Pursuing Your Dreams when Facing Opposition – Podcast Episode 27

Natural Living Family Podcast, Episode 27 Transcript: Pursuing Your Dreams 

The contents of this presentation are for informational purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This presentation does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

[0:00 – 1:14] Prelude

Dr. Z: You need to do what Jesus did. You need to do all of this. You need to go on the mountain sometimes. You need to get away from people. You need to recharge.

Mama Z: Yes, you need to.

Dr. Z: You need to surround yourself with that inner circle. Like Jesus had hundreds, literally hundreds of people that He would preach to follow Him. But He had his inner circle. He had His twelve. And then from there He had only three that He brought up on the Mount of Transfiguration. He had his inner-inner circle.

Mama Z: Right.

Dr. Z: So, that’s what you need. And I pray and I hope that any of you who are resonating with this message, you have someone in your life. And if you don’t, then you need to pray and ask God to put someone in your life. And it doesn’t have to “a best friend.” It doesn’t have to be someone that you share your deepest, darkest secrets to. It could be someone that is a casual acquaintance, but they believe in you.

Mama Z: Right. But it doesn’t have to be someone who is going to tickle your ear, either. It’s someone who’s going to make sure to challenge you. Because if you both think the same way about everything, then probably one of you isn’t needed. You know what I mean.

Dr. Z: We all need a cheerleader. We need someone in our corner.

Mama Z: We do. We need a cheerleader and someone that’s going to always keep you to task. Because if people are just going to compliment you the whole time, then you’re not going to have that iron sharpens iron experience. And you have to have that grounded in the love of Jesus.

 

[1:15 -1:49] Intro to Pursuing Your Dreams

Dr. Z: Hi! This is Dr. Z.

Mama Z: And Mama Z. And welcome to episode 27 of the Natural Living Family podcast.

Dr. Z: Each week we invite you into our home to talk about how you can master the art and science of natural living. And we share the same tips our family uses every day to enjoy an abundant life. And you’re going to love today’s talk.

Mama Z: So, come on in and get comfortable. After all, you’re one of the family, our natural living family.

Dr. Z: But before we dive into all the fun today, we’re excited to share a special note about today’s sponsor.

 

[1:50 – 2:14] Sponsor Spotlight: Thrive Market

Mama Z: As a special gift to our Natural Living Family podcast listeners, Thrive Market is giving you twenty-five percent off your first order.

Dr. Z: Plus a free thirty-day trial. Simply go to NaturalLivingFamilyPodcast.com to find the special link so you could redeem this deal on the show notes from today’s episode.

[2:15 – 4:59] Diffuser Reveal: Invigorating Summer Blend

Dr. Z: Well, hey there, everybody! Welcome to the show. This is episode 27 of the Natural Living Family podcast, titled “Pursuing Your Dreams in the Face of Opposition.” And this is coming on the tail of a two-part series where we talked about detoxing your home and your life.

And if you haven’t, make sure to tune into episodes 25 and part two in episode 26, where we cover essentially Mama Z’s healthy home toxic-free makeover, where she gave all of our viewers, almost 100,000 people by the way. Almost 100,000 people have watched our home tour, where you showed people how to detox the kitchen, the pantry, the bathroom, the laundry and the garden. And if you haven’t had the privilege of watching that, just simply go to NaturalLivingFamily.com/HomeMakeover.

And while we were talking two episodes ago, something kind of came about where we were giving the announcement of you are officially Mrs.

Mama Z: Georgia! Yea!

Dr. Z: Yea! And by proxy I am

Mama Z: Mr. Georgia. So, even though you can’t see it, he has like an invisible banner that says, “Mr. Georgia-America.” Because he is like the biggest cheerleader that I have, and his pom-poms are not included. But he is my biggest cheerleader. So, God bless Him!

Dr. Z: Yea! Hey, without a mister, there ain’t no Mrs.

Mama Z: There you go.

Dr. Z: I am blessed to call you my wife.

Mama Z: Oh!

Dr. Z: So, when we were talking about, and this was kind of like the intro to episode 25, we were talking about the pageant. And I was sharing some of the comments that we’ve gotten from some of the people that saw the announcement online. And the term “purity Christian” came up there, I mentioned. And then I’m like, “You know what? We’ve got talk about this more, because you got some pushback.” You got some pushback from some of the little more religious people out there. And it made me think of some of the other pushback we’ve gotten.

And we could have easily entitled this podcast, “Pursuing Your Dreams When People Are Against You.” But before we cover all of that today, this is what we really want to help you out with. We want to help you reach your God-given destiny and pursuing your dreams even when it’s not easy. And we’ve had some things that we’ve experienced that we hope will encourage you. But before we do

Mama Z: I want to talk about what’s in our diffuser, because this time we did wild orange, cedarwood, petitgrain, bergamot, coriander, and magnolia. So, your summer blend. So, get in there and use those oils, because it will motivate you, and it is very happy. I love it!

 

[5:00 – 6:12] Testimonial Time!

Dr. Z: Awesome! Hey, you want to cover our featured review of the week, too?

Mama Z: Absolutely.

Dr. Z: Because I’ve been kind of hogging those a little bit. You’ve been calling me out. You’re like, “I want to read a review.”

Mama Z: Yea, I think this is only like the second or third one that I’ve ever read.

Dr. Z: Just assert yourself. Take it, girl.

Mama Z: This one, five stars. Thank you. “Love the podcast. I just started listening. I love these. Dr. Z and Mama Z, you guys are great.”

Dr. Z: Oh!

Mama Z: “You’re not afraid to air all the bad along with the good. And you seem to have so much fun together as a family. Keep up the wonderful work. Love you guys. Deb and John, via Apple podcast, United States.”

Dr. Z: Yea! Well, thank you for all your reviews and comments. And we started doing this a few months ago, and I love it. I mean we have lots. Like we have 250 plus at this point that we are going to read one or two a week. And I love it. I love it! We just want to thank you and let you know we appreciate you, especially for those of you who watch these podcasts. We try our best to put them up on YouTube, also, and Facebook relatively quick when we publish the audio version. And we just thank you. We love you and we appreciate you.

Mama Z: Yea.

 

[6:13 – 14:39] Guarding Your Attention to Achieve Your Goals

Dr. Z: And again, this topic was motivated…And we’re kind of at a point right now where it’s like summer break. Our whole world just in a nice good way, God just shifted direction a little bit now that Mama Z is Mrs. Georgia. That opens up a lot of opportunities to do a lot of things. And we are kind of going along the ways of okay, we’ve covered a lot of things already since February, since we first launched this podcast.

Mama Z: Right.

Dr. Z: I kind of have what I already feel is a good schedule for the first year. But this was not on the schedule. And some things I’m noticing, and God is so faithful. He’s always been faithful, when I read a book, when we’ve developed a new business, when we’ve quit our jobs and chased after a dream of opening up a health center.

Mama Z: I still to this day, every time I think about when we were brainstorming on the way home from Georgia, I still can’t believe we actually did it.

Dr. Z: It’s been ten years.

Mama Z: It wouldn’t have made sense in the natural. But God has opened all the doors.

Dr. Z: One decade.

Mama Z: I know. It’s hard to believe.

Dr. Z: And this is where we’ve learned to just flow with the Lord. You know, like, “A man’s mind plans his ways,” the Lord says, “But the Lord directs his steps.” And this is where I feel topics like this that come in the moment. And I’m just like, again, if you’re listening you can’t see obviously.

