(upbeat music) - Hey friends, welcome back to another episode of Let It Shine. I'm your host, Angie Elkins, and I wanna welcome you. If you have not listened to the Let It Shine podcast before, I am so glad you found us. I don't know if someone shared this episode with you. Maybe you were scrolling on your podcast directory and found us, however you have found us, I am so, so happy that you are here. Today, I'm having a fantastic conversation with my season two illuminator, Nikki Ogden. Guys, if you haven't met Nikki and you don't know much about her, I wanna encourage you to go back and listen to the trailer for season two, where Nikki introduces herself. You'll hear a little bit more about who she is, what's important to her, what she loves, and what she does. But one of the things that she loves is community and so that's what we're talking about today. She and I both share a love for the local church. Nikki's married to a senior pastor, I'm married to a worship pastor, but we're not just talking about community in church setting today, although both of us would say community inside your local church is probably the best community you can find. So we're talking about that today. The importance of it and how having good, strong community really does contribute to a good, strong, spiritual formation in your life. So without further ado, here is my conversation with Nikki Ogden about community. ♪ Let it dry, let it dry, let it dry ♪ Nikki, here we are. We're doing it. - Crazy. - I know, this is so fun. - It is, that's crazy. - Today we're talking about community and oh my word, this is just hitting me in this very moment. You're the perfect person for me to talk with us about this because we have so many of these conversations on our own. - We do, yeah. - About community, staying in community, staying in hard things. So let's just dive in. Robert and I, I'm gonna start right here with church because I think it's such an essential part of our conversation where we talk about friendships and community. It's where most of my friendships exist. And also a lot of hard stuff has happened. Robert and I are about to celebrate 15 years at First Baptist Orlando. - That's crazy. - Let me tell you why. - 15 years. - Let me tell you why it's crazy. Because our very first Sunday here, Jimmy Nott, Pastor Jimmy Nott preached on being a stranger in a foreign land. And I thought that was, we were strangers but we were not gonna be here long. I have remember coming home and telling Robert, I feel like this is just a really short stint for us here. - Yeah. - First really day. - Chris and I had a similar conversation a few months and it's like, I think this might just be like a passing through place and we're a year behind you. - So I guess we're not just passing through. - God was laughing so hard at what we thought we knew. But it's really kind of cool because I think as we are approaching this 15th anniversary, God has been showing me the fruits of being rooted in a place for so long. And I'm just really kind of trying to savor it and soak it in. - Yeah. - Like knowing these people for as long as I have, raising our children together, it's so sweet and joyful. But it's not always been easy as you well know. - Not easy. - It's been very hard at times. - Yeah. - But there's a beauty in staying planted and rooted in even when things get hard. - Yes, yeah. - Yeah, I mean, we're the same. Like I said, we had a similar conversation and here we are 14 years, you know, a year behind you. And I think honestly, this conversation is a conversation I wanted to have with you. As soon as I knew that you were launching, let it shine. And you were having the conversation of sanctification over, you know, self-help and things like that because I think the world's message is protect your peace. But the world doesn't know what peace is because protecting your peace, that's insinuating that peace is a feeling that needs to be protected and it's not. We know that there is a prince of peace. - Here we are. - He resides in believers. - Yes. - And so peace is a person and he does not need protecting. He is the protector. - Oh yeah, right in. - And so I think that staying is such a sanctification process because instead of running when times get hard instead of running to what feels comfortable, instead of saying, you know what, I'm gonna protect my peace. I'm using air quotes when I say that, you know, I'm gonna protect my peace. We're choosing to allow the prince of peace to get us through those hard times and to sanctify us from the inside out. And then from there comes really amazing, rich community in a place that you've stayed and kind of done the distance. - You know, I think that's so good. I think there are people here who are listening right now who are trying to decide leave or stay. And I think that's a hard situation, not just in churches, but in relationships. So let's kind of break that down because we're talking about building community and that doesn't mean that you have friendships that are always easy. But it also doesn't, well, we wanna leave room for there are some friendships that are toxic and you don't need to be in. - There's always caveats around staying, right? Like let's just say that from the very beginning. Like we're not telling anyone to stay under super unhealthy, you know, toxic environments or leadership or certainly not, you know, toxic or abusive relationships. There's always caveats around leaving. I think just for the sake of this conversation, we're talking about staying when it's hard, you know? And I think that's good. Just about leaving, let me just give an example. I