Life is full of good-byes. A child grows up and leaves for college or military service. A neighbor moves to another state. A loved one is dying. Sometimes we face seasons when we must say good-bye to security and safety, to prosperity, to a cherished dream. One of the rich ministries we can have in people’s lives is to know the words to speak at such times. Jory Fisher and Kim Crabill explore the kind of “last words” that can keep a person grounded and moving forward with hope even though the future holds a lot of unknowns.
About Kim Crabill
Kim Crabill is founder and president of Roses and Rainbows Ministries, Inc., and Community COFFEEs (Conversations of Friends of Faith to Encourage and Equip). She has traveled nationally for more than 20 years, speaking at retreats, at conferences, and to Bible study groups, and has been interviewed on national TV and radio. Kim’s message and passion come from her personal experience of longing to be used by God yet feeling unusable because of past abuse, anorexia, diet pill addiction, and depression. Her mother’s deathbed challenge set Kim on the path of daring to be and do what God had purposed for her, a journey she wrote about in her book Burdens to Blessings. She is also author of Burdens to Blessings: Young Adult Edition, Infinitely More: Your 40-Day Ephesians 3:20 Adventure, A Cup of Christmas, A Cup of Hope, and A Cup of Freedom.
Kim is married to Lee Crabill, and together they have two adult sons. For more information about Kim Crabill and her ministries, visit www.rosesandrainbows.org.
Kim’s Success Tips
True or False?
“Only tell people about the good things in your life.”
False. By sharing the difficult things we have faced, we help people see that God can use anyone and anything. He is not held back because of our mess-ups or our life circumstances.
“It’s selfish to insist on ‘me’ time.”
False. If that “me” time means spending time with Jesus, reading the scriptures and talking to Him about your day, then not only is it not selfish, it is essential. Our words carry the greatest blessing when they flow from a heart that has first filled itself with God’s words.
“Everyone else already has it more together than I do.”
False. Other people may be good at looking like they have it all together, but every person is carrying some kind of burden. Just like you, they are worried about ISIS, mortgage payments, and so much more. The same words that sustain you can sustain them, namely, that Jesus is with them; He will never leave their side; He can give them a peace that is beyond human understanding. And so, we have hope.
Kim’s Quote of the Day
“Always remember how much I love you, but always remember there is someone who loves you so much more. His name is Jesus.” —Words of Kim’s grandfather, spoken to her when she was 4 years old
Jory’s Success Tip
Create optimal health for your life, ministry, and business so you can fulfill your purpose with joy and grace and glorify God through success.
Jory’s Verse of the Day
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.” ~Numbers 6:24-26
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Listen to Jory and Kim by clicking the audio player below.
Click to view and download transcript [PDF]
Piano music by David Nevue.
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Last Words
Heart & Soul for Women of Faith
Year 6, Episode 208
Jory H. Fisher, JD, PCC
www.JoryFisher.com
Kim Crabill
www.RosesandRainbows.org
Jory Fisher: Hello and welcome to Heart & Soul for Women of Faith, a radio show designed specifically for Christian women leaders and entrepreneurs. My co-hosts and I focus our discussions on how to live a joyful and purposeful life by developing healthy bodies and souls, healthy minds and finances, and healthy relationships. Our goal is to help you nourish your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being so you can make the difference you’re called to make and glorify God through success. I’m Jory Fisher, a featured host on BlogTalkRadio with my
co-host: author, speaker, ministry leader, and sweet friend, Kim Crabill. Good evening, Kim, and thank you for joining me for Year 6, Episode 208 of Heart & Soul for Women of Faith, how are you tonight?
Kim Crabill: Good evening, Jory. I’m great. I’m wonderful. I’m so glad to have this opportunity to be with you and to speak with the wonderful people who will be joining us on this blog radio for these next few minutes.
Jory Fisher: You know what’s really cool is to think that, well, I guess until Jesus comes back, I think BlogTalkRadio is going to be going strong. So people might be listening to this… who knows, 2020, 2025, I don’t know. Isn’t it amazing? I mean, they say that your words, once they go out there, they are out there permanently. Well, I guess in the case of internet radio, that’s kind of true.
Kim Crabill: And that’s a powerful thing to think about and the peace that’s in that and the encouragement that is in that is that as we share our views, we’re basing everything on biblical principles and we’re sharing God’s Word, and we know that He tells us that His Word never changes, so it could be 100 years from now and the Word will be just as powerful then as it is now. That’s a great peace to know that we can share a word that will be just as relevant whenever someone hears it as it will be this evening. I like that. That’s God’s Word, alive and always working for us.
Jory Fisher: Right, even if you and I aren’t here anymore.
Kim Crabill: Yes. Right but we’ll be in a better place, Jory.
Jory Fisher: That’s right. There’s that old song, “Christians don’t die. We just change our address” or something…
Kim Crabill: There you go. Yes, that’s true.
