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For over 25 years Proverbs 31 Ministries' mission has been to intersect God's Word in the real, hard places we all struggle with. That's why we started this podcast. Every episode will feature a variety of teachings from president Lysa TerKeurst, staff members or friends of the ministry who can teach you something valuable from their vantage point. We hope that regardless of your age, background or stage of life, it's something you look forward to listening to each month!
Kaley Olson: Hi, friends.
Thanks for tuning in to the Proverbs 31 Ministries podcast where we share truth for any girl in any season. I'm your host, Kayley Olson, and I'm here today with my co-host, Meredith Brock. And Meredith, what are we talking about today?
Meredith Brock: Oh, man. We've got a good one in store for everybody. Guys, we have my friend, Nicki Koziarz, on the show today. And we talk about a crazy trip we went on.
It's true.
And when we learned from this crazy trip, well, we went to El Salvador, and both of us walked away changed. And so, I cannot wait for you to hear, Nicki teach about what the Lord taught her during that time.
Kaley Olson: Yeah. Oh, man. It's such a good episode. And before we get into our, show for today, I do wanna mention that Nicki, has written a lot of our devotions on Encouragement for Today devotions that you can subscribe to absolutely free.
And so, if you're listening to this and you love hearing from Nicki, you can also hear from her in writing form and many other really, really talented and incredible writers by subscribing to our free Encouragement for Today devotions.
We've made that super easy for you to subscribe, so just subscribe for free using the link in our show notes below. Alright, Meredith. Let's dive into today's episode. Well, we are so excited to welcome our friend Nicki Koziarz to the show today. Hey, Nicki. How are you doing?
Nicki Koziarz: Hey.
I'm so excited to be here today.
This is so fun.
Meredith Brock: Nicki, we are so excited that you are here.
Guys, if you don't know who Nicki is, you are in for a treat today. Not only is she a fantastic teacher, she is a, speaker that travels all over the country. She's a writer.
Kaley Olson: Mhmm.
Meredith Brock: Wait for it. She's also the mother of six children.
Kaley Olson: Bless.
Meredith Brock: That's so many children.
Kaley Olson: Bless it.
Meredith Brock: Yeah. There she is the mother of three biological girls and three adorable, adopted boys from Haiti.
Kaley Olson: Meredith, do we count the farm animals as children in here as well? If so, that's like a 100.
Meredith Brock: She's on a farm, and she has a horse named School Bus, I believe, that dances to worship music. Guys, you can't make this stuff up. She's got pigs that consistently tear up her front lawn. They're naughty pigs. And then she's got all these cute cows, they're called Highland cows. And I think that if you follow her on Instagram, she's always on baby watch. One of them is always having a baby, and we're always wondering when is that baby gonna come. It's all very exciting. Guys, she lives a wildlife, people. Like, literally a wildlife. Get it? Okay.
Really, guys, Nicki and I, not that long ago, traveled together to El Salvador with our ministry partner, Compassion International, to experience firsthand in our face what they are doing all over the world and it was truly, a remarkable experience. I know that it changed me deeply.
I think it changed Nicki deeply to see what, that ministry is doing, but really what God is doing, in El Salvador, all over the world, really, through Compassion International.
And so, I am really excited today because Nicki is gonna unpack what she learned, during that time while we were over in El Salvador. And so enough from me, guys. You don't wanna hear from me anymore. We're gonna hand it over to my friend, Nicki Koziarz.
Nicki Koziarz: Aw. Thanks, Meredith. I'm so impressed that you remembered all of those Barnyard Babies, and their shenanigans. It's an adventure every day for sure.
So, well, I am super excited about today's podcast episode because I really believe that this episode could help some people who might be wrestling with this question of what am I supposed to be doing with my life? I think whether you are in your twenties or whether you are in your eighties, sometimes we get to this point where we start to ask that question.
And I think it's a good question to ask from time to time. And, you know, we have so many tools, resources, assessments, books you can read on your purpose, on your calling, and they are wonderful things. Hear me say that. I use all those resources as well. I recommend them.
But sometimes I think the greatest thing that we need to do is just hit the pause button and look within our souls. And a couple of years ago, I heard a pastor say this about your calling. He said, look around the world, around you, and ask, what is something that shouldn't be this way? And that's where your calling can begin. And that question and that phrase has never left me and I've passed it on to dozens of young people that I've been talking to who are really trying to figure out like what am I supposed to be doing right now. I've shared it with middle aged women who are kind of going through this like, okay, my kids are grown, they're gone, I don't really know what's next for me.
