Be Her Midwife, Not Her Rival w/ Natasha Shapoval & Taniya Pekun

In this episode of the Project Sisterhood Podcast, Chrissy Cole and friends talk about comparison, competition, and choosing unity in friendships. Through biblical insight and real-life honesty, they explore what it looks like to celebrate another woman’s calling instead of competing with it. A powerful reminder that true sisterhood builds, confirms, and strengthens one another.

• (00:00) - Cold Open: Why It’s Hard to Celebrate Her
• (00:25) - Welcome to Project Sisterhood
• (02:10) - The Subtle Trap of Comparison
• (05:30) - Why It’s Easier to Mourn Than Celebrate
• (08:40) - When Insecurity Turns Into Rivalry
• (12:05) - The Power of Confirmation in Friendship
• (15:20) - Mary & Elizabeth: A Model of Sisterhood
• (18:45) - Be Her Midwife, Not Her Rival
• (22:00) - Humility Creates Unity
• (25:10) - Celebrating What God Is Doing in Her
• (28:30) - Killing Competition in Christian Spaces
• (31:45) - Final Encouragement & Prayer

Creators and Guests

Host

Chrissy Cole

Chrissy’s parents moved to the U.S. from the Philippines in the late 70′s. She saw her parents both come to know the Lord at a young age. She and her family poured their lives into the local church and were changed by God. Chrissy attended Evangel University in Springfield, MO and earned a B.A. in Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations.

What is Project Sisterhood?

Project Sisterhood is a podcast for women who want to grow in faith, find healthy community, and become who God created them to be.

Hosted by Chrissy Cole and the Project Church Sisterhood team, each episode brings honest conversations and biblical encouragement centered on identity, belonging, spiritual maturity, healing, relationships, and purpose.

With a mix of humor, vulnerability, and real-life wisdom, Project Sisterhood creates space for women in every age and stage to feel seen, strengthened, and connected—because you were never meant to do life alone.

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;22;03
Natasha Shapoval
And I believe this is what sisterhood is all about. Are we willing to come alongside someone and watch them deliver their dream and watch them do what God called them to do? Even though you want to do it as well, and you feel that you know that that dream is burning within you. And I believe something beautiful happens when we humble ourselves and we say, you know what?

00;00;22;08 - 00;00;39;21
Natasha Shapoval
I'll be there for you. I will truly not just like this, this envious. I'll be there for you and make sure. And I want to watch you fail, you know, secretly. Make sure you don't make it, and I'll cry there with you, you know? But actually, like, man, I'm truly going to be there for you. And I'm going to pray you through it.

00;00;39;21 - 00;00;50;18
Natasha Shapoval
And I'm going to, you know, be there even though I don't get the spotlight and God does something intentional. And those moments, he does something in our hearts. God's like, I can trust you with your dream.

00;00;50;18 - 00;00;51;06
Chrissy Cole
Now, right?

00;00;51;12 - 00;01;20;17
Chrissy Cole
This is a Project sisterhood podcast for all things women, brother, youth, a purpose for ministry, motherhood for the marketplace. We have crucial and genuine conversations that transcend your season to impact your true identity as a woman. So light hearted. Possible. Honesty. Matters of the heart and soul to be encouraged. We hope you and all women of every age, at every stage, find life and freedom in Jesus and.

00;01;20;20 - 00;01;49;26
Chrissy Cole
Hey, ladies. Welcome back to another episode of the Project Sisterhood Podcast. These last few episodes, I get to introduce you all to my friends, friends and ministry friends in the corporate world. Friends all over. So relationships build the kingdom of God. Don't forget that. And I believe that today is going to be a kingdom building episode, because I have two of my sisters who are doing work for the Lord all across the the globe.

00;01;49;27 - 00;02;01;23
Chrissy Cole
I was gonna say country, it's the globe. And I am thrilled to introduce you to Natasha and Tanya. These two sisters, actual blood sisters. I'm sure you can't tell if you're watching. Like, there's no.

00;02;01;27 - 00;02;03;17
Natasha Shapoval
We're not at all. We're not twins.

00;02;03;23 - 00;02;20;19
Chrissy Cole
In fact, I remember being at Zara before I had ever met either of you. And I knew who Natasha was. And then I saw Tanya and I go, oh my gosh, I'm Natasha. And I said, it kind of, insecurely because I'm like, I don't think that was her. But it looks so much like her. And then I think your daughter was with you.

00;02;20;19 - 00;02;23;21
Chrissy Cole
And she was like, she definitely thought you were Natasha.

00;02;23;23 - 00;02;25;25
Natasha Shapoval
I know we get that a lot. Yeah, all the time.

00;02;25;27 - 00;02;55;22
Chrissy Cole
So, okay, before I'm here, I'm already telling stories. But these two ladies, we've had the pleasure of doing some kingdom work together. We're in the middle of planning an event. Coming up here to really empower women in the next generation of women. And I know that's what you two are passionate about, but I think what really captivated my my heart, and broke my heart and repaired it all at the same time, was hearing your story about how you came to the Lord, Tanya.

00;02;55;22 - 00;03;23;10
Chrissy Cole
And then, of course, by her story, I learned a lot about Natasha. And so I was in tears and I felt the Holy Spirit just fall on our palanca lunch. I was amazing, and so anyways, that's just a little bit brief history of how we became friends and what we're doing together. But why don't you tell the ladies who you are, where you come from?

00;03;23;13 - 00;03;29;08
Chrissy Cole
And just maybe what you're doing here in Sacramento right now, and then we'll just see where this goes.

00;03;29;11 - 00;03;30;29
Natasha Shapoval
Sure. Do you want to start?

00;03;30;29 - 00;03;31;16
Taniya Pekun
You go.

00;03;31;18 - 00;03;41;24
Natasha Shapoval
All right. I'm Natasha, as you said. Thank you so much, Christy, for having us. Such an honor. I love you. You know, we met, and right away, I'm like, that's my sister.

00;03;41;24 - 00;03;42;11
Chrissy Cole
Yes.

00;03;42;18 - 00;04;09;19
Natasha Shapoval
So I'm Natasha, I am 42 years old. I have been married for almost 24 years. Me and my husband, we both originally from Ukraine. Okay. Born here. Born there. Came here in 95. Got married, have four amazing children. Have a daughter that's 21. And three boys that keep me up my toes. On my toes. 16, 12 and almost ten.

00;04;09;21 - 00;04;32;26
Natasha Shapoval
And we have been in ministry ever since we got married. We started as youth pastors here locally in Sacramento in, and a church in a local church. Then the Lord kind. I just took us into nations in 2012. We've been going all over the globe preaching the gospel, equipping, you know, all of that. And then five, almost five years ago, we launched a church here locally in Sacramento called flame.

00;04;32;26 - 00;04;48;01
Natasha Shapoval
A fire church also became a fire ministry. And yeah, so we do both globally and locally, just like you said, passionate about empowering the next generation and kind of passing down that torch of faith and, making sure they go further than we have ever been.

00;04;48;01 - 00;04;55;27
Chrissy Cole
Yeah. Oh. So good. Very good. So, Natasha, are we going to say who's our age? I mean, you started us off.

00;04;55;27 - 00;05;03;22
Natasha Shapoval
I did, I did, I said, you know what? Let's lay it all out there and that's it. We're not we're not tied in any real sisterhood.

00;05;03;25 - 00;05;06;15
Chrissy Cole
Yes, yes, I turned 40 for it this year.

00;05;06;18 - 00;05;07;24
Natasha Shapoval
I I'm the youngest here.

00;05;07;24 - 00;05;14;22
Chrissy Cole
Yes. Yeah. Younger. Yes. And then I want to turn it over to our big sis.

00;05;14;24 - 00;05;15;20
Taniya Pekun
That says it all and.

00;05;15;21 - 00;05;17;01
Chrissy Cole
I can't we can't even tell.

