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What Now is a faith podcast where real life meets raw truth. No filters, no fear—just bold conversations that lead you closer to Jesus.
Hey, friend. I'm your host, Nadia What Now podcast, where faith gets real, relatable, and vulnerable. And today, I'm here with a special guest, and I'm so thankful to have her on, miss Lisa. She is a visionary of Broken to Be Blessed Ministry. She's an author, a speaker, associate executive director.
Maddison:You name it, she does it. She's a woman that wears many hats, and I'm so thankful to have her here. She is my mentor, my sister in Christ, and I would not be here today if it was not for her. So today, we are gonna be discussing the road back after my fall. So miss Lisa has a book, and it is called After the Fall.
Maddison:It talks about her testimony, and today, I just wanted her to go a little bit deeper into that with you guys because I know it helped me on my faith journey, and I know it can help you too, Fran. So welcome, miss Lisa. We are so happy to have you.
Lisa:Thank you, Madison. I am so excited to be with you, grateful for the opportunity, and I am just ecstatic to see what God does through you as you continue to do, hey, friend, and continue to encourage others to let them know that they are still seen, loved, and chosen by God no matter what road you have been down.
Maddison:Yes, ma'am. So as we jump into questions, I wanted to start with, can you share what your fall looked like?
Lisa:My fall was hard. It was very difficult because I was living this life like I was perfect. Mhmm. Like, I had it all together. You know how we come into church.
Lisa:I'm blessed and highly favored. I grew up in church, so I know how to play church.
Maddison:Mhmm.
Lisa:So I know how to put on a mask and come in and act as if everything is okay. But when deep inside, I was broken, I had gone through a lot of things, being a woman, being even a called woman of God, and had not dealt with those things because I was raised in an era where pray about it. And yes, trust me, if anybody knows me, we're gonna do some prayer, but I also believe Jesus in therapy goes hand in hand. So it was hard. It was it was difficult because everything that I thought I had going for myself, it came crashing down.
Lisa:This life that I had built up for myself was now in crumbles. I had the husband, I had the son, and all of this seemed to be crashing down, and I thought life was over for me. Mhmm. I thought there would be no coming back. I thought that at that moment, this was gonna be life, and there was no turning back but God.
Maddison:But God. Amen. And that's why I wanted you to come on today because you are an amazing example of God's grace and mercy, that your fall did not keep you there because of what you are doing today, you know, I can't even imagine even where God is taking you. And so, I want you to explain a little bit more on what that fall included, and then also, did that affect your relationship with God in any way or even your self value? What did that look like?
Lisa:So the fall included, of course, it comes with shame, it comes with guilt, it comes with even me knowing God. Mhmm. It comes with the the contemplation of do I kill myself? Suicide suicidal thoughts. So, yes, at first, I ran.
Lisa:I ran from God. I said he couldn't love me. How could he love me out of what I just did or what I have done that he would still choose to love me?
Maddison:Yeah.
Lisa:So I did. I ran from God. I hid from God. I I I literally put a cover over my head, and I stayed in bed. Mhmm.
Lisa:I did not wanna leave my house. I did not wanna do anything. But isn't it just like God so that even when we run from him, he seems to run towards us. Yep. And so that's what I felt during my fall is that no matter how far I tried to go, like, I literally tried to leave because I thought that me, I was never gonna minister again.
Lisa:I was never going to stand before people. I was never gonna mentor anybody again. So let me, first of all, go in my life because I thought it would be better if I was no longer here, then the shame and guilt that I felt would not have to be passed on to my husband and my son. So let me just end my life and and be done because there's no again, as I stated, there's no coming back from this. But just as I ran, it seemed like God ran closer to me.
Maddison:Mhmm.
Lisa:And I said, God, why? Would you just let me be in my stuff? Would you just let me have this pity party? But he said, no, daughter. I'm not done with you.
Lisa:I'm gonna use this, even this mess, even this this this horrific thing because it was bad. It was public. It was bad. It was out of the open. I got exposed.
Lisa:I'm gonna use this for your good, but I'm gonna get the glory out of it all.
Maddison:Amen. Could you give anybody some words of encouragement or wisdom that their fault might have been public? It might have been talked about. It could have run around the town, or even somebody that was in the church that has fell.
Lisa:It's not over. If I have to encourage or say anything, it's not over. Your fall is not your final destination. Your fall is actually or can be the start of something great and beautiful that God can use to put you back better than you were before. If I ever would have imagined that I would be even sitting here with you, could I ever imagine that this person who had done something horrible, who had been exposed to the community, to the world, would I ever imagine that I would be afforded opportunities to stand up on stages, to speak to to to a lot of people, and to let them know that your fall is not your final destination.
