in. The doors close January the 13th. The doors close January 13th. And if you have any questions about that, simply shoot me an email at Chrystal, at chrystalevanshurst.com. Um, one other thing about the Inner Circle, Dream Builders Revisited. Did you send that to me? You did send that to me, didn't you? This little green bug. This little green bug. So some of y'all remember Dream Builders. Um, Dream Builders is happening again in the Inner Circle every night this week. So if you did it, and this is the, the, this was the private version. If you did it and wanna do it again, great. In the Inner Circle, you're good. If you never got part 2, the VIP experience, then now's a great time to join the Inner Circle because you'll be in for the Dream Builders, which walks you through the goal setting process. And that's why we also have our kickoff starting January the 12th for our course. Because we want to give everyone a nice runway to getting their goals, uh, together. Speaking of goals, here's the question for this morning. If you have either the digital or physical version— here's mine, I have two. This one is for my to-dos, the gold one is for my content. But in January, there is a question, and I'm going to give you all that question. Here's the question: You ready to hear it? Here it go. And I want you to answer in the chat. Let me make this bigger. Hold on, let me fix my font. Edit text. Let's see, let's go on up to 48. Save. How does that look? That's better. That's better. All right, we'll go with that. As you look ahead to a new year, where do you need to take ownership? What is happening in your life where you're like, I've got to get it together and do something? Like, life is not happening to me. I have to put my hands on my life and stop waiting for things to passively happen to me. I have to own my life. Where are you needing to take ownership in your life? And here's the question that follows that. What excuse have you been making? What excuse have you been making? Okay, I want to know. Inquiring minds want to know. Inquiring minds want to know. Let's see, make it even bigger. There you go, because I really want to see it. Okay, where do you need to take ownership? Where do you need to take ownership in your life? And where have you been making excuses? Okay, where have you been making excuses? That is the question for the month. Kimberly says, my schedule, my diet, and my friendships. Guardrails around social media so that I can focus on my goals. Creating a budget and sticking to it. I need to create some boundaries. Boundaries, boundaries. Parenting my adult sons and daughters in a manner that God would have. That last part is key because we can parent them the way we want to parent them. We can say what we want to say. The hardest thing about parenting adult children is that everything you want to say only works if they're listening. So you really have to choose the words you use if they're not listening, because if you say too much, none of it sinks in. It is one of the greatest works of self-restraint next to marriage. The quiet and meek spirit. Lord help. I'm with you, Jennifer. My health. I've been saying I'm too busy. I work too many hours. Let me sip my tea on that, Kim. Kim. Kim. Hey, hey. Okay, honestly, leaving my home. Kendra, do tell. What does that mean? Does that mean that God is calling you to like move states, move out of your parents' house? What does that mean? Time for me and Jesus, keeping my hands off of the things because my daughter has to figure some things out for herself. With my health, Teresa Langford says, I started using sugar again to cope with my life struggles. Let me just say why I picked up them Oreos in the store on social media, because I literally was like I need my— that's what I told my son the other day. I just— I— he just looked at me. He looked at me and just raised his eyebrows like this. He was like— and I had a— I had a— not the Oreos, but something else in my hands. It was a dark chocolate covered almond, you know, organic, so I could feel better about myself. And, uh, he's— he just looked at me like this. And I said, it's my drug of choice. Popped it in. At least we know what we're saying. At least we know what we're saying. Okay, okay. Doing what refreshes my soul, Erica Grant says, instead of doing what needs to be done. No more excuses with writing. My hope is that as you are navigating and looking at the chat on today, that you are finding somebody who is owning their life in a similar way. One of the things that the Inner Circle allows us to do is find the people that are working on what we're working on. Praise the Lord. So keep talking about those things in the chat because confession and written words are a great beginning. Your acknowledgment is a great beginning. Praise the Lord, saints. Um, let me, let me give you a little foolery. Let me just give you a little foolery. Uh, let me zoom in on this. We are also in our inner circle, y'all, going to have a As a part— so there are layers to our 90-day experience. You have the learning, that's going to be spiritual growth and maturity. You have the doing, that's the goal setting. And you have a challenge. I wanted to pick another challenge, I really did, but it is the fat demon. It's the fat demon. It is what it is, what it is. So if you're in this room because you know. So when you come in the Inner Circle, you can do all three or just one. You don't have to do any of it. You can just show up on Monday mornings and that's it. Okay, I love this one. Hold on a minute, I'm going to share my screen first and then I'm going to refresh my screen so we can start from the beginning.

