#55 S3 EP 16 Questioning Normality: An Intimate Conversation with Elle Edwards

So you got me and she's not a co-host , but today she is , because he's not here . So we have Ms Elle Edwards . She's from the United Kingdom , amen , and we are so , so excited that she's here and she's going to talk and tell us about her and her ministry and everything that God is doing in and through her . So , elle , would you say hello to everyone .

All right , is that all right with you ?

I pray that every ear and every heart , every diamond that comes here God , is blessed by what they hear , that not only they hear it , but they are able to apply what is given to them from you through us , god , we bless your name and we say thank you . We pray this prayer in your name , amen , Amen , hallelujah . So , miss Zell , tell us about yourself .

I am a podcaster , an author , an online community host and all of that good stuff . Really Just taking this adventure with God one day at a time . In a bit of a potential season of transition , I've just this is an exclusive , actually for your podcast Just this month applied for a job for the first time in like over a decade . It was a complete God thing .

I don't know what's happening with that yet , but I'm really excited about it . It's a community centre manager in one of the local churches here . So I am potentially I'm in a season of waiting . Let's just say that .

So maybe by the time this goes out , I might have answers to that one , but I guess it's a reminder to anybody that if you're in a season of transition or waiting and you don't quite know , it's okay . You're not alone .

We try to be the hands and feet and , you know , actually serve the need . You know what I mean . Yes , so good , Because I know we see a whole lot here in the States . People have community centres , but it's often there's a place for people rent . So which makes that , makes our community community centre stand out ? Because it's the exact opposite .

It's actually a fully functioning community centre . Well , we help people and we do things to engage , to engage the community to come together so we can really potentially be used by God .

He's like , no , no , this is a chance for you to practice patience and just trusting me , I'm like , ok , right , yeah , don't you love it ?

So my online community used to be called the Itchiesoul Playground , and the online and the offline eventually , at some point in this big vision , feeds into each other . It's like oh , am I meant to change the name ? So it's called the Blue House because my house in Llanathley is actually blue . But the purpose of the Blue House ?

It ties in with Yuiah , because the Blue House is to help people be Yuiah . And if you're wondering what Yuiah is , yuiah , for the longest time I would have told you oh , it means you being who God created you to be , and it is that partly . But then , oh goodness , over two years ago , april 2021 , holy Spirit said ask me for an acronym .

I love acronyms , I love words . I said OK , have an acronym , please . She said yes , yuiah , is you the person you're created to be , plus IER . I'm like OK , well , what's IER . He said IER is intentional , expectant relationship .

So it's all about helping people step into relationship with God , doing day to day life with Him , recognizing that if you love Jesus , so you have Holy Spirit living inside of you , you can hear from God , and so that's what Yuiah is really about , and we do that through the Blue House .

But we've also got well , the podcast is currently on pause for the summer . We're going to I believe we're going to be back in September , but I haven't had the green light . I've had sort of nudges , shall I say . But we've got the podcast and we've also got these little daily Holy Spirit love notes as well . So it happens in a number of different ways .

But I love the fact that you completely got it , because for me , I think , having spent the longest time trying to figure out well , who am I , why am I here , if you start with a relationship piece , then it becomes much easier then , with God helping you to figure out well , who am I , what's my purpose ?

So Ephesians 2.10 , the plan and purpose for your life . If you just try and figure it all out on your own , it can be a lot trickier and a lot more frustrating . So that's why my focus since having that acronym has really been on that relationship piece , for myself , but also for other people as well , because that , I think , is the key .

There's so many like online quizzes and personality tests and don't get me wrong , I love a good quiz , but if we do those and see those tools and resources and do them with God and perhaps you get a label okay , god , what do you say about this ? How do you see me ? It's a much stronger foundation to build from .

We're going to work really hard , so we might get tripped up on that word workmanship , but actually , if we translate it as work of art and so think about , you know , when you I don't know any artist amongst us or if you create anything , there is this look what I just made .

And you have this sense of like , oh , wow , and I don't do it much anymore , but I've done , I've done a website design , and anytime I do a website , they're like oh wow , look at that and I'd be really pleased with how it looked . That's what God does for you every single day .

You open your eyes and even before you open your eyes , it's like look at me . It's like look at my kid , look at my child , look at what she's doing . Have you seen ? And I just imagine God in heaven calling somebody aged hey , hey , hey . Have you seen what she's doing right now ? And look what he's doing with this sense of pride and wonder and delight .

