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Learn more at littlebellies.com today. Little bellies, do what's natural. Family, or family and fun is how she has a list of her Instagram page, which is also at Shoni Brennan. You can check that out.
She is going to talk today about her new book, The 365 Prayer Project, which is a commitment to pray and journal with God. Yes, she's going to talk about her gift of creative writing until you how you can join in as well. Sit back, relax, and enjoy. My wife thinks I'm crazy.
How do we get here? I can't believe y'all let me have the show. What's up, people? I am your host, Jay Will, and I would like to welcome you to Inspire Guys, people where we balance faith and business to guide you to your purpose.
Yo, man, I just want to say thank you to everybody who's been watching the YouTube videos. All 15 and 20 of y'all. I get so excited, man. When it's 20 views on one of them videos, we got like 125 or 28 subscribers right now.
So it's growing. I'm feeling good about it for real. Have not done a video this week. Need to do that.
Here's one of the things, man. I'm going to be real. As it relates to being a Christian creative and balancing corporate America and being a husband and a brother or a son, one of the things that's really important to me is, and this might help somebody. I'm sharing this to potentially help somebody before we jump in today's interview with our guest.
One of the things that's important to me is to always prioritize my family, prioritize God. Now, I'm saying that because it's not always easy. It's real. It's actually really easy to lose track.
I think this is important for the listeners of the show, because y'all are a lot of husbands and wives and creatives and parents and entrepreneurs and we have jobs, right? That's what I want everybody thinking about right now. Let's be committed to keeping the main thing the main thing. Now, again, look, I know this ain't easy.
First of all, it's not easy for me. It may not be easy for you. I've seen a lot of people fail at this just from afar. You don't have to look far to see people fail.
Successful people fail at the normal things of life. A lot of times it seems like it's an either or, like, oh, either you can be successful in business and don't know your kids and your family and whatever. Or you could be broke and have all the love in the world. A lot of times in life, man, it's very hard to find balance.
That's why this show is about balancing faith and business to guide you to your purpose, because I genuinely believe in my heart and in my soul that balance is the key. Balancing, you always talk about the old and the new testament. Balance is the ability to digest them both and receive them as one. You know what I'm saying?
That's balance. What a lot of us struggle with is like, wait a minute. That can't be gotten in as guy. We really struggle with balance if we're being real.
I say all that to say, we struggle with the idea like, oh, well, how can I be a father or a mother or a successful one at home? And I got to put my career first and I got to do that. And that's something like, what were we talking about? I was talking to somebody the other day.
If y'all, any of my sports fans out there, Skip Bayless is undisputed, comes on Fox. He started on first take with Stephen A. It was Stephen A Smith and him on ESPN, but now he's an FS1. That's what it is.
But Skip Bayless is, if you don't know, he's a sports, a famous sports analyst that comes on TV every day for like a sports talk show. And Skip is, I heard him talk about this some years ago. I guess there was a YouTube video or something floating around. I didn't even watch it.
But Skip is open about the fact that like he told his wife, I believe not in fairness to him. This ain't about bashing anybody. We don't do that on this show. It's just not, you don't have to bash people to make your point.
It's just not what I do. But in this particular situation, I'm just using him as an example. He openly told his wife, I believe before he got married that you will always be number two to my job. Like, you could never come before my job.
And now granted, Skip might be like seven years old. He looks grateful as age. I know he's in really amazing shape. But that's an interesting thing to think about, right?
Now again, this ain't about bashing Skip. This is just public information that's out there. I've heard him talk about it openly. But it does make me think like, wow, man, if that's the decision, I'm going to choose my wife every time.
Hopefully, like, Lord help me. You know what I'm saying? Because anybody could lose track. That's one thing about me.
I'm a realist. Like, I'm the kind of person that I don't try to hold myself in such high regard. Like, I could never know that well, you also don't make, you know, five million dollars a year or whatever. Skip might make more than that.
He makes a lot of money. So what am I saying is, in not in all fairness to him, I think he was saying that probably before the money was there. His point is that he's lived his life in that job and that job is his life. Now he found a wife that, I guess, understands that.
Again, not here to judge his situation or whatever, but just thinking through for myself and what I believe and what I aspire for is like a balance of, I believe we can move forward. We can be successful in life. We can be entrepreneurs and creatives and we can work in corporate America. I don't believe that it always has to be at the expense of the things that matter most.
You know what I'm saying? Like, when God created the heavens and earth, he created Adam, looked at Adam and said, no, that's not enough. He ain't say, I'm going to give you a job right now, even though he did put him to work. But my point was the job wasn't to help me.
Help me, help me. Always mix that up until I'm reading. It's calling to help me. You know what I'm saying?
Help me and meet me. Anyway, it's helped me. It is today. My point is like, I didn't see Adam and be like, oh, yeah, bro, I know how to complete you.
I'm going to give you a job. It's like working is important. Don't get me wrong. But as it relates to him looking and saying, oh, you need something, it was that woman.
Yeah, it was that woman. It was that man and that woman. That's what God did. You know what I'm saying?
And so I just look at it and I'm like, man, I want to prioritize the things that matter most. You know what I'm saying? Like, and again, that's a whole, that could be a whole different episode. I don't even know why I brought that up.
I shouldn't go down that path. That's a whole different path. But I guess my point is just as creatives, I want you all thinking, man, constantly about prioritizing. What do you give your time?
And you don't always have, you don't have to be afraid to give the things that matter your time. Because I think what happens is some of us feel like we have to be going 100 miles an hour, 100% of the time. And I've been talking about this lately. Direction is more important than speed.
