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GraceFilled Community
The GraceFilled Community Podcast is a place where faith, connection, and community come together. We explore meaningful conversations with guests who share their unique insights, experiences, and stories to inspire and empower others. Each episode offers listeners practical wisdom for living out their faith, creating belonging, and building community. Whether you're looking for spiritual growth or ways to connect deeper with those around you, the GraceFilled Community Podcast provides valuable content that enriches both your personal and spiritual journey.
GraceFilled Community
Beyond the Trophy: Championing Others to Big Impact
Onyx Conklin shares her journey of discovering God's call to be a champion not through personal achievement but by believing in and encouraging others to reach their potential.
• Championship is not about trophies or accolades but championing for other people
• God often calls the most unlikely people to make the biggest impact
• Simple acknowledgments like complimenting someone's scarf or thanking a cashier can powerfully impact someone's day
• Our past experiences, even painful ones, shape our unique ability to champion others
• The higher your leadership position, the more you should serve those you lead
• Everyone is strategically placed by God to make an impact in everyday moments
• Trust is essential in leadership—trust in God's placement and trust in those you lead
If you're seeking community, email grow@gracefieldcommunity.com and we would be happy to connect you with trusted community partners near you.
Connect with Onyx Conklin
Instagram: @championonfire
Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/MissOnyx
Connect with Us:
Visit our website at www.gracefilledcommunity.com
Follow us on Facebook: GraceFilled Community
Follow us on Instagram @gracefilledcommunity.
My name is Nicole Cater, your host, founder and servant leader of Graceville Community. I want to thank you for tuning in to Graceville Community Podcast. This is a safe space, a place in which we just share stories of how God has touched individuals' lives all across the world and how they are now impacting the kingdom of God. Thank you for tuning in. Blessings to you. Hello Graceville community, once again, I am excited to connect with you through our podcast. What a wonderful time it has been. I mean, just a few weeks ago, we celebrated reaching over 100 downloads, that's downloads who knows how many listeners and viewers. So I just want to take a moment to acknowledge our Heavenly Father. If you're listening today and this is your first time welcome to Graceville Community.
Speaker 1:We are a location that's all about building community for those in the kingdom of God, so I want to remind you and I probably will remind you again towards the end that if you're seeking community, no matter where you are globally, we have partners that we will love to connect you with.
Speaker 1:You are not meant to do life alone. That being said, I have someone super special to me that allows me not to do life alone, and so I'm so excited to introduce you to our guest today life alone. And so I'm so excited to introduce you to our guest today. I'm thrilled to have conversation with a friend, so let me say y'all. I just have to pause because, let me say, when I say not do life alone, there's a difference when you have people in your life that you find yourself consistently pouring out to, which is good, but we are made to be poured out and poured into. And I just want to say this guest is the ultimate encourager, and I couldn't start her bio without letting you know that, champion of champions, she is an encourager. I love her spirit, I love the fire that she brings in whatever room she's into.
Speaker 2:So here we go, y'all, here we go.
Speaker 1:I had to say that and I love you dearly and I want to say thank you for that. So today we have Miss Onyx. Onyx is from Westerly Rhode Island, but she grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She moved to Fort Worth two years ago to attend a church here that she longed to follow, and let me say y'all that's my church too. That is my church and that's how I get to do life with Onyx, and that's how I get to do life with Onyx. She is 45, still single, but has been working on who God has called her to be. She is happy that she hasn't yet been married. She worked in tech or medical world most of her life and served people through healthcare industry. Her identity is that of a champion, not because she's best at anything or all things, but because she loves to champion people. That's what Jesus called her to be, and he is the best coach that anyone can ask for. So help me welcome my loving friend Ani.
Speaker 2:Welcome today. Good morning, what's?
Speaker 1:up my girl. Good morning. All right, let's do this thing. I'm so excited.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. And by the way, thank you so much for doing this and having me on here. I'm so excited. I'm about to burst right out of my chair.
Speaker 1:Well, we both might burst out together, right? This might be a very new seed, right? Oh, okay. So I mentioned, and truly from the bottom of my heart I have seen you champion for people. I have seen you encourage people, even through a hard season that our church has navigated through. I've seen you encourage and support and be authentic and so we don't always get a chance because sometimes we are running in different spaces but I've seen it through a social presence, I've heard it through people's testimony, and so I do want to ask you, like, in this whole realm of champion, what does a champion look like to you?
Speaker 2:You know, you might think it's like the greats, because the word champion you think Michael Jordan right, the best of the best, the trophies, the honors, medals, accomplishments, achievements, and I always thought that was that too. But if you go into the dictionary it really is the first definition. But the second definition is really what God calls us to as Jesus people, and that's to champion for other people. So that's to absolutely look at the best qualities and the passions in people and draw them out and call them out, encourage them. You know, we don't call people out, we call them up, and so that's the best thing. Of a champion is to be the very best in making people the very best and being passionate about that, and so that's what a champion is to me, that's what Jesus presents to me.
