Charlotte Guest - The Empty Nest Podcast Host

Welcome to A New Life podcast with Pamela Jean, where it's all about empowering women to empower more women. Get ready, friends, to create a new life. And here is your host, Pamela Jean.

Hello, my friends, and welcome to this week's episode of A New Life podcast. I'm Pamela Jean, your host, and I'm so grateful and thankful that you're here with me today. I have an amazing guest that I will introduce in just a moment. But before I invite my guest on the show today, will you please do me a favor like and subscribe to this podcast? Please share this podcast with anyone you know that needs to hear something uplifting, inviting, and just. Just spread the word and spread the love of this podcast. My guest today, I heard speak at a function in Tulsa a while back at Tulsa Women's Fellowship. Her name is Charlotte Guest, and she was an absolute delight. The one thing that she really, really helped me learn and understand is that every single one of us have passions and purposes. And she has a tool to help you create your mission statement that encompasses your passion and your purpose. I will not try to explain that to you. I'm going to let the expert, Charlotte do that. But without further ado, Charlotte, welcome to A New Life podcast. I'm so grateful to have you, Pamela.

Thank you. And listeners, thank you for your time. Your time is so valuable. And I have a podcast myself called Empty Nest Guests. And I always am just grateful that anybody would spend time just listening. You can do anything you want with your day. So thank you for being here. It's an honor. Pamela, I just told you before we started recording that I absolutely loved your very first episode of this year. That got me really thinking about how to kick off 2024 even better than I had thought. And so I have so much to learn from you this year, too. I'm looking so forward to listening to your other episodes.

Oh, excellent. So tell us a little bit, Charlotte. Tell us about your family. You said you have the podcast Empty Nest guests, so I can understand where that came from. But talk about your family a little. I would love to hear a little bit about your career, what your life path has been, and if you have any favorite philanthropies.

Yes. Okay, great. And thanks for that opportunity, listeners. I've been really fortunate in my life. I've known Jesus as a really good friend since I was nine years old. I remember sitting on a rock out in the open in this beautiful area at Camp Peniel, which was a camp that was outside side of Houston, Texas, where I grew up for just a little bit of time before I moved to Fort Smith, Arkansas. And I remember like it was yesterday asking Christ into my heart. That doesn't mean everything's always been perfect, but I'm really grateful that I've known and walked with Jesus for a long time and credit my parents and am thankful. I grew up in Fort Smith, Arkansas, met my husband when I was 13 and he was 14 years old. I think we met a little earlier. We were not high school sweethearts, but we did kind of circle back around our freshman year in college. My husband's name is Gordy and We've been married 35 years this September. We have three children and we claim the spouses of those kids. So I have a daughter named Kate who will be 30 and she's married to Connor. I have a son, Grant, who is 28 and he's married to Lakin. And they gave us our first little granddaughter named Millie and they live in Memphis and, and Kate and Connor are expecting a precious, another little granddaughter. And she'll be here, y', all in about five weeks, five and a half weeks. So we're on the countdown for that. They live in Fayetteville, Arkansas. And then our youngest daughter, Cambry lives out in Los Angeles.

And gosh, congratulations on the exciting.

Thank you. We are just so excited about. It's our first time and you know, there is, there's just to me, in this crazy world we live in, one of the most peaceful and precious things you can do. Whether it's your own grandchild or another tiny baby, you just hold innocence in your arms and you just feel like the Lord is saying, okay, this world is going to go on and it's going to go on in goodness when you have a precious little one in your life. I started emptiness guests, gosh, back in 2000. I believe I'll have to look in October. And honestly I, I was noticing and my husband and I too, we were noticing a lot of really great empty nesting people kind of coming out of COVID where you know how people either they became like half full people like let's go and let's be helpful, or they, they gave in and it. And it was like half empty. And I kept thinking, I'm watching a lot of people that I know and respect not do very well during COVID And I thought, okay, how can I do something positive? And so empty nest guest started where I just started interviewing a lot of people that I admired and looked up to and authors and best selling authors and speakers about how do we do this phase of our life really well. And so I think my natural. You ask a little bit about my background, I was in marketing and public relations. And I also remember I worked at OSU Medical center for a number of years in marketing and really enjoyed that career. But I think it was in junior high when one of my English teachers said, charlotte, you should do something in your life where you get to talk, because there will be an appropriate place for you to talk more than you do in my classroom. And so that was sort of a continuing theme that is something I've always had to work on, is let's talk when appropriate. But I do think the Lord equipped me for that PR job, and he equipped me for the podcast, and. And I really enjoy it, so.