You know, you don't always have to go fast. Sometimes it's just about going in the right direction. So anyway, I'll stop there. I'll stop there because I don't know what that's going.
And we got an amazing interview to get to. So why don't I even go that route? Listen, if you're not already subscribed to Inspire Guys, people, YouTube channel and just search Inspire Guys, people on YouTube or on Google and you can find us there. But look, on today's show, just like every other show, you can click the description of the show and you can find all the information you need from our guest, Shawnee Brannon, who's joining us today, going down to my music and my information.
Just click the description of the show, read through it and click links. You can email me all that type of stuff, gimmeowalsamusicagmail.com to share your thoughts. I am going to play a quick song. Y'all know how I do.
Sometimes it's 30 seconds, sometimes I line it, 30 seconds and make a mistake and play a music, a minute of a song. I can talk, but I'm going to find one of my songs, play a little bit of it because I want to share my music with you. That's why. Don't ask me why.
And you better not skip past it either. Listen to my music, man. I make this music. Me and Red put a lot of effort in this.
You know, people like Red, Darius, like, yo, these are people that have been a part of my music for a long time. So, man, my producer, Red, my brother, Darius, and producer, I'm going to try some mini singers, you know, mini artists, you know what I'm saying? But don't do me like that, Shawn. Don't skip past my music.
That's disrespect. If you want me to be real disrespectful, if you skip and pass my music, guys, see you. Okay, guys, see you. That's the episode today.
Take, if you're going to take anything away from this, take away the guys, see you skipping past stuff. Now, let's get into it. I don't know what I'm about to play, but what's going to happen is I'm going to stop recording for a second. I'm going to look at my laptop for a song.
I'm going to load it up and then you're going to hear me say, what do I say? When it's, you just heard whatever, whatever, and it's going to sound like I did it all at the same time. And it was probably five minutes in between. There you go with behind the scenes.
So, bye guys. That means you will be priced to the rescue in the time of me. It's strength made perfect. Good enough of me.
I know you good enough to know if you convinced with your mouth good enough. We all have to deal with some prison. That's good enough. I fail so many times.
Free to fail again. You just heard good enough by yours truly J will music again. You can find my music on Apple music Spotify. And anywhere else where music can be played, you can always just Google J will music.
That's J W I L M U S I C. It's all together. No spaces. One L and J will J will music.
And again, you can look in the link in the description of the show and just find my music that way. But that song was entitled Good Enough. I released that on a project right back in 2020 that I made that smack in the middle of the pandemic or the beginning of it, the beginning of the middle of the beginning. I can talk.
The project was entitled to whom it may inspire and good enough was one of the songs on that project. So if you want to hear the rest of that song, because I played about two minutes of it, you know, tell you 30 seconds, tell you a minute and then play a whole two minutes of the song. Well, without further ado, I think you listened to me talk long enough in my music and all the good things that I've just said today that you just love and want to email me and talk about where maybe you hated it and just wanted me to get to the point of the interview with Shawnee. Well, wait no further, but thank you for waiting this far.
Wait no further. But thank you for waiting this far. Anything could be a song I just want y'all to know that. Let's get into it.
Let me in a few of you. It's what we gonna do. You gonna talk to me and I'm gonna talk to you. Maybe on the phone book.
I'm just thinking person. You gonna wake it ghost me. Don't be talking purpose. Yo, guys, people, I am joined today in studio by Shawnee.
Ooh, wait a minute. You know what I should have did? We record now. I should have found out how to actually is it Brandon?
Brandon, yeah. You got it. Brandon, what's up Shawnee. How you feeling?
I'm feeling great. I'm glad to be a part. Thank you for joining the show today. For the listeners out there, I guess I'll start with this and get this out of the way because people know that Gabe is a friend of mine.
Gabe is a friend of the show. Gabe Parker hosts a Path of Revelation podcast. This is Gabe's sister. Shawnee, we can start off anything, any information or intel you want to give us on Gabe.
We will gladly receive it. You got any juicy stuff like was Gabe a bad kid or something or he just been praying and prophesying since he was two years old. Part of the problem is a parent never really whooped him because he was the youngest. He got the least amount of whoopings.
All of the other kids were the ones doing the chores. He didn't really have to do much of a chores. Funny thing is when he got married to Erica, by both of them being babies of the family, I was like, I don't know how they're going to live. Our first Thanksgiving with them, Mary, we were trying to go easy on them when we were sending out the text about what everybody should bring.
We said to them, just bring roles. Like, you know, in the Black family roles, you go about a two-dollar pack of rolls. He put them in the oven, heat them up. They came marching in that house.
This is probably themselves. Like, oh, we got the rolls pulled out of a can of biscuits from the Kroger bag. Not the Hawaiian rolls. They brought some.
A can of biscuits, still married biscuits. I said, oh, damn trouble. Man, trouble. Yeah, that's what we needed.
That's the energy we needed today, man. Gabe is bringing biscuits. You know what? I think, you know, Gabe is one of my good friends and this story right here has made, I've been knowing Gabe for 15, 16 years, longer than that.
And this story has made my entire friendship with him make sense. So thank you. I have a lot more grace and understanding for Gabe and his personality. No, that's dope.
Well, thank you for that. If nothing else, I'm just excited that you gave me that information. But today we're going to learn a little bit about you, Shoni. So, of course, me and you know, I really mostly, I know you because you're Gabe's sister, we've obviously came across paths in person a few times.
