Candace Nassar (00:00.664)
Well, welcome, MomQ family. Today, I have the privilege of talking with Gina Clemenson, a pastor’s wife, an English teacher, and mom of three. Gina is a mature woman of faith who exhibits peace and confidence in the Lord no matter what is going on in her life. Recently, I heard her described as a person who emanates pure joy to those around her, and I completely agree.
As I’ve gotten to know her over the past couple years, I’m always inspired when we’re able to catch a moment together. She lives to serve and love others and share the good news of Jesus Christ with those who don’t know his saving grace. I know she’s going to inspire you as well, and I’m excited for her to share her story with you. So welcome, Gina.
Gina Cleminson (00:49.639)
Thank you. Thank you so much, Candace. It’s such a joy to be here.
Candace Nassar (00:54.336)
We are just so pleased to have you. So before we get started, we’re talking about faith versus fear. How about you tell us a little bit about your family and your background? I know you’ve been in ministry a long time.
Gina Cleminson (01:01.724)
Mm-hmm.
Gina Cleminson (01:08.557)
Okay, well, I was born in England and immigrated to the US when I was in elementary school. And I was not raised in a Christian home. I came to know the Lord in college. And there was actually a cute boy and he loved Jesus. And I thought, well, if he’s into God, I’m going to be into God. And I went out and bought myself a Bible. And I was blessed to be in a strong Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church.
There was a couple that the Lord brought into my life, the Sultan-Meyers, who discipled me. They’re about 15 years ahead of me. And they discipled me and showed me what it looks like to walk with Jesus. And then I met my husband of 23 years. I wanted to recruit for a summer ministry, kind of like Young Life Wilderness Camp that I was involved with in Colorado. And I wanted to recruit college students. This Bill Clemson guy had the biggest Bible study on campus with hundreds of students there every week. So I thought, well, I’ll ask him, maybe he’ll let me make an announcement. And the rest is history. We’ve been in ministry together since then.
Candace Nassar (02:20.46)
That’s so great. I was wondering about that story, so I’m really glad that you shared that with us. So you went to college in Colorado?
Gina Cleminson (02:28.473)
No, I went to college in Texas. That I got called to a ministry in Colorado is definitely “God equipping the call, not calling the equipped”. I was a backcountry guide and we would take groups of high school students, youth groups, out on the trail and we had a three-man guide team and a topographical map. They would drop us off and pick us up on the other side of that mountain range in a few days. But it was incredible because, beyond being starving and exhausted, the kids would really open up and share about where they were and what their relationship with the Lord was or wasn’t. And so we called them “cradles”, a time to share your story. And we saw so many kids come to faith in Christ through that experience. But I wanted to recruit others. So that’s how I ended up connecting with Bill.
Candace Nassar (03:20.462)
Nice.
Very good, love that. Okay, so we’re gonna talk a little bit about the things that we fear before we get into how our faith overcomes, helps us overcome our fear. So why don’t you tell us if you get fearful and what causes you fear.
Gina Cleminson (03:41.601)
I definitely experience fear. I’d be shocked if someone said she didn’t experience fear at some point. And I started listing things that make me feel the emotions of fear. And I thought, “Well, you know, finances. Are our ends going to meet? Is it going to be enough? My family or the kids, are they going to be OK?”
Do I get to go out on a date with my husband this week, this month, this year? The future, what’s going to happen? What’s to come? Or failure, I am, it’s basically all the F’s it feels like. When I’m given something, I want to do it really well and I don’t want to fail at it. And for me, the longest time flying was like white knuckle fear. So I started thinking about what, really, is fear. It’s not just feeling scared and we’re in October, it’s a spooky season. But I looked up a definition of fear and the Oxford dictionary says it’s an unpleasant emotion, (testify) an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain or a threat.
Candace Nassar (05:06.894)
Hmm.
