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Coffee with Dr. Kish is your weekly refill of faith, hope, and love created especially for Christians who pour out daily but need to be poured into. Whether you're navigating burnout, wrestling with purpose, or simply craving a quiet moment with God, this podcast offers spiritual encouragement rooted in Scripture, justice, and grace.
Hosted by visionary educator and faith-rooted leader Dr. Kish, each episode blends biblical truth with real-world insight to help you reconnect with your calling, restore your soul, and rise with renewed strength. From devotional reflections to justice-centered conversations, this is your space to be still, be brave, and be filled.
Come for the coffee. Stay for the clarity. Leave with a heart refilled.
Kish Price (00:23)
Hello and welcome back to Coffee with Dr. Kish. And I hope that you were able to check out our last session. We're talking about being content, right? When Paul talks about that contentment that comes just from life and he called it the secret of facing life, right? The secret of facing life is being content. But that's easier said than done sometimes. And so we talked a lot about that passage about
how he focuses on the fact that God is with us. And that's what brings contentment. But I want to pull you into my lived experience of learning to be content. And it actually starts with the fact that I got married really young. I was actually still in college and, you know, started in this place of having children and we were moving all over the place and kind of in the college basketball world and
ended up in a space where it just felt like I didn't even know who I was at the time. Like felt like I was just losing pieces of me ⁓ in a very short period of time. And I know that may sound a little weird, but for those that can relate, you know, when you're understanding who you are and you're trying to grow into being a wife and then you get another title of being a mom and you're also trying to figure out how to support your spouse while also, you know.
trying to figure out, God, what do you want me to be doing? And is this all you want me to be doing right now? And wrestling with all of that, right? And I remember being in this place and I know God is leading me to share this because somebody needs to hear it. I remember just feeling so defeated. Like I was like, God, what do you have for me? Because this does not feel like it's it. And I also feel like I'm missing out, right? Like it just felt like it was.
something that was missing from my life that needed to be a part of my life and it just wasn't for whatever reason. And then God started showing me that that desire that I had to build a business or to be involved in some other way and another aspect of my life wasn't a desire that was misplaced. He placed it there, but it was for a particular season, a season that I wasn't in yet.
And so we have to realize sometimes that God gives us the desires, right? When he says that if we delight ourselves in him, he will give us the desires of our heart. And I think I share with you all, if you've been on this journey with me about how sometimes we hear that scripture and we think we delight in him and then he'll give us the desires, the things that we already have in our heart will come to fruition. That's one aspect of it.
But another aspect is as you delight in the Lord, He'll start giving you, actually showing you new desires, desires that you never thought you would have. And He places them there for a reason. And He also places them there for a season. And sometimes we can get off track if we start feeling discontentment because we're not seeing those desires come to fruition in a particular season.
It doesn't mean that it's going to continue to lie dormant or that God won't do anything with it. It just means that it hasn't come forth yet. And it's okay to be comfortable in the season that you're in also knowing that it will happen. It will come to pass, but just because it's not happening doesn't really give us a pass to be discontented, right? To just think, man, why am I not in this?
season of my life. Like I want this thing right now. And the joy that I began to have after God showed me that, right? Like you're in a season that requires for you to be all in on being there for your boys. My sons were really young at the time and the oldest one was in kindergarten, right? So we're talking young, young, all three of them. And
And still I had this desire and this itch to do something else, right? But God was saying, you know, calm down, chill, just do what you're doing and you'll, you're, you're, you're good. Right. And so I finally started kind of walking into this piece where I realized, okay, this isn't me tripping. Yes. God put that there and that desire is real, but it's not for right now. And then he would start to show me how he wanted me to develop.
those desires over time. So because I had the desire and I was aware of it, he started to show me how to look into different things, how to research different things, how to start the first step of that thing because the season was coming. ⁓ And so for me, for instance, I started, had kind of been in this place of discontentment in different periods of my life, but one of...