But I really enjoy following you on social media, which I actually believe it or not, I don't do a lot of scrolling on social media, probably on a couple of people post I look at. But you are an amazing storyteller, in my opinion, like, I don't know where you get that from. But you tell amazing stories like usually when I see a long post, I'm scrolling right by it. But when you have a long post, I'm like, all right, it's going to be something good in here.
So I guess as a starting point, you know, maybe you could tell us a little bit about yourself growing up or where did that ability to tell good stories come from for you. And is that something that you used to hearing? I'm sure I'm not the first person to say that. Yeah, like, I always heard it, but I think I really started hearing it when I started preaching.
And I didn't think it was like a gift or anything that like really talk about until I started preaching. And then I realized that my style was just different than like anybody else's. So I would tie in like stories. And then I realized like, oh, these are modern day caribels, you know, and I didn't, I guess I really didn't look at my writing as like a gift that God wanted to use until I started using it like therapeutically to where I felt alive when I would write.
And then when I saw the impact that it would have on people that it would like capture their attention and I could get hard truth to them, wrath and comedy or, you know, a lot of ironic situations. And then it was like, it was effective. And so I have people all the time now like, when you write, you know, when you write your stories and things like that. And so I've accepted that it's just my writing style that I'm a creative writer and that it's my way of communicating things to people.
I actually, as funny as it is, I used to, when I was really trying to get out of going off people. Okay, so this is funny. I didn't have it in between. I mean, it was either I'm not gonna say anything at all.
And I'm gonna let you add all these notches to the belt. And by the time you run out of notches, I'm gonna give it to you from zero to all of the notches you put in that belt. And so I said, I can't, this isn't working, because I'm not the type of person to just go off one person. I always want resolve.
But I realized like, when I get done lighting people up, they're so shocked, because I haven't said anything all the other times, that there's no resolve, because they're just like, Oh my God, like the same way you I can write good, I used to be able to very intellectually tell you off to the point that they're like, I don't ever want to talk to her again. So what I started doing when I would have to have hard conversations with people like I had a guy that I was really cool with in the music industry. And he wanted to do a group on a group, he wanted to do a female group with me and a group of young ladies and we were rehearsing and working together. And he did not like that we went and talked to another record executive.
And you know, we hadn't signed anything with him or anything like that, like he hadn't invested in us. And so we went and talked to another record executive. And he was so mad at Jermaine that he went off on us and was like, you know, he said he worked, cursed us basically and was like, you'll never be anything in this industry when I'm done with you. This is a Christian telling us this, by the way, he ain't like a, you know, secular, which I get best a secular game, but you're a whole Christian work person.
So he went off and I was so, I was so, so, so mad that I said, if I talk to him right now, I'm going to say some really bad things because at the time I had like dirt on him, really bad dirt that a lot of people didn't know about, but I knew about it. Like he had, I other the child, he wasn't taking care of all his secret stuff. And I was just like, I would never bring that up to him because that's really personal. And so I said, if I get in the conversation and he starts putting matches in this belt, I know it's going to come out.
So when I did, I sat down and wrote him an email and I took my time. And when I sent him that email, he actually called me and said, I am going to keep this email and I'm going to look at it every day over the next year because I have never had anybody tell me about myself in such a way. Like it, and I sat there and said, Oh my God. And he said, I'm going to look at this every day.
And so it was kind of confirmation for me that I was a better, not necessarily writer than a verbalizer. But when you, when people have to sit and read something, they can always go back and reference it and they take it in different than when you just say it. It's almost the word slowly settle into that soil. And they have to sit, it's like words leave off a page and the true pitch you so hard.
And so I started to notice like, yeah, I'm a better writer and I've had to write a few people very hard letters and they all come back and say, I've never had anybody tell me this like in this way, because I don't believe in going off to just go off. I used to do that when I was very immature in my faith, young, you know, you're hot headed when you're young and but now I want resolve. And so I feel like writing helps to bring things. I'm really a good communicator in my writing.
Yeah. I love that. Number one, like it makes me think like when you talk about how you had to almost write to protect yourself from a flaw. You know what I'm saying?
Of like, it's interesting to me how God will give us a gift. It's like a tool that you can use instead of like the sinful side. Like, Oh, I want to go off and God is like, no, but like I gave you this. So that's real, that's real dope.
And it's not hard for me to believe having read a lot of your Facebook post about your family and your kids. I also think it's pretty amazing. Like going through the process of life when you start realizing that you have these these gifts were that they're gifts and you probably were already using them. Like, I'm imagining that you had to have been writing as a kid, like, and maybe just not recognizing it as a gift.
But were you like early on, were you exercising that gift, you know, whether it be in school or church or anything like that or no? Yeah, I actually was. So as a kid, um, Gabriel was the surprise baby. That's part of his problem.
He wasn't planned. He was right. Got got planned. But we had to come in on the surprise the whole family.
So for a while, I was the middle child. So I had a sister older than me, who I would play with. But then when she got to a certain age, she didn't want to, you know, play imaginative games and things like that with anything with me anymore. And then I had a brother under me who I played with all the time.
But you know, I aged to a certain point that I didn't want to play boy games and like be a tomboy and stuff like that anymore. So I would do I was the child who was fine, like playing by myself. And I was very imaginative. And I would actually get a lot of books from my sister when she was done reading them.
So I would get books and read them and I always liked, just reading stories and different things like that. Like I really loved it. But I didn't really start writing. I didn't the first time that I really wrote something and it flowed from my gift that I can remember was my mom asked me to write some article for a newsletter she was starting.
