S 2 Episode 2.1: Jada Edwards Discusses Understanding Your God Given Capacity

Well, hi there. I am here with— you're like, I didn't even tell you we were starting. Right?

I was like, ooh, this— mm.

She was like, what's going on with this cup? I am here with Jada Potato, Jada Edwards. There we go.

That's why you can't do stuff with friends.

That's why you can't do stuff with friends. But this is why you should do stuff with friends, because who else are you going to learn nicknames from except for friends?

Do not tell anyone this.

It's too late. So I'm here with Jada. Jada is— let me think of the ways I describe Jada.

Oh Lord.

One is Priscilla's longtime friend. So because she's Priscilla's longtime friend, she's my longtime friend. But you know, when you're younger—

Yeah, we weren't friends.

The gaps— not really. We were just— you were just in my life.

No, and you were a big sister.

And I was mean. And you didn't like us. You were just a big sister.

I mean, I get it. I don't get why you didn't like me, but those 2 years feel like eternity.

And then when you get older, then that gap closes.

You don't even know.

And then it doesn't matter.

We're our own friends.

Now we're our own friends. Yeah. And the same is true for our sisters.

That's true.

So your sister was Jada's little sister forever, little Teresa. And then now she's my friend too.

She is.

And Priscilla's friend too. It just is a great big happy family. Friends. So here's the thing about Jada. Here's the thing about our friendship, which I think is really interesting when we talk about this whole idea of sister circles. It has morphed a lot over the years. So our friendship now is because there's— oh my gosh, y'all been coming to the church since you were how old? About 1? Okay, so it's been a solid 30 years plus. It's ridiculous. Oh my gosh, for you, for you. No, no, it's for you too. If you were 10.

That's only 20 years ago.

Yeah, whatever, whatever. So anyway, this is what it looks like, y'all. We've been friends for a long time. So, but here's the thing. So we have been friends through seasons of college. We have been friends through 20s. We have been friends through dating. We've been— we got married a month apart.

A month apart.

So we've been friends through wedding planning.

I landed from my honeymoon and came to your bridal shower.

Yes. And you were just like, I'm still—

I'm that kind of friend.

I'm supposed to be, right? Okay, so the reality is that now I was just thinking about it with you here today. I was like, okay, and life is busy. So when we talk, we usually have very specific conversations.

We do.

We have very—

and usually we don't have to ramp up.

We don't have to ramp up. It's not like, hey, how's it going? I'm like, listen, I need to publish something. What about Conway, your husband? Right. It's like, okay, I need to ask you a question.

It's great.

We talk a lot about leadership. We talk a lot about managing people and projects.

We do.

And like, actually, Jada is one of the few people that I can actually have that conversation with because you love leading people.

I do. Yeah, I do.

And you like leading strategically, which is a situation.

Yeah.

But then just ministry, ministry, leading people, writing books, speaking. Like, so when you think about it, to have known each other since we were teenagers. Yeah.

We don't think about hair and nails.

We don't. I don't talk about hair and nails. You actually might talk about hair and nails with other people.

I do. Yeah, not with me. Yes, and shoes and accessories and things like that. But yeah, it is kind of morphed, but it feels very intentional.

It's very intentional. We actually can work on our intentionality. We've talked about that.

We could.

She lives in Oklahoma. I live in Mexico. Like, just in terms of distance in Dallas, we are far apart.

You need a passport.

Yes, we've even talked a little bit about what it means in this season of our friendship to give each other grace because while we are friends and we want to show up for significant things, it's an hour.

It's an hour.

It's an hour.

Just driving.

Just driving.

That is not getting the people in your life ready to be in said car.

Yes.

And then make the trip.

So, so I'm saying all this to give you a background for this conversation. So Jade and I have a long-term friendship.

That's right. So if something seems rude, it's not.

It's not.

It's not real. And we interrupt and we cut off.

Right. And if it's not okay, she'll probably tell me that on camera. So like, we're good.

Yeah.

Okay. So, so the sister circle, cause like I just was, this is how you do friends too. She's like, where are we supposed to meet? I don't know.

