0:00

Hi everyone, welcome to

0:02

At Home with Sally. I'm

0:04

Sally Clarkson and I have

0:06

the biggest privilege in the

0:09

world to be with so

0:11

many friends from all over

0:13

the world who join me

0:16

every week to listen to

0:18

my stories, inspiration, biblical encouragement,

0:20

and I am just so

0:23

glad that you're here today.

0:25

Thanks so much for joining

0:27

me. Hello,

0:37

my precious friends. I am so

0:39

glad that you joined me today.

0:41

This is Sally Clarkson, and I

0:43

just have had you so much in my

0:46

heart. I often pray about, think about,

0:48

what should I put on my

0:50

podcast that might be of great

0:52

encouragement or inspiration? When I look

0:54

back at, I'm almost 72, this

0:56

summer I'll be 72, and when

0:58

I look back on my life,

1:00

I realized that I wasn't

1:02

at all prepared for what my

1:04

life would be. I didn't know

1:06

how to be a mother. I

1:08

didn't know how to raise children.

1:11

Didn't know how to change a

1:13

diaper. Did not know all of

1:15

the ups and downs, the phases,

1:17

had never heard of out of the

1:19

box or on the spectrum

1:21

sort of children. And

1:23

to make a long story short.

1:26

I had such an

1:28

adventurous life, I should say,

1:30

and yet very early in my

1:32

life, I was taught the

1:34

significance of walking with

1:37

God day by day, holding

1:39

his hand, seeking his

1:42

wisdom, learning how to deal

1:44

with emotions that

1:46

were constantly up and

1:49

down, or exhaustion, or

1:51

just questions that I

1:53

had. knowing that most

1:55

of the ideals that God

1:57

led me to, that God led

2:00

and Me Too were not

2:02

popular and most people didn't

2:05

agree with it. So I

2:07

thought to myself that I

2:09

wanted to do a little

2:12

podcast series on this on

2:14

my book Well Lived, shaping

2:16

a legacy of gratitude and

2:19

grace. And it's my reflection

2:21

on the years that I

2:24

got to spend in Oxford,

2:26

which was totally out of

2:28

the blue. So I think

2:31

that I just want everyone

2:33

to know, every day of

2:35

your life, you have the

2:38

potential of leaving a godly

2:40

model to follow, a kingdom

2:42

message to believe, an integrity

2:45

that is holy, and a

2:47

purpose that is eternal. Your

2:50

life isn't meaningless, my friends.

2:52

No matter how much of

2:54

a mess it is right

2:57

now. God has allowed you

2:59

within the circumstances of your

3:01

life to touch eternity by

3:04

giving the gifts to the

3:06

children that he has entrusted

3:08

into your hands. And so

3:11

what we're going to talk

3:13

about today is living into

3:16

your legacy. Please open your

3:18

mind and heart and say,

3:20

God, what is the story

3:23

that you want me to

3:25

tell? And you will change

3:27

your world forever. That's

3:30

a part of an introduction that

3:32

I had in the different chapters

3:34

of my book Well Lived. And

3:37

I think that as I start

3:39

out and then I'm going to

3:41

give you a couple of other

3:44

things in between to get some

3:46

of the business done first. But

3:49

what I really think is one

3:51

of the most important things I

3:53

ever learned and I hoping to

3:56

put together a discipleship series. You'll

3:58

have to pray for me as

4:00

I do it because... I'm going

4:03

to have to. do a video,

4:05

have a video editor and producer

4:07

put together a Bible study, put

4:10

together a lot of text of

4:12

what I'm trying to explain if

4:14

I do this discipleship course for

4:17

eight weeks. And I'm really excited

4:19

about it. But I know that

4:21

it will be a cost in

4:24

time, in money, in brain cells.

4:26

And in the midst of this,

4:28

I've got lots of business going

4:31

on. So please pray for me.

4:33

But I do think that as

4:35

I look at all of my

4:38

precious friends in this arena, and

4:40

I'm so glad that you're here

4:42

today, I'm praying for you, that

4:45

one of the things I most

4:47

wish to say is that your

4:49

story, your pressures, your difficulties, your

4:52

challenges, your joys, your blessings, your

4:54

skill set, the doors that open,

4:56

the doors that open, the doors

4:59

that open, the doors that close,

5:01

your is for you to live.

5:03

Your story is for you to

5:06

be faithful in. And in that

5:08

place you can live into a

5:10

deep and satisfying significance that Someday

5:13

you will look back on and

5:15

say, oh my goodness, I can

5:17

see God's purposes. I can see

5:20

how God prepared me to be

5:22

more like Jesus. I can see

5:24

that my personality, my skill set,

5:27

my drives, my unique story that

5:29

I get to tell by the

5:31

choices I make every day are

5:34

a part of God's mega story

5:36

in history. I am important to

5:38

his design, to his mega story.

5:41

for what he wants to accomplish

5:43

in the world. And I just

5:46

want you to know that that

5:48

is true, true, true, true, true.