the ways that I believe God started to show me why I was so discontented, if you will, was because my relationship with him was strained. And there would be times where I had him on a checklist, right? Because I had to have a very strict schedule, if you will, to make sure that I was staying true to keeping my boys, you know, in check with what
their schedules were and the things that I was trying to help them with. And so I started treating God that way, right? Like he was a box to be checked as well, my time with him. And he started just showing me like, no, this isn't just about, you know, spending time with me and checking the box. It's literally about communing with me daily, like letting me be a part of your daily walk. Having those conversations, being involved.
on a regular basis. So I would have these moments where I would question like, what was that about God? And it just, my life just started to feel that much more richer, if you will, because I was practicing the presence of God daily. And so I welcome you to do that. Like just practice God's presence. And if you're already doing that, just continue to do it, do it even more. Think about ways that maybe you don't.
pull him in or areas that maybe you haven't practiced his presence in and start pulling him in, right? Like I can be in conversation with people and I'm literally like, God help me to know how to respond here. What do I need to be hearing that I'm not hearing, right? Like those are the things that you can do on a daily basis. And I'm talking about conversations with strangers all the way to big negotiations and deals.
Right? That you can ask for God's wisdom and his discernment. He said that if anyone lacks wisdom, ask and he will freely give. Right? He will help us to discern. So lean on that. Note like these are benefits that we have that God is giving us full access to and he wants us to actually benefit from them. So fast forward to
another moment in my life where I had to wrestle with this contentment, discontentment piece was when God did lead me into this space of understanding that he was saying, it's time to go. It's time to move on from this relationship. It's not good for you. It's not good for the kids. It's not good for anybody. Like, ⁓ we're moving on and I accepted it, but I was still very much like, okay, God, now what? Like, what's the plan? What's the move? What do want me to do? And
I started to realize that some of my contentment actually was rooted in materialism, right? So a lot of our contentment, we've been conditioned to be comfortable. So we want certain things. Like I remember when he said to go, was like, okay, but where and what? And I've got three kids now, like six and under, you know, what am I supposed to do? And I started wrestling with this question about
comfortability. Like, okay, you're telling us to leave, but how can I ensure that my kids and I will have the same level of comfort that we have in terms of, you know, financial stability, you know, where we live, all of that, right? And I can't say that I was just immediately convicted of that thought or anything. I was just trying to wrestle with that. Like, so what is that supposed to look like? I'm not going to be.
one of those people or one of those women who's just like, no, you know, like I'm not going to listen to the voice of God. And he's clearly telling me a thing because I prefer what's going to feed my flesh. No, that, that wasn't a thing. It was more so about, how do I, you know, recreate this thing or what are you going to have Lord for me to be able to do that? Now, this is what I will say. What he showed me is that for one, my focus was off.
Right, because I, as much as I was leaning on and depending on him to lead and guide me, I was also leaning and depending on old sources, false sources of provision and peace, right? Which is, you know, for most, a bank account, a job, ⁓ someone who has been funding a vision, donors. You know, like you start to...
believe that the actual person or the entity is the provider and it's not like God is the provider. He's behind all of that. He can turn off a faucet just like he can turn it on. Right. And the faucet is just that a faucet is just literally a vessel that's being used to get the flow to you. God is in control of the flow. And so I had to,
understand and learn, I guess I'll say unlearn and relearn what God was saying, which is I'm your source, I'm your provider. So you can be content, which is what we were talking about with Paul in that passage in Philippians, we can be content in God because we know he's with us. And if he's with us, it doesn't matter what the physical conditions are.