00;05;17;02 - 00;05;18;22
Taniya Pekun
But, Well, thank you so much for having.

00;05;18;28 - 00;05;19;10
Chrissy Cole
Us.

00;05;19;10 - 00;05;42;14
Taniya Pekun
And having me here. It's just such an honor. I know that when we had lunch right there, there was something divine, something beautiful. I was like, we have to have you for discipleship classes. And you truly impacted our hearts. We want to have you back again. But my name is Tanya. I'm, I will be 45 years old.

00;05;42;16 - 00;06;06;03
Taniya Pekun
Yes. In May. And it's just, It's beautiful. Eight. Me and my husband, Matt, when I was 15 years old. So it's a young love. He's from Belarus. I'm from Ukraine. We met here on American soil. We've been married for 24 years in April. We have three beautiful children. My daughter, who's 21, just got married.

00;06;06;06 - 00;06;34;00
Taniya Pekun
So I inherited one more son. And then I have 17 year old son, and then I have a ten year old son. Some, we've been in ministry for 20 years, a little over 20 years, and we've been doing global ministries, crusades and, you know, evangelizing, raising up women, children, rescuing, souls. I don't want to go any further into that, but we've been doing such a, deep work.

00;06;34;03 - 00;06;58;20
Taniya Pekun
Around the globe. And for me, to be able to, be by my husband's side is such an honor. Yeah. We've been in the same church forever. And light of the gospel church. My husband's father was the bishop, and actually. Which is so cool because my husband's father was a dear friend to Pastor Call, which is your grandfather?

00;06;58;22 - 00;06;59;05
Chrissy Cole
Grandfather?

00;06;59;12 - 00;07;21;02
Taniya Pekun
Yeah. And when I found out that I was just like, wow, I need to hear stories and I heard multiple stories of their friendships and, deep level friendship. Yeah. And how he was actually the voice for, my grandfather. So it just runs really, really deep in our hearts. And, we started the ministry 20 years ago.

00;07;21;02 - 00;07;26;14
Taniya Pekun
And ever since we've been doing, the work of the ministry and loving on people and raising up.

00;07;26;16 - 00;07;27;01
Chrissy Cole
Yeah.

00;07;27;01 - 00;07;27;16
Taniya Pekun
Kingdom.

00;07;27;23 - 00;07;48;13
Chrissy Cole
Can you guys both tell me a little bit about, how you came to know the Lord? I know there's a lot of details, but I was so compelled. And I know that when you understand where people came to know the Lord, it. It makes sense why you are so on fire for the Lord.

00;07;48;19 - 00;07;49;14
Taniya Pekun
The,

00;07;49;17 - 00;07;55;06
Chrissy Cole
It it's what motivated you. It's what changed you. And you're truly transformed. You can't go back.

00;07;55;06 - 00;08;17;04
Taniya Pekun
Yeah, 100%. And I think, it's in the desperation when you cry out to God. Yeah, he shows up. It's not when you come clean before the Lord, you're all clean, you're good. And then the Lord comes. No, he comes into your mess. Yeah. Comes into your desperation. We come from a broken family. Broken home. Trauma, abuse.

00;08;17;04 - 00;08;29;27
Taniya Pekun
And the list goes on. And I think when my mom had encountered the Lord at one of the Crusades was that region, one of the Crusades and the power of God come.

00;08;29;27 - 00;08;30;18
Natasha Shapoval
Back in Ukraine.

00;08;30;22 - 00;08;53;21
Taniya Pekun
Backline. Yeah. So, the power of God got hold of her. She became such, pioneer in our family. Prayed the storms, through the storms she prophesied into our life. I remember one of her prayers. It was like in the middle of the night. And I think she did that intentionally. Praying so loud so I can hear so Natasha can hear.

00;08;53;24 - 00;09;15;07
Taniya Pekun
God. They will come get. They will come. No, you they will get to know you not only know you, but they will serve you with wholeheartedly. They will go around the globe and preach the gospel and the husbands that you will give them. Yeah, they will serve you. And just such bold prayers. And I remember thinking like, what is she talking about?

00;09;15;09 - 00;09;42;10
Taniya Pekun
But I think what it taught me how to really pray. Yeah. Pray against all odds. Pray believing that whatever you see in the natural wrong. This is not the reality. Yeah. And, there come a moment in my life where I was already married. I, my marriage was falling apart. Falling apart. And, in the midst of that, I received the report after my surgery that I have endometriosis.

00;09;42;10 - 00;10;05;03
Taniya Pekun
I will never be able to have children. I'm a broken woman in every sphere. And I just remember. And Natasha's, Baby passed away, and it was just, you know, like a chaotic situation where there is no hope, there is no way out, and you just mess. And that is why you understand people of this world, they have nowhere to turn to.

00;10;05;03 - 00;10;07;17
Taniya Pekun
Yeah, they have nowhere to go. But we have hope.

00;10;07;18 - 00;10;08;02
Chrissy Cole
Yeah.

00;10;08;07 - 00;10;31;24
Taniya Pekun
And our hope is Jesus. So I remember in that moment I was it was in the middle of the night and I was already living at my mom's house. Filed for divorce. Just, mess. Mess. Chaos. And I remember Natasha and Andre came over and, they handed me little, footprints of their baby, and they're like, giving it to me.

00;10;31;24 - 00;10;55;27
Taniya Pekun
And I am just so overwhelmed with emotions. I can't control them. But you know what? Really, what really shocked me is the peace that they had. Yeah, they lost a baby. Not me. But I am living in such a torment and chaos. And I remember they said, you know what? There's such a presence of God in this room, and I'm thinking, like you crazy people, because they came to the Lord first.

00;10;55;27 - 00;11;21;19
Taniya Pekun
Yes. And when they left, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't sleep, and I'm just. God, if you exist. If you there, if you hear me, can you please come and rescue me? Reveal yourself to me. I don't know what to do. And I remember I just started speaking to the Lord just as we are right now. I'm just telling him, well, I don't I don't think I'm a good person.

00;11;21;26 - 00;11;51;04
Taniya Pekun
I think I'm a sinner. And just by, you know, by naturally just spelling everything consciously that what's wrong with me? And, I started walking around. It's just supernatural. I just started walking around the room and at one point my eyes were closed and I collided with something, and you could visibly see the room, because my curtains, were open and you could see the light from the, outside light coming in.

00;11;51;07 - 00;12;15;13
Taniya Pekun
And I opened my eyes and it was in the middle of the room, and there was nothing in front of me. And I knew this is the presence of God. Wow. I extended my hand and it stopped in the middle, and I remembered the fear of the Lord and wow, excitement. And it was just this moment of wow, I am, I'm afraid, but I'm excited because God is in the room.

00;12;15;13 - 00;12;35;26
Taniya Pekun
I remember I grab myself like this and I kid you not, crazy. From the top of my head to the tips of my toes, the presence of God came upon me and all of the sudden, the freedom, the love. Wow. I begin to experience. It's the. It's the rushing water. You could hear the water, you could smell the freshness.

00;12;35;28 - 00;12;58;15
Taniya Pekun
You could. And I understood that if I open my eyes, I will go blind, because the light in the room was something out of this world. And all of the sudden this freedom, this healing began to flow through me. And I begin to weep, and I begin to cry, and I begin to forgive. I begin to let go, and I just, I knew this is the Lord.

00;12;58;15 - 00;13;19;25
Taniya Pekun
I knew that and, I, I heard Christians pray, in tongues. Yeah. And I like. Well, if it's you. God. Well, I want this baptism. I was not finished saying it. And I begin to pray in tongues, and they're just so supernatural. And I'm telling you, Chris, my life has never been the same. I was marked in that moment.

00;13;19;28 - 00;13;44;14
Taniya Pekun
God did not only restore my marriage. God, healed my body. I have three children, you know, that put me on the right path. Now I'm rescuing the same people that that I was, you know, who are suffering in in the darkness and the brokenness and the pain and the suffering. And I think, to me, no one can tell me that God does not exist.

