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Enjoy your labor. It's a gift from God!
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Vernon takes a few minutes to encourage us to enjoy our labor, it's a gift from God. He also provides a quick update as to the upcoming move to Blackshear, GA. Lot's going on! Don't forget to checkout his music at https://worshipuntangled.com. Email any questions or encouragement to vernon@exchangedlifecenter.org.
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Transcript
Moving from Cumming, Georgia
00:00:11
Speaker
Hey guys, it's Vernon and I thought I'd share just a couple of thoughts and give some updates on where we are. As you probably know, we are moving and moving from Cumming, Georgia. I've been here since 2001 and had a short stint actually for three years or four years in St. Louis.
00:00:35
Speaker
But I'm a Georgia boy, born and raised in Atlanta, and then North Atlanta, and then North north Atlanta and coming.
Transition to Blackshear
00:00:45
Speaker
And now Michelle and i are making a move to South Georgia, all the way to Blackshear, Georgia.
00:00:54
Speaker
So that's going to be a fun move. But it's challenging. You know, when you've lived in a house so long, don't know if some of you can relate, and then going through and cleaning out, what, 20, almost 25 years of stuff?
00:01:16
Speaker
It's a lot. So that's what we're doing. And we are hustling. So I've already made a lot of goodwill and other ministry donation runs.
00:01:29
Speaker
And we are throwing away things that um we don't know that can be that can't be donated. and just doing the cleanup.
Reflection on Ecclesiastes 3 and New Beginnings
00:01:39
Speaker
And i was reading and looking at Ecclesiastes three, and I've got it over my ah shoulder, so to speak here.
00:01:48
Speaker
And it starts out like this in verse one, there is an appointed time for everything. And there's a time for every event under heaven.
00:02:01
Speaker
And it goes on, you a time to give birth, and a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted. And I'm thinking, yeah. we're doing a lot of uprooting right now.
00:02:15
Speaker
And we're uprooting our community, the folks we've known for just a long time and uprooting my son. As you know, he is autistic and just an awesome dude and uprooting that community. So there's a lot that goes into when you're moving.
Challenges of Relocating with Family Needs
00:02:35
Speaker
um you know, you got to find new doctors and new dentists and new community, new church, everything. And so we're just all processing through that. I'm processing through that with my son.
00:02:53
Speaker
And it's a lot when you do that. And, know, it, goes through a lot. You get in to verse nine, what profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?
00:03:11
Speaker
Interesting question. And he says in verse 10, I've seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves. He has made everything appropriate or beautiful in its time.
00:03:27
Speaker
He has also said eternity in their heart. So that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning to the end and it really says another Translation without which man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning to the end.
00:03:46
Speaker
I Love that He has set eternity in their heart And we're all seeking purpose and what is my life all about and
00:04:00
Speaker
He continues in verse 12, I know that there's nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime.
00:04:12
Speaker
Moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor. It is the gift of God. All your labor is the gift of God.
Understanding God's Will in Life Changes
00:04:25
Speaker
I often get the question, you know what is the will of God? And people are like walking the tightrope. Am I in or out, in or out? Let me give you some good news. Believer in Jesus Christ, you're in.
00:04:39
Speaker
You're in Christ. You're in the will of God.
00:04:44
Speaker
The will of God is not a tight road. It's a big five lane highway. And I wrote a song about that. If you follow me long enough, you know I'm producing an album. Took a little pause on it.
00:04:56
Speaker
I've got two songs already on iTunes, Spotify, and the other music platforms. ah Two more are done, but haven't submitted them to the album. The album is Worship Untangled.
00:05:09
Speaker
And I think unfortunately have to bring the album down, add the songs and then publish it but back again. But, um so haven't done that yet, but you can go to worshipuntangled.com and see all four songs that are there under worship untangled and two of them are again on spotify and apple music but i have a song that talks about how life is god's will is not this tight rope it says jump off the rope jump into grace uh trust in the lord and that's uh just i think it's a cool song of course i mean
00:05:50
Speaker
I wrote it and I had the AI create the vocals for it. You don't want to hear me sing. But as I'm looking at these verses, that all of our labor, it's the gift of God.
00:06:06
Speaker
And I love that.
Seeing Work as a Divine Gift
00:06:10
Speaker
And I think what we're doing is Michelle and I start this brand new ministry, the exchange life center.
00:06:18
Speaker
Um, that's the gift of God and we're just going to have fun and keep doing it. Hopefully bless people with it. Uh, but I want to encourage you, whatever your labor is, what you're laboring in, right now, that's the gift of God.
00:06:34
Speaker
And if you're not happy in it it, could just need to be a perspective change that, hey, this is the gift of God and I'm going to enjoy my labor. Or you want to change? Well, pray about it and then go for it Make the change.
00:06:50
Speaker
I believe that there's a lot of green lights out there. and And if the Lord wants to give you a red light, say stop or a yellow light, pause before you move any farther.
00:07:04
Speaker
I think that's how he works. I think there's a lot of paths that we can take. And the Lord is in it saying, yeah, which one do you want? Go for that. If he wants you to step back, pause, he'll tell you to pause.
00:07:18
Speaker
If he gives you a red light, he'll give you a red light. I just want to encourage you in that, that there's a lot of pathways to go. And I want you to enjoy your labor.
00:07:31
Speaker
I'm going to enjoy mine. I'm going to enjoy my labor and enjoy our new home that when we're moving to Blackshear, Georgia.
Packing and Selling the House
00:07:43
Speaker
Coming up quick. So yeah, we're cleaning out. Um, we are donating stuff and just getting ready for the move. So I'm asking you ah to pray for us.
00:07:56
Speaker
The exchange life center is up and running. The exchange life counseling up and running. Our focus again is going to be on training and training up counselors and building up resources.
00:08:09
Speaker
Right now the focus is packing and um getting this house, our current house, ready to get on the market. So pray for us. That's the update.
00:08:22
Speaker
I encourage you to enjoy your labor. And because all that we do, all the labor, whether it's cutting the grass, going to work, um or building a ah new ministry,
00:08:35
Speaker
All of this is God's blessing and gift to us.
Future Podcast Updates Amidst Transition
00:08:40
Speaker
So I hope you can see it as such. I'll be praying for you. Pray for us.
00:08:47
Speaker
And I'll give you some more updates and hopefully some more encouragement along the way as we continue this podcast. If you ah see me right now on YouTube, you'll see yeah I'm covering spider webs.
00:09:00
Speaker
Absolutely. No shame, right? And if you're listening on audio, you can just imagine it. When you're in the basement and and and cleaning out stuff or in the crawl space, cleaning out stuff, it gets messy.
00:09:14
Speaker
So I look forward to providing some more encouragement and hearing from you. Until then, I'll see you soon. Take care. Bye.