In a busy hustle world, we are more anxious and frantic than ever.

But what if we embrace the mundane of life more to experience, more peace?

On today's episode of Worship Leader Pod, my friend Blake Reynolds and I chat about embracing the mundane and being consistent in our walk with the Lord and more.

So open up your heart.

Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you as you listen.

Come on, let's get into it.

All right.

Hello, and welcome back to Worship Leader Pod.

Today, I am pumped.

I'm always pumped.

I mean, every time I'm pumped.

But I get to sit down with a really good friend of mine, Blake Reynolds.

Blake is a worship leader.

He's a Christian artist, music artist, He's a songwriter.

Most importantly, he is a lover and follower of Jesus.

He loves Jesus so authentically, and he just is such a blessing to, I think, anyone who comes around him.

He's so just true to himself and really loves the Lord.

And I'm super, super excited to have him here on the podcast.

So welcome, Blake.

Thank you for being here.

What's up, Amber?

Thanks for having me.

I was like, I was.

My assistant.

She was making sure I was ready for everything.

And I was like, yeah.

I was like, this is awesome.

And I was like, I'm actually really pumped about doing this because I've not done a podcast in a long time.

And then you stepped in and started doing podcasts.

And I was like, okay, Amber's a real one.

So I'm really excited to be here, Amber.

Yeah, I saw that.

I scoped on your website a while ago, and I was like, oh, does he do a podcast too?

That's cool.

I'm like, blake, you do everything.

You're like, worship leader.

You write songs, you put out eps, and you're doing all, and you're traveling the world.

I'm like, whoa, you do everything.

It's super cool.

We're getting to the traveling the world part.

We're getting to that part.

Yes.

Let's go.

Yes, absolutely.

Absolutely.

So we kind of did a loop around of how we met, got in relationship, that type of thing.

So correct me if I'm wrong, but we met at a show that I did with George Moss.

100%, right?

Yes.

Okay.

G.

Moss.

Represent.

Shout out to G.

Moss.

So we met at a show.

I don't even know where that show was.

It was actually called.

The event was like an annual event.

It's called the Middle of Nowhere is what it was called.

And because it was in Middleville, literally in the middle, it was actually out in the middle of nowhere, like, out in the country.

And so it was really funny.

George Moss, you.

George's whole crew comes up.

Cause I remember you brought his whole band, and it was just really cool being out in the country, and there's just hearing the worship, the hip hop, and.

Yeah, I remember that specifically.

That photo still pops up.

The photo with all of us got together still pops up in my Facebook memories.

So that's 2012, I think.

2012 or 13.

Wow.

That's impressive that you remember that.

Yeah, 11 years ago.

Yeah, that was a lot of fun.

I loved, like.

And I loved that whole thing of, like, yeah, we did, like, a little hip hop.

It was like the Christian version of Black Eyed Peas.

And then we threw worship.

We threw worship in there.

And they're like, wait a minute.

I'm crying and my hands are up all at the same time.

What's happening?

Listen, that was.

I was gonna do a spin off of tonight's gonna be a good night, but it really was a good night that night.

That's amazing, because tonight's gonna be right there.

She's got the spirit.

Yeah, that was it.

So anyways, we met.

We met there, and then we just kind of connected or staying connected.

Stayed connected.

My words are hard today through social media.

And then, like, a couple years ago, maybe it was last year or so, you're like, hey, I'm leading worship at this Christian musical festival thing.

Do you want to come lead worship with me?

And I was like, wow, just A, out of nowhere.

But B, also.

Well, we connected over social and stuff, and I was following your stuff and, like, Blake, so.

You're so funny, Blake.

Like, everyone go to his TikTok.

Just.

You'll be blessed.

I feel like when the whole.

The best TikTok video, I mean, you have a lot of really good ones, but it was the one where it's like, you're.

It's like POV worship leader listening to the playback of the Sunday morning online stream.

And it's like the audio's, like, super pitching, and you're just doing this, like.

Funny thing anyways, but most humbling experience ever for any worship leader.

Yeah, it's so true.

And I listen to it because I want to be better.

I want to be better, but I'm really going.

I was like, there's no way I was that bad.

Like, I do remember hitting that note a little bit better.

I agree.

I'm like, they didn't do me right.

I didn't sound like that.

Amber's like, listen, if anything I was sharp.

There is no way I was that flat.

I was not flat.

I was sharp.

I overshoot it.

I don't undershoot anything.

That's so true.

Yeah, Online streaming, man, that.

That humbles you real quick.

Yes, it does.

Let's just hope this podcast is not about that, because it's not.

It's not.

Don't worry, we'll move on quick.

But anyway, so you have a bunch of funny tick tock videos.

So we met anyways, Rabbit trail.

Sorry, but we met and staying and stayed in connection via social.

And then you asked me, we worship.

And I was like, sweet, absolutely.

I'm down anything.

And it was so much fun.

Like, thank you for asking me that.

I think I've already said it a bunch of times, but I was super blessed by that.

And I met people that I've never met before and we like rehearsed one for like a handful of hours and then we did it the next morning basically.

And I brought my whole family.

We had our RV because we were going camping after.

This was the whole thing.

It was a lot of fun.

And we really, True West Michigan girl, a true West Michigan girl got the rv.

Just kind of just typical Michigander who goes camping in the summer.

And that was a lot of fun.

And I.

A couple of throwbacks that we did in that set was like, I'm trading my sorrow.

That was fun.

That was really fun.

We did a whole bunch of weighted holy spirit.

And anyways, the set was awesome and it was just a fun, fun time.

But it reminded me how much or it reminded me of the picture of what the body of Christ looks like.

You know, it's like we are all in different spaces and areas and cities and all these things.

But it's like, hey, let's worship together the one true God, the one that we all are like living for.

And let's worship.

And it didn't matter, like, you know, well, I don't know you that well or that or X, Y and Z was like, you love the Lord, let's do this.

And so it was just such a beautiful picture of the body of Christ.

And that was such a fun event.

And so that's kind of how we looped around and met.

And then we just been friends ever since.

And so when we, when I started the podcast, you know, the Lord really was like, who is in front of you?

Like, my question to who would I ask to come on the podcast?

Like, I don't know.

You know, when you start something, I know you can relate to this starting music and all things you're like, who's going to listen to this?

Who would want to come?

You.

All those, like, the what ifs and who questions.

And the Lord said, well, what's in front of you or who's in front of you?

The people that I've placed in your life for a reason.

And so I feel like you are definitely one of those people who God, like, put back in my.

My guide.

Not necessarily for this podcast, but I think there's a lot and I'm excited to get in the conversation that you have to share and that you have a revelation on and that I can learn from and grow.

And I'm just.

Anyways, I'm super pumped to have you.

Here, so I'm excited, too.

Thanks again, Amber.

Seriously, for real.

I was so pumped when you asked me.

I was like, yes, of course.

Podcast.

This is freaking awesome.

I feel like a star right now.

You are a star.

I love it.

So, okay, tell me a little bit about how you grew up.

Like, I know a little bit.

You grew up in the Carolinas, I think, and so just tell me a little bit.

Tell me about how you grew up a little bit, how you met Jesus, and you can mesh it all together however you want, and how you got into the Christian music industry.

Well, it all started when I was born.

No, I'm just kidding.

Oh, geez, here we go.

No, but no.

So I grew up in Virginia.

You ever.

Really good memory.

So I ended up in South Carolina, but I grew up in Virginia.

And my family, My parents were not saved at all.

My dad goes.

My mom and dad both grew up in very reformed, strict denominations.

And I always avoid saying names because I never want to feel like I'm segregating anybody.

But they grew up very, very, very strict.

And those churches that don't lift their hands during worship, you know, those kind of churches.

Bless them.

Yes, bless their hearts.

But no, they grew up in those.

Those types of churches, and there was just Christianity.

And following Jesus was not about relationship.

It was a block you checked off.

And so they had no relationship.

And so my parents got married super young.

They had my older brother and then had me a few years later.

And anyways, at this point, they're not Christian at all.

Like, they weren't bad people at all.

They weren't doing anything they shouldn't have been doing.

They're just regular old people.

And one time, this.

My dad had this encounter with God that changed his life.