00;13;44;17 - 00;14;07;08
Taniya Pekun
Nobody can ever tell me that God is not good. Yeah, nobody can come against me because I have experienced the goodness of God. Oh, yeah, I have experienced the power of God. Yes, I have experienced his fire that ignited me and my life was never the same. Wow. And, That's it. Wow. You know, people say, well, I don't know where to begin from.

00;14;07;16 - 00;14;30;13
Taniya Pekun
You know, where it began from. My evangelism is picking up my phone the next day, the next morning, and calling everybody on my phone book and telling them, telling them about the goodness of God. That's it. You don't need much. You experience God, share God. You experience the love of God. Share that. And that's where my, ministry began.

00;14;30;15 - 00;14;32;23
Taniya Pekun
Wow. Yeah, one two years ago and some.

00;14;32;29 - 00;14;54;14
Chrissy Cole
Oh my gosh. And that is folks, this is just the tip of the iceberg. And in the way that God met you and forming the ministry and, showing up in miraculous ways, it's like you had your own upper room experience by yourself, but, well, you weren't alone. That's when you knew probably that never, ever will I ever be alone.

00;14;54;14 - 00;15;01;05
Chrissy Cole
He's always here. His presence is so real. Oh my gosh, I'm like somebody like.

00;15;01;07 - 00;15;01;25
Natasha Shapoval
Preach it.

00;15;02;01 - 00;15;20;22
Chrissy Cole
Can the keys make their way up? I'm going to call you. Yeah. Mike can get saved again. Here are our camera guys. Just kidding. I'm getting ready. Saved. Oh my goodness. Oh geez. I mean okay, ladies I'm sorry. This is what I'm talking about. You. I sit down with you ladies and I feel the presence of God immediately.

00;15;20;27 - 00;15;35;15
Chrissy Cole
I feel the unashamed abandon, desperate for Jesus love. Any time I'm with you. And it's like, this is this is who we need to surround ourselves with. Yes. These are the kind of ladies that I want to surround myself with. Yeah.

00;15;35;17 - 00;15;53;24
Chrissy Cole
Oh, amazing. Okay, well, that's a little bit of Tanya. I feel so crazy. Like. Well. Let's go. What's in this, Ashley? I mean, I it's hard to even move on from that, but we'll we'll pull in some more. Yeah, yeah. So can you fill in some of the blanks and where you fit into that story a little bit, or maybe just a side of that.

00;15;53;27 - 00;15;54;24
Chrissy Cole
I'm sure you. Well.

00;15;54;26 - 00;16;17;01
Natasha Shapoval
This our grandma actually was the first who gave her life to Jesus in the small Ukrainian village. And I believe she even prayed my mom into coming to know the Lord and everyone else because she was a prayer warrior. And we would spend the whole summer there like we had the best childhood. Yeah, by just spending time with grandma and she would take us to the church.

00;16;17;08 - 00;16;36;24
Natasha Shapoval
Those few grandmas just praying, you know, and we would she would bring us into those environments. And I believe it's so important just even if your kids are not serving the Lord, bring them to that environment. Right. So even though we did not give our life to Jesus, we did not come to know him. But I believe something was deposited into our spirits.

00;16;36;24 - 00;16;58;08
Natasha Shapoval
So when our mom gave her life to Jesus, she was already on her third marriage. And you know, we grew up without a dad and all of that. And then we came to the States and we started coming to church with our. And because she was already here, she was a believer. And just, you know, again, coming into those environments, I met my husband when I was also about 15.5, we started dating.

00;16;58;10 - 00;17;22;16
Natasha Shapoval
Don't recommend just a disclaimer here. It worked out for us. But please don't. Don't do it. Wait. And we would go to church and stuff like that. But I gave my life to Jesus when I was 18 years old. We were already dating with my husband, and, he had a radical encounter with the Lord, even though he comes from a Christian home.

00;17;22;18 - 00;17;45;27
Natasha Shapoval
He was not really walking with the Lord, so he had a radical encounter with the Lord, and that ignited me. I said, I want what you want. Yes. So I believe when we just like you said, when we get around other our other people who are burning for the Lord, it ignites something inside of us. And I remember it was the same room that, Tanya was in in my mom's house.

00;17;46;00 - 00;18;05;09
Natasha Shapoval
I was on the phone with my then fiancé, and he was just sharing his experience what the Lord is doing in his life. And I remember I, I hung up the phone, I went to that room and I said, God, I want what he has. Yeah, I want that. I and I'm not leaving this room until you show up again.

00;18;05;09 - 00;18;26;21
Natasha Shapoval
Same room. And the Lord Jesus came in in such a strong way. There were no no one was in the room. No one was praying for me, no one was interceding for me. And the Holy Spirit just came upon me. I started speaking in tongues. I started praying, and I experienced the Lord in that room. And I said, from today on forward, I want to know you.

00;18;26;24 - 00;18;46;03
Natasha Shapoval
And it was just this pursuit of the next step and the next step. We got married, we I got pregnant, and, our baby died in my womb when I was six months pregnant. And I remember Tonya's excitement. She was so excited that I'm pregnant because she had a diagnosis of that. She will never have children.

00;18;46;03 - 00;19;06;20
Natasha Shapoval
So she's, like, planning what she's going to buy for my baby. She would constantly bring some little gift. You know, she's like, I'm going to be the best aunt. And it's going to be amazing. Yeah. So that is the reason why I gifted her the footprints, because it was so special for her. And I remember, you know, the doctor said, well, your baby is sick and you need to have an abortion.

00;19;06;22 - 00;19;34;07
Natasha Shapoval
And I said, absolutely not. I believe the Lord can heal my baby. We stood until the end, and Faith and I would go every week for that ultrasound and one week they said, well, there is no heartbeat. You need to have the, surgery. You have to have the baby removed. And I remember just, just I came home and I said, Andre, after the surgery, after they took the baby out, you know, like your milk comes and you have all the signs of life, but there's no life.

00;19;34;09 - 00;19;49;20
Natasha Shapoval
You have no baby. And I remember we just stood in that room. I'm like, God, I don't understand it. We serve you. We we do all of all of that. But we check every box. And we held hands with my husband, and we said, you know what? We don't understand, but you're good.

00;19;49;23 - 00;19;50;10
Chrissy Cole
Yeah.

00;19;50;12 - 00;20;05;05
Natasha Shapoval
And just this piece that Tanya describes, which is just that surpasses all understanding. You should panic in this moment. You should blame God or you should look for answers. But at that moment, like God, if you will not answer us and you will not tell us why, that's okay.

00;20;05;11 - 00;20;06;02
Chrissy Cole
Yeah.

00;20;06;04 - 00;20;22;12
Natasha Shapoval
You're still good. And that was the moment that, you know, we were dealing with this and we came to visit Tanya, and she's going through her stuff and and I just sense it because it was the same room where I experienced the Lord. I'm like, God can meet you here. Yeah. We going to leave? Because she was angry.

00;20;22;12 - 00;20;37;14
Natasha Shapoval
She was like, how could you, you know, just have this peace. Your God is killing babies and taking, you know, because she it was hurt. It was pain that was speaking through her. And and I remember I looked at her, I'm like, oh, God, can get you right here, right now.

00;20;37;17 - 00;20;38;18
Chrissy Cole
And I did, I.

00;20;38;18 - 00;20;48;09
Natasha Shapoval
Did not, and I said, you know what? We going to go because I said, but just continue talking to him, just like you're talking to us and our frustration and your frustration, like he'll show up.

00;20;48;15 - 00;20;48;27
Chrissy Cole
Yeah.