Lisa:Amen. That your fall could be the start of something beautiful. Yes, painful, but it turns out beautiful because when God is in it Come on. No matter no matter what people say, no matter what people think, no matter how people view your mess, God can take it, and he definitely will make it a message because there's somebody else out there that needs to know you got some stuff. See, that's the problem with the Come on.
Lisa:We come in, we're so blessed, we're so highly favored, but we don't want to talk about the issues Yeah. That we carry. There's a lot. Yes. I'm a called woman of God, but I'm still a human who carries some stuff.
Lisa:And if I don't allow God to deal with that stuff, there's a fall that's gonna happen. So I wanna encourage that person who who thinks that there's no coming back, who thinks that your stuff has just canceled everything that God has ever spoken, that God has ever believed for your life, that the promise is still yours. Seeing loved and chosen is still you.
Maddison:Amen. And I think you are a clear testament to that of God, and an encouragement to others. You are an encouragement to me, and I know that you are in the church. You are a minister. You are a reverend.
Maddison:You hold spaces and leadership in church, so you can speak clearly to people in church. But, what about somebody that's afraid to come to church because they know they have this baggage, they have this testimony that, oh, these good church folks are going to judge me when I come in here. Can you encourage somebody that's not in the four walls of the church?
Lisa:Sure. Let me tell you something. I believe it more now than ever. The church is nothing. The building let me say that first of all.
Lisa:Come on. The building, because I'm the church. This here, this temple, I'm the church. The people are the church. Mhmm.
Lisa:That's a building that we come to. Just as if the building that you go to for when you're sick, the hospital, come on into the church because it's just another part Come of a hospital where we who call ourselves the church come so that we can continue to be made well, be made whole. We are still healing. Those of us who come in Sunday after Sunday, Wednesday after Wednesday to hear the word, to sing praises, we're still being healed and made whole. So to those of you who believe that you can't come into the building because you're already the church, let me first encourage you to let you know, you were designed to be the church.
Lisa:You just wanna come into the building to be with other like minded people so that you can have somebody who will stand with you when you go through your stuff. Come on. If you come come to my church. Come sit right by me. I always tell people, I don't care if you just came out of the club smelling like you just got drunk or just got done smoking weed.
Lisa:Come sit right by me and let me love you the way I know that Jesus will love you because he said, whosoever will Come on. Let them come. So that means the drunks, that means the worshipper who stole something. Hello. That means the person who just got out of bed with somebody who probably wasn't their mate.
Lisa:Come on in. So God can love you and I can love you so that you can see yourself as God has designed and purposed I you to
Maddison:wanna encourage somebody as well. I did not grow up in church. Your girl got saved five years ago, and miss Lisa's testimony and understanding of who Jesus was allowed me to come into church with my stuff, in my mess. Even after I got baptized, more mess, and I was allowed to walk out my healing, walk my journey, walk out my testimony, and I was never condemned by you. I was never told, oh, you're going to hell, don't come until you get it right.
Maddison:There was space, and so maybe you're not in Illinois and cannot come to Logan Street Missionary Baptist Church in Batavia, but you can find I know God has people connected for you in other places, in other areas. There's not just miss Lisa, there's not just Maddie, there's not just pastor Seymour, there's many people that have the same understanding that God is with you in all seasons.
Lisa:Mhmm.
Maddison:And so, I encourage you, reach out reach out if you feel like you wanna start this journey with God, and we can try and give you some resources to walk that out. But back to you, miss Lisa. What is a way that you felt like God met you in your story, or even individuals that met you along the way, just like you helped me on my journey? What helped you, whether that be God God, people, places, things?
Lisa:What helps me to come out of that dark side
Maddison:Mhmm.
Lisa:Of of it all, because it was dark, was that God sent people to love me. Yeah. Who that despite what I had done, what had been publicized, he sent people who genuinely loved me and understand who I was in God. They saw what I did. They knew what I did.
Lisa:I told them what I did. Mhmm. But they said that doesn't discount the promise that God had given you. So that really helped encouraged me. It encouraged me that God still, no matter what, was tugging tugging at me saying, therefore, is no condemnation.
Lisa:So through this all, I understood that there was no condemnation, but there was conviction. Yeah. Conviction is real, and that's what we gotta understand that God didn't wanna condemn me, but he did want me to be convicted because of who he had created me to be, who I was going to be able to minister to. There had to be some conviction because you can't keep living this life Yeah. Knowing that God has called me to greater.
