Joyce Meyer - Advice To Our Younger Selves
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Ginger Stache: Friends, you are going to love this! We have some special guests and a very special program today. Have you ever asked the question: what would I tell my younger self if I had the opportunity? And that's what we're talking about today. And, first of all, let me say this, 'cause you guys are such wonderful people to...
Erin Cluley: Oh!
Ginger Stache: You are in so many different ways. But we're kind of having a takeover show today. Because our friends, Joyce, and Chris Caine, and Lisa Harper, are gonna kinda take over this episode.
Erin Cluley: If anybody's gonna take over a show, it feels like it should be them.
Jai Williams: Yeah, I was kinda like, "I think I can let Chris Caine," you know, "I feel like, I was more like, she could be me".
Erin Cluley: I just didn't know which one of you it was for a second.
Jai Williams: Yeah, I was Chris Caine. That was my Chris Caine. But if we're going to like, seriously, it was an honor to like, just to have them sit on our lovely pink couch and really just share all kinds of knowledge. It was fantastic. I was back there like... Let me take notes.
Erin Cluley: Yeah, me too.
Ginger Stache: So, this is from our women's conference that, our very last, most recent women's conference. We had this opportunity to kinda have a girl chat discussion there, share it with everybody, and now we wanna share it with you, too. But like you guys said, there was so much just powerful stuff for life lessons of all different phases of life. And we asked those questions like, okay, "What would you tell your teenage self"? "What would you tell your motherhood self"? You know, "What", all the different questions, and so many different things, that we were able to get into a lot of different angles of life.
Erin Cluley: Yeah, and it was interesting because they all have such different perspective. Which is why we all love doing this too, 'cause we're learning from each other. And just to hear from them, they grew up differently, and different ages. It was so good. So, yeah, I'm like, you. I'm like, "Oh, I gotta", "Yeah, that too, okay, got it".
Jai Williams: Well, like, to even hear Joyce say, like, you guys'll hear it. She like, said she didn't even start having fun until she was 50.
Erin Cluley: Yeah.
Jai Williams: Like, I'm just now 41, you know? So, it's like...
Ginger Stache: There's a lot of fun ahead.
Jai Williams: I have so, and to see how full her life is, at her age, even now, it just, I mean, it was just something exciting to see, and super hopeful. It made me full of hope and joy to see, like, "Wow. I mean, I still have so much time," you know, "To do things". So, yeah, it was good to.
Erin Cluley: I'm gonna talk to her for just a second. So, if you could just...
Jai Williams: She's not here. Disappear!
Erin Cluley: Jai and I need to chat for just a quick second.
Jai Williams: We gotta talk real quick.
Ginger Stache: Wait a minute.
Erin Cluley: You can listen, but you can't speak.
Jai Williams: We're going to talk about you. But you don't need to know about this.
Erin Cluley: Can we just talk about how great the host was?
Jai Williams: Yeah. She was kind of a baddie on there.
Erin Cluley: She did a really good job.
Jai Williams: She did really great, like, moderating that and to keep that conversation moving. Because, you know what? One thing I know, like, you gotta be some type of host if you can keep three preachers at a time, in a segment. Because all of 'em can preach, okay? I'm talking about 45 minutes to an hour, they can go.
Erin Cluley: She got 'em going.
Jai Williams: But she got 'em going. That takes a special skill so.
Ginger Stache: Well, how fun to be able to talk with this group, and just laugh, and realize how we all have so much in common. And involving the 15,000, however many, women that were there too. It's just like sitting in a great big living room with all your best friends.
Erin Cluley: Absolutely. It was really special. It felt very intimate, even though there were so many people in there because we were connecting. And we needed it.
Jai Williams: Yeah, and I think, it was fun to see like, people all responding to, almost like a talk it out, you know, I think. Because we don't, we never get to see people.
Ginger Stache: We envision you guys all who are listening.
Jai Williams: Yeah, we're like, "I hope they're listening. I hope they're laughing". I think, "I hope they think we're funny". You know, like, I'll laugh no matter what. But to see the women really engage, it was fun to see.
Ginger Stache: So, should we do it?
Jai Williams: You know what? It was just so good that I think we should just share it with everybody. You guys check it out.
Ginger Stache: So, we've all done this together before because we have Joyce's talk it out podcast. You've all been on it.
Lisa Harper: Love it.
Ginger Stache: And it's so fun when you guys are with us. We have a blast.
Christine Caine: Like, what is this?
Ginger Stache: So yeah, get cozy, get comfy. That is so cozy. I love, let's just all sit on the couch.
Lisa Harper: I like it. I like it.
Ginger Stache: Alright, we are going to be talking about what you would tell your younger self. So, there has been advancements in technology. And there is now a way to text yourself messages back in time.
Lisa Harper: Wow.