Jory Fisher: All right. You all, before Kim and I really get going here, we just want to tell you a little bit about who we are and how we each fulfill our calling. As a Professional Certified Coach and Top Six Expert, I specialize in helping Christian leaders and entrepreneurs get crystal clear on their calling and create healthy lives and six-figure businesses so they can make a bigger, more meaningful contribution to the world. Please visit JoryFisher.com to sign up for free
e-books and to enjoy hundreds of blog posts and radio show podcasts.
Also, as an Ambassador for the EMSquared or Hope Bar Project, I’m helping eliminate childhood malnutrition through the sustainable model of social entrepreneurship. Please visit JoryFisher.com/ShareHope to learn about this quickly growing global movement and how you too can get involved. Kim, your turn, would you please introduce yourself to our listeners?
Kim Crabill: Absolutely. Before I do that though, Jory, I just have to tell you the way that you have equipped yourself to make an impact on the people that you come in contact with is such a joy for me to have had the privilege to watch over the last year or so since I’ve known you, and I hope that as the listeners hear you speak of that, that you help them become crystal clear on their calling. There is such a need for that today and so for anyone who is listening, I really hope that they will contact you because I have seen you in action. I’ve seen your heart and your desire to really work with people to bring out their greatest potential in Christ. If there is ever a time in our world that we need that, it’s now. I just hope that people will respond to that. I’ve had just the sheer joy to work with you and it has been great.
Jory Fisher: Thank you.
Kim Crabill: My name is Kim Crabill. I am the founder of a nonprofit ministry, Roses and Rainbows. I also help women and actually churches create spaces that are called COFFEE, Conversations Of Friends of Faith to Encourage and Equip, which is literally just a place where friends of faith can gather, can talk, can be accepted right where they are and know that right where they are is the best place to be because that’s our starting point to continue our growth. To reach me for any type of speaking engagement, you can go to my website, which is www.RainbowsandRainbows.org.
Jory Fisher: Fantastic. You were so sweet. Let me just return the favor a little bit. Thank you. I’ve had the privilege of being a “table talker” (Lord knows I can talk), but that’s kind of like a small group leader, I guess, at our table for the home base. You have, gosh, how many COFFEEs now around the United States and Canada?
Kim Crabill: We have actually added three this week and we’re working on more. So I’ll be in Texas in a few weeks. Churches have started taken on the ministries now, Jory, so it’s just totally God at work.
Jory Fisher: Wow. Well, I just feel so fortunate that I live in Baltimore. Isn’t that something? Two Southern girls brought to Baltimore.
Kim Crabill: I know.
Jory Fisher: But I’m so glad that I got to meet you in person and be part of your Baltimore COFFEE. That’s where you film and everything gets sent out to all of these satellite offices, so to speak, the ministries in the other locations; but it has been just such a pleasure being part of it for, yes, it has been a year and a half now, Kim, that we’ve known each other.
Kim Crabill: Yes.
Jory Fisher: I really, really love it and just to see the profound impact that coming together and being real has on women is just absolutely incredible. It’s so beautiful. Bless you, bless you.
Kim Crabill: Thank you and I hope that in the future, you will be able to join me as we move out to do these regional conferences and I’m really looking forward to that. Thank you.
Jory Fisher: I’m your girl, all right. Well, everyone, just a few words about Heart & Soul for Women of Faith, which has been airing on Wednesday evenings at 8:30 PM Eastern on BlogTalkRadio. You can listen to any of our archived on-demand episodes and add Heart & Soul to your iTunes library by going to BlogTalkRadio.com/JoryFisher. We encourage you to share Heart & Soul with your friends and family using the social media icons on BlogTalkRadio and on JoryFisher.com, and to post your comments and questions for us on my Facebook page, Jory Hingson Fisher.
So Kim, we’re going to be talking about a couple of different things today, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they didn’t weave together ever so nicely. Why don’t you introduce the topic that we’re going to focus on first?
Kim Crabill: Well, I would like to talk about promises that we can leave with one another and things that we can say to one another, to encourage one another, and I would also, you know, this came up as you and I were talking and planning this session, we were talking about, one of the things, that there are few words that people have spoken I’m sure to each of us that we have just catalogued in our mind and when we need a special encouragement or a special “atta girl,” we pull that out from our resources and use that to guide us. I wanted to do that today. I wanted us to take some time and think, if we weren’t together, if we were just out on our own, what are some things that we can plant in our mind almost as if they are seeds of truth that can grow as we grow and nourish us and keep us keeping on in this world? That’s what I wanted to talk about today is: what are some final words that we can say to each other that would sustain us?
Jory Fisher: I love it. So well, I’m glad you and I aren’t parting company forever and ever or anything like that. So these would be words that you could be saying goodbye perhaps to a friend that you might not see for awhile or oh gosh, we all have had that situation or will at some point have the situation where we are saying goodbye to a loved one who is dying. I certainly had to do that kind of thing and I’ve had to say goodbye to my daughter, who’s now in Japan. Brett. She’s in the Navy and when she left… I still don’t know when I’ll get to see her again. What are some other scenarios that you are thinking of, Kim?
