Welcome to the final episode of 2024! As we wrap up the year, Victor and I reflect on what it means to desire change and align those desires with God’s will. In this episode, we dive deep into the importance of not just having holy desires but taking actionable steps to fulfill them.

From personal growth goals to the incredible opportunities God gave us this year through our ministry, we discuss victories, challenges, and the practical ways we can all begin 2025 with purpose and clarity.

Let’s make this new year different—not by setting fleeting resolutions, but by recognizing the desires God places in our hearts and working intentionally to live them out. Ready to go all in with us? Let’s take that first step together.

Learn more about our pilgrimage to Greece & Turkey

Well, welcome back to the Pew everybody. I am your host, John Edwards, and here across the table. From me as always is my co host and cohort, Victor Adams. John, do you know that today’s a major day and, you know, and really what it is, is because gym memberships will skyrocket today. That’s right. Well, that’ll be tomorrow probably, right?

We’re here on a new year’s eve and it should be, it should be happy gym day. It should be. Happy New Year’s. Yeah. Happy New Year’s. Right. So that’s what it’s going to be tomorrow is New Year’s day. And we’re here, uh, putting this last episode down for the year. I can’t believe 2024 is gone by so quickly.

It’s, it’s, you know, we say this all the time when we, the older you get, which is weird because I remember my parents saying this, my grandparents saying is like, man, time does sure fly by. And it’s, uh, it’s no joke, man. It just, it’s hyperspeed now. And I think it’s because. We, we get so tied into our schedules because our schedules are booked.

It’s like, we don’t have time to rest. Yeah, it is funny. I mean, I remember being a kid and like wanting to be 21 or 18 or all those different things and it like took 20, 000 years to get to those ages. And then once you hit 21, it’s like you’re 40 and then you’re 46 and then you’re whatever else, right.

And, and it just flies. Cause you, life happens. You have kids, your kids get busier, all that stuff. And there’s things fly by. And. So I wanted to, you know, take a moment here before we dive into our topic, um, for 2025, really the first, the last year of 2024 is pretty much the first year of 2025, but, um, really just wanted to take a minute to just tell everybody, thank you again.

Um, it was an incredible year. Uh, it’s one of our biggest and most successful yet, as far as, you know, being able to do what God set before us. And, uh, just wanted to share some of that with you. We’re always on here asking for your support and. Asking for you all to be partners in the pew to become partners in the pew and thanking those of you who already are.

And I just want to share some things with you this year, in case you didn’t know, but in terms of the podcast, because of your support and your help and sharing it, and also the, you know, the, the support you give us financially every month, we were able to reach over 75, 000 people on the audio version of the podcast alone, and over 85, 000 on YouTube, um, through 2024, which is amazing.

I mean, Each and every year that’s growing and we’re reaching more and more people through media that way, and it’s drawn more people into what we do. And it allows us to be able to go back into these parishes and. Get invites to parishes and all those things to do the work, the leadership summits, all of that.

Um, as far as activity is going out and doing the work with men’s groups. I mean, we had six restored parish missions and men’s group launches in 2024. We, we spoke at six men’s conferences. We had six diocesan leadership summits that we were stuck on six, right? Then we had the pilgrimage to Italy where we were able to take 50 people to a Eucharistic miracles pilgrimage, uh, through Italy.

And. And just enrich people’s lives that way and to visit those amazing places We were able to go to the national eucharistic congress and podcast with father maliki in front of A ton of people there and to get in front of a lot of people in our booth thousands of people Um, you know throughout the week and you know Just through social media and everything else your instagram and and facebook and linkedin and x and all that stuff We reached thousands of people through that.

Like it’s ridiculous how many people, you know, we’ll watch and are reals and all those things that, that are there. So, you know, when you look at it, there’s now hundreds of men meeting in groups where they can find healing and grow in their faith and authentic friendships in Wheeling, West Virginia and Gainesville, Florida and Hutchinson, Minnesota and Muncie, Indiana, South Bend, Indiana.

It’s in Folsom, California, right? If you look at the conferences we were able to attend to really share the gospel and just plant the seed of these leadership summits and stuff to come back and help men rise up, not just come to the conference, but rise up and do something in their parish. We were able to, to speak in front of 4, 400 men last year in these conferences.

You know, I think it’s even a little bit more than that. I didn’t throw in some last numbers. It’s probably closer to 6, 500, but that was in Columbus, Ohio, Green Bay, Washington, Dubuque, Iowa, uh, Scranton, Pennsylvania, uh, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Muncie, Indiana. Uh, the leadership summits where we partnered with diocese.