And I know that this is an actual statistic, and I Wish I could remember the actual fact that when the man, the husband, or the father of the household gets encounters Christ, it changes everything.

Like, I think he's 80% likely for the family to get saved if the husband.

And so my dad gets saved and he's like, all right, he just had a radical encounter with God.

And my mom quickly was like, she had a similar encounter.

And that changed everything.

And when you're a kid, you just, everything you do, especially as a child, you just mimic your parents.

And so getting to watch my parents encounter Christ in such a radical way, I mean, we went from, like I said, we weren't like, we were just an average Joe family.

Like, we didn't do anything extraordinary.

But my mom and dad were like, we're on fire for God.

And they literally.

It was the craziest thing.

My parents, like, we, we would only watch VeggieTales, Bible Man.

These are all small, throwback 90s Christian shows.

We were only allowed to watch that.

Like, they were so, so strict because they wanted, they wanted to guard their watch with God.

They didn't want to allow any room for temptation, any room for anything to be let in the household.

And so growing up, having my parents, seeing them encounter Christ, which I think is really cool, that a lot of Christians, a lot of times when we as kids, when we see our parents, they're already saved.

They've already had their walk with God.

And so it kind of like we don't get to see those precious moments.

And I got privileged at three, four years old.

And I do remember at three or four years old, seeing my parents have that encounter and how that changed my life and how that positively affected me.

And so I remember we were.

I would, I would just start praying.

I'm like 4 or 4 or 5 years old.

I'm just starting praying.

I'm encountering the Holy Spirit and in the most miraculous ways.

But so I moved from Virginia.

All that happened in Virginia, moved from Virginia.

We moved to Ohio and then to Michigan.

I've lived all over God's creation and moved from Ohio to Michigan.

And I was about 12 years old.

And this is my favorite part of my testimony.

I like sharing.

I was about 12 years old.

My dad goes, hey, I want you to read the Bible.

And my dad was in the military, Southern guy, super strict.

He's like, listen, I'm not going to tell you.

I want you to read it.

If you don't read it, you're going to get grounded.

So I was like, frick.

So I was like, I'm 12 years old.

I have to read it.

I have to read a chapter in the Bible a day.

And he's like, start in the book of Matthew.

Read the New Testament.

It's a little bit easier.

So I'm doing it just solely out of not discipline, but not wanting to get disciplined.

So I'm doing a chapter a day.

I'm reading it.

I'm like, oh, my gosh.

And I'll be honest with you, Amber, and I love saying this part.

I was bored every single day for almost like, I don't know.

I don't even know how long.

So I missed a few days here and there.

But I was.

I was very faithful with it, very consistent.

And something crazy happened during that time.

We moved to Michigan, and my dad's a pastor.

There's a student ministry there.

And of course, I'm a student myself, and I get involved in the worship team.

And I just remember one night.

This is before.

This is before smartphones.

Like, I know you remember.

This is when we had T9 texting.

Like, you couldn't.

Oh, yeah, you didn't have the YouVersion app where you could bookmark and save or screenshot.

Like, you had to remember whereby versus rad or put your little bookmarks in there.

And I remember I had this ESB translation Bible in my back pocket one night in youth group.

And I just felt it was like an awakening moment for me.

All the.

All the scriptures and verses and chapters I've been reading the months almost a year prior just came alive.

And I remember one night I just pulled out my ESV Bible, and I just remember, just again, I didn't have my iPhone so I could go, oh, what was that one verse?

I just, like, could remember.

I was like, oh, it's Matthew, chapter six.

And I would just pull up the verse and I would just start sharing during worship what God was speaking to me.

And.

And I'm a big believer in that.

I just know God still speaks today, and I'm so thankful for that and allowing him to speak through me many times.

I'm so humbled by that.

But I remember I just opened up my Bible, 12, 13 years old, and I'm just sharing what God is on my heart and the word of God.

I tell people, the word of God has absolutely changed my life time and time again.

And if you read the word of God passively, I do believe because the Bible says the Bible, the Word is like a seed.

I do believe it gets in your heart and it makes a change.

But if you Just read it passively and never do anything with it.

Will never create a change in your life.

And for a season, that was me.

And I believe God had grace on me and having praying parents help.

But that came alive.

And so worship leading started.

I was starting youth ministry, Amber.

I started my dad's church.

I played the bass guitar.

Hated every second of it at first.

And, okay, I know you're gonna cringe and you're gonna laugh all the same time.

So I went to a Skillet concert In March of 2007, actually, at res Life in Granville.

Nice.

This was before Skillet ever was, like, massive touring.

This was right.

Right when their Comatose album came out.

And dang, that's a long time ago.

I'm still like, this kid.

I'm still a teenager.

I remember going there and.

And this was when you could do a mosh pit and have so much fun at a Skillet concert.

And I remember at this moment, at this point, I hated music.

I did not like it because just whatever it was like, in my mind, I'm like, I'm going to do sports.

I wasn't that good at sports.

I was just.

I was big.

I was pretty fast.

And so.

But I just remember seeing Skillet on stage and they made awesome music.

People love their music.

And on top of that, they made music they loved.

They made great music.

But they were sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And first of all, instantly became huge fans of them because they're just.

Each of those guys are high integrity.

And I remember just.

That was the moment where I fell in love.

And I was like, okay, I can do something I love.

Create an incredible product, if you will, but also share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And kind of from that moment, I literally would stay up, Amber.

So I play about eight to nine different instruments.

And so this was.

I would literally practice my heart out.

Just practice bass.

And went from bass, I started learning drums and then YouTube.

This sounds.

This makes this sound really old, Amber.

This is like right when YouTube first starts coming out and they had the YouTube tutorials and so.

Oh, my gosh.

You remember the song Let It Rain by Pocket Full of Rocks?

Let it rain.

Yeah, I remember the whole version.

The whole version is great.

Yes, the whole version.

No one.

No one sings the whole, like, the verses and stuff.

They only sing the chorus.

They only sing the chorus.

Listen to this.

Listen to the whole song.

It's.

Yes, that's such a good song.

Well, so I remember.

So I'd learned bass and I hadn't quite mastered it.

Yet, but I kind of.

My instruments overlap, but you're gonna love this.

So my dad's church, I would go to his church and he had.

The office was connected to the sanctuary.

It was kind of an older church building.

And I was trying to learn the keyboard, the piano, and I would quickly.

So I was like, okay, the chords are C sharp minor.

It's a 6, 4, 1, 5 chord progression.

And so I was like, I can remember the chords, but I don't know how to play them.

So I would run to the computer in the office and I would run back out to the piano on stage and I would go.

And then I would run back to the office and then run back.

And that was the first worship song I ever learned was Let It Rain.

And I remember it was like, it was like starting anything.

It was.

It was a little rough.

It had a lot of kinks in it.

It was like, oh my gosh.

But I would treated my piano and every instrument the same.

I would stay up late at night and watch YouTube till like 4 o'clock in the morning and just learn and learn that part, spend time with it.

When I was learning, as I got better at piano, I remember I would just spend hours just worshiping at the keyboard.

And I told somebody, learning an instrument, doing anything and getting good at it is like relationships.

You just gotta spend time with it.

I remember I would just spend time with my instrument and I was worshiping and I told somebody, I got to the point point in music where I wish I had perfect pitch.

You know, Lord can give that to people, but I can recognize things.

Like, I can recognize when a guitar is not out of tune, but slightly out of tune.

Like, I can hear it go, hey, your G string is just your E string.

Or your G string is just slightly out of tune to me.

A little pitchy.

And that didn't come from just something naturally I had.

It came from spending time with that instrument and knowing what it's supposed to sound like, knowing what it's supposed to feel like.

And that was kind of a moment where God.

God kind of was teaching me a lesson just about my relationship with him is when you come to know him more.

You notice when things are off.

You notice when you're doing something that might be grieving the Holy Spirit.

You're like, ah, you know, God, I'm really sorry about that.

Like, you notice when the Holy Spirit speaking to you, and that's a whole different subject about how God speaks to us, but you notice God's voice a little bit More.

The more time you spend with him.

And, yeah, that's kind of my journey kind of encompassed in a small, little, little bag there.

But, yeah, that's how I got into worship.

It was just my dad's church youth worship band and started releasing music.

2018, I released my first song called no Other Name.