Ginger Stache: Uh huh. It's not real. Don't look for it on your app store, but.
Christine Caine: Wow.
Ginger Stache: So, let me just start with this. What's the first thing that pops into your mind? What's the first thing that you thought, "I'm gonna tell my younger self this"?
Lisa Harper: I would tell her not to try to peel off spanx with a fresh manicure.
Ginger Stache: Ah-ha, ha, ha. Brilliant. Brilliant. Love it.
Joyce Meyer: It figures, you'd come up with that. First of all, I can't even get spanx on. I don't know how anybody does that. I'm like, you could hurt yourself trying to put a pair of those things on.
Christine Caine: I would tell her to eat more carbs while she can.
Joyce Meyer: That what?
Christine Caine: Eat more carbs.
Ginger Stache: Do it while your metabolism is working.
Joyce Meyer: Eat more carbs, while you can.
Ginger Stache: What pops into your head, Joyce?
Joyce Meyer: I just think it's so important to enjoy your life. And so many people put that off until "When this... When this... When this... When this". But it seems like, you know, if you can't enjoy waiting, you're never gonna enjoy your life. Because if you really think about it, you spend more time waiting than you do anything else.
Christine Caine: Mm hmm.
Joyce Meyer: You wait for God to do something, and you wait, and you wait. And then finally he does it. And that's a thrill. And you enjoy it for a little bit, but it's not very long at all and...
Ginger Stache: Yeah.
Joyce Meyer: That thing you were so excited about is ho-hum now. And so, you're waiting on something else. So, we just need to learn how to wait well, and how to enjoy life. And, you know, I had issues, things that needed to be changed in me, but I didn't, you know, God enjoys us from the get-go. He knows what he's getting when he calls us in a relationship with him. And I didn't, I kept wanting to change before I can enjoy myself. "I talk too much. I do this... I do that..." Or it's something else. And you just need to make a decision today that you're gonna start enjoying yourself right where you're at because God does enjoy you.
Lisa Harper: That's right. That's right.
Joyce Meyer: And so, I would have had a lot more fun, worried a lot less.
Ginger Stache: Who's gonna leave here determined to have more fun, worry less? Yeah. Good advice from friends. Joyce always says that you live life forward...
Lisa Harper: Mm-hmm.
Ginger Stache: But that you learn from it backwards.
Joyce Meyer: You understand it backwards.
Ginger Stache: You understand it backwards. So, I think there's so much that we can share that we've learned that all of you can share with each other. You know, after you hear this conversation, I hope that you'll share it together 'cause there are so many lessons. So, let's start with, what you would tell your teenage self, those teenage years. And we've got a lot of moms of daughters. We've got some young women out in the crowd. What would you tell your teenage self?
Lisa Harper: I think I'd tell myself that there's no dark side to God. And I came to Christ when I was a kid. I have a similar back story to ms. Joyce's. So, I knew that God had sent Jesus to deliver me from my sin. I didn't think he liked me very much. I felt like I was way too dirty to be in God's family. So, I was just always running scared and trying to be a good girl. And I didn't know what it was to be loved by God. So, I spent years as a very stiff, saved girl. Took a long time to trust him enough to really linger in his arms and get liberated. And I was always afraid somebody would look under the hood, you know, and find me wanting. And I think I would just open my own hood a lot sooner.
Christine Caine: Me too. I echo that. And I'd also say, because I was so not normal, I'm way more normal now, than I was back then.
Joyce Meyer: Really.
Christine Caine: I would have told her, "It's okay. God has a place in his kingdom for someone like you". I mean, I was so, like you, that's why we're so connected at the womb. And because I was just not like the other girls. I didn't, you know, my mom would get devastated because she'd, like, take me to the store to buy me dolls, and I'd be in the book section or in the sports section. And back in my day, because I'm elderly, that was like very odd, you know, that was not what girls did. And so, I spent so much time, I remember thinking, like, "Why did you make me a girl? Why did you make me", you know, "Why couldn't I be like my brothers"? Because we came from a staunch Greek family where the men were everything, you know, and a woman was very secondary. And I would think, "Why did you put all this in me, to frustrate me"? And I think I would tell her that, you know, "God didn't put it in you to frustrate you, but it's part of your purpose, and it's part of your gifting, and it's part of your core".
Ginger Stache: That's great.
Christine Caine: And I think that would have been a lot better.
Ginger Stache: Yeah, so good.