Gina Cleminson (05:07.907)
When those emotions of fear well up, ultimately we’re feeling threatened. And why do we feel threatened? Fear is not just feeling scared. It’s truly a belief about God that is wrong. That when we feel afraid, when we, I’m not talking about a jump scare, but when we feel terrified, afraid, it’s typically because we don’t believe in God’s greatness and we don’t believe in his goodness. He’s not big enough. He’s not strong enough to overcome whatever the situation or experience or emotion is, or He’s not really good. Maybe He’s good in general, but He’s not good to me. And that’s a wrong belief. But I still feel fear.
Candace Nassar (05:46.328)
Mm.
Gina Cleminson (06:07.429)
I still struggle with it.
Candace Nassar (06:09.923)
I love that-the F’s, and even flying. I’m sure that most of our listeners can really relate to those. Those are the big ones, and I have the same fears honestly. So, how then does your faith help you overcome those fears?
Gina Cleminson (06:12.093)
Yes. Yes.
Gina Cleminson (06:34.405)
Yeah, that’s so good. I feel like faith is not something that I need to have in my tool belt that I can pull out to quash fear, but it’s something that God wants to replace that fear. Because if it’s really a wrong view of Him, is He strong enough? Is He good enough? Is He mighty? Will He be good to me? If I can replace that
Candace Nassar (06:50.766)
Mmm.
Gina Cleminson (07:03.719)
fear with faith, that changes the whole game. So I looked up faith too, because I’m a nerd and I’m an English teacher. And so I like to see what the Oxford dictionary has to say. And it says that faith is complete trust or confidence in someone or something. You can’t have a little bit of complete trust. You can’t muster up complete confidence. So I’m like, okay, what does that look like? So my fear of flying, I used to be terrified of flying. Not just the heights, it’s the falling from, it’s the plummeting from the heights that would get me. So I would be white-knuckled. Poor Bill. His hand would just be white. My fingers were crushing him.
Any turbulence was like the end was coming. And I would look down the tunnel of the airplane and think, why is no one else panicking? Y’all, this bus is going down. Why are you not freaked out? And I was really afraid. And then one time when one of our kids was really young, toddler, I got on the plane.
I had a completely different experience. I still had to be brave facing that fear of flying. We had to get on the plane and go. But as I reached for my son, I noticed something. He didn’t look wild-eyed when I reached and picked him up when he was reaching for me. He didn’t jolt at all. He didn’t cling to me when I picked him up and thought, “My gosh, I hope she doesn’t drop me.” And then breathe a sigh of relief when I put him back down. It couldn’t have been more different. And I had this epiphanic moment of realizing he’s not sitting there rigidly scared because he’s been lifted up and put down. And here I am on this airplane.
Gina Cleminson (09:31.829)
It is just as easy for me to lift up, lovingly place down my child as it is for the God of the universe to pick up this plane and place it down. He’s capable of that. He’s mighty, He’s strong, and He’s good. So that faith, realizing in that moment, this is who God is.
Candace Nassar (09:45.902)
Hmm.
Candace Nassar (09:54.668)
Wow.
Gina Cleminson (10:01.435)
What overcomes fear? So I started looking in the Bible. In Matthew, there are all kinds of talk about faith. And you’ve got great faith and little faith and small faith and childlike faith. So what is this faith that I want to take hold of, that I want to take hold of me, this reality that God is mighty and He’s good, the truth?
What does that look like? So I started reading through Matthew, Matthew chapter eight. You have this military guy, the centurion is what they were called. And he comes to Jesus and Jesus is there with his disciples. They’re healing people, miracles are happening. And the centurion comes to him and says, my servant, he’s really sick, he’s in pain, he’s in agony.
And Jesus says, do you want me to come heal him? And the centurion says, “No, you just say the word. And I know that my servant will be healed.” And the scripture says in Matthew eight, 10, Jesus was amazed. And he says that in all of Jerusalem, I haven’t seen anyone with such faith. ( NIV says such “great faith”). I like the idea that
Candace Nassar (11:11.244)
Mm-hmm.