It really doesn't matter because God is with us. So he's the provider. He can provide. He's the source. And so as I started to understand that and walk that out with God, I became more open to just trusting him for everything, right? Like everything I'm talking, y'all listen, and this is not to harken back on in a negative way. This is literally about a testimony. So I just want to share that because I know sometimes
people will look at you sharing your testimony and think you're trying to throw somebody under the bus. No, this is my lived experience and this is how God showed up for me and my family. So at the time I had no access to money, like no funds. I was locked out of an account, didn't have any access to funds at all when God told me to make this transition. And because I was in a full on like, know, that active lawsuit,
⁓ for the divorce proceedings, if you will. I was just like, well, I don't know what God is saying. Like know he told me to apply for this program, a doctoral program. And he told me where to move. I knew the city. I didn't know the place. I didn't understand how. Like God, I don't have a job. Let's start there. I do not have a job. I have no income and I don't have an account that I can even access right now. So.
How is that supposed to work? And my family had been tremendously helpful. know, just my mom and dad had provided a place for me and my sons to come and to actually have a safe place while we figured it out. And I was still just like seeking God on every step. How God, what God, where God, when God. And he would just lead me to take the first step. And I will tell you, I can think back to that even now. I remember
because I'm a planner, right? Like that I would be like, okay, you want me to do that, but then what about this and how about that? And I just, God just had to show me, like it was really a humbling time because I feel like he was just like, girl, like you are not in control. Like at what point in your life did you get that idea that you control something? Cause you really don't like, you know, it's a false sense of control where you think you are the planner.
And it says in the word that like many plans does a man make in his heart, but it's the Lord's plan that prevails, right? Like we can plan a thing, but God's plans prevail. And so I really had to get to a place of just being like, okay, God, I trust you. I don't have to know steps two, three, four, and five. If you've given me step one, I just need to carry out step one. And I just would do that. And I'm not saying it was like...
perfect, right? Because even in the midst of me doing it, I would be like, but God, but God, but God, but he was so gracious with me, right? And just allowed me to go through that process of like, what does this look like God? And he just kept showing up. Like he, he would answer prayers in ways that I would have never imagined. I'm talking people just calling me out of the blue. What do you need? I haven't talked to the person in forever or I don't even, I didn't.
I'm not aware that they are aware of my situation because guess what? They're not. You know what mean? Like physically they didn't hear anything. God just prompted their spirit to call me and say, what do you need?
And even when I flubbed through, I don't know, and what, you know, all the pride stuff, right? Because you don't, if for one, it's very unnerving sometimes to like admit that you have need and then to actually calculate what the need is, right? Like how do you quantify? Like I need everything. I need furniture. I need money. I need a place to live. I need a car. Like I currently have, you know, transportation, but eventually I'm going to need transportation because
You know, was just all, was so much. It just felt like a lot and weighty. And I remember I would just go into this room, you know, just a quiet room, close the door. I would play over and over and over again, Anthony Brown and Group Therapy, the Harvest song. I would just play the song, just play it, play it, play it, play it. And in that song, it's Maret Clark,
is in the song too. it was just, it was just a really, like I said, my red Clark Brown, I think I might be getting there, but anyway, it was just a really great way for me to reset, reprogram, renew my mind about what I was expecting God to do. So the enemy was trying to play this soundtrack of you're, you know, you made a bad move, you made a mistake.
what's going to happen to you and your kids and blah, blah, blah. So I just, knew I needed to actively drown that out by staying in my word, reading the word, praying and worshiping God and just hearing affirmations about what does God have to say about me and my future and my kids and their futures. And so I encourage you to do that. If you are in a season where you are wrestling with God, what?
What's the next step? What do you want me to do? Get in your word. You're going to have some, you know, desires to talk to people and share what's going on. And you should, right? God wants us to live in community, but get in your word, hear from the Lord, make sure that you are spending that time praying, trusting Him, writing down what He's telling you. When you are in that time with Him and He's downloading things to you,
write it down. You think you're going to remember it. Trust me, it's good to have it for proof to yourself. You may remember some of it, but to actually write it helps you to actually see the vision, to understand it more, to make it clearer to yourself in that moment and moving forward. Right? It's something you can go back to and just remember the faithfulness of God. Right? You can actually track your praise reports, right?