Oh, that's so funny. So you actually learned your superpower very early on.

I guess so. And you know, it. I. I just. As a young girl, where the teachers would be like, charlotte, you know, stop talking right now. I, um, I do think the Lord, he does point us to where he would like for us to go, but he also humbles us along the way. Like there. There were appropriate ways to talk and to. I've really learned to be a better listener, especially as I interview guests on the show. My. My podcast is really about what can I learn from these people who know a whole lot more than me. You ask about favorite philanthropy. And interestingly enough, my husband and I were really praying about how we can leave a legacy after we're in heaven. And we actually started guest family ministries so that we can bless and seed into organizations that are really making a difference in the world and a couple places that we love. My husband became a Christian at New Life Ranch, which is a wonderful kids camp in Colcord and Colcord, Oklahoma. And so we seed a lot into that, into that wonderful place. And then I absolutely love spending my time helping out at the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club, and there's one in North Tulsa, which is very far away from where I live. And I have learned more from those precious children who live in such a different way. You know, we have all we need and some of these precious kids and don't have as much as what my husband and I have. And so I like to volunteer time there, but I think the Salvation army and their mission is just changing the world one person at a time. So we love to seed into that.

Oh, those are fantastic. And Charlotte, I think something I want to circle back to just a little bit. You started off saying that you first found Jesus when you were nine years old. And you know, if you're listening and you are 29 years old or 49 years old or 39 years old, whatever age you are, you can always find Jesus. I didn't grow up in a home that practiced going to church. I made a choice to follow Jesus when I was old enough to make that decision. And I just want to encourage people that. Meet yourself where you are, if you don't feel confident or comfortable or because you just don't know what you don't know about being a Christian and the love of the Lord. Start, start where where you are. Exactly where you are is exactly where you're supposed to be. And God is waiting for you at any age, at any stage to meet you where you're at and bring you into the wonderful life that he has for you.

I couldn't agree more, Pamela. You know, and I feel like the Lord kind of dropped into my soul while you were talking that listeners, I. I met Jesus when I was nine. But I will tell you what, there have been many times along the way when I spent a lot of time trying to do Jesus instead of walking with him. And it was exhausting and I didn't understand it and it was very tiring and it felt like a lot of rules. And I think my husband and I were about, gosh, we were in our early 30s and life was extremely chaotic and we were trying to check all the boxes, I think, of how to do faith and how to be a Christian family that looked like we had it all together. And boy, did that come crashing down. So our really hard years in our marriage, in our very. Oh gosh, our children were maybe 8 and 6 and 2, and we were really messing up because we were trying to do things instead of walking with Jesus. And another one of our favorite places is we really love to read anything that John Eldridge and Stacy Eldridge write. They have a ministry called Wild at Heart. And the books captivating and Wild at Heart changed our lives to where not only did we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, but we. We just all the things that we needed to sha. Have shattered for us about rules and regulations and all the ways that we were messing up and needed to be better. We just took a deep breath and learned how to just be with Jesus. And so really, even though I accepted Christ at 9, I don't think we woke up and had an authentic relationship. So I'm so glad you brought that up, Pamela. Until we were probably in our early 30s, I think our. We meant well, and our hearts were mostly in the right place. But it was so much better learning about the person of Christ than the system of Christianity, if that makes sense.

Oh, that makes so much sense. And thank you for sharing that because I think when, when you're someone who doesn't have a connection with the Lord yet, who just really hasn't met Jesus yet, it's so intimidating. You feel like there's all of these rules, these, like it's a, an iron fist that's ruling over you, but honestly, it's like a best friend waiting to lock arms with you every single day and be with you through every single circumstance and situation and guide you and speak into you. And it's just the most peaceful relationship you will ever have is the one that you have with the Lord. Now, it does not mean you don't have problems and troubles and issues in your life. It doesn't mean that at all because it doesn't come with a, a get out of jail free card. Like there's, oh, you have no problems because you love the lor Lord. You have problems, but you learn to deal with your problems differently and you see them differently. And it is just such a peaceful life if you break all the walls down and let him in.