It just changes and shifts everything in our heads around . Actually , yes , we're here to do life with God and you know that's the way I want to be used by God . But that word used I mean you can take it two ways . You can one of my friends because I get tripped up on that I'll use by God like to use somebody isn't nice , is it ?

But he says I don't know , I don't see it like that , I see it as like , you know , when you waited to play football and coach calls you onto the field and I was like , oh yeah , I can see that , so I can understand how that word we can definitely reclaim it , but it just we don't know . There's this temptation to be always okay .

What am I going to do for God when actually it's doing with God as part of this great big adventure ? Because my upbringing was very much sort of you know , pray the prayer , make sure you read your Bible or this list of stuff to do . And don't get me wrong of course we read our Bible , of course we pray , because that's what you know .

Conversation with God is prayer , but we do it from this place of relationship . It just changes everything . It certainly did for me . Which is why I get so excited about this stuff is because I think it has the potential to transform , like how we're known , how we really understand God and how he wants to be known by us .

You know , religion is never God's best relationship with , always God's first choice , but it's best . So yeah , like I say for many people , if you didn't grow up in the church and you're just new to getting to know Jesus and you've done it as an adult , you probably saved yourself a whole other baggage .

She was in terms of love , languages , she was an acts of service kind of person , so feeding was how she showed love , and so I've always been curvy and I've done loads of different diets . And then I think it was sort of like in my mid 20s mid to late 20s I happened upon I mean , it wasn't a happened upon , it was a God set up .

But at the time , from my perspective , I happened upon this Bible weight loss course . And the premise of this Bible weight loss course is , oh , that God is interested in everything about you , including what you put in your house . So if you're tempted to eat a Mars bar when you're not hungry , you can talk to God about it .

I was like this was like a revelation to me . I mean , leaving aside the fact that up to this point , I mean I , although I prayed the prayer when I was 12 , I had stopped talking to God I was really in this place from a mental health perspective , I wasn't in a really good place . I was all I wanted to do was fall in love , get married , have kids .

I fell in love , got married and had kids , and I was this really angry , grumpy , frustrated mum because I was trying to play it really straight with hindsight , I wasn't being you here . I was trying to be and pretend to be somebody I wasn't .

And so I met , I was introduced to this God who loves me just the way I am , and I was like , oh well , if God loves me just the way I'm and like he's the creator of the universe , maybe it's okay for me to be me . And so it was

the . That was the ultimate turning point in all of this , although the first sort of like I don't know moment , if you like , that I can pinpoint , because I went from being scared out of hell when I was 12 or 13 to loved into heaven in my mid to late 20s . I don't , and most people can tell you the date . I don't have a date for it .

It was just this moment . I mean , if I'd have written it down in a diary I'd have a date , but it was really a little by little piece and the the metaphor I sometimes use is like this flower you know , when the sun comes out and the days , the days . You've always got their petals , but they close them up overnight .

And that's how I was living in this all closed in shrunken place . I mean , thankfully , my kids were young enough they don't remember angry , grumpy mum .

But then so this being introduced to this , this God who loves me just as I am , was like that Daisy opening its petals in the in the full view of the sunlight , was was me , and it wasn't an overnight thing . Yes , I had that moment , but it really was a journey and and little by little , just recognizing I'm a little bit sort of like ADHD inclined .

I've never been diagnosed , other than like self-diagnosed over the internet , but probably if I went to the doctor and did the tests . You know , my mind is , is is quite neurodiverse . I'm really a little bit all over the place , but God helped me create these systems in his love to help me , like flourish , thrive where I am .

So that was one of my turning points . Then another big , pivotal moment for me was the end of 2019 , my , my mentor in the prophetic , dr Toni Robinson . She's in Las Vegas . She's amazing . If you don't know her , look her up , follow her on Facebook . She's just a brilliant woman of God and I was on I mean 2019 in and 2020 , actually 2019 .

The middle of 2019 I again happened upon I landed in a Facebook group and again was emphasizing father's love and then I did a week long . It was called the yes , god challenge and at the end of end of , I think , was November 2019 .

I asked God my first direct question , like I'd had experiences of reading the Bible and something leaping off the page , but I never really expected to to communicate with God on a day by day basis , and so it started in 2019 and then into 2020 .

I mean , I know COVID was terrible , but for me , covid , I am always thankful for it because in this , while we're in lockdown , again through Dr Toni , there's the church that she is a part of . They ran this online school of theology and supernatural living . It's meant to be a year long course .