Speaker 1:Yes, I love that, and I mean the bottom line of that really is in order to be a champion, I immediately, when you said call the best out, I thought of first Corinthians 13 love believes the best, and so, even regardless of what we may see in the physical aspect, I think encouraging people being a champion is really also looking at things through the spiritual eyes and encouraging them for what you may not see in the present today, but what you're calling them into, and so I absolutely love that. I'm like that is love. It's love believing the best in someone, and so I would say that you know, as you war for champion and I see you do social posts about you know being a champion. I acknowledge you to be a champion simply because you are exactly doing that thing You're believing the best and encouraging others and warring with them to be the best.
Speaker 2:In that Praise God, because if that's the fruit people are seeing, that's amazing. Yes absolutely.
Speaker 1:Which is a fruit right? Love, joy. I see you in joy all the time, y'all, y'all. Onyx has the most joy, and even first thing in the morning. I'm not going to lie, that's the area the Lord is working with us. Sometimes we be at the church and you know we might be starting a meeting at 8.15 in the morning. Y'all, I need that coffee cup with me. I'm not necessarily so full of the normal joy and Onyx comes in. They're like, yeah, guys, let's go. And I'm like, oh, wake up, wake up, nicole. I love it, love it. How did you start to see yourself as a champion?
Speaker 2:Oh, first of all, that was like polar opposite of anything that I ever thought I would be or God would call me to be, because you know, I grew up feeling like I was mediocre. I didn't think I was good at anything. You know, we didn't grow up with a lot of money. My mom worked two jobs and you know we just grew up like average. And then you know, there was stuff in my background and brokenness. And you know, as you get older and trial by fire more fire, more trials you learn how to do stuff the wrong way and I was not following the Lord at all and so just to even even take a step forward was the wrong choices most of the time. Just to even take a step forward was the wrong choices most of the time. And so when I finally did get into church and I really started seeing the Lord for who he was, at one point the funniest thing I was homesick one day and bad stomach bug and I watched this movie on rugby and I'm like I don't even know what rugby is, but it just the storyline sounded good. So I said I'm just going to watch this and the kids are punk the whole movie and about halfway through, the coach is like look, I want you to be the captain of the team and the kids. He just cannot believe it. And and girl, I will not cry Like. I can watch Hallmark movies all day and I will not shed a tear, but you, you put me in a good underdog movie and I ball.
Speaker 2:So I was watching this and I was crying so hard I had to pause the movie and all of a sudden you know how they say that your life flashes before your eyes. Well, that's exactly like what happened. But I saw all these great moments in sports. You know I grew up with sports. I love basketball especially. I saw all these moments in my head of champions and greatness. And the Lord just said to my heart I called you to be a champion. And I'm like who is he talking to? I'm like do you know me? Like I'm mediocre, I'm messed up, I'm broken. You know I? I don't have anything valid of that. And he said you are called a champion, champions. And so obviously that was not something that was cultivated overnight. I didn't get this massive download in one thing, but I just started testing it out a little bit, putting quotes on Facebook and stuff, and over time he's cultivated that really into a champion mindset and mentality for me.
Speaker 2:That's my identity in.
Speaker 1:Christ. Yes, as you were speaking of that, I just thought about how that works hand in hand with just evangelism, with reaching out to those that are lost or may not even come into place with their identity in Christ. How would you connect what being a champion and really warring for people to be in relation with evangelism?
Speaker 2:Well, because most people don't see themselves as anything great. They don't think that they can do anything. They see, you know, presidents of Fortune 500 companies, or they see great basketball stars, or you know all of these things, and they think to themselves well, I can never be that. You know, I'm just a stay-at-home mom. Or you know, I'm just a, I'm retired and you know, I live in a community with elderly people and I can't do anything big for God. And and God is like he's like, pick up my, my word. Do you see the people that is in there? There is no great people in there, and if there's great people in there, those are usually the ones God is like. Don't be like them, you know.
Speaker 2:And so for me and for for telling people about the Lord is he wants the grubby fishermen, right? He wants the shepherd with the sheep. He wants the woman who didn't think that she could be anything but just followed her mother-in-law to help to go pick crops. I mean, he wants those kind of people. He wants the ones that would never think that they could make anything of themselves. And truly, nicole, I mean, if you look at people who have done something that really makes an impact in the world. It's usually from a place of pain, yes, places of things where they didn't think that they could do anything. Those are the stories people resonate with, not the guy that went to you know PhD this and never had a blemish on his record, but the ones that fought through grit.