That's what she tell me last night. She text me that question mark. What? Yeah.

Because this is what happens when you're friends and your friends have assistants, then your friends text you, be like, girl, I don't know. Don't you have an assistant?

Ask your assistant to ask my assistant. What kind of friendship is this? This is why We have to work on things.

We have to work on things. So, so she's, you know, while she's here preparing, we're trying to get ready to get the camera going and everything. Then it becomes, now what are we talking about? I'm like, I don't know.

What do you want to talk about?

So, but because we are speakers and all the things, she was able to come up with some things really quick. So, so actually, because I've mentioned the whole leadership thing.

Okay.

Okay. Uh, I want you to talk a little bit about, just for context, and I'm going to ask you some questions about that. What you do for a living, because you're going to have like 5 answers to that question. But they need to understand what we're talking about. Right. What do you do for a living?

Well, first, daughter of the king.

Oh my gosh.

Your profile is like lover of Jesus, wife to Conway. Listen, those are not for a living. They don't pay. All right. So what I do for a living to actually pay bills, First, I am the women's pastor at our church in North Texas. So, you said pastor. Listen, I am. So I pastor, I shepherd, I oversee the women of the church. So I do that and I teach Bible study there twice a month. Then I am the creative services director. So I oversee our worship teams, our band and vocal groups.

Did she just name two titles of two positions at the same church organization?

That's my husband. See, when your husband is the lead pastor, he tries to play you.

And so somebody was like, oh, shucks, and she's a pastor's wife.

Oh, oh, yes. But that's not for a living.

It does not pay. But that frames the fact that you work.

That's why I have 7 jobs.

First lady does not pay, but it is a job, right?

I have 7 jobs because my husband, the lead and founding pastor, is also Jamaican. Somebody just said, oh. So he don't understand.

That's not politically correct.

It's not. He's Jamaican, he has 85 jobs. If you are Jamaican, that's not offensive. You know I'm telling the truth. So I oversee the women. I teach twice a month. I lead worship maybe once a month, but most of my work with creative services is actually leading that team. So before we started, I was texting some of our worship leaders because we have 3 campuses and 1 coming on online in August. And so overseeing those bands and vocals—

meaning that will make 4.

That will make 4. And so we have— but we have one— let me recap.

She's a pastor's wife that does not pay. She's the creative services director. She's the women's pastor. Over a church with 4 campuses. I just wanted to— okay, keep going, because that ain't all her jobs.

God is good, God is good. So I do that, and that is band and vocals and dance and our dramatic team and those kind of things. And then there's just a bunch of do as needed stuff when you're the pastor's wife. So, you know, random counseling, and I am not a good counselor, so I try not to counsel.

Because let me tell you something, if you come to Jada for counseling, she's gonna be like, I'm gonna lay it down.

Yeah.

Go do it.

Send no more.

Don't come back to me until you've done it. Yeah, because if you're gonna come back to me and just try to talk to me, I don't have time for that. Why am I talking about this?

We just talked about this. So yeah, I'm not a good counselor and I try to discourage people from counseling with me because I want them to stay at our church. And so you need to know what you do well. So anyway, that's that. That's women's stuff and creative stuff. And then I work for Dallas County Community College District as a I am a director of organizational effectiveness and process improvement. And so that just means—

I just want you to know that off camera right now, there is a girl named Shonda who, as we are talking, she's facing away from us, okay? But she's turned— as she said that, her head turned to the side. She was like, what? What? What?

I do, I do. And so what I do there, I've actually been there 15 years. So I've been there longer than we've had our church. Our church is only 10 years old. So for them, I do, I kind of do strategic projects. So I help us figure out what we need to spend money on. We have 7 campuses and trying to manage how we can improve our organization, decisions that are made there. I support our CFO and special projects. It's a whole nother world. I'm nobody's pastor's wife here.

Which is actually why you do it.

That actually is part of why I do it.

Because I keep going. Now, um, why you still working over there when you got— and she's just like, because it gives me something separate.

It does, and you know, it is my reminder all the time that most people, including myself, live below capacity because I think we just assume I can only do this, and it's just not true. You've got to figure out what God has given you capacity for. For me, I know that my mind and my energy needs those millions of things.

