Record Live Podcast

thankfulness
Intro: [00:00:00] Hi there, everyone. I'm Jared. And I'm Zenita. We are your hosts of Record Live, a podcast where we talk about church, faith, and living well. We believe as followers of Jesus, faith is more than just a set of beliefs. It's a way of life, something we put into practice. Let's go live.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Welcome back to Record Live. Zenita is in the office this week for the end of year stuff, the Christmas celebrations and the, yeah, Christmas parties, which is exciting. We always love having Zenita in the office. , it's great to engage with. You know, , elaborate, have meetings where we can chat about how the ministries are going and whatnot.
Jarrod Stackelroth: So it's great to have you in person, , Sunita.
Zanita Fletcher: It's good to [00:01:00] be here and not recording in my kitchen. In your kitchen or on
Jarrod Stackelroth: the balcony. Yeah. Moving around.
Zanita Fletcher: Yeah.
Jarrod Stackelroth: So Zenita, how are things?
Zanita Fletcher: Things are good. The year is wrapping up. , everyone's feeling quite stressed and like, what a year it's been, but I'm feeling quite relaxed. I'm like, I've enjoyed this year. I think it's been good. I feel on top of things. We're also ready for another break. , yeah. How are you feeling?
Jarrod Stackelroth: I'm, I'm very ready to break for the year. I'm looking forward to that. Spending some downtime with the family. , it's been quite busy. It's been quite full on, but it's been a good year. I think, , you know, but we'll talk about reflecting on the year a little bit because that's actually today's topic of conversation.
Jarrod Stackelroth: My wife's culture, Zenita, is something that I've learned more about as , we've been together. And over the years, like there's, many things that you appreciate, [00:02:00] some things that are challenging, but one of the things that has stood out to me is this practice that they have of gathering at church on New Year's Eve.
Zanita Fletcher: That's
Jarrod Stackelroth: cool. Which is not something that I'd sort of experienced growing up. So often we would gather at church, if not at church, as a family group at home. If there aren't other events on, obviously on New Year's Eve, , people would gather together and it was like a Thanksgiving session. It was like, I mean, sometimes it turned into a bit of a testimony night as well.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Reflecting on the year and okay, as we go into next year, what are we thankful for? That was the basic question that everyone was asking. People had the opportunity to share and , to talk about that. And, , as we talk today about thankfulness and gratitude, I think it's important to take time at the end of the year to reflect and to be grateful about things.
Jarrod Stackelroth: I guess that leads us into today's topic, ,
Zanita Fletcher: I think that's, I think that's really cool that their [00:03:00] culture does that because I think one thing that I really love about America is their holiday of Thanksgiving. I think it's such a cool holiday and such like a wholesome holiday. Like it's not, , encouraging you to go out and buy gifts for everyone.
Zanita Fletcher: It's not . I guess going with that consumerism mindset. It's not like Halloween where you've got freaky things everywhere. , , you're literally just gathering with people and giving thanks, which I think is such an awesome thing. And I know in Australia, a lot of people have just started doing it anyway, because it's like, this is awesome.
Zanita Fletcher: But I also feel like, like December, when December comes every year, I just go into like reflective mode because
Jarrod Stackelroth: I
Zanita Fletcher: guess I'm like a very nostalgic person. But a few years ago, I accidentally Kind of started this ritual where I was like, throughout the year, I was writing down like everything good that happened, everything fun that happened, every like new person I met that was like a real blessing to me.
Zanita Fletcher: I would literally have this note in my phone and it was just like titled, I don't know. Good things in 2022 and I would just write everything down
Jarrod Stackelroth: and
Zanita Fletcher: it was [00:04:00] like a year that I was really struggling with a lot of things, but I got to the end of the year, like that December and I was like, wow, so many awesome things have happened this year.
Zanita Fletcher: But if I hadn't have done that, I would have just gone to the end of the year and been like, that was the worst year of my life. And so I think there's a lot of power in just reflecting on the positive things that happen in our life, on the good things, on the growth moments, on the people that we've met that year.