Joyce Meyer: I think when you're a teenager, especially, you really start to worry about what other people think. And wanting so much to be accepted. And that's really a very important time for teenagers, because they can really, it's like a crossroads, you know, you can really, stand your ground and be who you are and not get sucked into the crowd. And Dave and I have several grandchildren that I'm really proud of that, you know, were still virgins when they got married, they were very, very strict about "I believe in God, this is what I'm gonna do. And if you don't like me, that's your problem". They were okay being by themself, if they had to be by themselves. And it really can be a very difficult time for teenagers if they get into that peer pressure trap of trying to be like everybody else. And I'm so glad that I found out that God didn't make us to be like everybody else. We're all very unique. I mean, there may be some similarities. Our personalities are somewhat alike. Usually, people that do this kind of thing, they are. All four of us, up here, have got some similarities, but yet, there's differences. And it's okay to be different. And maybe some of you are still trying to figure that out. You're still trying to be like somebody else. And I'll tell you, it's just the biggest waste of time because you gotta be you, everybody else is already taken. You just can't be somebody else. And so, I really want you to enjoy yourself. I didn't start enjoying myself until I was probably in my fifties and still learning. I think I've finally got that one. But I felt so bad about myself, guilty all the time, and always coming up short because I wasn't what somebody else, "Wasn't like you". Maybe, I didn't sense that so much in my teenage years as my young adult years, but I just wasn't like other women. You know, I didn't like a lot of the things they like. You know, they were all going to home decorating parties. And I wanted to stay home and learn how to cast out devils, you know? I just... Wasn't like them. And so, because I wasn't like them, I thought there was something wrong with me. And I just wanna tell you loud and clear, there is not something wrong with you because you are not like somebody else. Please get that.
Ginger Stache: Yeah. I would tell my younger self to risk it. I would say "Live big". "Tell the boy you think he's cute," you know, "Don't be afraid and just put yourself out there". Because no matter what happens, even that rejection, you'll learn through it. So, I would love to tell my younger self that. Okay, what would you tell your younger mother self? 'cause you've all learned so much, and you're all in different stages, which I love, of where you are in your motherhood journey. Missy's how old?
Lisa Harper: Missy's 13.
Ginger Stache: Missy's 13. She is a precious, little thing. We love Missy. And then, Chris, your daughters...
Christine Caine: 20 and almost 17.
Ginger Stache: And Joyce has one of everything.
Joyce Meyer: Oh, yeah. My baby is 42.
Ginger Stache: So, what would you tell your motherhood self? Anybody?
Lisa Harper: You go?
Christine Caine: I'm ok, you?
Lisa Harper: I became a mom really late in life. I became a mother through the miracle of adoption, the exact same season I was going through menopause. So...
Ginger Stache: Yikes.
Lisa Harper: I was a real sweaty young mother.
Lisa Harper: And I feel like, I've had Missy home from Haiti for eight and a half years, and I think I've made every single mistake known to motherhood in that eight and a half years. But I love her so much. And I just, she's tangible grace. She's not my hope. Jesus is my hope. But I was such a train wreck, and the way God wove me, into Missy's story was such a palpable miracle that when she wakes up, I'm like, "Look what he did".
Ginger Stache: Yeah.
Lisa Harper: And so, I think it's just, gratitude is the only thing I do really well in motherhood. And I think, if a child knows they're loved, they'll stay between the ditches.
Christine Caine: Mm hmm. I love that. I would tell her, firstly, "There will come a day you will sleep again". There is sleep in the future.
Ginger Stache: That's a really important message.
Christine Caine: I think it is. 'Cause you, "Just know, you will".
Ginger Stache: "Hang on".
Christine Caine: "It's coming". And just to "Chill out and don't major on minors," because it really doesn't, a lot of the stuff you think is gonna matter. It's not gonna matter. I'm gonna set someone free. I know there are people that are obsessed with breastfeeding, I'm gonna go there. And people that aren't. You do you boo. Whatever suits you, it's okay. So, that's... And I just think we get so caught up, and again it comes back to the comparison thing, like, "Am I doing it like someone else"? And so, you have to understand, I would also say, 'cause I was 40, as well, when, you know, 35 and 40, when I had my kids, already in full time global ministry, so I wasn't like a 20-year-old mother, in that different season. And I would have been just a little bit more gentle on myself, like, don't, understand that it's a unique journey for every mother. That's the thing, I think.
Lisa Harper: I think I'd tell her not be surprised. I grew up, my mom's Baptist to the bone and my dad's assembly of God so I grew up kind of bapticostal, which means I want to dance in worship, but I have very questionable rhythm. But we were taught, you know, I thought if I said a word that's not in the Bible, there's a greased tube that led straight to the hot place. I was shocked, when I became a mom, how many bad words, if somebody messed with my kid, it's like, "I will cut you". And so, young mamas don't say bad words. And I know Joyce has some great books about that, that helped me cleanse my mind. But don't be surprised when you want to say them, when someone's unkind to your child. I've never been a much of a fighter until I became a mom. And then it's like you will do anything to guard their heart and mind, as unto the Lord.