had a conversation with a friend recently who has been through some really hard stuff. And she has a friend who had been walking through the hard stuff with her. But when it came to celebrating good things in her life, this friend could not do it. And it was because of some stuff going on with her. She just couldn't. And basically drew a boundary and said, "You can't talk about any of this good in your life with me." And we were like, wow, I mean, that's when you know that friend is not 100% there for you. But there are other things, like I've had friendships that have gone through really bumpy things where we didn't understand where the other one was coming from, maybe whatever hurt feelings, all of that. But we've stayed in it and come out on the other side of it. So tell me about an experience you've maybe had or something you've learned. - Well, I think like we're using the word community and I think what we're implying here is like friends, right? We're talking about adult friendships. Adult friendships are, you know, a little different than kid friendships, you know? We're talking about friendships. We're talking about friends that go the distance with you that are not just there and show up for the rescue and the bad times, but also can celebrate their good times with you. But if we look back to the word community, like it's like a town. It's like, you know, it's like a structure, right? A physical structure that takes time. Like think about early settlers coming in, taking time to create a community, to build the buildings, to build the things around it that need it to be healthy, right, and thriving community. And then we're taking that word to talk about like our friendships, but too often we just wanna like jump in people's lives and say like, oh, we're community without taking the time that's necessary to build and create and cultivate the things that are necessary to have a thriving community. - I think about college, like college days, living in the dorms with people. - Yeah, living in the dorms, yep. - That was building community. - It throws you into it. And like you do, I think when you're in college, community accelerates because you're all living together. You are with each other all hours of the day and night, right? There's very few boundaries even, right? I mean, like sometimes you roll out of bed and go to class near Virginia. - That's right. - We weren't allowed to have high school, but it happens. Or you're staying up super late at night with people that you normally wouldn't because you're all studying together or like you're being spontaneous together. So you're building those core memories. But that doesn't happen in adulthood because we have responsibilities, we have our own homes, sometimes we have baggage, right? Like especially when we're moving, we have fears. And so it takes time to build that community. - And intention. - And intention. And I really struggled with that truthfully. I grew up in a small town. I grew up in a very small town. No one moved in, no one moved out. I mean, it was who you went to school with and kindergarten is who I graduated with. Like plus or minus a few people. And so I realized years like after going to college and like leaving that town, everything like, I realized I never learned how to make friends. - Oh. - I never had to. - Yes. - They were just automatically. - Always there. - Yes. - So for the first like 18 years of my life, I never had to like figure out how to make friends. And so then when you are dropped in a big place like Orlando, right? Where it takes so much intentionality, I felt like a fish out of water, you know, for a lot of years. And then honestly, it was by God's grace through other people, knowing how to be a good friend to me. That's, I started realizing, oh, like, this is what friendship means. Like this is because I was definitely in the mindset of like someone said something I didn't like. Like, uh, we're gonna distance ourselves, you know, of like that pooling away, that trying to leave, that trying to like protect my comfort, protect my peace, you know, but yeah. And then like I said through a friend being a friend of being a very good friend and she's a friend that isn't gonna leave your side. She's there for the good, she's there for the bad. And she basically just looked at me and was like, we're gonna be friends. And I was like, okay, like it was really like that. She saw me at church and was like, we're gonna be friends. And I was like, okay. And I mean, she's been my friend for over 10 years now. And, but it's through her being a good friend that I feel like I've learned now to build a community. And you know, we moved about four years ago. Same church, different campuses, so different part of town. But we moved into a place where I, my husband and I, were responsible for building the community, you know? And yeah, I don't think I could have done that 14 years ago. - Yeah. - You know? - So let's talk about protecting our peace a little bit more. I think that this is such an interesting dichotomy in a way because we hear it a lot from the world. And I sort of get it, right? - Yeah. - Because I've talked with Stacey on another episode, really about what do you want, you know? And you have got to put boundaries in your life so that you can get to the place you want with Sabbath or with the things that you want out of life. And so you could almost put, protect your peace sort of in that same category, but that's not what we're talking about. So break that down a little bit for me. - Those things that you were just saying about going, like prioritizing the things that you