Mama Z: Right.

Dr. Z: For those of you who are watching, I have a notepad. I’m taking notes and like, “Oh, that would be great to talk about next, or do this or do that.” So, this is really important. And I’m going to set the stage. And Mama Z is going to share with you a little bit about some things that happened in an earlier stage of life and how she pursued her dreams in the face of opposition. And also, we could seriously talk about pursuing your dreams when people are against you.

And that really was the motivating aspect to this talk that made me want to address this. How important is it, how critically important is it to have a support system of people that love you and that want to see you do good and that push you to be your best?

Mama Z: Right.

Dr. Z: It’s hard. And maybe something I want you to talk about is jealousy, especially with women. And that’s something that I suspect is an underlying issue with a lot of the criticism that we get, is there’s an underlying jealousy.

And I love this podcast for a number of reasons. Chris and I were just talking before the show. And for those of you who are new to the podcast, Chris is our audio/video guy. Chris, are you there?

Chris: Yes sir.

Dr. Z: We love Chris. And we love his wife, Cheryl, a magnificent writer and just famous in her own right and her own space.

Mama Z: And a good friend.

Dr. Z: Yes. And very special people. And we were just talking about this podcast, and what are we doing with the podcast, because quite frankly, this is a huge commitment to do this podcast. I mean we have four kids. We’re actually filming this podcast right now. What time is it, like eight o’clock at night? And it’s something that we’ve done, and we’ve devoted to the Lord, and we’ve seen the fruit.

One of the things I really appreciate about this podcast is the opportunity to really get to know people on a deep level. And people that look at us from the initial first impression, they’re just like, “He doesn’t get it. They have a silver spoon in their mouth. They’re rich and famous, and they don’t know what it’s like.”

Like I can’t tell you how much criticism we’ve gotten from the book, The Essential Oils Diet, from people that would be like, “You have no idea what it’s like living on a budget. Who can afford this stuff?” I’m like, “You didn’t read the book, because we talk about that, because we know what it’s like being on food stamps. We know what it’s like being broke with a capital B. We know what it’s like adopting healthy natural living strategies because we had to.”

This is something that I realized, the initial reaction from people often times is jealousy. Like “Look at them, holier than thou. Look at them. Look at how pretty she is. She doesn’t understand my pain. She doesn’t know what it’s like being overweight. Look at him.” And I say that because this is something that we’ve gotten a lot since being out in the inter webs. You know, when you have five and a half to six plus million people, I can’t tell you out of all the people that follow us on our website and social media, just the stuff that people throw at us.

Mama Z: Well, at least we don’t read our hate mail anymore.

Dr. Z: No.

Mama Z: I mean sometimes you look at it. And see, the thing with you is that on Facebook, you’ll ban and block people. And that’s you knee jerk, because you want to keep it in a positive environment, and that’s really important. Sometimes you’ve done that even before I’ve even seen it, so, I’m so clueless. And when we got a chance to meet Elizabeth, our director of customer happiness, her just sharing and us sharing together just between the things that people say.

And thing is that God has given us a plan and a purpose. And we do have to keep those blinders on, because God has given us exactly what we need to do. And if we were to like look at all of the outside stuff, just like if the Kentucky Derby champion starts looking around at either side, they’re not going to be focused on the goals. And if we don’t focus on the goals, then we’re not going to get to the place that God has us.

And so, it’s so important that we keep our eyes on the prize, and that’s the Lord and where God has put us, and that we wouldn’t get distracted by all this other stuff. So, I’m thankful sometimes that you do ban and block people, because it does create that positive environment. And we want people to be able to grow and thrive in that. And when you bring negativity and you bring envy and strife, it allows for every evil work. And we just can’t have that in our community, because we want a positive environment for people to grow. And we need to be able to keep our eyes on what God has us doing.

Dr. Z: Amen! Amen! And so, there’s something that the Lord has brought us through, not only since we’ve been married, but even before we got married, and especially, again, the books and the websites and the podcasts and things like that. Here’s just the bottom line first. I should have mentioned this ten minutes ago. Satan, the enemy of our souls, does not want you to succeed fulfilling your call in Christ.

Mama Z: Absolutely.   

Dr. Z: Satan can’t steal your salvation. We know this for sure. You are saved by grace by the blood of the Lamb. You are eternally marked as God’s own. Okay, now that’s for eternity. That’s pretty cool. Think about that for a second. You don’t have to worry about when you die.

I used to freak out when I was a kid. I used to have nightmares when I was a kid. What am I going to do when I die? Like I just remember satan just really attacking me when I was a kid. And I didn’t know. I didn’t have a relationship with God at the time. And I was just in a pit of just despair. I remember like being freaked out for a big portion of my youth with fear of death.

People are afraid of dying for a reason. I’m not afraid of dying. I don’t want to die. I have a lot of life to live. I want to live life.

Mama Z: Wow! It sounds like you’ve conquered number one and number two of public speaking. And death is number two.

Dr. Z: Big fears now is just jumping out of an airplane, which we’ve got to talk about.

Mama Z: No, We’re never. No, no, no.

Dr. Z: That’s in the bucket list.

Mama Z: No, it’s off that bucket list.

Dr. Z: We’ll talk about that later. So, I actually tried to jump out of an airplane twice. And both times it got cancelled at the last minute, because of air problems.

Mama Z: Good thing. I hope that was before you met me.

Dr. Z: Because of weather and because of like high winds.

Mama Z: Hallelujah.

Dr. Z: It was. And I was like, “Okay, two times, three times a charm or three strikes you’re out kind of thing.”

 

[14:40 – 19:00] Are Distractions Hindering You?

So, the thing is this. Here’s the bottom line, again. When it comes to the dreams and the visions that God has placed on your heart, the enemy of your soul does not want to see that manifest. Because if you do manifest that, if you do make that happen by God’s grace, you will change the world.

Now the world meaning, what’s the world? The world is your neighborhood. The world is your family. The world is relative.

Mama Z: Your sphere of influence.

Dr. Z: Yes, your sphere of influence. And what the enemy has done, and this is so biblical. Just open up the Bible and you’ll see what the enemy has done, and what he will continue to do is make people distracted. Matthew chapter 13, the seeds that God plants are either going to fall on rocky soil, fertile soil, thorny ground, whatever, fallow ground. And what happens? The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke out. And that’s something that’s happening a lot.

Mama Z: Right.

Dr. Z: So, the fruit that should be manifesting, the fruit, your life should be so fruitful. “I’m the Vine; you’re the branches.” We’ve got to go back to the Gospels and see the design that God has for us is not only to be saved for all eternity, but to be fruitful so we can bring not only as many people as possible with us into the kingdom, but to give them a life worth living. Right?

Mama Z: Right. Well, I remember just being a younger Christian in Midland, Michigan in our home church back there. And one of the preachers talked about unwrapping the gift of the people in front of you, like the preachers, your pastor, all of that stuff.

And so, we might have a certain package about us. And some people may get little nuggets from us or from a pastor or a preacher in church. But if you look at just the gift from the outside, what if the gift was wrapped really ugly and you didn’t really like the package. Would you unwrap it or not? And what the minister was trying to say was that you can get something from anybody who’s teaching something if they have the right heart, even if you don’t like the package. And even if you don’t like me or like you,

Dr. Z: I like you.

