TRANSCRIPT 🔗
Marva Jean: Hello, hello, hello, and happy Wednesday. It is your favorite auntie, Marva Jean. And we are back for season two of Dear Black Woman, God said. So got a few things for you tonight. this is actually a solo episode. I usually have a guest, but this time we're gonna have a solo episode. I want to start off with why I changed the name. So when I started podcasting, I was talking about reclaiming your voice, and I met some really awesome women from all over the country. and my niece got the most views, and then second was Rhonda McDaniel. She's a member of we are members of the Saints Awarding. and so as I was listening to other podcasts because the way you really learn is through watching others. I noticed there was not a space for daily podcasts for women of color that were bible based and so I found a niche market. And so I did the 30 day prayer challenge leading up to my fifty seventh fifty second birthday. And I really you know, got to know the Bible a little bit better. If you know me, you know I went to Immaculate Conception Catholic school and we took religion. So there were some things that I knew, but there were some things that I didn't know. So learned a lot and was able to just share bite-sized pieces of Jesus every day. And people laugh when I say that, but sometimes all you have is 10 minutes. And so I really enjoyed doing that. And I decided that I was going to change my format to Dear Black Woman, God said it. So as you see, we've got a new background that matches that. matches the energy, matches the vibe that I'm trying to give off. I got my favorite flowers there, the Gerber daisies. and then just you know, as you look at the background, the backdrop, you'll see faith, healing, purpose, legacy, and some other things. and so that's how we came to that. as you know, after that I did a 30-day social media sabbatical. So I was not on Facebook for 30 days. because in my time of prayer and the 10 things that I learned before turning 52, I realized how addicted I was to social media. And so I decided to fast. From social media posting. so pieces of my life you didn't see for 30 days. and of course the street committee had their own version of what was going on, but Sister Tut just decided to stay out for a little bit and learn some non-tech habits. And in that time I decluttered my room, I decluttered the attic. it started with my drawers in my room and then I cleaned out my closet, gave away a lot of stuff that was no longer of use to me. and you know, just gave myself a break. And so when I what I noticed was that with those non tech habits, I got other things done. And so I also have was having a little issue with my blood pressure. and it's okay now. Thanks for asking. and so when it was time to come back, I was thinking about letting the podcast go just altogether. And I reached out to a few confidants and one person said, No, that's your outlet. Keep going. one person said, Why? Like, why was your rationale? And then my
Load full transcript
niece Jordan, who is my child that I did not birth, she said, I will bust you in your face if you stop. So that was the Lord speaking to me, telling me to keep going. You know, keep going. You don't have your audience just yet. You don't have the numbers you want just yet. But keep going. Keep going. so I decided to continue. I had a great guest for my finale last week, Dr. Mia Frills. She is a homegirl. We grew up together, went to high elementary school together, and know her family very well. She was my guest and she was very insightful with her journey. And so I thank you so much for doing that and being on my show. shout out to Mia and her family. and then in that time, I've also got some swag now. I got some swag that I want you to go out and purchase. So I got a couple of things that I've created, and they're available through Amazon. So first I have this journal, Dear Black Woman God said, and it is a guided journal, and you release and receive. It's not dated, but it does have, you know, one, two, three, so on and so forth. And each day you have something different. So you're gonna reflect on something like day 17. What disappointment still needs room to be acknowledged? Day 18, what is one way. I can care for myself without guilt. So we have this journal. They're available on Amazon for $14.99 in paperback. Buy one for yourself or other ladies in your life. And here's the cover. Something I'm really excited about. And then I created a smaller version for dear women. And this is for all Christian women. and this dear dear woman, God said, it too is a prayer and reflection journal, 30 days. Excuse me, it's actually 35 days. And this one has journal prompts as well. talks about your scripture or your sacred words. Three things I'm grateful for because I know gratitude journals are really popular now, so this gives you a place to write your scripture or your sacred words, reflect on it, and write things that you're grateful for. So that's the second one. It's available on Amazon as well. And then for your little Christian women, we got the dear black girl God said faith-filled coloring book. And so this one has little pieces for your little girls. This is for primarily ages six to twelve, but some adults like to color. And it has God has good work for you. And then it has a scripture at the bottom, Ephesians 2 and 10. And how can your gifts help your community? So it's different ones on different days. This is once again through Amazon. And I know some people are boycotting