Speaker 1:And that's, that's what a champion is. They rise through that Right, absolutely. You know what I think about my own story and the passion and the things that I do like it comes from the place of pain, right. It comes from the loss of the child. It comes from the turmoil with their marriage. It comes from the turmoil of even just figuring out my identity and my place. It comes from turmoil and being raised in the church and doing ministry all of my life. It comes from. All of that is where it really led to a passion that led to me walking into the things that God called me to do, to exactly be that a champion for someone else, to let someone know like hey, you're not crazy, like you're not crazy, this can be rough, but you can come out of it, you can overcome it with Christ Jesus. You know, even as we talk about that, I think about the story of the rich young ruler and one of the things that over time I recognize and I can't remember. One time I was reading it and we may know the story of the rich young ruler and for our listeners I will put it in the show notes.
Speaker 1:Actually, let me not do that y'all. I'm gonna pause and give you the exact chapter that you could go to. Let me not do that. Let me do it right here. So, mark, and actually I'm going to say Matthew. So of course you can find it in all the gospels, but I'm going to say Matthew 16, or Matthew 19, verse 16. And so in it, the rich young ruler. I'm going to give you my synopsis here, right?
Speaker 1:So, the rich young ruler. He comes to Jesus and he says hey, good teacher you're. And the first thing that stood out to me was okay, he called Jesus a good teacher. But the interesting thing was the response that Jesus gave him. Because then Jesus said why do you call me good? And I'm thinking what are you talking about, jesus? Like you're Jesus, like who else? If you're not good, lord, only help us. Like, why would you give that response?
Speaker 1:And then Jesus furthers to say no one is good, but one that is God. And I think about that so often when I run into people that are struggling with identity or feeling like they're unworthy. I'm like you know, jesus himself said like no one is good, only God. And he didn't even allow like this man to come to him and say you are good. Like he said no, which the reality is. None of us are good, we are all in our rags, right, like we are all a mess. It is only through the righteousness of Jesus Christ that we can even call ourselves righteous under him, right.
Speaker 1:And so, even as you go further down with the rich young ruler like he, the way the story goes he tells him, like no one is good. The rich young ruler is basically his question was how does he enter eternal life, how does he enter heaven? And Jesus tell him like in order to do you must do these things. He says you, you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, which, as a key point I would like to say, if you look at those things, those are all things that are outward sins yes and so he tells him those things.
Speaker 1:And then Jesus comes back and says or the man says, hey, I've done all those things. Like I'm, I've done those things. And he says what do I still lack? Like, what do I need to still get into heaven? And then Jesus says if you want to be perfect and I think so many times we focus on like that, the rich young ruler, jesus tells you want to be perfect, go sell all your things and follow me. And the rich young ruler walks away sorrowful, like he had many possessions. I can't do that, and I think we focus so much on him not selling anything.
Speaker 1:But when we look at Jesus first said no one is good. But then he says if you want to be perfect and I'm like there's a, there's a word, word, play there, right, like, if you want to be perfect, go do this. And we see that the gentleman could not do it. As an example too. We are not going to be perfect. We go from glory to glory. Absolutely. Now you should be improving, we should be improving. We go from glory to glory, but that perfection is when we reach that eternal space. And so, as you talk about champion and encouraging people and pulling them out of their identity. Stages like what does a champion's legacy look like to you? Because the rich young ruler, his legacy was very much tied to his possessions. But what does a legacy for a champion look like to you?
Speaker 2:Well, you know, like I said, I'm a big basketball fan and Kobe Bryant died on my 40th birthday. How rude, you know. I mean, like you look at legacies like that and it's, those are tangible things. Like you can see trophies on walls, you can see plaques on walls, retired jerseys and those kinds of things. But, but when we're a champion for Christ, our legacy is the fruit that we're passing down to other people.
Speaker 2:So it's, it's not a matter of just saying, oh, you know, onyx was so nice or she was encouraging, or you know, whatever it's, it's a matter of saying she taught me God's word, she pointed me back to Jesus in a very unique way and I I want to highlight that part being unique because we sometimes we try to model who we are after someone else, because they seem to have, you know, more of what we think we should have.
Speaker 2:But God created us all uniquely and he wants us to be that. And so, for a champion, you you're always pointing people back to the master coach. So for a champion, you you're always pointing people back to the master coach, right, always back to Jesus, always where it should go. But then you, you can leave a legacy that says you know, this person encountered me on my path and they showed me some unique skills and some unique giftings that I didn't even know I had in me and they pull that out of me and because of that, you know, I can step on those building blocks that they gave me and then that person then can do the same for other people. So it's a legacy that never stops going. You know, we think about Paul in the Bible. Paul doesn't know I mean, maybe he does now but you know, paul probably never knew at that moment when he was writing those letters billions and billions and billions of people were going to be quoting him, you know, and he was just getting that download from God.
