#1: Genesis 1-2 | Are You Just a "Helper" or A Necessary Part of God's Design?

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Welcome to the Dwelling Place.

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My name is Stephanie Hickox and I

am thrilled that you're preparing

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to dwell with Entrusted Ministries

in I this year with the Dwelling

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Place Bible Plan for Busy Moms.

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The Lord begins his word in

such a powerful, amazing way.

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Incredible principles are introduced

in even the first couple chapters,

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and if you've been in the faith a

long time and read these over and

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over there, still can't miss chapters.

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As my friend Laura says, God's word

is the only book that gets more

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interesting every time you read it.

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I've selected a few passages to

read over you today, beginning

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with Genesis chapter one, verse 26.

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Then God said, let us make man in

our image after our likeness, and

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let them have dominion over the fish

of the sea and over the birds of the

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heavens, and over the livestock, and

over all the earth, and over every

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creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

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So God created man in his own

image, in the image of God, he

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created them, male and female.

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He created him.

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and God bless them.

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And God said to them, be fruitful and

multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.

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And have dominion over the fish

of the sea and over the birds of

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the heavens, and over every living

thing that moves on the earth.

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And it continues.

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And God saw everything that he had made.

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And behold, it was very good.

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And there was evening and there

was morning the sixth day, thus

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the heavens and the earth were

finished and all the host of them.

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And on the seventh day, God finished

his work that he had done, and

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he rested on the seventh day from

all his work that he had done.

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So God blessed the seventh day and made

it holy because on it, God rested from

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all his work that he had done in creation.

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Let's go ahead to chapter two, verse 18.

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Then the Lord God said, it is not

good that the man should be alone.

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I will make a helper fit for him.

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Now out of the ground, the Lord God

had formed every beast of the field and

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every bird of the heavens and brought

them to the man to see what he would

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call them, and whatever the man called

every living creature that was its name.

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The man gave names to all livestock,

to the birds of the heavens,

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and to every beast of the field.

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But for Adam, there was not

found a helper fit for him.

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So the Lord caused a deep sleep to

fall upon the man, and while he slept,

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took one of his ribs and closed up

its place with flesh and the rib that

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the Lord God had taken from the man.

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He made into a woman and

brought her to the man.

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Then the man said this at last is bone

of my bones and flesh of my flesh.

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She shall be called woman

because she was taken out of man.

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Therefore, a man shall leave his father

and his mother and hold fast, his

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wife, and they shall become one flesh.

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And the man and his wife were

both naked and were not ashamed.

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Let's talk about the convictions we can

derive from these chapters of scripture.

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First praise the Lord for commentaries

because I don't know Hebrew or Greek,

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but studying my Moody commentary,

which is one of my favorites that

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I'll link in the show notes for you.

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I came across a really

fascinating discovery whenever

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I would read this before.

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I felt like, is there a little repetition

between Genesis one and Genesis two?

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It seems like slightly different versions.

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But after digging in, I understand a

little bit more about what's going on here

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in Genesis one, the name for God is

Elohim, but then in Genesis two, four,

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it switches over to Yahweh Elohim.

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This reflects two crucial parts

about the character of God.

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Elohim in Chapter one represents the

almighty creator of the universe.

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He is all powerful, but the name of God

used in chapter two, Yahweh, Elohim,

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is his relational covenant name.

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It makes sense when it's focusing

on God's power and glory and

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majesty and creating the world,

he led his name Elohim to be used.

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But then in chapters two and three, when

we zoom in on the God that walks with his

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creation in the garden, that's when we

hear the relational Yahweh Elohim name.

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As believers, we need to hold

both of those names of God

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And we can teach our kids that God

is mighty, but he also is near.

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Did you notice when it says, let

us make man in our own image?

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This is the first mention of the Trinity.

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Our God is a God that experiences

perfect fellowship in union, and we

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were created to reflect that it's part

of being made in his image that it's

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not good for us to be alone either, and

our creation of being male and female.

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This is a truly important part of our

identity, and both genders reflect

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different aspects of the glory of God.

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When we learn to embrace those

realities and appreciate how we

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compliment one another, we're able to

reflect God in a really beautiful way.

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In Genesis two, it mentions God finishing

his work three times in two verses.

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Did you notice it?

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God finished his work.

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He finished the work that he had

done, and he rested from all the

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work he had done in creation.

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I have written in my Bible, Lord,

help me to know what work you've

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called me to and when it is finished.