5:50

Now before I keep going, I

5:53

just wanted to remember to say

5:55

I am flying to North Carolina

5:57

this weekend to see some precious

6:00

people that I work with. And

6:02

also, wherever I go, I try

6:04

to have a Life with Sally

6:07

meetup. So if you are a

6:09

part of my membership, Life with

6:11

Sally, please be sure to come

6:14

to this gathering in Fukewave Arena,

6:16

which is just outside of Raleigh,

6:18

North Carolina. It will be... at

6:21

152 Wag Staff, W-A-G-S-T-A-F-F-F-F-O-D, at the

6:23

Redeemer Community Church. And it would

6:25

be great if you are a

6:28

member to go online and let

6:30

us know that you're coming so

6:32

we can be sure we have

6:35

enough room. Some of the mom

6:37

heart meetups have been so full

6:39

that we didn't quite have enough

6:42

room, but I think this one

6:44

will be just right. And actually,

6:46

if you live in the area

6:49

and you're not a member, you

6:51

can do one of two things.

6:53

You can join just for a

6:56

month to be able to come.

6:58

And you can find all the

7:00

information on the first page of

7:03

our membership, or you can just

7:05

come, because I want to be

7:07

sure to encourage and inspire and

7:10

help and get to know different

7:12

friends from the area who might

7:14

need a little bit of encouragement.

7:17

So that's one of the things

7:19

I wanted to tell you today.

7:21

But anyway, let me go ahead

7:24

and jump in to what I've

7:26

been thinking about. In

7:28

the front of my book,

7:31

I thought about this for

7:33

a long time, I dedicated

7:35

my book, well-lived, quote, to

7:38

my precious Lord, who has

7:40

held my hand, has comforted

7:43

me, has taught me his

7:45

ways little by little, one

7:47

day at a time, given

7:50

wisdom, and companioned me with

7:52

grace, mercy, and love, at

7:54

each step of my journey.

7:58

It was when I was living

8:00

in Oxford and I'm going to

8:02

tell you how that happened. My

8:05

70th year, and now I'm almost

8:07

72, so it was a couple

8:09

years ago, that I pondered my

8:12

life and I realized that my

8:14

pathway had been filled with God's

8:16

grace and light. How did I

8:19

get to know these things? How

8:21

did God allow me to, in

8:23

my heart of hearts, when I

8:26

would pray, find some truths about

8:28

life that I had never heard

8:30

taught before? It was somehow God

8:33

led me to know and understand

8:35

these things through the reality of

8:37

his word, his guidance, his ways.

8:40

And... You'll see in the picture

8:42

that I have on my blog

8:44

and on social media today a

8:46

pathway. I'm sitting on a bench.

8:49

I love benches. I called it

8:51

the bench life when I would

8:53

go from bench to bench in

8:56

Oxford. And also I've loved pathways

8:58

because they seem like such an

9:00

adventure you never know where it's

9:03

going to take you. And often

9:05

these pathways took me to really

9:07

beautiful places. Well, I believe that

9:10

each of you have this unique

9:12

pathway. to walk, individual story to

9:14

tell, precious personalities to exercise. There

9:17

is no one like you. You

9:19

might be an introvert or an

9:21

extrovert, or both. You might be

9:24

out of the box. You might

9:26

be quiet. But we are all,

9:28

you and I are made in

9:30

the image of God. to be

9:33

like him, to show him to

9:35

the world. And you have endless

9:37

potential to live into his spirit's

9:40

presence in your life. Each of

9:42

us has capacity to access spiritual

9:44

truth and righteousness, to grow intellectually,

9:47

to share from that well of

9:49

righteousness and truth that you have

9:51

thought about and prayed about and

9:54

stored up. It's interesting because when

9:56

it... When it talks about heart

9:58

or mind, often those words are

10:01

entered. changeable in the New Testament

10:03

Greek. And we have all of

10:05

this because we are made to

10:08

be like God. And we have

10:10

a soul that can create beauty

10:12

and art with our lives because

10:14

He was a designer of beauty

10:17

and art. Because he is a

10:19

god of unconditional love, his spirit

10:21

can live through us to bring

10:24

his love in deep affirmation, inspiration

10:26

to those he has placed in

10:28

our pathway. And we can know

10:31

and understand vast and deep life-transforming

10:33

theology. from investing in his word

10:35

and walking in his ways. We

10:38

were made to be God lovers,

10:40

to be God thinkers, theologians, and

10:42

to reflect God in our world.

10:45

But the way to live well,

10:47

which is kind of the point

10:49

of this book, is to flourish

10:52

on the unique path in your

10:54

life, not to reject it, but

10:56

to live in it, to follow

10:58

God's wisdom, to obey his ways.

11:01

His... word and ways must encompass

11:03

our thoughts, our inner choices, because

11:05

most of who you are, and

11:08

I'm going to be teaching about

11:10

this, goes on in your heart,

11:12

where nobody else can see it

11:15

except God can. There's where the

11:17

temptations are, the fears are. That's

11:19

where you choose to say, God,

11:22

I see your fingerprints in my

11:24

life. God, I'm going to trust

11:26

you today. I'm going to live

11:29

in your grace and forgiveness. God,

11:31

I'm going to take every thought

11:33

captive to the obedience of Christ.