Mama Z: And I like you. But just unwrapping that package, because it’s so important, because you can get a tidbit out of anything.

Dr. Z: Yep.

Mama Z: And if you allow yourself to be distracted or jealous or envious or whatever, then you’re going to rob yourself of a possible lesson. And it doesn’t matter who is preaching or who is teaching, whether you’re on a podcast or listening in church or whatever, you should be able to get something out of that message and unwrap that gift of the person that’s giving it.

So many times when you are in a place, it’s by God’s design. And you have to see what the purpose is in you being there. There is always a purpose in what God has for that moment. And whether that is the person that’s teaching something in front of you or not, there’s a reason for that, whether it’s something going on in your life or something that you’re dealing with, or something that you’re about to deal with. And you’re getting the tools to arm yourself to be able to handle it.

And the thing is, if you just say, “Oh well, that person is that, or this person is that,” you’re going to totally rob yourself of what God has for you in that moment. And God is well able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all we could ask or think.

Dr. Z: Amen!

Mama Z: And he arms us in different areas, instant in season and out of season. You never know when season comes into season. And it could be tomorrow. It could be a couple of weeks from now. It could be a couple of months from now. But you want to be ready and armed. And who knows what you might be ignoring that could possibly change your life?

 

[19:01 – 26:34] Spiritual Maturity and Pursuing Your Dreams

Dr. Z: So, what’s happening right now is when you meet the Lord, when you become one with Him, and you’re filled with His Holy Spirit, there’s an anointing. There’s like a little transaction that happens in the Spirit. God starts to deposit into you things. And your purpose, your calling, starts to become clearer as you seek Him. And like the book of Proverbs says, “The path of the righteous is like the rising of the Sun that gets brighter and brighter to the full light of day.” The path for many people is dark. They just can’t see. They don’t know what’s happening.

There are a couple of different ways you can read that verse. One is like the path is darkness, like depressed, sad, sickness, darkness, death. That’s one way. And that’s the opposite of righteousness. Righteous people, by God’s blessing, Deuteronomy 28 talks about blessing. You obey the Lord and He will bless you. He will just pour upon you all the blessings of Heaven and Earth.

The other way of looking at it is God will continue to lighten the path, like “His Word is a lamp unto your feet.” So, you know what to do. You know what the next step is. As you really get in tune with the Lord, I see God trusting us with more and more and more.

Mama Z: Right.

Dr. Z: And this is the key. The more wisdom that God gives you, it’s like a gift. The more mature you become, God entrusts to you more of the future, so you start now having dreams of the future. You start having visions of what it is that God has for you. Baby Christians, God is just trying to get them just stable in the Word, and just get them to stop sinning and realize, “Hey, you reap what you sow.” Get to church, and read your Bible. And God is just really trying to help people just get light.

But once people get that down, this is where the topic of the podcast is coming from, pursuing your dreams. Like when you’re at a point of spiritual maturity that you’ve been given God-given dreams, God-given visions, something happens. And it’s like satan knows. And the enemy knows. Now we know there’s only one Devil. But there are many demons. And we know that there’s a spiritual battle, warring against our soul. And so, once someone gets enlightened to their purpose, their vision, their ministry, then that’s when things happen.

And this is the key. Go back to what Jesus said to Peter when Peter was opposing him, trying to say, “No, Lord, you’re not going to go die on the cross. You’re not going to fulfill your dream. You’re not going to fulfill your purpose. Jesus said, “Turn around. Get behind me, satan.” I mean one of the most influential apostles and men of God ever, who has been sitting at the feet of Jesus for a few years, and Jesus looked at Him, turned around and said, “Get behind me, satan.” Satan was affecting a very holy man of God. And anyone of us is subject to that.

And so, the enemy will use whomever to get us from following our dream. And I use the word dream very carefully, because God gives us the dream. God gives us the vision. God gives us that purpose. And so, in context of today’s talk, God, we believe, gave Sabrina, Mama Z here, a dream to be a state title holder of a pageant, and also a national title holder of a pageant many, many years ago. And it finally manifested a month ago.

Mama Z: Right. But before that, I just remember for some people school came really easy. Like you, school came really easy, sports came really easy. And I had to work at everything I did very hard. And I remember even as a state title holder for speed skating working every day and watching other people around me who it was really a natural gift. And I really believe that through those teachings I learned perseverance and some of the things I needed to because of that. And I’m thankful for that.

But I remember years ago when I first started with the pageants, I almost didn’t walk through the doors that first day. And I had the opportunity to meet one of my heroes, Bonnie Blair, a gold medalist in the Olympics for speed skating. And I was going to be late to the first practice. And I didn’t know anybody except for one couple that helped out. And I walked in the doors late because I was at this dinner. And I heard everybody practicing, and I thought, “Oh no, I don’t know if I can do this.” And I walked out. And then I was like, “Oh no, I go to church with these people. They’re going to wonder why I wasn’t at practice.

Dr. Z: Yea, exactly.

Mama Z: So, then I turned around and walked back in. But then I heard them practicing again, and I walked out. And then I’m like, “Oh, they know I’m not shy, because I’ve never been shy at church. So, I better go.” And then I walked through those doors, and that changed my life forever. And I met Sally. And she said over the years, and it took me four years to win her pageant, and actually four different local Miss America pageants to win my first one. But it was my fourth time winning that one, which was my second title to win Miss Auburn.

And she said, “You know, every year you’re going to get better and better at each thing you do. And if you don’t lose sight of what’s on your heart, then you’ll always be able to accomplish any goal. And if there are certain areas we need to work on, we’ll work on them, step by step. And when you work on each little thing, it all adds together to a big thing.” And she said, “You know in the process of that, some people aren’t going to understand what you’re doing. And some people can be jealous of it. But you just have to stay focused and not think about what happens all around here. Just focus on what you’re doing step by step.”

And I think that’s an important thing for each one of us to think about in life, because life can get us off of our goals and dreams and aspirations. But if they’re still in there, sometimes you’ve got to dig them out and brush them off and see what’s still going on there. And you know what? I met her in 1996. And she’s eighty-one years old, and she’ll be going to Mrs. America, too.

Dr. Z: She’s so sweet.

Mama Z: Yep.

Dr. Z: But what happened? How about this, like the first few years?

Mama Z: Yea.

Dr. Z: I mean what opposition did you face from people? Because this is the context of today’s show. We’ve talked about overcoming odds in other things. But this is something that we’ve experienced more acutely the more influence God has given us.

 

[26:35 – 32:27] Allowing Time and Space for Transformation

Mama Z: But even before that, when I had the chemical burn on my face. So, every school dance or every function at school, all the girls, people even wrote me on Facebook saying, “I remember when we used to all go over to your house and get ready for the dance.” And it was neat for an old friend to write me. “And I remember you got everybody else ready.” And then I would literally put my makeup on in the car on the way over to school.

But we would do hair. And we would do makeup and have fun. And when I had the chemical burn happen to my face, I was in the eighth grade. And that was really, really tough. And people say, “Oh well, your skin looks great now,” or “You look good now.” But in eleventh grade I had somebody come up to me and say, “You know that story about the ugly duckling? Well, that was you.” And I was like, “Okay, thanks.”

Dr. Z: Yea.

Mama Z: Or, “You bloomed a lot later.” Yea.

Dr. Z: You hit your ugly stage, huh?