New Year, I started dieting. By summer I will be slim. On the second day of New Year, I went and joined the gym. Well done to me. And by some By summer I will be slim. On the 3rd day of New Year, I still wasn't drinking. Congratulate myself, well done to me. And by summer I will be slim. On the 4th day of New Year, I ordered takeout in. It's just a cheat meal, one will not hurt me. Don't you dare judge me, 'cause by summer I will be slim. On the 5th day of New Year, my muscles were aching, so I skipped the gym. 4 sessions done, 1 day off, won't hurt, I will go back tomorrow. But by summer I will be slim. On the 6th day of New Year, the cravings had kicked in. Had a piece of chocolate cake. But I skipped the gym. But I've been really good all sodding weekend. I deserved a treat. But by summer I'll still be thin. On the 12th day of New Year, I weighed myself again. 12 pounds gained in 11 days of hell. 10 mental breakdowns. 9 nights of secret eating. 8, all my feelings. 7 cakes demolished. 6 chocolates finished. Cancelled the gym. Forgot the diet 3 days ago. Opened 2 bottles of wine and accepted I'll never be slim.

Praise the Lord, saints. Praise the Lord, saints! Is that anybody's story? Is that anybody's story? Okay, we, we all are just out here doing our best. We are all out here doing our best. Some of us feel this way about our spiritual journey. Can we just take a moment? Let's talk about the spiritual journey. Hold on one second, let me refresh my screen so we can start from the beginning. Praise the Lord, saints! Praise the Lord! Where are we? Where are we? Everyone else's spiritual journey. This is everyone else's. That's mine. That's what everybody else seems to be doing. They go to church, they read their Bibles, they seem to talk to Jesus. Here's what mine feels like. Praise the Lord. Can anybody relate? Praise the Lord, saints. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, saints. Some of us are just out here doing our best, okay? We're out here doing our best. For me, this is not even a goal, but I saw this one and I was like, oh, we gonna, we gonna, uh, I'm gonna share this because this is the story of my life. I've just given up. I've just given up. I've decided that I have an impairment. And people are going to love me the way I am. Getting up earlier to still run late gotta qualify you for a disability check.

It just got to. Correct.

Correct. Getting up early to still be late, that means there's actually something wrong with me. That's what that means. That's what that means. Let me tell y'all, some of y'all are out here in these streets doing your best And I understand you've been trying to be churchy and memorize scripture and study your Bible for the last 30 years of your life. You know what I'm saying? You 23, and for the last 15 years of your life you've been trying to figure out how to have Jesus love you and you love him back. I understand, I understand. Um, I just want you to know that this is your year. Now I know that some of y'all, uh, came into the year eating them grapes that were under the table.

And instead of sitting under the table eating grapes for New Year's, pick up that Bible and get in that word. The only way you gonna find the one that you really want and the one you really need, because sitting under that table, you gonna mess around, get something you don't want. I'm telling you, like, because y'all ain't doing it right. Who told y'all to get under the table in the first place? Y'all literally do everything besides run to God. What, what's wrong with asking him? He ain't gonna hurt you, he gonna guide you right. Y'all just don't want to trust the process, that's all it is. Y'all too impatient, y'all want what you want too quick, and that's why it failed. Because if y'all didn't know, good things take time. Like, you probably need to work on yourself, or your husband probably need to get himself together. So it's just like, do the right thing and get from under that table. Or if you gonna go under the table at least take the Bible with you. Take it with you and start praying. Oh Lord, forgive me. See, I try to go the whole video without that one. Nothing but the devil, I rebuke.

Okay, we out here just doing our best. We're out here doing our best. Okay, a couple more things and let me give you some encouragement, uh, Inner Circle girls, so that we can go to our after party after this. Here's the bottom line. You are invited to join me, join us in the Inner Circle for our 90-day, for the fun and foolery, for Dream Builders Revisited, for, uh, the Coffee with Chrystal Hurst live that aired last Thursday. Uh, if you are in the Inner Circle, you keep access to it. If you're not, go right now. You still have to register, but you can still watch it if you missed it. I'm trying to go faster so that I can get through all of my— Don't laugh at me. Don't laugh at me. I labeled all these. Why are they not in your labeled? Oh gosh. Maybe I didn't label everything.

Maybe I didn't.