want, knowing the values that you have, building in the Sabbath. Those, having that kind of focus in your life, I think it brings peace. It leaves space for peace. But I think what the world gets confused is that they're talking about comfort. And we can't do those things that you just mentioned while in order to seek comfort. That's not what we're about to seek. Like, we're not called to be comfortable. We're just not gonna be comfortable. Like, that's not our purpose here on Earth is to be comfortable. If anything, like, I think it's a red flag when you've been comfortable for a really long time. If you've been super comfortable in your marriage for a long time, if you've been super comfortable with your friendships, if you've been super comfortable at your church, I think that those are all kind of red flags because you're not, you're not called to be comfortable. Like, there should be a stirring. There should be sanctification happening. There should be seasons where you're walking through the fire and you can have peace in all of those things. I mean, I've walked through hard times in our marriage. I've walked through hard times here at the church where I still had peace. I had to make a really hard decision a couple of years ago and it was heartbreaking. It was not comfortable, but I had an overwhelming amount of peace to make that decision. And so that's where I think that the world has it wrong. I think the world thinks that it's a feeling of comfort and it's not. Okay, so let's talk about this. Actually, you don't even-- - You're like putting me on the night. - I know, but I mean, you've got me thinking. So you don't even know this, but Elena and I recorded an episode about comfort. - Oh, okay. - And how-- - Can I have a listen? - Yeah, it's just so amazing though to me how this all lines up. What is the difference between feeling comfortable and feeling content? Like how can we pursue contentment, but not necessarily our own comfort? Like being willing to step outside of our comfort zone, yet find a place of contentment in our lives so that we're not always wanting more. That makes sense. - Yeah, so I think comfort, being comfortable because that is different in receiving comfort or being of comfort to someone. So being comfortable, I think, is not really desiring more. And I don't think that we were, if you're not growing, you're dying. - That's right. And I mean, that sanctification is growing. - Right. - Right. - You can be content and still desire more. I am content with the calling that God has for Chris and I right now, at Horizonals Church. - That's right. - I desire more for everyone. I desire more for the church. I desire more for the people to experience God more. I desire for Christ to grow. Like in his leadership more, I desire for me to grow and my support for him more. Like there's still a desire there to have more of what God wants. So I'm content and what it is, but I desire for more of what God has. - I love that. - And when you're comfortable, I don't think you're even thinking about that. Does that make sense? What do you think? - You're just thinking about your own comfort and what feels good in the moment. I think, for sure. I mean, I think of the ultimate comfort like laying in bed in the morning when it's cold outside the country, but warm underneath the country. - And you don't want to get out. - Yes, and you don't want to get out. You don't want anything other than where you are in that moment. And I don't think we are meant for that. - And if you stay there, you would grow discontent. - That's right. - Like you would get hungry? - Yes. - You would get bored. - You'd have to go to the bathroom. - You would start feeling gassed. - Just go to the bathroom. - You might start feeling guilty for the things that you're dropping by the wayside. - Yep. - You know, it'll breed discontentment. - Yeah. - It should. - Yeah, it totally should. So for sure, that's true. I mean, it may feel comfortable in the moment, but Alaina and I talked about this and just how the pursuit of our own comfort holds us back from experiencing everything God has for us. And I think that is the same kind of concept as protecting your peace. It's like we're protecting a comfortable place when really that's not our job to protect, that we shouldn't pursue that. It's not even for, it's not our job. We, you know, we can talk about protecting ourselves in a lot of different ways, but really that's God's job is to protect us for what He needs us for. And we don't need to worry about it. - Yeah. And if our goal as Christians is to look more like Jesus, do we think that there was anything comfortable about the cross? - Wow. - And not just the cross. - Right. - I mean, even his life before the cross. - His life, yeah, his whole life before the cross. But I think of him as like final hours, like in the garden. And he was an agony, like agony. Like there was no comfort in him. I mean, imagine, I know what it's like to lay flat on my face and be bawling, right? Asking for God for something else, but I've never sweat to the point of blood. You know what I mean? Be in such distress to be in such agony, to be begging a father that you know intimately and trust for a different way. But then to say that I will be done. And then to stand up to walk out of the garden, to carry his cross, to endure crucifixion. There was nothing comfortable about that. - That's right. - But I do believe that it was his peace and knowing who the father is, that took him each step of the way. That is so good, such a great reminder. So let's turn it back to us and how we quote protect our peace in some ways