I Do Believe the Power of the Name of Jesus.

I released that song, and ever since then, I just take every opportunity I can to lead worship anywhere.

God lets me open the door and I just.

I go for it.

I love that.

I love that.

I love that you said, you know, you can tell when something's off because you've spent time on that or with that.

So music and God and how easy it is to maybe miss that.

Like, you know, whether you're leading worship or in writing music, if you feel like, oh, everything's fine, everything's good.

But maybe, oh, maybe I should have spent more time paying attention to what the Holy Spirit is saying in the moment versus just like, breezing over something.

And I just love what you were just saying about, like, just spending time with the Lord because you can.

It's not fun when you haven't spent time with your instrument and.

Or the Lord like this.

You know, obviously I'm not totally comparing, but in a sense they have similarities because with an instrument, it's like if you show up to a rehearsal or whatever and you haven't spent time with that, it'll show.

It'll throw things off.

It'll.

It'll not make the, you know, the song or whatever sound as tight.

And it's the same thing in the relationship with the Lord.

You will feel that imbalance.

Have you ever felt that before?

That imbalance in your, like, walk with the Lord where you're like, okay, obviously I'm not spending enough time with the Lord, and my walk is not doing as.

As.

Not as strong as before.

Have you felt that before?

100%, yeah, all the time.

I feel like it is.

It's is.

Our walk with God is something daily we do.

And this is so funny.

You talked about.

This is just different.

Through different close friends of mine, we talk about the mundane.

And my brother always.

My brother talks about, like, talked about this, and he was talking about embracing the mundane, and we talked about how what that looks like.

A lot of us look for our Goliath moment.

We always are looking for a Goliath to slay and take down.

We're always looking for a mountain to move a red seat apart.

And those are.

Those are incredible moments.

We're looking for.

We're looking for highlight moments is what we're looking for.

We're looking for those highlight moments, but we don't realize.

I love talking about Noah and Noah's Ark.

Noah spent what, 90 plus years, right, building an ark?

Yeah, yeah, 90 plus years, Amber.

We love talking about how Noah.

There's a museum for it, which I would love to go to, the Creation Museum, see Noah's Ark.

It was so, so amazing.

But we don't talk about the 90 years he faithfully was obedient to God, pulling that hammer out, putting together this amazing ark that would go down for that.

We would talk about thousands of years later how God had mercy on these few people who were obedient to him and flooded the rest of the Earth.

And it's just this incredible.

Again, highlight.

It was a highlight moment, but it took Noah 90 years to get to that highlight.

And it was a mundane every single day waking up.

I don't know if they drank coffee back then, but we're gonna say he did drink, probably, you know, Hebrews.

You know what I'm saying?

He went down to Hebrews and got himself a dark roast.

But he.

But he was sitting there every single day putting that, putting it together.

And I am sure he had moments of doubt.

I'm sure he had moments where he was like, man, am I doing the right thing?

But he kept at it.

Yes.

And I was just talking about that, how that ties into your question about, do you ever feel disconnected from God?

I think a lot of times in our prayer time, we.

I grew up, and I don't know if you had this similar background.

I grew up in the charismatic movement where there's lots of.

Lots of emotions during prayer time and worship.

And it's just like, which is great.

So awesome that we get to encounter God and sometimes we just have an emotional response.

But what happens is as Christians, as humans, human beings, we get hooked on the emotional response more than we do the intimate time we're spending with him.

And I love here recently, just the past year or two, God's been showing this to me as like, you know, I spent time with God whether I felt anything, whether.

Whether the ground shook or the mountains moved, I know I spent time with God, and I know the power of my words according to his Bible.

So I know that when I'm.

When I'm praying and decreeing a thing, things have to change.

I know that when I'm spending time with him that it's making a difference, that it's Changing me.

Worship and prayer does not change God.

It changes us.

And so I was like, God, even though I didn't feel anything.

Thank you that you heard me.

And it's probably like you and your husband, like, I'm sure there are days where it's frankly as mundane.

You know, y'all like, y'all been together for a long time.

You're like, yeah.

There are days where we're just like, yeah.

New cup, huh?

Right?

Yeah.

Good stuff right there.

Great.

But it's those moments that are beautiful.

And I think David got his Goliath because he was faithful in the mundane.

Noah got this incredible story about Ark because he was faithful in the mundane.

Moses saw the Red Sea part because he was obedient.

Like, all that, of course, has to do with obedience.

But David spent time in a field with sheep.

We never talk about that.

We just talk about David and Goliath and how he became king, or we talk about his mistakes, how he messed up with Bathsheba and whatever other mistakes he made.

But we're talking about the fact that he was in the field, probably worshiping on his heart, perfecting his skill, talking.

To God when no one was watching, when it didn't matter.

When no one was like, how many hours were you worshiping today or what?

It didn't matter.

It was all in the hiddenness.

And, like, what you're saying, it's just the consistency.

I like that when no one's watching.

I love that no one's watching.

Yeah.

Was just reading because I'm doing a devotional and I love you version.

Gosh, I love the app, but I'm doing a devotional with a friend, and it's on fasting.

And was talking about the verse.

It said, let me see if I can pull it up real quick.

Yeah, probably not.

All right.

Matthew 6:18.

So that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your father, who is in the secret place, and your father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly.

And I know that that also can do with sin, that when we sin in secret, you know, there's consequences for that if we don't repent.

But my highlight there is that my brother had this quote, and he always says this.

He said, private victory precedes public victory.

We have to be faithful in the mundane to be bored.

Like I said when I was reading the Bible, Amber, I told you as a kid, I was bored out of my mind.

I love Tom Beales.

I was so bored.

I said.

Then one day it came alive because the word of God is like a seed and it's planted in our hearts and if it's good ground, it will bear fruit.

And thankfully, that seed took hold in my heart.

And even in the moments where, because I've not been a perfect Christian by any means, the moments I've made mistakes, God's word comes alive in me and brings what I need in those moments.

And yeah, when I'm feeling off, I realize, like, even just recently, I was like God, you know, God's bringing me back to a place of just being more intimate and deeper with him.

Just realizing that nothing replaces that alone time with him.

That's so true.

And don't get caught up in the.

Did I cry?

Did I put on the right song or.

You know, I've been praying for six months that I've not seen a miracle happen.

And like I said, Noah was building an Ark for 90 plus years and not a drop of rain.

People literally mocked him, made fun of him, but he was faithful in the secret place.

Faithful in the place where no one was watching every single day, just whittling, working, hammering, just awesome.

And that's really the sweet spot.

That is.

I look at that and I say, that's what the garden was.

It wasn't anything else except for just him, just Adam and Eve, just them.

It was like it was a part of their day.

It was a part of what they did, what they woke up to do, right?

God came in the cool of the day.

It was like it was normal for them to just be together.

And that is the sweet spot.

That's why the whole, you know, God's plan and redemption is to, to come back to that and to create that again.

And, you know, I even think even as a worship leader sometimes we can get caught up in, oh, I gotta spend time with God and get filled up so I can lead worship.

Or you could spend time to just spend time with God.

I'm guilty of that.

Okay?

I mean, you go from leading worship week to week to week to week and you're literally like filling up so you can lead again, right?

Empty out, fill up, empty out, fill up.

But in my personal season right now we're in transition of churches, and so I haven't let worship in months, months, months, months.

And now God's like, now's the test.

Are you going to worship me because you love me?

Are you trying to get something to be filled with, something so that you can do X, Y and Z?

And I think, you know, even me personally, I'm like, God, you know, know, it's just you.

It was always you.

That's your.

That's my first response.

That's my first love.

And, and I feel like the same with you, Blake.

I feel like God's just pulling me into like a deeper intimacy with him where it's not because I have to do something or whatever.

It's because I just want him.

I want to be filled with.

It doesn't matter if I same, if I cry, if I get the goosebumps, holy ghost bumps, whatever.

And none of that matters.

The only thing that matters is just being intimate with him.

And almost like, you know, I think about the thought of that.

God calls us to be loved by him and known by him, but we're also just as called to know Him.

And so there's like this back and forth of knowing and being known.

And sometimes if we, you know, don't actively pursue God consistently, then you know, it becomes more of like, just like a one way street, you know.