And I've also shared it with people who I would not call older, I would call them wiser than me, who have feel like kind of their life is done and they're finished, but they're not. And so that question has really helped me and others, discern this. And so sometimes the most important direction in our life, it doesn't come from a 10-step plan or a five-year, vision plan for our life.
It really starts with what I call a holy discomfort. Now when I say that phrase, holy discomfort, kind of the word that connects with that would be something that we would look at in the world and see an injustice.
Right?
And there are thousands of injustices in this world. And I think what's really amazing is that none of us look at the world exactly the same. And sometimes this frustrates people, but I actually think it's a really beautiful thing because God didn't call us, to look at everything and to see it the same way. He wired us differently. He made us differently.
We experienced things in our childhood that, allowed us to have the passions and, the things that we look at in this world that we think it shouldn't be this way. So I want us all to pause just for a second, and I want you to think about the last thing that you saw that deeply bothered you.
Okay?
So just think about that for a second. Now as you kinda hold that that tension in your head right now, I wanna talk about the difference between an injustice and an irritation, because I think sometimes in our culture, we get these a little bit mixed up.
Okay? So, there is a big difference between life's irritations and life's injustices. So, irritations, could be many different things. Things that really get under our skin. So, it could be the traffic. Oh, my goodness. The traffic in Charlotte just keeps getting worse and worse day by day. Right, ladies?
Mhmm.
The slow Wi Fi that sometimes we experience, the messy house from the kids who just cannot remember to pick up their shoes and their toys and their clothes and all those things. And also, unmet expectations often frustrate us and leave us just feeling irritated. But injustices, those are the things that get under God's skin. And those are things that we hear about in the scriptures like the hungry, the oppressed, the overlooked, the abused. Injustice is when something breaks the heart of God because it violates his design for human dignity and flourishing. It's not something that God just looks at and just says, I'm just irritated with that. It's something that deeply breaks his heart. And so, we're not called to fix every irritation in this world.
I wish we could fix them all. Wouldn't that be wonderful? But we are called in Micah six eight to respond to injustice. And this is a very common bible verse, but I do want to bring this into this teaching today because I think it's really gonna help us set our hearts in the right direction as we continue to look at that thing. It shouldn't be this way. Okay.
So, Micah six eight says, he has shown you, oh mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. So, notice that that verse doesn't say avoid being irritated. That is not in there at all.
It says act justly, which means when you feel that holy ache rise inside of your spirit as you look at something in the world that shouldn't be this way, that is not an annoyance in your soul to ignore. That could be God pointing you towards your purpose.
So, what are you looking at in this world through that lens and think it shouldn't be this way? Now I am not one who believes that we should obey God just to get the outcome that we want.
In fact, I've seen quite the opposite. When we obey God, sometimes it really feels like when we're walking through our calling and our assignment towards doing something justly towards that it shouldn't be this way, it will actually feel impossible.
It will actually feel really dark. And in the midst of it all, it can seem impossible. But something that is really important for us, if we're gonna make this decision to do something about these injustices that break the heart of God, is to remember that there is a promise that God gives us that we can hold on to tightly as followers of him.
Behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. So, Micah six: eight tells us what God requires of us as we look at these things, right?
To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.
But then Isaiah fifty-eight ten, it shows us the promise of what it will produce to obey that calling. So, I wanna go back to Isaiah fifty-eight ten, and I wanna highlight that phrase, spend yourselves. Okay?
So, this does not feel like the message our culture preaches right now. And, I wanna hold this tension carefully, because everything in our world right now seems to be about, like, protect your peace, protect your time, protect your soul, protect your energy.
And I think, you know, we can thank Doctor. Henry Cloud for that book, Boundaries, that really kinda set the stage for that mentality in our lives, and boundaries are a beautiful and wonderful and necessary thing. Hear me say that.
But I think sometimes when we look at these things that shouldn't be this way, sometimes this fear of, like, well, if I step into this, then my peace is gonna be all in an uproar. Or if I step into this, I'm gonna become a hot mess just like this person. And the truth is that spending yourself, as this verse says, on someone else or stepping into someone else's darkness, it's hard.
Kaley Olson: Yeah.
Nicki Koziarz: It's exhausting. And it doesn't feel comfortable. But God has not necessarily called us to a place of comfort. Your calling is going to push you towards feeling uncomfortable, to stepping into places that don't feel right to you, that don't feel familiar to you. And it's this process of stretching ourselves. Okay? So, when he says in this verse to spend yourselves, it's not a place of just throwing out all of your boundaries, throwing out all of your giftings, throwing out all your things and just saying, I have no experience with this.