00;20;48;29 - 00;21;08;13
Natasha Shapoval
Because he's that good. And I remember leaving home and we're praying with my husband. I'm like, let's agree that the Lord will meet her because I know that he can turn her life around. Yeah. And he can totally just intervene. And and in the desperation, like she said, she cried out to him. And I remember we were already, she called us like it was two in the morning.

00;21;08;13 - 00;21;22;13
Natasha Shapoval
We were already asleep. And the next morning I checked the the voice box because she left us a message. And these are praying in tongues. She's like, you know, shouting. I'm like, all right. The Lord came and he got her. Everything was good.

00;21;22;15 - 00;21;42;12
Chrissy Cole
Oh my goodness, that's amazing. So what did that do to your relationship as sisters? You know, you both came to know the Lord. You got both grieving together. Yeah. Level of pain that you experienced as a family, but also this resurrection moment. Like, what did that do to your sisterhood? To your relationship?

00;21;42;14 - 00;21;49;07
Natasha Shapoval
We were always close. I mean, like teenagers, we would fight, you know, about clothes because I would take her clothes all the time. Yeah, yeah.

00;21;49;09 - 00;21;52;06
Taniya Pekun
With the tag on and and and stay.

00;21;52;08 - 00;22;03;17
Natasha Shapoval
Yeah. And I would, I would stain it, I would, I would do stuff to it and then put it back in her closet and she's like, did you take this like absolutely not. Why would you think that of me? You know, but.

00;22;03;17 - 00;22;07;28
Chrissy Cole
It's so funny, my sisters, if they're listening to this, they're like, oh my gosh, that was you Chrissy.

00;22;07;28 - 00;22;27;00
Natasha Shapoval
Yeah, yeah. I mean why not? Right. Like that's what the big sisters clothes. Yeah. And then I would complain that she's not taking me places. So I would complain to mom. My mom would take make her take me, you know, and I'm like, yeah, I want to be around cool people anyway. So yeah, as teenagers, of course, naturally we, you know, fight and stuff like that.

00;22;27;00 - 00;22;49;12
Natasha Shapoval
But, we're the only, like, full blooded sisters. The other two siblings are half, we have two half, sister and brother. So we were always we're only two years apart, so naturally, we're close by. Yeah. We're fighting. But then after we gave our life to Jesus, we became even closer. Because now we can actually talk about things, our experiences.

00;22;49;14 - 00;23;06;27
Natasha Shapoval
And, then we got pregnant together. We didn't even know we, had this moment. We invited them for dinner. We had dinner. I'm like, okay, guys, we have something to tell you. And they're sitting there laughing like, we have something to tell you as well. Like I'm pregnant. She's like, I'm pregnant too. Oh.

00;23;06;29 - 00;23;07;29
Chrissy Cole
So.

00;23;08;01 - 00;23;13;22
Natasha Shapoval
So our first pregnancy, actually, all of our, her three babies were were pregnant together. Not planned.

00;23;13;26 - 00;23;16;00
Taniya Pekun
Okay, let's. And they're all the same age.

00;23;16;04 - 00;23;16;25
Chrissy Cole
What?

00;23;17;01 - 00;23;18;26
Natasha Shapoval
Yeah. And they're even.

00;23;18;26 - 00;23;19;28
Taniya Pekun
Weeks and months.

00;23;19;28 - 00;23;29;14
Natasha Shapoval
Apart. They're so close. So now we had that experience that we could share together. And then we had our daughters and we lived together for, like, about eight months.

00;23;29;14 - 00;23;30;01
Taniya Pekun
Wow.

00;23;30;02 - 00;23;48;09
Natasha Shapoval
They bought a home. She's like, why don't you guys move in? It's a big home. And let's just, because we're both, on our maternity leave. Let's just live together. So that was an experience in itself. We've had crazy stories there as well. Yeah. And we just kind of grew together. Yeah. Grew together spiritually. We shared.

00;23;48;09 - 00;23;54;13
Natasha Shapoval
We laughed together, we cried together. And we just became closer and closer and closer.

00;23;54;15 - 00;24;23;10
Chrissy Cole
Wow. You guys, that is not a typical story in sisterhood. You know, Blood sisters. And I mean, if we just look at you from the outside with with a critical eye. Yeah, we're looking at these two beautiful women, blond and eye catching, you know, striking women. And you would think there's probably comparison, bitterness, fighting, bickering. And there's this thing that has brought you together, the Lord unity.

00;24;23;15 - 00;24;28;11
Chrissy Cole
And it dwells within you that you decide to live in a home together. That does it.

00;24;28;11 - 00;24;31;02
Natasha Shapoval
I was crazy, that was a crazy moment.

00;24;31;02 - 00;24;54;13
Chrissy Cole
Yeah. And look at the way your ministries have flourished. Yeah. And I when I look at you, I'm like, man, these girls, they allow the presence of God to dwell in them individually and then together in their relationships. And some sister Hood's sister ships. I don't know what word I'm looking for. Yeah, that's not always the case.

00;24;54;13 - 00;24;54;23
Natasha Shapoval
Yeah.

00;24;54;26 - 00;25;10;02
Chrissy Cole
So how do you encourage women to stay, close and connected with their, I'm going to say biological sisters, because I think it's sometimes easier to be friends with people outside of your blood family than it is.

00;25;10;04 - 00;25;12;19
Taniya Pekun
But read Ephesians four.

00;25;12;23 - 00;25;15;12
Chrissy Cole
Yes. Ephesians four. Unity.

00;25;15;15 - 00;25;38;24
Taniya Pekun
Yeah. I mean, honestly, the best thing that mom gave to us is each other. You know, we've been through trauma together. We'll laugh through life. I think that's how we made it. We just laughed through life. That's another whole way, of experience. But, Natasha and I was intentionally close. Yeah, because we're very different. Yeah.

00;25;38;25 - 00;25;52;25
Taniya Pekun
I mean, just because we're blood related, just because we have the same DNA, DNA, and just because we're believers, it doesn't make us automatically, unified.

00;25;52;25 - 00;25;53;16
Natasha Shapoval
Yeah.

00;25;53;19 - 00;26;16;03
Taniya Pekun
So I think we work through a lot of things like, unrealistic expectations. We understand that we're coming from, we have we have different experiences because we were in the same household, which was a mess. It doesn't mean that her experience match my experience. We have two different personalities.

00;26;16;04 - 00;26;17;01
Chrissy Cole
Yeah.

00;26;17;04 - 00;26;41;01
Taniya Pekun
But we're working through that. And I think, misaligned expectations truly kills relationship. That's good. Just because the way I think she might not think that way, you know. Right. And just because, I do things a certain way, it doesn't mean that she does things the certain way. So I think communication is the key.

00;26;41;01 - 00;26;42;10
Chrissy Cole
Yeah.

00;26;42;13 - 00;27;12;02
Taniya Pekun
And, poor communication kills relationships as well. I mean, in marriages as well. And I think in sisterhood, the two and I always say maybe I've learned the hard way, never fill in the blank, when communication could actually reveal the truth. Yeah, yeah. So, communication is the key. Loving one another, be patient with each other.

00;27;12;02 - 00;27;40;09
Taniya Pekun
Forgiving. Yeah. Each other. Laughing through life. Being intentional because it's so easy to have like minded people around you, right? It is so easy. But it's so difficult when people are different. Yeah. When they lived through different experiences, they they experience different things, they respond differently. And then guess what? Then you've been intentional about relationships, you know, then you're pulling the best out of them.

00;27;40;09 - 00;27;51;13
Taniya Pekun
And yeah, I think, I think Natasha's and my relationship is incredible. Yeah. Because every time when we get together, we create stuff.

00;27;51;15 - 00;27;52;29
Chrissy Cole
Oh my God.

00;27;53;01 - 00;28;09;09
Taniya Pekun
They ever we, we explore the possibilities, and I think the best thing is not only when you could talk about the past, but actually you could move forward and say, hey, I'm going to meet you in the middle. Let's do something about this. That is the best thing.