Okay. Couple quick things. This was in the email newsletter. If you're not subscribed to my email newsletter, that is definitely the way you can stay in touch while I fly under the radar a little bit. Chrystalevanshurst.com/subscribe. Subscribe. And I've got a little goodie that I want to put in the email for you today. So make sure you're on it. It'll go out a little after lunchtime. That's the goal. Let's see, is there anything else I'm forgetting to tell you about? I talked to you about cohort. I talked to you about inner circle. Oh, a couple of other quick things, quick things. There is a sale right now. Running right now in the shop. Where is it? Here we go. Uh, anything planner related is on sale. So if you don't have the 2025 physical planner but you want the digital planner, go get it. If you never got your coaching audios, which means you will hear my voice every week, every month, every quarter of the year walking you through your planner, like literally in your ear, coach. It's like a Private podcast. Go get your coaching audios. If you're like, Chrystal Hurst, I just want something in my hands. We have a black undated quarterly planner, a yellow bookbound annual set of planners, limited. So you are welcome to go in the pins, anything that's planner related, go get it. The 25% off sale is for everyone and it ends today. Um, let's see here. Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm. What else? Oh, here we go. I think this is important. Y'all, I have a new book coming out. It's yay. It's yay. First of all, it's beautiful. It's beautiful. It's called 100 Days to Discovering the Gift of You. And this book is a journal-ish type situation. It's like a little devotion and then room for you to write. We took the principle of gain a new perspective on your life and then said, we're going to take 100 days and walk you through it. Now it doesn't release until January the 21st, but if you think you're going to get it, get it. Because when you buy it, you tell the publisher, hey, make sure y'all print enough. You tell the publisher, we care about what Chrystal Hurst makes. And you also ensure that as soon as they are available to ship, you get your copy. If you're in the inner circle, we're going to walk through this book together in the second quarter of the year. So Go ahead and get it so that you have it when it's time to walk through. I will say I thank y'all in advance for your support. Okay, praise the Lord, saints. Praise the Lord. I want to tell you something that happened to me recently. Um, I want to show you this little video and then I'm going to tell you what it means. Okay, well then I didn't know. No, these are my children with my son-in-law, so I got 6.

No!

This is them playing Eno? No, Josh, listen to me. Ellie made her way around the table for him. They're playing Jolly Jolly.

Okay, well then—

but why this is important is because these are my children. My daughter called the 4 other children together for a sibling night. I was not invited. I did send a bunch of memes, you know, me on the wall looking in the window. I did send some sneaky memes with me peeping my head around the corner. I did say, wow, I hope y'all have a great time, mash mouth face. But really, my children got together without me. I'm just gonna let you let that sink in for a second. And I thought Wow, I am in a season where I get to see a little bit of my mark. Just a little bit, just a little bit. So I wanted to talk to you though a little bit about that because Um, I don't think that often we recognize the making of our mark while we're making it. And I wanted to share a little bit of encouragement with you so that you will show up and make yours. Okay, now I'm hot. So let me— good, it's 7:57. Praise the Lord, saints. Praise the Lord. I was even gonna put on some makeup for y'all. Got my little leopard print bag, but I think we just gonna let it roll today. I think, I think we're just gonna let her roll because I was having too much fun with y'all to actually put anything on. Are you hot?

Is there one right here?