I did the whole thing in the space of three months during lockdown and digging into , like , how God wants to be known by us . There was a whole thing on church history which I thought would be boring , but it was like revelatory in terms of actually how God you know .

So all of that stuff , it's that then gave me a new piece to all of this , where suddenly I actually could go from being an online business , christian business owner , to actually being , like Holy Spirit led okay , god , what are we doing today ?

And that that shift was another massive one for me , because it allowed me to do things like when I said to you early , ronald , holy Spirit invited me to ask this question .

That will sound like craziness to some Christians then , because I mean , huge swathes of our church believe that Holy Spirit stopped being active when the Bible stopped being written , despite the fact I mean that's to remind us of this despite the fact that Jesus himself said in John 14 or 16 I forget which one , but you'll probably know , go look it up .

He said there are things I want to teach you now , things I want to show you now and yes , I'm paraphrasing , but because I don't have an open in front of me but there are things I want to show you now or teach you now that are too much for you , but when the Holy Spirit comes , he will teach you , he will take what I say and he will teach you .

So to me , that knocks any argument anyone ever says to me oh no , it's just what you read in the Bible . I'm like , have a minute . Jesus said that Holy Spirit would teach us stuff . What are you talking about ?

And again , that wasn't what I grew up in , that wasn't the church tradition I grew up in , and so , again , that was another pivotal moment for me was realizing actually , god . It really is like I knew , I knew God was active , I knew that he was alive and all the rest of it . I'd said it's relationship , not religion .

But it wasn't then really until 2019 , into 2020 , when I actually started to walk out what that can look like and the reality of that , and that really was a massive thing for me and and for the people I get to do life with , because now I get to share this with other people and one of my passions now is going look , if you're bored in your relationship

with God , this is not . This is not what he meant for you to have , how he meant for you to do life with him . What's going on here ? Let's let's shift this . Shift this a little bit , because God wants to do day to day life with you , asking him direct questions and expecting an answer .

That's that expect and peace that you already , you know , touched on for us earlier on . That's how God wants to be . No , he's not always going to give you the answer . Like I sent you earlier on , I have asked him am I going to get this job ? I've asked him more than once . I can assure you . It's been like two weeks since I applied .

I've asked him more than once . He's like no , no , I know you want to know , but I'm not going to tell you . I'm not saying that when you do life with God , you're going to get like all of the answers , and I'm not saying that when you do life with God , suddenly , magically , everything is easy .

We live in a world that is currently fallen and not in its ultimate best , how it will always be . There is work done . That's why we have community centers where we get to to help people in practical ways .

But I , from my own personal experience and I suspect from yours as well , catherine , and hopefully for lots of your diamonds the reality is doing life with God this way is so much more fun and liberating and , you know , encouraging and Peaceful on . You know when , when stuff goes wrong , because you know we all have challenges .

I can't imagine dealing with the challenges and trying to figure it all out my own head , because my own head is a jumbled up messy Devices . Doing it with God is so much more Liberating and and is ultimately what you were born to , how you were born to navigate this whole life .

fine .

She's not Tony Robbins , she's Tony Robinson and she's brilliant .

I think the reality is there is this because of the constraints ? I mean , I can't speak for the American Education system , but I can only speak to the UK system , but I suspect it will be similar . The education system can only because of the constraints and I don't know what I'm gonna get into budgets and all the rest of it .

But there is a path , let's call it neurotypical . There's a path which the education system can cope with . And if you can , if you navigate and can travel down this path or can do a really good job of pretending I mean I got to be honest , I'm , I did .

I mean I did great in school because I was really good at pretending that I could , you know , do all of the things . Where the system struggles is if you're not quite Typical and if your brain doesn't quite work the way that you know everybody else's does .

But actually , the more people I speak to , the more I realize is no , actually we're all making up as we go along . Some of us are just better at sort of like playing it straight than others . The more I get to know people , the more I realize now we've they're really there really is no such thing as normal . No , I mean , there probably isn't even anything .

I don't know I haven't done the research on this what we , what we tend to describe as Neurotypical I'm not even sure if that even exists . I think it's more that People , just you know , they play the game and I've got , I've got friends . Who's my friends ? His , her son is Neurodiverse .

He takes his medication to go to school because it helps him , just you know , play the game as adults . We , I mean we get an opportunity to sort of set the rules ourselves a little bit more .