Lisa:So he sent some sisters because I had some issues with women. I had I grow up. I have six sisters, so I thought that was all the female friends that I needed. But through this, God showed me that, no, I have called some women Yeah. To circle you, to be there, to uplift you, to pray for you, because I couldn't pray for myself.
Lisa:I did not want to pray for myself. How was I gonna pray for myself after I know what I did? I didn't have the words. I didn't think God wanted to hear from me, but they showed me he still wanted to hear you. He still desired to spend time with you.
Lisa:So through praise, through worship, I began to find my my my my my voice back to wanting to be and spend time with God. So it taught me that community was important.
Maddison:Mhmm.
Lisa:The right community. Because everybody is not trying to p r a y for you. Come on. Some people are trying to p r e y on you. And so we gotta know the difference in that everybody is not out to get you.
Lisa:Yeah. God will show you who's for you, and those are the people you embrace not to say to be mean, and he's changed miss Lisa. Not to say to be mean, but to understand that those who God has called to be Mhmm. A part of your journey will accept all of you. The pretty parts, the ugly parts, the not so good smelling parts, all of you, because they understand it's all working for your good, but God's glory, that it is a part of helping you to get to the promise.
Maddison:Amen. What about some people or things that were not as nice and did not help you along the way? Because you were already in a hard situation. You were already like, God, I don't know what to do, and then you add in people's voices. Can you give words to that?
Lisa:Yes. I had the judgmental people. Mhmm. I had the people asking, you called her? She a minister?
Lisa:She a woman of God? She she she's supposed to be one of his vessels. I had it all. Mhmm. And it was those voices that were louder than the voices who were telling me, God's still gonna use you.
Maddison:Mhmm.
Lisa:So I had to get to a space where all that negativity, even those who were in the church singing praises Come on. They were the main ones who was judgmental, who who who was trying to who was gossiping. Yeah. Because there were people who I met in the community who I did not talk to, who was not in the same space as when it came out in the church, but who was able to tell me what was said in the church. So that if I did not understand that this was about God, I coulda left the building where the church people gathered because how how could we be preaching grace?
Maddison:Mhmm.
Lisa:How could we be saying God is gracious, God and we want grace, but we don't extend it to those in a time of need. So I had it all, but I thank God that I know him and knew him for myself, and I had those people who were around me, my prayerful community, who when I could not utter a word, was praying my strength, and each day I got stronger. Each day, the cover came off. Each day, I was able to stand and say, you know what? I did it, but that does not discount the promise that God had for me.
Maddison:Amen. And I wanna encourage you too, friend, that even if you don't know God, you don't know how to pray, God sends people to pray for you, whether they know you, don't know you. I look back over my life, and I know now that even in the seasons, was, who's God? Now I'm good. There was people around me that prayed for me that I now know.
Maddison:And so even if you're like, well, my testimony's not like hers. I didn't grow up in church. Baby, God still sends people to pray for you, speak life into you. That encounter at the grocery store of someone being kind, extending that that welcome, that hi, he's not not overlooking you. He sees you where you are, and so I would encourage you again to open yourself up to the possibility of saying yes to God, and that it is a journey.
Maddison:It's not one thing leads to perfectness and and everything with God, and so what I heard you saying as well, miss Lisa, was that it was a journey, that it took days, it took time, and I think people miss that fact sometimes. Mhmm. People people overlook that. They see your fall, and then they want to see where you're going to end up. Mhmm.
Maddison:But there's an in between. Yes. And now that you're on the outside of that and can look back, what did that look like for you? And even when it is hard and long and you are tired, can you speak to that?
Lisa:So you said some of the key words. It was hard, it was tiring, it was it was difficult. It was not easy, and and that's what we need to I wanna dismantle is that we believe that when we say yes to God, that things are gonna be oh, so beautiful, oh, so peachy, oh, so rosy. That's when it gets hard, baby. It was easy for me.
Lisa:Again, yes, I was a preacher kid, but again, I grew up in church, but the church was not in
Maddison:me. Mhmm.
Lisa:And so it was easy when I was out there doing Lisa, living life. I I felt life was good, but the moment I said yes to God, and he started saying, you said yes. So it was about to get real. And this for me, it was difficult. It was it was hard.
Lisa:It was a journey, and my healing did not happen overnight. I would say my healing actually fully took place when I got the book out, and then when I was able to walk in spaces knowing that this book is out here, people done read it, and I'm able to walk in and still say, hey, how you doing? You got something to say? And it's not being cocky, but it was like, you can no longer no longer had me bound. Mhmm.