We spoke in front of about 800 men at those from parishes with their priests and deacons in the Diocese of Columbus and in the Diocese of Metuchen and Diocese of Fargo, Diocese of Victoria, Texas, another one in Metuchen. And then through the experience retreat weekend for the men of Dallas. So the Lord has just been doing amazing things and it’s not possible without all of y’all.

So I wanted to take a few minutes here in the beginning of the show to say thank you to all of you that listen, that share, that write us emails and letters, um, telling us the impact this has had on you. I, I’m currently hiring for a job and one of the people that applied, a lady said that she had been listening to our podcast, Victor, for four years and that their marriage had been blessed and that their, their, their faith life was so much better because they’d been listening for four years.

Very humbling to get things like that. So we know that the podcast is helping people come out of their brokenness, all those things. We’re building these groups, but it’s all because of you. So thank you all that gave on Giving Tuesday. Gave monthly or annually or a one time donation this year. We hope that you’ll continue to support us through 2025 and beyond.

We’re growing. We’re going to be hiring missionaries. I’m hiring a full time or a part time admin right now and a marketing company that’s going to come alongside and help us grow with all this stuff. So that more people can have eyes on this. It can be helped by it and can know that we can go to their parishes and help them.

So I just wanted to take this moment at the end of the, of the end of the year to say thank you to all of you on behalf of Victor and myself. And. The opportunities, whether you were at one of these conferences, you listened to us, you support us, or you were at one of the group launches or whatever. We thank you all for the invites, for the time that you took to spend with us during all those things.

And we look forward to another year of working in the vineyard alongside you and your prayers. And your support. So thank you for that. If you haven’t supported us yet and you’re interested in 2025, you want to become a monthly partner in the pew, somebody that’s right alongside us in this mission, you can do that by going to donor box.

org slash pew. That is donor box. org slash pew. Or you can go straight to just a guy on the pew. com and you can, you can find that donate button in the top. One last thing. A lot of people have been asking about the pilgrimage to Greece and Turkey. You can find that on the website as well on our events and book me page.

Uh, if you’re interested in that is filling up fast. So please, I mean, we had five more, I think this or six more this week, sign up. So please, uh, if you’re interested in that, go and check that out and get signed up before we have to, uh, start the wait list. So folks again, thank you for everything. Looking forward to every opportunity we have to spend with you.

In 2025, through our events, through pilgrimages, through the podcast and wherever else God brings us together. And, uh, you know, you were talking about a list of everything that we, you know, collectively, uh, we, we’ve done mostly you, you know, doing the thing and I know it’s okay to receive it, but you know, they go into the conferences and the leadership, uh, events, um, any of those that have been there and, and experience, you know, John being down there and help, you know, speak down there.

I mean. And we would love to hear how your life’s doing now. Yeah. You know, just, you know, doesn’t have to be attached to this, you know, this, uh, video. Um, and, uh, Although we like comments, I’d be great to know how we’re doing, but like I said, just like, and subscribe. Yeah, just sit exactly. Sorry. I meant to do that.

But, uh, but yeah, just, just send us an email and let us know how we’re doing because, you know, we don’t hear much, you know, we, we, we, you hear, I think when you’re in person, emails come in and stuff too, but yeah. I don’t have that password. I get busy and forget to tell you all of them. But, uh, but I like, I like when you do share, I like to hear because not only is an encouragement, it’s one of those things like when, whenever we’re like wondering what’s the topic that people want to know about, what, what.

What, where to go, what direction do we need to be like, or what direction we can be in 2025? You know, I mean, those are things we would like to hear is like, Hey, this is great. I’ve never heard about anything like this. Is there a way you guys can talk about that? Yeah. Um, we are open to discuss a lot of those things.

Well, and you’re always wanting to know, like where, where do people minister to when we’re talking about where do people need to be ministered to when, when we’re talking with men’s groups and stuff, like one of the things that I always talk about is. What do men want and what do men need? Do you even know?

Because a lot of the complaints are like, well, nobody’s showing up or nobody’s coming or we don’t get consistent, uh, attendance, that kind of stuff. Or nobody seems to care or they come and they fall off. Well, what are you providing? Right? Like, do you even know what men want? What men need? When I was a sales guy for Napa, if a guy, you know, needed, uh, needed a radiator and I was selling brakes and that’s all I had, I wasn’t much used to them, right?