Zanita Fletcher: Because we just forget so much. Like, how often do you get to the end of a week and you're like, I don't even know what's happened at the end of the year. And you're like, I don't even remember anything., like we are really forgetful. And so I think that it's like really important for us to note things and to think on things.
Zanita Fletcher: So you put it all in
Jarrod Stackelroth: the same note?
Zanita Fletcher: Yeah. So now, now every And then
Jarrod Stackelroth: at the end of the year, you read back through it as a part of the practice. And
Zanita Fletcher: so accidentally I did that. But now Every like January one, I literally start and you know, and so it'll be like 2025 highlights. And then like at the end of the year, I'm like, this is awesome.
Zanita Fletcher: Like [00:05:00] every year just seems . exciting, fun. There's always things to be thankful for. There's always good things happening.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Normally, Sunita, we finish with something practical, but that's a very practical thing that maybe someone who's watching can take with them and start for the new year.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Cause that sounds awesome to me. , just that idea, that practice.
Zanita Fletcher: It's a really cool thing as well to like, , because I'm mindful of that, then , at the end of the year, we're often getting together with people, , meeting family. Friends, whatever. And I think it's a cool thing to kind of be like, Oh, like to have those positive questions in mind to be like, what's your favorite part of the year been?
Zanita Fletcher: How have you been? Who have you met? Like, just to kind of create some good conversation at the year.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Yeah. A lot of us, Zanita, on January 1, like you mentioned that on January 1, you read back through the list and it's like, a lot of us actually make resolutions. And I've written my editorial for
Jarrod Stackelroth: december [00:06:00] 21, which is just before Christmas. It was my last editorial of the year. And I was reflecting on this idea of gratitude, you know, , and thankfulness and reflecting at the end of the year. And it came to my attention when I was writing this, a lot of us reflect on our lives in a negative way at the end of the year, like we set resolutions because the, the idea is a good one sort of , to improve ourselves, but it comes from a place of not happy, usually.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Like it might be a positive resolution. I'm not thinking of any off the top of my head right now, but like for myself, it's often I want to lose weight. I need to exercise more. Maybe it's a spiritual thing. I need to read my Bible more. I need to pray more. I need to add more and it's adding more into our lives.
Jarrod Stackelroth: It's putting burdens sometimes on ourselves. Now, some of those things might be important. To address at any point in our life, they [00:07:00] might make our lives better actually. But I find we often come into the end of the year, starting a new year, and we put these like guilt trips on ourselves and we're like very, , whereas I guess.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Reflecting is a different practice where it's like, Okay, I'm thankful for everything that's happened and even in the challenges, I can be thankful for, , it wasn't as bad as it could have been, or someone was kind to me during that time when it was really hard or God saw me through, like I felt God's presence in that dark and difficult time.
Jarrod Stackelroth: And so when you think about that, I guess it, it really reframes your perspective as opposed to. How can I be a better person? But how can I be grateful for what I've just sort of experienced or been through?
Zanita Fletcher: Yeah, I guess a lot of people, they start the year with like these goals in mind and we know the statistics that it only takes a few months and then we've kind of caved or we haven't succeeded or something.
Zanita Fletcher: And so , we don't forget those goals because we still want [00:08:00] to achieve them, but then it gets to the end of the year, like, , November, December, we start thinking on next year, I'll start again next year. It will be different. , And I don't think, I don't think that's bad, but I think sometimes people do like, like we're talking about like thankfulness and gratitude and stuff.
Zanita Fletcher: Sometimes people can think that , that's opposing, like it won't help us with our goals, like just sitting in that space and maybe it's not enough. Like maybe we need to do more than just be grateful and thankful, but there has been studies that show when you are more grateful and when you're more thankful, you're also more like motivated.
Zanita Fletcher: You're also happier. You're also like, have more of that, . I guess energy to pursue more difficult things, , because you're not down about yourself or you're not doubting yourself or you're not beating yourself up. So it's like, you've got this like confidence in this, like energy to do better and to achieve things.