Kim Crabill: Well, I just think about when my boys went off to college like when there is a move. We are such transient people now. Moves can take us anywhere. So we are always, you know, I’m just a big believer in our words, our seeds, and even if we don’ know, just a weekend trip. What are some words that you say to someone because we don’t ever know what’s happening? We never know when our child or our loved one, yes, many times even with young moms. I remember when my boys were going off to school. It was very important to me to have some kind of final word to say to them that when they went into their school and they began to feel all the things that come at them during the day that they have happy reflection of who they are and what they are going back to. So we use our words to encourage one another and to sustain one another. It doesn’t even have to be a life-threatening event, even though many times it is, but it can be just ordinary everyday events that we need to plant God’s word into our heart.
I remember as a 4-year-old sitting on the swing with my grandfather, I was just a happy little princess, and I was, but I didn’t understand at that point that my life was about to be interrupted with a move. I didn’t know that I would be leaving my grandfather’s home but he did. He took opportunities to always be planting seeds and thoughts in me and I can remember this one particular time that has stayed with me obviously until now, and that’s been many years ago; but I can remember swinging and my feet wouldn’t even touch the floor from the porch.
So I was that young but I remember as much as he loved me and I knew he loved me. He said to me, “Kim, always remember how much I love you but always remember there is someone who loves you so much more.” I can remember even then, Jory, just giggling, thinking, “Oh, no one could love me as much as you do.” Then he said, “There is one and His name is Jesus. He has promised that He will never leave you, He will never forsake you.”
I remember just being confused by that. I was only 4 years old. I couldn’t understand the concept, but I did understand the concept of love and I did understand the concept of being around someone who loved me. So my grandfather was hitting on the points. I knew that he was expanding it because he knew that I would one day need that. That’s the type of words that I’m talking about this morning. The words that even though we don’t know what might happen, they are the words that will keep you keeping on. They will keep you grounded and they’ll keep you from giving up.
So those words, Jory, have gotten me through lots of tough times in my life. What my grandfather was doing is what I would like to impart on our listeners today. He was telling me to always seek Jesus, to always seek Him. To know that He’s there and He has given a lifetime goal of knowing that I will be okay, that I was in the presence of someone who would never leave me. So that’s what I’d like to do today and I pray that our words will be words that no matter what happens in our world, that no matter what happens in these next few years as we fight this ISIS and as we regain control of all that’s going on that we just remember that as His little girls and His little guys that we have the comfort that we need if we just remember His words. So that’s what I’m talking about today.
Jory Fisher: Good, good. Well, you and I were talking briefly about John 17 and that’s one of my favorite chapters where Jesus is praying yes for Himself and I think it’s interesting that He prays for Himself even before praying for His disciples and the others. Again, it’s: take care of yourself, self-care. Love yourself. Love others as you love yourself. I always said that was interesting, but yes. So what do we want to highlight from John 17? I have it. It’s all in yellow in my Bible, yellow and underlined.
Kim Crabill: I think you just brought up such a huge topic because when we, especially as women and I can speak for women, I think that this goes for men as well, for you men who are listening. But when you say take care of yourself first, the first red letter word that appears in all our minds is selfish. “Oh my gosh! That sounds so selfish,” but we have to remember that we cannot give what we don’t have. Jesus went to visit His father every morning to fill Himself with His father and with His father’s words and wisdom so that He could allow that to ooze out to all those that He encountered within His day.
I just posted on my ministry Facebook page, a beautiful picture, Jory, of a woman being hugged by the Scripture. It’s as if the arms are coming out and hugging her. It’s as if to say, we go to God first to get that hug, to get that love and then all those that we hug will receive what we have received from Him. So I think that that’s the most crucial point is that we are not selfish. We are filling ourselves so that we are more effective to fill others with God’s love. So I think that’s the first most critical point that He’s trying to get to us there but then I just love, to me, I love the part down in, let me see what verse is it, 15. Verse 15, “My prayer is not that you take them out of this world but that you protect them from the evil one,” and then I love 16. “They are not of the world even as I am not of it, sanctify them by the truth. Your word is the truth.”
He goes on to say, “Don’t take them out of the world. Leave them in the world.” There is a job for us to do and that’s why we are left here. As we’re left here, how do we understand that we are in this world but not part of this world? How do we separate ourselves but yet still be a part and embrace? I think that’s what Jesus was telling us right there is to understand that we are different but yet we are still a part of. So I love that part. What do you think? Any comments about that, Jory, to our listeners?