Speaker 2:So you know it really is not only our, our gift to be able to do that, but really is our responsibility, because God hands us his word in a way, and then we have to take the things inside of us and then pass it along. We can't just bury it from where it's at Right.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I mean, you mentioned Paul and I'm like Paul is the man that I'm like. Oh, what did Paul say? What did Paul do? Right?
Speaker 1:And so, even when I think about Paul, I think about Philippians, chapter three, and how he talks about like hey, yeah, like I was circumcised on earth day, meaning that his family followed the law, right. So in those times, culturally, like because his family followed the law, because he was part of the Roman, like he was considered prestige. It was almost like in this, in this worldly sense, in this Roman sense, like he perceived he had everything that you should strive for. Yet in Philippians 3, he essentially says like I have had to forget all those things of the past and press forward towards the mark of Jesus Christ, which, even as we talk about again, just identity and where you believe you are because of maybe your past or because of the mess you're in, is not what defines you. And I think about all the things like Paul literally persecuted Christians and he had to make a daily choice to put that behind him and say I'm going to walk in the new creation with Christ. I'm going to press forward towards the mark of this eternal thing, right. And when I think about that. I'm like he was definitely, definitely, like you said, definitely a champion, um, pushing for that eternal thing rather than focusing on the things that materialistically are earthly. He had already achieved if he went by the world roman standards of that time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, definitely, okay. So I always like to like, when I come in contact with people that I see and believe are, like man, you have a cause, like you are pushing it Right. And because, again, my own experience, I know that the things that I am most passionate about in the kingdom of God for sure has come through some pain. It has come through me overcoming particular areas where I'm like I don't want anyone else to go through this the way I did. How can I help you not be alone in this? How can I help you know that Jesus is here with you in this? And so when I think about that, I'm curious like what is your passion? What's your passion and what led to that?
Speaker 2:Well, people are my passion. That really is I love people. That's, you know, our church's logo is we're all about people and I'm like, hey, you stole that from me, that's mine. But I love people and it's not a conditional kind of love, it really is. Even when people have bad days, even people are not kind or you you have to do life with, with certain behaviors, you know, even at that I still love them. I can't, I cannot help it and and sometimes that gets me in trouble because people are like, oh, you know, but but I do.
Speaker 2:And so, helping people to find that, like I love to ask questions when I'm with people, I am like the question manufacturer. I want to know everything about you, especially if it's like the first time we're going out for coffee or dinner, what is it about you? What? What's like the first time we're going out for coffee or dinner, what is it about you? What's your life, what's your history, what's your passion? Like I'm always asking questions because then I get to a point where I'm like so you have a passion for this, and then my next thought is how can I support you in that? How can I pray for you in that? Is there something tangible that I can do to help you in that.
Speaker 2:And I I follow up with people and so I think I think that, but also feeling like I didn't always have what I needed. You know, through through different stages of my life, you know I needed guidance and mentorship and love at certain parts of my life when it was critical, and I didn't have it. And so I'm not Jesus right. So I'm not going to step in and say, hey, you know, look at me I'm. I just want to say, you know, I know a guy, you know like you're going through struggle. Let me show you, let me let me talk to him.
Speaker 2:And to tell people authentically I am. So, if I could pick one word about it is authenticity to tell people I am absolutely not there, I'm on a journey, I have no success. There's no PhD after my name, there's no um, you know, accredited accolades, because there's not, there is a mess in progress. So that's why I want to help people is because I want to be a lighthouse on that journey, not necessarily to walk within the whole journey Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't but just to be a light on that journey, to say, Ooh, in that place I got some warmth, I got some comfort, I got some encouragement, and then they can move on with their journey. That's, that's what I want to do for them. Hey, let's take a quick break to tell you about Grace-Filled Community.
Speaker 1:Grace-Filled Community is an organization that focuses on the primary principles of the Church of Acts, centered around building communities that impact the Kingdom of God. We do this through three core extensions. The kingdom of God we do this through three core extensions. One, graceville Church Network, where we empower churches and nonprofits for God's success and growth. We offer tailored growth strategies rooted in biblical principles that will help you expand your reach and impact your communities. Just like the early church, we focus not on attendance and numbers, but on discipleship, providing leadership teachings and trainings to today's ministry leaders.
Speaker 1:Our second extension is Project of the Grace Field, where we provide biblical counseling, mentorship, workshops and events that are dedicated to encouraging individuals to live a life filled with grace and purpose, rooted in the understanding that all have fallen short and are a working project. Let us help the individuals in your community grow as they walk with God and experience the fullness of his love. Our third extension is Grace-Filled Business. Grace-filled Business is here to help small faith-based business owners develop their business in a way that honors God, that brings increase and allows them to pour back into his kingdom, through marketplace ministry and financing his kingdom. We do this through our 15 years of experience of virtual administrative work, digital marketing, business development and consulting Welcome back.