So my real frustration with normal is the way that it leads too many Children , but then children , into young adults , thinking that there's something wrong with them , when the reality is there's nothing wrong with you . Our minds work in incredible , wonderful ways . There are so many gifts Associated with the way that my mind is wired like .

It makes it easy to see all the delightful what people describe as all you know , shiny , shiny , what they call it shiny object syndrome , where you get distracted by new and shiny stuff . That is true , that does happen . However , the gift of that is silver lining spotting . I can look around my room right now and tell you eight .

I'm not going to because we've got time constraints , but I could look around my room right now and tell eight different things that are wonderful and smile inducing .

So there are gifts associated with the way that our minds are wired and really it's about recognizing and having the space to harness those gifts and then put systems in place , maybe for those areas that we find more challenging . So I am incredibly forgetful , really quite disorganized . I mean I can't tell you how many your .

Our time together today is on my paper calendar in front of me on the desk . It's also as a reminder in my online system that I use called a sauna . It's also in my calendar to make sure that I am where I need to be exactly the right time . My kids know they say something . Or , mum , can you remind me of such and such ?

I'll say to them can you text me ? Because then I know that it will go on my phone . So I haven't anything got against normal .

In one sense , it's just the way that it leads people feeling less than and depleted , when , as you rightly identified everybody as diamonds , and you are not seen as less than by anybody and I'm being nudged to remind folks as well .

For anybody who's getting a little bit sort of like triggered as the word I want to use , but I can't think of a better word than that I want to remind you that you're not . There's nothing wrong with the way that your mind is wired . God created you the way you are on purpose , for a purpose .

I , for the longest time , thought that God was making up a difference , that there was something wrong with the way my mind is wired . He's any ? Reminder me in very strong terms no , no , l , I created you this way on purpose . Now , that's a challenge for some people , particularly if they're struggling right now , and I have to recognize that .

I give voice to that and I honor that , and I would just encourage you go to God and ask him to show you the gifts in the way that your mind works , and ask him to show you this pieces that have been challenging . Ask him to show you how he's redeeming those , because don't forget Romans 828 .

We're told that God moves and is working in all things for good , not just the things that are nice and neat and delightful , all things , even the pieces that are messed up and horrible . I've got a great story we don't have time for . Early in the year , when I bumped my car , got to turn that situation to good , even though it was completely my mistake .

I drove into the back of somebody at the roundabout . Didn't do on purpose , obviously , but it was my mistake . I made a big mess of it and he turned good . And he can do the same for every single person listening in , whatever that situation is .

There is no situation that is outside the reach of God , because we're told that in , you know , in Jesus and again I'm paraphrasing but in Jesus we live and move and have our very being . Everything that is created is created through Jesus , because of Jesus , even those pieces that are seems so out of reach and that from God .

None of that is out of reach from God . All of it is held together and is moving in God so he can turn those pieces to good and if you ask him , he'll show you what that looks like and help you to see the gifts in that .

She sounds different , she's from a whole other country , but look , she's saying the same thing . We , as the body of Christ , we are dynamically we're different , but we , our language , should be the same . We should be teaching the same thing over and over again , because his word doesn't change .

We might change emotionally , we might age , we might look different , we might from be from different worlds , in different countries , but the Bible is the same and we're already in the Bible .

Our language should be that , hey man , because I promise you miss L everything that you said , michael , and I have said here at least once or twice at some point in time , and another , and you have a lot , of , a lot of division in the body , and it shouldn't be .

If we're already the same word and the Holy Spirit doesn't change , neither does Jesus , neither does God . You know , and there are one . Why are they getting something different than us ? You know what I mean . They shouldn't be getting something different it should always get in the same thing . Our language should not be different .

It should not be a whole lot of division and adversity between us . If we're going to be able to operate as Jesus operated , we got to come into oneness . This is what the Holy Spirit , this is what God , this is what Jesus , this is what the Father , the oneness of being one . You know what I mean .

We're functioning , doing the same , talking the same , going out here , reaching the loss wherever they are , not making them come where we are , but going wherever they are .

So we're getting ready to wrap up and I have one final question , and after that I just feel like you can't incorporate a prayer and this question all in the same , because you truly have a gift of communication .

I feel that and I I decree that over you prophetically that you know that you continue to walk in the gift of communication because your words are very eloquent

. But the thought is , what is the three word hack to turning around any day and then follow in with the prayer ?