00;28;09;09 - 00;28;11;09
Chrissy Cole
Yeah. And dream about the future.

00;28;11;10 - 00;28;11;29
Natasha Shapoval
Yeah, yeah.

00;28;11;29 - 00;28;34;11
Chrissy Cole
And, you know, working together on events and. Okay, the people need to know that when you are to go on these ladies Instagram pages and see the events they put on for their women, the events they put on for their families and the weddings and all the things. It looks like a Vogue magazine, am I right?

00;28;34;11 - 00;28;41;18
Natasha Shapoval
Yeah. Time is incredible. She is much better at that than I am. She's gifted, definitely gifted. She has an eye.

00;28;41;20 - 00;28;46;16
Chrissy Cole
She has an eye, and then she's the craziest gift giver. Yes. On the face of the planet.

00;28;46;16 - 00;28;56;19
Natasha Shapoval
Yes. I think for our relationship just to answer you are kind of fill in. What? What she said, I think intentionality.

00;28;56;22 - 00;28;57;04
Chrissy Cole
Yeah.

00;28;57;04 - 00;29;18;14
Natasha Shapoval
And the ability if I look at our relationship because, you know, we gave our life to Jesus at the same time, around the same time we had kids, around the same time we stepped into ministry around the same time. And I think, naturally, this would be a ground for competition and comparison. Yeah. And many relationships grow apart because of that.

00;29;18;14 - 00;29;45;21
Natasha Shapoval
Yes. Because in certain things she was a little bit further along than I was and, and certain things I was further along than she was. And I think our relationship is as good as it is and as deep as it is because of our, determination and because of our decision, to come alongside and celebrate each other's wins, I think it's easier to cry with one another and to mourn than to actually celebrate.

00;29;45;26 - 00;30;10;06
Natasha Shapoval
Like, okay, I have a dream. Maybe it's very similar to yours, but I'm still, like you're further along than I am. Yeah. And my ability or her ability, vice versa, to come alongside. And I'm like, I'm going to be here. I'm gonna, cheer you on. I'm going to believe with you. I'm going to stand with you, and I'm gone, and I'm going to watch you actually, deliver this God given promise and gift.

00;30;10;08 - 00;30;34;28
Natasha Shapoval
And I'm going to be here. I'm going to be your midwife. Yeah. Even though I'm dreaming for the same thing. Even though I'm believing for the same thing. And I think this quality in any sisterhood, not only Blood Sisters, but actually in the body of Christ, if we learn how to celebrate one another and how to, be there for one another in, in each other's wins, not just to cry and mourn your losses.

00;30;34;28 - 00;30;57;00
Natasha Shapoval
You know, I think that's easier to do. Yeah. The actual amount I want this and I believe God is that he promised this for me or to me, but she's actually living the dream that I have. You know what? I'm going to be her midwife. I'm gonna. I'm gonna just be with her and celebrate. And I think our relationship became so much deeper in those moments.

00;30;57;03 - 00;31;22;25
Chrissy Cole
And that's what I'm saying. Like from, an outside outsider looking in, you would just assume that that's what's happening. Yeah. And then when I come in your presence, I don't know that I assumed it before I met you, but that, you know, I. But other people might, you know, I think other people might just assume that pastors aren't friends with pastors because they're comparing, you know, they might just assume that to two women around the same age round having the same life stuff.

00;31;22;26 - 00;31;40;19
Chrissy Cole
Yeah, that there would be that. But I mean, being in your presence is like there is zero competition. Yeah, there is all love. There is. Let's outdo one another in hospitality, but not in competition. You know, like, well, yeah, that's what we should do. It's like, okay, you're gonna do that. I'm gonna contribute more so we can make the whole thing better.

00;31;40;19 - 00;31;53;11
Chrissy Cole
Yeah. And I just, I think what is amazing to me is the level of humility that you each walk with, because you can't have unity and sisterhood this strong, this intentional without humility.

00;31;53;11 - 00;31;59;23
Natasha Shapoval
Yeah, yeah. And don't be fooled. Like her strengths intimidate me. I want her strength.

00;32;00;02 - 00;32;03;29
Chrissy Cole
I love the honesty. It's I I'm sorry. I have to give it a moment.

00;32;03;29 - 00;32;33;17
Natasha Shapoval
Just know it's true. Come on. It's true. So let's not just, you know, put on our rose colored glasses and be like, oh, my gosh, I love her. No, like, because we'd go into circles where her strengths, they do intimidate me because maybe I'm not as strong in that sphere. And naturally, what a person wants to do is like, pretend that they're as strong and kind of maybe, like, not give her moment or her presence to shine and it's it's natural.

00;32;33;17 - 00;32;46;05
Natasha Shapoval
This is what we want to do. But in that moment, for me at least, I'm intentional in actually pulling on her strengths and honoring the strengths that the Lord gave her. And therefore I can benefit from them. Yeah.

00;32;46;08 - 00;32;56;16
Chrissy Cole
You. I hope you all are taking notes because absolutely. Like, even if it's not blood sisters, this is how we actually celebrate women, not just posting something.

00;32;56;17 - 00;32;57;12
Natasha Shapoval
Oh yeah, well.

00;32;57;13 - 00;33;05;11
Chrissy Cole
You have to actually, like, get beside her and maybe even be the anonymous one who says I'm going to doesn't.

00;33;05;12 - 00;33;30;26
Natasha Shapoval
Get the credit. Yeah, yeah. And allow the other person to shine like Tanya does the same. Yes. Like in certain moments, because we're different. You know, we each have different strengths. And and she's intentional and in, in, in the moment or in some setting to actually celebrate my strength to actually honor that publicly. Yeah. Not just like, hold back the praise and and just like, oh, I don't want her to be, you know, I don't want her to get prideful.

00;33;30;26 - 00;33;48;16
Natasha Shapoval
No, we actually are good. And the Bible says, oh, do one another and honor, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's what we are. And it's a choice. Yes, I believe it's a choice, because we all have temptations to hold back the praise. Yeah. To hold back the honor. To like, oh my gosh, if I do that, they're gonna think she's better than me.

00;33;48;21 - 00;34;07;18
Natasha Shapoval
And we have a lot of, you know, same friends and sharing actually, we share our friends intentionally. Like, you know, if I know someone that is amazing, I'm like, man, you need to meet my sister. And she does the same. Yes. And it comes with a challenge with its challenges. Like, oh, what if they like her better? What have they like, be better?

00;34;07;18 - 00;34;15;09
Natasha Shapoval
And what if she's going to become their friend, you know, and that's just a normal, yes, normal woman. Yes. Problem.

00;34;15;09 - 00;34;16;23
Chrissy Cole
When it come on, talk about it.

00;34;16;23 - 00;34;25;11
Natasha Shapoval
And I believe that we have to be intentional. And when we celebrate one another, we kill competition and comparison.

00;34;25;11 - 00;34;47;12
Chrissy Cole
Yeah. Right. And you know, the world says this. The world talks about no comparison. We're all for each other. Yeah, yeah. But when it really comes down to it, what I'm seeing again is humility. Yeah. And a choice to kill your flesh and say yes to the spirit that lives inside of you. So if we are going to try to do sisterhood without the Spirit of God, it's all fake and surfaces.

00;34;47;12 - 00;34;48;08
Natasha Shapoval
And you have to be honest.

00;34;48;08 - 00;34;48;26
Chrissy Cole
Yeah.

00;34;48;28 - 00;35;10;28
Natasha Shapoval
You have to be honest, Blackman. This is right now, like, I feel, less than or I feel that I feel intimidated. Yeah. And this or Tonya is a gift giver. I'm not. And I understand that because she's very intentional. She's very intentional about every detail. I don't have that. Yeah. So I pull on her strings. I'm like, hey, I'm going to meet so-and-so.