Speaker 1:Yes, man, I love that, Even when I think about like what we do within Gracefield community. Our biblical counseling component is called Project of the Grace Field and it's really because we all are a working project. None of us have arrived right Because, again, scripture says we go from glory to glory until we enter that place. So if you're still here on earth, if no one hasn't told you I am going to tell you, you still have work to do, you have not arrived right and so we're all on this journey. Yeah, we may all be in different stages and I also like to say it doesn't depend on your time of walking with Christ. I think sometimes there's this notion that, oh, I've been saved for 20 years, or I've been saved for 40 years, that doesn't negate the person that's been saved for two months.
Speaker 2:What are you?
Speaker 1:doing with what you've been given? Yes, okay, so I think of people.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry, oh no, go, please, please. And I just think that God puts us uniquely in places where we're at, you know, in our businesses and our, in our volunteering in our community, in our churches, even where we have at, you know, in our businesses, in our volunteering in our community, in our churches, even where we have coffee. You know, we're strategically placed in a moment and we are made to make an impact. I don't ever like to go into any place of business and not look at it and recognize at least one person. You know, if I'm walking down down an aisle, you know I like your scarf. Or you know, and sometimes people just they're like somebody saw me, you know, and they they'll, they'll smile. Or you know, after the lady at the dollar store has been, person after person after person, you know, and hey, you know, thank you so much for being here, because y'all say my life on a regular basis.
Speaker 2:It really is just just that it doesn't always have to be big things. We always think that it has to be big and in lights, and we've got to have a five-year plan for it and all of that. But but God works in the now, he really does. He works in the in the past. He works in the now and he works in the future, but he, he has us working in the present. That's where he's at, so he knows the whole story, beginning from end, and we have to walk that out every day. It's important that we're thinking about those things.
Speaker 1:Yes, man, onyx, you are speaking my heart, you are talking my language. I'm like that is exactly the way that I choose to navigate life. When I see someone I'm looking to, I'm literally looking and waiting, like Holy Spirit. How can I encourage them? And, like you said, sometimes it's just saying like hey, I like your earrings, hey, I like your shirt, like, hey, you look really nice in this. Right, just that simple word of encouragement, and it doesn't have to be all super spiritual. I'm not coming with them like okay, let's go to Philippians 2. This right, it's just acknowledging them as an individual and showing them that someone has taken the time to acknowledge them. I mean, in the world we live in today, especially in I call it the microwave sense of our world, right, sometimes individuals are so quick to I'm trying to get from one thing to the next, one thing to the next, that we don't pause to acknowledge the very thing that's right in front of us. Yeah, or very person right in front of us. Our listeners know that my definition, and if you know it, say it with me. If this is your first time, then here we go. But yes, this is Nicole Cater, so you're not going to find this in the dictionary. This is Nicole Cater's definition of grace, and my definition is that understanding and giving empathy to the.
Speaker 1:What you're seeing to today, the reaction you're seeing today from an individual, is not based on their now, but it's based on their past experience that has shaped what we see today, and the reality is like you mentioned. My number one example is that cashier. It's that cashier that has had people left and right come through, people that don't have speed, people that are on their phones while she's like how can I help you with something else? People that are rude because this price maybe was different than what they thought. And then I get to her and she's like hi, here you go.
Speaker 1:She doesn't know me, she has no reason to be rude to me, right? Like it's not because of me. There's some past experience that has shaped what I'm seeing today and I need to be able to sit with all the fruits of the spirit because that's the evidence that the spirit is within me and extend grace to her so that I can be loving, so that I can be kind, so that I can be gentle, so that I can encourage and I can be merciful. Like in all those things. It's only by understanding and giving empathy to what I'm seeing today. This isn't about me, and I know I tend to say that and sometimes it comes off me because I'm like it's not even about you, but really it's not.
Speaker 2:We're human. Yes, yes, I think anytime. Anybody that's been around you you know for for a moment, but anybody that's been around you knows that you live from the overflow of God's grace. It is, it just pours out of you, and so anybody that gets near you, you know, I hug on you, I just rub up against that, anointing a little bit, you know, and but, but it really is, and that's that's where we should live. We should live from, from the overflow of God's grace.
Speaker 1:Yes, thank you. I'm like I'm so excited. This God's grace, yes, thank you. I'm like I'm so excited. This is one of the reasons I'm so excited for our podcast and I'm like I just knew I'm like this is going to be a conversation that's so sweet to my heart because it's about people, and you and I both say it the same way like love people, like I love God, and I love people because they're his right, they're his, and what a privilege it is to do. Every good and perfect gift come from above. You know, even scripture says children are a blessing, like we are children that grew up. So we're still a blessing, we still are.
Speaker 2:We still are. Need parenting still. Yes, yes, oh yes, especially in driving. You learn a lot about grace when you drive.