Yes. I could not agree more.

Oh, that's fantastic. Well, thank you for sharing that. Now I do want to know, Charlotte, who are the people that made the biggest impact in your life? Who inspired you to become who you are today and to teach? What? Teach on having your mission statement of your passions and purposes of life?

Oh, thank you for asking that question. You know, we, we sat, our whole family, we all sat around a table. We may not get to do this ever again this Christmas. But we had 12 near and dear people, all of our children, their spouses. We were so fortunate, Pamela. We couldn't believe it. We had Gordy's parents and my parents, and they range from 82 to 85. We have all four of them still. They were sitting there. And then we had this precious little 15 week old granddaughter.

Oh my gosh.

I just, I looked around and we wanted to do something that would, would really leave a mark with our children this year that, you know, we don't know next year we will not have everybody at Christmas because it will be our, our holiday will be Thanksgiving and we probably will not all be together. But we asked the question to our parents, who taught you about Christ and how did you come to have the life that you have? And so for me, I have to say my mom and my dad and my in laws stuck with us in all of our ups and downs and all of our immaturities and just kept pointing our lives and redirecting back to Christ. I had those people that were just so important. I have an Aunt Harriet that lives in Denver, Colorado and I'll never forget she had this, this Dodge van that looked like wood on the side. Do you remember those? And it had an eight track tape player. And she popped in Amy Grant when I was a young girl and that was my very first, first exposure to Christian music. And do you know that I still listen to Amy Grant some days and I think about just the words and songs. And so for any of your listeners, if you haven't ever really tried Christian music, so much of what I learned from Christ, I love to listen and hear the words. And so that was Aunt Harriet and Amy Grant were big impacts in my life. And a teacher that is in heaven now, Ms. Hosford was an English teacher that recognized, I think in high school, I had another English teacher in middle school that really helped me with crafting words and communicating and talking effectively. And so that English teacher, Ms. Chesson, and then Ms. Hosford sat me down and said, Charlotte, you really have an ability to go forward in this world of words. And I think about, you know, if they hadn't have really sat me down to show me what God, you know, knit inside me and how it could be used for a career, I just don't know that I would be where I am today. And then fast forward to that really difficult time in our 30s when we were struggling in our marriage and doing Jesus and tired and exhausted. And I found myself in this, this class, it was a Christian Bible study class with a precious woman named Shirley Stairs. And Shirley and her husband Don Stairs are both in heaven. But many, many years ago, they founded a Christian camp called Shepherd's Fold. And Shirley was leading some Bible study classes for tired, worn out young women, I think at our church at the time. And she took me through what I am now able to take other women through about finding out what are you all about? Why did God knit you together? What are things that you loved when you were a little girl? What are some patterns in your life? And so Shirley just, just poured into all of us and, and opened our eyes to the unique things that are within us that are not just coincidental. And it's not happenstance that I love animals and it's not happenstance that I love great literature, that I love art. Like all those things came to life. And so that pointed me to finding out more about how I was knit together, but making sure that I knew that those came from a God who knit those together when I was in my mother's womb. And so I didn't just wake up one day and here I was in the world. There was great purpose in crafting my own innermost being. And when I was brought into the world, all of those things put inside me were for a reason. And that's to point other people to Christ. And so all of those people led me to this 56 year old lady that I am today that's passionate about making sure other people know that you're not here by accident and you have great things inside you that hopefully other people have called out.

Oh, that's. There's a lot, a lot with what you just said, Charlotte. And, and which is exactly why I wanted to have you on my podcast. Because I think as women, we try to keep up with everyone else in the world. If you're working outside of the home or you're working inside the home, whichever path you're on, you're trying to keep up with what other people are doing in that process. And maybe the 30 year old self, yourself will understand that in that process you wore down to become the person that you were never meant to be. That was not how God made you. It was not your purpose. But when you flip that on its head and you lean into what are my strengths? What am I good at? What should I be doing with my life? What is God's plan for my life? When you obey that and when you surrender to that, that is when all the magic, the peace and the joy and the happiness comes to your life.