Okay. Okay, great. Normally when I'm warm, everybody's burning up. Oh, and I don't have a graphic for this yet, but mark your calendars for October the 17th and 18th. We will be having one event this year in the Dallas area. And as soon as we have the details to communicate location, we will, but those are the dates. So if you're not in Dallas, Mark the days off, ask for them off now, and plan to come on in. Okay. In 2026, we're going on a cruise. I hope to share that with you soon too, because why not? All right. I'm trying to find my little notes here. There we go. Here we are. Here we are. Okay, if we trim it, then we'll have a nice neat stopping place, Kristen. If we trim it. But I think I had a good time. I think I had a good time. I'm trying to make sure I didn't miss anything else that I wanted to show y'all. Nope, saving that for the inside. Saving that for the inside. Coffee with Chrystal Hurst. Oh yeah, I kind of said that already. This was me with Coffee with Chrystal Hurst. A few people in the room that you can again watch through tonight. All right, praise the Lord, saints. Um, Shawna, you in the room? You always clear your throat with me. Okay, okay. I have recently had the opportunity to walk closely with someone I love through through a very, very dark season of their life. And the counsel that they have received, one of the many pieces of counsel that they have received, is you just have to think about the next step. Most of us become overwhelmed when we think about how the dominoes fall down in front of us. What's going to happen not just tomorrow but this month, not just this month but this year, not just this year but this decade. We worry about things that will never come that we hope would come. We worry about the things that are here in praying that they will end. And we work ourselves internally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually into tizzies because we see further down the road. Now listen, I believe that Seeing down the road is a gift. I think it is a mark of intuition. I think it is a gift of womanhood, and I think it is a gift of a thinking person to be able to strategically assess what might occur given any different action, and whether you choose door number 1, door number 2, or door number 3. But there comes a point where thinking things forward, especially when it starts sending you into a pit you can't seem to climb out of, where that is problematic and destructive. And I thought that the counsel my friend received was pretty basic. Just do the next thing. Sounds really simple, doesn't it? But I know from having been in this place before that sometimes the next thing is monstrous. And so when somebody like Chrystal Hurst shows up in your feed, wherever you happen to be watching or listening today and says, make a mark for 2025, leave a legacy, have an impact, do the things that matter. And you are trying to figure out how to pay for eggs because the price of eggs is ignorant and stupid and redonkulous. That impact and legacy and making your mark seems like too big of a thing to bite off and chew. Howsomever. Doing the next thing is really what it's about. This past Christmas, I have to tell you, because of a variety of dominoes falling in my house, I did not become, nor did I even attempt to be Mrs. Claus. I would've loved to be Mrs. Claus. I would've loved to do a better job of setting the atmosphere, creating the stage, driving engagement, being the fun mom and doing all the things. That I think would create memories for my family. I didn't have it. I didn't have it. The night before our Christmas, because my nuclear family celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve, we spend Christmas Day with my siblings and extended family. I was talking to my sister and Priscilla said, "So how are you feeling about tomorrow?" And I said, "I just hope I can get through it and that it doesn't end up being a terrible experience for my kids, 'cause I'm just not as ready as I would've liked to be." The evening of Christmas Eve, Priscilla called me and she said, "So how was today?" And I said, "It actually wasn't that bad. I got up and just kept doing the next thing." Sometimes it pays to take your own advice. This year I've got my handy danner, handy danny planner and all the things that I would like to do, all the things that I journaled about in Dream Builders and the things that from my heart I'm thinking about working on, feeling, considering. And if I look too far forward for for the year, I will be overwhelmed at all the hills that there are to climb, all the decisions that there are to make, all the holes I've got to work myself out of, all the problems I need to solve, all the things I need to communicate, all the challenges and difficulties that still need untangling like a knot that I would honestly rather just cut the rope. And I have to tell myself, I have to tell my soul, soul, one thing at a time. There are two ways that you can make a mark in your life, and one is if you build smart. And I believe if you build smart, including building on your knowledge and development of your spiritual acuity, because God has given you and me a blueprint, that if you follow that blueprint, if you study the blueprint, if you learn where the line should be cut you will have a house that will stand. But there's this other piece about you making your mark, and that's the part we get stressed out about. We get stressed out about my purpose. We get stressed out about my calling. We get stressed out about me making a difference. We get stressed out about how long am I going to live. We get stressed out about will I be able to meet my financial goals, my relationship goals. Will I meet the person I'm supposed to spend my life with? How are my kids going to turn out? What is the doctor going to say this week? We get stressed out about the my part of the mark, because there are marks already made for us to follow, but then we have to live out our individual journeys, and that's what we pray and hope that we can get right. How do you make your mark? Emphasis on your. That's the one step at a time part. You don't build a custom house from a cookie cutter blueprint, you spend time navigating that. And I talked a little bit about all of that in Coffee with Chrystal Hurst. What I wanted to give you some practical tools and tips for today is the moving slow part through the year. If you've never heard of the term wintering, that assumes this principle. And there's a book by the same name by an author I have not read that book, but I have heard of the term and I've seen people on social media talking about it and doing it. And I subscribe to that theory. I subscribe to the theory that March is actually a better time for us to start the year when you wanna go outside, when you want to be out in the fresh air, when it's not cold and you're not hibernating and trying to get your fireplace started. Cuz we assign that role today. Get that fireplace started and keep it going. 