Lisa:I'm free, baby. I got peace. And I understand that it was not so much that I had to go through it. It was by my choices and consequences that I had that caused me to get there, but I went through it. And because I went through it, I came out on the other side understanding and that God's grace is sufficient.
Lisa:It wasn't just me reading scripture now. This thing is now real, not just because of what I heard, what I read, but because I have lived it out. Yes. I have seen over and over in the Bible what God has restored somebody who has fallen. But baby, I'm a living testimony that restoration is still available.
Lisa:I'm a living testimony that redemption is real. I'm a living testimony that God can take all of it, all of it, and still allow you to live out the promise, and you can walk in places like, you can't touch me now.
Maddison:Amen. And I think there's this conversation in the church and just in the world. People try and judge or yeah, judge sin. My sin is not as bad as yours. This, and you know, this is when the condemnation comes from other people, and how can you encourage someone to stop condemning themselves for their sin?
Maddison:Because we're all sinners. Yes. We all got something. It may not look the same, but speak to somebody that's like, woah, this is a lot more work. Baby, it's all sin, and God is all trying to work through us.
Maddison:Do you have any words for that?
Lisa:You you you said in a nutshell, we all got stuff. Sin is sin. God is not saying, I'm a place this sin in this category, this sin in this category. So to the person who's looking at, but you don't know what I've done, you're looking at someone who stole money, was preaching the gospel, and stole money should have a record. But when I tell you that when God's hand is upon you, it does not matter whose mouth is tries, because I'm a say try to be upon you, that your sin is no worse than mine, it's no worse than Maddie's, that there is nothing.
Lisa:When you give it to God, he so says he throws it into the sea of forgiveness, and he remembers it no more. So I'm a tell you, it's easy to say it now that I'm here, because every day I used to think about, oh my god, do you know what I've done? But each day, I want you to find a word that allows you to know that I'm not this. I'm this because this is who God says I am. And even if you are not in the church, find you somebody who maybe you can't speak it to yourself right now.
Lisa:Maybe you don't know how to how to to articulate that you're not this, but that you're who God says you are. Find that person, and as you say, God will connect you. You could be in the grocery store Yep. And God can say, oh, this is who I need to just drop this word in you. So I would say, change your circle.
Lisa:Sometimes it's the circles we in. Mhmm. And maybe it's not scripture that you're gonna start speaking or helping you to see yourself outside of your sin. Maybe it's something I am amazing. As simple as that.
Lisa:I am powerful. As simple as that. But then when you God connects you to who he needs you to be connected to, and you start learning the word, then you start saying, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I am God's chosen one. I am peculiar.
Lisa:I am set apart. Then you can start doing that. So start it doesn't have to we make it all big and all Mhmm. All glamorous. God said, no, baby.
Lisa:Use what you got. Use the words that you have available to you. I am purposeful. I was made for purpose. Yes, it's in the bible, but that's also a word we can use every day.
Maddison:Yep. I love it. And I know that through these conversations, we've been talking about the people around us and their opinions, and you know, obviously, some people did have to forgive us because our actions could have offended them. Yes. But how do you forgive yourself?
Lisa:It took a long time. It took a long time for me to forgive myself, but I had to go again in writing the book and crying as I wrote the
Maddison:book. Okay.
Lisa:Because I I struggled with writing the book because I'm like, god.
Maddison:Mhmm.
Lisa:You want me to put this out here for the world? Now it was cool that the people in DeKalb knew what was going on, but now you want me to put this on Amazon and go around to these different events and sell it so people in the world know? Mhmm. But he said, I forgave you already, That I don't think about it like you think about it. So, again, was some work of forgiving myself.
Lisa:I had to constantly, every day, say, I am not what I've done. I am who God's called me to be. I will be the woman of God that he needs me to be, and that this is going to help somebody see Yep. That even though I've done something bad, that the promise of God is not canceled. So I had to I had to encourage myself.
Lisa:I had to speak life into myself. And I want you to know, I would say that didn't happen I'm 48 now. That didn't happen until 45. I would say I truly forgave myself. That's when I can walk into spaces like, you know my story?
Lisa:Okay.
Maddison:And still here.
Lisa:And I'm still here, still standing.
Maddison:Yeah. And, I think too, along this journey, there is times we go backwards
Lisa:Mhmm.
Maddison:Times we stumble back. We may go to old circles. I may call that man again. I'm being real, and you think you get so far from something that you don't ever want to go back. I'm not that person.