And then it's like, okay, God wants me and to participate just as much as he's like all in, you know, And I, and even to the point of yours saying about, you know, David and I love the story of David.

David's just, he's a mystery because it's like he was this boy in the, in the field taking care of sheep and then became a king and then did some bad things and then there's more bad things, but then became really good king and then wrote most of psalms and had Solomon and then they built the temple.

There's lots and I mean the bloodline of Jesus came from King David.

So it's like there's a lot there.

But what I love about King David is that his, his continuation and his consistency in God is what gave him confidence in God.

That is where the confidence came from.

That's what made him, that's confident to keep going back to God, to keep writing the psalms that he wrote.

You know, like, you're forgetting about me and what am I going to do?

And I'm going to die, but I love you, God.

You know, it's like he's like depressed and in agony, but still giving back to him because he understands my relationship with God is consistent.

And as I'm remaining consistent, I will become confident in him.

And that goes for any realm.

Not just worship leader, but just like living as a follower of Christ.

Like we become confident in God when we are consistent and just hanging out with that.

Literally what you just said was so perfect.

Just the confidence we Get.

We're.

Our confidence comes from consistency.

And my brother.

I quote my brother a lot, so bear with me here.

My brother had a quote.

He always said, intimacy.

Intimacy breaks intimidation.

Oh, that's so good.

And David could face Goliath because of the level of intimacy he had with God.

There were thousands of Israelites that saw the same problem that David did.

Yeah, that's how faith works.

Isn't that so beautiful that when we look through God's eyes and we look through the lens of faith, we see the same issue?

We're not.

A lot of people are mistaken when we talk about faith.

They think, well.

They say, well, you got cancer.

That's a fact.

And it's like 100% a fact.

And they think we're being delusional.

It's like, no, no.

Like, hey, I see what you see, but I see with faith, and I see that my God is able, and I see that God.

And that came from intimacy with God, David.

Everyone else was scared.

Think about the emotional response that he had, Amber, down to a human level.

David got angry because he heard Goliath was blaspheming his God, right?

And he literally.

I told everybody that was like.

I was like, David was ghetto.

I was like, David was this short.

Ghetto dude, half hood, half holy, you know, he was.

Oh, man.

And there was a lot of times where he was mostly hood, but he liter.

But I mean, I'm just picturing him delivering lunches, dropping his bag.

He'll hold on.

Yeah.

What'd he say?

What he said, everybody's like, david, come on.

Like, I'm ready to clap back.

Like, I just always picture David as this ghetto, just short, like, ready to.

Just.

Like, he's got.

He's got his slingshot holstered on the side, you know, his.

Everything else is like, he's just.

Anyway, so I picture David just this ghetto, just confident, on fire for God.

But it came from a place of intimacy.

I know who my God is.

And he went.

He goes, surely, surely the same God who delivered the paw, the lion and the paw, the bear, which we don't really talk about much.

This dude literally killed a bear and a lion with his bare hands will deliver this giant.

In that moment, he acknowledged, I see the same thing as you.

He is a giant.

The Bible says he was actually a champion, which a champion would mean he had many victories on his way.

He just wasn't.

He wasn't just a playground bully, Amber.

This dude knew how to a fight.

He was like.

Well, I was going to call him Mike Tyson.

But we're too soon for that.

We're not going to call him that sore spot.

For me, it was rigged, all right?

That fight was rigged.

This dude was like the top elite champion.

And he wasn't just big.

He knew how to fight, and he knew how to win.

David saw that.

But instead of allowing fear to creep in, he had faith.

And he said, the same God.

But he didn't say, I'm able to do it.

He said, the same God.

He literally pointed.

He pointed everything back to God.

He's like, I'm gonna be a vessel, but it's gonna be God.

And I love how he.

Instead of running from his problems, he didn't walk to Goliath.

He didn't timidly hide behind a bush and be tactful.

He ran towards the Giant.

He had his five smooth stones, and he's like, homie, you and me are gonna play today.

And I'm just thinking, like, how many times we allow the.

Our situations in life, whether it's relationships or just a problem with work, how we allow it to intimidate us to the point where we go into hiding.

And there's a whole.

Go down a whole different rabbit show with that.

But that comes from a place of a lack of intimacy and knowing who God is.

Maybe you make a mistake and you sin in life, which we all are guilty of.

Make a mistake and sin, our response is to be just like Adam and Eve.

Adam and Eve hid.

They hid themselves.

Actually, the Bible says God, when he was looking for Adam and Eve after they sinned, he goes, where are you?

And Adam goes, I'm here.

I was afraid.

So we hid ourselves.

Sin causes us sin, leads us to a place where we're hiding from God and we're running from him.

But isn't it beautiful that God had mercy and grace?

He says, let me cover you.

The Bible says he took animal skin and covered their nakedness.

Such a good father.

Yeah.

That is the picture of who our God is.

Is that when you mess up.

God absolutely hates sin.

But God said, hey, I'm not condoning your sin, but I've given grace, mercy in the blood of Jesus, not so that you can continue in sin, but that you can overcome it.

And that's the kind of Father we serve.

The Bible says hatred stirs up strife, but love covers a multitude of sins.

Yes, God's love covers us.

And there was something you said.

We're kind of.

I'm kind of going back, but I don't want to forget.

This is you Said embracing the mundane.

Embracing the mundane.

And, well, that ties into just knowing who God is and being more confident in our faith.

And that's truly the solution right there.

Psalms chapter one.

I've got two Scriptures.

Psalm chapter one, verse three, says, he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.

That brings forth.

That brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper.

I just want to point something out, exactly what you said.

Are you going to pursue me only when you need me, or are you going to be like the righteous person, which is in Psalm chapter one, who plants themselves?

Plants themselves, oh, so good.

By the rivers of living water.

And then in Psalms 23, we talked about the mundane.

Let me tell you something.

I think everybody listened to this.

I think that this should become a trend.

Stop chasing Disney World.

Stop chasing the highlights.

Love the mundane.

Love the Psalms 23.

The Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not want.

Which is so powerful.

You hear that?

Yeah.

It doesn't say I shall not need.

It says, I shall not want.

Right.

When God's got.

When you got God and you're truly serving him, there ain't no want in your life.

Forget the needs.

God said he gonna take care of it.

There's no want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside the still waters.

Listen to that.

He leads me by still waters, green pastures.

Now that sounds really pretty.

There's all these pictures and there's sometimes on my background, on my tv.

And when I go to bed at night, I'll put like a.

I don't know if you ever do this.

I put like this really surreal background on with like, Fall rain is so pretty.

But if you think about this, I'll be honest with you.

Still waters and green pastures is really boring, Amber.

It's really boring.

Just be frank with you.

That's a good point.

We are so busy chasing the rapids.

Oh, goodness.

The excitement which causes hurt, it causes pain.

It causes chaos and confusion.

But when we serve a God who says, I make you lie down in green pastures.

I lead you beside still waters.

And then he says, he restores my soul.

He leads me in the paths of right righteousness for his name's sake.

And then we know the rest.

That he walked to the valley of the shadow of death.

But I just wanted to point at that part.

Yeah.

Is that we are chasing all the excitement, not just in life, for a moment, just removing sin.

We just to chase the excitement of life, of work and promotions and Faith and all that stuff and don't realize this is who God is.

He leads me.

He makes me lie down on green pastures.

He leads me by still waters.

Yes.

Those moments where we don't necessarily feel God or.

I keep talking about the emotional response because, Amber, we're worship leaders.

Music is something emotional that we do.

Like.

There's emotion involved.

There has to be.

Otherwise, it's boring.

And whenever we don't feel emotion or we don't feel or see something, we think God is not listening to us.

Something's wrong with us.

I've sinned.

I've done something.

And if there is sin, of course repent and ask for forgiveness 100%.

But a lot of times we instantly start taking it on ourselves instead of saying, God, you know what?

Whether I feel you, whether I see you or hear you, I know that you're real.

And I thank you, God, for the five minutes, the 30 minutes, the hour that I'm spending with you right now.

God, I thank you that you are changing my heart.

Thank you that I'm able to worship you and to seek you.

And I just thank you, God, even though I can't see the power of what's happening in the supernatural, God, I thank you just through this prayer time that you are shifting things in my heart and in my life.