Jory Fisher: Well, I know that it is important. I’m thinking, of course, of Catholics, nuns and monks who, over the years, have consecrated themselves and separated themselves for prayer and certain designated work. But I think for the most of us, if we were all to be cloistered, then everybody else wouldn’t have any examples of how to go through life. So I think it’s a very small and very special percentage of people who are set aside like that; but for the rest of us, we need to be out here mingling and sharing deeply, and letting people see that we fall, that we get back up. If life were perfect for us, people would be thinking, “Oh, that’s easy for them,” but when they see us… I mean of course we’re going to go through things like divorce or death and grieving, and having issues with living in this world… people are watching to see how we deal with it. If we’re not grounded in the Word, I doubt we’re going to be dealing with it particularly well.
Kim Crabill: Absolutely, and I love the part that even though we’re in our own roles as a mom, as an attorney, as a ministry leader, as a clerk at your local grocery, we can set ourselves apart from those who don’t believe in a way that makes them want what we have. How do we do that? What are the words that we can use today on this show that will remain in us to help us understand that no matter where we are, God has set us apart for a special work as believers in Him? One of the things that I have found that’s important, really important is for me to understand that just what you said, I’m going to have the same problems as someone who never has even thought about believing in Christ. Just because I have Him as my Savior, doesn’t mean that that negates me from still having anger issues maybe or whatever it is that we are dealing with. But what sets me apart when I’m having troubles and problems is to understand that even in the midst of my problem that God still gives me a peace.
My peace is knowing that, my peace is displayed in knowing that, “Okay God, this may be coming against me. Maybe I don’t have the mortgage payment this week, maybe I did just lose my job, maybe I did just find out my teenager has a drug problem. My peace is knowing that You are bigger than this. My peace is knowing that I can follow Your words and Your principles and we will get through this, so I’m not left hopeless. I’m left with full of hope. So those around me who are feeling hopeless because they don’t have the peace of Christ, then I can be set apart as an example not because I live life perfect but because of His peace.” Does that make sense? Do you think that was clear in how we can be set apart?
Jory Fisher: Yes, absolutely and the word that was coming to my mind as you spoke was “resilience.”
Kim Crabill: Yes.
Jory Fisher: I’m reminded one time when I was going to a particularly challenging time, I had three young daughters and I was a single mom. My mother was of course very worried about me and I said, “Don’t worry, mom. I always land on my feet.” Why do I always land on my feet? Because I’m connected to God. And I didn’t know how I was going to get through some very difficult times, but I knew God would see me through it. I think that does set us apart. We don’t just let things get us down permanently.
Kim Crabill: Exactly. We have that hope. It doesn’t mean that we’re not going to get down but it’s like you said, we don’t stay down. I’ll tell you what you just said right there, Jory. Because of the way you have equipped yourself with that beautiful way that you were able to present yourself at the beginning of the show, people that were listening probably already had set you apart as someone as, “Oh my gosh! She’s just done everything right. Listen to how she….” Then you have just made yourself so real by saying, “There was a time in my life when I didn’t know if I were going to make it.” I think that’s the hook that catches the heart. It caught my heart because I immediately thought, “Jory, you had that type of hurt but yet you were able to persevere. You were able to sustain,” and then you gave me the answer by saying, “It’s because of God.” I think that you just touched hundreds of people by being so truthful and authentic right then, and I think that’s what hope in Christ is and that’s what makes us different. I think those were the words that we leave with people that sustain them. Thank you for that openness. I love that.
Jory Fisher: That’s what you do, Kim, through your ministry, through your writing and actually, you are my model. There you go. All of the COFFEEs that I have attended, you were very vulnerable and I think that’s what we need. We need vulnerability. Think about it, when you hear somebody speaking, giving a speech or maybe a TED talk, it could be anything. It could be an assembly at your daughter’s school or something like that. You hear somebody talk about a struggle that they had and how they overcame it. All of a sudden, you are listening. We can relate to people who have struggles especially if they’ve overcome something, then it’s like, “How did you do it? How did you do it?” I think it goes back to your point of why are Christians in the world. We are here not to have a struggle-free existence but to persevere and have that resilience knowing that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
Kim Crabill: Exactly. This part of both of our messages that I think is so important for anyone who is listening. This is another point about why we talk. We have in our existence been fed lies about how we should always look perfect, sound perfect, be pretty, “fake it until you make it” type of thing. That is so contrary to what God tells us to do. When you have gotten through something in your life, when you have walked down a hard lonely dark road, when you have gotten to a point to where you thought you were not going to make it and then something happened and God sent you a person or all of sudden you realized that God truly has forgiven you and you were able to work your way out of that with His help. Once you work your way out, and I don’t care if you were hooked on pornography.. I don’t care if it was a college abortion. I don’t care if it was, like I said earlier, an anger issue that you overcame. We must, as believers, begin sharing those stories.
Jory Fisher: Right.
Kim Crabill: Because that’s where the connection is. We are hearing the lies from our enemy and even from our own voices or our past or the billboards that say, “Only reflect the good things.” Jory, for so many years, I believed that. I thought to be a believer that would help others see Christ, I really thought that I had to project what was good and what was perfect, and the good things about me, so I really didn’t have a lot to say. But once I understood that God wanted me to hear….