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As a mom, my to-do list can seem

absolutely overwhelming, but it's nothing

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compared to what God did at Creation.

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if he can rest from his to-do list,

then he can certainly guide me on

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when and where my stopping point is.

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When I read the verses in chapter two

about God forming the animals in front

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of Adam, it makes me wanna get Play-Doh

out with my kids and reenact it.

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we hear that for Adam, the

right fit was not found.

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I've heard this preached on so many times.

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But nothing has explained this, as

well as learning that the Hebrew

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word for rib is actually side.

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There are eight Hebrew words for side,

but the word that God led Moses to

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write here is the word that is used in

the tabernacle construction, and for

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the arc of the covenant and for all the

furnishings inside of the tabernacle.

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It denotes worship and necessity.

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What can you build sides?

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As women, we are pivotal and

we're to be strong supports.

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You might have been insulted before by the

word helper, but did you know that of the

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21 times that word is used in scripture?

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16 of them is referring to God

himself, saying how he helps us.

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Shirley, this is no

second class assignment.

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We have an amazing opportunity

to help our husbands become men.

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They could never be without us.

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We get to join in worshiping our creator

and working for his glory together and

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using the specific Hebrew word for side

that is used for worshiping confirms

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that this is a crucial part of our job.

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Next, we see the first marriage

ceremony that God holds in the garden

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when he joins one man and one woman.

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This is the marital relationship that

is always elevated as holy in scripture

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from Genesis to Revelation, and we

know Jesus affirms it in Matthew 19.

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If you've been a Christian for even a

short amount of time, it might be easy

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to brush by some of these doctrines.

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But how can we tell if we really

believe what we're reading in

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scripture and that we're living it out?

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Here are a couple heart

checks I wrote down.

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I believe people are

made in the image of God.

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When I talk to my children,

the same in front of people

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as I do when no one's around.

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It's when I give as much attention

and honor to people with special needs

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as I do to those society elevates.

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It's when I champion the rights

of those who cannot advocate for

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themselves, it's when I put down my

phone and look at strangers in the

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eye, and I think to pray for them.

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I know this is only episode one,

but everyone who knows me knows.

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A small talk is not my thing and

I have to be vulnerable about how

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convicting this chapter of scripture is.

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For me this is something I wrestle with.

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in my own home.

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I married the most

intentional guy I could find.

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My husband had started a ministry

at 25, and when I met him, we were

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determined to run after Jesus together.

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Fast forward 16 years

and the man I married.

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Is different than the one that shared

the gospel with me on our honeymoon.

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In many ways, he's been

robbed by a disease

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And our family is different

than I anticipated.

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I think of a quote from a

trusted with a child's heart.

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Betsy says, love is how we treat

those who can do nothing in return for

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us, I care for people just because

of what all got in return or because

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they're made in the image of God?

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As I told you, I need Jesus just

as much as anyone listening could.

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If I were to meditate just on the

partnership that I expected to have

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in my marriage, I would be robbed of

the joy of having a God that tells me

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he is my helper, that he walks with

me and equips me every day for what he

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calls me to life would be overwhelming

without the God that dwells with us,

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but his yoke is easy

and his burden is light.

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Heavenly Father, these are some

of the most attacked chapters

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of your word, but we submit to

the fact that you are creator.

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You have made us in your image.

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And you created marriage for good.

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we praise you, that you are a mighty

God, but that you also walk with us.

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Help us to hold both of those

truths, not only in our own hearts,

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but as we parent our children.

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Make your word transform and

renew our hearts and our minds.

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Help us to embrace your design

and we pray that our children.

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Would be rooted in the truth of your

word, finding their identity and who you

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created them to be, and that if they are

to marry someday, that they would choose

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spouses that they can glorify you with.

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I pray that every word I utter would be

in line with the truth of your character

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and your word, and that your Holy

Spirit would be at work through this.

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In the mighty matchless name

of Jesus Christ we pray.

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Amen.

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That was a lot to get through.

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Genesis one and two are jam packed

with goodness, and I wanted to focus

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on a few lesser known details that I

think have a huge impact for our lives.

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But I certainly wanna dive more into

the idea of creation and perhaps the

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breadth of life and some gender issues.

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When Betsy Corning comes

on for our monthly q and a,

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we will certainly have more

time to dig into those and don't

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forget to submit your questions.

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Also, coming up soon on the Again

podcast, we're going to have an expert

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guest who's going to teach us how to talk

about some cultural issues like these

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in a compassionate, winsome way.

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You're off to a great start.

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Stick with us.