And I think I was like in my early twenties, maybe like 22 something like that. And she asked me to write an article. And when I wrote the article, I read it to my husband who I was dating. And he, the way he was looking at me, he said, this sounds like something so perfect.
Like when I read it to him, I knew I knew in that moment it was like a light bulb. Yeah, went off like, Oh my God, like this is good. Yeah. And I was a man discovery for me because up until that point, I would just write for like school and stuff and I love English.
And but I nobody had ever affirmed, like you're an incredible writer, you know, nobody had ever affirmed that in me. And so I just remember, I believe everybody has got moments where God lets you in on something he's putting you that you thought was just you the whole time and you thought was just something you enjoyed doing. And then in that moment, he breathes on it and you see like, I feel alive, like this is God or this is this is a gift. This isn't just me.
And in that moment, I knew like, I'm really gifted to write like this isn't just something I enjoy doing. Yeah, I love that everybody has got moments. And you know, like, and the best part about it is that that that type of stuff doesn't happen once, you know what I mean? Like you like you said, sometimes you like, and that's where I think we don't realize the part we can play with like people sometimes need to hear an honest, like just honest feedback.
That's why I try my best to actually give compliments. And it could be a tough thing these days, like in this day and age, like people look at you crazy for giving a compliment sometimes. But like, I try to compliment when I see like when somebody did good, like just simply like, Hey, I enjoyed that like I was dealt because there have been times in my life where someone just simply said something to me. And like you said, especially when it's written like an email or something, even a small compliment.
I've received emails about this show that like you said, you could go back and read it a few times like what you think. Like, wow, for real, like me, this. So I love, I love that idea of God moment. So you mentioned your husband, I do before we like start talking about some of the things you're doing, your blog and with the 365 prayer project.
I want to hear just a little bit about life at home. You know, I mean, you mentioned your husband, tell us a little bit about your husband and your children, you know, how it is being a mom, a wife, and doing the things that you're doing, you know, kind of also as relates to, you know, in ministry. Well, my husband is a pastor and I pastor alongside him. And I will be honest and saying to me, like, I did not want to be a pastor.
I did not like I was just like, we can go evangelize and then just go to church. Like, you know, I just really did not want to be a pastor because of the amount of responsibility. And I just, I think my perspective of it was a very religious perspective at the time. And I just remember when we were initially holding like worship services and stuff, my husband came to me one day and was just like, it's time for us to start the church.
And I said, why would you go ruin our lives like this? Like, why would you do this? Why would you be turning into a church? And so I was just really just pushing back for a while.
And I remember one day in prayer, I was praying and just on a completely different topic. And the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, stop resisting me. And when he said that, in that moment, when he said it, it was like, I had to download of exactly what he was talking about. And I knew that God was like, yeah, you know, like this is me.
And so we've been pastors now the last 12 years. We have two little girls and I will tell you, it is really a full time job being a mom, a wife, working full time, I work full time in corporate America and being a pastor and, you know, pursuing my my side dreams and gifts and things such as blogging and expanding a brand that centered around everything that sent my heart. And so for a while, I laid low when my kids were small. And then I went through some seasons where I really had to heal from disappointment and unbelief and laid low for a whole lot of years, not just because I'm raising my kids, but Jermaine, I was really battling some things internally.
Disappointment and regret, I believe cripples more people than condemnation because people say all this condemnation. But I believe regret is a slow poison that cripples people. And then when they don't have answers from God, instead of living in mystery and allowing the process to shape them in a way to where their belief can emerge in truth, they give up, they stay and regret. And God had to allow me to go through a process where he healed my disappointment in order for me to start writing.
I had got severance from a job that I was at for 13 years, and at the time I was five months pregnant with our second child. So I wasn't going to go looking for another job. People will not tell you that they're not hiring you because you're pregnant, but I worked in HR at one point. They're not hiring you because you're pregnant.
They know you're going to just be right back out with a baby. And a lot of women don't come back from maternity leave. They just end up falling in love with their kids and they never come back. But I was off of work for a year and a half.
And I was sitting down and trying to write. I would put the kids to bed and sit down at night and try to write. And I would sit at the computer and it could only get out like one or two sentences because all of these thoughts would hit me so hard. Like a lot of internal unbelief, a lot of self-criticism.
And I just was like, oh my God. And so four year and a half off work just at home, could not write, fighting a lot of different things. And then I embraced a season of healing where I partnered with God to work through a lot of the things that I was feeling and received truth. And I ended up back working the busiest I've ever been no time.
And when I sat down at the computer, I wrote my first book in like three months. So after I got around myself and around a lot of the things I needed to deal with with God at the most inconvenient time where you have no free time. That is when my creativity flowed and I wrote the first book. And so being at home and being like busy where people say, you know, I don't have time.
I don't like when it's your passion and when you have a clear sense of God pushing you, you find time. Even if it's just, you know, 30 minutes, 45 minutes for you to pursue what God has put in your heart. When you are being fed healing and a wholesome perspective from the Holy Spirit, it makes it possible where you wouldn't be able to do it in your own strength. Yeah.
And like the thing about that too, like you talk about how disappointment and regret our slow poison. I was just like, it makes me think like when we say we don't have time, like the same amount of time passing by regardless, you know what I'm saying? Like if I sit around right now for an hour, that's 60 minutes no matter how I slice it. But it's really about like, so I could spend this 60 minutes kind of like, what was me being disappointed thinking about things or you can also spend that 60 minutes being productive.