Or he needed a wrench and I had screwdrivers. Wasn’t much used to them. So one of the things that we really try to want to know in this ministry, whether it’s through starting these groups, administering them in, in that way, or through this podcast is where are you and what are you dealing with? What do you want to hear about?

Right. We’ve got 310 episodes after this, I think that, that have all kinds of things you can go back and listen to. But if there’s any particular, you can always email just a guy on the pew at gmail. com. So the name of the podcast and at gmail. com, and we can look at those. But, you know, you were talking about 2025 and desires, Victor, and And that’s really what this show is going to be about today.

You know, we’ve been on this beautiful journey. I know it’s been helpful to me. Um, you know, ever since Heather Kim came on three or four episodes ago and talked about encountering Emmanuel, been going through that book, uh, every day of Advent, it’s just been a gift, uh, to her, you know, she’s such a gift.

And just to walk through that with her insights and guidance of the Holy Spirit has been great, Angela’s doing it too. Um, but then we had the episode on preparing the way of the Lord, like what does the Lord want and how are we doing that and giving him our hearts? And. The healing that he wants to do.

And then we talked about, you know, stop hedging your bets, right? There, there, there comes a time for decision. You prepare and you wait and you prepare and you wait, but you also have to make the decision on what you’re preparing and waiting for the ways of the world or of Christ. And then finally, last week we talked about the heart of the matter that really what God desires is our hearts.

And it’s the place of transformation. It’s where everything has to happen. Then our faith can’t stay, uh, intellectually only like that’s where You come to the desire to know God, right? Like the questions and seeking answers, but then it has to move to the heart for it to become real and take place in your life, right?

And to have real change. And so as we were preparing for this episode, which is, as we said, this is coming out on New Year’s Eve, but tomorrow’s a new year and a new day, right? Is John Paul II, uh, was St. John Paul II was so Uh, so smart and saying, and so repetitive and saying was begin again, right? Like it’s a chance to begin again.

And we’ve done shows in the past. We’ve talked about like the gym membership stuff. You’ve, you’ve kind of referred to there and how everybody wants to like, how am I going to change this year? And oftentimes there’s. Those things fail. But what I really want, want people to think about and what I’m thinking about now is, um, have this time before the end of the year.

So many people are off work and, and have some time, you know, in the next week and a half, two weeks to really not just celebrate the season, but to think about like, okay, God wants my heart. That’s where transformation takes place. So the question that should flow out of that is what do I desire? Like, what, what do, what do I desire?

Now the more important thing is what God desires for me, right? But I think that’s where we have to start. So so many people go, well, I want to be different in 2025. Okay. Well, what does that mean? Yeah. Like, what are you desiring? Because as we’ve talked about before, Victor, our hearts full of desires, but they’re different desires, right?

There’s, there’s a ordered and holy desires and there’s disordered and unholy desires, right? The goal of our life is to let the Lord come in and help us rid ourselves of those unholy desires that come from wounds and places of pain. And you know, that’s where guys that are continuing to fall to pornography or, or substance abuse or whatever, oftentimes are, they’re giving into those unholy desires.

Which there’s a good desire below it, but it’s, it’s distorted in the way we live it out. But then we also have these holy desires, right? When you’re, maybe you’ve gotten in a fight with your wife and like you’re, you’re hot in the moment or you’re mad in the moment. And you don’t care a lick about anything other than the way you were treated or the way things went down.

But then you get away from it for a moment and you’re like, I just don’t want to fight in my family anymore. Or I just don’t want to be the reason that there’s an issue in my family. Or I just want to be a better husband and father. Or a better employer. Or a better friend. Or whatever it is. There’s all these great desires.

I want to know the Lord better. I want to know His purpose for my life. Those are good desires. But if we never really sit with that, Then we just, we don’t really know what they are. It’s like, well, I just wanted to be a good year. I want to be healthy. And, but what beyond all that, like, what do you really want?

And that requires taking time to sit down in our life and going, you know, what are my desires? What do I want? And so you and I are going to share some of our own in the show today. Like what, what we hope for 2025, our own life, and I hope to, to motivate and to. To, um, have guys really just leading by example, do the same in their own life.

So. I think there’s really four things we’ve got to look at and then we can dive into our own one What do we desire as I was just talking about like what do I really at my core what I want to be better at? and i’ll talk about my own here in a minute, but like The things that are the red lights that I know are issues in my life or the things I want to be better at What are those two?