'Cause we like, we gonna live like Little House on the Prairie over here. And we not turning on the heat 'cause it is costly. Put on 3 and 4 layers. Save your mama some money. Wintering has this concept that you are willing to live your life by the seasons and to let the seasons dictate what you do to a degree. That you're willing to rest in a season that nature tells you is a hibernation season, that you're willing to Cuddle up in a season that even though the world says today, January 6th, get back to it, do all the things, pick up where you left off before your holiday break and start at the same speed you left off at, wintering says it's okay to move slow. Wintering says it's okay for me to gradually begin my year, for me to give myself grace, for me to spend some extra time with God, for me to make space to hear his voice so that I know with clarity what are the next steps that I need to take, Wintering is an attitude about speed, pacing, and place. And so I choose a little bit of that. This year when we launched the planner, I kept feeling like everybody starts the year, they wanna start on January 1st, and then you're stressed out on January 13th when you feel behind. And so we started with Dream Builders back, and there's a free Dream Builders playlist. We'll make sure we link that below on YouTube or put it in the show notes. Free Dream Builders playlist on YouTube, so you can do that anytime. And then we had a VIP experience to walk you through planning your year with the tools that we provide. We did that early so you can move smoothly and slowly and calmly into the new year. I want you to know you're not behind. You're never behind. So if today, January the 6th, or if you're watching this on January the 31st, or if you happen to stumble upon this on March 29th. Whatever day you decide to get going is a great day to begin, and you begin one step at a time. Making your mark means figuring out what the your part is, what it is for you this year, and starting small. Because let me tell you what's going to happen, and let me tell you why the Fat Demon Challenge exists the way it does. Because I have been friends with the same 40 pounds up and down the scale all of my life. We have broken up, We have made friendships again. We have made a new pact. And then I have said, welcome in the room. And then I have said, get out, I don't like the way you're talking to me. We have this really unproductive, unhealthy friendship, but I know my 40 when she walks in the room, okay? And one of the things that I have learned, and I decided years ago, was that I was no longer going to punish myself, rake myself over the coals by serving my body. Doesn't mean I'm not going to exercise discipline. It doesn't mean that I'm not going to make decisions about eating things that are nurturing for my body and for my soul. What it means is that I don't have to beat myself up to move forward. My— the my mark, the your, the your part of your mark says, what is the pace at which I need to move? What is the next domino that I need to set in forward in motion? What is the next step that I need to take? And it has to fit you. It has to fit you. It has to fit your life. It has to fit your schedule. It has to fit your mindset. And how do you know what your mark is supposed to be? Well, let me just tell you, you address your pain points. Years ago, my mother redid her kitchen in my lifetime. And you know what would— what is ultimately now, let me see, 40, 40 plus years in that home. My mother had the opportunity to renovate a portion of the home twice. Um, one time she did the majority of it, one time she just did a portion of it, but both times her pain points drove her plans. Her pain points drove her renovation plans. My mother for years cooked for a million people with one oven, and one of her pain points was so serving all the food warm. So in one of the renovation seasons, she made sure that she made plans for a double oven and a warmer. And then she realized this warmer is not enough. So on renovation number 2, she added another warmer, and that warmer went in a spot where she had an in-kitchen desk. Some of y'all are in homes built in the '80s and '90s, um, in, in beyond, but definitely in the '80s and '90s, it was a thing. You had an in-kitchen desk. And she got rid of the desk to put another warmer there. We— I was offended. I was, I was like, we, we use that desk. She decided that in that season of her life, she no longer needed the desk as much as she needed the warmer. She did not go into that house when we first moved in, when I was 9 years old, having the money, the resources, the time or the plans to renovate the kitchen. Her pain points drove her plans. In the attic, my mother kept all these pots and pans and ducks because she used to decorate her house in ducks, okay? The white geese and ducks that some of y'all's mama and them decorated their house with, okay? And I said, Mommy, why are you saving all of these pots and pans? They're old. You've bought new ones. She was a salad master chick. You got the, you know, you got all this fancy kitchen stuff. Why are you keeping this? And why are you keeping the ducks? She said, because one day I hope to have a retirement home somewhere, a place that your father and I can go and relax that is a little bit outside the city. And she was preparing for something she could not yet afford, but she saved the things that she would want to use again or that had value to her. You create your mark. I create my mark by realizing what I need to double down on when I'm entering a season of renovation because of my pain points, because of what I regret that I haven't done, wish I have done more of, or long in my heart to do. That's how I move the lines of the basic blueprint in my life, for my soul, for my future. And for the things that I don't even know what to do with them, but I love them and I'm not quite ready to get rid of them, I put them on the shelf. I have not sung in church on the praise team for almost a year. I paused because I had a problem, and then that problem became another problem, then that problem became another problem. And I was going to start back in the fall, and then I had another problem, and then I just kept putting it on the shelf, saving it for the time when it's time to go back. And my hope is that I'll be back soon. It's