Joyce Meyer: I wish I would have known then that everybody's different. And I didn't. And I know you all probably think like I did. You may have four or five kids and you think, "How could you all have come out of the same place"? And been so...
Ginger Stache: Literally, the same place.
Joyce Meyer: And been, literally, so completely different in personality. And so, if you do have a few kids, I had four, I had one of everything. And you have to meet people where they're at instead of expecting all of them to be what you want them to be. And a lot of times you want them to be you, and sometimes you don't even really like yourself yet. That was one of the reasons why I had such a hard time getting along with David is he was just a lot like me, and I didn't really like myself, so it's hard to like him. So, I had one strong choleric. I had one perfectionist, and she was, you know, a perfectionist can be hard. I mean, they're so hard on themselves, and you love 'em so much and you don't wanna see 'em go through the things they go through. And then, I had one full-blown sanguine. I mean, I don't care what you did to him, he'd have a good time with it. And I remember, one time, sending him out to sweep the back porch, and I looked around and he's out there dancing with the broom, and I thought, "Lord, God". He hated school. I was so happy when he finally got out of school. I had to hire a private tutor and stick her right in his face to get him through school. "There's no talk about college. Mm-mm, I'll give you a job. But there's no talk about college". I love what the apostle Paul said. He said, "I've learned, to the Jew, I'm a Jew. To the Greek, I'm a Greek". You know, he met people where they were at, instead of trying to make them come to him. And I really encourage you to remember that just like you can't be somebody else, neither can your child. And you need to celebrate who they are and not make them feel like there's something wrong with them. Don't ever compare one of your kids with another one. Don't ever say, "Why can't you be more like your brother"? "Why can't you be more like your sister"? You know, some people are naturally smarter than others. Christine has just like, got a brain five times the size of mine. She can read a whole book on an airplane. And I, you know, I'm just not, I mean, I'm smart, but I'm not like her. And that's okay. You know? What I don't have, huh?
Christine Caine: I think you're doing okay.
Joyce Meyer: Thank you, yeah. Here's the thing. What you don't have, God'll make up for.
Christine Caine: Totally.
Lisa Harper: So good.
Joyce Meyer: And another thing I would tell you is, don't worry so much about whether you're gonna be a good parent or not. You know, I had the worst example anybody could have, and even my daughter has told me several times, she said, "I am really amazed that you did such a good job raising us, considering how you were raised". And God will anoint you to be a parent. You don't have to, you know, if you had a bad example, instead of turning around and being what they were, learn from what they did, not to do that. And just don't worry about it. Take it easy. You know, I thought, I mean, my one daughter, I mean, some of my kids, I thought, "Are they ever gonna be able to even get a job"? I just, I didn't know if they'd ever even be able to leave home and survive, you know? And now, they take care of me. And so, just chill. They'll make it.
Ginger Stache: That reminds me because, you know, when your kids are different and you're going through different stages of motherhood, there's always a time, I hope, always, it'll make me feel better if there's always a time, that as a mom, you say, "I don't like that one, right now". You know, "This person is hard to love, right now". And so, I think it's so important to realize that every stage changes. Whatever hard time you're going through, it's gonna shift. God's gonna help you through it. He's gonna help them through it. Hold on, and wait, and he's gonna bring you around. That reminds me, we asked some of you for questions, as well. And Joyce, this question's for you, and I love it. It says, "Joyce, I love your book, 'Loving People Who Are Hard To Love'. What should I do if I'm the one who's hard to love"?
Christine Caine: Ooh.
Joyce Meyer: Well, first of all, knowing that puts you miles ahead of anybody else. So, you're already on your way to freedom if you know that. And I get that, because I was hard to love. And knowing that you are, gives you an advantage because now all you need to do is start having some good conversations with God, and realize that everything is not gonna change all at once. The wonderful thing about the Holy Spirit is, he's a gentle healer. And he never, see, if we try to do it ourself, we try to do way too much at one time. It's like, "I talk too much, and this too much, and that too much, and I'm not this", and you know, I mean, I thought I needed to be a better wife and a better mother, and I needed to be more artsy and crafty, and have a garden, and make my family's clothes. And I needed to be sweet, like, you know, my pastor's wife. And I tried to be sweet, and none of it just worked. It just didn't work. I mean, I still am, you know, you've got a basic temperament. And God can change some of our moral behavior, but he's not gonna make you something that you're not.
Ginger Stache: Chris was cracking up. Chris is just thinking of, I'll just let you guys figure this out.
Joyce Meyer: What? What are you saying? What!?
Christine Caine: You're the sweetest person I know.