I know it’s funny, the short conversations. But once I got the truth that God said, “No Kim, I want you to share the things that I have gotten you through. By doing so, you are not only glorifying me but you are connecting with people.” I didn’t stop talking because I can share all day long about how God has gotten me through the mess ups that I have made. It’s so true. If we’re going to connect, if we are going to make a real difference in this world (and I know that I’m talking to someone who is listening tonight thinking, “I don’t know about that. I don’t know”), I would just beg you to share with a friend, share with a friend something that you’ve never shared with anyone else, something that God has gotten you through and watch how it touches just one person’s life.
It’s amazing how we have been tricked into believing that things that are holding us back from our truest way to minister to others. Our truest way to minister to others is by sharing the things that we have gotten through and that God has walked us through. So God tells us to cast all of our anxiety on Him and to move forward in sharing those things that will really touch others. That’s a compelling thought for anyone that’s listening tonight but that’s how my home ministry has been based. My entire ministry is based on that one principle. I simply share the things that God has walked me through, in hopes that it will encourage others to do the same.
Jory Fisher: Kim, I just thought about something. I noticed a verse in the Bible the other day that I’ve never noticed before. Gee, has that ever happened to you?
Kim Crabill: All the time.
Jory Fisher: I think it relates here because when we mess up, we think we’re less then and not worthy of.
Kim Crabill: Absolutely, right.
Jory Fisher: I’ll tell you what the verse was. Of course I didn’t memorize it but I can tell you kind of what it was. It’s Jesus at the well and the Samaritan woman, but the verse that jumped out at me was, “And Jesus went to Samaria.” Kim, He did not have to go to Samaria. (I studied this so this is how I know this.)
Kim Crabill: I know.
Jory Fisher: He did not have to go to Samaria for geographic reasons. The disciples got to wherever they were going via a different route. He went to Samaria especially for the woman who was the outcast. I have never thought about that before.
Kim Crabill: Yes, he did. Yes, I love that part. I love that part because it shows that Jesus comes to us. He goes out of His way to come to us. He met her at the well and at the well, she could have gone one or two ways. So He met her at a decision point in her life. Is that not beautiful?
Jory Fisher: Unreal. The fact that He came at a time of day when she would be there but the others wouldn’t. Because she was so ashamed, she didn’t hang out with the other women, the well-to-do women. She would come like in the middle of the day or something to get water, and so He came there especially for her. I’m sure she wasn’t going around talking about her five husbands very much but then afterwards, she went and just shared everything with people.
Kim Crabill: Oh, you are talking about a woman that I cannot wait to meet in the Bible. That woman has changed my life and she’ll change anybody’s because here is what so great. She had been ostracized by everyone in her community. The men, can’t you see them elbowing each other making horrible comments about her. The women never invited her anywhere. You’re right, she had to go at a time when she knew… she had been so hurt and so damaged by their comments that she was raw with pain and agony. She was raw she couldn’t take it anymore but yet she still had to keep on with her daily activities.
That makes me think of a woman who’s going into an office every day, and maybe a teen that is pregnant and is having to go in and be made fun of, or a husband who has lost his job and he has to go in and face the ridicule of trying to find a job day after day, and we just get raw. We are just so hurt and broken, but Jesus exactly where she would be. Here is the thing, He didn’t just come in and just hug her and say, “Oh, it’s okay.” He came in and said, “Now tell me about your husband.” She’s going, “Oh no, more this time. Here it is, more the same,” but yet there was something different. The Bible says about what His eyes, there was something, and she said, “Oh, I don’t have a husband.” He goes, “Oh, not only do you not have a husband, you have five husbands and you are living with someone.” He did it so he did not…this is what I love. He did not negate her truth.
Jory Fisher: That’s right.
Kim Crabill: He was bringing her to the point of her truth because He wanted her to see that there was power in her truth, that He was going to take everything that she saw that was a negative that she found embarrassing, that she had been made fun of and He was going to put His truth into that and He was going to make her, turn her into the most powerful missionary that that area had ever seen because, not in spite of, but because of the life that she had endured.
Jory Fisher: Right.
Kim Crabill: Isn’t that powerful?
Jory Fisher: I know. I know.
Kim Crabill: So what does she do? The truth that she had been so ashamed of, and I pray the listeners are getting this great truth, the truth that had been tucked in her heart that she was so ashamed of, that those that had hurt her so badly, she went running to them. She went running into the streets and she was saying, “Come see a man who knows everything about me and loves me anyway.” That’s powerful. They said not only the people who hurt but their entire families were changed because of her truth.
Jory Fisher: She could have kept her light under a bushel.
Kim Crabill: Oh yes.
Jory Fisher: She could have just said, “Oh thank you, Jesus, for saving me and giving me living water,” and then kind of snidely gone back into the community like, “Well, I’ve got the living water and you don’t.” Instead, she decided to share with the people who had been out casting her.