00;35;10;28 - 00;35;31;05
Natasha Shapoval
What do you think I should give? Instead of like, gosh, let me just go behind her. Yeah, I'll do her. Yeah, yeah, I like that. No, I'm like, no, I want to pull on your strength because, I have strengths that you can benefit from. And it's this holy exchange that happens when we walk in humility, when we walk in honesty with one another.

00;35;31;09 - 00;35;43;03
Natasha Shapoval
And we had many heated conversations, you know, like, just recently, we had an honest conversation that we had miscommunication. And I'm like, hey, this is how I perceived this. And we both cried and repented and hug, hug that out.

00;35;43;08 - 00;35;45;09
Chrissy Cole
The way you both cried and what.

00;35;45;12 - 00;35;49;25
Natasha Shapoval
Repented? Tell that. I mean, I know it's it's a scary word.

00;35;49;26 - 00;36;09;19
Chrissy Cole
Yes. Repentance. Yes. Yeah. I mean, I think that that's what we negate and we just try to breeze things over and oh, it's actually fine. It's okay. I always tell my kids, when you are apologizing to another, I need to know for what? And I don't want to hear. It's okay. I want to hear. I forgive you. Yeah, because there's power that's released in those words.

00;36;09;19 - 00;36;11;15
Chrissy Cole
Yeah, but what were you going to say?

00;36;11;17 - 00;36;33;04
Taniya Pekun
I'm just saying that we're never alone. It's not that because we're so good or perfect or special. We have the Spirit of God guiding us. Yeah, I have the Spirit of God will make you shout and dance and preach and prophesy and speak in tongues. The Spirit of God will make you be quiet sometimes and ask for forgiveness and repent and walk in humility.

00;36;33;07 - 00;36;35;03
Taniya Pekun
And that is so important. Chris.

00;36;35;04 - 00;36;35;17
Chrissy Cole
Yeah.

00;36;35;19 - 00;36;59;01
Taniya Pekun
That is so important these days because there's just so many prideful people. Unkind. They're nice, but they're not kind. Yeah. And niceness is depending on the room that you walk into. Oh, I'm nice with her, but I'm not going to be nice with her. But being kind, I think it's so vital. It's so biblical. Yeah. Because the your kindness that you're expanding in that moment, it's beyond your ability either.

00;36;59;03 - 00;37;08;11
Taniya Pekun
Doesn't matter what you feeling in that moment. Being compassionate. Yes. Towards other person. Filling in. Yeah. Or filling in their, weakness.

00;37;08;11 - 00;37;08;24
Chrissy Cole
Yeah.

00;37;08;27 - 00;37;37;00
Taniya Pekun
You know, or getting her back in the rooms that she's not in. Yes. That is so vital. Yeah. In the armor of God, what's exposed is the. Yeah. What are back. Who has to get our back. This there's. Yeah. That's what really sisterhood means. And actually walking in forgiveness. Yes. I think the moment that you are unkind not compassionate, the moment you're unforgiving, you're bitter, you're walking in competition.

00;37;37;00 - 00;38;05;23
Taniya Pekun
You're walking in comparison. You have unhealthy heart. Yeah. And I know we walk through trauma together, but, I take the full responsibility for what happened to me and what can happen to me from this moment on. Yeah. So I am responsible who I will become. You need to heal. And there's so many unhealed women in the. Yeah, that's why I'm saying the Ephesians four.

00;38;05;23 - 00;38;23;12
Taniya Pekun
Yes, be kind and compassionate and forgiving, just as Christ has forgive you. I know that a lot of people say, Tanya, you're so forgiving. Because of what? Because of that one forgiveness that I found my father. That I never knew went across the world to meet him, to stand in front of him just to say, daddy, I love you.

00;38;23;12 - 00;38;46;27
Taniya Pekun
I forgive you, right? And, yeah, that's great, but how about forgiving every day? Yes, but giving the little things, you know, forgiving your sister, forgiving your friends, forgiving other people. Those acts very. Yeah. It's not one time event. It's constantly walking in forgiveness and kindness and compassion because compassion moves you to action. And I think that's what sisterhood is about.

00;38;46;27 - 00;38;47;16
Chrissy Cole
Yeah.

00;38;47;19 - 00;39;13;17
Taniya Pekun
Is being loving because, you know, my flesh is very unloving and very unkind and very unforgiving. But in Christ I could achieve that. And I'm never alone. He's guiding me. The Spirit of God is guiding and telling me, Tanya, that's not right. This is not good. And actually I love what Natasha touched on. She said, you know, there's in the world are like, well, your true friend is the one who cries with you and.

00;39;13;25 - 00;39;15;01
Natasha Shapoval
Shows up when you're mourning.

00;39;15;01 - 00;39;26;22
Taniya Pekun
Yeah, yeah. Your true friend is the one who celebrates you, is when you're up there and they clap for you and they say, you know why you did it, I can too. Yeah. That is when the friendships are truly revealed.

00;39;26;22 - 00;39;35;16
Chrissy Cole
Oh, that is so good. Yeah. It is easier to mourn with others. And if we want to admit it or not. Yeah. You receive something.

00;39;35;18 - 00;39;36;00
Natasha Shapoval
You feel.

00;39;36;00 - 00;39;42;02
Chrissy Cole
Better. Yeah. You feel better because you're doing something for somebody else. But when you celebrate somebody, you're not getting anything.

00;39;42;03 - 00;40;06;22
Natasha Shapoval
No. And I love even even in this, what shows me this beautiful even in the Bible, God showed me this long time ago about Mary and Elizabeth. Right. Mary received her dream and the Bible says God told her, hey, even your relative Elizabeth is with child. And after that it says immediately Mary got up and went to be with the Elizabeth.

00;40;06;24 - 00;40;30;22
Natasha Shapoval
And the Bible also says that Elizabeth, after she found out she was pregnant, she was secluded. She secluded herself. So she was in isolation for months. And then that moment when Mary shows up, Elizabeth, the Holy Spirit comes upon her and she prophesies. So there was like this holy exchange that happened. Mary shows up, her baby is not kicked, can get her promise, is not showing.

00;40;30;24 - 00;40;51;12
Natasha Shapoval
Elizabeth the six months she's she's ahead of her right. And the Bible says she stayed until she stayed for three months. And many scholars believe that she stayed until she delivered John the Baptist. So she stayed there. She watched her deliver the baby. She was there for her God-Given dream, even when she had no signs of life. Right.

00;40;51;12 - 00;41;19;18
Natasha Shapoval
And I believe in those moments there's this beautiful exchange that happened. Elizabeth was encouraged. Mary was encouraged. She watched her. She was like a midwife there in that moment. And I believe this is what sisterhood is all about. Are we willing to come alongside someone and watch them deliver their dream and watch them do what God called them to do, even though you want to do it as well, and you feel that you know that that dream is burning within you.

00;41;19;25 - 00;41;40;08
Natasha Shapoval
And I believe something beautiful happens when we humble ourselves, when we say, you know what? I'll be there for you. I will truly not just like this, this envious. I'll be there for you and make sure. And I want to watch you fail, you know, secretly make sure you don't make it an outcry there with you, you know, but actually, like, man, I'm truly going to be there for you.

00;41;40;14 - 00;41;53;01
Natasha Shapoval
And I'm going to pray you through it and I'm going to, you know, be there even though I don't get the spotlight and God does something intentional. And those moments, he does something in our hearts. Guys like, I can trust you with your dream.

00;41;53;01 - 00;41;53;20
Chrissy Cole
Now, right?

00;41;53;27 - 00;42;07;20
Natasha Shapoval
And that's what sisterhood is all about. It's about choice. That's intentionality that I'm going to be there for you. Yes, I'll show up not only when you're crying. I'll show up when? When you're rejoicing. Yeah. And something breaks within us.

00;42;07;20 - 00;42;08;02
Chrissy Cole
Yes.