Gina Cleminson (11:28.989)
this person, this man, he had confidence and he trusted that this person, Jesus, could and would heal his servants. So he didn’t need anything beyond that. And Jesus saw it and called it “great faith”. And so then you fast forward a little bit and it’s just a couple of verses later. I was a disciple because…
Candace Nassar (11:41.271)
Yes.
Gina Cleminson (11:55.111)
They’re like me. They just don’t get it sometimes. Like, okay, let’s run through this again, guys. Here we go. So there we are again, just a few verses later. And Jesus and his disciples are on a boat and Jesus, has been performing miracles, healing people. He ate, he slept, he was fully human in form, even though he was fully God. And he’s sleeping on this boat and the squall comes up.
Candace Nassar (11:56.238)
They’re so human.
Gina Cleminson (12:23.835)
And the disciples are not like mamby-pamby guys. Some of them are rugged, like fishermen. They’re walking around, they’re camping out. Like they are tough dudes and they start freaking out. Like they’re panicked. They’re scared, they’re panicked. And…
Candace Nassar (12:40.238)
Mm.
Gina Cleminson (12:48.505)
You can almost feel it when you read it. You can almost feel the anxiety and the fear building. And finally, the disciples say, “Lord, save us. We’re going to drown.” And Jesus wakes up and he replies, “Ye of little faith. Why are you so afraid?”
Gina Cleminson (13:10.461)
And they’re thinking, “Because we are about to drown.” And his perspective is truth. Why are you afraid? You have little faith. So if faith is complete trust, complete confidence in someone, then I can’t just have a little bit of it. I just can’t have a little trust or a little confidence. That’s mistrust. That’s a lack of confidence.
Candace Nassar (13:10.978)
That is so challenging.
Candace Nassar (13:15.704)
Yes.
Gina Cleminson (13:39.397)
When the Bible talks about someone having little faith, what it’s saying is not that I don’t have enough, like I need more. What it’s really saying is you have faith that God is not strong enough. You believe that God is not good enough. You don’t believe the truth about who He is. That’s why you’re scared. That’s why you’re afraid. That’s why you think you’re gonna get thrashed. You’re not.
Candace Nassar (14:09.73)
Gosh, Gina.
Gina Cleminson (14:09.949)
He’s in control, right? Like I just love it. I love it. I love it. Okay. It’s awesome. Okay. So fast forward a few more chapters. We’re still in Matthew, Matthew 14:22-33. We’re in a boat again, right? Like the guy, they got it, right? Like they got it right now, right? Like me as a follower all these years, like I’ve got it by now, right? Like I’ve arrived spiritually, right? I’m never gonna feel a thing.
Candace Nassar (14:16.04)
Hm
Gina Cleminson (14:37.597)
So they’re in the boat again. They all just got in the boat. The disciples did after Jesus fed thousands of people using that kids like pack lunch, thousands. They said there were 5,000 people there counting men only. There were also women and children there. So Jesus performed this miracle of multiplying, providing for thousands and thousands of people. He tells his disciples, okay, go get in the boat. I’ll meet you.
They’re like, I guess I’m getting in another boat. Like, okay, you’ll meet us. Like we’re going on the water. Okay, but they obey, they get on the boat. So they’re on the boat. And here comes Jesus and he’s walking on the water.
And they’re freaked out again. They’re scared. They think, is this a ghost? What? And he’s like, “It’s cool. It’s me.” (That’s the new King Geno translation.) “It’s cool, guys. It’s me.” Peter, who’s passionate and petulant. He ends up traveling all over the known world and starting churches. And he looks at Jesus and he says, “Okay.If it’s you, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you.” And I don’t know if you’ve ever been on a boat, but it’s not like the cartoons where you just jump out. It’s shaky. It’s rocking, and you have to climb over the edge. It’s sort of been like a wooden boat. And so you’re climbing over and you’re above the water line, maybe a couple of feet. And so he didn’t climb into the water, he climbed out onto the water.