That's so true. You know, and I was thinking back at that time, we always tell, so single ladies who are listening, this goes the same for you and your relationship with Christ. But my husband and I were doing so much and we were like these two people that had this plexiglass kind of in between us because we just weren't quite fully surrendered to Christ and we hadn't really fully surrendered to each other. But single women, that Plexiglas can also exist between you and a relationship with Christ. And for me, that surrender and just asking the Lord to have his way with, with just getting past any wall and praying for it to come down, that was a very key time that allowed that plexiglass to be no more and for us to be surrendered and surrendered to each other. And I just encourage women, if you feel that Plexiglas that, you know, there's a great way to bring that down and that's by just, just fully surrendering and saying, I just can't do this without you. Jesus. It's about as easy as that.

It is. I absolutely agree. Well, thank you so much for sharing that. I do want you to share, if you don't mind. If someone is interested in the mission quest that you have and creating your mission statement, how would they go about finding more information about finding and creating their own mission statement?

Oh, great. Yes. I love that so much that I just want that to be free. It was free for me. So if you go to my website, which is the HTTPs couple colons backslashes charlotteguest.com There is a link right at the top that just says finding your mission statement. And you can download that or you email me, just shoot me a quick email anytime, char gordy cox.net and just say, hey, I'd like your mission statement download and I would love to send it to you.

Excellent. And I'm. If you don't mind, Charlotte, I'm going to go ahead and add that to the show notes as well. So there will be a link in the show notes friends for you to click on and download. I downloaded it and it is amazing. I would encourage you to give yourself, give yourself the time. You owe this to yourself to go through this process and what it will reveal to yourself is really, really fantastic. I encourage you all to do that. I want to shift just a little bit, if you don't mind. Charlotte, you found a diamond in the rough in 2020, which was the birth of your Empty nest guest podcast. I love that so much. I love how you saw a need in the world and I know the Lord spoken to you that people need to hear more about what you had to say. I know that you're an empty nester. What caught you off guard most about becoming an empty nester?

You know, I tell you what really caught me off guard is I love people and I, I loved almost every single thing about motherhood and having a full house, but I just was absolutely taken aback by. I call it the loud quiet. There was just this excess of time and there was so much quiet that I thought this used to be filled with people who had a place to go or somewhere to be or, you know, even just the meal preparation and just the laundry. I, I was just, I was just surprised at the time. I was working part time and so some of the days were a little full, you know, working at the hospital. But those quiet days, just the amount of downtime and you know, having faith has been helpful for me because you, you kind of lean in if you're a person of faith and say, okay, Lord, what, what do I do with this time? But I, I think about how much I see in the world of people that really don't know Christ or they don't have faith that loud, quiet, we try to fill it with so many things. And so I was just surprised at how quiet a day can be.

Exactly. I agree with that. And I think, and you probably will feel this as well, Charlotte. I think what happens is we're so busy pouring into those that we love. Our children, their activities, their friends, their lives. We're so busy pouring into them along the way, we forget to continue to pour into ourselves. You have become your children's mother, but you forgot who you were along the way. And there's a lot of self discovery that sometimes has to come from becoming an empty nester. You forgot who you were, you forgot what your dreams were. How do you help someone or how do you suggest to someone that find their dreams again after they've become that empty nester and just unexpectedly are kind of lost and don't really know how to dream? Do you have any suggestions for that person?

Yes, you know, I do find that the mission statement PDF is really helpful. And you all. I've got to give credit to the woman who taught me Shirley Stairs. Again, I don't want anybody to think that was something that I wrote right off the top of my head. I was asked when she was heading to heaven to repurpose it and to make it more today and more modern. And so my precious younger daughter, that's really great at technology, we kind of set everything up and made that available for you. So I think going through anything where you get to see yourself on paper. And Pamela, you're so great in your podcast about talking to people about the importance of journaling and really seeing kind of a roadmap for the year. And I would just encourage people to look at this as a roadmap to your very heart and soul about what are you, what are you made up of and what did God knit in you? So that's a great start. And then another book that I have read time and time again is a book called Captivating. And Stacy Eldridge wrote this book and it kind of takes you down the same kind of way to really look back in your life and find out about. It's so beautiful when you really think Back and think about that five year old little girl, that eight year old little girl, the ten year old little girl. What did you love? What were hobbies and things you were good at? What did you like? Those things can come alive again if we just spend a little bit of time thinking about what is deep inside there. And so much of it gets buried under the purpose that we took on of being maybe our kids, mom or the career that we have, you know, and we're this person at work and then we come home and so if you really take time to do a little bit of archeology, just enjoy the dig of what's deep down in that beautiful soul that the Lord put inside you. And these beautiful things like your personality and what, how, how do you approach things? What are you like, what, what do you not like? Those things are so important. And so that book captivating and the mission statement, the download should really get you going, I think. And then Pamela, if people take your advice and journal some things about what, you know, what they want out of a year, that also uncovers what's inside you as a person.