Amazon, but you got to support me. Thank you. So those are the three journals that we have coming out. And right before Christmas, just in time for the new year, we'll actually have a 30 day reflection journal. And that will be Dear Black Woman, God said. And that's your daily journal. I mean your daily devotional where you read your scripture, reflect on it and things like that. So that will come out right before Christmas. Cause I know a lot of people start the year saying they're gonna read the Bible in a year and so on and so forth. And so that will be coming soon. You can purchase that for your friends and family, the women in your lives, okay? So those are all available on Amazon. And then just want to share a little bit about My Facebook fast. So many years ago, when I was living in Savannah, Georgia, and some of you may know this and some of you may not, I I had a kind of a breakdown in my office and I left with intentions of harming myself and when I got in the parking lot there was a lady there, Ginger McRae. I always call her and her husband my angels. Because they were there and they stopped me and I was crying uncontrollably and all of this. And they told me how much I was loved and respected and how much they loved me at the school and you know they could tell that I wasn't myself and things like that. And so I went to I went and got some help. I went and I was hospitalized for five days and diagnosed with extreme exhaustion. So why am I telling you this? I'm telling you this because my story can help someone else. You don't have to be on all the time. And so as this year has progressed since I've been back in Augusta, I moved back here about a year ago. because I want to be closer to my mom and my family. So I moved back home. I'm here to stay for all the street committee that's got your own version of things. I'm here to stay. because I I I really needed to be close to family. And so I became involved with so many things. I was trying to do this organization, that organization. trying to start my own little nonprofit, which I did. and I just had so many things that were going on, I never got a chance to rest. And my mama kept telling me, You are going to burn out, and I don't know what to do. You have got to sit down. My cousin Sissy, she came to see me one day at work. She said, I just gotta lay my eyes on you because I you burning out. And then my three girls who I grew up with, Shiloh girls, Shiloh for Life, they sent me a text one weekend say you can't do nothing but read a book or watch T V. And so I said, Well, I gotta do this, I gotta do that. And one of them was like, Well, I tried. And so it was at that moment that it was like and I had other people telling me that, like, girl, you gotta slow down. Like my boss even told me, girl go on a date. So, I had to slow down. I had to sit back and look at what all I was trying to do. And I had to be very intentional about my next steps. things that I was gonna do, things that I was gonna put my attention into, things that I was going to that I wanted to manifest in my life. And so there were a couple of things that were really important to me. I might not go to church every Sunday, but I do work with the girls' ministry, daughters of faith, and that's something that I enjoy doing very much. We have a small but mighty group. and Michaela Harris and Morgan Sherrard. They are two of the best girls in Richmond County that you will ever wanna meet.
one of them just won the She Row Award and one of them is now on the state superintendent's advisory council. So shout out to Morgan and Michaela and shout out to their parents, their moms. They do a great job with those girls, and they are very supportive of the daughters of faith and our church, and the Arc Baptist Church. So I wanted to continue that. and then I have started my own nonprofit Learning Futures Collective, and we will focus on early childhood gifted education. And what that means is that we have a lot of black and brown children who are overrepresented in special ed, but they're underrepresented in gifted programs. And so what we want to do is start in kindergarten teaching them through with the gifted models. and so hoping to increase their chances of participating in dual enrollment, AP classes, IB completion, trades certificates micro credentials and things like that but we'll start with kindergarten right now we're gonna start focusing on a small parent group i always call my girls that i had and they had i call them the covet babies because they have five year olds now and so want to focus on those young ladies those young moms and help them learn what they should be looking for in school and so really excited about that so that was not going anywhere shameless plug if you want to make a donation, it's tax deductible. We have a I EIN and all that. It's a it's a legitimate organization. and so I decided to that I was gonna stick with that. And then just a couple of other small things that I'll support people. I did She Should Run, which is a national program for women who wanna run for office. Can't promise that I'm gonna run for office, but I will support a worthy candidate, would love to be somebody's campaign manager. shameless plug once again. So just you know just focusing on things that are important, things that make impact. I'm 52 years old. I'm not still building my resume. it's built. So the things that I do now are intentional. I'm in gears and we'll continue with that and that focuses on early childhood education