Mama Z: Yea, you hit the ugly stick there early. And then I showed you some of my pictures from junior high and high school. And you had a couple of things to say there on some of those pictures. So, I mean everybody can look at where you’re at now, but nobody knows what you’ve gone through to get to that place.

Dr. Z: At the time when you had the chemical burn, did you have the dream of competing in pageants?

Mama Z: I had the dream of one day looking at my skin and not seeing scars and marks all over the place.

Dr. Z: But you were discouraged?

Mama Z: At one point, I prayed over my skin every single night. And I had so many scars that I remember looking in the mirror and just like putting my hands up, and I thanked God for clean and clear skin. And even if it was only like this little spot that I could see that was clean and clear, even if I had to squint, because there were times that that was the case. When it first happened, I knew that God would help in that time. But it was a very tough time.

Dr. Z: So, we’re talking about dreams, though, okay. We’re talking about dreams, all right? So, the title of this is “Pursuing Your Dreams in the Face of Opposition,” and when people are against you.

Mama Z: Yes. And I remember watching pageants on TV, dreaming that one day that I would be able to do something like that.

Dr. Z: So, what happened recently was Sabrina just won Mrs. Georgia a month and a half ago. And we got an influx of support and “Praise God! Congratulations!” And then we got, and it kind of surprised me. And something similar happened when we were featured on The 700 Club last year, or when CBN did a segment and they featured the segment on The 700 Club last year. We got some really stiff criticism from “fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.”

And that’s tough when your own people, your brothers and sisters…Again, we call them brothers and sisters. You don’t meet these people, and hopefully we’ll see them in Heaven kind of thing. But these are people that are supposed to be part of the body of Christ. We’re supposed to encourage, exhort, and admonish one another. And because of their ignorance of certain things, they feel very much justified to condemn in a way where it’s like an open rebuke on social media, or an open rebuke on email or on this podcast.

And one thing that some women have a problem with is that you compete in a swimsuit when it comes to the pageant. And the thing is it’s not like loving. It’s not like, “Hey, I just want to know.” It’s not like a private email, like “Hey, I just want you to know like are you sure this is okay? This is a reason why I feel this might not be appropriate.” Now, these people are like, “How dare she claim to be a Christian and she’s flaunting her stuff on stage?! Look at that dress!”

And I started looking at your clothes. And your swimsuit was a swimsuit. And what are you going to use at the beach? And it’s like this. Angela, our content director, made a comment, because she has a lot of experience in this world from her past. The purity church, like women wearing dresses down to their ankles, doilies on their head. You can never show your elbows. That kind of fear that you’re going to cause men to stumble, so they’re basically wearing like a hijab. That’s some of the opposition that we’ve gotten from people about your pageant.

And some of the opposition we’ve gotten from people…You wouldn’t believe this, by the way. When we teach about essential oils, the most criticism we get is from Christians. “How dare you say… How you dare you teach that devil oil stuff?” Seriously, like 700 Club. Like when we were on The 700 Club, they rebuked Pat Robertson and The 700 Club for featuring us, because we’re preaching devil oil.

Mama Z: And he is so progressive. I mean it’s like people haven’t gotten on board in the area, it’s kind of sad a little bit. But one thing we have to remember is that when we’re in a certain area of influence, there’s always going to be judgment one way or the other, whether it’s going to be trying to discredit what you’re doing. But a lot of times it’s based in fear of something.

 

[32:28 – 36:54] Are Jealousy and Fear Coloring Your Perspective?

Dr. Z: I think jealousy, fear, and I think it’s a mirror, like Paul says in the book of Corinthians. People see themselves when they look at the Bible, and they see something that they’re not happy with.

Mama Z: Right. And one thing that after my sister told her story, about her husband passing and all the different things when they let go of the balloons.

Dr. Z: Oh, that was a tough one.

Mama Z: And her beautiful story.

Dr. Z: You’ve got to tell the story. People don’t know this one.

Mama Z: So, my sister’s husband passed away—

Dr. Z: Five years ago.

Mama Z: a few years ago. And at Father’s Day, she wrote her husband in Heaven a letter. And the kids each wrote a card. And they tied the card to balloons, and they let it go. And they’re in Michigan.

Dr. Z: Really young kids.

Mama Z: Young.

Dr. Z: Like two and four?

Mama Z: My niece never knew her father not sick.

Dr. Z: Yea.

Mama Z: So, he was diagnosed when she was like five months old or whatever. So, they let these balloons go. And they ended up, they’re in a nicer area around Flynt, Michigan. So, the balloons ended up all the way over in Sarnia, Canada. And they ended up on the doorstep of this family. And these people researched them to figure out who they were. They found out who they were. They found out what the kids would like or want, bought them presents, and sent them presents. It’s just a beautiful story. It was covered

Dr. Z: Who were the presents from? Aren’t they from daddy? Didn’t they send them on behalf?

Mama Z: But it wasn’t written like that. It wasn’t written as a lie, so to speak. It was written very special. 

Dr. Z: It was sweet, though.

Mama Z: It was something super sweet.

Dr. Z: It was beyond thoughtful.

Mama Z: But all people could talk about was how that they were going to hurt marine life.

Dr. Z: Well, hold on a second. Someone got a hold of this, like a social media giant on Facebook. I forget what it is; like the “Happiness Channel.”

Mama Z: Yea. Isn’t it like “Happiness People” or something?

Dr. Z: Twenty million views of this. And they did a video.

Mama Z: And then it went up to like thirty million and then sixty million.

Dr. Z: Unbelievable.

Mama Z: It’s so crazy. So, when she started getting opposition, people were like, “You’re going to kill marine life, because you’re letting go balloons.” Like stuff you would not believe.

Dr. Z: Like she’s still mourning the death of her husband. And the kids, they did something.

Mama Z: Yea. So, the bottom line is, and this is something that we came up with, is that in this technological day and age, it’s so easy to namelessly sit behind a computer and hack all this stuff out and be a bully online, because you feel powerless in your own situation.

Dr. Z: Exactly.

Mama Z: Because your name might be associated to it, but you’re not face to face. Like, there are so many people who would never, even if they saw us at the grocery store, would never come up to us and say the things that they feel entitled to say online—

Dr. Z: Never.

Mama Z: And would you ever go up to somebody at your church who just lost their husband and say the kind of things that people have said over the air, or even about destroying marine life. And the balloons, no marine life was hurt in the process of this video, because they literally landed on this doorstep. And they found these letters.

And then they have created a relationship. And this family and my sister’s family have a relationship that never would have happened had this not happened. And it’s a beautiful relationship.

Dr. Z: So, the dream was to help the children more. And the dream as to celebrate her husband’s life. The dream was to give the kids something that they could remember for hopefully maybe the rest of their lives.

Mama Z: Yes.

Dr. Z: And unbelievable opposition occurred.

Mama Z: So, she just had to stop looking at it. And at one point I remember looking at it, and I just was like dumbfounded. But then the people that would come back and fight on their behalf…

Dr. Z: In private message. And then people find out who you are, and then they private message you. And then people, it’s like hate mail times a million.

Mama Z: But before we talk about that, a word from our sponsor.

 

[36:55 – 37:34] Sponsor Spotlight: Thrive Market

Dr. Z: There’s nothing like hearing the doorbell of the delivery person, letting me know that a Thrive Market package has landed on our doorstep. It’s like Christmas time every time we get a package.