And when we embrace those quiet, silent moments with God and allow him to speak to us and through us.

I'm telling you something, Amber.

Something powerful has happened.

The moments that God is the quietest.

I told somebody this.

I love answering this question.

When God is silent.

When God is silent.

And I have three things I tell people.

I said, number one.

I said, always check for sin.

If there's sin in your life, like any of us, you mess up, just ask for forgiveness.

Seek God, I said.

But number two.

And I said, this is the big one.

I said, maybe God is calling you to a deeper place.

Maybe the place that you've hovered in for so long in your prayer time.

God is saying, I don't want that anymore for you.

I want you to come deeper.

And so maybe his silence is a means to draw you into a deeper place with him.

Will you settle?

Will you settle or will you go deeper?

Will you go set?

I mean, we talk about, was it Elijah where the brooks dried up?

Right?

Yeah, the brooks dried up.

Amber, in our walk with God, there has to be movement.

My brother says this.

You're gonna love this quote.

He said, we built houses where we should have pitched tents.

Oh, we built houses where we should have Pitch tents.

God designed it that we were always growing.

He says, behold, I do a new thing.

That is how our prayer life should be.

God, you're going to be a new thing today.

I'm not going to put on the same worship song I listened to by Hillsong, and I'm not throwing Shaded Hill song by any means, but I'm not going to put the same worship song on.

I'm going to do something new today.

Because, God, if you're doing a new thing, I want to be in the river, and the river is always moving.

And so maybe if you're here, you're like, blake, I feel like God's silent again.

Check for the sin.

Always go.

We always want to be pure and blameless in God's sight.

We always want to just do that.

But secondly, God, are you calling me to a deeper place?

And I find oftentimes that we're in a desert place in our relationship with God, that God is trying to do something in us, and it comes from us pressing, pushing, and going to a new level with him.

Yeah.

I almost imagine in those quiet times or the moments where you're God, where are you?

I feel him just, like, trying to.

He embraces our face with his hands.

He's like, I just want to look this way.

This is where I am.

It's like, almost like repositioning.

I find that in those moments where I'm like, okay, Lord, what's going on?

I'm feeling a little funky.

I don't know.

You know, same thing.

Do I have sin in my life?

Do I have wrong?

Do I have unforgiveness in my heart?

What is it?

And then if it's still feeling that, I'm like, okay, maybe my awareness of you needs to be turned.

Maybe I'm getting familiar with what I'm doing.

And I feel like God's just, like, gently just trying to, like, take our face and say, look this way.

And you're right.

It is in the quiet.

It is in the moments where it's not all hype and all of that, where God is really.

He's the loudest.

He's the loudest when it's quiet.

He's loud when he's quiet.

Because it's like, I can relate to that, what you were saying.

I love that part about, you know, how the Lord leads us to still waters and how, like, yeah, still waters would be kind of boring.

You know, most people, you know, I'm.

I'm from Michigan.

We go to the lake.

We want to see.

We Want to see all the way.

We want to see the gentle waves and the ripples.

That's like the.

That's the refreshing, right?

And people always say, I feel like I hear God speak when the waters are, you know.

But what happens when the waters are still?

Can we hear God then?

Because he's still.

He still speaks in those moments.

And I think because of the busy of our world, it's just like everything's busy, Everything's grasping our attention, that God is just maybe trying to show us something simple, something clean, something maybe not as exciting, but that he's really pulling us to that.

And I feel like my personality where I just.

I just love being busy and then I'm stressed out that I'm busy, and then I stop doing stuff because I'm busy and I'm like, wait, I need to be doing something.

And then I get busy again.

But really the Lord's like, what if I just called you just to be at the still waters and be in my.

In my stillness versus just like trying to be busy and listening to music and doing your quiet time.

Sometimes I'll like, change up where I go to, like, if I'm like spending time with the Lord, I'm like, you know, I'm gonna not be in the same spot.

I usually admit this in this chair specifically.

Maybe I'll go to somewhere else.

And I think just trying to break the mold of familiarity in our walk with the Lord will really bring like, almost fresh hunger for that as well.

And so again, I love.

Yeah, I love what you said about what Brandon talks about the tent and where you should be actually building a tent versus like, trying to like, breeze past that.

Maybe you should be there to listen to God.

To listen to what God wants.

To chase the stillness.

Yeah, stillness.

That's.

You know what?

I agree with you.

We are going to start a trend.

Let us just.

We should.

Can we embrace the mundane?

Embrace mundane.

Embrace the mundane.

Embrace the nothing.

What does that look like, Amber?

Like that.

Yeah, that's a great question.

That's the right.

Ask you that mindset shift.

Yeah, 100%.

When you go on social media, we're looking for everybody's highlights and we celebrate people.

We're not getting the comparison thing.

We look for excitement.

We look for excitement.

That means we have to change.

That's only done through prayer and allowing God to truly change our hearts.

But it's a mindset where we literally chase and look forward to.

And I'm going to get down.

I'm a very practical person by the way I believe the spiritual and the practical can work hand in hand.

And what that looks like for me, for me, for instance, is when I go in my room now and pray.

I don't put on.

I told people, it's like, I actually don't listen to worship songs when I pray.

Very rarely.

There are sometimes, like, I'll put on you.

Humble the Navel.

One of my favorite worship songs always stirs my faith up.

But I put on, like, path.

I don't want any distractions.

I want.

And I'm like.

I literally tell people.

I'm like, you would probably be bored if you went and prayed with me for three or four hours.

I said, I will.

Literally, I'll worship during my prayer time.

I'll seek God.

I'll start decreeing.

And it gets.

I'm a pacer.

Are you a pacer when you pray?

Yeah.

Oh, man.

I just.

I get in.

I get all my steps in during my prayer time.

Oh, yeah.

But I embrace, but I chase.

And so what I say is like, what if we made it to where we intentionally stop?

I think one of the marks of spiritual maturity is where we don't wait for God to remove things from our life that are distracting us.

Right.

But where we recognize it and we say, God, you know what?

Absolutely.

I know you don't want this.

Why would I wait for you to remove it?

Hold on, let me just get rid of this right now.

And we just said, you know what?

Every single morning this practical comes in.

I look forward to getting my cup of coffee and sitting down with my phone.

Yeah.

Just putting my worship on.

And we make that so desirable that we actually look forward to that more than we do opening up our phone.

And while that sounds great, that takes a lot of discipline.

Travis Green says, discipline leads to delight because the Bible says, delight yourself in the Lord and he will give the desires of your heart.

He says, discipline comes before delight.

We have to discipline ourselves in the word of God and in worship and saying, every morning it's my coffee time and my worship time.

Or you know what?

This certain time of the day, I remember George Moss this all time.

He's always got an alarm on his phone and he would stop and pray, but making it to where we desire those moments.

And what happens over time, because this is where creatures of habits, how God designed is so beautiful is we can let our brains be rewired to where we don't look forward to the next big viral video that we post or the next doom scroll is what they call it.

Where you're scrolling on at 3 o'clock in the morning on TikTok, where we look forward to the quietness with God.

Yeah.

And we allow him.

Allow him to speak through us.

And we just embrace.

In my personal opinion, that's what it looks like on a very practical level.

Like, we have to change what we're pursuing in order for that to become a desire.

Yeah.

And I agree.

I think even for me, it's just awareness.

It's being aware of.

Okay.

I want to fully be into life of the Lord.

I want to fully give my attention to the Lord.

And that means I have to change some things, but it's also me being aware, like, oh, maybe I should change that, or, oh, maybe I should change this.

You know, I wake up early in the morning and I spend time with the Lord.

I normally go to the gym.

I really early, and then I come spend time with the Lord after.

And same.

I kind of just have to break off the other things, like listening to a bunch of worship music.

I'm about the same.

I listen to a bunch of pads or just keys in the background or just nothing either.

I think even like this morning, Blake, this is kind of funny that we're talking about this, but this morning I was listening to.

I have like, a morning worship playlist for, like, after my time with Lord, if I'm just cleaning and stuff around the house.

And I just put that on this morning, and I was like, singing along to the song, and the Lord said, I want to hear your worship.

I don't want to hear theirs.

I mean, he wants to hear theirs, but do you know what I mean?

In the moment, he's like, I heard their worship.