11:36

I've had some ungodly thoughts, but

11:38

God, I'm going to take those

11:40

prisoners and think about Christ and

11:42

think about what he wants for

11:45

me. And that way we will

11:47

be able to live all of

11:49

our years well. It was his

11:52

word that guided me. But as

11:54

a young woman, when I was

11:56

the age of many of you,

11:59

seeking to follow God's ways. I

12:01

was passionate if nothing else. I

12:03

stumbled and fell, of course, along

12:06

the way. I was learning. I

12:08

was growing. And I didn't know

12:10

how to do it all perfectly.

12:13

No one ever does. But I

12:15

didn't have others ahead of me

12:17

to share their experience or learned

12:20

truth. And I longed for understanding.

12:22

I longed for somebody to understand

12:24

how pressured I felt. And sometimes

12:26

I always loved my children, but

12:29

I didn't always like who I

12:31

saw in front of me. Truth

12:33

be told. I longed for somebody

12:36

to understand what it felt like

12:38

to be responsible for these four

12:40

very different two on the spectrum.

12:43

Asthma, ear infected, opinionated children. over

12:45

a period of many years and

12:47

I just I kept praying following

12:50

God's word thinking as I read

12:52

many books and God gave me

12:54

ideals year after year after year

12:57

and so it's why I wrote

12:59

this book in hopes that what

13:01

I have learned through my ups

13:04

and downs and my goodness in

13:06

my failures I was hoping that

13:08

maybe if I wrote this book

13:10

it might inspire other fellow travelers

13:13

who are on this path of

13:15

righteousness. If ever we need someone

13:17

calling us to what is good,

13:20

true, and beautiful, it is now

13:22

my friends. I see so many

13:24

people following foolishness that you know

13:27

in Proverbs. It has two women

13:29

on the top of the hill

13:31

of the city which I will

13:34

also be teaching about But one

13:36

of them is called wisdom and

13:38

wisdom cries out and says follow

13:41

me and And you will be

13:43

blessed follow me and you will

13:45

have light and beauty and she

13:47

calls out to people. That's a

13:50

picture of who we're supposed to

13:52

be but there's also another woman

13:54

standing on the top of the

13:57

heights of the cities. And this

13:59

is in Proverbs 9, I believe.

14:01

And her name is Folly. And

14:04

she calls people to foolishness, to

14:06

wrong thinking, to distorting God's truth.

14:08

And so I was hoping that

14:11

maybe this book might be some

14:13

gentle, but straightforward talk about what

14:15

does it mean to live well,

14:18

to not give up? to believe

14:20

in God's goodness even when I

14:22

can't feel his closeness. This world

14:25

can be confusing, messages about life

14:27

or contrary, circumstances or taxing, and

14:29

women are longing for direction and

14:31

peace of mind to know that

14:34

their lives matter. Your life matters

14:36

today, my friend. It matters to

14:38

the heart of God. So I

14:41

hope that you will join me

14:43

on this podcast series. And I'm

14:45

just going to jump into some

14:48

of them. things of it that

14:50

I wanted to share with you.

14:52

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, the purpose

14:55

of life is to be useful,

14:57

to be honorable, to be compassionate,

14:59

to have it make some difference

15:02

that you have lived and that

15:04

you have lived well. You know,

15:06

that's I think what I realized.

15:09

So follow me right now as

15:11

I take you back to a

15:13

few years ago. I was at

15:15

my wits end. I don't write

15:18

about this in the book, but

15:20

I had, we had been through

15:22

some extremely heartbreaking circumstances. A couple

15:25

of my children had had different,

15:27

difficult circumstances. My husband had had,

15:29

he has a generative back disease

15:32

and he had had a terrible

15:34

surgery that didn't go well and

15:36

he was having to take some

15:39

really strong medicine that was difficult

15:41

for him and I had teenagers.

15:43

And I had some 20 some

15:46

kids in their 20s and they

15:48

were all trying to figure out

15:50

their lives and I felt like

15:53

I had been on this difficult

15:55

challenging pathway that had been draining

15:57

me to my toenails for so

15:59

many years and I remembered sitting

16:02

on my front porch and saying

16:04

God I need a break I

16:06

don't know how. to have a

16:09

break at this particular point in

16:11

time, but I do need a

16:13

break. And that's the point at

16:16

which truly miraculously, as God works

16:18

through all these different circumstances, Sarah

16:20

called one day, Sarah who was

16:23

getting her undergraduate degree at Oxford,

16:25

and she said, you'll never believe

16:27

this, but I was just offered

16:30

a full scholarship. to finish my

16:32

master's degree, my master's in theology

16:34

in Oxford. And of course she

16:37

had dreamed about this since she

16:39

was 11 years old and we

16:41

had prayed about it and I

16:43

thought never will this work and

16:46

it did. God worked it out.