Maddison:I can't do this again, but we do mess up. Uh-huh. We're human. Uh-huh. We're not going to be perfect.
Maddison:Uh-huh. So, would you say to somebody that has already failed, felt like they made it far enough, but found themselves taking steps back?
Lisa:Get up. As you stated, this if we were going to be the perfect beings Come on. The cross would have never had to happen. It the cross would it would not have any meaning or no purpose if we could do this thing and do it perfectly. He's not calling for perfection.
Lisa:He's calling for obedience. And now that's not saying you get you get a a pass card to go do what you wanna do. There has to be some conviction. There has to be some intentionality about trying to walk out this thing, but you gonna mess up. Miss Lisa attitude ain't always the best.
Lisa:It's better. I can now show grace because I understand what it means, but sometimes God had to say, did you have to look at them like that? Did you have to say that? So every day there's some checking
Maddison:Yep.
Lisa:That's going on. Check what you're about to say. So I fall. I don't get it right, but I'm still God's chosen vessel. And I will say to you, get up.
Lisa:Don't allow the enemy to say, look at you. You ain't you you you not ready. You ready. Get up. Get connected.
Lisa:Get an accountability. That's the problem. Mhmm. We don't want anyone to hold us accountable, or we want somebody to hold us accountable, but when they do, we feel they're judging. It ain't judgment all the time.
Lisa:Mhmm. It's just saying, no, I'll get your stuff together.
Maddison:Yes. And I love that. That is so true. You need people around you that are not yes men.
Lisa:Yes.
Maddison:That will not keep you in in your stuff. You have to have people that will see the God in you Mhmm. And see where you're going before you can see it in yourself. So that may mean that comes with some hard truths.
Lisa:Yeah.
Maddison:Somebody gonna tell you about yourself, but it's in love. It's in love.
Lisa:I love you because I I want you to be all that God has called you to be. And sometimes you said it, I'm sorry I cut you off. That's okay. Sometimes people see who you are in God before you can see it. Mhmm.
Lisa:And sometimes we look trying to just help you to don't go this way. We're just trying to protect you. So sometimes we gotta be honest with you and say, baby Mhmm.
Maddison:It ain't it.
Lisa:That that ain't it. I'm a need you to check it. Check it. But like you say, do it in love, and that's what we gotta understand in the church. It's not what we say, it's how we say it.
Lisa:Yeah. And are we truly doing it in a way that God loves us? Because even when God does it hard, that tough love, I still feel his love, I still feel his grace, and I can take what he's telling me and say, okay, God. I'm about to do it.
Maddison:Yes. And I think too, understanding that when someone can see where you're going, they have also maybe been where you're at.
Lisa:Yes.
Maddison:And, you want to take heed and wisdom, because if you don't got to go through something, because someone's already done it, and they know what that looks like, you don't got to go through everything sometimes. So, if you would just listen Yeah. And not not feel like you gotta do it alone, and figure it out by yourself.
Lisa:Yes. Yes. And and that's what the enemy will want us to believe, isolation. Yep. Isolate.
Lisa:You know that you're under attack Mhmm. When you begin to isolate yourself because the enemy said, hold up. She getting around people who gonna help her here, God clearer than hear me. I need to isolate her. Don't isolate.
Lisa:Don't isolate. Now choose the right circles, but don't isolate yourself. And let me say this, sometimes you do need a period. Let me say this. I ain't gonna call it isolation.
Lisa:A period where God does need to get you alone, but you'll know the difference. Yep. There's a difference. Mhmm. There's a difference because there are moments where God says, need you.
Lisa:It just needs to be me and you. And when in those moments, it is me and God. I'm hearing him clearly. I'm hearing his voice. So there is a difference, but do not isolate.
Lisa:Isolation is not it. You do need community. And when I tell you that's a big growth for me, big growth. I love community now. I welcome community.
Maddison:Well, we thank God for growth. I think as well, you always say, it's not always the enemy, but it's the enemy. Miss Lisa is known for that, and Jesus and therapy go together. Yes, God. So could you explain a little bit to somebody that may not be as familiar or aware of, it's not always the devil trying to hurt me.
Maddison:Sometimes, the stuff I got going inside of me, my inner me. So the enemy has no power
Lisa:unless we give the enemy power.
Maddison:Come on.
Lisa:He's powerless unless somebody opens themselves up and say, use me. But there's an inner me, I n n e e r, inner me that sometimes just self sabotage, sometimes just wanna do what Lisa wanna do, and so the inner me causes me to get into some situations that I have no business being in. So the enemy only gets power because we allow him to take root. But the enemy is that that that you. It's you who just wants to do what you wanna do because it feel good.