He had confidence, he had trust in someone that when Jesus said, “Come to me”, he had complete trust. He was like, “Okay, Jesus said, come to him.” So he’s gonna make that work. And he climbs onto the water and starts walking. But then….
Gina Cleminson (16:41.949)
Scripture says he sees the wind. He sees the wind, he starts to sink, and he cries out to Jesus. Okay, so spoiler alert, you can’t see the wind. Wind is not a visible thing. But Peter, what is happening in that moment is his focus on Jesus.
Candace Nassar (17:02.979)
Thank
Gina Cleminson (17:10.205)
laser focus on Jesus. This guy just climbed out of a boat on non plastic waters, out of a boat and is walking towards Jesus. That’s all he’s seeing. But when he sees the wind, what that is, is his focus, his gaze shifting to his fears. He sees the wind.
Candace Nassar (17:33.412)
Gina Cleminson (17:37.431)
And it’s not immediate because he has time to cry out. So he sees the wind. You can’t even see the wind, but he sees the wind. He sees his fears. He gazes on his fears. He’s focused on his fears. And remember fear is the belief that something is gonna hurt you, harm you, something dangerous. That’s what he focused on. Just suddenly, it’s just a shift. He sees the wind.
He starts to sing and Jesus reaches out and takes hold of him and he says, “You have little doubt.” I mean, excuse me, you have little faith. Why did you doubt? Just like before. Why are you scared? Why are you afraid? Why did you doubt? And so you have this great faith. And you have little faith and it feels like, “Okay, little faith is not where I want to be.” That’s believing the wrong thing about God-believing he can’t or he won’t. So I guess I need to have great faith. I need to be like the centurion and be like, “If you say it, it will be so.” And that’s not something I can muster up. So I feel stuck, like, gosh, you know, do I pray more? Am I like not doing this Christian walk right? I don’t feel like I have great faith all the time, especially when those fears swell up. So, praise God. Just traveling on in Matthew, a couple chapters later, he talks about small faith. And small and little sound like synonyms, but they are not the same thing in God’s word.
The disciples are trying to heal like the demon possessed kids. They’re trying to cast out the demons and they’re not, they can’t do it. And so the kid ends up being brought to Jesus and Jesus heals them. And the disciples who have been sent out to do this are asking, “Why did we fail? Why did we not have faith?” And Jesus says, “Because you have
Gina Cleminson (19:56.347)
So little faith.
“Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, nothing will be impossible for you.” This is the verse that talks about like, you could say to that mountain, “Cast yourself into the sea” and it’ll do it. Like that small faith. And he contrasted right there against little faith. You don’t need little faith. That’s believing the wrong thing about who God is and what he can and will do.
Small faith. It’s like meek. It’s meager. It’s pure. It says, “God, I know who you are. I know what you’re capable of. You’re mighty. You’re good. And not just good in general, you’re good to me.” And then the fears are replaced. It’s incredible.
Candace Nassar (20:37.697)
Mm.
Candace Nassar (20:58.766)
Yes.
Gina Cleminson (20:59.207)
So I’m like, “Okay, small faith, that feels more doable.” Because having to have a great faith is sort of intimidating for me. And so I just remember, I just kept that picture in my mind of when I held my toddler on that flight and he had a small face. He wasn’t an adult. He couldn’t think adult things. He had a small face. He knew that I would not drop him. And that…
Candace Nassar (21:27.224)
Mm-hmm.
Gina Cleminson (21:28.893)
small faith, sparked small faith in me. I knew God would not drop me. This metal tube would land safely because He willed it. He could and He would because He’s good and He’s mighty. And so finally the faith in Matthew 18, that next chapter, talks about childlike faith.