that we probably need a let go of. - Okay. - Can you think of an example? - I mean, I think there's a tendency to do it with people. You know, I think that there are some certain people in life that are just harder, right? They just take more energy. - For sure. - You know, and so I sometimes wonder like what I'm holding back from them, you know? Because I'm trying to protect my comfort. - Yeah. I'm thinking of people I'm going to the hallways at church. You know what I'm saying? - Yeah. - I mean, everybody knows. - I'm glad we don't go to the same campus 'cause then I know you're not talking about me. - I'm never talking about you. Oh my gosh. But for sure, but you know, I shared this example already on the podcast, but everyone knows. Maybe this is your first time listening. You wouldn't know this, but I produced another show at Lifeway called the Glass House. And there was an episode that aired that Lendly did a conversation with Anne Wright. We'll link to that in the show notes where she talked about the ministry of the hallway in church. And I thought about it yesterday as I got pulled aside to hear about a need from someone. And I was listening 100% with my heart. I was so happy that she felt she could confide in me. And I was also reminding myself to be present in the moment. This is a ministry in this hallway right here. I don't have anywhere else that's more important for me to be than right here. Because I'm a person who is, I don't like to be late. I like to stay on time. I like to get to the next thing. And I had some responsibilities yesterday. But I also knew if I'm late for that responsibility, there is someone who can cover for me. And I, there's nothing more important than this moment. And even just reminding myself of that, no matter what my quote interruption is, you know, I have seen people at church who, in order to quote, protect their peace, they duck into the green room and get on their phones so they don't have to talk to people. And listen, I'm going to sound real judgmental right now, but I just don't believe that's what we need to be doing. - I don't think it's the way that you cultivate your community. - It's not. - And you create your community. - That's a really good way to say that. - An example just came to mind hearing you say that. So you were talking about Elena said that we get held back from a lot that God has for us when we're trying to be comfortable. - Yes. - Last week we took our family to Mexico. - This perfect example. - For missions, not like, you know, - Not good. - Not good. - Cosumelle, not the tour spot. - We went to Mexico, not Cancun. - No, yeah. - We went to Tijuana. And so by the time we flew into San Diego, it was nighttime and we had across the border. And if you're in America, if you have a social media account, you hear all the stories about the border. And now I'm taking my eight, 10, and 12 year old across the border. - Yep. - And there was that part of my brain that knew that this was as safe as most other things that we do on vacation. - Yeah. - But there was also some fear, some discomfort. - I can imagine. - The moment that you pull up, everyone speaking the language that I don't speak, you know, I have no idea what they're saying. They're wearing military gear, they're have guns, and they're speaking of foreign language. It's uncomfortable. - Yeah. - You know, it was 10, 30, it was at night. They opened up the doors, they look inside. It's uncomfortable. - Yeah. - You know, but we crossed the border. We got to the base, you know, we spent the next few days there doing missions, building houses with our family. And it was the most amazing thing that our family has experienced. - Wow. - Our family goes to church every Sunday, right? But we split up, I have one kid and students, I have two and kids, you know, I'm in the service or serving somewhere. Chris is preaching. We're never worshiping together. We were shipped more together. Those like 48, 72 hours in Mexico than we have in years. And then when we crossed back, it was five o'clock in the morning and we had to do it by foot, really. So, NT Awana, I got dropped off. I walk with my kids and our group, you know, by foot at five o'clock in the morning and we walk across the border. And again, it's uncomfortable. It's a little scary, like it's dark, you know? And you're just hoping that everything goes the way that they say it's gonna go, you know? But I think about those temporary discomforts and what I would have missed if I would have let the fear, those fears, and my desire of comfort, my desire of quote unquote peace, like keep me at home. - Yeah. - I mean, I have one kid that's like, you know, a sixth grade and talking about doing a gap year already. You know, in Mexico. I mean, the other ones are like, when are we going back? - Wow. - It was life-changing as a family, but especially for my kids to give them the opportunity. And I just wouldn't have done that if I was protecting my piece. - Oh man, that's such a great example. Yeah. - But can I ask you, so we oftentimes run from people. I mean, that's how we got on this conversation with like community, right? We oftentimes run from our community or run from the time it takes to build the community because our piece is threatened. - Mm. - So why should we stay? - I would say, well, here are the first things I think of. The scripture says, when we are born again, we are not just born again into a relationship with God. We are born into a relationship with each other. It's the body of Christ. It is literally part of our rebirth. Just the way, just the same way when our youngest son Foster was born, he