We're gonna get to how she occupies that capacity, but she's actually not—

and I'm not at full capacity.

She's not actually finished telling you about her jobs. Keep going.

What else do I do? Oh, I write. I have a couple books, but I don't— I'm a fake author, okay? So I teach Bible studies.

Chrystal Hurst is a fake author.

I am not sit down at a blank piece of paper and be like, The world must know this. That's not that. I teach, and because I'm always cranking out messages—

How often do you teach?

Twice a month, but I'm off right now. It's summer. It's Sabbath, so I'm not teaching right now. I teach twice a month, twice a month, for about 8 or 9 weeks in the fall and 8 or 9 weeks in the spring. So then my books come out of that.

Yeah, but I mean, what does it matter if you pinned it or if you spoke it?

It's still content that came out of which I might need to upgrade from fake author to semi-fake author because we're working on a book now and reading your own transcription.

Yeah, it's a little, it's a little difficult.

Listen, I only want to hear myself give that message one time.

You're like, I already heard.

I heard it. That is why I never read any of Tony Evans' books. Right, because you're like, I heard that.

I've heard that before.

I know what he's saying.

I put together his illustration book and the reason I was like, this is not hard. Yeah. The reason why is because I could scan and just from scanning, I knew when an illustration was coming.

Yeah.

—And I already knew. Yes, and I knew how to categorize them. I knew how to— yeah, because you've heard it before. Same thing with Priscilla. I actually am going to try to read— I know, because she surprises me sometimes when I look at her stuff. She does.

And when she sends you the stuff and I'm like, what? Look at my dear Priscilla.

I have a whole shelf in my living room dedicated to— Is she gonna watch this?

Priscilla, first of all, she's gonna watch it.

You're an amazing—

We'll have to tell her at 9 minutes or 11 minutes, whatever, just fast forward to the part about you., and people go, "Oh my gosh, have you read?" And I'm like, "Listen, she's fabulous." That way you don't have to lie. You're just like, "She is fabulous." Now, do I know the general content of it? Yes, and I know she's great. So, I mean, I don't read my stuff. I don't— yeah, anyway. So I do write, and I'm gonna start probably doing Bible studies a little more officially here soon. It's coming.

Yeah, that's it. Is that it? So writer, speaker, community college worker, creative director, Women's pastor, and then we have— that's— those are the jobs that pay. So we're still working on context for Jada. We're still working on that. So now to the things that don't pay. We've already talked about you're a first lady.

You are a wife for how many years? March made 17, so we just made 17 years, as you did.

If I forget, I can ask you, how long have we been married? And then your mom. I'm a mom.

I have two little people in my house. I have a son that just turned 5 and I have a spitfire little girl who is 18 months.

So she refers to herself often as an older mom, which I guess technically you could say. I mean, in a good way. But I'm like, yeah, but there's nothing about her.

I'm not one of them young mothers. You can't get it about me.

So the question everybody is asking right now, this was not a part of our pre-discussed. It wasn't. But this is the question everybody's asking. How in the freaking world?

They're probably asking why. Why do you do this? No, I'm just kidding.

Yeah, and how? So how? Because your job is— your community— gotta refer to which job we're talking about. Your community college job is full-time. It's full-time. Yeah, it ain't part-time, just in case y'all was wondering. It's full-time job. It's full-time. Okay, so how So you're talking about capacity, but what enables you besides— because there are— we are created with different levels of capacity, and operating at your full capacity is, um, the goal. But how are— I mean, that doesn't— just as you laid it out, that doesn't compute because somebody's going, I go to work, I go, I, I go, and I go home, right? I fix dinner for my family. I do the homework with the kids, get them ready for bed, I watch an hour of TV, then I do it again. Where do you have room? Okay, okay, I'll give you the hour of TV. That don't fit in the creative, you know what I mean? Like, so how, how do you, how is your capacity capable? Just basically, and people ask me the same question, so I'm just setting this up, right? But how do you make it all fit?