Mama Z: Yes, from ingredients to snacks, it’s so awesome. And the kids go nuts.

Dr. Z: We love Thrive Market, the convenience, the price, and just the movement, because we know that every dollar spent goes towards a more sustainable, healthy, natural world. So, if you haven’t joined, then what are you waiting for? You’re going to absolutely love it.

 

[37:35 – 44:28] Surround Yourself with Supportive People

Dr. Z: So, the thing is, the enemy, satan, will use whomever. And this is the thing. Satan can use me. Satan can convince me, and he has. And that’s something we’ll talk about after we share a moment about this sponsor. But satan can use anybody. And just like we saw with Peter and Jesus, “Get behind me, satan.”

Like we need to be so in tune with the Lord, so fixated on our goals and dreams that God has given us, that we’re like Christ. I will do whatever it is that God has me to do, and I’m destined to do this. And Christ lived His life for His ministry. And we saw a man so determined and He never faltered. You know, a little confession to make was that I was not supportive of Sabrina and pageants initially.

Mama Z: Yea, because you grew up in an environment that didn’t really harness that.

Dr. Z: Yea. And so, I was very much raised in an environment that was judgmental against pageants as a whole. Every stigma you could think of for pageants, that was what I was raised with. We weren’t raised watching Miss America. We were raised kind of looking down upon that, for a lot of reasons. We didn’t have a lot of money. My mom didn’t understand it. And there was this element where I got hung up on what could potentially be negative when it came to pageants.

And so, when I met Sabrina, the truth was I never really accepted that part of her. And that was a huge part of who she was. And even though she was too old to compete for pageants when I met her, she couldn’t go back to Miss America. She was too old at the time. I just thought, “Okay, that was something she did in the past. She outgrew it. And we’re good.”

And so, I didn’t realize that by me really not embracing that part of her, I created a rift in our marriage, because I really wasn’t embracing her. By me not accepting that aspect of her life, I really wasn’t loving her. And God worked on me. It took several years. And then when she came to me in 2014, 2015, sharing like, “Hey, I think I might want to compete for Mrs. Georgia,” I was like dumbfounded. I was like, “No way.” It was like one of those, I would never have you do that. I would never want us to do that. And again, I was back to the judgment. I opposed her. And quite frankly, I confessed to her. I actually asked her forgiveness. So, this is not anything…

Mama Z: Right.

Dr. Z: But the reality was, I saw how the enemy used me to shut down her dream. And here she is, I’m supposed to be her biggest cheerleader and support her. And I was like, “No way.”

Mama Z: Well, and in our church group, one of the girls had competed in Mrs. Georgia. And she had competed in a variety of Mrs. pageants. And so, I had reached out to her. I said I thought I might want to. So, I wanted to do some recon before I said I wanted to or not.

And you know, when I met pageants, so to speak, in the eleventh grade, when I first reached out, I didn’t compete until after my senior year in high school. I was seventeen. But I had met Sally when I was sixteen. And it came into my life at the right time, when I really needed encouragement and development in so many ways. And it really helped harness some of the positives and be able to control some of the not as positive things.

I was much more of an ADHD child. And just taking all of the excitement and all that stuff and being to able focus it, just like martial arts did as well, pageants were very good for that training. Speed skating was really good for that. And so, it came at the right time.

So, at that time, in 2014, I had done a bunch of research on which pageant system I wanted to do. And I called the director, and he had given me a couple of names of coaches he recommended. This is before I really had the serious talk with you. And I talked. I had Facebook stalked both of these people.

And really, I thought, gosh, this one lady seems very similar to me, very faith based, just her dreams and goals. And I had a talk with her. And I said, “You know, I’m not sure if my husband is going to be on board with all of this.” And she continually encouraged me and said, “He’s going to get it. He will understand it. He’ll get it.” And so, she encouraged me, even at a time when you weren’t there yet.

Dr. Z: Well, see, that’s the key. That’s what we’re trying to share here. So, what do you do? When you have a goal and you have a dream, and you believe many of which is God ordained, what do you do when you have opposition, even from the closest people in your life? And the key, basically what you’re saying is, you had a support system. And even if it’s a support system of one, you need someone in your corner. And so, here’s a take-home message. Whatever it is that God has put on your heart, just know and expect opposition.

Mama Z: Absolutely.

Dr. Z: Don’t be ignorant, like many of us are, myself included, to think that it’s going to be easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy, and you’re just going to shine through on your white horse and sweep Mr. or Mrs. Charming all the way through to the castle. There’s going to be opposition. And there’s going to be wicked witches along the way. There’s going to be crazy doors that are going to try to distract you. And there’s going to be all kinds of fun things that we see in Disney movies, because that’s why they talk about this stuff. And the reality is, expect it.

Right now, if you’re listening to this, and you’re hearing us kind of share our hearts about our stories and our past, if God right now is speaking to your heart and saying, “Hey, don’t forget, whatever it is, that dream, don’t let it die.” Now is the time, even in this moment, even if you could just press pause to this, and say, “God, is there a dream that needs to be resurrected?”

Mama Z: Right.

Dr. Z: Because He is the resurrection and the life. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. If there’s a dream that has died, now is the time to resurrect it. And you have that power because you are filled with the most Holy Spirit of God.

Mama Z: Right.

 

[44:29 – 54:31] How to Conduct Yourself in the Face of Opposition

Dr. Z: So, what do you do when the opposition comes?

Mama Z: Well, if you even look at like what happened to us, and we didn’t see it at first. Every single mid-term or final, we would have a toilet break. We would have all this stuff happen. And it was just stuff that would try to derail us of God’s plan. And if we would have let that stop us, we got to the point where, “Oh, it’s mid-term week. We know something might break, or whatever. The toilet might flood, or our systems might back up, or whatever.”

We knew that this was God’s plan for us. We continually committed it to the Lord. He continually guided our path. And it wasn’t the easiest road. And sometimes the roads that we travel, even though they’re God-ordained, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s like a straight road right there. It’s just so easy. And sometimes it is easier. But we had some battle scars to get through your doctorate.

Dr. Z: You need to be anchored. First, you have to be anchored in the Word. You need to be anchored in prayer. And right now, if you’re chasing a dream, and if you’re doing what you believe God has called you to do, you need to be anchored in fasting and prayer. And you need to be anchored with a strong support system.

Mama Z: Absolutely.

Dr. Z: That is one-hundred percent non-negotiable. Expect God to help you through every step of the way. But remember what Jesus says: “In this world you will trouble. But take heart. I have overcome.” Don’t allow a root of bitterness to develop in your soul and spirit when you’re betrayed. And it will happen. And you might be betrayed by a close friend or family member, just like Judas Iscariot. You might be betrayed by some social media idiot who says something that’s inappropriate. And to me, the reality is you need to protect yourself. And you need to have safeguards. And you need to let water shed off of a duck’s back.

Mama Z: Right. And so, thank God for beautiful Elizabeth, because she does read all of these.

Dr. Z: Well, I know that. Yes and no. I mean what I’m trying to say is, I don’t read all of our hate mail.

Mama Z: Yea, I know.

Dr. Z: But the reality is, when I go on social media, which I do, because it’s my job, and I see and I engage with people, because we do. We engage with a lot of y’all. You know that. The negativity comes up, too, even from our own “inner circle.” And so, the reality is you need to do what you need to do. And I have no problem at all creating a bubble.