on the calendar. I accepted actual ministry dates that I'm planning on being there because I love it. But let me tell you what I have had to do and my mother did. There are a lot of things that the pain point that you have, you cannot currently solve. Or the purpose that's in your heart, the passion that you are recognizing you cannot currently solve. And it's like those ducks in the attic— they sit and they wait. That doesn't mean you don't still dream. For years, my mother kept in a magnetic photo album— magnetic photo albums are the kind where you peel the yellow, that you peel the plastic part back and you take your photos and you stick your photos in there, and then you put the plastic back. And if you don't have the right kind of magnetic thing, then Eventually the plastic sticks to the photos and the photos you can't get off the— like that, like the old school photo albums. Which, by the way, even though we didn't like those, we saw those. These photos on your phone, we don't even know what you— you don't know what you got because when you took that one photo, you took 25 to get the one good one, and then you didn't go back and delete the ones that weren't any good. We got a photo problem. But my mother was really good at putting not just photos in a photo album, which I'm so grateful for, 'Cause many of the photos that y'all see in my newsletter or online are because I go back to my childhood home and I leaf through the photos. I'm so glad they were set in a place where I could see them again to find them now that I want to relish in past memories. She did the same thing with all of her dreams of renovation. She would look at magazines, tear out the things that she liked, and she would put them in the photo album so she would never forget her dreams, so she would never forget her desires, so that she would never forget the way she thought she wanted them to look. And so when the designer came, and when the renovating guy came, and the general contractor, she pulled out her book and she leafed through it, and she said, these are the things that I've been holding back from doing until the moment came where I could actually do the work. But she still did one small thing. And that was keep a record of what she wanted, sometimes because of pain point, sometimes because of desire. Your small step in this season of your life might simply be recording. Y'all know about that Write It Down video. But what I'm saying to you this year is that I want you to pay attention to your mark. But that may not mean that this is the year for you to etch it in the sand. This might be the year where you hibernate, where you winter, where you collect the information, where you grow spiritually, where you read books, where you point your mind to the finish line and accept the fact that this may not be the year to do it. This may be the year to prepare for it. But getting clear on how you want the dominoes to fall is what's important. Building your house, especially when it's custom It takes time. So here's one thing that I want you to do every day, every day if you can. And if you miss a day, don't beat yourself up for it. Every day I want you to ask yourself, what is one thing today that I have either done or that I desire to do to build a life that I love and that leaves a lasting taste in the lives of those that surround me in my circle? What is one thing that I've done today to live a life I love, or to prepare to live a life I love, even if it's just dreaming, so that there is an impact and a taste left in the minds and the hearts of those that are in my circle of influence? Because every day you can do something, even if it's just to Pray about it. Pray without ceasing. That's what the word says. If every day you, like the persistent widow, say, Lord, I'm— I know you're sick of talking to me about this, but I'm gonna pray. I'm gonna pray all the way around for my future spouse. I'm gonna pray all the way around for my future children. I'm gonna pray all the way around for my body, that when it comes time for me to bear children everything will be okay. I'm gonna sow spiritual prayer and energy and effort and foresight and belief and faith into a future I can't see because the dating scene is trash. But prayer is still sowing, it's still dreaming, it's still a domino. Every day, every day. John Maxwell is famous for saying— and I don't have it on the top of my mouth, my mind right now— but he said, every day I do 5 things, and he has these 5 Fs, uh, these 5 things that he does. And it's— they include, uh, reading and filing and studying and asking questions. And I always forget the 5th one. And someone once said to him, but what about on Christmas Day? He said, every day, these are the 5 things I do. Well, what about on your birthday? Every day, these are 5 things that— and people say, have you been able to, John Maxwell, write a million books? Because every day he was committed to doing one thing. We think that that thing has to be fully in action, dominoes falling, I am on the way to my goal. The thing is, are you doing one thing? Even if it's just to journal about it, write it down, or pray about it. It needs to be in your purview. It needs to be on your mind. It needs to be front and center, even if you're not actively doing it. Praying about it, thinking about it, journaling about it, studying about it, reading about it, lamenting that you don't have it. If you cry because there is a future that you don't have, tears— the Bible says God collects them in a bottle. They're not wasted. Sowing seeds of lament and distress is something. Start small. Do one thing. You would lose your mind if you tried to renovate your whole house at one time. We have, um, bare ceilings. In a week, the construction workers will come and replace the drywall and paint the wall again. And I'm not looking forward to that because when they come, dust again will be everywhere, and I'm gonna have to clean up again. I'm gonna have to re-detail the floors, and I'm gonna have to re-vacuum the couch. But do I want the wall fixed or not? And I actually haven't had it done because I needed a little break for the holidays to not have dust everywhere and construction workers everywhere. I needed to give myself a little space. I need you to realize that Rome was not built in a day. Your life is supposed to be built over decades, not in a second. And giving yourself the space and time to decide what season you're gonna do what in is a part of the journey. So start small, do one thing each and every day, and decide which seasons of your life certain renovation work happens in. I want you to consider that your life should be lived in