Rhonda (00:16.518)
Hey ladies, hey ladies, I know it's been a while, but I am so excited to catch up with you and start sharing again. For those of you joining for the first time, I am Rhonda, a gospel singer, speaker, and coach. Honestly, so many changes have happened in my life. If you have been following me on social media, then you
probably have noticed a few things. I have moved from Virginia to Hawaii. I have been dealing with ministry changes, infertility, and truly desiring to hear from God in my life and his plan for me in this season. So I don't have I don't have like all the answers from him at this moment, but I am confident that he has given me
specific instructions to focus on, and I plan to keep showing up and serving. I'm confident in who he has created me to be, what my gifts are, what my passions are, and where my focus should be. I know, you know, in the past we have talked about dating and preparing for marriage God's way. And we are going to continue to talk about those things, but I want to incorporate all of me, which
includes worship, singing, coaching, and helping you rediscover your joy, deepen your worship and helping you move forward. One thing that I found that is so common, whether you're trying to wait on finding someone to date, if you're dating, if you're in the engagement phase, if you are even married or waiting to be married, if you're trying to figure out your purpose.
That one common thread is many times we often feel stuck in between what we believe God has said we were going to get or what we were going to do and the reality of how it looks right now. I believe, though, that when you rediscover joy, you deepen your your worship and you begin to move forward in God everything that you desire, even the things that
Rhonda (02:37.702)
you didn't even think you needed or wanted will begin to fall in place and work out for your good. So now for a quick, quick commercial break.
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Sing Your Way Back to Joy is an amazing guide with scriptures, playlists, and coaching prompts to help you move forward in life. I want you to visit www.rondalive.com and download this free guide of singing your way back to joy.
Rhonda (03:19.272)
So I heard a quote the other day watching a show and I want to share it with you guys. The quote was, bitterness has its own lessons. Once you savor it, you will appreciate where it has come from. So let's have an honest moment. When I heard that quote, it hit me so hard. I didn't realize that I had been dealing with bitterness and it had manifested
in my life as anger, resentment, and most importantly, it prevented me from truly being who I was called to be. I would, you know, do a little bit, but not too much, because I felt like it was not going to be good enough or sustainable. Long story short, I had a friend who kind of took an idea from me and created her own concept with a different name, of course. And then
They didn't have the decency to even invite me or to tell me about this venture that they decided to go forth with. decided you know, it would have been simple, just to pick up the call, text message, and say, hey, I decided to take the idea we were doing together and do it by myself. So I silently like moved in the shadows, never really soaring as I knew that I really could.
I had been bitter about not being able to have my own child after choosing to abstain from sex and waiting to have sex until I got married. And I would have these questions like, How could this happen to me? And I did everything, you know, that the church told you to do. I did everything that I thought God wanted me to do. And when I saw other people getting pregnant who didn't even want to have babies, or I saw people.
treating children wrongly or you know killing their babies just because they didn't want to have it. I mean, I was bitter, but through facing the reality of my bitterness, I asked God to help me to navigate these areas. I literally have found a supernatural peace and joy and confidence to continue to show up and to move forward and to help others do the same.
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Trust me, in order to move forward, you have to want to be free and embrace the new you. And you have to be willing to extend love and grace to others. And I know that that is something that is not common in our world. It's not common in our families, but it was the only way that I truly could find peace and joy. So bitterness never feels good going down and never feels good when you go through it. But the
Purpose of bitterness yields results when viewed through the word of God. Just like lemons, by themselves, they're a little sharp to taste. But when you add a little water and a little sugar, you get something totally different and refreshing. The word provides wholeness and completeness and appreciation for the process, appreciation for the bitterness, appreciation for
The fruit that will come forth from the bitterness or the result of the bitterness. You become stronger, you become wiser, you have more grace and almost grace for others, grace for yourself. So, sis, I want to welcome you, brother. Even if you're listening, I want to welcome you to the joy comeback. This is my joy comeback.
and a new season of the Finding Your Heart podcast. Get excited.
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So before we go, let's take a joy break.
Today I am grateful that the inspirational speaker stopped before the five limit countdown.
Y'all know how it is. You're sitting at church. The inspirational speaker has five minutes. And it is six minutes. And everybody starts getting the big eyes. But I'm grateful that the inspirational speaker stopped before the countdown.
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Until next time. I can't wait to listen to hear what y'all have to say about that joybreak. And I cannot wait to connect with you soon.