Like creating a bubble is a good thing at times. You need to put yourself in a situation where you keep your head down. And you are in the eye of the storm. All hell can break loose around you. It doesn’t matter what people say. So, that means blocking people, un-liking people, un-following people. Just shutting off your phone might be a good idea, too, sometimes. Just you need to protect yourself. You need to put yourself in a situation where you’re not

Mama Z: At the same time, you want to continually, thought, commit yourself to the Lord, and make sure that you’re still on the straight and narrow path.

Dr. Z: Yes.

Mama Z: Because we know that—

Dr. Z: We don’t want to be dogmatic about your

Mama Z: Absolutely not. We always want to check ourselves, because narrow is the way of God. And so, just checking where we’re at and making sure that we’re continually committing ourselves to the Lord and that He’s guiding our path, and that you are in right standing not just with God, but other people that you submit your life to, because you always want to make sure.

We talk about different people in our lives. And people who have shut themselves off from other Christians, and sometimes when you’re by yourself for so long, you get to a place where you’re only relying on your own strength. And it’s always important to make sure that you’re communicating with others. That’s why God wants us not to forsake being with other people, other Christians, because we want to have it where iron sharpens iron.

So, you never want to be unteachable. But at the same time, you also have to keep balance in the fact that you’re also not going to allow all the negativeness when you know you’re in the right direction with God.

Dr. Z: Yea. At this point of the conversation, just to kind of clarify, we’re not talking about in like “a multitude of counselors there’s victory,” and there’s wisdom and guidance. Like we’re beyond that. This podcast is about you know what it is. You know the dream; you know the vision. God has resurrected it. And even now, God is telling you, “Hey, don’t forget this. This is what I have for you.”

Mama Z: Right.

Dr. Z: You know what you’ve got to do. You’re like Jesus, like, “Look, this is my ministry. I’ve got three years, and I’m going to be dying on the cross. And I don’t care who does what. I don’t care what happens. I have to do this.” You need to do what Jesus did. You need to do all of this. You need to go on the mountain sometimes. You need to get away from people. You need to recharge.

Mama Z: Yes, you need to.

Dr. Z: You need to surround yourself with that inner circle. Like Jesus had hundreds, literally hundreds of people that He would preach to follow Him. But He had his inner circle. He had His twelve. And then from there He had only three that He brought up on the Mount of Transfiguration. Like He had his inner-inner circle.

Mama Z: Right.

Dr. Z: So, that’s what you need. And I pray and I hope that any of you who are resonating with this message, you have someone in your life. And if you don’t, then you need to pray and ask God to put someone in your life. And it doesn’t have to “a best friend.” It doesn’t have to be someone that you share your deepest, darkest secrets to. It could be someone that is a casual acquaintance, but they believe in you.

Mama Z: Right. But it doesn’t have to be someone who is going to tickle your ear, either. It’s someone who’s going to make sure to challenge you. Because if you both think the same way about everything, then probably one of you isn’t needed. You know what I mean?

Dr. Z: We all need a cheerleader. We need someone in our corner.

Mama Z: We do. We need a cheerleader and someone that’s going to always keep you to task. Because if people are just going to compliment you the whole time, then you’re not going to have that iron sharpens iron experience. And you have to have that grounded in the love of Jesus.

Dr. Z: One thing that is really critical is being careful in putting up healthy boundaries around people.

Mama Z: Yes.

Dr. Z: You know, the Bible says, “Don’t lay hands on people suddenly.” Just don’t let anyone speak in your life. Don’t let anyone just pray over you. Just be careful. We’re so easily influenced. And we’re so fragile. We really are. Our emotions, the highs and the lows that we have, if you’re not truly rooted and grounded in the Lord…

“Great peace,” the Bible says, “have they who love your law. Nothing shall offend them or make them stumble.” Just think about that for a minute. Are you offended or are you stumbled by what people say? That’s on you. And that’s something I had to own up to. That’s Enoch, my father in Christ. He really impressed that upon me.

Mama Z: Right. And you’ve heard me say, “Hey, if this part makes you mad, then maybe it’s something you have to deal with.”

Dr. Z: Yea. So, whatever someone else does. So, again the context is the attack that you get…And it will happen, from people especially, and maybe people that are of the household of faith especially, which is hard, because that’s the betrayal.

Mama Z: Yea, but guess what? Look at who killed Jesus. It was the religious people that killed Jesus.

Dr. Z: I know. And that’s the problem we have. We have a lot of religious people out there that really distract us from doing what we’re called to do. And then you have some people that just don’t love at all. They’re just complete Christ-haters. They’re anti-Christ. And you get that, too. It’s like, “Oh!”

But you know what? The thing is, if you’ve got your support system, you’ve got your bubble. And man, I don’t care. You can judge me all you want for creating a bubble. I’ve got a great bubble right now. I’ve got people who love me unconditionally. I choose my employees wisely, by the way. You want people that believe in you, people that love you.

Mama Z: Right.

Dr. Z: You want to work in that environment. You want to hopefully have an employer that supports you and that encourages your dreams and visions, right?

Mama Z: Right.

Dr. Z: You don’t want people to stifle you. Choose wisely who you marry. Help your kids support you.

Mama Z: I know. I mean, man, I got four huge cheerleaders. You should have seen those kids at the pageant.

Dr. Z: Yea.

Mama Z: And the videos that people sent from the aisles.

Dr. Z: Bella was your biggest. She wouldn’t stop. She was actually the best.

Mama Z: Oh my gosh!

Dr. Z: Three years old.

Mama Z: During the questions, she was like, “Mommy!”

Dr. Z: She was like waving her hand.

Mama Z: She was so cute.

Dr. Z: We stacked the deck. We were stacking the deck. We’ve got cheerleaders. We’re raising them.

Mama Z: We do. And it’s important.

Dr. Z: And we cheerlead them.

Mama Z: Because they’re going to learn that from their family. And that’s what’s going to be the legacy that we’ll pass down.

Dr. Z: Yep.

Mama Z: It’s creating the environment that you need to thrive and grow.

Dr. Z: But Dr. Z and Mama Z, I’ve been cheated on. I’ve been hurt. I’ve been abused. I’ve been physically, mentally, socially, spiritually assaulted. How many times do I forgive? Seven times?

Mama Z: No, seventy times seven.

Dr. Z: How many times? You don’t stop. You don’t allow unforgiveness to root up in your heart. You forgive, and you give it to God.

And you focus back on the dream. And you move forward your progress. And so, pursuing your dreams in the face of opposition, pursuing your dreams when people are against you is one-hundred percent inevitable. And it’s not like a negative statement. I’m not speaking death over you. I’m saying exactly what Jesus told us would happen.

Mama Z: Right.   

Dr. Z: Yet He has given us what we need.

Mama Z: Right.

Dr. Z: And that’s so important for you to remember and to just hold on to. And my hope and prayer, and maybe you can end in a word of prayer here.

Mama Z: Yes.

Dr. Z: Maybe that’s it. Maybe the natural living family tip is just a word of prayer. We’ll do that. So, yea, I like that. How about we do that? Our natural living family tip is going to be a word of prayer that you could share. But we’ve got a couple more things that we could talk about, if you have anything else on your heart.