And you know, you got the disciples traveling along with Jesus still, they’re healing people. There are miracles. And whether our faith feels huge, great, or whether it feels small, we want it to be pure. And we want it to be childlike, not childish, not selfish. You know, give me that toy. We want it to be childlike, like that same trust of my son.
He knew I would pick him up and place him down. He knew I would hold him. He knew I was strong enough and good enough not to drop him. And in Matthew 18:2-4, says, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you’ll never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. It’s just like.
replace. Let’s switch that out. Let’s switch that fear out. Not with little faith that believes the wrong thing, but with small faith that maybe sometimes is great faith that says, “I know who you are. I trust you. I have complete confidence in God.” Anyway, that’s what I was reading in Matthew.
Candace Nassar (23:19.746)
Yeah. That’s so powerful, Gina. I’ve never heard it explained that way. And honestly, it’s so encouraging to me. And I just wrote down a phrase that our pastor said on Sunday that just really kind of encapsulates all of this to me. And that is to say, “God, I trust you to take care of me.” And sometimes just, you know, when I
Gina Cleminson (23:42.735)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Candace Nassar (23:48.142)
I’ve had a couple of fears since then because I’m going through something as you know, that’s just life, right? And I just have to stop and say, “God, I trust you to take care of me.” And that’s that small faith that you’re talking about. Just giving it over to Him and then just continuing to just keep giving it over and replacing it. I love that. So good. Thank you so much for sharing all that. Wow. Well, so…
Gina Cleminson (24:02.193)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Candace Nassar (24:17.45)
You wrote down some great verses that I want to share with our listeners because certainly that’s another way that we can replace our fears, right? So why don’t you share your favorite Bible verses in times of fear?
Gina Cleminson (24:21.691)
Mm-hmm.
Gina Cleminson (24:28.155)
Mm-hmm.
Gina Cleminson (24:32.601)
Okay, thankfully God gave us the Bible. It’s replete with verses that encourage and fan the flame of our faith that we can read about this goodness and this greatness of God. So faith becomes not just like a tool, but it’s just a reality. Faith is the truth of who God is. I can walk with that and allow that to replace fear.
So sometimes I feel like I have to have a stubborn face, like dig my heels in a little bit because I don’t want to be afraid. But I glance at the wind, like I catch it, I’m looking at Jesus and then I catch the wind in the corner of my eye and I’m scared, but I can say, “Lord, I know you’re great. I know you’re good.” And so some of my favorite Bible verses.
Just a couple of them. 41:10 says, fear not. This is the Lord speaking. “Fear not for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I’m your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Okay, I can have confidence in that. Another one is Psalm 34: I….
Candace Nassar (25:51.222)
Yeah, I have been.
Gina Cleminson (25:57.085)
“I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.”
And don’t blaze past that one too quickly. I sought the Lord. He answered me. He delivered me from all my taxes, from all my situations, from all my heartache, from all my anxiety, from all my troubles, from all my pain. No, he delivers me from all my fear.
He delivers me from my fear, from believing the wrong thing about Him. Because when I have confidence in Him, what could someone do to me? What could they IRS? And whatever the fear is, what could my kids’ friends who they interact with or their teachers.? That has nothing to do with me. My faith is in God. My confidence is in Him. I trust Him. He’s strong enough. He’s good enough.
Candace Nassar (27:03.867)
Anymore.
Amen. And you know what I love about that verse? Because I was looking at that verse as well recently is that I sought the Lord. And so, you know, that’s the key is when we have fears, it’s okay to come to Him and tell Him our fears and cry out to Him and He answers us. And so we don’t have to hide our fears. We don’t have to hide in our pain. We come to Him. I mean, the Bible over and over talks about being anxious for nothing and by prayer and petition.
Gina Cleminson (27:13.851)
Hmm. Yeah.
Gina Cleminson (27:19.089)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Bye.