Speaker 1:Definitely, and especially around here in Texas. Like I, you know, I'm grew up in California, been in Texas now for about seven years and, um, people always talk about California driving but I live out, like towards the country, right, so I have to pass the city and I live out towards the country and there's a lot of the 18 wheelers that are on these country roads and y'all. I'm in the stage of teaching the 16 year old how to drive and like, if somebody have advice, help me, because I'm like I want to teach you, and he very much, so it's like a rule follower, right, like he's that oldest kid syndrome, right, so he's like a rule follower. He's like the speed limit says 70. Well, actually, because we are in a country, the speed limit says 75 and I'm like but do you see this truck running up on us at 85? Like I would like to speed up some, please look oh, brain for you on that.
Speaker 2:That, that's, that's an era.
Speaker 1:Oh man, yes, it is I y'all. There've been times that I'm like Lord, is this the day? Oh, thank you, thank you, we're here, but no, he has been doing fantastic. I mean, it is a journey and that's the thing is. You talked about the now, right, there's so many things that happen in our day to day. That is an opportunity to share christ. It's just an opportunity. It doesn't have to be in the four walls of a church building. It doesn't have to be, you know, with a bible right in front of us. It doesn't have to be through a special song, like it is through us. Yeah, it is us. His spirit lives inside of us and so we're sharing him in how we treat people, how we love our people, how we express him to others. Like we know that the saying is like the greatest testimony is the life you live.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think too that you know one thing I learned I took a leadership class last year and one thing I just got from that class not that it was said, but we had a lot of women in there that were introverts and you know, those of us who are comfortable getting up and speaking in front of people was like, oh, you have to do a presentation and I'm like, okay, my biggest thought is what am I going to talk on? Their biggest thoughts was how am I going to get bravery to get up there and speak? And then when they did, I was I mean the bomb just dropped. I was wow, you know, that voice was in there, that that heart, that expression of God was in you and you. You were saying sometimes I realized that those who have the quietest personalities really have the loudest voice. So that's just my encouragement to any of your listeners is you may be somebody that you're like I am so scared to talk in front of people and all that, but you have a voice. I mean people right now and they do podcasts like this or they do different things that God has a way to use every expression, even if you didn't have a voice or even if you had a you know like you couldn't hear or you couldn't see, or you know one of your senses was not there, god not only will compensate for that, but sometimes he gives you a greater gift in that sense because the other one isn't there. And so, you know, we all can use what we have to express God, and he wants us to do that, and he even says that in the Bible. Sometimes the background people are the ones that he loves on, sometimes more because they're in the background. So what he says is you're seen.
Speaker 2:And so that I think that's my heart too is I always want to make people seen. I always want to make sure that nobody you know gets left out. You know they. There's not a line for to talk to the person that cleans the bathroom. You know what I mean. The line is always for the guy on the platform. But the one that makes me most comfortable when I go to a conference is the one who's cleaning the bathroom. Yes, if I don't have two minutes to go to the bathroom and feel comfortable, and it's messy and dirty, I'm not going to be happy the rest of the time, right? Yes, you know, you got to represent and you got to be seeing those people because they are some of God's greatest gifts and sometimes they're smarter than I am. Most of the time they're smarter than I am. People just don't ask, you know, yes absolutely, I think about all the time.
Speaker 1:So y'all, in our church we do have a cafe area and I think about one lady I was going to shout her name, ellen, she is phenomenal. But I was having I already said y'all down some mornings. I'm still trying to get that energy flowing. Okay, I was having one of those mornings. It was an early morning and some things had already happened throughout that scope of just serving others. And I remember coming and all of a sudden I mean her not knowing anything about my morning she said have you ever had a man of chai? And I'm like what's a man of chai? I never heard of that.
Speaker 1:So here's a tip, y'all, if you are in Texas, and I will just say, if you happen to come to Gateway Church, especially South Lake Campus, yes, that is my home church. I am very proud because that's where God has me and I'm being obedient to him. So I'm happy to be there. If you come there and you want a good drink, ask them for a manna, chai tea, hot or ice, it's great. But so she said, have you ever tried a manna? And I'm like no, and she doesn't even know.
Speaker 1:I was almost at the point of tears that day of just feeling like what is happening, and she says I'm gonna make you a manna chai. So I'm like, okay, she gives me the manna chai best drink ever, y'all best what. And with that I'm like, even in her giving it I'm like manna, manna. Lord, you know, you know and you provide for this moment. You provided manna from heaven because that's what they needed and you knew y'all, I needed that manna chai tea and lord knew that. He was going to speak to me through that chai tea in that very moment to encourage me and what was happening in the circumstance.