I have no anything with this. I'm just gonna do something about this. You might feel really frustrated if you do that. But it's looking at all those great things inside of you, your gifts, your callings, your talents, what you have in your hands right now. But then also saying, am I willing to push myself to this next place? Okay. So, when it says in that verse, suspend yourself on the oppressed, we could go back to Matthew 25 verses 35 through 40. This is who Jesus affirms as the oppressed, and it's the least of these. Now, this is not necessarily just someone who is lower than you. Someone who's in a lower, financial bracket than you, who, doesn't have as much as you. The least of these expands way beyond poverty. And it's really a place for each of us to look at all around us. We have people who are oppressed. We have people who do not know Jesus. We have people who have not seen the light of his goodness in their life.
Everywhere we go, you could be listening to this right now in a cubicle and sitting next to someone who is oppressed, who doesn't know the goodness of God and has not tasted and seen how God is good to them. And so, we see the calling, to spend ourselves.
We see who is that person we're supposed to spend ourselves with. But then we start to see the promise. And it's in that phrase: Your night will become like noonday. So, here's the thing, in Biblical times, and, I would even say into today, darkness was not a time where people wanted to be outside. This is way before, like, lights on cars, and streetlights, and flashlights, and things like that. You know, most people just had a fire near them to bring some light into the darkness. And so, people would come inside during the dark times, and they would kind of just shut everything down. And to a certain extent, we still do that today. Right?
Like, there's a lot of dark crimes that happen at night and, you know, we tell our kids to be careful if they're driving at night and things like that. But what this verse is telling us is that when we are willing to step into someone else's darkness, our own darkness will become like the noonday. Now I want you to think about noon. Wherever you live in the world, noon, unless maybe you're in Alaska.
Meredith Brock: Right
Nicki Koziarz: the only place this may not apply. Right. Is, like, the highest the sun is gonna be. It's the brightest the light is gonna be during the day. It's the hottest time of the day in the sun time or in the summertime. And so, think about how your own darkness can start to feel like this place. I just wanna retreat. I just wanna go inside. I just wanna lay in my bed and watch Netflix and not deal with any of this. But God is saying, when you're willing to step into someone else's darkness, your own darkness will feel like the noonday light is shining on that. And that is a promise that God gives us. Now, here's the thing. I can be kind of stubborn. Y'all can relate to that, I'm sure. Okay? And sometimes God has to do some really extreme things to make me understand something He's trying to teach me.
And unfortunately for me, God had to take me all the way to El Salvador a couple weeks ago to really understand this concept. Because as Meredith shared, we did adopt three boys from Haiti. And I wish I could tell you it has felt like the noonday light is shining on me every single day. But it doesn't. There's a lot of dark days, and there's a lot of hard days, and there's a lot of days where I would really wish that this darkness was not like it was.
And so we were in El Salvador, and we were at the very end of our trip, and I was kind of tired. I was kind of really like, okay, I think I've got everything I need here. Compassion International is amazing. Let's just, like, wrap this up and go home. But God allowed me to meet someone who really, tangibly showed me what this means to live this out.
And her name was Wendy. And Wendy and her husband are pastors in a small community in El Salvador. And Wendy is I kinda describe her to people that I've been telling her story about, as someone who, like, does more by 9AM than most of us do all day. Like, she does even Meredith Brock is, like, one of the most high-capacity people I know too. I would say she does circles around Meredith. Like, she is she is doing a lot with her life. Okay?
But at the very end, after we had heard about everything that Wendy and her husband do through helping hundreds of children in their community come through this compassion center, through a prison ministry that she has started, through this amazing child development, play place that she developed.
It was just one of the most extreme places that I've seen of someone taking the resources that Compassion International can give a pastor and his wife in their community. I mean, she just took it, and she maximized it to the max.
Nicki Koziarz: the very end, Wendy was sharing her story. And she began to share about all of the darkness that she was experiencing in El Salvador in her community. And she was telling us stories as she was just crying and the tears were just coming down her eyes and, she just was struggling so hard to get the words out. But what she began to tell us was not this verse exactly, but it was the fulfillment of God's promise. And she said things like, I saw how many people needed Jesus.