Zanita Fletcher: So , I guess it's like a good backbone is that thankfulness and gratitude to then be like, I don't know. It sets you up. It helps you to be more successful in achieving your goals., yeah. And yeah, I guess it just gives you a bit more [00:09:00] like faith in yourself or like confidence in yourself. I could be wrong, but that's my theory, I guess.
Zanita Fletcher: I
Jarrod Stackelroth: think as a person of faith, also God comes into that picture. So you recognize where God's led you, how he's helped you through the year. , which often maybe you don't when. You're not taking that time to reflect. , we've talked about leadership this year already, and, I've been doing like a leadership course this year, and one of the things that you first learn is that you have to lead yourself and they were really emphasizing, which I didn't get at the start, but now I'm starting to really pick up.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Reflection, how important it is to reflect. And often, I think some of us avoid silence. Yeah. We avoid slowing down. We avoid, reflection because we ruminate. We get stuck on, An idea and the negative cycles through our head. And we're like, Oh, we could have done better and better. But intentional reflection, like reflecting with a question in mind and then , really [00:10:00] looking for positives, , that can actually break that cycle.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Like it's not getting stuck in that. , But I get the fear of , Thinking back, , and dwelling on your mistakes. I get that it's uncomfortable for some people and they're trying to avoid that. But I think actually it can be unhealthy to try and avoid that all the time, because if you're never reflecting, you don't have as intentional a life.
Jarrod Stackelroth: You're not actually leading yourself. You're just. reacting, you're passive, you're, being pulled about by, , as, Hamlet would say, the corrupted currents of this world, rather than actually forging a path, swimming against the current, all of these. Metaphors.
Zanita Fletcher: What would you say to someone who was like, had a really difficult year, who is listening to this and being like, I really don't have anything to be grateful for.
Zanita Fletcher: Like the idea of thinking about what I'm grateful for, just I don't know, sits [00:11:00] uneasy because it's been a hard year. Like how do you, I know that's really hard for people who like maybe had a really big loss or have just had setback after setback to kind of get in that mindset because it just.
Zanita Fletcher: Seemed overwhelming. Do you have any suggestions?
Jarrod Stackelroth: Um, first, maybe I would just want to know more about what had happened, you know, giving them that opportunity to talk about it gives them an opportunity to feel a bit, , for myself, , getting those things out. And it is a form of reflection. , I will often find, find that things that are really bothering me, for me, it's writing them down.
Jarrod Stackelroth: If I journal, right, I feel, it's a form of catharsis. It gets it out of my system. And often I'll find myself finding things of thankfulness, moments of thankfulness in that, [00:12:00] like, , if I'm still alive, that's something to be thankful for. And, and that's not to diminish, you know, people have lost people.
Jarrod Stackelroth: You might have a terminal illness. And so you're like, yeah, I'm alive, but you know, my health is rubbish or, you know, so yeah, these are really hard things that we wrestle with, but,, in my experience, like in my experience, the deepest, darkest times of my life, things get better and then I'm back there sometimes and then it gets a bit better again.
Jarrod Stackelroth: And so, you know. Actually recognizing, though, how God, and this is a theme I always come back to, people are like, stop repeating yourself, Jared, but, like, actually seeing how God brought me out of the darkness last time helps me to see when I'm in it, in the middle of it, the next time, we'll actually, and this is a form of what we're talking about, reflecting gratefulness, thankfulness for what God has done for me in the past.[00:13:00]
Jarrod Stackelroth: When I'm in the middle and , it seems like my prayers aren't being answered, I've got no support, et cetera. I actually know that, yeah, I'm feeling like that now, but I've been in this situation before and God has actually pulled me out of it.
Zanita Fletcher: Yeah. Even if, , I guess like sometimes looking back to look forward, or even if you are like a younger person and haven't had those, , experiences before where you've seen God come through.