Gina Cleminson (27:34.725)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Candace Nassar (27:36.724)
will give us peace. And so that’s, that’s really the other thing is we, we have that when we have the right faith, we’re coming to Him and we can release it, right? We can release it to Him. Not He’s going to fix it for sure, but He’s going to release it and I know that he will take care of us. So really, really good verses. Okay. So recently you and I were talking about how you’re going through a period of uncertainty.
Gina Cleminson (27:46.957)
Yes. So good. Right.
Gina Cleminson (27:57.147)
Mm-hmm.
Gina Cleminson (28:06.577)
Yeah.
Candace Nassar (28:06.61)
and you shared some very practical tools to help you find peace in the midst of it. And that’s really so much of what we need. So would you please share that with our listeners?
Gina Cleminson (28:18.716)
Absolutely. I thought about a few things. So just three. So first thing, I love to speak God’s word back to Him. So I just told you like Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not for I’m with you.” I like to take that, I love to take God’s word and speak it back to Him because His word is a promise.
So if He says, “Fear not for I am with you,” I say, “I won’t be scared. I won’t fear. I refuse to be rattled because the creator of the universe is literally with me and for me and by his Holy Spirit in me. I won’t be sad. I won’t be freaked out because you say you’re my God and that means I’m your child.
and you’re going to pick me up and put me down gently. You’ll help me. When I feel crushed or bowled over, blown down, you will uphold me with your righteous right hand, your righteous right hand like you’re strong enough to. You can accomplish this. You can take care of me and you will.” So I love to speak God’s word back to Him. And another thing I like to do,
It sounds like Cherokee, but if we obey God’s word, then that can replace fear with faith. What I mean is like Philippians 4:8, for example, that’s a verse that talks about “whatever is true, whatever is honest, whatever is just, whatever is pure, like all these great attributes, think on these things,” the Bible says. And so I was like, “Okay, I’m going to obey that.”
So I wrote down Philippians 4:8, all those words, true, honest, just, and I wrote them all down in one column. And then in another column, I started writing down what I knew to be real and true about God, about His work in my life, and the world, His work in people
Gina Cleminson (30:38.053)
that I can meditate on because if I’m supposed to think on these things like the Bible says, like I need to know what I’m going to think on. I’m not just thinking about the word true. I need something concrete to think about. So what’s true? If I’m worried about my future, well, God’s always taking care of me in my path, from day one and then led me to salvation and then led me on a journey. I’m still walking with Him today. Why would I think he doesn’t already have the future taken care of? So I’m gonna write that down. What’s true? God has always been strong enough. He’s always been good to me. And then I just went down the list. So then I can really meditate on those things.
Candace Nassar (31:02.209)
Amen.
Gina Cleminson (31:29.661)
If God’s word says, think on these things, okay, I’m going to obey that. When I’m tempted to look at the wind, I’m going to stare at the face of Jesus. Because even Peter did that. He’s freaking out. He’s looking at the wind, facing, like looking into his fears, but he looks back to Jesus like, “Save me. Help me.” So I’m just going to not, I’m not going to look at the wind that’s focusing on my fears. Doesn’t do any good.
Practically, if this is what God says to do, then that’s what I’m gonna do. So, like that was a way to just calm down, write it down, have something concrete, and then obey it. Like think on this, “Okay, I’m gonna think about how God has been just, how God is lovely, how God is virtuous, how he’s praiseworthy.” So that was really meaningful to me. And then the third one, sorry, go ahead.
Candace Nassar (32:31.628)
It’s so cool.
Candace Nassar (32:35.774)
No, I was just going to say that’s the practical stuff that sometimes we need when we get stuck in our shoes. And so I really like it’s a really good tool to just write all those words down and then in another column, how has that come to pass in your life or what have you seen? How have you seen how to display that trait or whatever? And then concentrate on that.
Gina Cleminson (32:38.853)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Gina Cleminson (32:45.233)
Mm-hmm.
Gina Cleminson (32:49.713)
Yeah.