16:48

It took her about 20 years

16:50

to be able to get to

16:53

this point. But anyway to make

16:55

a long story short she said

16:57

she had just she had been

17:00

married and she was pregnant with

17:02

her first child and she said

17:04

the only problem is I can't

17:07

accept the scholarship unless Mama you

17:09

come over to Oxford and live

17:11

down the street from me so

17:14

that you can take care of

17:16

my future baby to be born

17:18

during my times with my professors

17:21

and it'll probably just be about

17:23

three times a week two hours

17:25

at a time and I thought

17:27

oh my goodness this is my

17:30

miracle I just needed to have

17:32

a breath. I just needed a

17:34

little bit of a break. And,

17:37

you know, sometimes it works out

17:39

that we get what we pray

17:41

for and I've seen God truly

17:44

in my life answer so many

17:46

prayers when I sought him diligently.

17:48

It's almost like he said, I

17:51

know, I see you, you have

17:53

every right to be exhausted. And

17:55

I'm going to open a little

17:58

window of joy for you. And

18:00

so, that's where we're going

18:03

to start this book. But

18:05

it was just so fun,

18:07

this little flat that I'm

18:09

going to read you about,

18:11

that Sarah and Thomas lived

18:13

in, was a tiny little

18:15

place, and all of the

18:17

little homes or buildings flats

18:20

in our area, where we

18:22

were right next to a

18:24

canal. The boats with all

18:26

of the goods from the

18:28

factories and and from the

18:30

farmers and so and so

18:32

forth Were road up and

18:35

down these canals to London

18:37

to take their business to

18:39

the big city and so

18:41

that's why these little flats

18:43

had been built for the

18:45

people who worked in the

18:47

in the factories and so

18:49

I lived in this Lovely

18:52

little creaky funny home and

18:54

that Clay had found on

18:56

the internet. And Joy was

18:58

in her final year of

19:00

her PhD from St. Andrew's

19:02

and she could come to

19:04

Oxford because it had a

19:06

bigger library. So Joy lived

19:09

with me in this precious

19:11

old creaky house and we

19:13

were down the street from

19:15

Sarah. So I'm going to

19:17

tell you some of the

19:19

stories along the way. It

19:21

was an old area. The

19:23

streets were cobbled. We lived

19:26

down the street from the

19:28

Bookbinder's Cafe. It was kind

19:30

of a pub. But you'll

19:32

find that many things in

19:34

Oxford are books, or they're

19:36

named books in some way.

19:38

So this had shelves of

19:40

books, but it had little

19:43

antique doodads here and there

19:45

everywhere. And they just had

19:47

the best. meals. And so

19:49

we could walk around the

19:51

corner to this place. Also,

19:53

Rickety Press was a place

19:55

where we had a hamburger

19:57

pub. But we had delightful

20:00

places. We had an open

20:02

air market, not too far

20:04

from us. And it was

20:06

kind of like walking into

20:08

a book of fiction, a

20:10

great book of delightful charming

20:12

places. So that's kind of

20:14

the beginning of where I'm

20:17

going to start right now,

20:19

leaving a legacy of a

20:21

well-lived life. Blessed is

20:23

the person who finds wisdom

20:25

and one who obtains understanding,

20:27

for her profit is better

20:29

than the profit of silver

20:31

and her produce better than

20:33

gold. She is more precious

20:35

than jewels and nothing you

20:37

desire compares with her with

20:39

wisdom. Long life is in

20:41

wisdom's right hand and her

20:43

left hand are riches in

20:46

honor. Her ways are pleasant

20:48

ways and all her paths

20:50

are peace. She is a

20:52

tree of life. to those

20:54

who take hold of her

20:56

and happy are those who

20:58

hold on to her. So

21:00

here I was. I found

21:02

myself in Oxford and I

21:04

was thinking, God give me

21:06

that heart that I find

21:08

in Proverbs 3. Let me

21:10

hold fast to wisdom. Let

21:12

me share wisdom that you

21:14

have been faithful to build

21:16

into my life one incident

21:18

at a time. Five short-lived

21:20

years ago. I melted into

21:22

the folds of a deep

21:24

squishy couch stuffed into a

21:26

tiny living room in an

21:28

old Oxford flat. My oldest

21:30

daughter Sarah lived there with

21:32

her husband and baby girl.

21:34

She was holding my first

21:36

grandchild Lillian a few months

21:38

old and gently bouncing her

21:40

in the air, resulting in

21:42

giggles and smiles. Mama! What

21:44

do you want to be

21:46

called as a grandmother? I

21:49

think it should be something

21:51

unique and creative that reflects

21:53

your personality and what you

21:55

like. As it happened, the

21:57

two years before our family

21:59

had been working our way

22:01

through a British drama series,

22:03

called Lark Rise to Candleford,

22:05

L-A-R-K-R-I-S-E to Kendallford. And I

22:07

wanted to tell you, I

22:09

found it today, if any

22:11

of you subscribe to Brit

22:13

Box, it's on Brit Box

22:15

for free. And I love

22:17

to find shows or movies

22:19

or series that are more

22:21

innocent and just fun and

22:23

delightful so that I just

22:25

kind of enjoy. a G-rated,

22:27

positive, you can believe in

22:29

miracles, sort of stories once

22:31

in a while. And that's

22:33

kind of what larkrise is.