Zanita Fletcher: I know sometimes for example, if you were sitting around the table and everyone was sharing what they were grateful for, , that might lead you to be like frustrated or like disappointed because everyone else has had these awesome years and you haven't. But I think sometimes looking at other people's stories can give you hope.
Zanita Fletcher: , I guess it's just reframing how you're looking at it. , it's not like, Oh, I've had such a terrible year and everyone else has an awesome year, but it's like, Oh, they haven't always had an awesome year. Like they have had really bad years in the past and like they've gone through that and you can also get through that.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Yeah. And I believe Zanitta in using those as [00:14:00] opportunities to model that, like, I think, , Being intentionally recognizing, like, okay, if this is an open forum gratitude session, if this is a praise session, we've gathered as a church for New Year's, and we're being open , with our thankfulness, our gratitude, , I might actually use that opportunity to talk about something that's been really difficult.
Jarrod Stackelroth: But where God has seen me through and that I'm thankful to God for that. Because that gives other people in the room permission to, even if they don't feel comfortable sharing what they're in right now, they go, they get a little bit of hope for that. I , I think, , I think, yeah, we can become caught in, When we had , our daughter, we had written and talked about our infertility journey.
Jarrod Stackelroth: And we wrote about the miracle that God had given us that I, I wrestled with writing that editorial because I knew that people who hadn't had that experience would be upset. But at the same [00:15:00] time we'd solicited prayer. we'd, we'd put the story out there, the negative side of that. And it's like, if we can't praise God for the good things he does, even though life is broken sometimes, then that really puts us in a sticky situation in terms of trying to, , express anything.
Jarrod Stackelroth: And then we can end up repressing everything and not talking about it and not reflecting on it , and shutting it down. And that, that also, yeah, is a very uncomfortable place to be in for our faith, I think. So yeah, I'm, I'm a believer in , and sometimes it's, , as simple as you frame , the session, , the Thanksgiving, I would like to thank God for, and you leave it very open ended and then people can bring their difficult week, their, , positive, But I'm still thankful to God for such and such, , if you live in Australia and not all of our viewers may, but even just looking at the statistics, it's an interesting exercise [00:16:00] to be like, I have running water, I have a working toilet, I have food on the table, if I, .
Jarrod Stackelroth: So I'm 90 percent better off than most people in the history of the world and currently ever, you know, so there's a lot of things we can look for, I guess it's what you look for. If you look for negative things, you can find them. Yeah. But if you train yourself to look for positive things, you can also find those without being that smiley Cheshire cat, like all the time, like everything's perfect.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Good luck. That's the opposite. We put the mask on and, , that's a dangerous problem to have as well.
Zanita Fletcher: Anyone who's been to a third world country will know that when they come home, it's very easy to be thankful for the toilet paper and the flushing toilets.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Yeah.
Zanita Fletcher: You don't have to pay for a toilet or like just these little things that we forget, but it is true.
Zanita Fletcher: I think this is an awesome, , I guess mindset to go or to finish the year with as well, because many people, , getting together with family and a lot of people have. And a lot of people, this is like an anxiety inducing time [00:17:00] because, , they're not gathering in peace, I suppose. , that's just some people's reality on Christmas.
Zanita Fletcher: And so I think like having this gratitude mindset. Is a cool thing to kind of go into those situations with , like, if you notice the conversation going in a certain way, or if people are like, in these toxic cycles of talking about certain things, it's helpful to have certain questions to be able to like, ask people.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Do you know
Zanita Fletcher: what I mean? What
Jarrod Stackelroth: kind of questions? Well, you mentioned some
Zanita Fletcher: in your, like in your editorial, it's like just having these questions that are centered on graduate. And that's just not specifically like the simple answer of like, what are you grateful for this year? But like questions like, how has God shown up in your life this year?
Zanita Fletcher: Or what have you learned this year that you haven't learned before that,
Jarrod Stackelroth: um, has
Zanita Fletcher: really excited you? Or have you met anyone new this year that, , you've really enjoyed getting to know? Like, I guess questions that just have like that. Positive reflective tone, and that uh, like more specifically worded so that they don't end up going [00:18:00]
Jarrod Stackelroth: in the other direction.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Break the cycle.