 

[54:32 – 59:02] Mama Z Address Wearing a Swimsuit at the Pageant

Mama Z: Yea, one thing people ask me is, “Why the pageant? Or why the swimsuit?” Or whatever. And one thing I love about swimsuit is in exercise clothes, you can hide a lot of stuff. But you’re very vulnerable in swimsuit. But also, it perfectly shows physical fitness in swimsuit. And I like it for that reason, because I have had four kids.

Dr. Z: You look good in a swimsuit, by the way.

Mama Z: Oh, you’re so sweet!

Dr. Z: That’s okay. You ought to look good.

Mama Z: But it’s not in a distasteful way.

Dr. Z: No.

Mama Z: And I would never wear something

Dr. Z: It’s not a string bikini.

Mama Z: No way. I would never do that. But you have the grace and beauty of evening gown, and just the poise and confidence on stage answering questions, and just how you are period overall.

Dr. Z: How many black-tie events have we been to the last five years? You don’t see women wearing frumpy dresses, really.

Mama Z: No. So, you want your reigning queen representative of your state to be able to go to a social function like the governor’s inauguration, by the way. Like what do you think Mrs. Georgia and Miss Georgia do? They’re at these social functions, these governmental functions. They’re at corporate functions. You want them to look good and to feel comfortable in their skin.

Mama Z: Right.

Dr. Z: And that’s something that God has really impressed upon me is that there’s a level of confidence.

Mama Z: Yes.

Dr. Z: And it’s very much done modestly. Like we know. And we’ll give a shout-out to Charlene Bollinger.

Mama Z: Yes.

Dr. Z: Charlene Bollinger from the Truth about Cancer, they always host this black-tie event, a charity gala. And Charlene is gorgeous. She’s a beautiful woman.

Mama Z: Absolutely.

Dr. Z: She has a lovely figure. And she always; she’s a God-fearing woman. She loves Jesus with all of heart. She always looks stunning at these events.

Mama Z: Oh yes, always.

Dr. Z: And it’s always tasteful. And her daughters, she has three. They’re beautiful young ladies. And they’re being raised in the way to be a beautiful young woman, but not ashamed of their body, but not flaunting it in a way that would “cause a man to stumble.”

Mama Z: Right.

Dr. Z: I looked at her. And they’re mentors to us. They’re older brothers and sisters in Christ. And the same thing with Monica Craichy from Living Fuel.

Mama Z: Absolutely, yes.

Dr. Z: Our dear friend. Like older women, matronly beautiful women that are teaching the younger generation.

Mama Z: Right.

Dr. Z: Again, it’s been very much inspiring for me to observe and to see and to watch you follow suit.

Mama Z: Well, and the other thing that people don’t think about, and this is something I know you and I have talked about was we have our avenue that reaches this group of people and this group of people and this group of people. But one of the things that the pageant does is it opens doors that I wouldn’t get to speak other places. So, as Mrs. Georgia, I get to speak in title one schools about healthy living.

Dr. Z: Yea.

Mama Z: They don’t have a lot of those tools at their fingertips.

Dr. Z: And they’re not inviting me.

Mama Z: No.

Dr. Z: If I were Mr. Georgia, they might. Hah, hah, hah!

Mama Z: Hah, hah, hah! There you go. But it makes me think of the opportunities. And just in conversation as you talk to people and say, “I’m Mrs. Georgia,” they’re, “Oh, really? What’s that about?”

Dr. Z: Yea.

Mama Z: It educates them about the process and all of that. You know, I had ten years where I’ve been raising all these babies. I had all of these skills and things that were dormant; not that they weren’t there, and not that I hadn’t utilized them before. But to be able to sharpen those skills for the pageant prepared me for what we do with the Natural Living Family.

But then all of what we have done with the book and all the media exposure and all of that stuff has prepared me for what I’ve done with the pageant. I’m just so thankful for all of those things, because it gives you the ability to use that grace and composure to get across your message to other people that may be able to benefit from that. It’s a full circle thing.

 

[59:03 – 1:05:13] Pageants as a Ministry Platform

Dr. Z: So, to wrap this up before we pray and to give the full circle. So, in 2015, when Sabrina competed the first time, I went through the motions. I really did in faith. I really did in faith. My heart wasn’t in it. But like you’ve always said, what has Norman Vincent Peale taught you?

Mama Z: Throw your heart over the bar, and your body, mind, and soul will follow.

Dr. Z: Yep. So, here I was. I had never been to a pageant before, ever. I never planned on going to a pageant ever. And I went to your pageant.

Mama Z: Right. And mind you, all of what I wore, except for my swimsuit, that’s the only thing I bought new; I bought everything used. Sometimes it can be a couple of bucks. Especially we were on student loans.

Dr. Z: Well, I borrowed money from our landlord.

Mama Z: That’s right.

Dr. Z: So, I showed my commitment. I actually borrowed money in faith to pay for some of the stuff. And so, when I was there, it was more of a heart transformation, and God convicted me throughout that event. And you won first runner-up at the time. You won evening gown, actually.

And I saw, what really got me was Eiesha, who was the reigning queen, who is an Atlanta Falcons NFL cheerleader, and she put together a really cool video of her year in review, basically what she did. She’s a God-fearing woman, too. I love that. Many of them are. And I saw what God did through her and all the doors of opportunity she had to minister. And she has a very much health-giving, life-giving platform that has helped a lot of people.

And I started hearing the other stories of the other ladies and former queens. And I was like, “What is this? Like this is such a cool way of reaching people.” I never thought of it. And then I started thinking, wow. And then God slowly throughout that two-plus-hour event like really won my heart over. And I kind of got it, like LaLona said, your coach.

Mama Z: She kept saying, “He’s going to get it.”

Dr. Z: I got it. And I saw like basically the pageant is a job interview. And it makes sense, because if you’re representing the state, you’re going to represent the state while you’re swimming with your kids, while you’re evening out, whatever you’re doing, all walks of life.

And so, I embraced the different forms of competition. And then I was like, “Hey, let’s do this together.” And then I kind of wanted to be a part of it. And now it’s really exciting.

Mama Z: And then we had a baby.

Dr. Z: Yea. But again, the full circle. So, we’re talking about the experience coming full circle. I was in opposition to Sabrina. And I will tell you, very much under the influence of a negative dark spirit to judge and criticize my wife, which isn’t godly. No man should do that. And then for me to repent. I see it.

So, for those of you, my parting message is don’t be hating on people that are close to you, that are quite frankly unbeknownst to them betraying you innocently. Like a lot of people think they’re doing good. And that’s the “purity Christian” people that are judging people for how they look. Like, “How dare you wear makeup?”

Or, “how dare you make money. You should all be vows of poverty.” Like that’s a problem I always had when I was raised in the Catholic Church, is like this vow of poverty or this vow of celibacy. It’s like you can’t enjoy your life. And I was going to be a priest. That’s a whole other topic for a whole other day. I remember giving up the dream of having a family. I cried. I was like twenty years old, crying. Like, “Okay, I’ll give it up for you, Lord.”

Mama Z: Believe me, you’ve got a family. We’ve got a lot of kids there.

Dr. Z: We’ve got a family. So, I remember that. And like denial of that, forced denial, this false sense of religion, I just want to spread on everyone else some grace. And if there’s anyone in your life, it could be your husband, like me, a wife, a spouse, children, it could be someone close to you that just doesn’t get what you’re trying to do, pray for them. Like you, you prayed for me.