I want their worship, but I want to just hear your voice.

And so it's like airpods out, just like continually just talking and worshiping and praising and lifting up his name.

But I think also with embracing the mundane is just not saying yes to everything, just being more intentional with your schedule.

I think, like, as a worship leader, it's easy to get busy, especially if you work at a church or if you're, you know, continuously traveling and things like that.

It's like, if you don't set boundaries in your schedule, you.

You will continually be running on e.

You know, it's like, you don't think that you're busy until you have, like, a week off.

And like, whoa, I really needed that break.

And sometimes it's okay to, like, it's okay.

Don't go to the Christmas party at your church.

It's okay to not do that.

Don't feel that you have to do that.

Or it's okay to, you know, not do X, Y and Z.

And I think I was going to bring this up, too.

Maybe you can help me with this.

Like, there's a balance between, like, not.

Or embracing the mundane and not getting into laziness.

You know what I mean?

Without getting, like, apathy.

You know what I mean?

Like, you have a lot of apathy.

You're just kind of like, oh, I don't want to do anything.

I'm just going to be.

Just going to let the Lord, you know, it's like.

But God is also like, the kingdom of God is active and he's moving, and God wants us to participate in what he's doing.

And there's a lot of things that, you know, we do not because we feel like we have to do it, but because God's called us to do it.

Like you writing songs, doing things, doing your TikTok lives, like, that's your ministry.

Like, that's what it's active.

But there's a balance, I think, of, like, being busy for the kingdom and then not being lazy, you know, I.

Think what you're saying is so true.

I'm sitting here stumped.

I'm like, oh.

The only thing that comes to mind that would be an answer that for me, if I was like, okay, this has to be the answer.

Five seconds to answer.

I'm like, okay, I always put myself in a box like that.

You have five seconds to answer.

What are you using?

But no, but I was going to say the only thing that really comes to mind and how to fix that, because I totally get what you're saying, and I'm that same way.

I told somebody I used to be really bad, Used to be so consumed with just.

I had to work.

And I felt like if I wasn't working, I had no purpose and would feel so empty.

I'd feel like I was sinning if I was relaxing, like, vacation.

What is that?

It's a curse, and it's totally not a God.

God designed rest.

The Bible says on the seventh day, he rested and he created the Sabbath and then this whole thing.

So rest is very important.

Amen.

And which I do have a cool story to talk about.

The importance of rest and how we're obedient to God.

There's a blessing.

There's always a blessing or obedience to God.

But I think the answer is to be so led by the Holy Spirit is to know what he wants you to do in that moment, like you had said, like to be self aware and to be holy spirit aware.

Yes.

To use the Bible, the entire book of Proverbs.

Proverbs, chapter 1 through 31.

God uses wisdom to speak to us.

So many times we're looking for this audible word or we're looking for the sky to move.

And God's like, like, what is wisdom telling you?

What do you need to do in this moment?

And I think just knowing, like you had said, you know what?

I could go to this Christmas party, make some new connections, build some relationships.

I tell people all the time, opportunities will come and go.

They do.

Yeah.

They come and go all the time.

You know this.

You've done music.

You've done music for a long time.

I'm sure you've had some incredible opportunities.

I know you have open for you.

And, you know, they come and go.

They come and go.

They just.

They happen.

And I think just knowing in the moment is, number one, will this bring me closer to God?

Number two, will this bring me closer to the purpose and will he has for my life?

And number three, in this moment, would I be a good steward if I said yes to this?

Right, Right.

If it's not a God that kind of answers everything.

Number two, but it's like, does this have to do with my purpose?

Does this have to.

Does this lead me closer to his will?

Is this allowing me to serve someone else and help them?

But number three, do I have the moment to steward what this is?

Well, and even if it is just going to a Christmas party, even though you're not doing anything per se, you can ruin that opportunity.

You come in there with a bad attitude, you're exhausted, and you're complaining about your life.

And I think it's just being a good steward of time, Amber.

I think truly is it?

And they say, you know what?

I would love to say yes to this, and it'd be incredible opportunity.

I still have the capacity to.

And I've always respected people who are willing to look at me and say, hey, thank you for this, but I truly just don't have the capacity to take this on right now.

And I really feel upset that I couldn't do that, but I gotta be a good steward, because what does the Bible says?

Well done, my good and faithful servant.

Yes.

Yes.

And my husband always says, if you say yes to something, then you're saying no to something else.

Ooh.

Yes.

So it's like, especially like, as a mom.

Okay.

It's like, okay, I could say yes to this thing even bitch Christmas party, like, leading worship somewhere or whatever.

I'm like, I could say yes to that, but would it bring peace to my home?

Would it bring peace to the schedule of the week, my husband's business?

Like, you have to think about all those things.

And it's like, I think we just get caught up in, like, busy busy, like ministry busy or life busy or school busy.

We're so.

And just busy all the time.

And I think embracing mundane just looks at.

Just maybe like, responding to the call that God is saying, come to the waters that I've still for you just take a moment to just breathe and maybe not do something like, don't feel like you have to fill your schedule with a bunch of things, because those things can become idols.

Been there.

Those things can become idols.

You think you got to do all these things to look a certain way or whatever, but it's like God is just.

Is calling us to be stewards, like, you're saying, stewards of your time, of your mind, of your ministry, of your family.

And you have to just, again, yes.

Just, like, be aware of that.

So I agree with that.

No, 100%.

I love what you said.

Well, let's bring peace to my home.

That's so powerful.

So I'm like, I'm gonna remember that if you say yes to one thing, you say no to something else.

And a lot of times you say yes to one thing, you say no to ten other things without realizing.

That's very true.

You're one.

Yes is a.

Is a million no's.

And it's like, man, what am I going to say no to if I say yes to this?

And there's a season in music.

I remember George Moss.

He was such.

Such a good guy.

He.

He truly was a mentor for me at one time.

And I'm just this ambitious artist, and I'm like, what do I do?

What do I do?

And George was a big proponent of the mundane.

He's like, yeah, bro.

He goes.

The tours.

I go and says, that's a lot of fun.

He goes, but, bro, he says, it just came from me sitting down and really mastering my gifting, being consistent at what I was doing so that I could get to that level.

And he was like, bro, you need to do that.

And so there was a time where I said no to a lot of opportunities so that I could get.

So that I could perfect my craft.

And I'm still perfecting it.

Perfecting my craft and getting better and making it to where I can, you know, Travel more and having bigger doors open and that's great.

But again, it's.

It's all in the mundane.

Yeah, it's all in the mundane.

My brother talked about this all the time.

Mundane, I think just desiring change.

Let your desire just become too.

I love the mundane.

I love the Stillwaters.

I love just drinking my coffee and just worshiping and talking to God.

You're going to laugh at me, but I just got some.

I'm living the puzzles.

I love puzzles.

And I don't know if you remember Where's Waldo as a kid.

Remember playing that like the doctor's office.

And so this is something I'm doing because I'm not married yet, I don't have any kids.

I'm just, I'm looking forward to that day.

And so I'll buy like kids books that we grew up on.

Cause I'm like, I just.

Before they go crazy and change the words and crap because somebody doesn't like what it says, I'm going to buy them right now.

So I bought a big old Where's Waldo book and then I.

And then for me, in my quiet time, I bought myself a some crossword puzzles.

And I absolutely love it.

Just doing crosswords puzzles.

As a matter of fact, I was hanging out with my mom and we were doing it together and I was like, I really like this.

I like, I don't need to be at a concert, I don't need to be out partying, hanging out.

Like, I like the quietness.

Yeah, I love going on long walks and just talking to God and praying and seeking him.

But I said I'd give you a testimony earlier this year for what I do.

So I do live stream media full time as well as music.

And anyways, I had to hit this certain quota one month and I just wasn't, it just wasn't hitting it.

And I did have to grind.

There is a blessing in the grind as my pastor was just talking about.

And so I was working my butt off to hit it.

But I really try to honor Sundays and just take mostly the day off.

And I was like, okay, I'm not going to live stream on Sundays.

But I was like, I was like, God, I really got to hit this quota.

And I've got like X amount of days left.

That's a big number to hit.

And I was like, frick.

But I'm going to take my Sunday off and I'll be obedient.