Zanita Fletcher: Yeah.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Of negativity. Yeah.
Zanita Fletcher: Instead of just asking the question, what's going on? Or what's new? Like specifically asking a positively worded question will steer the conversation. Hopefully not, not necessarily, but like, you've got a higher chance of it heading in a positive direction than a negative.
Zanita Fletcher: And I think that can just be , helpful, if you are someone who has a lot of conflict in your family or like conversations go a certain way, it can be helpful to kind of like keep that in mind if you need.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. And , we hope that you don't have conflict this Christmas, but it definitely does happen.
Jarrod Stackelroth: , in my editorial, I pointed out this study and I found it really interesting. We, I thought we'd share it with you guys, , today. University of Indiana researchers, they got together, , a group of 300 students. Now, these were students who are already seeking mental health support. , or they'd reached out, they wanted to start the process to get counseling, , or some kind of support.
Jarrod Stackelroth: , [00:19:00] And so they divided them into three groups. So 300 students, I'm assuming there's a hundred students in each group. , One group didn't write anything. One group wrote about their deep thoughts and feelings about negative experience. So this is kind of that cathartic journaling, , getting it out of your system idea.
Jarrod Stackelroth: And then one group was asked to write a letter of gratitude each week for three weeks. Now, it was interesting that they didn't even get that group to send the letter. Not all of them sent the letter. In fact, a small amount of the participants actually sent the letter to the person. They were asked to picture a person, perhaps a family member or a friend, and they were going to send them that letter.
Jarrod Stackelroth: But not all of them did. All of that group , who had the letters of gratitude experienced significantly better mental health than the other two groups.
Zanita Fletcher: [00:20:00] Huh, so interesting.
Jarrod Stackelroth: And only 23 percent sent the letters, so what's that? The rest didn't send the letters, 70, 77%. didn't send the letters, but still experienced the benefits.
Jarrod Stackelroth: So it's not about the actual action of having that interaction with someone. It's just the interaction of reflecting on gratitude while you're, and these are people that are suffering some kind of mental ill health, like they're seeking. Better mental health. And they've experienced this improvement there.
Jarrod Stackelroth: I found that really interesting, that study.
Zanita Fletcher: Yeah, it's, I guess it makes sense because you're still going through that process of reflecting on it, even though you're not sharing it, because how often do you deeply dwell on your gratitude for just one person? It's not very often, but I think even that's a cool, like, Obviously do the exercise and don't feel pressured to send it, but it is a cool, Christmas.
Zanita Fletcher: Like, if [00:21:00] someone did, wrote me a letter and spoke it to me on Christmas, that would be, like, the ultimate gift to me, cause I'm, a words of affirmation person,
Jarrod Stackelroth: but I
Zanita Fletcher: think it's a cool, it's a cool thing to give someone around that Christmas period. Is that like thankfulness for them and what they've done, but yeah.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Gentlemen, if you haven't got gifts for your loved ones this Christmas, write them a letter, write it on some nice paper, wrap it and pretend you've put lots of thought into it because you've already missed The shopping window for this year might be a good last minute gift idea on this idea of writing and reflecting.
Jarrod Stackelroth: And I don't know if I've shared this , on record live before, but I've started this sort of thing called morning pages this year. , it's, , the artists way. I think it's Julia Cameron sort of popularized it. , but it's this concept of basically grabbing 15 minutes in the morning or added at any point.
Jarrod Stackelroth: But, , I think the morning's good to start the day with, And it's [00:22:00] not always reflection for me. It's not always been a reflective exercise, but often it does. If you're trying to think, what do I write this morning? And the idea is just to write for 15 minutes, just get what you can out. , it's not necessarily to be structured or to be thinking, Hey, someone else is going to read this.