Mama Z: I did. And there were some times in the middle of the night. And not just about pageants, but just in general, where I just would get in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and come back into bed and just lay my hand on you and just pray for you in the night.

Dr. Z: Well, I appreciate that. And sometimes it was in the morning when I would get up early and go work out, or whatever. But if you’re believing God for something, even if it’s for a spouse to come into a relationship with the Lord, your prayers are not going to return void. And we don’t always know if we’re planting seeds or watering or harvesting.

So, we need to be instant in season and out of season, because we never know when in season is going to happen. And you never know how God is going to use you in each and every situation. And if God has put that desire, especially for a husband and wife to be together in the Lord, you need to trust God for those miracles, because they will happen in due season, if you don’t give up. And it’s important to stay steadfast and commit those things to the Lord. And if they’re godly, God wants to give you your heart’s desire and not even withhold the requests of your lips.

Dr. Z: Amen!

Mama Z: So, you can have the fruit of your lips. So, watch what you say, and stay true to the Lord, and continue to pray and fast. And especially if it’s for your spouse, just know that God is doing something in there, even if you can’t see it.

Just like the germination of a seed, we wait a long time for those seeds sometimes to pop out of the ground. But guess what? God is doing something that whole time before they pop up out of the ground. Things are happening from the time you put seeds in the ground until when they pop out, even if it’s just a little teeny bit of green. Sometimes it takes weeks, months, years for certain people to come around to those seeds that have been planted. But don’t give up. Don’t give up.

 

[1:05:14 – 1:10:35] A Word of Prayer

Dr. Z: Amen! Well, we end this show with a special natural living family podcast prayer for people, especially coming on the heels of the Mrs. Georgia victory, overcoming opposition, betrayal, judgment, and criticism. Let’s pray for those people. Let’s pray specifically for people that are in the midst of dream chasing and they have some opposition.

Mama Z: I’m going to let you start, and then I’ll finish.

Dr. Z: Father, we love you. And we thank you for this time that we could share with our natural living family community. We love them, Lord, and we appreciate them.

And Lord, we believe right now, God, that you’re going to do a great work in hearts, in the minds and souls of the men and women listening right now, that you’re going to resurrect dreams and visions that have been maybe long dead, that have been forgotten. Maybe the faith and the hope aren’t there anymore. Maybe some people are getting older and they just don’t have it in them, they feel. Lord, I just pray for just renewed strength, like Isaiah’s strength of the eagle just rising up, and to propel them to a wonderful new season.

So, I thank you, Father, for right now just clarifying the dreams and visions, Lord God, that people should be thinking about, meditating on, and hoping for. And that you help our brothers and sisters right now, Lord, that you help them, that you protect them, that you equip them, that you make your face shine upon them.

That you let them know, and may they feel so intimately important to you, and that they will do, and feel worthy enough to do, the things that they need to do to make this happen, without guilt and without remorse, without looking at the cost, knowing that it’s a dream and vision that you put in their heart; whether it’s to travel as a missionary, whether it’s to start an orphanage, whether it’s just to serve at church, whatever it is that you have for them. Thank you for it. We bless you. Prepare their heart, fortify them in the Spirit, and give them a wonderful journey along the process.

Mama Z: And God we just thank you that, just like Ecclesiastes says, that “Everything is beautiful in God’s time.” And sometimes that time is like coal turning into a diamond. It takes time and refining in order to get you to that place. So, Lord, I just pray over teachers and encouragers that are in each and every one of our lives, that they continually fuel your Spirit.

And as we look to you, we know that you will continually guide our path. And we thank you, God, that whatever we put our hand to does prosper. And we do our best, and we leave the results up to You, God. And I just thank you, Lord, for people that face opposition, God, that there will be a unity of spirit and a spirit of understanding, God. That you will perfect all those things that concern us.

And that in your perfect timing and in your perfect way that all things will come together for good, because we know that we are called according to your purpose. We all have a purpose within you, God. And so, we thank you, Lord, that you use our stories to encourage other people, because we all have a sphere of influence, God. And that you will utilize each and every one of our spheres of influence, Lord, to reach the people that you have designed for us to reach, and to definitely get to the place where we overcome and that we’re fulfilling your purpose in our lives.

And God, you are giving us our heart’s desire, and not even withholding the requests of our lips. And ultimately, God, it is after you and your Spirit. And we thank you, God, for what you’re doing in and through our lives. May we always be a testimony to you and your goodness. And we thank you,
God, for our relationship with you, and for all that you do in and through us, and that you will continually open doors that no man can open and shut the wrong doors.

And we just thank you, God, for each and every one of the people listening, and also for each and every one of your stories and the ways that you will continually overcome and continue to press on for God and what He has for you, because we know it’s good. And in due season you will reap if you faint not. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Dr. Z: Amen! Amen!

Mama Z: Amen!

Dr. Z: Hallelujah!

Mama Z: Yea!

Dr. Z: If you receive it, give us an amen out there.

Mama Z: I hope so.

Dr. Z: In the inter-webs, give us an amen, if you’re listening. Just say it. Just say, “Amen, I receive it in the name of Jesus, hallelujah.”

Mama Z: And if anything made you mad, then go ahead and pray about it, because maybe there’s some overcoming there.

Dr. Z: And to wrap up today’s show, a word from our sponsor.

 

[1:10:36 – 1:11:17] Sponsor Spotlight: Thrive Market

Mama Z: As a special gift to our podcast listeners, Thrive Market is giving you twenty-five percent off your first order.

Dr. Z: Now keep in mind, Thrive Market’s prices are already twenty-five to fifty percent off. And now, they’re giving you an extra additional twenty-five percent off your first order, plus a free thirty-day trial.

Mama Z: If you’re like me, you will definitely be making a grocery run this week. So, why not give Thrive Market a try and shop from your home?

Dr. Z: Simply go to NaturalLivingFamilypodcast.com to find the special link so you can redeem this deal on the show notes from today’s episode.

 

[1:11:18 – end] Episode WrapUp

Dr. Z: We thank you for tuning in.

Mama Z: Yes.

Dr. Z: And we hope that you really enjoyed the show. And listen to this again, and share this with a friend.

Mama Z: Yes.

Dr. Z: This is a special one. Of course, as always, you can go to NaturalLivingFamilypodcast.com. We’ve got show notes. When it comes up, we’ve got the video. We have all kinds of transcripts, and all kinds of good things, everything.

And don’t forget, sign up for our weekly podcast newsletter. It includes what I really hope you really take advantage of, a personal invite to join our private Facebook group, so you can connect one on one with Mama Z and I and also meet thousands, actually thousands of other natural living lovers just like you, who will help and support you. If not, we’ll kick them out. Hah, hah, hah!

Mama Z: Hah, hah, hah!

Dr. Z: We will. No negative Nancys in our group.

Mama Z: Oh my gosh.

Dr. Z: And don’t forget, please subscribe to our podcast and leave a review. We give people warnings, though. We warn them.

Mama Z: Yes. And then you block them.

Dr. Z: And then we block them. We love hearing from you.

Mama Z: I would never do that. That’s just not in my wheelhouse.

Dr. Z: Leave a review. We love and appreciate what you have to say. Well, Dr. Z here.

Mama Z: And Mama Z.

Dr. Z: And our hope and prayer are that you and your family truly experience the abundant life.

Mama Z: Amen!

Dr. Z: We’ll talk soon