00;42;08;02 - 00;42;15;15
Natasha Shapoval
Like you said, humility takes place. And it's that intentional part. Like, you know what? I'll be there.

00;42;15;17 - 00;42;36;18
Chrissy Cole
Okay? You guys, this is why we're friends. Yeah, because I everything in me is just like. I just want to go celebrate everybody, and I just. And that's why also, I love our friendship. Because I know that you are going to celebrate me. Yeah. And I hope you know that me and the rest of the project sisterhood is going to celebrate all that you do.

00;42;36;24 - 00;43;02;20
Chrissy Cole
I mean, you know, it's not about the platforms, but they have platforms. And I love cheering you guys on from a distance. And when I hear you pray, when I hear you preach, I'm like, wowzers, these ladies, the fire of God has not, waned. It hasn't weakened. Yeah it is it is strong and it's and I know, I know, it's because you're going back for oil.

00;43;02;20 - 00;43;29;11
Chrissy Cole
You're going back for oil. Absolutely. And just stay burning for Jesus. Yeah. And I think this is something that I want our sisterhood to hear. Because we don't want the fire to go out. Yeah, yeah. We don't want to start fading into the rest of the world's women's empowerment. Yeah. This is a much different empowerment that requires brokenness, humility, repentance and forgiveness.

00;43;29;11 - 00;43;29;29
Natasha Shapoval
Yeah.

00;43;30;02 - 00;43;37;21
Chrissy Cole
And that is different from the world. Yeah. And so this is like true biblical, spirit filled sisterhood, but.

00;43;37;21 - 00;43;50;17
Natasha Shapoval
It's not only in ministry. You know, we're all in ministry, right? Yes. And then we have I remember just sharing recipes. I would show up to parties, right. And some good meals like, oh my gosh, can I have this recipe? Like, no.

00;43;50;19 - 00;43;51;05
Chrissy Cole
Yeah.

00;43;51;07 - 00;43;56;03
Natasha Shapoval
No, it's my secret family's recipe. And I'm like, why? But why?

00;43;56;03 - 00;43;56;11
Chrissy Cole
Yeah.

00;43;56;17 - 00;44;19;19
Natasha Shapoval
It doesn't make you less than when sharing actually creates capacity to receive more. Yeah. And it's anything once you open up your heart to share something that's that is precious to you. I was like, man, I can trust you with more. He doesn't want us to be just these, I don't know, dams of of just things that he entrusts us with.

00;44;19;19 - 00;44;43;24
Natasha Shapoval
He wants us to be reversed. Yeah, but give it away, God. And God is the source to give you more and more. And he can trust you with more. I think it's in in every walk of life and sisterhood, right? That that as we open our hearts to share what's valuable, to celebrate one another, just like, man, I can trust her and I can trust her and and it's just it just becomes this beautiful holy exchange.

00;44;44;00 - 00;45;05;23
Natasha Shapoval
Now, we cannot share the oil of intimacy with the Lord. Right? Right. But we can ignite one another with our fire. And that's just it's been the secret sauce to our relationship and to any in any sisterhood. And not just blood, just just be walk in humility before the Lord and celebrate one another. Show up for one another.

00;45;05;23 - 00;45;20;03
Natasha Shapoval
Yeah. And be honest. Yeah. With your struggles. Like I am honest, I'm like, man, I'm kind of I kind of want what you have. Yeah, but you know what? I'm going to humble myself and I'm going to celebrate you, right? Yeah. It's not about me. Come on. And that's what it is.

00;45;20;03 - 00;45;23;14
Chrissy Cole
That's great. That's that's a great reminder. Share. Yeah. Share your.

00;45;23;14 - 00;45;31;07
Taniya Pekun
I'm offended. Yeah. Because you're a giver. People get offended because you're kind. People get offended because you want to be.

00;45;31;14 - 00;45;33;17
Natasha Shapoval
Intimidated by your strength. Right?

00;45;33;20 - 00;45;55;18
Chrissy Cole
Yes. And then that's a that's a really good no. Because I think, so much of us want to be offended by other things that look more spiritual. But kindness, like kindness without compassion, you know, is, it's fluff. It's just it's good for just me. But when people are jealous of that or offended by that, that's you being Christ.

00;45;55;18 - 00;45;58;00
Chrissy Cole
That's you being Christ. Like, oh, that's so good.

00;45;58;00 - 00;46;03;09
Natasha Shapoval
And they will try to tear you down and be like, oh, it's just Tanya. It's just Natasha. She does this and there's so much and.

00;46;03;15 - 00;46;05;00
Chrissy Cole
Minimize you and downplay.

00;46;05;00 - 00;46;23;12
Natasha Shapoval
It. And that's again, that's a way of not showing up and celebrate. Right. Even though I'm not in the room. Can you celebrate that strength of. Yeah. Can you say, but this is who she is. Yeah. She's truly doing this because this is who God created her to be, you know? But we we just tear each other down in the rooms that other people are not in.

00;46;23;12 - 00;46;28;09
Natasha Shapoval
And we think that this is just we minimize one another. God's like, this is not who I am.

00;46;28;09 - 00;46;49;03
Taniya Pekun
Well, you have to recognize that the enemy is at work. We're not fighting flesh and blood. That's right. The enemy is there to sow a discord when God creates, you know, calls us to unity, to be unified, to be loving and kind towards each other. And there goes the enemy. And just sowing discord, jealousy, gossip and all of those nasty things you could recognize that this is the enemy.

00;46;49;03 - 00;47;09;01
Taniya Pekun
It's really not her. It's not her nature, but it's just the enemy in that moment, you know? So then you don't have to put so much stress on you and say, you know what? When maybe I have done something or maybe I did this. No, you just understand. You divide that this is the work of the enemy and you move on instead of concentrating on the negative.

00;47;09;02 - 00;47;15;02
Taniya Pekun
Yes, because I truly believe that some people, instead of being jealous and gossiping, should be learning from it.

00;47;15;02 - 00;47;16;06
Chrissy Cole
Yeah, yeah.

00;47;16;09 - 00;47;17;24
Taniya Pekun
Maybe it's a gift from God.

00;47;17;24 - 00;47;44;04
Natasha Shapoval
Yeah, we are in that moment. We're intentionally put in rooms where there are people with different gifts. Yeah, we have friends that are different than us, and we naturally want to shy away from that. We want to get together with just like people that look like us, that think like us. But we're not going to grow. We grow when there is actually, another person with another strength and we are intimidated by them.

00;47;44;04 - 00;48;03;25
Natasha Shapoval
Right. And we are intentional about being in those rooms because I want to get rid of this feeling. I don't want to be envious. I don't want to be, you know, jealous. And I don't want to have those feelings, like, I don't want to be intimidated. And the way to overcome that is to be intentional by having those people with different strengths in my life.

00;48;03;25 - 00;48;07;09
Natasha Shapoval
Yeah. You know, in close proximity to me.

00;48;07;13 - 00;48;08;15
Chrissy Cole
That's so beautiful.

00;48;08;15 - 00;48;38;14
Taniya Pekun
And cultivating sisterhood is very important. You know, just being intentional. Like, we talk about intentional a lot. It's just a consistent intentional when you look at, my circle of women, there is so many different giftings and talents and different ages. I love them ages. I love the young and the old and the bridges in between. I love that because then you could pull from each other, you could learn from each other and then you see different nationalities.

00;48;38;14 - 00;49;01;11
Taniya Pekun
I love that you know, and there's just just so you and then you cultivate that, you know, you, you come near those people, you close the gap. Yes. You know, you ask the hard questions and you communicate with them. So why did you feel that way, you know, and then have the heart of repentance and that moment that is so beautiful because it's not just calling your ministry sisterhood and that's it.

00;49;01;18 - 00;49;12;08
Taniya Pekun
Now open up the curtain. Yeah. Are you cultivating the true godly sisterhood? Yes. That is most important thing. That's good. You know, because we're sisters. But we need to cultivate that.