Where does it go? Okay, so first, it doesn't all fit. There's overflow and there's stuff that drops off the table, and then you just decide, did I need it? It's fine. And so I think— so number one is— this is gonna sound super spiritual, but I think the first thing is, is this the thing that God has for me in this season? I go through that checklist all the all the time. If he's saying yes, yes, yes, then it's not a matter of should I. It's like, okay, then there's a way for this to work. So I'm always convinced that until he ends a thing, closes the thing— sometimes I think we just kind of take ownership, and because we have a society that's like, own your destiny, control your— well, you don't really own your destiny. God owns your destiny. And so I'm always asking, okay God, so when when baby number 1 came along, I was like, "Oh, okay, what am I about to quit?" And he was like, "No, this is what I have for you." I was like, "Oh, okay." And then when location of the church number 2 and 3 came along, and then baby number 2— and I always ask because I'm looking to take something off the list sometimes. And first, when he says, "No, this is what you're doing," I go, "Okay, so now I need to figure out what I'm doing in each of those things and how that looks different." And so I do it with a lot of prioritization. I do it with a lot of specialization. I'm not a good generalist, right? So I am— my kids, and people can judge, I have to do what works for me, right? I'm not a stay-at-home mom. I work. So I have one kid who's now school age, one kid who's in daycare, and I make the most of the resources that I have available to me, the people I have available to me, And again, like I said, specialization and prioritization. I have to figure out the things I can't do. So even if I'm staying in this category, I'm going to continue to be the women's pastor or the creative services director or whatever, okay, what in that category do I now need to offload so I can specialize? So when I say capacity, um, I think if you are a great icing maker, right, you can ice a million cakes a day because that's your sweet spot. You could probably ice 100 cakes a day. I'm making up a number, but if I tell you, you have to make cakes from scratch, then you might only get 10 done in a day because the first 20 steps drain the mess out of you.

So women's pastor, for example, doesn't mean what it may mean for another women's pastor who actually goes to the office every week, has 40 hours at the church. That's not what women's pastor means.

No, I have a women's director. Now we're bringing on a second women's director for another location. I set vision for that ministry. I meet with her, I say, this is what we want to do for conference. I am a— so when I'm going with the cake illustration, I am an ingredient bringer because I'm an ideator and I'm a finisher. You're an ideator too? Yeah, I know you are.

Wait, what are your top 5?

And I'm a finisher. Do you know them?

Can you list them? Are you talking about StrengthsFinder? Yeah.

Or what's some of them? They vary, but one of them is Connect. One of them is—

they change.

One of them is Maximizer. Yep. You're an executor. I did ideator. So the way they fall when I've done any kind of strengths test is I'm great at the beginning and the end and I'm not a good middle, right? So I'm not a good manager, maintain, let's keep it going. No. So I'm like, let's go do this, take off. And somewhere near the end I have to find good people who can take off and do it because somewhere near the end where you don't have enough time to do what I'm about to ask, you have to already have been doing it. I'm going to give you 85 bullets and go, what about this, this, this, 'cause then my detail kicks in as we're getting to the icing, right? So knowing where I am, I don't make cakes all day. I put together ingredients and I give them to good cake makers, and then I work on my icing. And so my capacity is different. I can ice 100 cakes, I can only make 5. So capacity is— when I say specialization, it's really figuring out where your spot is, 'cause you can do that thing in way more areas than you think you can —so that's crucial because I think when people—

you list all the jobs, people may assume you're doing A to Z, how you're doing the job. So to say, okay, I actually am physically present for a lot of my job as— what was the long title again at the community college?

Organization effectiveness.

Okay, process person. So there's a lot of physical presence there for that during the day. Women's pastor, there is probably a lot of— like you you said beginning and end, and they're working. It's not that you're not present, but you're not getting in the details at that point. Yeah. Even for creative director, you are managing teams.