seasons. And this new year is a season where many of us say we're going to go to the gym, we say we're going to start new habits, we say we're going to change. And then in 4 weeks, 6 weeks, definitely by March, those New Year's resolutions are long gone. We do too much, we start too much, we do a million things all at once, and none of them are successful. Start slow. Legacy, the taste you want to leave in your mouth, is because you go to the store the night before Snowmageddon threatens to arrive and you look for eggs. I am that mother who went to the store, Costco, and I looked at the price of the brown eggs and was like, eh, eh, not $7.49. And then I looked at the the price of the 18-count eggs, you know, the white ones in the little yellow box. And I was like, how much are these per dozen? And then I looked at the 5.5 dozen box, and you know what I bought? That is correct. These are the things that my children, at least the boys, may never know about. Well, all they know is that our mother made us breakfast every morning. And the taste that will be left in their mouth are the rhythms that they laugh about, that drive them crazy, but they know. Oatmeal on Monday, muffins, croissants, and smoothies, or some, some kind of bread with something healthy, hiding greens and avocado in it, maybe some pinto beans. They won't know. Wednesday's bacon and eggs. Thursday's some other kind of hot cereal, cream of rice, cream of wheat, and Friday's pancakes and bacon. And I know this because this Christmas, the last 2 to 3 weeks of the year were really hard. And every day my children said, "You're not making breakfast?" And that expectation only exists because for all of their lives. I've done that. One decision at a time. Because before I made the eggs, I had to go to Costco to buy the eggs. In some seasons, I was going to the farmer down the street and getting the eggs that still had the dookie on them. Y'all don't know about that. That's what made me pause, sidebar, about not having my own eggs. Because when I realized that when you stick your hand up under the chicken, that some things come with the egg that you don't necessarily want. I was like, maybe I don't want farm fresh eggs. They may never remember the trips that I took to go pick up the farm fresh eggs 20 minutes away from the lady who just pulled them that morning. They may not remember that I went to go get the raw milk from the cow down the street. But these are the things that have formed the tenure of my season raising my children. All they know about is the lasting taste on their lips. Our mom fix, fixes breakfast. This has looked like so many different things in my life. This Saturday I had the opportunity to meet one person at 7:00 AM for coffee and another person at 10:00 AM for coffee and 3 hours, you know, conversation. Going deep. I don't get to do that all the time, and that may not be the story everyone can tell, but for the few people that I get to do that with that are in my life, who God has assigned to me to do that with, lasting taste. My job in my life is to build one step at a time the lasting taste. If I get too overwhelmed by being a good mother, I won't think that that is done when I buy the eggs. If I get too overwhelmed with all the people that I want to reach, I will forget that that is done maybe with one 15-minute length conversation after church. If I want to have a home with memories, I may forget that it didn't matter the Christmas that the pipes were exposed and that the insulation was dripping down from the ceiling. They didn't care. They'll just remember, she still brought out the sparkling Welch's grape juice and poured us a glass in the china. Remember what she always did? Your impact is one day at a time, one step at a time. It's small. It just has to be aimed. My mother's book was aimed at a renovation. Her ducks were aimed at a future second house that they might have. She was preparing for that even though it wasn't currently on her plate. I have been collecting quotes and underlining books. I have stacks of books on my shelf collecting thoughts about what will go in the book that I'm writing this year. It's 5 years in the making, but I have been collecting for a book you have yet to see. I don't want you to take Make Your Mark and Build a Lasting Legacy to mean You have to shoot out like a rocket and get it all right this year. I want you every day to open up your hands and say, "Today, give me grace and power so I can show your love and to do one thing that connects me with the story of my life." The story of your life will be the mark that you make. It will be the obituary that they read. It will be the comments that people make about you when you're not in the room and when you are no longer on the earth. But you usually don't do that tomorrow. So resist the urge to get it all right tomorrow. Resist the urge to make this be your year. I just want this to be the year you decide to focus on making your mark. Going to the store and buying the eggs, saving the pictures for the future, going on one walk, even if it's just around your driveway or around the block. Resist the urge to lose 35 pounds in 3 days. Just focus. Just focus. Jesus lived for 33 years and he spent 30 years building before anybody ever knew the Messiah had come in the public square. And then he had 3 years to make a mark. And mostly he made his mark by walking with 12 guys who were his friends. Small, one step at a time. Um, there is a spot that, um, I have in my carpet where the carpet piles are lower and I can see it when I walk in the room. Um, I actually made my boys go to Home Depot this weekend and buy a carpet shampooer and shampoo the rug because it was dirty. And they were like, we don't know how to do that. I said, neither do I. It's Home Depot. You can do it. They can help. Tell them you're 16 and 19 and you've never done this before and let them teach you. And then come home and watch a YouTube video. But I can see in the carpet, in the rug, where it's most dirty and where it's most worn, because that's where we walk the most. We make a mark, we leave an imprint because we regularly tread. That's how I know where we walk, because we walk there every day. This is your year to do whatever you want to do. I don't know what your word is. I don't know what you're doing, but here's what I do know. I know that you will wear out a path where you walk, and you walk one step at a time. Last thing, y'all, I'm getting old. I got a posterior heel spur, and every morning when I get out of the bed, my calf— tight calf has caused the heel spur. I get out of the bed on my tiptoe on my right foot limping a little bit. And every day my