But you talked about like the necessary part of the process of, you know, kind of going through the healing and going through those steps with the Lord. Like wherever he takes you to get there, like I was reading through, I've been reading through the book of Jonah and not that like, that's not a, you know, a lot to read, but I've been reading it again and again. And one of the interesting things in chapter two, I believe in the book of Jonah is like, I found it interesting when he described like his journey down drowning is like he actually poetically describes what that experience was like, even before being swallowed by the fish. And like a lot of times I think when we read the Bible and things like that, even when we're teaching, we're like jumping to like the big moments and we're skipping over like some of the process.
Like it's like, man, I was just reading like, dang, like that's crazy. Like how he's just eloquently describing the experience of drowning. And it let me know the importance of that part of the process that that also was part of, you know, his experience. So I love that you kind of pointed that out like just, you know, how disappointed, disappointment and regret can kind of eat at us like that.
So what would you say like just as a side, this is a super sidebar. But like, because I'm like, like, I asked myself like, why? Like, what would you say is like the primary reasons or things that stop us from making, taking those steps to like get better? Like, if I'm somebody right now and I'm listening, I'm like, all right, that's me, I'm disappointed.
And I'm in regret. And I know it, but I'm not taking the steps like, why do you think people struggle to take that first step beyond disappointment and regret? I believe I'm believed like, for me, it was unbelief. There's this voice that says, you're gonna do all of this and it's gonna be for another, you're gonna take this step and it ain't gonna go nowhere or you're gonna do that.
And there's not gonna be any fruit or this isn't gonna happen because ultimately any steps that we're taking, we have a finished product in mind, like we have a vision for what we want to see. And that vision seems so far from the step you're at. That's why God encourages us to write the vision. And then when he's saying, make a plane, he's the plane part is the plan and the steps.
And he's saying so that when you read it, you'll run. And so we're all the idea of running can be exhausting. The idea I'm gonna run and I'm still not gonna get there. I'm gonna take the steps, but I got 15 more to go.
And so there's a voice even when people procrastinate, procrastination is unbelief. Like all of it boils now to what you believe is gonna come from the steps that you're taking. And for me, my Achilles heel was just unbelief. Like I just really felt like I'm gonna do all of this and it's not gonna go anywhere.
I'm gonna do this and this is not gonna happen. And I had not yet wrapped my mind around time and seasons. Like there is a time that God has designated for our purpose and our plan for the maximum impact. And even Jesus was here on earth as long as he was, but only had three years of maximum impact.
Does that mean that the other 30 years didn't mean anything? All of that was leading up to the moment that God determined this is when you're gonna have maximum impact because this is when I've designated for you to be a part of a bigger plan to bring all of humanity into a life of freedom. And so for us, if we don't have an understanding of time and season that God is prepping us for the time that we're gonna have maximum impact, the most impact. And for me, I felt like if I'm not seeing it right now, like if I'm not seeing any fruit or benefit from what I'm doing right now, it feels like it's for nothing.
And the reality is I had to learn how to partner with God to be content with whatever results was coming from what I was doing. I had such a big picture idea of what I wanted to see and God had, you know, kind of lured me in with giving me dreams and visions. Like I would have these dreams and visions of what God was putting before me. I felt like it was him dangling a carrot like, oh, you see this?
This is what it's gonna be. And then when I would take steps to do certain things and it wasn't that I felt like, I feel like I'm feeling. And I think a lot of people feel like they're failing if whatever steps they're taking does not result in this big vision, but they don't realize those steps and even those results that they're getting is part of the big vision. And so all of the side comparison and looking at other people and feeling rejection as a creative and you're creative.
So you know that when you create, you're not just creating for yourself, but you're creating for consumption. So what if you said and you did your podcast and when you played your podcast and you looked and saw no viewers or, you know, no one interested, you would feel tempted to feel like, man, you know, I'm putting all of my creativity in here and it's being rejected. And so I had to learn not to, I had to learn first of all how to deal with rejection and when I perceived this rejection, I had to learn how to be content. Like all of this healthy identity with God is a huge part of you producing anything or taking a steps.
I mean, if any part of it is people focused in an unhealthy way, you're never going to take the steps because there's always going to be perceived rejection that may not actually be rejection. So I had a lot of layers that I had to deal with internally in order to be able to produce as a creative. Yeah, I like that. Like you said a couple things that are super dope to me, but crass, procrastination, I can talk procrastination is unbelief.
Like that's just, that's a dope way to think about procrastination because it is literally you trying to save face. Like, well, you almost trying to like visualize the ending before you start to beginning. All right, let me see, is this going to work? I ain't going to do it.
And in that procrastination, it's you're waiting, you're pushing it off because you haven't been convinced that it's actually what you need to do. And before you look up, you don't even you don't even do it. Ultimately procrastination minimizes impact. Like you talked about maximum impact.
And to me that is like that is like a God moment. Like sometimes like, you know, that idea of got these God moments, I think what can happen sometimes like you talked about, you know, being a creative and wanting to responses and things like that and how you can get discouraged. But I think what happens is we paying attention to the wrong moments, like the God moments, like you said, are sometimes the things that lead up to the big thing. And we think the big thing is the guy moment, but the big thing is the result of all the guy moments.
So it's like, hey, I've spent all this time with God, I've done this. That might take years of you doing the right thing. And we're missing the God moment when we're trying to get to like, we're trying to get to the result. And I genuinely think like just reshifting our focus to God moments.
And I'll give a transparent like example, because you talked about like the show and listeners and things like that. I'm gonna tell you something. And my listeners noticed like, man, I ain't never been really good at YouTube. I've marketed some things and done pretty well.