Joyce Meyer: Oh, sweetest person you know. Yeah. That's cuz you only see me twice a year. No, God has changed me, and I am pretty sweet now. But I'll never be like that, I mean, I tried to have a real sweet, soft voice, and I mean, I really tried that. And people would go like, "What are you doing"? Can you imagine, now, if I was on television, and any man trying to watch me, if I was like, "Honey, you are just so sweet and I love you so much". Nooo, you gotta get in their face and tell it like it is. And so, God has made you, the basic you, the way he wants you, and your kids, too. So, don't try to make them be something they don't know how to be.
Ginger Stache: That's good.
Christine Caine: You know, I love what she's saying there because the scripture says, "Train up a child in the way they should go," not the way you want them to go. And one of the benefits of not becoming a parent until you're 35 or 40, and all your friends and peers are now becoming grandparents, it means you've learned from all their mistakes. And so, that actually has been really helpful for me. So, now, when my youngest one that's really quirky, like her father, very odd, and quirky and...
Ginger Stache: Is quirky is safe word to use for this?
Christine Caine: She'll come, one day, you know, with red hair, the next day with black hair. Now, I would think the me, of 30 years ago, and had I not met you and other mothers that were older, I might have really freaked out. Whereas, nowadays, I'm like, "It's your hair. If it falls out, knock yourself out". Like, it's just like, I don't, literally, literally that is my statement. She goes, "Mom, can i," you know, "Do my hair red"? And I'm like, "Knock yourself out. If you're gonna bleach it, fall out," you know, there it is. And I don't lose any sleep, and it's no big deal. And you're right, the next month, it wants to be a different color anyway, so who really cares?
Joyce Meyer: That's good. That's really good.
Christine Caine: I think that is a really good benefit. And looking, Catherine and Sophia are so different. And going, "Okay, don't try", my kids are not there to make me look good. And you know...
Ginger Stache: That is huge. That is huge.
Christine Caine: And so, the pressure, and particularly, if you're in ministry and on a platform, is oftentimes, you can be harder on your kids because you think they're a reflection of you. And so, instead of getting your significance, or security, or affirmation or value from God, you're actually trying to get it from your kids. And you're putting a pressure on them, that God never put upon them. And it is so wrong.
Joyce Meyer: Especially if you're doing something like we're doing.
Christine Caine: Cause people try to judge you by that. And then, the kids feel that pressure. And so, I just, thank God, again, I'm not saying, a younger me probably would have made a lot more mistakes, but I have learned. I mean, I've had mama j. I probably still wouldn't be married or a mother if I didn't have her, you know, so. But I can see how that is such a pressure on, when parents, if you're broken and insecure on the inside, you're gonna think that, you're gonna be using your kids basically, to fill a need, or a hole, or some sort of external value. And it's just out of order. You're there to train them up in the way they should go with the gifts and callings God has put on them, and then launch them into the atmosphere as arrows for the glory of God.
Ginger Stache: That takes so much pressure off. It really does because there's a lot of pressure for moms.
Christine Caine: Totally.
Ginger Stache: And that really takes it off because the advantage is like you were saying, of how we live life forward, but we understand it backwards is as moms with older children now, we're able to see what God has done in their life. And it just amazes me. It floors me the things that he has used, the experiences, and how he's shaped them and the beautiful things that he brought out of them that I had no idea were coming and are so exciting to see. Trusting God through this journey, it is not easy every day. But trusting God through this journey, he knows what he's doing.
Joyce Meyer: It amazes me how much I worried. And how good all my kids have turned out. You know, it's just, just chill and relax. And remember, you're not what you were when you were 13, or 14, or 15.
Ginger Stache: Oh, thank God.
Joyce Meyer: Yeah.
Christine Caine: And remember that God loves your kids more than you do. So, there's a God factor in all of this. And they've got to encounter him, themselves. And I think our putting undue pressure on them and not acknowledging that there's a process. And the Lord's calling him to themselves, and the Holy Spirit's working in their lives, you have to just give them that space. I think that's, I just wanna say, and then I'll stop. You know, where I got most of my pressure, and girls, I'll say this because this is the living room and this the girls.
Ginger Stache: Absolutely, it's all safe.
Christine Caine: Yeah. It's very safe with, you know, 30,000 of my closest friends, so. But where I got my initial, most pressure for parenting and again, I was an older mom, 35 and 40. Thirty-five I had my first, 40, my second, and I was already in full time ministry, but it was actually from other women who had chosen a different journey with their children. They were stay-at-home mothers, many homeschooling mothers. I would get more sort of looking down their nose at me or guilt. Now, they love my teaching, they want the encouragement. I don't know how I'm supposed to do both. I wasn't able to be a stay-at-home mom and on the road 300 days a year. It just wasn't gonna work.
Ginger Stache: And it works the other way around, too. Those stay-at-home moms feel the same thing.