00;49;12;08 - 00;49;28;13
Chrissy Cole
Yeah, we need to take that to, people outside of our healthy relationships. I always tell people, when they ask me, why are you so passionate about women? Why are you so passionate about my sister? And my mother in law asked me that when we were first, my husband and I were first married, and I had to think about it.

00;49;28;13 - 00;49;44;25
Chrissy Cole
And I'm glad for the question. I got a little defensive. I'm like, why can't I be? You know, it's like, what's wrong? And then I realized I was like, the Lord gave me healthy blood sisterhood with my three sisters. In fact, we we talk all the time. We share a therapist like, we we we love one another.

00;49;44;28 - 00;50;05;26
Chrissy Cole
And I'm like, I think if so many of us want to only serve out of our brokenness and then some Christians who haven't walked through things as hard as maybe some both of you have that they minimize themselves and they're like, oh, I can't offer anything to the Lord because I didn't have that broken big testimony. Yes you can, even to health that's in your life.

00;50;05;26 - 00;50;31;11
Chrissy Cole
You can't take credit for it. So the health in my sisterhood, I want to share that with my non blood sisters. And so I think man let's share I'm hearing that too. I'm hearing humility. I'm hearing Cher share that recipe. Share that Amazon link of that cute outfit, those cute shoes, that sale item at Zara. You know, like somebody I want to I want us to share more.

00;50;31;11 - 00;50;34;01
Natasha Shapoval
I wouldn't have to go around for everybody. Yeah.

00;50;34;01 - 00;50;50;27
Chrissy Cole
It was stop hoarding. I think that was a word we're looking for earlier. Let's not spiritually hoard. The more we are generous with one another and we outdo one another in hospitality and honor, then sisterhood will be cultivated, sisterhood will be strengthened, and this world will be changed for his glory.

00;50;50;29 - 00;51;21;16
Natasha Shapoval
Amen. I believe it. Yeah. And another thing is when you have misunderstandings, because we all will have, you know, it's not only like, oh, beautiful. Me and Tanya was awesome. Yeah, we had a lot of hard moments. And at that moment when you have misunderstanding, when when you have disagreements, when you don't see eye to eye, when you hurt one another with words or actions, you are standing, before a choice, like, will you actually go after this friendship?

00;51;21;19 - 00;51;48;29
Natasha Shapoval
Will you actually show up and work through hard moments and stick with it? Because I believe our friendship or our sister, you know, the relationship that we have as deep as it is because we were willing to stay when it was uncomfortable, when it was hard, when we did want to, you know, have those hard conversations because it would be easier to like nothing happened and remain surface level.

00;51;49;04 - 00;52;02;22
Natasha Shapoval
And it would be great. Everything would be good, but it would not be deep, deep. When we talk about sisterhood and and deep friendships and when we see someone and with Maya, their friendship or their like, the depth of their friendship is because it's deep.

00;52;02;23 - 00;52;03;03
Chrissy Cole
Yeah.

00;52;03;04 - 00;52;16;03
Natasha Shapoval
Is because they're been through something. So if you're walking through, you know, if you're watching and you're walking through some hard moments and you're like, man, it's not worth it. I don't want to have this, this hard conversation. Right? Stick with it.

00;52;16;03 - 00;52;16;15
Chrissy Cole
Yeah.

00;52;16;16 - 00;52;24;08
Natasha Shapoval
Pursue that relationship. Because the moment you pursue it and you work things out, your friendship will actually deepen.

00;52;24;08 - 00;52;24;20
Chrissy Cole
Yeah.

00;52;24;25 - 00;52;47;11
Natasha Shapoval
And it will, because you walk through some hard moments together just with you and your spouse, right. With me and my spouse. It's better now than it was when we just got married. Why? Because it's deeper. We walk through some things. We we work some things out. It just stick with it. Yeah. Just be determined that no matter what like this is worth it.

00;52;47;11 - 00;52;48;09
Chrissy Cole
Yes.

00;52;48;12 - 00;52;52;00
Natasha Shapoval
Sisterhood. Yeah. Friendships and sisterhood. They are worth.

00;52;52;00 - 00;52;52;23
Chrissy Cole
It. Yes.

00;52;52;23 - 00;53;09;01
Natasha Shapoval
We want deep friendships, but we don't want to pay the price. And everything good comes at a price. Yeah, you have to pay it. Yeah, you have to pay with humility. You have to pay what's showing up? You have to pay with, you know, being misunderstood and actually saying, you know what? It's okay, but I will be here with you.

00;53;09;01 - 00;53;16;23
Natasha Shapoval
Yeah, I will stick with you no matter what. Even though I don't agree with you. Maybe I don't see the way you see it. But you're my sister.

00;53;16;23 - 00;53;17;02
Chrissy Cole
Yes.

00;53;17;02 - 00;53;35;23
Natasha Shapoval
And I will be here and I will show up for you. And I think that's why people say, oh, I love your friendship. It cost me something. It is costly to have deep friendships. It's costly to have a good relationship. It is costly. Be willing to pay the price.

00;53;35;25 - 00;53;41;18
Chrissy Cole
Oh my. On that note. Sheesh. But fire emoji.

00;53;41;20 - 00;53;49;29
Taniya Pekun
What is it really costing if we willing to go the other way? Your flash. Yeah. You know your desires. You're the elephant in the.

00;53;49;29 - 00;53;51;02
Chrissy Cole
Room, right?

00;53;51;02 - 00;54;04;07
Taniya Pekun
The unhealthy you. I mean, the cost you humility. Yeah. Will you be able to go low and say, you know what? I think in that moment I was wrong. Yeah. That it really cost us. Us? Yeah. And it's.

00;54;04;07 - 00;54;28;00
Chrissy Cole
Okay. Yes. It's okay because we are called to deny ourselves. Yeah. Take him off the cross. Follow him. Okay. We're. We could probably talk about this forever. I said this about a lot of our guests, but I need to have you back. I brought I have to have you individually and then come together like I'm like, I. They're going to be like, episodes with Tanya, Christy, Christian, Natasha, and then all three of us.

00;54;28;00 - 00;54;55;13
Chrissy Cole
So maybe I'll just. I'll just leave and then you guys talk, okay. But. Oh, what an honor to have you. I really think if the ladies listen to this, even from just the beginning of. From your testimonies and all the way to the end with these nuggets of wisdom for sisterhood and building something deep and and being reminded to share, to count the cost, to pay the price of humility.

00;54;55;15 - 00;55;18;05
Chrissy Cole
Oh, my goodness. What if I told you this was going to be a Kingdom building episode? We're building the kingdom by really exalting God in our relationships. Yeah, and the only way he's exalted is if we go low. That was good. Okay, I'm trying to preach and close up the episode at the same time. Yeah, but, ladies, these are my friends, and I'm so honored to have them as friends.

00;55;18;05 - 00;55;33;12
Chrissy Cole
And I feel like because they're my friends, they're project sisterhood friends. And so thank you for your wisdom. Thank you for your testimony. Thank you for your candor. And we'll tell the story about the couch accident on your white couch. Tonight was on my monthly period. Next time.

00;55;33;12 - 00;55;37;22
Natasha Shapoval
Yeah. Let's save something for next time. You know.

00;55;37;24 - 00;55;53;21
Chrissy Cole
That's a teaser. You could maybe cut that out, and I. I love you, ladies. I hope you enjoy this episode of the Project Sisterhood podcast. Make sure that you share us on YouTube. Yeah. Share on Instagram. Share, share. And we're building. Yeah, we're going to be sharing.

00;55;53;21 - 00;55;56;28
Natasha Shapoval
We're like that comment I love it.

00;55;56;28 - 00;56;02;13
Chrissy Cole
Don't hold back, don't hold back I love it. We love you ladies. And we'll see you next time. Bye.