What does god desire for me? Well, we know the answer to that question, right that that question is Is, uh, is really about what the Baltimore Catechism used to say, right? Like he wants us to to know him and love him and serve him so we can be with him forever in the next, right? I just butchered that, but to love and serve him in this world so that we can be with him forever in the next.

He wants relationship and those things, but he also desires what the good things for us, right? He desires good things. Now this is not the, what do you call it? The prosperity gospel kind of stuff. Like he desires me to have a Lambo and in a, you know, 17 bedroom house and all that stuff. But he desires our good and, and, and the things that he wanted us to have and designed us to have.

Right? Great relationships and faith in him and, and love and kindness and joy and peace and all those things. So. If you know what you desire, you know what God’s desires are, then the thing I would say is like, how do my desires line up with his? Like that’s the next logical thing in this whole plan is what do I desire?

What are God’s desires? Where do they meet? And then finally, how am I going to take action once I have clarity on those things? Because so many of us We don’t take action. We have a desire. Um, but we don’t, it’s like having a dream. A dream’s a dream until you start trying to make it come true, right? Till you start working to make those things happen.

So our desires are the same way. It comes down to, to knowing what we want, but also in praying for God’s guidance and discernment and all those things. And for him to give us the grace to be able to find those things that are good and holy. But also, um, it’s up to us to take action, isn’t it? Well, I know I was kind of like, joking a little bit about the gym membership thing.

Yeah, no, no. But really, that’s what it is. We all have a desire, like you said, to be healthy, to eat healthier. Yeah. Or to get out, walk, or go to gym, work out, and stuff like that. I think all of us want to be healthy. Yeah. You know, physically, mentally, spiritually, everything. That is, that is a goal that we all probably share on this earth, in one way or the other.

Um, but like you said, you know, we all desires need to be changed into a habit needs to be changed into a routine in order for that desire to be, uh, an act of labor, uh, working towards it. Um, and you know, for, um, a lot of us, I think once you set a routine and anything that you do, it becomes habitual process, your life, like, For me, I have to have a cup of coffee in the morning.

So I get up, I let the dogs out, I have a cup of coffee, go out there, let them run around. I come in and then, you know, I check my work email. I need to do something. I need to add something more to that. Like I used to do, which is to read the daily scripture, to ponder what, what the scripture is of that day, you know, and to say, what can I do to implement that in my life?

What can I do to be prepared for this? Um, I have allowed my work email. My Outlook app to be kind of like my setting tone of the day. Sure. And I don’t like that. I don’t like how that happened this year. Uh, two years ago, you know, I pretty much said I was gonna like limit or eventually not have any social media.

I have a Facebook account, but guess what? I’m sorry. If you friend me two years ago, , it doesn’t mean I don’t like you, i’s just, I don’t go, go and check on Yeah. You’re not a social media guy, that’s for sure. Right. Because for me, even LinkedIn, you know, I, I I just see what’s going on. Yeah. But like, I don’t, like, I, it’s like I don’t post because one, I feel like for me, I just, I, I, I, I, I share with people who I love.

Yeah. And they know my life. So if you, if you wanna know what I’m, how I’m doing, call me. And I’ll tell you how we’ll put his phone number out to all of you. So there’s a security code somewhere in there. That’s true. But that’s a desire then, right? If you like get back into more spirit, that is, that is, that is a easy step one basic process that I, and there’s other things that we could talk about further in the show, but for me is to kind of implement, uh, A daily scripture or a meditating process because I used to be like in the morning I would get up at six o’clock in the morning.

I light a candle. It was still dark and it opened up my bible Yeah, and I would I would look at um, you know, what’s the divine intimacy as well that book too. I would do the And I do that. And then I would write stuff down, you know, like what stood out for me generally. And for me, that’s, that was like an amazing activity that just really set my heart, not ablaze, but just like focused on what I’m supposed to do today.

Like, thank you God for this. The breath that’s in my lungs. Thank you for my heart beating. Thank you for my wife. Thank you for my children Thank you for allowing me to say I love you to people Um, and and and it really allowed me to be kind of like a motivated person of faith Yeah, you know instead of a motivated person of work.

Sure. No, I mean it’s something that I want to do too I mean i’ve I got a list of stuff over here too, and I was just kind of thinking when you were talking You know, that, that we, you know, the show’s called what do you desire? But the important thing is really what does God desire? And we really know what he wants of us, like we talked about.