Speaker 1:She's like I'm just making coffee, but in her suggestion and her obedience of being there let's just start with that her obedience of being there and not taking for granted what she does she gave me a drink that y'all, that is my go-to drink. I get it. If you see me at the cafe, you know what I'm getting. It's a man of chai, okay. And it really spoke to me and it really encouraged me to press through a moment that I was struggling with and in that, the very thing that made me somebody made of seeing me on the platform or me teaching a class, or me standing up front doing something. It started with her encouraging me with that cup of chai tea, so she was the one that I'm like y'all should be giving claps for her Like cause. I may not have pushed through to show up for this class and teach this today if she hadn't given me that bed of chai.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's awesome. Well, and you know the word in Hebrew, the word chai, right, chai is life. So really, she gave you bread and life and life. Yes.
Speaker 1:Yes, so him, yeah, yeah. So okay, onyx, if you have not had the man of chai, I'm like next service, I'm going for it?
Speaker 2:Yes, do it. I'm like, come find me. I'm going to go for it to be a blessing to me for Savannah Saturday.
Speaker 1:I'm going, yeah, all right, yes, oh gosh, I love this. This has been such a great time. Before we go, cause I just I mean, I have a list of questions, but before we go, I do want to ask you like servant leader, servant leadership. I feel like that is something that both you and I just really take hold of. I know both of us are big, like John Maxwell, like readers and and kind of all into servant leadership. So I do want to ask you, in the scope of being a champion, right, how do you see serving leadership fitting into being exactly that, like being a champion?
Speaker 2:I would. I would not want anybody to come to me that didn't have some kind of grit with something Like I said. It's wonderful when, when people just know how to do something and they've read a manual or read a book, or they can just do something. But it's so much more to me when somebody says this is my story and because of this I'm serving, and so servant leadership is just that. In other words, you come from a place of I shouldn't even be a leader, I don't have all the don't have all the qualifications maybe, or even if you do have qualifications, you know that you wouldn't have gotten there without God. You, you know that some part of you is messed up and has been messed up or was messed up, and so there's an immediately disqualification for any of us. It doesn't matter who we are, because we have a sin-based nature, and so when you serve people, it's not that you really earn the right to be a leader, but I think it gives you much more of a standpoint of I've been in the mud and I'm going to be in the mud with you. So you're not looking down on people saying you will do this and I need you to do this. You're saying I'm going to get in the mud with you and we're going to do this together and I'm going to take responsibility for the outcome of this, but at the end of the day, my place is below you. I may have a title above you, but my place is below you. And Jesus does that. He washes our feet right. He shows us that.
Speaker 2:So I think that that's the greatest example is that, look you, you might have the knowledge and you might have all the accreditation, all that stuff to be able to do what you do. But if you are not willing to get down on that playing field with your people and say I'm going to do what I'm asking you to do, or I'm going to cry with you through this, or I'm going to be there for you, then really you come from a place of I'm the man on the mountain and I don't have anybody around me. And who wants to be around somebody like that? You want people to be loving, but again, at the end of the day, it points people back to Jesus. And if I'm not a kind of a leader that's going to say I'm made in the image of my leader, the leader, my Lord then how can I tell you what to do. I have no right, I have no place to be able to do that, so that's why it's so important to me.
Speaker 1:Right, absolutely, I think, in all the areas of the spaces of leadership. One of the things that I always say is, like the higher the title actually means the lower and the closer I am to the bottom of your feet. Yeah, because I am literally here to serve, like you, and I think of Jesus washing feet like the higher up you go, it technically should be the more and more that you are opening the doors to serving. Yes, and so when I think about all the components of leadership, and even in the sense of when I look at leaders that are struggling to get people to jump on board or to do their part, my question always is where are you leading from? Because when individuals see that you have a passion, that you're in this for the right cause, right, and you give a vision even scripture tells us like write the vision so that others may run with it. Right, like when you do that, they'll jump on board and they will, like you will be encouraging a task versus demanding or even really asking. It's more of an encouragement of like hey, I believe you're empowered to do this, can you take care of this? Yes, and they take that opportunity to say yes, I'm going to own it.
Speaker 1:You know, one of the things, even in servant leadership, that I've learned over time is also this ability to trust and I think that's a part of conversation that is left out of leadership at times is one we're trusting God in the things that he has placed us to lead. At that point, right, and so that's one of the key parts is you don't want to be leading someplace that you're not called to lead. Yes, and that's why there's a aspect of having to examine your heart and make sure that what you are doing is the thing that he's called you to do for that season. Yes, and so when you're leading from a place that you're called to in that obedience, that's the thing that drives your leadership aspect. That obedience, that's the thing that drives your leadership aspect. But the fact of trust and trusting Lord that you called me here, so you're going to give me the tools, the resources, the people you are going to provide, because this is where you place me, not I place myself.