Jarrod Stackelroth: It's just. to get the creative juices flowing, but also just to, yeah, I've found it a very helpful, reflective and often prayer exercise. Like often it turns into a prayer. , , I'm imagining my audience as God. He knows my thoughts. He's close. He wants to know the inner workings of my being.
Jarrod Stackelroth: So when I'm doing my morning pages and a lot of people, , recommend the sort of, , handwritten, you know, My handwriting is terrible. I hate, so I'm doing it on my laptop, but , you've got to, you've got to vary it for what works for you. Yeah. , but a couple of those times I've gone and probably not as much as I could or should, but I've gone, Hey, I need to be, what am I thankful for?[00:23:00]
Jarrod Stackelroth: And just putting out lists and , just all the things I'm thankful for in 15 odd minutes, trying to write them all down. And I've just found it a really helpful, just in general, the morning pages idea of reflecting on the year and reflecting on my week and reflecting on the day before. And it's given me a couple of, I would call almost breakthroughs of reframing situations in my life that I've been struggling with, , that have given me really positive Actions have come out of that because I've been able to spend that time actually wrestling with some of these things.
Jarrod Stackelroth: So I would recommend it, , as an option. I know not everyone's wired the same. For me as a words person, spending time with words in the morning for 15 minutes and just, Tapping out my thoughts and really working through that has been really helpful. Yeah, really helpful. So I don't know. I don't know if it would work for some of our audience, but it's something I would definitely recommend and it.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Something [00:24:00]
Zanita Fletcher: you can try while you've got extra time off during the
Jarrod Stackelroth: holidays. , it's, it's. I mean, journaling is a very similar concept, doing your devotion or your prayer, prayer journal in the morning. It's the same. It's similar. I've done those things in the past, but , this time I've tried to make it much more consistent, trying to do it as often as I can.
Jarrod Stackelroth: , I even had a, reminder in my calendar for a while just to say, Hey, Make sure you remember, even if I didn't do it that day, I had that reminder pop up and I was like, I really should be doing this. , when I do have the opportunity. So,
Zanita Fletcher: yeah. And for those of you who don't like writing or are shorter on time, even through the holidays, , I know something my brother does is he will like, he'll be walking home from work or he'll be walking to the train station.
Zanita Fletcher: And he'll, , record a note in his phone, like, like, what good things have, , happened that day, or,
Jarrod Stackelroth: like, yeah, he'll
Zanita Fletcher: just audio record it, , but something that I sometimes just do is, like, if I'm walking somewhere or if I'm cleaning the house or doing something, I'll just, audibly start talking and, like, almost, like, praying, I guess, about, , the things, because sometimes [00:25:00] it can just help, , if you think it, if you just, like, think it in your head, I find it really easy to just get distracted and start thinking about something else, but if you're, like, physically speaking something out can help you stay more on track and just feels more conversational.
Zanita Fletcher: , So that could be another idea, but I guess landing the conversation Jared
Jarrod Stackelroth: I
Zanita Fletcher: would be interested to know like obviously you've been doing morning pages and you've already kind of been in reflective stage Is there anything that God has taught you this year or anything that you're like particularly?
Zanita Fletcher: , what are you most grateful for for 2024?
Jarrod Stackelroth: That's a great question. And I wasn't thinking about it beforehand, so you've sprung it on me. Now I've got to think about it. I'm very grateful that, although it's been a very crazy year, , I feel, I feel pretty drained right now this week, to be honest. I'm pretty much at the end of my strength.
Jarrod Stackelroth: But I feel thankful for the year itself, because although it's [00:26:00] been busy, although it's been draining, there's been a lot of stuff happening, . I feel better equipped going into next year. I feel more optimistic and more hopeful going into next year than I did going into this year. , last year was really rough, like existential crises, burnout, , I was feeling like, yeah, right on the edge of burnout last year.