But the thing is that we have to figure out in that is with that, with his desire and our desire, where do they meet? Where do they intersect? Because honestly, like, this is the cool thing about it. One thing I was just reflecting on one day. Is these good things that we have, they don’t always seem good because if you’re living in, in disorder desires, this desire of your heart, that’s telling you like, this isn’t good and you want to be better.

Oh, you know, it’s like, you know, when your heart’s telling you like. What are you doing? Yeah. Like, why, why are you thinking this way? Why are you acting this way? Yeah. You know, this isn’t you, and you’re like, well, yeah, it’s not me. Yeah. And I spent many, uh, many years in that, like when I was doing the cocaine and the drugs and the, the alcohol and all that stuff and the porn.

It’s like every time I went to do that stuff, there was like a quiet voice saying like, this is not you and this isn’t good for you and you don’t want this. And, and so really. So when we talk about our desires, when we talk about holy desires, it’s really the voice of God that’s speaking into us that make those holy, right?

Like those things, it’s that conscience and that quietness that’s, that tells you everything you’re making a wrong turn or every time you make a wrong decision or, or you’re getting off the track. It’s that voice. It’s calling you back. Sometimes we even feel like we’re being nagged by it or something, but it’s, it’s the voice of God.

And so like, we have to. It’s the things that we always kind of get around. Well, I’ll eventually get around to that. I’m going to be a better husband. I’ll be a better father. I’ll, I’m going to read more scripture. I’m going to, the reason we even say that is because someone is putting that desire there.

Like that reminder, right? So God’s desire is more important because he’s God. And two, Because it’s his desires that really shed light into our own desire, especially in those places where we’ve been broken and off course and, and just have gotten away. Right. And, and so that’s, that’s what we need to really focus on.

And so for me, you know, some of mine, like I’ll just read them off really quickly and we can jump into some as we talk about yours too, but. Um, like I want to be a better disciple, you know, I get, I get in a good groove and I’m like doing the liturgy hours and I’m, I’m got my new Scott Hahn, you know, huge Bible that came out a couple of weeks ago and I’m loving kind of reading through it and reading the footnotes and then going to the catechism because of that and, and I enjoy that.

But oftentimes I allow, like today I had a bunch of interviews for these positions. I had zoom calls with parishes and men’s conferences and all this stuff, making sure they have what they need. And I’m on the same page as they are and all that stuff because I’m having to handle it all by myself right now with the transition of Derek leaving.

But oftentimes that can happen more often in my life than I want it to. There’s been more lately, more times lately when I’ve missed daily mass and that’s something that’s been a stalwart in my life, right? Um, adoration has been a little bit few and far between for me. And those are things that I know I want to be a better disciple in that way.

I want to, I want to stay. At the foot of Jesus better than I have this year Um, not because it you know Obviously it makes the ministry better when I do But I need it like personally in my relationship with them because a lot of these other things i’m going to mention they They become issues when that first desire isn’t met like I want to be a better disciple of jesus.

So Two is I want to be a more present loving husband, right? There’s so many times I spend telling Angela about all the the struggles and the stress and the things that the ministry has going On or the you know, sometimes a one man show is as this can be when we are in between people I monopolize a lot of the conversations about Um, you know, my life and, and knowing she has stressful things going on, but just selfishly choosing myself over her, um, in the way that we talk and discuss those things, um, you know, listening, but not hearing kind of stuff.

Um, hearing, but not listening, I should say would probably be better. Um, so there’s those things. And then with children, right? Like I want to be more in loving and more and more loving and unselfish with them. Um, you know, when, when there’s time to be had with them, I don’t want it to be, okay, well, I want to watch this Grizzlies game.

Do you want to watch it with me? And then therefore we spend time together or I want to. You know do this or that and you can accompany me instead of just like what do you want to do this past sunday? I sat on the floor and played some game that never ends and was like monopoly. No, it was like Something against humanity.

Oh cards. Yeah, and like i’m just and it was like a clean kids version And it’s like what’s the point of this and when do you win or lose and they’re like you don’t and they’re just having a Ball and i’m like, oh my gosh I really have to like there’s a million things that you’d be doing. I want to do You But there’s gonna be one day when I look back and like wish for moments like this.

So yeah, I need just to be better about Letting that stuff go and just being present the moment to them and then finally like I want to proctor’s pride Prioritize my health not in some good a gym membership all that but I really want to sit down and eat better and plan better and exercise more and and not just use road travel on the road and airplane life and And you know doing what I want to be an excuse not to to treat my body as a temple I’ve been treating it like an amusement park, honestly, uh for the last, uh, since august probably with all the travel and the junk and the Making excuses for myself and so those are some of my desires, right?