So I'm going to give you a story , and this actually happened a couple of years ago , when I was recording a podcast episode , much like we're doing today . I was chatting about silver lining , spotting the particular activating system and this , and then my little dog , charlie , who is no longer with us , bless him . This is how he died in January 2021 .

So , goodness me , it was prior to that . Even longer ago than I realized , charlie , bless him , walked into my office and was promptly sick on the carpet . So imagine that something happens in your day , but your day is going along quite nice and all of a sudden , something a bit rough happens .

I should add as well a really quick caveat this is for the day-to-day irritations of life . This is not for the days of tragedy . I'm not for one second suggesting you can use three words that turn your day around , if you know when you're facing loss , for example , but so it's important to just say that .

So the dog walks in sick on the carpet , the first thing to do is to acknowledge the rubbish thing that's happened . Oh no , the dog's just been sick on the carpet . Then you add the three words but at least . And then you pause because your brain loves to fill in the blanks .

Now here we have to add a warning for anybody who's eating Just pause the podcast and come back to when you finish eating . Great , so the dog was sick on the carpet , but at least it was foamy , foamy sick . It wasn't chunky , lumpy sick . Can you see why I asked people to stop eating ? That actually happened . Live on a podcast episode .

Like I said a few years ago , you can apply this and try it out for yourself . So the next time something happens , that's a bit irritating . This because by acknowledging the thing that's happened , it means you're not squishing it down and denying it . So you're given by oh , this thing that happened , that's really annoying . So let's use an example .

So last week we struggled , you and I , to get to actually record when we were ready to , because of technology or whatever . Oh , we could have gone . Oh , it's really annoying . We couldn't record when we wanted to , but at least we've been able to find a time to record next week instead . And here we are next week it's happened . It's been fantastic .

I loved every second of it . The next time something happens in your day , give it a try . The reason why it works , like I say , your mind loves to fill in the blanks , and so the more that you practice it , the easier it will become . There's a collection of new runs and again we're out of time but it's called the reticular activating system .

At the back of your mind , there's lots of cool stuff , but one thing it does is it acts like a filter . So the more that you practice these things , your brain will filter in examples to make it true . It's the reason why we sometimes , if somebody's having a really rough season , it feels like a self fulfilling prophecy .

It's because now they might be going through rough stuff I'm not saying they're not , but sometimes because all we can see is what , the one bad thing after another , our mind starts filtering those things in . So we need to shift the pattern , shifting and actually go , consciously go .

Okay , this thing is hard right now , but at least start recognizing the lovely things in the day and then your mind will help you out . So that's the three word hack , but at least . But let me release a prayer of everybody and let me just say , catherine , thank you so much for having me .

It's been an absolute joy and prison to be here , but we just ask right now , god . We just thank you right now , god , for the time that we've had together today . I thank every single person listening to this episode , whether now or six months , 12 months , 18 months into the future .

We know that this podcast is reaching people and it will continue to reach people . So I thank you for the work that Catherine and Michael are doing . I thank you for their faithfulness . I just pray blessings over them .

I ask that you would increase the people that come to listen to these reminders , these messages from you , and for every single person right now . You know , holy Spirit , what they need .

So we just ask that you would remind them of the pieces from this conversation that they need right now , and we just ask , more than anything , that you would remind them of your love , how you are known by them , the fact that you are for them , not against them , that you are a God who is love and you are good . We just thank you for your love .

We thank you , father , son and Holy Spirit . This is the way that you do life with us . Lead us on now , help us to be these lights and these shining beacons of light and that delightful , savoury salt . Savoury salt , savouring this . I forgot the right word , but you know what I mean . Help us to season . Season is the word . Thank you , holy Spirit .

Help us to season our communities so that the people around us , whether it's our friends , our families , our households , our communities , our nations , can come to know

you . And I want to release , if you'll notice , to release a particular prayer right now for anybody who's living in a household where you feel like you're the only one that loves Jesus . Maybe your partner or your spouse and your and or your children don't yet know Jesus .

We just ask right now , holy Spirit , you would pour out into those households , let your name be known . I thank you for every single person who's standing for you in their households . I thank you for them , I pray your blessings for them , I just ask them .

Pray for encouragement for those people and we just thank you in advance because we know that's one prayer that is always your will .

We know that you don't want to lose anybody , and so I thank you in advance for the salvation that is coming to the households of the people who are listening to this podcast , and for the ripples out from there the plan and the purpose for everybody's lives . We thank you . Thank you , amen .