Kim Crabill: Absolutely. When we are truly touched by the life and the grace of Jesus Christ, that’s what happens. It may come slowly because we are human. It may come slowly to us and as mine did, my abusive life, all the things that happened to me. God healed in a slow way but it’s almost like losing weight in a slow way. It stayed with me. It was real. I walked through each process of it and each process became a layer in my heart, so however you deal with it is okay. But as you are touched with His grace, that grace begins to flow from you to others. As you really see what God has done for you, you do run out into the streets. You do want to share because there is no more shame. You don’t wear shame. You wear His grace and you want others to see there is no shame in your past.
There is only a future of so much ministry. There is a future of sharing what you’ve been through so that others can grasp the depth of His love. That’s what makes us still living in this world but yet not a part of it because we are covered in His grace and his love. That’s the beauty of where we are and who we are. That’s the truth of the mighty service that we have, the mighty significance that each of us carry in this world. Our significance is because of the things that we have walked through. Now we can choose to share that and be fulfilled in our purpose or we can choose to be afraid of that and hide it, but I feel like more and more people, and I know as I go to church to church and group to group and share, people begin to trust it. They begin to share the things that they once found so disgusting and they are picking up that mantle of Christ and they are sharing it. You just see the joy oozing just like the Samaritan woman. It’s a wonderful thing to see.
Jory Fisher: Two things are on my mind. One is I’ve had a guest on Heart & Soul a couple of times, an amazing woman named Shannon Ethridge. She shared so openly about sexual trauma that she went through and that she herself participated in willingly/voluntarily but at a confused point in her life arising out of sexual abuse and things like that. I’m like in awe of her for being able to share so openly, but it’s not to say, “Oh, look at me, look at me.” It’s to say, “Oh, look at Jesus, look at Jesus.” So it’s kind of funny because she’s known as the “sex lady” and something funny is that people sometimes ask her husband, “So what’s it like being married to the sex lady?” He says, “It’s a whole lot better than being married to the no sex lady.”
Anyway, but Shannon is great, if you all get a chance listen to my radio show with her. She’s definitely an example of how through prayer and I’m sure asking Jesus, “What story do I tell?” She’s written books and just does so much about this whole situation, which is so huge for people about sexual healing. Related to that, what I wanted to say was, you all, when you are thinking about what to share and whom to share it with, definitely pray about it. You might end up over sharing, TMI. Over sharing or TMI-ing with the wrong person, so definitely use discretion. Yes, God wants us to share our burdens absolutely but I would suggest being discrete. I would think, Kim, that before you give messages, you always pray about what should I share with this particular group of people. Is that right?
Kim Crabill: Always, I always do absolutely. That’s a good point. The points that you’re making, Jory, are good. When I share, I always share how it began with me and with me, it just began with a few ladies that I trusted.
Jory Fisher: Right.
Kim Crabill: And that’s how God calls me to do, to share. I don’t think He calls us to go out. Well, maybe He might call you to go out on the rooftop and share but most of the time, your heart can’t take that much. If you’re sharing, you know, with me, I was sharing about being abused as a girl, my life being just totally almost destroyed at the age of 4 and then being addicted to diet pills and anorexia, and all the things that came along with that, all of the masks. It took a long time for me to put on all those masks and it takes a long time to take them off. You take them off one at a time. God doesn’t come by and just rip you open. It’s a soft comforting.
Jory Fisher: Yes.
Kim Crabill: Even though it’s uncomfortable, it’s comforting and only someone who has done that really knows what that means, but He will guide you. If you’ll seek Him, He will give you one or two people. He will let you know the friend that you’re supposed to share that with. You’ll get the sweaty palms. You’ll get the thought out of nowhere, “I should be sharing.” He will do it in a way that will protect you if you will just follow Him. Again, if anyone would like any more information on that, I would be glad to send them a copy of my book, which actually goes in more depth of that, in the Burdens to Blessings book.
Jory Fisher: Yes, so this is a good time to share your contact information anyway.
Kim Crabill: Oh yes. Okay, absolutely. Again, my website is www.RosesandRainbows.org. You can get on there and it has a contact, and you can contact me and let me know. Just start a conversation with me and I’ll be glad to offer. I have six books. I’ll be glad to offer any of those or if you would like to start a conversation like the one that Jory and I are having, just an honest relationship about where you are and how you want to grow in Christ, how you want to be a better mom. Then please just contact me. I would love to have that dialogue about how you can take two or three friends and have your own COFFEE. Again, COFFEE is Conversations Of Friends of Faith to Encourage and Equip, which, Jory, is exactly what we’re doing today.
Jory Fisher: Yay! Well good, good. Well, it’s interesting that you, and I bet you prayed about it, that you chose this particular topic of last words because for those of you who have been listening to the last three shows that I’ve had here on Heart & Soul for Women of Faith, then you’ll know that this actually is my last show on BlogTalkRadio with Heart & Soul for Women of Faith. In a way, this is “last word” time and special blessing time. Wow, I’m just so glad that you’ve been able to be a part of this, Kim, since October 2014 and so very grateful to all of our listeners over the years.