But As we talked about desire has to take action, right? Right. So that’s some things that i’ve got to look at and start planning about how that’s going to happen in my life But what are some more of yours? Well, I mean i’ve i’ve learned to pray more Intentional wise like rather than just for myself intentionally.

Yeah, intentionally like I used to You know the youth of my prayer life was like god, um, you know Don’t let suffering come to me, you know, uh, God, let me be patient, you know, teach me to be, or, or bring this to me, like, you know, like asking stuff without the work, you know, and I realized a long time ago that, that you got to put the work in, you know, like if it’s kind of, Silly for me to say, God, don’t let any suffering come towards me, because I know that, you know, suffering, no matter how it comes, it’s always a revelation of God’s love in me, towards me, for me.

Um, I realized, gosh, if I didn’t go through this, I wouldn’t have a perspective I have, as I have now. Yeah. You know, and not to say that I’m wishing everything bad to happen to me, but like when it, whatever comes, ’cause I know he is not a punitive God, you know? Well, you’re surrendering his will. Yeah. He, no matter what it is, loves us.

Good, bad or different. He loves us. He loves us, but he wants us to learn. He wants us to love to learn how to, to learn how to love perfectly. Even though we may not reach that, but we’re on our journey to know what perfect love is. And, and that is to like to, to love. With your whole heart, not with a part of your heart, as we had in another conversation.

And, um, and by, by that I don’t ask for patience because I know I have to work on patience. Yeah. So therefore when patience means, like you said, to, to, when I got it, when I know I have something to do, I stop and I listen to what Christy says or my girls ask me to do. And I, I’m, I’m actively involved in the conversation.

Yeah. Because that is a moment they need me. So if I don’t show up now, then they’re never going to expect me to show up later in their life. Sure. So I’m, I’m, I’m trying to be more aware. My desire is to be more aware when I need to be present with those in my, in my life. Well, and that’s what I mean, that’s exactly what I was talking about too.

It was like really loving, like Jesus did being present to the people that are in front of you. And John, just. St. John Paul II was excellent at it too. It’s legendary about how late he was to things, because if somebody was in front of him, that’s all that mattered. Right. Like, and, and especially no more so than in the Eucharist, whenever he found himself in a adoration chapel or something like that, you know, he might be hours and hours late, but yeah, I mean, all these things are, like I said, these desires, God desires for us to these good and holy desires that line up with his, um, but we can’t leave it in the, it doesn’t need to be a hope, right?

Just like I hope this happens. When you use the word desire, like I want this, like I really need this in my life. This is something I long for. It’s really what desire is, is a longing for. So if I really long for it, then I have to be willing to do the things that matter, right? The things that I need to do to be able to do that.

For me, when I said prioritize my health too, like, sometimes I still, you know, I’m able to drink and not have a lot of problem with it as far as addiction, you know, I don’t, um, not like the cocaine, like I had to go, you know, you had to stop doing cocaine. It’s not good for you. And alcohol can be a bad thing too, as we know.

With me, what I want to be better about is not turning to things like alcohol. Or pornography sometimes when I still fall, you know, every once in a while when the devil wins at that, that temptation battle with me. Um, I don’t want, I don’t, I just don’t want to continue to go to those things as crutches.

You know what I mean? My desire is like to be rid of all that in my life to where when I, when I struggle in an argument with my wife or, or I’m disappointed because of the way that I didn’t handle the children, right. Or something that I don’t, or, or work stress or whatever it is that I don’t go and just go.

Okay. You know, I’m going to, I’m going to go drink more than I should because I’m, I’m stressed and I’ve, uh, I need a break or whatever. Well, I deserve this. Right. So allow the Lord to become the desire of, of that quenching, right. Of that release of that, of, of, of, of that, that yoke that he wants to be right.

To take on these things for me, that’s the desire I really have. And so what do you do about that? You start, you start making that more of a priority and you start realizing those things. And like, when I’m feeling those feelings and. You know, bored, less, uh, angry, stress, lazy, tired, you know, that, that I know that I’m, I’m susceptible to these things and that I need to be careful of that.

Cause honestly, the only time I ever struggle in my life again was like pornography or looking at something I shouldn’t, or, or something coming on a movie I didn’t expect to come on and. And not fast forwarding it quick enough or something like that is, is, um, is when honestly I’m not so many other things in my life are off kilter Right and usually if it’s drinking too much like if i’ve had too much to drink your inhibitions go out the window So what is a if that’s really your desire to not be in those situations?