Jarrod Stackelroth: , and I've managed to do some of these things like the reflection and some of the training and equipping that I've had this year has really helped to make me feel, , and God has been a big part of that. I see that, it's, yes, I've picked up practical life tools, but God has also helped me in some of those reframing moments, like I was saying, , the morning pages, a couple of those breakthroughs I've had, I believe that God's Guidance God's leading because I've been working out a problem in my way, trying to write down and reflect on, ah, this is, I don't know how to solve this.
Jarrod Stackelroth: And then God's just like [00:27:00] flipped it around for me. God likes to remind me of this. You need to start with yourself. You can't change other people. You can't always change situations and scenarios, change your own mindset, and that will help you get to the point where you're much more comfortable with things.
Jarrod Stackelroth: And God's doing that work in me this year, and I'm grateful for that. So I'm looking at next year with optimism, with excitement, like next year is going to be a good year because this year I've been threshed. I've been, , refined. God's been, , doing things and I'm grateful for that because like, if I looked at where I started this year, I was in a much less optimistic, less hopeful place.
Jarrod Stackelroth: , of course my family, seeing the kids grow and develop little personalities and learn about God, sing songs and whatever. It's so much fun. , I'm grateful for my family. But I'm grateful for the work God's doing in me as well.
Zanita Fletcher: Awesome.
Jarrod Stackelroth: What about you Zanina? What are you grateful for?
Jarrod Stackelroth: What
Zanita Fletcher: am I grateful for?
Jarrod Stackelroth: You've got to pick one out of the [00:28:00] 365 days of, , almost
Zanita Fletcher: amazing
Jarrod Stackelroth: things.
Zanita Fletcher: , well, I kind of went into this year pretty chill. Like I didn't actually set massive goals. , just kind of went in, not really knowing what to expect. I think the last years I've struggled with my relationship with God in a sense of like, Haven't had a lot of, I've just struggled to hear him, struggled to connect with him.
Zanita Fletcher: Probably started the year like quite confused and wasn't expecting much. I think because the last few years I didn't really feel like I caught that much. So I guess I was just expecting the same, but not as intense. But I feel like God really answered some massive prayers and really gave me a lot of clarity around things, which has been a real blessing and it's kind of one of those moments where you're like, Oh, he did come through , because I guess I don't have a whole life of, , I guess I'm still quite young in my journey, so I don't have a whole life of looking back at those like prayers and things.
Zanita Fletcher: , so I'm really grateful for that and just really grateful for , I feel like this year has been simple, like nothing crazy has happened, but [00:29:00] I've just really enjoyed The day to day routines of life , I feel like I've just been in a good routine, , have awesome people around me, , and I've just really enjoyed like simple life.
Zanita Fletcher: , like I have had awesome, I have had a few awesome adventures, but I've really just enjoyed the small things, like the connections, the friendships, I've enjoyed work. I've enjoyed just spending time with my family, enjoy simple activities and camping in nature. , So yeah, I feel not often you just have these like chill periods in life,
Jarrod Stackelroth: but
Zanita Fletcher: usually there's something massive happening or there's some conflict or something to complain about.
Zanita Fletcher: But I feel like the second half at least of the year has just been, ah, cruisy. And I'm, yeah, I'm really grateful for that because you don't always have those feelings in life.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Awesome. Well, yeah, this may be the last record live this year. We probably will wrap up after this, , but we just want to thank you guys for , joining us.
Jarrod Stackelroth: , Zanita, thank you [00:30:00] for sharing this year, some of your journey with us, , with the audience and for asking penetrating questions. , there's been some really good conversations that we've had. , if you're missing us over the break, you can go and listen to old episodes on the podcast or on YouTube, , Facebook, where you haven't, , been able to get, get those, , but until then, yeah, have a safe and a happy.
Jarrod Stackelroth: holiday season, if you're traveling or if you're spending time with family, , we encourage you to spend some time reflecting and finding some gratefulness. , God bless you all. , we've loved journeying with you this year and we look forward to seeing you again next year.
Zanita Fletcher: Yeah. Thank you for joining us, everyone.
Zanita Fletcher: Thank you. God
Jarrod Stackelroth: bless.