Lisa:I want to.
Maddison:Mhmm.
Lisa:So stop playing, like or the inner me does it because I don't believe I'm worthy of this. So the inner me is gonna self sabotage and just, well, this is all I'm this is all I'm worth. Mhmm. No. You have great value.
Lisa:You are valuable. I don't care what nobody told you. I don't care I don't care how you see yourself. You are so valuable enough that somebody said, I'm gonna give my life for you. Yeah.
Lisa:Priceless.
Maddison:Yeah. There's no nothing that can compare to that.
Lisa:Nothing.
Maddison:Nothing. Nothing. The peace that comes with that knowing, I know when you're in it in the situations and everybody around you, but sometimes you just gotta listen to the one you're connected to. Yes. Yes.
Maddison:But not being like you said, being careful to not be isolated. Yeah. But knowing like, okay, I may be broken right now, But the my favorite saying is that God can take a broken art piece and put it back together in a way that we never could have imagined, and it turns into this beautiful masterpiece. Mhmm. So, yeah, I may be broken, but I'll be okay.
Maddison:And like you always say, I'll come out better than I was before.
Lisa:Yes. I've heard it before. Broken crayons steal color.
Maddison:They steal color.
Lisa:So there's beauty in brokenness. Yeah. If we look at scripture, really, it wasn't until the breaking
Maddison:Mhmm.
Lisa:That the beauty came out of things. Sometimes, it wasn't to the crushing Come on. To what was on the inside, that beautiful masterpiece Come came out. So, although we don't like it, and I get it, because I I be like, Lord, why? But there's I know some beauty is about to come.
Lisa:So now I stand at peace. Alright, God. Come on. Here we go. Get it over with.
Lisa:Let's go. Let's go.
Maddison:Because
Lisa:there's some beauty. Beauty.
Maddison:Your ministry is Broken to Be Blessed ministries, and like you said, some things have to come with breaking and crushing. That's where our salvation and freedom come from. Mhmm. God got crushed so his blood could flow. Hallelujah.
Maddison:But, like you said, it's uncomfortable. And so, what would you say to encourage somebody where you want to give it up? Because I think we have this notion that if it's not easy, it's not for me. So so when you you get in those seasons of crushing to not run from it, and know that it's leading me to a bigger, better version of who I am in God.
Lisa:So Broken to Be Blessed ministries came out of my own brokenness. I know I have been called or purposed to help other women learning that some men may come along the way. But definitely have been called to women, young women, young adult women to help them to understand that the broken pieces does produce beauty, that there's a healing that we have to healing journey that we cannot forfeit, but that we must work through even the tough parts, even the seasons that feel like, how long, Lord? We need to go through them. So how can I encourage you that when you're going through those waiting seasons, those tough season, you're like, already God, are you done yet?
Lisa:To trust that what's on the inside of you is so beautiful Mhmm. And so priceless that he cannot hurry it. Mhmm. That he needs to make sure that what is on the inside of you will be able to sustain you wherever he's taking you. Because guess what?
Lisa:We can rush a thing
Maddison:Mhmm.
Lisa:And try to put ourselves because God just showed us, and now I understand who I am, and God, yep, I did it, but now I see how he wanna use it, and we try to rush this process, and we put ourselves in situations that our character can't And sustain then we end up doing more harm than helping others. So let me encourage you, trust the process. It may be a y'all, my fall happened in 02/2011. Now, me say, part of the the wait was because Lisa was scared and was like, oh my god, you can't want me to do this. But also part of it was the mouth that Lisa had, the attitude that Lisa had, it couldn't be here because it wouldn't sustain me.
Lisa:I would do more harm to people than helping. So he had to make sure, let me calm her down a little bit.
Maddison:Just a little bit.
Lisa:Little bit. Let me calm her. Let me calm her down. Because my response time now, I don't react the way. I I said, okay.
Lisa:Because I I don't wanna hurt or harm anyone. Yep. I want you to be made whole because God doesn't just want to heal us. He doesn't just just wanna heal the broken places, he wants to make us whole that we're lacking nothing.
Maddison:Yeah. And I think a common misconception is that when things get hard, you're doing something wrong.
Lisa:Mhmm.
Maddison:So I would encourage you that when the crushing happens, maybe that's exactly where you're supposed to be, and that God loves us enough not to allow us to keep
Lisa:Come on.