Christine Caine: Well, exact, that's how it landed for me was my kids, when they wanted to go to school, there was a stay-at-home mom, and she would volunteer at the school three mornings a week. And I remember, I would travel so much, and I'd take Sophia, and Sophia would run up to this mom, sharon was her name. Loved her to pieces. And they would hug, and I would hold sharon's hand and she would hold my hand and we'd pray for each other. And I'd say, "Sharon, I thank God that you're called to be a stay-at-home mom and that you go to the school three days a week because it makes my heart feel so safe that my kid has got a Christian, godly woman three mornings a week that comes, and influence". And then I can go and take the gospel to the world. We're one body, many parts, and instead of judging each other's parenting, why don't we help each other, celebrate each other, and affirm each other?
Ginger Stache: Alright, you're sending this text. What would you tell your younger self about aging?
Joyce Meyer: Wheeew!
Ginger Stache: It happens. It's gonna happen.
Joyce Meyer: It's gonna happen.
Lisa Harper: You know, I was telling myself this the other day, I just turned 59 a couple of weeks ago. So, I keep saying 60, so that I'll get used to it. It gets better. Because walking with Jesus gets better. You become more convinced that he really does love us. He didn't just come to deliver us from our sin. He came because he delights in us. He wants relationship with us. I've been so struck by Joyce saying, "I've finally begun to like myself," and that's not any kind of self-help. It's Bible. It's biblical narrative all through and through. So, when you begin to believe, "He's undone by me, he longs to spend time with me". I can peel off my spanx in God's presence. I don't have to hold in my stomach. I can linger in his arms. Then everything else is not that big a deal, and then, you kinda lose your up-close vision, so you can't see what's sagging anyway.
Ginger Stache: Isn't God good?
Lisa Harper: I mean, honestly. I feel like it gets better. There's some places where I've slowed a step or two. I get real excited when I get to preach. And a few weeks ago, I jumped off a stage and I didn't want to scare the people. And I thought, "I just shattered my ankles". I didn't. But it hurt like the dickens. And I thought, "I probably don't need to jump off stages anymore, now that I'm almost 60". So, there's a few things that slow down, but for the most part it gets better because your heart gets bigger, and then, everything kinda falls in line with your heart, I think.
Ginger Stache: Yeah, good.
Lisa Harper: I mean, case in point.
Joyce Meyer: Yeah.
Christine Caine: Exactly.
Joyce Meyer: You know, I wrote that book, "How to Age Without Getting Old". Yeah, and age really is a number and old is a mindset.
Lisa Harper: Right.
Joyce Meyer: That's what, I mean, I do not, at all, feel 79.
Christine Caine: You don't look it either, just so you know.
Joyce Meyer: I don't think I have to dress old. I don't need to try to look like I'm 20. But you have to be willing to make changes. And when this conference is over, I'm gonna be tired because I give everything that I have when I'm doing it. And so, 25 years ago, when a conference was over, I'd go shopping. Now, I'll rest. And I've found out, that even one day's not enough, I need two. And so, anybody who thinks that they can just keep doing the same thing forever is just foolish. You have to make changes. And one thing I'll tell you, if you want to be in good shape as you get older, you need to start when you're young, taking care of yourself...
Christine Caine: Totally.
Joyce Meyer: ...When you think you don't need to. "Oh, I don't need to work out. I look good. I don't", you know. Man, I didn't start working out till I was 62. I wish I would have started sooner. And I do a lot of things now, in order to be able to do this. I just started to have somebody come, I'm getting professionally stretched. Not to get taller, but to be able to keep moving. And...
Christine Caine: That's great.
Joyce Meyer: If I do, you know, get down on the platform, I wanna be able to get up. I don't want, you know, want somebody to come and carry me up. And so, you need to make an investment in yourself. You know, a lot of people wait until they're sick to do anything about it. And the whole idea is to do something before you get to that point.
Christine Caine: I think that's key. I think, a key part of why I have so much energy still and can keep going is, I've been working out since my early, well, always. I haven't actually not. Happy birthday. I'm 56 today so how is that? I've had my last 25 years of birthdays with Joyce at the women's conference. So, I feel like I'm home for my birthday, anyway. And so, but at 56, I probably feel stronger than I ever have. I mean, I'm climbing more mountains than I've ever done. I feel stronger and healthier, by the grace of God, and fitter. But there's a commitment. And I agree with needing more recovery time now, just being, I mean, I'm riding in Joyce's slipstream. So, basically, anything she's learned at 70. She's told me at 50. And I think, "Thank God, I've got it 20 years earlier". And so, if you listen to her, honestly, it works. That's the deal. And I'm sure that's why I'm flourishing now. So, I'd be like, "Don't get scared of aging". We live in a youth obsessed, youth idolatry, culture. And as chicks especially, we like to hide women when they get older. I mean, that's the cultural narrative. That's not the biblical narrative, because we go from faith to faith, from grace to grace, and from glory to glory. So, it just gets betterer, and betterer, and betterer with God. It really does.