was born into a relationship with me and his dad, but also Jack and Audrey. It was not an option. - Yeah, that's good, yeah. - It's as much a part of his birth into a family as Jack's was where he had no siblings when he was born. And so that is part of God's plan is that we're born into a relationship with other believers. I think of the joy that comes from that. I think that is a representation of the joy that God gives us comes from his body. As we enter into the good and the hard with each other, just as Sassy and I have talked about, difficult things in our lives or in the world, that is our responsibility to bring the joy of Jesus into those hard situations. So if we're avoiding the hard, then we're avoiding bringing Jesus into the world. It's really true. - Yeah. - What about you? What do you think? - I think that there is something in us that like we just desire to run. - Yeah. - You know, maybe from the very beginning of time, I mean, Adam and Eve had to leave, you know, like they had to. And then you see all throughout scripture, God moving people, you know? So I, there's just, and I mean, if you think about it, like you go to school for a couple of years in elementary school and then you leave that school and you go to middle school for a couple of years. And then you leave that school and go to high school, right? And I mean, I know there's some exceptions and stuff. Like we're here at a private school where you don't leave campuses per se, but typically in that after four years, you go to college, you go to college, you leave. I mean, you're just conditioned to constantly leave, right? And then you get a place where you're putting down the roots, you're staying the course, you're taking the time to build real authentic community. And all of a sudden you're having to rewire yourself to stay. But I think that Jesus said it all, like when Jesus came to earth and he did his ministry, he was healing. He was making people walk again, making people see again. He was like, you know, feeding the thousands. He was doing all these miracles. Then he conquered death, like conquered that, you know? - Exactly. - Rose again. And he could have said, it's finished for all of us. Like it, this is done, I've done it all. We all get to be in community with God now and have him. But he didn't. He said, stay here and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name, you know? And so I feel like that that's a mandate from Jesus telling us, you gotta stay. Like you can't run every time I get started. I remember like in COVID, I remember seeing a lot like whenever COVID was happening and the political unrest was happening and just all, you know, the world was kind of on fire. And I remember seeing a lot on social media. I hate it here, or Lord Jesus come. - Yep. - Do you remember a lot of it? - Yep, oh yeah. - I 100% get the sentiment, but he didn't come. And we can't hate it 'cause we're told to be here. - That's right. - So we gotta love it. - Be the salt and the light here. - Right. - Like we were told to stay. And so I just think there's almost a disobedience when we just keep running. - Yeah, it's funny that you brought up COVID 'cause I was thinking about that too and how that led, well, we had to withdraw. We had to withdraw and we had to be alone. And of course, I think we all reached out for some connection online, but I think we all know that's not real connection. It's not the way God designed us to connect. In fact, a book you and I've talked about a lot that you just generation. - Oh yeah. - And how, I mean, that book is just full of proof. - It's amazing. - Yeah, I'm like listening to it and like listening to it on repeat. - Yeah. - It's just so good, yeah. - It's proof that we're not actually connected. - Digitally. - Yeah. - Digitally. And so, you know, I'm glad you're listening. So good listening. But we all withdrew and got really comfortable. And I think that's what we've seen. The problem with going back, people going back, it feels so much harder to have a meeting in person than to have it on Zoom. It takes more time. It takes more intention for us to come in person and sit on these catches when we could totally have done this on Riverside across the city. But it was important to connect in person. And so, I think there's something about our personalities. And maybe it's different from person to person where what is that law of, I don't know, one of the laws, an object that is in motion stays in motion and an object at risk stays at risk. I probably just had a big time for this conversation. - That's a sciencey, which I'm typically not. But I do think that that is so true. An object that stays at, that is at risk stays at risk. I think that's true for us emotionally. I think it's true for us even with our bodies. Like we get in the habit of being solitary and it's so hard to push out of it. - Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's say for the person that's listening right now who has been at the church for 14 years, they have stayed and it's still discouraging. And maybe they have some good relationships but even they feel far away right now. What is one practical advice that you can give them to stay the course? - Okay, I don't, I wanna hear your answer to this question. But I feel like you're gonna have, you've got some stuff ready, I'm sure. - Oh, I don't know. - Okay, well, here's my first thing. I think staying at a church is about the relationships. It's not about who's the pastor. I really do believe this. It's not necessarily, now, if the word is not being preached, if there's heresy being preached. - Like we said, lots of caveats