Sure enough, I think I overshot my quota by.

I don't even remember how Much.

All because I just said, God, I'm gonna put you first.

Amen.

I'm gonna be obedient to you.

And it's such a simple testimony, but I'm reminding myself right now when we're obedient to God's laws, that he brings a blessing with it.

Bible says he brings a blessing that adds no sorrow, adds no sorrow with it.

Isn't that amazing?

So I just wanted to share that quick testimony how we just honor God and rest.

He takes care of it.

God's responsible for the miracle, not you.

Manifest that'll preach over and over again.

It's so true.

It's so true.

It's just like anything, you know, it's just when you put him first, just like, seek ye first kingdom of God and everything else will be added.

He, you know, he's like, just put me first, put me first, put me first.

I own the cattle on the hill.

I own everything.

You.

You are good.

You know, it's just put me first.

And so I agree with that.

And again, it can be tempting to be like, well, let me just.

I'll just help God out a little bit.

Or you think you need to help, but God's like, no, I just want you to just be.

And it's always for our benefit too, right?

It's always like, for our benefit.

He's always looking out for his kids and.

Yeah, he's such a good God.

Okay, I have one more little question.

Not really little.

Might be big or a little whatever.

But.

So I know recently you lost your brother this.

This year, and I'm so sorry again for your loss.

I know it sounded like he was an amazing.

I think I did meet him, but I don't know him as well.

And.

But all the tributes that I saw were just my.

I mean, just beautiful.

I know he worked for Mav City, and so they did a beautiful tribute to him, and you did a tribute.

And I, you know, lost my dad a couple years ago.

So I can relate to the grief that you can.

That you feel in.

In the midst of life.

And a lot of confusion can happen a lot of things.

But I know that grieving is not easy, and some of that is.

But grieving is also necessary.

Like, it's.

It's something that you have to.

As you.

If you know when you lose a loved one, like, you have to allow the process to.

To do its thing, you have to allow the grievance.

And I'm so blessed to know just like, how you have been doing.

And it's Been even cool to watch.

Even just some of your content's been changing a little bit for good.

I mean, it was all really good.

But you can just tell, like, you're really leaning in to the Lord's heart.

You're really, like, just on the father's lap.

You're just clinched to him, and you can really see the purity.

Just.

I can even, like, tell just even talking to you and just what I've seen, just how much God has been molding you through this process.

And I know it was not easy for you and your family, and I know it's.

It's definitely not easy.

What do you feel like God has been teaching you through the process of grieving?

I'm sure he's teaching you lots of things, but if you had to, like, think of one thing, or maybe you can do more than one, too.

This is a free space to speak on what you want or don't want to talk about.

That's fine, too.

But what do you think that God has been really highlighting to you during this season of grieving over your brother?

It's only been a few months, so I wouldn't say I'm exactly the master of this subject by any means.

It's okay to hurt.

It's okay to hurt.

You know, just briefly answering this is just.

It's okay to allow.

It's okay to hurt in a season.

I think David most beautifully put it.

We love reading psalms.

And we're like, it's so relatable.

And I don't think we really realize how relatable it is.

David really, literally many a times would say, God, don't abandon me.

I feel alone.

I feel scared.

I'm crying my eyes out.

My soul, he would paint such vivid pictures.

My soul is being rent from my bones.

And just say things like that.

And really we don't realize is that David was being honest with God.

And the funny thing is, God wants to meet us in our pain.

He wants to meet us in our brokenness.

He wants to meet us when we've lost someone, when we're feeling heartbroken, when we're.

Whatever it is that we're going through.

And if we allow God into those moments, number one healing happens, which healing leads to growth.

But something amazing happens is God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

He never changes.

But I said so I said, God is such this.

God is this intricate, simple, beautiful being where he's the same.

He never changes, but we discover something new about him.

Yeah, the deeper we grow.

He didn't change but we discover something new about him.

Yeah.

And in these moments right here, I would just.

I would say just simply embrace the pain.

Just you and God.

Just be honest with him.

Let the hurt.

Let him meet you in your hurt.

Let him meet you in the middle of your pain.

Allow for good godly community in your life, for people to come in who can connect with what you're going through.

Not even just relate, like you had said.

Just disconnect and say, hey, man, I'm here, bro.

I'm here to pray for you.

And I've got a few really good friends who do check on me, and they just randomly will ask questions pertaining to that and just check.

So good godly community and just let God meet you in your pain.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I think, you know, I feel like the overarch theme of our conversation is a lot of embracing.

We're embracing mundane, but we're embracing the pain, embracing the things.

And I think something really powerful, Blake, happens when we embrace things, because in context to grief, there's no.

Like, we can't figure it out.

There's no figuring out.

Yeah, it's just the embrace.

We embrace it, and we.

And it's almost like we're.

Like we lean in deeper into the Father's chest, if you would.

And as we embrace it, and we are embracing him.

Right.

Written the scripture in Psalms where it says he tastes that sorrow when he gives joy.

If there's an exchange, that happens when we embrace something.

And, like, you know, I think when.

I mean, I've only experienced death a couple times, and death humbles you.

It makes you realize, okay, okay, Lauren, like, you are God, you are eternal.

I'm not.

You know, life is a vapor.

You are good.

You are sovereign.

I don't understand your ways, but I'm going to embrace.

And as I embrace and I.

And I allow the pain, just to feel it, you know, and not try to reject it, not try to ignore it.

But when I embrace it, you, he exchanges it.

Like, he's like the master of exchanging, you know, it's like he wants you to give him everything.

He wants you to give it to him.

And he wants to hear your honesty.

He wants to hear how you feel, even if it's vulgar.

He just wants to hear.

He wants just the awesome.

The authenticity of where you're at.

And I just.

As I was just even preparing for this podcast, and I was kind of, like, going back and forth and, like, I don't know where we're going to land on this, but I remember going Back to when we led worship last year, I think it was.

And we did that song, trading your sorrows, and you sang that song.

And I was just thinking about what a testimony of that for you to go through what you've gone through, to see your brother in different phases and experience the heartache, but still how active you are in running to God and being and embracing him and throwing yourself at his feet.

You are literally doing the trading, like, you're trading and he's doing the exchange, you know?

And so I was just thinking, like, wow, God, like you.

I'm excited for you, Blake, to see just such a fresh revelation of God's love.

And even in the next days and months and years to come, as you prepare to be a husband and a dad and all these things, like, this is just like a buildup of the testimony of God on your life.

And I'm super excited to see how God continues to open that up and reveals himself to you.

I just think it's going to be more beautiful than you ever think.

I think it's just going to be.

And it has been already, probably, but I just think it's going to go deeper and deeper, and God's love is going to grow stronger and stronger in you.

And I'm excited for what God's going to continue to do in your life.

And that was free.

I wasn't planning on saying any of that, but I just felt like, you know, I know that you've been through a lot, and I can relate with feeling that grieve.

And it's.

It's just hard.

But it's also important, like you said, to embrace it, to just feel the pain.

It's okay to feel the pain and not to push it away.

Because the best news is, is when you embrace, God is near.

Right?

The Bible says that God is near to the brokenhearted.

He's near to the ones who are crushed in spirit.

And maybe you can even attest to this of, like, going through what you're going through and with your family and feeling all the things and going through holidays and all these things without your brother.

Like, you're feeling the pain, but you're also feeling God's nearness at the same time.

It's like a.

It's an interesting tango.

It's like, I'm in a lot of pain, but I feel God's nearness, and I feel God's light and easiness and peace at the same time.

And so, anyways.

No, that's really good, Amber.

I appreciate you saying that.

As the verse I was asking, a quote.

It says, God's.

God's close to the brokenhearted.

He's close to the brokenhearted.

And God's.

I love that something.

Something that's many times quoted throughout the Bible.

Something that we.

A promise that we always forget is God said, I will never leave you, nor will I forsake you.

Yeah.

And all throughout the Bible, God says little things like, I am with you.

Fear not, I am with you.

What do you say to Moses?

I'm with you.

Yeah.

And I think we oftentimes overlook the simplest promise.

Yeah.

And then let me connect that promise that God made with something with a verse that we love talking about.

What does it mean for God to be with you all the time?

That means access to healing, blessings, breakthrough, forgiveness, redemption, restoration is all found in God.