22:35

I just found where I

22:37

can find it right now.

22:39

And I think you might

22:41

be able to buy some

22:43

of the episodes on Amazon

22:45

Prime. Anyway, this television series

22:47

was loosely based on a

22:49

trilogy of semi-autobiographical books. by

22:52

Flora Thompson during the latter

22:54

years of the 1800s, and

22:56

you can still order those

22:58

books. It set in lark

23:00

rise a small rural village,

23:02

that, can you imagine, a

23:04

lark rising from the ground

23:06

and singing with all of

23:08

its heart? That's what it

23:10

was named for. They're delightful

23:12

tales about country folk who

23:14

often interacted with the more

23:16

upscale, prosperous folk in the

23:18

large neighboring town of Candleford.

23:20

Each episode brought heart-touching, humor-laced,

23:22

folksy stories, opening windows to

23:24

family life, community gossip, festivals,

23:26

and celebrations, as well as

23:28

a connection made through the

23:30

varied adventures. Well, there was

23:32

this beloved character named Queenie.

23:34

And she was this wise

23:36

older woman who was the

23:38

sage matriarch. of lark rise.

23:40

She would sit at the

23:42

top of her hill out

23:44

on this chair and she

23:46

was a beekeeper and she

23:48

would talk to everyone who

23:50

passed by hello and how

23:52

are you and How can

23:55

I help you? I mean,

23:57

she was just this wonderful

23:59

kind of, she gave her

24:01

homespun remedies and that brought

24:03

healing and she always had

24:05

a story to tell that

24:07

intrigued her listeners. The people

24:09

of her village trusted her

24:11

because of her years of

24:13

serving community with great affection,

24:15

friendship and insight. And she

24:17

was an older, wrinkly sort

24:19

of person, a lot like

24:21

me. Anyway, as we were

24:23

talking, Sarah suggested, Mama. You

24:25

should call yourself Queenie for

24:27

the grandchildren. Because you're like

24:29

Queenie. You're benevolent. You distribute

24:31

goodwill in general. You cheer

24:33

and give wisdom to all

24:35

who come into your sphere.

24:37

And I think that your

24:39

grandchildren, starting with Lilian, should

24:41

call you Queenie. Well, I

24:43

was so honored by that

24:45

because I loved Queenie. And

24:47

I became Queenie to all

24:49

the little people birthed by

24:51

my children, which is now

24:53

four. And now I guess

24:56

I have to tell you

24:58

that Lillian just turned seven.

25:00

So we have passed seven

25:02

years since I've been in

25:04

and out of Oxford. It's

25:06

funny because later on Joy

25:08

came and said, Mom, don't

25:10

you remember I was the

25:12

one who said you should

25:14

be called Queenie. So it

25:16

was agreed upon. And by

25:18

the way, if you're interested

25:20

at all, you don't have

25:22

to be. But this book,

25:24

I'll tell you how it

25:26

came about, it's the most

25:28

beautiful book because it's got

25:30

color pictures in every page.

25:32

And what happened was a

25:34

publisher came to me and

25:36

actually proposed the book. At

25:38

first I was going to

25:40

call it queen of my

25:42

castle. Queen of my castle.

25:44

Anyway, but we decided to

25:46

call it well-lived instead. You

25:48

get to see my little

25:50

precious grandchildren in the book,

25:52

only from the back, because

25:54

we're trying to protect their

25:56

little faces. But this crew...

25:59

of people, three women flew

26:01

from the States, a photographer,

26:03

an editor, and a kind

26:05

of a director of the

26:07

project, and they literally followed

26:09

me all around Oxford, my

26:11

open air market, the place

26:13

I liked coffee, the lady

26:15

I bought flowers from, my

26:17

barista. They followed me. on

26:19

the canals and they took

26:21

pictures of every place that

26:23

I lived and loved and

26:25

so if you get the

26:27

book you get to see

26:29

those pictures. But I want

26:31

to give you a really

26:33

clear concept of queen because

26:35

it goes along with a

26:37

lot of what I talked

26:39

about earlier. Historically, a good

26:41

queen brought about a life-giving

26:43

influence as she considered herself

26:45

a steward. She considered herself

26:47

responsible for the long-term prosperity

26:49

and flourishing of those who

26:51

were within her realm. A

26:53

king would do this, too.

26:55

But we're talking about Queen,

26:57

that's you and me. Her

26:59

significant role affected the legacy

27:02

of her life, the story

27:04

she would live, the heritage

27:06

she would leave. It also

27:08

influenced the legacy of her

27:10

family, her community, and world

27:12

in rare times when she

27:14

gave herself to the full

27:16

task of all that had

27:18

been entrusted to her. Being

27:20

a steward over human beings

27:22

can have great impact over

27:24

generations, the faithfulness and generosity.