around the city. - Yeah, but it is not about the person that stands on the platform. It is about the community that you formed at your church. I believe that with my whole heart. If for some reason that community has not been there for you, maybe you feel like you've given what you can give and it's just not pouring back into you. I think that is maybe a good time to consider looking for a new community. But I don't even know if that's true. I feel like there's just so many factors, but I'll tell you what makes it worth it. What makes it worth it is walking through life with people. And when I say walking through life with people, it doesn't mean that you're all hanging out every Friday night. - Right. - It doesn't mean that you all go out to lunch on Sunday afternoon and you've got a tight group of besties. It means when I go through something hard, when there's something in my family, there's an illness, I lose a parent, I, whatever, that you have people that are there for you. But it also means they celebrate you and wonderful things happen as well. And so when I say community, there are probably a handful of people in that category for me. And I have found them all at church serving. This is where I found them. I have found places to serve and that is where I have made my community. It's because I'm showing up in the same place every Sunday and seeing the same people. And we do the singing Christmas trees together or we are serving online together or we're teaching a life group together. I've done all of those things in my 15 years and that's where I've made my best friends. And those are the people who are without a doubt there for me. What would you say? - I'm gonna say two things. I'm gonna shortly say what my husband would say. - Okay, great. - Because I've seen this in him a couple years ago, we were just going through a tough season with some different factors. And there was a lot of justification for the way that he was feeling. Does that make sense? - Yeah. - But I remember him saying that those things may be wrong, but everything in me may not be right. And he said, "I'm gonna do that work first." - Wow, that's great. - And I did not consider that 'cause I was like, I'm with you, I'm your teammate, you're right. They are wrong, I tend to be a little bit more like black and white too. And I watched him do the work and as he did the work with him himself, the other things were working themselves out. - That is so good. - Yeah. And so that's like maybe, and that kind of ties into like what I was gonna say, give God time to do the sanctification. - That's exactly it. Doing the work inside yourself, that's sanctification when God do it. - Yeah, and you don't get that when you run. - That's right. - When you stay in your community, you give God time to do, the sanctification is within, right? And so when you kind of turn inward that way and stop looking at everyone else, stop looking at what they're doing or what needs they are not meeting, maybe God does not want them to meet that need, right? 'Cause that's normally where the conflict comes from community when they're not meeting a need that we have, like a felt need that we have or an expectation that has not been met, maybe God doesn't want them to meet that need, to meet the expectation. Maybe he wants to fulfill that space in you. When you run to the next church, when you run to the next friend group, when you run to the next city, whatever you're looking at, when you run to the next community, well, you're taking a hold of that with you and you're gonna put those expectations and those disappointments on that new community. And it's unlikely it's gonna work out there to give God time to do the sanctification. And I didn't even put God on a timeline before. - Oh, sure. - I have, I mean, when we were in the NICU, we were in the NICU for five months and we were out of crossroads or we had to make a decision. And I did not feel peace about one of the decisions. I felt peace about waiting. I just knew God was gonna do something and I just really felt peace about waiting and staying in the NICU. We could have gone home, we could have gone home like two months earlier than we did. - Oh, wow. - But it came to a point at the end of those four months where I was like, "God, I don't have much more in me." Like, and Chris and I prayed together and we said, "By November 1st, will this please happen?" Or we're leaving, you know, the NICU, we were gonna be able to take our baby and go home and guess what time she came home? - When? - October 26th. - Oh, wow. - It's like, okay, thank you, Jesus, amen. - But we gave him time to do the work that was needed and so I think that's my encouragement or my advice to someone is, "Give God time." - Yeah. - To do the work. - That's good. - Mm-hmm. - It's a good place to end. - "Let It Shine" is a production of the "Lifeway Podcast," executive produced by me, Angie Elkins, produced by Nikki Ogden. It's recorded at the "Lifeway Podcast" studios and engineered by Donnie Gordon, edited by Robert Elkins. An original theme song arranged by Robert Elkins, the Maestro himself, performed by Tiffany Casey, Abby Pierce, Ryan Walker, Jarian Felton, and Shawna Felton, art by Grace Morgan, and I'm your host, Angie Elkins. Meet me back here next week. ♪ Let's do the light of mine ♪ ♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪ ♪ Let's do the light of mine ♪ ♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪ ♪ Let's do the light of mine ♪ ♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪ ♪ Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine ♪ (whooshing) [BLANK_AUDIO]