I saw how many people were hungry. I saw how many people needed help. And I said, God, if you can use me, then do it. And she stepped into their darkness, and now her own darkness that she was experiencing through her family, through the loss that they had had, And I remember sitting there, sometimes when we hear about people like this, or even like sometimes when I tell people about our adoption, and Meredith, maybe you feel this way too, because you're also an adoptive mom.
Like people can sometimes put you like in this like hero like position. I'm like, no. You have no idea how dark this can feel for me. And when I was listening to Wendy, I began to have tears in my own eyes because, you know, when we first brought the boys home, there was a lot of people that were like, we're in this with you. Like, you've got this. We're in your corner.
We're gonna, you know, support you and help you. And then when people started to see, like, how dark it really was and how hard it really was, I don't think anyone intentionally was like, oh, I'm out of that. Like, I don't wanna think that I think people look at that much darkness and that much hard, and they think there's nothing that I can do. And Wendy so easily could have looked at her community and said, this is too much. This is too hard. This is hopeless. This is gonna be too much for two people to do in this community, and we're we're done. Like, it is just gonna stay a disaster. But she made that decision to decide to step into the darkness, and God was able to bring light into her life. And then, here I come, this broken mom, in the midst of this own really hard situation.
And I'm listening to her describe how she was willing to keep stepping into other people's darkness, and it allowed me to come back home. And not to feel better about myself or anything like that, but just to be inspired by her obedience. Because her yes, not only changed her community, but it also changed her. And that's, I think, the biggest lesson that we can take away from Wendy today, is that when we're willing just to say one small yes to a really big problem, somehow God is gonna turn that situation into light into other people's life. And so, Wendy taught me, light doesn't need perfection. It just needs presence.
Nicki Koziarz: so, we don't have to step into other people's darkness with a plan. We don't have to step into other people's darkness with, okay. Well, here's all the solutions I'm gonna bring to the table. It just means that we carry the presence of God with us into that dark place. And we say, I'm gonna stay here with you in this place until we see God's light in this.
And, you know, I wish I could tell you that, this is gonna happen fast for you. Right? You say one small yes today. You just take one step forward. God is just gonna instantly bring light into those dark places. But, you know, I've been in this process now with these boys for two years. And some places I am seeing God's light, but I know that some parts of this story and some parts of this process, just like with Wendy, it didn't happen overnight. It's gonna take time. But are we, as followers of Jesus Christ, willing to step into other people's darkness and be willing to say yes? And so, I wanna close this out with this. Isaiah 60 verse one says this, Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
This verse is a call to action, it is urging God's people to rise up and reflect his glory no matter how dark it seems. And then his presence and his favor will be upon you. And it emphasizes that their light has come signifying God's presence and the beginning, the beginning of a period of restoration and blessing.
Meredith Brock: Man, Nicki, that's so just spot on and convicting. I Man, I've told the story. I came back to the Proverbs staff and told the story of Wendy, too.
Because she Man, to see a person walking and living at that level of, you said, spending yourself. I thought that was such a good way to say it, to see where you could tangibly see a woman who had spent herself, on the behalf of others, for others to benefit. You know, and I often people, you know, I didn't adopt three kids from Haiti, but we've been on our own foster care journey.
And then, you know, I'm running this ministry at Proverbs thirty-one and my husband is a worship leader, and I have been in conversation with friends before, who have said to me, like, Meredith, I think it's too much. You know, like you need to slow down. And there is a place for that, okay. Like I 100% believe that there is such thing as burnout and you can push yourself too far and lacking boundaries. But there is also a place scripture makes it so clear, so clear that we are to spend ourselves, spend our life, in service, in service to other people, you know? So that they can see the light of Jesus. And one thing that I've had to challenge myself, as people have sometimes, honestly guys, sometimes I want to be like, Yeah, it is too much, y'all.
It's too much. I am tired and I am going to just be done, you know? But where I always come back to and my husband and I come back to, and Nicki, I'm sure you come back to, and I'd love to hear how you have processed in those moments, where it did feel like, I'm in over my head, this is too much, like I've got nothing left. Because for me, this is where I go, because I get there often. I say, like I feel like, oh my gosh, I literally can't do this. Like I literally, I can't do it, I'm at the end of myself. And then I come back to, well, if I really believe scripture, He says, His strength is made perfect in my weakness.
Kayley Olson: Yep.
Meredith Brock: And right now, holy cow, I am weak, God, and I need you to show up.
Kayley Olson: Yeah.
Meredith Brock: You know? You say that the fruit of the Spirit is peace, joy, patience, self-control. Lord, I need the fruit of the Spirit right now. I need and you create that, not me.