Yes, I meet with my team once a month. I spend my time texting and calling. I probably have 12 key leaders. Yeah. And then a team, a core team under them of about 40. Yeah. They lead folks, so I'm texting, and the thing about it is I can spend— now the work is when there's somebody new that comes in one of those mixes, because then you're trying to train and all that stuff, but then you get back into this rhythm. And then again, also figuring out which cycles work for what. So I've been in my job for a long time, I have flexibility, I don't clock in and clock out. If I had a job that was a rigidly managed job, I wouldn't be able to do it. So I know when I'm going hard this week and when I can be at home this week and work on other things, and I might do something for my job that evening, you know, and I may do something for Bible study during the day. So it's— these are things that I have that understanding with my boss and all that kind of stuff. So it's, it's really figuring out and believing that if God brought all these things, then there must be some way for them to work, you know. And here's the thing, when I get stressed, because it happens, when I get tired, overwhelmed, frustrated, every time Guy goes, well, I can tell you 5 things you don't need to be doing right now.

That you probably put on Pinterest.

That you're trying to do too much.

That he did not ask.

Get off Pinterest. First of all, get off Pinterest. You like— That's what he tells me.

You're on like looking, you're a Pinterest looker.

Yeah. And then I try to do it. He's like, why are you trying to make a growth room? I don't try to do it.

For your kids' room. I can't look at Pinterest because— You try to do it. Mm-mm. No, because in the looking, I feel like a failure.

Before I even attempt. No, I feel like—

I just look at it and go, I can do that.

I can do that.

I can do that in my spare time. So I'm just saying, you're creative and artsy and like to get dressed and all the things.

So last night at 11 o'clock at night, the kids were in the bed. I need to be in the bed because I work out at 5:45 in the morning and I have a time. I know I need to go to bed and I tell myself—

Are you still a Christian woman who does yoga?

Oh, I am. Namaste. Actually, I don't say namaste. Don't say that. That's what they say. I'm a Christian woman that does yoga. I love my yoga. I'm delivered. You don't have to email Chrystal Hurst to get me saved. I'm still saved. And you too can find a good spot. There's not chanting and chiming and light and stuff. Just get your good stretch. Get a good workout on. I sweat. So this morning I got up, but I tell myself, you're gonna get up regardless of what time you go to bed. That's what my parents told me for church. So I tell myself that. So I was up late last night, my husband walks in the bedroom, he said, what are you doing? Because his picture frames laid out because I'm doing my gallery wall at home. And I was like, just step over this stuff. He was like, ah. But I— so it's late and I know I need to go to bed, but there's a, there's a catch, right? This is about knowing yourself. There's a catch because it's taking an hour of sleep, but it's a rejuvenating hour. And so the feel that I get is as energizing as an hour of sleep for me because I can go to bed going, "Ooh, ooh, I'm gonna put that— oh gosh, I need one more frame to go." That's how I feel about checking things off my list. So that's how— so it is so much about knowing yourself and being okay because there were dishes in my sink. Oh, sorry. There's dishes in my sink that need to be washed, but they can see the dishes. You rinse off your plate, go get another plate. I need to get these frames done.

Because really, you just said it to your husband.

I just said it to my husband.

The kids ain't okay. So I was like, yeah.

And so that's how, yeah, lots of help. And I have people that come over and help too.

So we're going to talk about that next because I mean, capacity though, I just want to, I think the key thing here is that capacity doesn't mean doing everything at 60 miles an hour.

It's specialization and prioritization. Exactly. You got to do it. Even with your kids. I know that Chrystal is a great homeschooler. I am a great send-to-schooler, okay? I'm not a homeschooler. I need to drop them off at school and pick them up at school. I'm gonna educate them the best I can, love on them, engage them. That's the kind of house I grew up in. I know it can work. Listen, my kids are not gonna become criminal statistics if I don't homeschool them. I know what works for me, and then they not gonna like me. So I'm like, pshh. So again, it's specialization, and for me, I know that you can— not Chrystal— I know that we can be guilted and shamed and spend all this time with our families and not be present. Or I can spend 3 intentional hours with my kids in the evening when I pick them up from school and be present. We having conversations, we talking, da da da. Now Chrystal can be present for 20 hours, I can't. So I mean, she on Insta story talking about I'm making brunch sprouts that I picked out the backyard. And I'm like, girl, go to Whole Foods.

Although she's the most—

I'm not the most— listen, know what you can do and just specialize.