Like, I mean, at one point, my Twitter, when Twitter was really going, I had over 13,000 followers and, you know, over 10,000 over here, all that stuff, YouTube, I have never successfully like created a YouTube channel that like I've done stuff that was okay. But I mean, like something that was really successful. And right now, like inspire guys, people, YouTube, I think we have to 125 subscribers on the YouTube. And like the podcast primarily has been audio through the years.
And that does really well. But I'm like, man, I really want to go video with some content. And I like, I'm just saying this to be transparent. Like, I have to focus on the God moments when it comes to like video, because it's not my favorite thing to do.
And I don't really see I'm like, is this I don't want to waste the time. But like, you're saying I'm trying to see the God moment in it. And like, even the people who like I get happy when I get 20 views now and a couple comments, because the people who are commenting are enjoying it. And my whole point with saying all that is that in order for me to keep doing and producing this content for videos, I cannot focus on the results because they aren't amazing.
I have to focus on the God moments and the people who are responding. So I think that was big, you know, just saying that focus in the God moments. Yeah, absolutely. With that said, let's let's talk a little bit about, you know, your website is PrayersandPunchlines.com.
And for people listening, like all of your contact information will be in the description of the show. So if you want to reach out to Shawnee, please check out her website. She's on Instagram at ShawneeBranny. But PrayersandPunchlines.com, you can find all of those links there.
So let's talk a little bit about your website, your blog. And then I definitely want to hear about the 365 prayer project. So kind of where this PrayersandPunchlines, where did that come from? I love the way that sounds, by the way.
So it's all of my stories and body like God and wisdom, even if it's it's mass or it's hidden and it's not overt, but there's always punch lines like there's always a a ironic moment or something crazy that's happened like always tight in with comedy or a conclusion or something that you can take away from it. And so yeah, like when I started the blog, I said, what can I name this that will kind of show my creative writing style? And so that's where that name came from. Prayers and punch lines.
I love that. So so you have the blog, you know, tell us just really quickly, like what type of things are you sharing in the blog? Like I said, anybody out there listening, I can tell you just from her Facebook post, her kids are interested in her stories about her husband and you got some interesting stories. You talk a little bit sometimes about I think something recently, one of your daughters, did she say she since we were pastors?
Like did she include herself in the event? Yes, I had to stop her from telling people at the church. Like it was one lady on the post, they said, yeah, she's been telling me when she was five that her parents are the bosses of the church. So she's the boss of the church too.
And she would be dead serious. Like, yeah, we're all pastors. You're not pastors. That's embarrassing.
Yeah, she thinks she's a pastor. She does. Yeah, I've seen her. This must have been, this was before the pandemic.
And I want to say what was this? My brother, Darius had a, um, yeah, Darius had a basketball game with like a musician's and Gail, your husband played in it. And one of your daughters, one that they had a little halftime dance contest. And I think she won a bike.
Yeah, like energetic, interesting, outgoing kids. So that's pretty cool. But you know, I'm assuming you talking about your family in the blog, what other type of things were people finding the prayers and punch lines blog? Well, this year, I'm actually doing expanding it into fashion.
And I'm doing fashion features every month. And I really am glad to talk about this. Because I really want to explain something. Being a pastor's wife and being like a Christian woman and a minister.
Um, one of the reasons I didn't want to necessarily pastors, I didn't want to be put in this box. And I had worked so hard to come into a sense of self, um, health as far as how I saw myself in self-esteem and security. I did not want to have to fake and play any role to pastor or be a woman in ministry. And so, um, part of that comes when people find out you're a pastor or you're a minister, they put you in this box and I've had people flat out telling me like, you don't seem like a pastor's wife.
And they're, and, and, and let me just say they're always black. Like the African American community has an idea of what a first lady or pastor's wife should be. And so because I'm kind of like, things are emerging now where there's more of like, um, freedom and there's not a legalism as much, but I was just kind of always viewed differently as far as like people are very selfish. So they don't look at the way you dress and how you talk and your comical.
And you know, I'm not hiding behind it, but my husband. And so people had this idea of how I should be. And I said, I told God, like, I just, I really have to be myself, you know. And so, what I, the reason I started doing the fashion portion is because we had a lot of young women coming to our church.
And even though I may have been 10, 15, 20 years younger, older than them, they, a lot of them viewed me as a peer. And so I would say, I would have to go to like, some of the older women in the church and say, I need you to talk to so and so, because she's basically butt naked, like she is up in the church. You could see bonds and everything else. And I would be like, I used to feel like it would come easier from a mother figure.
Since y'all see me as a peer, if I come and tell you, Hey, girl, listen, you can't come to church, which I'm on out like you can't do that. I'm gonna be a hater because now I'm a peer. So she hate, I look good. She hate, you know, she don't want her husband looking at me or whatever.
And so, I said, I feel like, you know, I can be critical of how young women are dressing in the church or whatever else or I can give them an example. And so what I started to do, because I would always have people say, I would never put that together, like it would be like a crop top. And I would find a way to wear a crop top to where you still get the effect of a crop top. But I'm not showing my stomach.
I'm not, I'm not just out here advertising the wrong thing. And it would be trendy. And it would still be modest. And so I said, either I can be critical that they're following the mag de salience or whoever else or I can give them an alternative.
And so I started taking pictures, like when I would get dressed themselves and I would take pictures and what ended up happening is a lot of the young ladies would like, Oh my God, this is great. But then there would be criticism Jermaine where people would be like, I don't feel like, you know, she just they would misunderstand why I was doing it. You know, I don't feel like church is a fashion show. Why she got to be done?