I love what you said. Enjoy the dig. I think sometimes when we have to dig into ourselves, we get a little bit uncomfortable with that because what if I don't like what I find? You know, I think it's like, oh, there might be something in there that I, I've been avoiding or I don't really want to think about again, but my goodness, enjoy the dig. I love how you worded that. That's so perfect.

And you know, Pamela, another thing I just thought of is, you know, ladies, what do you not like doing? What? You know, what is it that you don't like doing? And do you know, for the first time in my life I really have the freedom to just let people know that I am not a good cook. I don't really enjoy cooking. And you know ladies, years ago I was embarrassed to say anything that like that out loud because I thought people will think I don't provide well for my family or that I'm not a good mom. And I would now I was a good lunch packer so I could pack some great lunches for school, for school lunches. But when it came to cooking, you know, and why is it that I was so embarrassed, I think I was really insecure thinking what other people would think that, you know, a good Christian young mom ought to provide well for her family.

She ought to know how to cook, right?

Yeah. And you know what? Ladies do not buy into that. It's okay. I, you know, I can provide a meal and I do cook. And I think an air fryer is the greatest invention of all time because it can make you feel like a good cook. But what do you not like doing? You know, what are some things? Don't sign up to serve at a particular thing at your church if you absolutely don't like doing it. Like God wants you to have joy where you serve and find places that make you come alive. There, there will be something that makes your heart just have so much joy. What do you gravitate toward instead of what do you shy away from? So the things you don't like, write those down.

And sometimes it's easier to identify when you're really trying to have a rebirth, a rebirthing of yourself and wake up your dreams. It's easier to identify what you don't like than it is to actually pinpoint what you do like because you know what you don't like. I mean, that's top of mind. But what you do like requires a little bit more soul searching and that.

It'S okay to soul search. You know, it, it is so okay. And you know, listeners that are married, I would so encourage you to have your husband come alongside you in this. And single women grab a best friend that can pull out of you. You know, you can tell them that you're on this archeological dig and they can dig a little bit with you and reveal things that they see in you. Those people can be so important. And you know, I will tell you something that is so common though, is a lot of times when women that are our age or really any age start to dive in. Sometimes the husband is like, well, now what? What are they doing? You know, I, I don't know. So this can be a really great wake up call for your marriage to invite your husband into this, tell him to come alongside you and then, and then dig a little bit in his life too. It can be just a beautiful new thing for both of you. And for you single women and a friend, it can be just a beautiful process if you involve someone you really care about with you.

I. That, that's such great advice. And I want to mention something that I think is so, so important. When we start working on ourselves and growing us, sometimes if we don't bring along the people that we love the most, we outgrow people. Sometimes you will outgrow friendships. Some friendships are okay to outgrow, but bring your spouse with you. Talk to them about what your goals are, what your plans are, what Your thoughts are, bring them with you as you grow because you don't want to outgrow the wrong people. But there are some people that you do need to leave behind when you're on a process of growth and living a deeper, deeper purpose driven life.

That's so true, Pamela. And you know, listeners, I believe if you ask the Lord to show you, you know, it's such a, it's such a great thing, like Jesus as our friend, even though he's also our creator and our king. I love to visit with Jesus the friend so many days and say, lord, who do you want me to be friends with this year? Who do you put in my path? People that you really want me to be friends with? Because ladies, I don't know if you've noticed this, but as a 56 year old woman, I have really seen the difference in my life lately of transformative friends. And then if we look back in our lives, we have transactional friends and we have friends that, you know, oh, we did, we did soccer with those moms, or we did baseball, or we did. Now some, you can sometimes develop a really deep friendship out of that. But if you really think about the transformative friendships that the Lord wants us to have versus transactional ones, I think you'll be surprised that you'll like, oh, that friend really belongs in this category. And that friend and the Lord will affirm that, I think as things go along. Don't you think, Pamela?