Kim Crabill: I can’t imagine how you must feel with this being your last one, Jory. You’ve been doing this. You’ve reached, we don’t even know how many people to this date, we don’t know how many in the future. How does this feel to you? What are you thinking? How are you feeling?
Jory Fisher: Well, if I didn’t have anything else on my plate to do, I think I would be sadder but for me, it’s like, “Okay God. I have an idea of what is up next but thank you for this privilege of serving.” I think I might be kind of fun for people to hear how this even happened, would that be good, Kim?
Kim Crabill: Yes, absolutely.
Jory Fisher: All right. So I was taking a coaching certification course with the lovely Susan Whitcomb with The Academies. It was Career Coaching and it was the Christian Track. What Susan asked us to do was get out a 3 x 5 and in each of the four corners of the card to write something that we would aspire to do within maybe a year or so. I remember putting up in the corner, one of the corners, “radio show.” Well, what I had in mind was maybe someday being a guest on a radio show.
Kim Crabill: Okay.
Jory Fisher: I was like, “Ooh, wow. That would be cool.” I’m not kidding, within a week, somebody had contacted me from VoiceAmerica. He was a producer and he said, “We just would really love for you to consider being a host on our show.” I was thinking, “A radio show host? What?” Anyway, it happened and it took a fair amount of planning. We started that in October. I don’t even remember the year. I think it was 2009. I did start with VoiceAmerica and I had all my shows lined up. I had like 13 or 14 shows lined up even before I started and that’s how it all came about. And then I decided to switch on over to BlogTalkRadio. Yes, I had to do a little bit more of the work myself. I didn’t have somebody giving cues and all of the amazing things that VoiceAmerica does but the people at BlogTalkRadio are so lovely. There is a learning curve, but I got over it and came on over to BlogTalkRadio and I’ve been here ever since.
So how do I feel? I feel very, very, very grateful and humbled to have had this platform, this opportunity to influence people and to know that my radio shows will continue on. These podcasts are out there as we said at the beginning until the end of time as we know it here on earth. That’s pretty cool. Of course I’ve just really loved all of the conversations that I’ve had with my co-hosts and my guests over the years. It has been a true blessing to me and I’m just honored to know that it has definitely been a blessing to others based on the sweet messages that I’ve received.
Kim Crabill: Well, I can just tell you that I have just so appreciated the last few months that I have been able to be a part of it, Jory, and I can’t thank you enough for allowing me to have this opportunity. I didn’t take it lightly as I know that you have and I’ve tried to pray over each topic and really think about what I would need or what I would want. So I pray that the words that we have spoken together, not only has it been a delight just to have this time with you. You have become a dear, dear friend to me but it has also been just a delight just to be able to speak to faces that I can’t see but that I know are there. So it has been such a special time in my life and I can’t thank you enough for that.
I have to ask you though, you’re talking about the things that you have coming up. Tell us what you’re going to be doing, lady. What are you going to be doing with yourself?
Jory Fisher: Okay. Well, one of the things is video. So with the radio show, doing a weekly radio show, sometimes weekly, sometimes bi-weekly, sometimes monthly blog posts, it depends on what I feel like doing. But I’ve been producing content by blog post and by radio. To also do video for me with my life has just been a little too much, a little overload. For those of you who aren’t aware, video really is where it’s at. If you want to have influence on the internet and with your ministry, Kim, what you’re doing, look at that! If you weren’t videotaping your messages [by the way, I know your videographer. I need to tell you about that]… If you weren’t videotaping all of your videos, you’ll just have a fraction of the influence that you’re able to have and the lives that you are able to touch.
So Jory is going to be doing more video, and in fact my daughter Jana Beeson (she’s like me, a theater major) and although she actually graduated as a theater studies major and I graduated as a Spanish major (I changed), Jana and I are going to be doing some videos together so that will be fun.
Kim Crabill: Great.
Jory Fisher: Yes, yes, yes. The other thing which you are aware of is I have been switching my focus from having primarily an online business and influence to doing more locally, which is one of the reasons that I started coming over to see you, my dear. Just working online by phone and computer out of my home office, for an extrovert like me, it wasn’t as fun as it could be and work has to be fun.
Kim Crabill: Right, right.
Jory Fisher: So it has been a pleasure coming over to the COFFEEs and putting on clothes, getting primped up and not just in shorts and a T-shirt, and being able to mingle with people. I’ve absolutely loved that. So with the Top Six Club, I have been working on a local (i.e. in Baltimore) Mastermind Group and helping local business owners thrive, really.
Kim Crabill: Great.
Jory Fisher: So it’s going to be wonderful to be with people in person.
Kim Crabill: Yes.
Jory Fisher: So between the in-person networking, the in-person Mastermind Group that I’m running, and then the videos that my daughter and I will be producing, there isn’t a whole lot more time left for (and of course taking care of my clients), there isn’t a whole lot more time left to do the radio show. The radio show has been lovely, and it’s time consuming.