Kayley Olson: Yeah.
Meredith Brock: You know? And I go back to scripture in those moments of desperation rather than looking inward into myself for strength and looking inward into myself to create that fruit. I can't. You know? And say, God, I need you to show up. Like, I did it, I did what you asked me to do, I'm spending myself Yes. I'm at the bank accounts at zero, here we are, you know? And now I need you to show up. And so, talk a little bit because your journey looks different than mine, you know? And so, what has that looked like for you as you have gotten to that place of zero? Because I'm sure you've been there.
Kayley Olson: Yeah. What are some of those tangibles?
Nicki Koziarz: I mean, one of the most famous leadership books is Start with Why. Right? Mhmm. And Simon Sinek. Not that we're promoting this book here. But that book really did help me kinda build that foundation. And I do think, like, Meredith, at some point, you looked at the foster care system and you said it shouldn't be this way. Right. And so, it goes back to that why. And, honestly, Chris and I were we were just on a trip, the two of us, and, we had to come back to this because we have really like, what Meredith is saying, and I think that more adoptive and foster and even just moms in general. Like, I was talking to a mom last night who feels the same way that I do about her biological kids. Like, it's a hard it's a hard place sometimes we get to as moms. And so, it's going back to that why. And so, you know, the reality is we promised these boys a family. We promised them, that we would do everything that we could do, to get them the medical care and the help that they needed. And, you know, just like God doesn't break our promises, sometimes we have to go back in our own lives and say, I made this commitment. And sometimes, you know, I want to be careful with this because sometimes I feel like people look at my situation and they're like, well, you kind of asked for all this. I'm like, no. I didn't, actually. And that compassion can go out the door real quickly. The reality is we're facing a lot of things we never planned, which is the same with Wendy in El Salvador. Right?
She found herself facing so many things that she never planned for. And so just you have to go back to that why. You have to go I mean, I have to go back to the truth. There are 300,000 children in orphanages in Haiti. It shouldn't be that way. It shouldn't be that way. And that's what started this journey and this process, for us. It shouldn't be that, you know, a child has to, and this is why I love compassion because it shouldn't be that a child has to lose their life because they don't have medical care or lose their family because they don't have money. It shouldn't be that way. And compassion does such an excellent job about stepping into those dark places in countries across the world. And saying, like, hey, we're going to get into this dark place with you, and we're going to shine the brightest light possible on this, and we're going to stick it out with you until the very end. And it's a beautiful reflection of God's light.
Kaley Olson: Mhmm.
Meredith Brock: Yeah, I think one of the things that I love the most about compassion is that the reality of most of us listening to this podcast right now, we're probably in America, and you probably have a job, I'm going to guess, most have a job, whether that's your job, your vocation is staying at home with your children, or you have a vocation in a workplace. You have something that you spend your time and day doing. And God has called you to that place. And maybe you're not anywhere near where Nicki was when she was able to say, Yep, bring those three boys. We'll take them. You know? Maybe this is like the first time you've heard of like, wow, scripture talks about spending ourselves on behalf of someone else.
You know? And like, what does that look like? I haven't done anything like that before. Compassionate makes it so easy to take that very first step- Yeah. Of letting your Spending your life to benefit someone else. You know? They make it so easy. All it is a monthly, check that you write. You can even put it on auto draft, so you don't have to think about it. But it is a tangible way to spend your life benefiting someone else.
Kaley Olson: Yeah.
Meredith Brock: And that is what scripture It's so clear in scripture, that's what we're called to do, you guys. And it's not some legalistic way that you have to do this or you're not a believer, you don't follow Jesus. No, y'all, you do it because it is a way, it is a channel for God to set you free from the idols in your life that may be holding you back? Whether that idol is money because you're like, you know what? I actually can't afford to do that every month. You can't? Is it you? Or God can? God can? He can through you?
Kaley Olson: Yeah.
Meredith Brock: You know? Is the idol just like, I've got my own problems here I need to contend with. Yeah. Well, man, take your eyes off of you and your problems and you will see God show up on your behalf, just like you're showing up on behalf of someone else. And so, I just love our partnership at Proverbs thirty-one with Compassion International. It is something that I am so passionate about. It's why I took time off to go to El Salvador to see it firsthand, to see the work that they're doing because I believe in what they're doing. It is gospel centered kingdom work, that we love being a part of here at Proverbs.