Oh my gosh, I do so much. I think we sometimes get stuck thinking that everyone is meant to stay in your life forever and they're not. There are some people that are seasonal relationships, they're seasonal friends. They're not meant to be forever and ever. Amen. I really believe that. And that's not a bad thing because as you grow and change, your needs for friendship will grow and change. And as long as you are the best version of yourself, for all the people that you're currently in circle with, in community with, that's exactly what you are meant to do. It doesn't mean that the people you met 10 years ago are meant to be your lifelong friends, friends in 20 years from now. Friends come and they go. They're seasonal, purposeful, but not necessarily meant to be there forever. And I think that's so important to understand and not take it personally. When you grow apart from someone that at one point you were very close to, that's how God grows us. That's how God gets you ready for the next person you're meant to meet. For the next person you're meant to inspire and impact. If we just stay stuck in the same place, you're not going to touch and reach all the people God has for you to touch and reach.

That's so true. And you know, I, I always look to Jesus's life. Well, I don't always, but I should.

I should.

He's just saying, I know it. He's the best model of, of anything in our lives. And when you look at how Jesus did friendship, he could do 12 pretty well. We had a betrayer in there, so that knocked that down to about 11. But yet that person had a stepping stone effect in his life. But he really leaned on about four and two people in his life. And if, if that was what Jesus needed, it makes me realize I really can't juggle more than 12. That would be a lot to keep up with. And so Jesus, who are the four? Who are the two? Those are great questions for a new year.

Oh, that's so good. So good. Okay, Charlotte, I'm going to do some rapid fire questions for you.

I'm ready.

Okay. Where do you see yourself in five years?

Okay. When, when I saw that question posed to me, I was like, I have not thought about five years down the road. So thank you, Pamela, for that. 61 years old. Wow. I'll be over 60, which that to me just sounds way different than over 50. But for those of you listeners that are in your 60s, 70s and 80s, I actually am excited about that time because I see myself continuing to encourage women, especially that they are so beautiful as they are and they have a vital mission in the world. So I hope to continue to be an encourager. But I was thinking about my little 15 week old granddaughter in, in five years she'll be about five years old, a little bit over five, and then my oldest daughter will have another one. So those little five year old girls, I hope that I'm a voice that champions them and encourages them. I hope that I am an encouraging daughter and daughter in law. I pray every day that I still have my precious older parents in my life. And I pray that I will be a friend that a few people say they can really count on. Because the Lord has really pruned into my life what he wants and that I will be the best supporter to my husband. I, I really don't know about if I'll still be podcasting. I'm working on a book. I don't know if I will be continuing to write, but I just want myself to be pruned back even more than I am right now. And I really hope that I will be. I've learned a lot from a book lately called Aging Faithfully by Alice Freiling, and I had her on my podcast. And Pamela, I will share her with you because she would be great for your listeners.

Oh, I love that. Thank you.

She is. Is sharing just how to be content at age 79. And I've learned a lot about what the fruit of your life can look like. And for me, I think it's going to be in five years. I think it'll be less about productivity and more about harvesting good fruit by just being more with the Lord, just spending time.

That's such great advice. It makes getting older sound really exciting.

And, you know, I love to paint, and I hope that I'm painting more. So that's just one thing. Just. Just that I, you know, I. I don't allow myself as much time to stop and just get those paints out and let myself enjoy. So I kind of think, you know, maybe that will be what that face looks like.

We'll see. That's awesome. What advice would you give the younger you?

Oh, poor, poor younger Charlotte that talked a lot. I would have told myself, you know what? Just slow down and don't fill the white spaces with productivity. I really think back when I was a young mom, I thought if I could show something for my day or if I could just produce and just really have some concrete examples of things that showed I'm a great mom, my kids are great, we're doing well. I think just to. To maybe have more white space on the calendar, which allows you for deep conversations with friends or, you know, I remember being a young mom and hoping that I wouldn't run into anybody at the store because I just didn't allow time. I had to get in and get out and do the next thing. And I would just say just slow down and not have as much everything filled up on the calendar. That white space can be such a beautiful blessing for unexpecteds.