Kim Crabill: Yes. It is. I think that people don’t really understand all the back work that goes into the radio show that you must do but I know that it has been effective. Most things are for a season and I know that you as you say goodbye to people can look at the past years and know that you did it as God would have you to do it and you can walk away feeling very good, that it was the season of your life that you were able to touch people, and encourage people, and now there’s going to be a different way. That’s really also another great lesson as to how God works in our lives. Just because He calls us to something for a time, it doesn’t mean that sometimes it’s just for a season and that’s perfectly okay.
Jory Fisher: I think He likes the number 7. Going into seven years here, I think that’s pretty good.
Kim Crabill: Right.
Jory Fisher: And I do hope that I’m able to do some things with you, with the regional groups that you’re talking about. The more in person, the better for me.
Kim Crabill: Yes, absolutely. You are a people person for sure.
Jory Fisher: I am, I am. Well, bless you everybody who has been listening and yes we’ve had thousands upon thousands upon thousands of listeners, which is really exciting. If you have any feedback for either Kim or me, Kim, say your email address again please if you would.
Kim Crabill: My email address is K-I-M-C-R-A-B-I-L-L, KimCrabill@gmail.com or you can contact me on my webpage site which is www.RosesandRainbows.org.
Jory Fisher: Excellent and I’m J-O-R-Y, Jory@JoryFisher.com and if you are interested in learning how you too can create a thriving business that is well into the six figures so that you can make a bigger, more meaningful difference in the world, then please do contact me. Yes, I absolutely love doing the in-person Mastermind Group here in Baltimore, Maryland. The good thing is we also do have a virtual program. I can help you. I had someone contact me just yesterday who wants to be a part of this and she’s in Germany. So it doesn’t matter where you are from. We are able to help you.
Kim Crabill: Very exciting.
Jory Fisher: Yes, it’s very exciting. Kim, what I would love is if you said a prayer and I said a prayer, and then we will close out the group.
Kim Crabill: Absolutely. Again, it has been such an honor to serve and lets’ just pray now. Dear Father, we just thank you for the wonderful ministry that you have allowed Jory. Thank you for the tons of people that her words have touched and Lord how they will be used in the future for such encouragement. Father, as we close out today, I just would like to remind everyone of your great Scripture of Matthew 6:33 and it’s the answer to all answers as we move forward with or without anyone. Just always remember to seek first You, seek first the Kingdom, Your Kingdom and your righteousness, and then all the other things that we desire in this life You promise will be added unto us. So Lord, help us to seek You and know that within You is all that we’ll ever need. Again, Father thank you for the opportunity that you have given me to be a part of this show. I pray that you’ll bless Jory as she moves ahead and every listener as they continue to do what they see as their part in your Kingdom.
Jory Fisher: Thank you, Lord, for Kim and the ministry that you have given her. Thank you for giving her the courage to share, to share from the heart, to share not holding back, to share transparently and that so many women have been and will continue to be touched by her ministry through Roses and Rainbows and the COFFEE Ministry. Thank you, Lord, that she has been able to be a co-host with me on Heart & Soul for Women of Faith. Thank you for dear Jennifer Miller, dear Julie Fleming, and dear Karen Hirsch, and from the very beginning, dear Beth Scanzani for serving as my co-host in Heart & Soul for Women of Faith, and thank you for the hundreds of guests that we’ve had on the show. I also thank you and ask a special blessing on everybody at BlogTalkRadio. They have just been so good to me and it’s just exciting to know how they are helping encourage people and educate people through the platform that they have put together. Lord now I pray especially our listeners, for all the many, many people who have tuned in to Heart & Soul for Women of Faith over the years. May you continue to be present in their lives and may they draw closer to you. In Your Son’s Holy Name, we pray, Amen.
So you all, I’m going to do the doxology here for the last time. I love this and know that this music is from the wonderful David Nevue. That’s N-E-V-U-E and you can find his music and so much more at DavidNevue.com. I love that.
Kim Crabill: Beautiful.
Jory Fisher: Thank you, everybody, for listening to Heart & Soul for Women of Faith, many of you for almost seven years. I hope you’ve been richly blessed by this ministry.
Jory Fisher: This is Jory Fisher and Kim Crabill encouraging you to create optimal health for your life, ministry, and business so you can fulfill your purpose with joy and grace, and glorify God through success. A blessing from you, Kim?
Kim Crabill: May everyone just proceed in seeking Christ and knowing that He is the one who will always love you and will never forsake you. God bless everybody.
Jory Fisher: May the Lord bless you, Kim, and all of our listeners and may the Lord keep you and may the Lord be gracious unto you. May the Lord grant you prosperity, joy, and peace. Bye, everybody. Take care.
Kim Crabill: Bye.
Jory Fisher: Bye Kim.
Transcription by Alma Noefe
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