husband says, "What's wrong with you?" "Oh, it's just my tight heel calf. I got to do the da da da da da." No, I don't have plantar fasciitis. And every day after walking from my bed to the bathroom, maybe to the kitchen to make some tea, by the time I get back in the room, I'm walking normally. Because in order for me to stretch out that heel calf, I get out of the bed after being still for 8 or 9 hours— that's not true, 6 or 7— and I start walking to work out the thing that's resisting my movement. Every day I stretch it out so I can walk unhindered. If you have pain in your life every day. Just get out of the bed and work it out. It only gets worse if you don't walk. So here's to your year of making your mark one step at a time. Here's to you asking every day, what can I do to move my dream forward, even if I'm not actively doing it, even I'm just collecting information? Here's to moving forward and wearing out a trail just because you walk a little bit there every day. Here is to you taking a step, even if the step is painful. Because if there's somewhere you're supposed to go, even if an area of your life isn't quite the way you want it to be, you don't allow that one little thing to determine whether you move forward. My hope is this year you do that on your own, with your friends, with your Sister Circle or with me in the Inner Circle. And my hope is that 2025 is your best year yet. All right, y'all, that was it. That was it. So I'm going to wrap up real quick because I got to jump into the Inner Circle with the girls for our after party. For those of y'all who showed up late, I'm simply going to run through all the announcements. So that y'all don't miss it. Number 1, this year is about making your mark. We start our 90-day experience in the Inner Circle on January the 12th. Number 2, you got all these things shall be added unto you in the Inner Circle. And the Inner Circle is where I give my best and my first. It is also a group of women who make sure that everything else that we do can make it out and be free, a portion of that to be free for everyone else. So thanks for your support. And also the 90-day experience, the goal will be to help you grow spiritually. I hope you join me on the inside. Choose your level, choose your adventure, and join me there. I also don't want you to forget that the Communicators Cohort is coming for those of y'all who are speakers and writers. Sign up today. And if you want personal coaching, small group connection to my team, apply for that. The doors close January the 13th. Um, you have until today to watch the live. If you're not in the Inner Circle, go to chrystalhurtz.com/coffee so that you can watch the beginning of the year address and have a little fun and foolery with me. Um, don't forget about getting your copy of Discovering a Gift of You. Because you'll tell the publishers and the author and the publishing houses to be, we want Chrystal's stuff. That'll help. Inner Circle, get ready to share your January top 3 goals. And if you haven't yet gotten your planner, y'all, what you waiting on? Get the downloadable PDF, get your coaching audios, get your physical Black Classic Quarterly or your Yellow Book Bundle. I think that's it. I think I covered everything. I think I have rehashed all the things, but now here's what I want to do is to pray for you. Okay, before I leave, I want to make sure I'm doing that. We are here, we're living, we're breathing. We thank you. We are here with our frustrations. We thank you. We are here with our excitement. We thank you. We are here with our next steps, and we thank you. We are here with our new planners. We are here with our new resolutions. We are here with our new habit plan. We thank you because we are here. And I know that it is the enemy's job, it is the enemy's pleasure to get in our way. He wants to make us feel like we've lost before we've started, like our steps are not enough. Spiritual warfare is real. It is an interruption for many of us because we get distracted or burdened by the things that are not going right. And because we get busy and distracted or burdened or flat out tired from fighting the enemy, we forget to keep moving in the direction of our one thing slowly but surely, our focus, our mark for the year. I know I've gotten distracted. I know I've gotten tired. I know I've gotten discouraged. But Lord, if somebody has to have this prayer on repeat, would you please allow us to remember every day that we get up with power in our hands because of you? Every day we get up with new vision and new mercies because of you. Lamentations 3:3 says every day, if we're still breathing, we still get to choose. Choose ye this day whom you're going to serve. Every day we have the ability to obey, to walk in righteousness, to choose life and not death. Every day. This is the power we hold in our hands because You are with us. And if you've given us breath to breathe, that means we've still got life to live. So when the enemy comes in like a flood and we feel like we cannot move forward, we don't have the energy, we don't have the desire, we don't have the strength, we don't have the tools, we don't have the answers, would you remind us that all we have to do— one step, one domino, one act of obedience. Because our testimonies aren't built because everything goes right every day. Our testimonies are built because we just keep going. So for the girl who just doesn't want to keep going. For the girl who's tired and we're just getting started in the new year, for the person who's watching this and thinking, I have nothing left to give, and it's only the first week of the year, would you encourage her heart? Would you give her internally springing up rivers of life that overflow? Would you allow something or someone surrounding her to spur her on. Would you give her a word on Sunday, or a word in her word personally with you? Holy Spirit, would you rise up and allow her to rise up with you? Because you are speaking life to her from the word she heard from her mother, because of a praying grandmother, a praying mom, or the words that she memorized in scripture when she was a little girl. Would you allow the podcast that she's listening to to spur her on? Would you allow her to not listen to the lies of the enemy, because all he wants to do is stunt her growth, to steal her future, and to take her testimony. Cover us, cocoon us, and give us the courage we need to just keep going. In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

All right, y'all, I love you with my life. I'll see you maybe in February. Until then, binge content, join me in the Inner Circle, but love your life and lean in to 2025.