That. That is wonderful, wonderful advice.

And I would have read the Bible more. I would have really. I think I did devotionals like, I always did my utmost for his highest. And I had devotionals going. But I am so enjoying. I just started the Bible recap this year, which is a chronological study by Tara Leigh Cobbler, and it really is pointing me to the character of God. I wish I would have done that study because it's making the Bible really come alive for me and see how Jesus was even a big part of the Old Testament. We just didn't know how to look for him. So I wish I would have spent more time in the Word when I was younger.

Oh, that's. That's such a great insight. And I think every time I read something in the Bible, I've read it time, time after time. I've read it before, but I hear and see something different almost every single time. It's like, yes, I know we've read that. I know that story. But. But it applies to my life differently at a given time. And I. I do love that.

Me too. And I highly recommend that Bible plan. The Bible recap. It's a really good one.

Yeah, thank you for that tip. Okay, my last final thoughts for you. What advice would you give entrepreneurs, Empty nesters or dreamers, standing in the way, in their own way of getting started, living out their life's purpose?

You know, Pamela, that is such a great question. And honestly, listeners, I stand in my own way if I'm not careful. And a word that I have become so familiar with lately is the word necessary. And I've had to really teach myself, you all, I am a go getter and I like to be busy. And if we're not careful, when we get older and we have these quiet homes, busyness will just numb what's happening. So I think spending time with the Lord each day and just saying, lord, what is necessary today? What do I need to be doing that points somebody to you? And what do I not need to be doing? There are so many unnecessary things that we can fill our time with. And so I think to listen to Pamela's very first podcast for 2024 would be one of the first things I would do because you asked people to take a hard look about different categories. And Pamela, I just loved that. I. I don't know the last time I've pondered my intellectual category of my life, but there are, there are categories to ponder, and then there are things that are only necessary for the day, you know, and I found myself yesterday, the only necessary thing that I had on my day was to write an encouraging note to a friend of mine who, her daughter is in rehab right now. And I thought that's necessary. And everything else, if I don't get these other things done, that is a necessary note because that can encourage and bless that precious young girl and everything else can go by the wayside. And so when you ask the Lord what's necessary, y' all get ready, because he may surprise you with some answers that are totally different than what you think you need to be doing.

And I think you can almost expect it not to be what you're thinking, because God just knows what we need so much more than what we do. We think, we know, we think we're doing it the way he wants us to do it. But if you just let all the walls go down and surrender to what he wants for your life, he'll just surprise you every day.

He really does. And there's so many things that we don't need to be doing that just. They just get in the way of, of ourselves. And I would also encourage people to, if you find yourself not in a joyful place that you've got to be in a place of hope and peace and joy to be your best self. And if you're not there, listen to some music journal, get in the Word and find things that give you a very settled and peaceful spirit. And you'll know. You kind of know when you know when you know when you're not there. But you also feel this great piece of just being able to exist with maybe not a whole lot going on that's right where the Lord wants to have you so that he can speak into you. He often speaks in that gentle, small, still voice, doesn't he? I love that scripture. I don't know the address, but for me, that still, small voice is where the Lord really whispers in my ear. And I know that that is something that I need to be doing that seems necessary. And the loud stuff that clangs for my attention really usually is not.

That is such great advice and I think that's the perfect place for us to stop. Charlotte, my goodness. Thank you so much, Charlotte, for joining me today and pouring into my community and my listeners. I know if you're listening, it was not by accident that you took in this podcast today. I believe you go nowhere by accident. Everywhere you go, you're meant to be exactly where you are. It takes eyes to see, ears to hear. And I hope that you all walk away with something very, very special from today's podcast with Charlotte Guest. I will have a link in the show notes for Charlotte's download of the PDF as well as as her website address and her email address. So I'll have all things Charlotte in the in the description in this podcast. Charlotte, thank you again so much for being here.

Pamela, it's such an honor. Thank you for what you're doing in the world. You have such a beautiful gift the Lord given you for encouraging others and pointing people to Christ. And I look so forward to doing a year with you on your podcast. So thank you for what you're doing and it was an honor to be on. Thank you, listeners, for your time today.

Oh, likewise, Charlotte. My pleasure. And friends, I will see you here next week. Make it a great week.

Thank you for joining us today on a New Life podcast. We will see see you next time.