Lisa Harper: I'd like to add just the tiniest of caveats because I love to work out and I love chips and queso. And so, sometimes, I get caught between the two. I just like to throw in leather pants because there's something about giving yourself a reward. If you don't love working out, and leather pants, when you're older, you know, I grew up in a pretty rigid Christian environment, so I feel like I'm really being wild with leather pants. And then, I bought a motorcycle. And there's something about that too. Just do something fun. So, part of that is I'm single. So, I think the leather pants and the motorcycle lead to endorphins as well. But give yourself little goals. Don't set, "I'm gonna run a marathon tomorrow". Set, "I'm gonna get out a house and walk around the block tomorrow". Give yourself goals.
Christine Caine: In your leather pants?
Lisa Harper: Well, leather pants help me burn off a little bit of water weight.
Christine Caine: They do.
Joyce Meyer: I tried on a pair of leather pants the other day, and I just said, "I can't pull this off. It's just not me".
Ginger Stache: Of course, you can.
Lisa Harper: Oh, you'd look great in leather pants. If I walked up here in leather pants it'd sound like ducks were being killed. Quack, quack.
Ginger Stache: Okay.
Christine Caine: So much one could say, right now.
Joyce Meyer: Moving on.
Ginger Stache: I wanna give you guys a chance here at the end. Is there anything that you would like to ask of each other? Like any advice, things, anything that, you know, we're just sharing advice as friends? Any questions that you guys would like to pop off for each other?
Ginger Stache: If not, that's okay. I have another question.
Lisa Harper: Well, I would. Joyce, from getting to watch you from the cheap seats for all these years, you have such a, I've never seen your passion for Jesus ebb, or your love for God's word ebb. How have you kept walking so straight toward the Lord? Just basic. When you get up in the morning, those days that you don't want to lead a global ministry, that you barely wanna open your Bible, what is that, besides discipline and a gift from the Holy Spirit?
Joyce Meyer: Okay, hoping I don't sound overly super spiritual 'cause I'm very sincere. I really, really, really love God. I mean, like, that's, I mean, I'm ruined for anything else, you know. And this is just my thing, but I don't get involved in a whole lot of stuff and with a whole lot of people. I really kinda feel like I belong to the Lord. I'm called to do something that is pretty major. And I really, really, really wanna do it right. I don't ever want to make God ashamed or I just, I really wanna do it right. And every morning, when I get up, and I can say every morning, I get my coffee and I go, and I spend anywhere from 1 to 3 hours with the Lord. And it's different every day. You know, it's not, I mean, I've never seen Jesus walk into the room. I don't have a lot of spiritual dreams. And, you know, it's like, it's my relationship with God is pretty ordinary, but it's very comfortable. You know, it's like, I know that he loves me, and I know that he accepts me the way I am. And I've finally grown to the point where I believe he's pleased with me. And I just think if you always keep God first, in everything, if you always, listen, you don't have time, not to have time for God.
Lisa Harper: Right.
Joyce Meyer: You just, the best way in the world, I remember, many years ago, when I was working in ministry, I was so proud of myself that I worked for a church. And God spoke to me one morning, he said, "You work for me, but you don't spend any time with me". And see, just because you're in ministry, that doesn't make up, see, I've learned, my ministry is a job that God's given me to do, but he still requires me to be a regular, a Christian in my everyday life. When I do random acts of kindness, which I'm very fond of, I don't do that because I'm a minister. I do it because I'm a child of God. And I don't, I really try not to say anything in the pulpit that I don't live in my everyday life. But if you just, really you gotta be careful about getting involved in too much stuff. I mean, you really can only have five really good friends and keep up with 'em. And I know Christine knows the whole world, and I don't know how she does it, but I just, I can't handle that.
Christine Caine: Right.
Joyce Meyer: You know, I gotta keep it pretty narrow because I gotta have room in my life for God to have the biggest part of it. And so, I belong to him and he's mine. And that's the way it's gonna stay.
Christine Caine: Beautiful.
Lisa Harper: Thank you.
Ginger Stache: That's great.
Erin Cluley: Wasn't that the best? I just think that was some of the best conversations. And also, what we would like to note that no ducks were harmed during the making of that video.
Ginger Stache: She is hilarious.
Erin Cluley: She is. They were almost crying.
Ginger Stache: They are all so fun.
Jai Williams: But you know what? I just think it's super fun. Like, that was so powerful and a good lesson to learn, like, no matter what stage of life that you're in, we can all learn from each other, glean from each other. I think it was so amazing.