and I'll stick with that because I've made some really good friends along the way. Marquita Rucker, Rebecca Best, Triquita Overton, Samantha Valentine, Catrice Gaines. Yeah. And so I'm going to stick with that as well. You know, like I said, supporting public education, supporting parents, supporting early childhood, and what you want to look for because sometimes we start intervening when we really should have taught them at the beginning. And that's nobody's fault. so I'm not blaming anybody, but I just want to help you focus on what's important. And so I'll be sticking with that as well. And so that's just a little bit of what was going on, and for some reason it took me a very long time to do this episode. I don't know why, but you know, as women, particularly black women, we want everything to be perfect. Well, I did have to get my hair done first. I was not gonna do this with that ponytail. Shout out to Lisa. but you can't wait until everything is perfect. So my takeaways for you, number one, rest is not a reward. We try to run and run and run and fill up every moment of our time watching TV, making projects, you know, supporting groups, hiking, walking, whatever. We try to fill up all our free moments and you can't do that. Rest is not a reward, it's required. You need rest in order to work. to live. Number two, it's okay to take a break. It is okay to take a break, whether it be from social media, whether it be from texting, whether it be from food or drink. It's okay to just step back and let God move through your life. decluttering was something that I had no intentions of doing, but once I got started I couldn't stop because I realized how much excess I had. And I probably still got a lot of excess if you ask some people, but I had a lot of excess and was able to share some of my things that I've had over the years with other people. found a place for everything. So decluttering was really important to me. next, being intentional in your life, choosing what really matters to you, what is really going to make an impact on your life and help you sleep good at night. Because not everything is gonna make you sleep good at night. There's some things that are gonna keep you up because you know they're not right, you know they're not aligned with your purpose, you know you carry somebody else's burden. So you have to align yourself. And sometimes you have to ask God. I know several people who told me that they wake up between three and five every morning. Well, if you follow some scripture, you you know, things like that, it says between three and five, that's the witch's hour. And that's when it's the darkest. And that God is speaking to you. So if you wake up between those hours, just say a short prayer. Don't try to get up and watch TV or anything like that. Just pray. And the Lord will guide your steps. like Mia said last week, she woke up at 4, 4:30 every morning and she asked the Lord, What do you want me to do for today? And she followed what He wanted her to do for today. So if you're waking up between three and five, that may be the time that the Lord is trying to talk to you. So take that time and listen to what he has to say has to say because sometimes the noise around us is so loud. So loud. And what I mean by that is like I used to sleep with the T V on and I realized that my brain was never turning off. So now I turn the T V off so that I can just have some silence because I always had some type of background noise. It brings so much clarity. I sleep so much better. I feel like my relationships are stronger and deeper now. No longer just surface. And so just want to share that with you. So I know I've said a lot. I might have started rambling at some point, but I just want to share with you, you know, going forward, what's going on. And so got a couple of things in the works. gonna have a dear black man, God said. come one week and have a guest who's male and he's gonna talk to women about dear god dear black woman God said leave that man alone and he's gonna talk to us from a male perspective on the reasons why men date when they know they're not interested in a long term relationship. So he told me he was looking forward to that. So shout out to Michael Williams. He's my coworker and he said he would be happy to do that. wanted to make sure you get the journals. they're guided journals once again. So if you don't like writing and you don't like just freestyling, it gives you a guide. And we'll have other guests on Wednesdays. We'll resume with Wednesdays, but starting November 1st, we'll go back to daily. So you get your daily dose of Jesus. So I want to thank everybody who's been with me on this journey. My mother, she listens faithfully every time. So I want to thank her. Want to thank everybody who's been a guest on my show and thank the people who gave me feedback about the show, what I could do better, what I could change up, how I could change it up. And so I want to thank those people and then especially want to thank all the guests who've been on because they've all shared a piece of themselves with me and with you. And so that's very important because some people have really had some struggles and they were willing to share them with us. To let us know that. Take it day by day. You're meant to be here. And so with that, I'm going to log off. Please subscribe. You can find me on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple. And get my journal on Amazon. So thank you for joining me. Dear black woman, God said it.