Speaker 1:Yes, and then the second component in that is trust those that you're leading is trust those that you're leading Not to be a what would we call it Like a helicopter leader, right, but a leader that, like, I'm empowering you and I'm going to trust you to do this, and are you going to make mistakes? Absolutely, because we're human, as high as the title you go, you're going to make mistakes too, right? And so in our humanity, are mistakes going to be made Absolutely? But I'm trusting that this is God's first of all and that I can trust you and empower you to carry something out without being a helicopter over it, because, really, when you're helicoptering, you're saying it only I can do it and only my way is the way that works. Yep, yep, when all reality, it's only God's way and I'm just a vessel that has a privilege to be used by him, right?
Speaker 2:yes, and helicopters flatten people. They get too close to you. You know you don't want to do that either.
Speaker 1:So so so true, very true, yeah oh my goodness. I have absolutely loved our time on itix. I knew I would.
Speaker 2:It's been amazing. Man, if y'all get a chance to come down to Gateway, man, I'll hug on you. I love people. I told you so you're going to get hugged, you know. It's just. It's a joy and excitement really to serve the Lord. And, nicole, thank you so much for what you're doing, because without community, I mean unity is, in that word, right, and that's so important. And we're finding now, in these days of AI and all that kind of stuff, that you know, things can get dark pretty quick in certain areas and we need each other, we need humans, we need interaction and contact, and you cannot do better than when you're putting Jesus and community together. It really is foundational, it's crucial, I think, to the world we're living in. So I just want to say thank you for all the work that you're doing and may it continue to grow fruit.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, oh, thank you, thank you. Let me tell you it definitely is a journey. Talk about being places where you're called to, because most, most don't know like. This podcast was not something I wanted to do. First of all, why would I add something extra on my plate? Why would I add something else? And the reality of even? That's why we can't judge someone that maybe has a platform space, because I like to say, those that are often used by God in a platform space are the people that don't want the platform.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:I have fought this podcast for just about a year ago I fought this podcast and I finally out of it truly in a sense of frustration, like fine Lord, yes, right, yeah, right, yeah. But in that I will tell you it has done more for me and my soul that I don't know about the listeners and I'm sure I pray every recording that it impacts you, but every time we do a podcast it has encouraged me, it has been something for me in it, and so I just love how our Heavenly Father is so sweet that he's like when you do the thing for me, I got you, I know what you need, yeah, and so thank you for just acknowledging the work happening here at Graceville Community. Lord knows, I couldn't do it without the team that supports me, but I'm also just so great, just so grateful for people like you that jump on board and share your story and share your love for kingdom and what you're doing to impact others, and so I appreciate you, friend. You have encouraged my heart today. Hugs, girl hugs.
Speaker 2:Yes, hugs, hugs, girl.
Speaker 1:Oh well, to our listeners, I do want to tell you once again thank you for tuning in to Gracefield Community, as always. If you're seeking community, please you can email grow at gracefieldcommunitycom and we would be happy to connect you with some community partners that we know are safe and that we trust nearby you. So if you're looking for community, please reach out. Onyx, I know that people have listened to this and they're like how do I stay in touch with this girl? I love her because I love you, so I know they do too. So tell us how can we make sure to stay connected with all the things and the encouraging champion words that you have?
Speaker 2:I'm on Instagram and Facebook. So, onyx Conklin, you just looked me up by that. So that's me, and I only post encouraging stuff. So if you're looking for discouragement, you're going to be in the wrong place. Right, right, I hear you. I only know how to love.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, oh, I love that. Well, what's in you definitely flows out of you. So, thank you, we will put, we will definitely put Ony and Instagram and the show notes so you guys can click and be connected. I'm going to tell you you will be encouraged by her Facebook and her Instagram posts and you'll get some sports education there too. Y'all, yeah, yes, oh. Thanks again for tuning in. We pray blessings over each of you and may you continue to walk with the lord. God bless. Thank you for tuning in to today's episode of graceville community podcast. We would like to invite you to visit gracevillecommunitycom.
Speaker 1:Graceville community is all about doing church the way Church of Acts did, using five main principles that we see in the Book of Acts. Sharing resources, as believers pooled their possessions and resources to support those in need, as we see in Acts 2.44. 2 44. Through hospitality the early Christians practice hospitality by opening their homes to others, as we see in Acts 2 and 46. By financial aid the church in Antioch sent financial aid to believers in Judea during a time of famine, as described in Acts 11 and 29. Prayer and encouragement they supported each other through prayer and encouragement, as we see in Acts 4 and 24. And finally, spiritual guidance. The apostles and elders provided spiritual guidance and teaching to help strengthen and build the community, as we see in Acts 1530. I would like to encourage you. If any of those areas are areas in which you are in need or can contribute, please reach out to Graceville Community. We are working together across the world with ministries and individuals alike to help bring back the Church of Acts.