He's near you.

The Bible says.

What is that one verse, Amber, I know.

You know what?

Talking about our God is greater.

That's.

If God is for me, who can be against me?

Yeah.

And understanding that when God is always with you, you always come out on top.

Always.

It may not look like it in the moment, there may be a brief moment of humility, but God is always there.

God is always there.

He's just setting you up for a better story.

He's just setting the next chapter up for something even sweeter, something even better.

Even when you make a mistake, it's so beautiful how God can take that mistake and intertwine it into your story and turn into a beautiful moment.

Was it supposed to be the ugly moment of your life where you made a mistake and you're so shamed?

God's like, hey, watch me do something cool with this.

Watch me use your story to change other people's lives.

So, absolutely.

That was really awesome, Emory.

Thanks for sharing that.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, I agree.

I think, you know, God does.

He's still in the business of working all things together for the good.

He's sovereign and he knows what he's doing and he has our world in his hands even when it feels confusing or frustrating.

But I just, again, the overarching dark theme of this is just embracing.

Embracing him.

Embracing the mundane, embracing where you're at.

Like, it's okay to, yeah.

Have pain and it's okay to.

To feel what you're feeling and be in a.

In the mundane, not be in the busy, but just to be.

Embrace or to embrace the Father more and more and more.

And I think as worship leaders and worshipers of Christ, I think we all can probably, like, okay, we need to do more embracing of him.

We need a little bit more embrace.

We need.

You know, we need to get maybe like the woman with the issue of blood kind of aggressive.

We need to embrace.

We need to get out of our space and get where he's at and just embrace and be with him because he.

I think what I'll say is to sum it all up and just to leave every worship leader, every person that's listening.

This is a question I asked myself.

If God has everything we need, why do we not spend more time with him?

And so we ask ourselves that question.

Everything.

God, if you have the answer to this, then I'm gonna go spend some more time with you right now.

God, if you're the reason I have the success and I have the wonderful blessings in my life, I want to make sure I honor you and come spend my time with you, God.

You know what?

More than me getting something, it's just a blessing that I get to be in your presence.

So whether you give me something from this prayer time or not, I just want to become intimate with you.

And I just know that all of my needs are gonna be met, even my wants, when I delight myself in you.

And so just.

God, if God has everything you need, why not just embrace him daily?

Why not just make him the center of your universe?

Yeah, you know, Jesus at the center of.

You know.

Sing it, brother.

I love that song.

We just did a church yesterday.

Oh, nice.

Oh, that's such a classic.

It's never going away, ever.

It's never.

Yeah, it's.

It's a good one.

That's awesome.

Hey, Blake, I would love if you would just pray for us as we end our time.

Pray as the spirit leads, however you feel to pray, but just to pray over our time and our conversation and over anyone and everyone who may be listening.

Let's do it.

Dear Heavenly Father, I worship you.

I thank you for today, God.

Lord, I just ask for any forgiveness of sins on my part, Father.

God, I always want to make sure I just come before you and just embrace your grace and your mercy.

Lord, I bless you.

I thank you, God.

I thank you, Holy Spirit, that for this conversation, God, that it was not by mistake, that.

God, I thank you that this conversation is going to change hearts and lives that listen to it.

And I truly pray, God, even for myself, God, that it would become a desire of ours, that we would just love the mundane moments with you, God.

Well, we call them mundane, God.

And I don't insult any time with you, God, but the Moments where there's really nothing happening, God, that we don't see it, God.

But I know that something in the supernatural happens, God, when we pray.

And even if we don't see instant results or instant gratification, God, that you.

You change.

Things are changing, God.

And Lord, I bless you.

I praise you.

I thank you for your grace and your mercy.

I pray for those who are listening to this right now.

I hear the word restoration.

I pray that restoration would happen in their lives.

Whether it's restoration in a relationship, maybe they lost.

Maybe they lost time.

Restoration in time, maybe they've made some mistakes, God.

I pray for restoration in their name and their integrity, God.

And their character, God, I just pray for restoration.

I pray for healing and wholeness, God.

I just pray for breakthrough.

I thank you for this podcast episode, Lord.

I pray that, God, that it would pierce the hearts, God, that this seed would fall all on good ground.

And if anyone is listening, God, prepare the people that are listening, God.

Prepare their hearts, God.

Mold their hearts, God, so that they are good ground, God.

And let this word bear fruit.

Let it encourage.

I pray that many lives are changed just from this podcast episode alone, God, that it would not only propel people to go deeper in you, but to keep pursuing their calling and their purpose, God.

That they would not give up.

God, that they would not give up.

And I'm just as I'm praying right now, if you're listening to this, people need your obedience.

People need your obedience.

They need to see you be obedient to God.

They need to see you pursue and they see you get a breakthrough.

So if you're listening to this right now, I just want to speak life over you.

And I just want to encourage you to keep going.

Because on the other side of your breakthrough, it's not just for you.

Your breakthrough is for other people.

As God begins opening the doors in your life, it's going to bring breakthrough in other people's lives.

So keep going.

Keep being obedient.

Keep pressing to see that miracle that seems impossible.

Because when it happens, when it happens, you are not only gonna be the one blessed from it, other people are gonna see it and they're gonna be blessed by it.

God's gonna get glory.

It's gonna open up doors.

So keep going.

Keep being obedient, even when it's hard.

Even when you wanna cry your eyes out at nighttime, you say, I quit.

I'd rather do what's easier.

Don't do what's easier.

Do what God has called you to do.

Be obedient Lord, I bless you, Jesus.

I praise you.

Bless this episode.

Bless Amber.

Continue prospering your hand, God.

Just like Psalms, chapter one, God.

Everything we do will prosper.

God.

Lord, I just thank you, Father.

God, for her family.

I pray that you would prosper this podcast more than just.

And I do.

I pray that millions would hear her podcast episodes, God.

I pray that you would prosper her to that level, God.

But I also pray that you continue helping her to be an incredible steward, her and her husband, God, that they would steward their family, this podcast and everything you put in their lives with excellence.

God, that you would send them community, send them resources, send them people who will help take this to the next level.

We glorify you.

We praise you in Jesus name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

And really, you know, the heart and the point of this podcast is to draw people to be a tree anchored into him.

Right?

It's to bring people and to encourage people to come back and to remain and live at the heart of worship and Jesus.

That's really the whole heart behind this podcast.

And really, like, if you're listening and you're a worship leader, not a worship leader, you're this, you're that.

Like, this episode and this podcast is to draw you to deeper with Jesus.

And I pray that.

And I know that that has happened in this episode.

I personally am encouraged and I feel drawn to the deep.

And, Blake, thank you so, so much.

I just feel like your words were so on time and anointed, and I'm feeling my heart is that the scripture in the Bible says our hearts not burning.

When we were just talking to him, our hearts were burning.

And that's how I feel.

I feel like a burning in my heart because I know that he is evident.

And so thank you so much for your words and your obedience and the time that you've taken to come have this conversation with me.

I appreciate it, Amber.

I love you guys.

You and your husband, your whole family are awesome.

Thanks for having me on here.

I was like, this is exciting.

I told you.

Being excited.

I was like, dang, I feel like hashtag famous.

This is so cool.

Honestly, I was so humbled by it.

So, Amber, thank you so much.

Girl, this is a lot of fun today.

Yes, yes, it was.

It was ton of fun.

And if you are listening, you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

I want to get to know more of this Blake Reynolds.

You got to follow him on all the social media platforms.

I'll leave them in the podcast notes.

He's on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, all things.

And he has a website.

I know it's under construction currently, but there's a couple other links there.

But I'll link everything in the podcast notes so that you can get in touch with him.

He does a lot of encouragements on his Instagram and Tik Tok he does TikTok lives and that's like a big ministry thing for him.

And so you want to get in touch and in and be friends with Blake Reynolds.

He is amazing, amazing.

So make sure that you connect with him.

And this concludes our the episode today.

If you liked this episode and I know you liked it and you are blessed by this podcast, follow us on all social media platforms like subscribe all the things, share like all the things and leave this podcast a review five stars up.

It'll help just push this podcast to other people that maybe may be out of my reach but reach people all over the world.

So thank you so much for listening.

Hey Worship Leader Pod we out.