27:26

You know, it just happened

27:28

while I was there that

27:30

Queen Elizabeth died. I have

27:32

to tell you I at

27:34

some point one of those

27:36

years somebody gave me a

27:38

book that was a biography

27:40

on her and it was

27:42

about her faith and it

27:44

was it was produced by

27:46

the English Bible Society and

27:48

of course I followed her

27:50

in different places and through

27:52

different stories I love just

27:54

reading all the time about

27:56

many different things in life

27:58

and I was amazed at

28:00

her because when she became

28:02

Queen in 1950s, she said,

28:05

I will give my life

28:07

to take care of the

28:09

stewardship of the people with

28:11

whom I have been entrusted.

28:13

And she had lots of

28:15

ups and downs, as you

28:17

know, if you've watched some

28:19

of the movies or whatever.

28:21

She had such difficulties in

28:23

including the fact that it

28:25

started out that the man

28:27

who was supposed to be

28:29

king gave up... his ability

28:31

to be the king in

28:33

order to marry a divorcee

28:35

from America. And so her

28:37

father who studdered, there's a

28:39

great... movie about him who

28:41

stuttered had to become king

28:43

at a time when radio

28:45

was becoming popular. So he

28:47

had to learn how to

28:49

be confident enough to let

28:51

people know even in the

28:53

midst of his stuttering that

28:55

he was worthy of being

28:57

able to lead the country.

28:59

So she watched her father

29:01

as a little girl move

29:03

into this position and then

29:06

she became a queen early

29:08

in her life. But one

29:10

of the things I read

29:12

about, she was influenced by

29:14

Billy Graham. is that she

29:16

learned little by little to

29:18

go through the difficulty. She

29:20

overcame them. She grew. She

29:22

learned. She became kinder over

29:24

time. She became more humble

29:26

over time because she walked

29:28

with God and that's her

29:30

testimony. And so it was

29:32

really fun to see that

29:34

as a queen that she

29:36

kind of represented some of

29:38

the better aspects. of womanhood,

29:40

the picture that I had

29:42

had in my own heart

29:44

as royalty, a daughter of

29:46

Jesus the King, for many

29:48

years. So decades before I

29:50

was queeny to my grands,

29:52

I had longed for companionship

29:54

and wise input throughout all

29:56

the seasons of my work

29:58

of my play, of my

30:00

motherhood, of my being a

30:02

wife, as a professional writer,

30:04

I was figuring it all

30:06

out alone without much mentorship

30:09

or direction. And this earlier

30:11

lack of guidance is what

30:13

stirred in me at my

30:15

age 70 to write this

30:17

book. I wanted to validate

30:19

the efforts of so many

30:21

beautiful lovely women like you.

30:23

I wanted to collect the

30:25

treasure of truth of wisdom

30:27

and gathering insight so that

30:29

I could help other women

30:31

because I thought that's what's

30:33

missing in my life, that

30:35

Titus two woman, that friend,

30:37

that somebody who can have

30:39

sympathy, who can understand what

30:41

I'm going through. And I

30:43

really came to much of

30:45

my own experience as we

30:47

go through the wisdom of

30:49

the different seasons of life,

30:51

just because I lived long

30:53

enough. And I was trying

30:55

at every turn to trust

30:57

in God. At this point

30:59

in time, and I've been

31:01

married 43 years, I have

31:03

birthed four children, had three

31:05

miscarriages, educated my four children

31:07

in our home, written 33

31:09

books, worked in eight different

31:12

publishing houses, moved 24 times,

31:14

nine times internationally, I've lived

31:16

in four countries, spoken to

31:18

hundreds of thousands of people,

31:20

worked in missions, and been

31:22

involved in ministry for 51

31:24

years. And so when I

31:26

look back, I could tell

31:28

you more, but what I'm

31:30

saying is I had no

31:32

idea that when I would

31:34

just take one step of

31:36

faith through one door that

31:38

was open to me at

31:40

the place that I was,

31:42

I had no idea. that

31:44

God was building, building, building,

31:46

messages in my heart, a

31:48

truth for this generation, that

31:50

I got to play a

31:52

role. I sometimes tease with

31:54

people and I said, that

31:56

God had about 50 qualified

31:58

women that were trained, educated,

32:00

smart, and insightful and he

32:02

asked them if they would

32:04

lead younger women, if they

32:06

would write books, if they

32:08

would. And they all said

32:10

no. And then when he

32:12

got to me, he said,

32:15

well, she's not the best

32:17

pick of all these women,

32:19

but she certainly has heart.

32:21

So we'll just let her

32:23

be used by. the Holy

32:25

Spirit because she's available. And

32:27

I think that's kind of

32:29

what, as I look at

32:31

scripture, all the different personalities

32:33

that are in scripture that

32:35

God used. It's not about

32:37

being perfect or being capable

32:39

or being the most insightful.

32:41

We all make mistakes and

32:43

we all have up and

32:45

down emotional feelings, but it's

32:47

about being available, being available

32:49

to God. And I've come

32:51

to love being a matriarch.

32:53

It's something I didn't understand

32:55

before. Matriarch is kind of

32:57

the woman over her domain.