Kaley Olson: Yeah. And as you guys are talking, I was just thinking about something that one of my friends says is that when there are really hard things in the world that we see, we have to choose not to look away. And I think now, oh, my goodness, social media. I mean, at the time that we're recording this, there's devastating catastrophic floods happening. And it that's right now's problem.
Last month's problem was something else, like another problem in the future is gonna be something else. And we are so oversaturated and decent aside. I can't really say that word, but you understand what I'm saying. We lose the magnitude of the true darkness of the world. And because everything is on our phone, and we can hit that lock button, we can turn it off and we can choose to look away. But what I love about learning more about who God is in scripture is that in Exodus, it says that God is Elroy. He is the one who sees and if we are called to be more like him, well, who is God? He sees.
Meredith Brock: Yeah.
Kaley Olson: What does that mean for me? What, like, what does that mean for me? It means sometimes the first thing you might need to do is just choose to not look away. And I think, Nicki, that's what you did. That's what our friends at Compassion are doing. That's what Wendy is doing. And I think whenever we choose not to look away and we fix our eyes on something, a lot of times we're able to zero in on something a little bit more tangible that feels like, okay. This is one thing that I can do rather than solving the whole problem.
Meredith Brock: Mhmm.
Kaley Olson: But the longer you look at something, the more there will be revealed to you. And I think the thing about taking God at his word whenever it says he is Elroy, we want him to see us. We want him to see our struggles with our kids. Nicki, you want him to see you wrestling with those three boys that you're learning how to parent right now. Meredith, you want him to see you and your foster, but that we can't ask God to see us and then choose to say, nope, I'm just gonna live the way that I want to and only ask God to see me. But when he asked me to see somebody else, I'm gonna say that that's too hard. And whatever that looks like for you today. And today, I'd like the topic of today is, hey, there are kids that need help and compassion, and we have given you every opportunity not to look away. You're still listening to this podcast. There are links in the show notes. Like, this is a way that God is saying, look, here’s a kid, and this kid needs to know that he or she is seen.
Meredith Brock: Mhmm.
Kaley Olson: This kid might not have a mom, or this kid might have a mom. And, Nicki, you said something to me whenever you and I were texting back and forth about this episode about kids, like moms shouldn't feel like they're failures as moms. Compassion steps the gap. It's not necessarily just kids who don't have parents. Some of them do have parents, but the parents are also saying, God, I'm doing everything I can. Can you show me that you see me? And I feel like what is so easy for us in in the form of just action right now. It's like clicking a link and, like Meredith said, auto draft. It's so easy. Mhmm. But I think sometimes even in that, the ease and the convenience of that, we can lose sight of how much that truly can impact someone else.
And so, if you think about the times that you have just been desperate and have said, God, can you just, like, have somebody text me something, and can you just show me that you see me? There's other people that are asking that same thing too. And I think, and Meredith, we've been talking about this as a ministry. The cool thing is that God does own the cattle on a thousand hills. He owns everything, but he chooses to use other people's obedience. And that that's the way that he works in the world, and that's what I love, just about opportunities like this that we can present to our audience and just say, see somebody today. Like, you be somebody that says, use me, God, so that somebody else can see you. And it's not about what I do at all. And so, I do wanna I wanna wrap up, today and land the plane kind of on compassion, Nicki.
Kaley Olson: I I'm just so thankful for the way that you were able to show us, what that what being seen looks what being somebody who sees others can look like, in a very practical way. And we do want to, really encourage you guys to go visit compassion.com/proverbs31 or click the link in the show notes to choose a child to sponsor today. I think, even in that process, don't rush through it.
Like, there's a lot of children that you really can look at and see and let the Lord use that as an opportunity in your heart today. And whenever you do sign up to sponsor a child, as a bonus, when you become a sponsor, Compassion will send you a copy of our study guide called Proverbs, the Beginning of All Wisdom. And so, like I said, we've linked that in the show notes. Prayerfully consider it today. But just remember, guys, don't look away. And then, Nicki, we can't end the show today without letting our listeners know where you are so they can learn more from you.
I know anytime you speak, I really love getting to hear from you and learn your wisdom. And you have a podcast called Lessons from the Farm, and you share what you're learning and what God is teaching you.
And so, we're going to link that in the show notes below so you guys can hear even more from Nicki and go follow her on Instagram, and that's linked in the show notes as well.
Meredith Brock: Absolutely. Well, Nicki, thank you so much for being here today. And that's all that we have for today, friends, at Proverbs thirty-one Ministries. We believe when you know the truth and live the truth, it really will change everything for you