I remember moving to Louisville. Well, before I moved, I went with my sister trying to find a place. And I was just like, ⁓ my gosh, like, what am I doing here? This feels ridiculous. But God told me to go and to find a place. Well, I'm looking for a place, but also thinking, who's going to say, yeah, you can rent my place when you don't have a job yet? And they don't know it, but I'm still trying to figure out how I would even have a deposit at the time.
that I would need it, right? But I go. And when I tell y'all, like God just showed up and showed out. Not only did he allow for me to find a place, but to this day, it's like one of the best homes that we've lived in. My kids still talk about that place, just loving their time there. And I'm talking in the history of homes rented in, you know.
owned, right? And that's because God is so faithful. He can line up things. to this day, I'm still just like in awe that they approved me to get the place that he allowed for me to have the money I needed to move in when I needed to move in. He provided with a job. He allowed me to get into the program that I had already been accepted into, but ended up
leaving on the table because we had a move and then I go back and it's available for me. Like, come on, like that's only God does things like that to have your friends to be moved to pour into you and your sons, right? Like that's what God did. He created family for me that I didn't even know I would have in a place that was not
completely familiar to me, right? I had lived there for like nine months, moved away for two years. I loved it when I was there for the nine months, but it wasn't like, you know, was so quick. I didn't really get to establish any roots. So when I moved back and God was telling me to move back, I was just like, okay, it seems a little weird that you're telling me to move somewhere where I don't have a support system and I have three young boys, but God provided and he raised up his people to provide, right? And that's what I want.
us to know is that when God is leading you, he will bring contentment. If you understand that he's with you and how much he cares and that is not just what you see. We talked about this in our last session, right? Like that. If we're just relying on what we see, we're missing out on so much that is unseen. So we have to tap into what is God showing you the things that you can't even see.
What is it that he has lined up for you that that's where our faith comes in because we can't see it right What faith is our hope in those things that are unseen? And so as we believe and know that we're believing in god to do a thing that we can't see The contentment comes when we realize he's with us to carry it out He is with us to carry it out And I think sometimes we get
caught up in throwing our own pity parties when we lose our comfortability, right? When your world gets rocked, you don't have what you typically would have. And you're now questioning like, okay guys, so now what? I don't have the comfort of my own home anymore. I'm now living with my parents. Okay, so what does that mean? What does that look like? What are my next steps? What do you have for me? But do I loathe that season? Do I say,
What are you doing, God? Like, why did you disrupt my marriage? Why didn't you show me that before I went into it? Why did you, you know, like you will have these very real questions, but even in a period where you are questioning everything, where you may have lost a job, lost loved ones, lost family members, lost ⁓ an ideal, right? Like this was what I thought would be and is not.
And so now you're grieving all those things. Well, you have to understand that even in that God is with you and even in that you can be content and it sounds wild, right? Because the enemy will be so loud in your ear and in your spirit. He will be trying to get you to focus on everything that's missing, everything that's off, everything that's not as it was. But I need you to hear me when I say.
that the Holy Spirit, God is with you. And when he is with you, contentment is your portion. Okay? You can be in less than ideal circumstances, but you can be content in knowing that God is with you. And yes, you may not be comfortable, but God is with you. So you can be content. You may not be comfortable, but you can be content. Okay? Know that. Understand that when you are,
with the Lord. Contentment is your portion. Peace is your portion, right? He wants you to keep your mind state on him so he can keep you in perfect peace, even in the midst of chaos and craziness and you just trying to figure out which way is up. Okay. God is saying, I want you to be content and no, it's not a joke and it's not a game and it's not a trick and he's not trying to bamboozle you.
He is saying, this is a real thing. I offer that to you. offer you my presence. offer you my peace. offer you my joy. I offer you my contentment because it's all in your lived reality of who I am in you and with you. The moment we take our eyes off of Jesus, the moment we take our eyes off of him and put it onto our situation,
That's when all of the fear creeps in. That's when the discontentment creeps in. That's when your reality of just how uncomfortable you actually are, all of that hits you. And then you're in a place where you cannot move forward with any kind of authority or...