Maddison:Keep it with us.
Lisa:Yes.
Maddison:Maybe yeah. Is it for other people so I don't hurt or harm somebody?
Lisa:Yeah. Mhmm.
Maddison:But also, so you could be the best you could be.
Lisa:Yes. Yes.
Maddison:So, I love that. And, I think, too, another question I would want to ask you is, how has this changed how you view others or how you can communicate with others? Because not just me, but my broken pieces was led to you, but everywhere we go. So how has that changed how you view?
Lisa:I can feel them before they actually open their mouths. I'm like, God, no. I don't wanna know what's going on. But it helps me to meet them with grace and love. It helps me to say, come on, baby.
Lisa:You still you still love? I see you. It still lets me to know you don't have to hide. Come on. Come up come come from behind there.
Lisa:There's still purpose in you. It allows me to extend the same grace that not only I preach about that I've received, but it allows me to extend the grace to them that God has extended to me. No judgment. I always tell people, I got my own stuff. Come on.
Maddison:I don't got time to worry about what you've Come on. Yes. Let me love you.
Lisa:Let me love you.
Maddison:Yeah. And what would you say I think this is a testament to your whole life, but how this has helped you, or how has God allowed you to help others because of what you went through?
Lisa:I think it has allowed me to be a a living 2025 bible, walking bible, that God's grace, redemption, restoration, that is not just something we read about, but he's still doing the work. He's still it's still available today. So my life is saying, oh, it's not just something that happened to David. It's not just something that happened to Abraham, but he's still even doing it in 2025. If he's doing it for her, he can do it for me.
Lisa:Mhmm. That it's still available. That this is not just something that I read about, but I can live it.
Maddison:And, I think that is true. You live it in every area. We've been in grocery stores and aisles, and I've seen you minister to people. You don't talk gotta talk about God, but you meet people where they're at. Mhmm.
Maddison:In grocery stores, in churches, in other women's spaces, in airports, I see you live that out, and it's a beautiful thing to see. Mhmm. And, I'm really grateful for you. I'm really happy about this conversation. And, another thing as well, what do you say or believe about grace that you may not have believed before your fall?
Lisa:That is not a get out of hell card. Yep. Because that's what we have come to believe, like, oh, I'm a say this, church people ain't gonna like it. God knows my heart. Cut it.
Lisa:Come on. You're right. He does I understand. He does know your heart. And because he know your heart does not give you a get out of hell card for free for free.
Lisa:You know what I'm saying. Grace is not doesn't mean, oh, I can go do what I wanna do because there's grace. Grace is undeserved. But yet I still he still loves me. Grace allows me to still have the promise that even before I was born, he had given me.
Lisa:Grace allows me to be able to stand, and not stand in arrogance, but stand knowing boldly that I'm not what I've been through. That now unto him who was able to keep me. Come on. Come on. That that that now to keep me from falling, that he's the one.
Lisa:Grace lets me know that although I may be so undeserving, God still sees that I am his daughter and I am valuable. Indeed, you are.
Maddison:What would you say to someone because you are not the miss Lisa in 2012 anymore? You are taking great steps in the world in in many areas, and so, to someone who feels disqualified, whether that be they feel like they should be let or led to minister in church, or want to be a leader in some area, but feel that their past has disqualified them. You are an associate executive director, a reverend, a minister, you name it. You are walking in all these areas, and so your fall obviously did not disqualify you. So how can you put into words for somebody else that may feel that way?
Lisa:When you're chosen, can nobody stop you. The plan that God has for you, it's still in play despite your fall. And he will connect you to the right people who despite my book is out. Come on. But I've gotten every promotion on my job and was told I would never be back.
Lisa:You're right. I would never be back in that position because God was calling me higher. So I would say to you to understand your plan is not canceled. Your promise is not canceled, but that God is and will connect you to the right people and put you in the right environment where you can continue to grow and you can continue to see that his hand is all over your life, and that what he promised, it shall and will come to pass. Amen.
Maddison:And so, we have talked about the fall a lot on this podcast, but there's an after. Yes. So we've talked about what it was in it, through it, in the middle, all of that. You are now after your fall. Yeah.
Maddison:What does that look like for you?
Lisa:Free. Peace. Joy. Loving myself. Ready to embrace everything that God has for me.
Lisa:No more hiding, no more masking, no more selling myself low so that other people just because I feel like other people don't value me, I value me because God values me. So I'm loving life, living life, and just going after all that God has for me.