32:59

It's akin to being a

33:01

queen. And I think I

33:03

realize that I never knew

33:05

that there was purpose in

33:07

being a mom, a homemaker,

33:09

a teacher, a spouse. And

33:11

once I gained this vision

33:13

of ruling over my home,

33:15

that I could take the

33:18

chaos. out and bring some

33:20

beauty in, ruling over the

33:22

relationships in our family, teaching

33:24

my children how to love,

33:26

and loving them unconditionally, ruling

33:28

over my kitchen, figuring out

33:30

how in the world to

33:32

keep six people and all

33:34

the company that came our

33:36

way fed in a manner

33:38

that... didn't just eat me

33:40

alive and so and so

33:42

forth. Educating, how could I

33:44

educate my children in such

33:46

a way that they would

33:48

love learning and that they

33:50

would love being able to

33:52

find their... own place in

33:54

God's story and to pass

33:56

on a spiritual legacy. And

33:58

so those are some of

34:00

the things I learned. But

34:02

so unexpectedly somehow one step

34:04

at a time over many

34:06

years I found myself at

34:08

a place where I was

34:10

able to spend time starting

34:12

in my late 60s in

34:14

Oxford and it became a

34:16

sabbatical for me over the

34:19

next few years as I

34:21

got to break into grandchildren

34:23

as I got to meet

34:25

more people from all over

34:27

the world. But I just

34:29

learned and pondered this that

34:31

every woman has potential to

34:33

embrace her own story, to

34:35

become queen over her own

34:37

domain, to work hard to

34:39

leave a legacy of wisdom,

34:41

love, gratitude, and grace. And

34:43

it kind of emerged as

34:45

a final message in my

34:47

heart. as I would walk

34:49

through the parks and I

34:51

love the parks there. There's

34:53

just so many blooming trees

34:55

and flowers and swans and

34:57

ducks and it's just so

34:59

much fun. And I believe

35:01

that women are those who

35:03

can civilize the world, who

35:05

can bring light to darkness,

35:07

who can bring intelligence to

35:09

education, who can influence generations

35:11

by pouring out love and

35:13

training the character and the

35:15

souls and the vision. and

35:17

the perseverance through great trials,

35:19

and the challenges in the

35:22

hearts and minds and imagination

35:24

of the next generation who

35:26

will become flourishing adults. And

35:28

my goodness, my friends, we

35:30

need godly character-filled people to

35:32

go into our world, to

35:34

lead our world. We are

35:36

desperate for wisdom in our

35:38

world. I love this verse

35:40

in Ephesians where Paul says,

35:42

be very careful. then how

35:44

you live not as unwise

35:46

but as wise and so

35:48

I kind of want to

35:50

just to drop in some

35:52

passages that I know that

35:54

you have heard of before

35:56

but you can look them

35:58

up later but I love

36:00

the passage about The talents

36:02

when God, and this is

36:04

the one that I read

36:06

in Matthew, when God gave,

36:08

Jesus gave the parable of,

36:10

a wise ruler, gave five...

36:12

Was it five, two, and

36:14

one talent to some servants

36:16

that he entrusted? He said,

36:18

I'm going to go away.

36:20

Here's my investment in you.

36:22

See if you can make

36:25

it grow. And so the

36:27

first one said, I've gained

36:29

five more minas or whatever

36:31

the money was at that

36:33

time. The master said, well

36:35

done. I'm going to give

36:37

you more things to be

36:39

over. You brought joy to

36:41

me. Enter into the joy

36:43

of your master, because you

36:45

were faithful with what I've

36:47

given you. And then the

36:49

same with the one who

36:51

had too. And he said,

36:53

enter into the joy of

36:55

your master. I love seeing

36:57

people be faithful to the

36:59

stewardship that I entrust them

37:01

with. I'm paraphrasing a little

37:03

bit. And then the third

37:05

one said to the master,

37:07

I knew you to be

37:09

a hard-driving master. And that

37:11

you reaped where you didn't

37:13

even so. And so I

37:15

hid my talent in the

37:17

ground. Here, you get what

37:19

you deserve. Well, it's one

37:21

of the places where Jesus

37:23

is the most harsh in

37:25

the stories of the New

37:28

Testament. And he said, Basically,

37:30

you have greatly lived below

37:32

my expectations of you. You

37:34

have disappointed me. You will

37:36

have consequences for your behavior,

37:38

basically. And the reason I

37:40

love of this particular parable

37:42

and you can go read

37:44

it again yourself is because

37:46

it's a little bit to

37:48

me of we can either

37:50

accept what God has given

37:52

us to do and accept

37:54

the story in which we

37:56

have been born or we

37:58

can throw away our opportunity

38:00

to become kingdom people. Maybe

38:02

your life has been hard.

38:04

Most of us have very

38:06

hard times in our lives.

38:08

Maybe you've had a hard

38:10

marriage or difficult circumstances. But

38:12

what I want to tell

38:14

you is in this fallen

38:16

chaotic place, when you are

38:18

faithful in that place, you

38:20

will find the blessing and

38:22

the goodness of God. And

38:24

he will teach you and

38:26

instruct you and guide you.