Erin Cluley: Some of the stuff that Chris said, and Lisa, too, I mean, and then always Joyce, but kind of gave me some freedom as a mom of young kids. Like those are some things that I need to be reminded of, and that I should take some pressure off myself. And I don't need to be like every other mom, and I need to run in my lane and not feel the need to compare so much. So, that was really important for me here.
Jai Williams: It was all goodies.
Ginger Stache: One note you would tell your younger self, either one of you, both of you?
Erin Cluley: "Calm down. Just take a breath".
Ginger Stache: That's a good one.
Jai Williams: "Things change. Be flexible".
Ginger Stache: "And it's okay".
Jai Williams: "And it's okay".
Ginger Stache: Yeah, that's really good. I think I would tell my younger self, "Even when it doesn't look like it, it's all gonna work out". Yeah, yeah.
Jai Williams: That's a good one.
Erin Cluley: Actually, I will take that from your younger self, and I'll apply it to my current self.
Ginger Stache: Yeah, me too!
Erin Cluley: Thank you. That's good advice for today.
Jai Williams: I'll take that, double it, and throw it on my life right now.
Erin Cluley: Thank you for that.
Jai Williams: Double thanks.
Ginger Stache: I'll take it, and I'll raise you.
Jai Williams: I'll raise you.
Erin Cluley: I'll take that one too. Thank you.
Ginger Stache: No, we do. We have so much to learn from each other. And life lessons are never wasted. So, whether it's for someone else or it's just for your heart, because I love being able to look back and say, "God, thank you for those times that were so hard, that hurt so bad, that now I can see how you were working, how you would never abandon me, how you had so many blessings hidden in there that I didn't even see at the time". But I think that's so stabilizing for our life now.
Erin Cluley: Yeah, I was just talking to someone this morning about how God's so good in his unanswered prayers. You know, that's a country song. You don't know. You don't like country music. But for those of us who do.
Ginger Stache: Those of us, it's probably just you, if I'm right.
Jai Williams: Yeah, not me either. All speaking at once. You people that love country music.
Erin Cluley: They got good taste. Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers. And I think that that's really good advice, too.
Ginger Stache: That is very sound, yeah.
Erin Cluley: Yeah, to remember that it's not him not answering you, it's because he's protecting you. So, looking back, like you just said. If I look back and see all the times, I didn't get what I asked for, that was God's protection over my life. And that is something I would like to remind myself of.
Jai Williams: Yeah, and one thing that, that segment really did for me, and we get to do it all the time because we do this, you know, on tio. But talking about your testimony. Like, just the power of a testimony to, it just really is, it's powerful. You know, it's amazing, because to see all of you guys sitting up there that are strong women in God, generals of the faith, people know all four of you, you know, and to be like, to get that human aspect of like, "Wait, they're not perfect". "What? They didn't know how to do that. What...That..." It just humanizes Christianity. And so, I think it's important...
Ginger Stache: That needs to happen.
Jai Williams: You know, we need to have more of that. And another thing that I thought was sort of, none of you really live in the same vicinity. Like, it's not like, you all live in the same area. So, that means that just because you can still have those kinda deep conversations with like-minded people. I just say that as a tip to like some of our friends, like, you don't have, we get to do this because we do live in the same area, and we get to do it all often. You know, however, people, if you share your stories and talk about Jesus with people, you know, find friends to talk about it, because you don't know whose life, you're, like, everything that was shared on that platform was so powerful and so impactful. And those testimonies really encouraged me, you know, like personally, so.
Ginger Stache: Share it with the person on the plane next to you.
Jai Williams: Exactly. Unless they're asleep.
Ginger Stache: I mean, God will open opportunities. You know, they can't get away, though. So, you can talk as much...
Erin Cluley: You got 'em. "I'm gonna tell you, my story".
Jai Williams: "They're giving drinks now".
Ginger Stache: "Are you sleeping"?
Jai Williams: "I gotta testimony toots. And I gotta let it out".
Ginger Stache: You can always throw in, "It's good to know the Lord in case something bad would happen on this flight".
Erin Cluley: They can get their attention right away.
Ginger Stache: Real gospel message.
Erin Cluley: "Now that I have your attention, I'd like to share with you some things".
Ginger Stache: Well, anyway, we've been talking so much about wisdom and what we would share with our younger selves. So, we do have an offer for you today. Joyce has a book called "In Search of Wisdom," and this is, just great things that are gleamed from Proverbs, the best place to look for wisdom. So, you can get that for your gift of any amount. Go to joycemeyer.org/talkitout. And of course, there you can catch up on all of our episodes, spend more time with my friends Jai and Erin today. And you didn't...
Erin Cluley: And Ginger.
Jai Williams: The wise one.
Ginger Stache: Oh my, no, no, no. We're so glad that you're a part of all of this, that you're here with us. We love you all. And we will see you next time.
Erin Cluley: Bye.