Maddison:I love it. Is there any other advice or things you would want to share to somebody that may be in their fall, walking out their fall, or trying
Lisa:to get after their fall? So, let me say this. Today, I was trying to decide what would I wear. First, I had all these mini outfits, and then I remembered when I had a t shirt that says seen loved chosen. And if I had to tell anybody whether you are in your fall or it's about to happen or you're after your fall and you're trying to decide how do I navigate
Maddison:Mhmm.
Lisa:That God still sees you, he still loves you, and you're still chosen, that you still have a purpose and a plan for your life, and that no matter what man say, God says that your promise has not been forfeited, and that I'm gonna use you to do some extraordinary things that's gonna shut the mouth of those who said that you would never rise up, because they get to see me now, and I say, hey. How you doing? And all they can do is just look because that's the type of God I serve. Amen.
Maddison:How can we stay with you, stay connected with you? Would you have any events coming up in the near future that maybe people can come get poured in by you? What does what's that look like?
Lisa:So Broken to Be Blessed Ministries, I do have a Facebook, Broken to Be Blessed Ministries. She's coming back, and you can follow me on there. I have a website, www.brokentobeblessedministries.com, where I will begin to put out some devotionals, or you can just even connect with me that way. I do spiritual coaching, so you can do it connect with me that way. But coming up next we're still in August, but I feel like it's September.
Lisa:But coming up October 25, Healing Her Within Conference, a conference that should have been out a long time ago with our keynote speaker, coach Dominique. It's gonna be a space where women can come and be transformed, women who can come in not only a safe place, but a courageous place to put all the stuff that we carry, all the baggage, that we could come and we can lay it at the altar
Maddison:Yes, ma'am.
Lisa:And allow God to take the broken pieces and turn it into beauty, and find out not just find out, but confirm who we are in him, and get the boldness, get that arch back in our backs, and walk out boldly and say, I'm gonna be all that God has called me to be, and I'm gonna do it, and I'm gonna have all that he says I can have. So October 25, from nine to 03:00, meet me in the space. That is the QR code. You can see it there. You can go to the website.
Lisa:You can follow me, also on Lisa Seymour, on Facebook, and you can get it. I would love to have you, love for you to come hang with us because as you all know, miss I call her miss Maddie, but Maddie has told you all the titles. I don't do titles. I am just Lisa, a person who just allows God, open to God to use her so that others can find him first and then find who they are in him. So
Maddison:Amen. If I could add anything, if you worried about what you gotta wear, what this gotta be, nah, baby, don't come with makeup. You can wear your good Jordans in the sanctuary. Do what feels comfortable to you. If you want to wear pajamas, hey, come on in.
Maddison:And it's not about what you look like
Lisa:No.
Maddison:But always what Miss Lisa says, the inner me, the inner you. It's she always says as well to make you whole.
Lisa:Yeah.
Maddison:Like, God that God wants that for you. So, I encourage you to get in the building. I will be there. I would love to see you there. Also, if you want her book, it's on her website.
Maddison:It's on Amazon, but this is not her only book as well. She has co authored other books. Yes. And so, I encourage you to get it, read it, and not be stuck in your fall or what you may feel like. There is an after, and miss Lisa is a clear testament to that.
Maddison:Amen. That her life is still a living testimony. So, I thank you for joining me today. Thank you for your love and your prayers. I thank you for showing me what it means to be a strong woman in God.
Lisa:Amen.
Maddison:Not just me, but other women.
Lisa:Well, I wanna thank you, Maddie, for this justice opportunity, and do know that you have not seen what God has in store for you. Do know that you will touch the nations, that and do know that you will help not only other women. I want you to understand that you're gonna break some curses off for even some males so that our men can rise up and take their rightful place.
Maddison:Well, thank you. I wanna close this out in prayer, and so, dear Lord heavenly father, God, thank you. God, I thank you for every person watching this that may watch it soon, may watch it a year or two two years, five years later, God, that time is not something that holds you in space, God. But God, you are omnipresent. You're everywhere.
Maddison:So God, I just ask that you minister to your daughters and sons now, God, that if they know you, God, that you would have an encounter with them to take them even deeper in you. And if they don't know you, God, I ask that you soften their heart, God, so that they may get to know you, God, that they would accept all that you have always had for them, God, that nothing would hold them back from walking in the promises and the the light that you have for them, God. I ask that you reveal to them who you've always made them to be, God, that they are not what they've They are not what they've done. God, I thank you. Take this where you wanna take it, God.
Maddison:In Jesus' mighty name, I pray. Amen. Amen. See you later, friend.
Lisa:See you.