Then maybe your plan of action is like, maybe drinking isn’t the best thing for me, right? Maybe I shouldn’t drink at all, or maybe I should set limits. Like I’m only going to have to like, you’re good about that. When you come over here, you’re like, I’m driving Christy, you can have a good time and, you know, drink some wine or whatever with Angela and the girls.

Um, but I’m going to, um, I’m going to have a couple and then have some time and then drive home. Right? So there’s just things like that in my own personal life that I’ve noticed when I get in a situation I don’t want to be with. And it’s generally because I’ve let my guard down and I’ve, and I’ve made some sort of excuse for the behavior and why I should be able to do that.

So that’s one of the places I want to, I want to take action. And, and that’s really what I want to talk about here at the end is like when we talk about these desires, a lot of people go, well, God knows me. He knows my desires. He just doesn’t do anything about them. Well, God likes to work in tandem with us.

He gives us grace and we take action, right? Like he gives us grace if it matches with his desires gives us grace and then he Waits for us to take action with it, right? I mean, I knew that I wanted to go into ministry I lost the job. Angela looked at me and said, take a little bit of money and start a nonprofit.

And if I had never done that, God gave me the grace through Angela and the, and the, and the words, his own words to do that and the inspiration. But I could have sat there and been like, no, I’m scared. I don’t want to do it. Or no, I’m just going to figure something else out, complain and all those things.

But instead. I took that action when I could have gone the other way and now here we are with this ministry. So through God’s grace and then our, our yes, right? So what I wanted to just read through a couple here before we, you know, start to end the show here in a second is really what the Lord says and what some of the other saints say about this.

So first of all, with our desires, the good desires, right? The desires that are, that are the holy ones of our heart, St. Catherine of Siena says there is nothing we can desire or want that we do not find in God. Right? So even your disordered desires have a good and holy desire under them, as Dr. Bob Schut’s tale says all the time.

And that good and holy desires from God. Right? So anything that you’re looking for is like, I was alluding to when it’s like that whisper or that piece of your conscience that’s going like, Hey, you know, you don’t want to do that. Or, Hey, you know, this isn’t good. Or if you, if you open your mouth instead of just being quiet and taking the, the more humble road in this, in this tip with your wife, Then, then it’s going to get to be a problem and your children are going to see you argue and fight and they’re going to remember it and all those things, or you have an option in the moment.

So, you know, these desires are put there by God. And then what we have to do is what we’ve talked about, like this. This, um, looking to what lines up with his, right? Because it says in, in Psalm 37, four through five, take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust in him and he will act.

So that’s just, it’s telling us. First and foremost, like we talked about, give the lord your heart so that transformation can take place. Like that’s what it means to take delight in the Lord, to put him first, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Now again, that doesn’t mean like 40 supermodels in a, in a You know, Ferrari and, uh, you know, in a, hitting a winning lottery ticket.

It means the good desires of your heart that line up with his, he will give you commit your way to the Lord, trust in him and he will act right. So if we have these desires that are good, we know they came from the Lord. He’s the one that spurred those desires within us. So he’s there rooting with you with the communion of saints, with those that have gone before you.

He wants those good things for you. So he waits on you to act. And so we have, you know, one of the fathers of the church, St. Augustine, that said this a bunch of times, and it’s a famous quote, you know, that people repeat a bunch of times, I should say, is pray as though everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you.

And that’s what we really have to do for our goal in 2025, is to kind of go, you know what, I’m sick and tired of saying this all the time. And I know that, you know, God continues to whisper in my ear, these desires, you know, and that’s what gives me this desire in the first place, I’m going to sit down and start to listen to those and look back on 2024 and all the times I felt those nudgings and those kind of like sometimes a gnat, you know, that’s just, you want it to go away and it’s just buzzing around.

What were those? Those things that I heard what were those continual Echoes that I heard in my soul right and write those down And then look at what god basically wants for you your good your peace your love your hope Your grace to be poured over you all of those things. Do they line up? And then take St.

Augustine’s words, right, to heart. And then what Jesus himself says in Matthew 6, 33, Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Right? When we pull apart our own selfish desires and the things of our heart that aren’t of God and we start to realize what is left, either, even those holy desires that are below the bad things that we’re doing and living disorderly.

There are desires come from God, the good and holy ones. If we really sit down and take that. So if you want to like actually change in 2025, if you want to stop the things that are going on and some of the ones Victor and I talked about here may have hit home with you, but if you know those things and it’s up for you to take action, right?