Gina Cleminson (32:53.34)
Yeah.
Gina Cleminson (32:57.071)
Absolutely. And that’s Philippians 4:8 and it’s so, so helpful. And then the third way might seem kind of cheesy, but music can sing down the field for me sometimes. you know, I’m not just talking about music that I can bop to and get my mind off something, but music that sings God’s word. You know, there are so many great songs that literally are just singing like the song.
Or words that have songs that have lyrics that honor the Lord and talk about what’s true about Him. What’s true about me. Those are encouraging, but I, you know, how like you’ve heard your, maybe your kids are a little older or something they did when they were little. and I still in my, in my head just this week, my now 17 year old, when he was three or so two or three,
At our preschool, he had a solo in one of the musical performances. Big deal. Mr. had a solo. So he’s up on stage, just, you know, this thing, just such, he’s a toddler. And he had this solo with all his little classmates there. And he walks up to the microphone and he starts singing Psalm 56, three through four. And just scourge your lines, because here’s what.
I hear in my head as best as I can translate. This little voice singing. “When I am aflame, I will trust in you. When I am aflame, I will trust in you. When I am aflame.”
And I still see his face, hear his voice 14 years later. And so for me, sometimes music. Like find those songs that speak God’s word over you, that you can sing along while speaking God’s word back to Him. When I say, “When I’m afraid, I will trust in You.”
Candace Nassar (35:21.511)
That’s I’m telling you you’re about to bring me to tears. This is incredible. So good
Gina Cleminson (35:26.255)
It’s the singing, right? It was just so amazing.
Candace Nassar (35:31.667)
I’ve got the picture. Kody, right up there singing. my gosh. That’s such a good, yes, the songs, the music. Well, as we come to a close, Deena, is there anything else that you would say that you, I mean, you’ve already said so many wonderful things and you’ve encouraged me so much, but how would you encourage moms today that are feeling burdened by fear and anxiety?
Gina Cleminson (35:50.74)
Hmm.
Gina Cleminson (35:55.773)
I love that she chose that word burdened because fear is such a burden. It’s heavy and it’s weighty and it’s real. And I would say to mamas that you’re not failing if you feel like you don’t have great faith that, you know, the having that small faith that we talked about.
Candace Nassar (35:58.028)
something you haven’t already said.
Gina Cleminson (36:25.117)
And so when you pray, remember it’s worship because when you’re praying, even if it’s just like, I need you to show up. I’m thinking, “God, rescue me or I’m going to drown. Help.” What you’re asking when you’re asking God to work is you’re recognizing that He is strong enough and great enough and He is good.
And so really when you are praying, when you’re asking Him in desperation, you’re really worshiping Him because in order to pray in desperation, pray in your fears, through your fears, asking for faith to overcome your fears, that’s worshiping God because the very act of asking Him is recognizing that he can and he will.
Candace Nassar (37:23.736)
Yes.
Gina Cleminson (37:23.933)
He’s great. He’s good. And then the last thing is, preach to yourself. Remind yourself all the time. You know, we hear things like, “What’s the record in your head on repeat?” What’s the recording in your head that pops up whenever you glance at the wind, you catch the wind in the corner of your eye and you start focusing on fears.What do you say that’s untrue about God to yourself? What do you say that’s untrue about yourself to yourself? And I’d say just go back and preach to yourself, God, I don’t know what you’re doing, but I know I can have complete trust and confidence in You. And then just repeat that as often as necessary.
Candace Nassar (38:22.334)
Amen. Wow, Gina, this has been great. You’re very inspiring and I love all your great faith, small faith. It’s just so good. So I just can’t thank you enough. Thank you for being here. Really appreciate it.
Gina Cleminson (38:36.327)
Thank you so much for inviting me.
Candace Nassar (38:39.992)
It’s been a real pleasure. Talk to you soon.
Gina Cleminson (38:43.355)
Okay, talk to you later.