You're kind of in this like stupor or paralysis where you can't really move and that's exactly where the enemy wants you. But that's not where God wants you. He's still like, hey, as long as you have breath in your body, you're here, you're alive. I have need of thee and I am with you to comfort you. I am near you. Okay. So just know that God
wants you to be content and is not just about your comfortability, even in uncomfortable situations, he wants you to be content. So I could go on and on and on. have so many stories about uncomfortable situations and just how God has been in a place. Let me leave you with this one. I remember being in this, you know, just
really uncomfortable situation. And I look back on it now and I'm grateful, right, that God provided. But at the time, we were living with my in-laws and not ideal, right? Like in a room with a toddler, essentially, youngest son and having all of, you know, my husband and I and
my youngest son all in a room together and having to understand that this was temporary, but it also felt very uncomfortable. And I remember thinking, God, what, like what? You know, you will question, right? You'll start being like, what did I do to deserve this? Like, how did I get here? And even in that, I remember God just refocusing, reshifting.
my mind so that I started thanking him, right? Like, thank you God that I have a place to lay my head. Thank you that my sons have a place to lay their heads. Thank you Lord that my husband has a place to lay his head. Thank you that my in-laws, in-loves were willing to allow us to stay here temporarily. Like thank you Lord that you still have purpose and you still have a plan even though this feels
and it's not ideal and it's not what I want, but you're with me. And that peace, my gosh, like I'm telling y'all, that peace can carry you through very, very difficult times. It can y'all. I mean, and even in that same period of time, I lost my brother. And today is actually the anniversary of that. ⁓
of when I found out that he had passed. And I remember being in that bed, all that same bed that I was just talking about, just feeling uncomfortable in that space, in that room, you know, like, because it's not yours, not because, I mean, my mother-in-law had done a really great job of making it a comfortable space. I'm not saying that. It was just, it's not your space. You know what I mean? And I remember being like, God, why? Like, why do I?
have to suffer through something so devastating. And I'm also in a very uncomfortable situation right now. Like, God, why would you do that? Like, what, what is that? And I remember, and this has happened before in my life, like times that I can mark where his presence is so real, like that, the love of God literally surrounds you, where you just,
feel his embrace and I remember thinking, thank you. Like, thank you. Like without you, I don't know where I would be right now. And I don't know who's listening. I don't know if you have been in this place before. I don't know if you're in this place right now or if you will be in the future, but I need you to know just how much God loves you. And I'm not any more special.
to God than you are, right? We're all his favorites, if you will. And so he will do the same for you. Even in uncomfortable situations, he will bring contentment, he will bring peace, he will envelop you with his love. And he says that he's near to the brokenhearted. So I just pray right now for you, even if you're living in a silent struggle right now and nobody really knows what you're going through.
And nobody really knows what you're feeling. God knows he cares and he's with you. And I want you to receive his contentment. How do you receive it? How do you receive it? You receive him. You focus on him. You say out loud what it is that you're thankful for. You talk to him out loud and you thank him for who he is and what he's done in your life. That's how receive him.
all of him because he's for you. Even when it feels like nobody else is, he is for you. Okay. So thank you for spending this time with me and I'll go ahead and close us out in a brief prayer. Lord God, thank you. Thank you for this listener on the other side. I thank you right now that you know exactly what needs to be healed. You know exactly what.
needs to be addressed. You know exactly where the discontentment lies and I pray right now that you will just bring contentment, that you will bring peace, that you will redirect thoughts, that you will renew minds right now in the name of Jesus.
We praise you, we thank you, and we count it done. Thank you for being an ever present help. Thank you for never leaving us or forsaking us. You are the same yesterday, today, and forever more, and we thank you for it, and we love you. It's in Jesus' name I pray, amen. All right, love you, friend, and I hope that you will continue to join me on this journey. Subscribe, like, share with a friend, and continue to be blessed. Walk in contentment. All right, love you.