Um, you know, desire has no. Power without action, right? It’s a longing without ever the means to serve that longing. And so what we want to do is put our energy in 2025 into living that way and in utilizing, bringing those four steps together, right? What are my desires? The good and Holy ones and the good and Holy ones that are below the disordered ones.

What does God desire for me that came from him in the first place? So those will line up. But once I figure that out, how am I going to take action and find clarity on these things and then start to live it out in my life? Because that’s where change comes from. So for all of you out there, you know, that are looking for this, it doesn’t have to be another year that goes by where you said all these nice things and they didn’t happen.

Be more, um, intentional this year, like not wait, not waiting for, for tomorrow, right? Which is when you’re going to hear this. So I guess you’re going to have to, but like. But looking at it and saying, okay, 2025, I want to be different for me in these ways. These are the real desires of my heart. Even if they’re painful and I don’t want to admit them, or they look like Herculean to me or whatever, write them down.

What does God think about these? Where do they intersect? And then what is my plan of action to move forward in these? Um, for you, Victor, it sounds like, you know, you’re gonna, you’re gonna spend more time in the mornings praying and doing some more of that and, and being a better listener to your family and stuff like that.

For me, and I want, you can clarify on that in just a second, for me, I want to be a better disciple. I want to be more present to my wife and kids. I want to continue my healing journey, right, by, by looking at not. Everything that’s a problem is everybody else and not me, but like dealing with my inadequacies, they’re still there in my abandonment wounds and all those things.

And then working on my health and making good choices in my life. Those are the things I want to, I want to do. And so I’m going to sit down over the course of this time, you know, uh, next couple of days and just really look at that as I have been through Advent and come up with a solid plan, right? You don’t want to try to eat the whole cake.

Just write down some slices you want to start and then start taking bites of those slices. And once you’ve had one, go to the next and go to the next and go to the next and work systematically and intentionally with a guide who wants to do it alongside of you. So Victor, any final thoughts here? Just really just kind of piggybacking know, ideas and desires are good without a course of action or plan.

They just remain that way. Yeah. And, and God has placed something in your heart so that you move towards that, that goal, that, that closest, that that connectivity with God. With him in the spirit and with the son. Um, so listen to that, you know, obviously we, we, we, we hear this, we know this. Um, and yet something kind of prevents us from going all in, like if we’re at a poker table, you know, all in putting our heart on and, and not, you know, hedging our bets.

Yeah. And as we were talking about, right. So go all in and, and this year and coming up in 2025 and say, this is what I know I need to work on. This is what my course of action is my plan. And I’m going to meet those desires. They’ll become actual, um, actual events. Yeah. They’ll become reality. They’ll become truth.

They’ll become a truth of my life. So folks, I mean, that’s really it. Like we said, you know, look at your desires. Those come from God and just, they’re going to match up with Him if they’re good and holy desires. Um, you know, and then take action with it, right? Take action with it. So, we’re going to close out in prayer here with those things that, praying for all of you that, that you’ll take a couple of moments, or as much time as you need, over the next few days.

And don’t feel like you have to rush, you know, and do it tonight or in the morning because the calendar is flipped. Like sit with God and give him the time of your life be silent like get away from distractions Find a place in your room or somewhere in an adoration chapel and do what you got to do to sit down and have this Conversation with God Lord, this is what I keep hearing you say to me or my conscious is saying to me Is this what you desire?

If so, then Lord, this is what I want to help me make this desire reality and help me form a plan to do that. I promise you, your life will change, but the more intentional you are with that, the more chance you give yourself for change. So let’s take all of that to prayer. Um, and just ask God for help in 2025 and beyond for those that we love and for ourselves.

So the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you for this opportunity to come together and to talk about what really matters, the changes that you want in our life, right? Those whispers that we hear all the time, some that we were grateful to get and some that we ignore because we’re just.

To tie it up in the things that matter more to us than they should. Lord, the heart is the place of transformation. You’ve told us that there is where true change starts. So Lord, as we enter into this new year on this last night of 2024, help us to center on what those quiet voices tell us. Those desires of yours to make sure that they line up together, right?

And then to form a plan of action so that we can actually become the men that our heart tells us we desire to be, not for it to be a pipe dream or something out there out of our reach, but but for it to become a reality with your grace, with your guidance, with your love, and the hope that all of it brings.

And the name of the Father of the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Thanks folks. Have a great 2025.