38:29

There's something I've talked about

38:31

before, and it's the word

38:33

cup in scripture. When David

38:35

says, my cup runeth over,

38:37

it's... This is my story.

38:39

This is the blessings that

38:41

God has allotted me in

38:43

my life. And he said,

38:45

my cup in life has

38:47

been filled. It's running over.

38:49

When Jesus said, Lord, if

38:51

it's your will, take this

38:53

cup. from me. He was

38:55

saying basically, please Lord, take

38:57

away this violent death that

38:59

I'm going to have to

39:01

die for my people. It

39:03

says he endured the cross,

39:05

he despised the shame. He

39:07

knew it was going to

39:09

be hard. But this is

39:11

what Jesus said. And yet,

39:13

Lord, not my will, but

39:15

yours be done. I will

39:17

drink this cup if that

39:19

is the best for me

39:21

to do to honor your

39:23

purposes in the world. And

39:25

so when you look at

39:27

your cup, your cup might

39:29

be like mine was four

39:32

children and a husband and

39:34

lots of moves and being

39:36

involved in car accident, church

39:38

splits, children hospitalized, children in

39:40

the spectrum, so many different

39:42

things. And but that was

39:44

my cup and God said,

39:46

I am With you, I

39:48

didn't design evil. I can't

39:50

be tempted by evil, it

39:52

says in James. But when

39:54

the evil of this world

39:56

comes upon you, the chaos,

39:58

the sickness, the difficulty, and

40:00

when you drink the cup,

40:02

when you say, not my

40:04

well but yours be done,

40:06

I will be faithful in

40:08

the place you have given

40:10

me, you will find a

40:12

flourishing soul, wisdom and insight,

40:14

and ultimate joy in my

40:16

presence. And so my friends,

40:18

there we are. This is

40:20

the story I want to

40:22

be talking about in the

40:24

days ahead. What did I

40:26

learn? What has God taught

40:28

me? Mainly because I hope

40:30

it will be of great

40:32

encouragement to you. I'm going

40:35

to pray for us in

40:37

just a second, but first

40:39

of all, I just want

40:41

to tell all of you

40:43

that have supported our ministry

40:45

financially or that have joined

40:47

my membership membership. such a

40:49

blessing to Clay and me

40:51

because when you support Whole

40:53

Heart Ministries, Whole heart.org online,

40:55

or when you become a

40:57

member, you are helping Clay

40:59

and me be able to

41:01

do more projects, to speak

41:03

to more people, to print

41:05

more books, to give to

41:07

missions, and I just want

41:09

to thank every single person

41:11

who has worked in one

41:13

of our conferences, We are

41:15

grateful to have had the

41:17

opportunities that God opened in

41:19

our lives to be able

41:21

to serve him and serve

41:23

you in a way that

41:25

was, that gave us purpose

41:27

and meaning and gave us

41:29

such a sense of this

41:31

is what God designed us

41:33

to do. And so I

41:35

want to thank you. We

41:38

really appreciate you. And so

41:40

let me pray for you

41:42

right now. Dear Heavenly Father,

41:44

I thank you that as

41:46

I look back on my

41:48

life. that you would, you

41:50

were there ready to talk

41:52

to me. ready to teach

41:54

me, ready to respond to

41:56

me. You came to me

41:58

in that 10th floor dorm

42:00

room when I was praying,

42:02

looking for you. You came

42:04

to me through different people,

42:06

through different studies of your

42:08

word, through learning how to

42:10

pray, learning how to wait

42:12

patiently in faith. And Lord,

42:14

I am so grateful that

42:16

even in the dark times

42:18

you were there, your hand

42:20

was leading. I thank you

42:22

that you. covered over. I

42:24

gave you my fish and

42:26

my loaves like the little

42:28

boy did and you made

42:30

what I did by faith

42:32

enough. And I pray that

42:34

each person who is listening

42:36

today will be encouraged that

42:39

they have a place in

42:41

your story, that they will

42:43

have the power and the

42:45

strength to make it through

42:47

their story faithfully, that you

42:49

will teach them, that you

42:51

will bless them, and that

42:53

you will welcome them as

42:55

you've prepared a place for

42:57

us in eternity. to know

42:59

of your goodness face to

43:01

face. Lord, give my precious

43:03

friends a heart of understanding

43:05

your love for them and

43:07

an excitement and a desire

43:09

to live their story well,

43:11

to drink the cup that

43:13

you've given them to with

43:15

grace. We love you and

43:17

we pray in Jesus' name,

43:19

amen. All right my friends,

43:21

well I hope that you

43:23

enjoyed my time with you

43:25

today, many blessings to you.

43:27

I'll talk to you again

43:29

next week and be sure

43:31

to come to the Raleigh-Fuekwaverina

43:33

gathering if you're anywhere in

43:35

the area. Thanks so much.

43:37

Bye-bye. I hope you've enjoyed

43:39

our time together today and

43:42

that you'll join me next

43:44

week. Be sure to look

43:46

for more inspiration on my

43:48

blog at Sally clarkson.com. Thanks

43:50

for joining me. Bye-bye. You