Like, I got criticism for it. But no one ever, you know, stop to say, well, why is she doing it? And that's honestly why I started fashion blogging, because I wanted to show what it looked like to be a woman of faith is still trendy, but that knows how to represent my faith and my figure the right way. Like, you know, I've been everything from a size six to a size 16.
After after I had my kids, I was 45 pounds heavier than my normal bill. And I'm five too. So Jermaine, this meat was going sideways. It way didn't have it didn't have a vertical reach.
This was a nail cutter, sideways horizontal meat. Okay, so so I said, listen, I'm gonna show you how to dress for whatever size you're at. If you small and petite, I got something for you. And if you're plus size, but one thing you're not gonna ever do is look at me and say, she looked terrible, you know, because I knew how to dress for my size.
And so there's a method to why I do everything I do on a blog. Like right now I'm working on 28 looks for Black History Month showing all different ways to wear African print in a modern way. So I'm really just trying to expand and give people a broad example of what it means to really love God, but to do it like in a way where you're not weird. Like, you know what?
And that's what I'm gonna be real like that's even just at a, there ain't like me and you know each other that will just even on the surface level, social media coming on the post and laugh perspective. That's why I can rock with you. Because I'm gonna be honest, Johnny, like to me, this stuff ain't that deep from this perspective. It's not that deep to be normal.
Like me and you have this in common where like I don't like being associated with like ministry from the perspective of like being in a box. Like I have a saying where I say God is the box because I think it's a tough, it's a it's like such a tough line because on one hand what ends up happening, I'll stay on the fashion front, right? You'll have people who are so like traditional or legalistic that they are like creating all these like self made rules around fashion. And like, whoa, like whoever said I couldn't wear J's like just they just J's like I don't know, right?
But then it's kind of it's such a tough thing because to your point like you were talking about with the young ladies, then you're also trying to show the other side like no, I don't mean just no, like I don't mean just take it off. Like it seems like people live at extremes and like people more and more are struggling just to be people like, yeah, yeah, I'm just a person, bro. Like yeah, so sometimes it's gonna be a joke in there. Sometimes we gonna have some fun, but I'm also not trying to like go so far left that it gets weird.
So that's why I rock with you personally is because I think you're just normal, but in a normal for the productivity of Christianity. And so when you talk about that fashion blog, I do think it's important that people understand because I've seen that in church myself where these young girls are coming in here and they don't know how to dress and you have sometimes the church mothers that get real mad and want to just like send them to hell day one. I'm like, well, man, like Ray Hab would have never made it. Yeah.
People people would never be able to be saved if we send them to hell before they like even come into church. But on the flip side, then you have churches that just want to allow anything and that's not productive. So I love the fact that balance, balance is really what it is. Absolutely.
All right. So last name before we get out of here, I want to hear about the 365 prayer project on this commitment to prayer and journaling with God. Now, like again, we talked a lot today about like storytelling and like that natural gift that God has used, used with you. And so I'm curious what sparked the idea for the 365 prayer project.
How can people get involved? What is the end goal? Can you talk about that a little bit? Sure.
And so I really felt in 2019, before the pandemic started, I felt led to teach on the Holy Spirit. And so I taught our church on the Holy Spirit for four weeks straight right at the end of that series, the pandemic happened and everybody was at home. And so I knew then like, man, God was trying to prep us. And so as time has gone on, I started filming like man, I need to write another book because it's been, you know, four years since my last book and I was like, man, you know, God, what do you want me to write on?
So I just was thinking like what right about, you know, put all the stories in my family in a book or what do you, and I felt led one day like I want you to write a prayer journal. So I sat down and mapped out, you know, a structure for how I wanted to do it. And as I started doing it, it just grew legs. So I think sometimes people think I'm way more planned than I am.
And I am very regimented and structured. But when I'm doing anything creatively, as I build more vision comes, and I think people feel like they have to have the whole vision before they do anything. But sometimes as you obey God adds layers to it and you sit back and say, I never would have even thought I wouldn't even done it that way. And so as I wrote the prayer journal, the 365 prayer project is a year of consistent prayer and journaling where you're like logging any conversations or impressions that you have over that year, it's a way for you to track how your relationship with God has developed.
And so you can start at any random point in your life, you know, some random day, March the 13th and start March the 13th and go March the 13th to the next year. But you're making a commitment to pray and be in fellowship with God every day. And the first part of the prayer journal is actually a book where I lay down a foundation for prayer, like it's four chapters where really brings such a clarity to what prayer is because I found your main like people, they've been in charge, some of them their whole life, and they still don't know how to hold a conversation with God because they're looking through leadership. So how they see leadership, they're like, I don't pray like that.
So they're turned off from praying and then especially when they don't hear anything back from God, they feel like this is crazy. I'm in here talking to myself, like there's a lot of different thoughts that people have that prevent them from building a strong prayer life. And so I said, let me give them a foundation for what prayer is or isn't, how simple it is, and then give them a tool to where they can go a whole year praying with God and tracking their progress. And then after I wrote the journal, God said, I want you to go on a year journey with everyone.
So we built the 365 prayer project community where people can subscribe and join for help, accountability, going a whole year, praying and journaling. I did YouTube videos to support the chapters to kind of expound like, I'm really, I did it to partner with God. Like I love people and I knew that there was a deficit in Christians that really have a strong prayer life, but I was really responding to the heart of God. Like I felt like I was like, do your part to bridge the gap between me and people because they think I don't want to talk to them.
And as I responded, like all of the testimonies that have come in and people, it's funny, Jermaine, in all honesty, and this is somebody can say, now you're taken away from your product by saying this, but this is the truth. Anybody can get a blank, a blank notebook that has no writing in it and make that a 365 day prayer journal. That's all they need is blank pages. But I feel like when people invest in something, you go and spend your money and buy this and then you find out there's a community of people doing this with you, it's like a tool that they take serious because it's something they've invested in.
And people are literally like, when they, people came back and said, I read the chapters on prayer like, and what this did for me, like what it changed my perspective on what prayer is or how simple it is. And I told my journey about how I developed my prayer life. And so it really brought into perspective, like, there's so many people doing this together that they're trying to grow and they're using this tool as a way for them to look back in 365 days and read almost like their own Bible of development in their journey with the Lord. And so it's been really cool.
Just knowing that I did something where I partnered with God and what he wanted. You know what I like about that is earlier, you mentioned like just the power you talked about the email that you wrote and you were in the guy said that he was going to go back and read it every day for a year. Right. And so I like to look at like how God uses like things to come full circle.
So now right through the 365 prayer project, you're actually able to share your gift of creative writing, but share it in a way where you're welcoming other people to do it like, hey, journal with God. And then to your point earlier where you say there's something different when you can go back and read it. And now it's almost like you wrote an email to that guy that he could read every day. Now we're like almost writing that letter that impactful letter every day for ourselves to go back and read.
So I think that's just a cool way of like bringing your creative, you know, creative writing gift, you know, kind of full circle. So definitely how can people is that through prayers and punch lines.com? I know there's a link for 365 prayer project, but how can people like become a part of the community and check it out? If they want to purchase the book, it's available on Amazon.
It's available on shawneybranding.com and prayers and punch lines and shawneybranding.com are connected. So either one you go to, it's going to take you to my website, the 365 prayer project, they can subscribe on there where they'll get the emails, build an encouragement. The YouTube channel has the videos on there. And so it's really a way for them to join a community where they're hearing the testimonies and getting any help or guidance.
Like I said, the way that God does need is that as I obey, he adds to it. So there may be more layers coming to this that if you're a part, you get to benefit from everything that God is doing. Like when he's sharing his heart and you know, I don't know where all of it is going. I just know right now I'm focused on this commitment to go a whole year with everyone and just really provide them with the support they need to continue building with God.
Yeah, it's like you leave a room for the God moments. It's like you're leaving room for God to come in and like lead and guide and say, okay, that was this. Like, and again, you talked earlier about the importance of understanding time and season. And I think that sometimes we hold on for stuff for so long.
Sometimes it's like we don't always realize the importance of doing what God has called us to do in the time and season that he wants us to do it in. Because honestly, look, that four weeks that you spent teaching on the Holy Spirit leading into the pandemic, imagine if you would have procrastinated, right? And wait it and not not you can't redo that. Like, you know, like what, and people don't understand that like whatever those people needed going into that and people been at home and church and life have been so different the last two years that this is also a way that people can be engaged and we can have fellowship because we like community.
I think this is where like the just the practical real side of me comes in is like, let's just stop being so deep. Like, look, as human beings, how can I prove that we like community? Okay. Everybody why people in gangs?
You know what I'm saying? Yeah, we're gonna find a way you either gonna go to a church like, oh, I don't believe in God. I don't want to go to the church. You go join something else like not many people just don't like leave it all and like, all right, I don't believe in that.
I ain't a part of nothing. It's like, no, you just find something else a different color a different, I have to put on a different logo. So Shawnee, I'm gonna give you the last word. This has been amazing.
I definitely appreciate you coming on the show today. And I want to give you the last word just what would you say to people, you know, to inspire and encourage them, you know, versus me having the last word they get tired of hearing me, you know, so it's like, I'm like, I know they get tired of hearing me talks. It's like, let me let somebody else had a last word and close us out today. Well, I to everybody listening, if there's anything that I would emphasize over and over again, it's the development of your prayer life, even those that maybe say I'm a prayer like, it's good.
Me and God is good. Like, I hear him. He hear me. We good.
There is no ceiling. And so you're constantly growing in how God speaks to you, how He deals with you and anything that you're pursuing in life, absent of the gift of the Holy Spirit inside of you. Like, He literally gave us a gift that He said, well, not only leading guide us into all truth, like all truth, but that He would literally go before us and that it's the spirit of God searching the heart and intention of God. Like, what kind of crazy gift is that that searches God's heart and intention for you, then comes to you and says, let me lead and guide you into the truth that matches God's heart and intention for you.
Like, there's no other gift available that you can even buy that gives you the edge over everything else. And so, if you are a believer and you're saying, I don't have active interaction with God's spirit that's inside of me, that's what you need to be pursuing because everything else that you're doing in life can be a gamble. But when you have the Holy Spirit, like leading you, there's no gamble there. It's guaranteed success, even if success looks like failure to you.
His ways are like so incredible. And so, I just want to challenge you, all of the listeners to really ask God to put you in a place in your life and your walk with him where you're actively listening to and entertaining the gift of the Holy Spirit inside of you because it's an absolute game changer. I mean, I have stories and stories and stories, but it's a gift given to us for free that most people are not using. And so, that's just my encouragement to you to really ask God to highlight that gift, to bring it to life inside of you to change your life completely.
Hey, man, so that Shawnee, thank you so much. I'm gonna let you get back to your family. Thank you for staying with us alone, kids, and probably messing up if you're not watching them. I look forward to the Facebook post if they did something crazy, but having an amazing night.
And yeah, thanks again, and keep in touch. For sure. Thank you for having me. All right.
See you.