Finding Meaning in Pain: Salathiel Deloach’s Journey with Lupus, Faith, and Resilience

November 21, 2024

Episode Transcript

Salathiel Deloach, known as Lent Warrior in VR, faced the challenge of living with lupus—a condition that affects not just the body, but the spirit. Despite the constant joint pain and fatigue, she channels her resilience into founding the Deloach Lupus Foundation, a pillar of support for others battling lupus. Her story is a testament to finding meaning and purpose in pain. Beyond the surface, Salathiel's narrative encourages us to look deeper, as everyone carries battles invisible to the eye.

In a heartfelt exploration, personal stories shed light on the impact of a lupus diagnosis, where dreams and aspirations can feel abruptly stolen. These personal accounts highlight the profound journey through identity loss, healthcare struggles, and ultimately, rediscovering faith. By embracing acceptance and empathy, our experiences become a spring of strength, inspiring support for others in their battles. Through such transformative journeys, the importance of not judging others by appearances becomes crystal clear, as unseen struggles often forge the strongest spirits.

Links to Check Out:

https://boldjourney.com/meet-salathiel-deloach/
https://www.instagram.com/lentwarrior/

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See full episode transcriptTranscript is autogenerated by AI

Intro

LentWarrior 0:01

That's my turning point . I remember it vividly . There was a sermon that was preached and it was almost the topic that we're here for tonight . You know , just understanding that my pain had purpose .

Brian Curee 0:14

Welcome to the New Horizons podcast . I'm Brian Curee .

Shawna Curee 0:17

And I'm Shawna Curee , also known as Mr and Mrs Killer B , in virtual reality . So this podcast is recorded live from the Metaverse at the Killer Bee Studios where real life stories and God experiences are shared in a way only the Metaverse can offer .

Brian Curee 0:32

With that , let's go ahead and dive into today's episode . Hey everybody , how's everybody doing ? But tonight , what we're going to be talking about , we're going to be talking about finding purpose in pain . Now , when I was reading her application and learning about her story , I'm like wow , she's got an amazing story .

Brian Curee 0:52

So if you guys have questions or thoughts , be sure to go , click the kiosk that you can register to ask your questions . We'll see your name on the list and , don't worry , we will bring you up . It just might be a little while before the right time to bring you up and we'll bring up the mic , but please be sure to click that . If you want to ask her a question or share a thought or even , you know , share encouragement , whatever it may be , you can click the kiosk right there , all right . So with that

Welcome our Guest to KBS

Brian Curee 1:18

, diener , can you hit the guest music and let's bring out our guest . Let's rain her with some confetti . Let's bring out lint warrior . All right , let warrior come on out . All right , welcome to the killer bee studios . She's so great to see you . Look at her camouflage pants too . She's like I love them , I love it . She can wear camouflage pants , a sports jacket right , right there that is some style right there girls wear blazers girls don't wear sports jackets .

Brian Curee 1:49

Oh okay , blazer , all right , so I need a very cool outfit even the clothes need labels , so I can understand what to call these things so that's so , lynn warrior

LentWarrior Introduces Herself.

Brian Curee 2:00

, why don't ? We're so glad you're here , thank you so much , and we're excited to talk about your story . Learn more about your story and would you take about 30 seconds just to introduce yourself and let everybody know a little bit about who Lent Warrior is ?

LentWarrior 2:16

Awesome , awesome . So first and foremost , thank you for inviting me to the show . I heard you say you weren't positive about how to pronounce my name , so first I want to make sure my name is Salathiel Deloach , and that's actually the Lent warrior is the meaning of my name . So my first name , salathiel , means Lent of God , and my last name , deloach , means warrior .

Mike 2:40

So that's where I get my name from , so just kind of a translation there , which I thought was really cool to bring into the metaverse .

LentWarrior 2:48

I'm born and raised in the city of Savannah , Georgia .

LentWarrior 2:51

I have one sister and one brother . I've been diagnosed with lupus for 23 years . I run a nonprofit organization called the Deloach Lupus Foundation here in Savannah Georgia . We assist lupus warriors with their different financial needs that they may have , be it to purchase medication or to travel for doctor's appointments or things of that nature . We host support group meetings . I am a lover of all things in the arts and what that means . I love to sing . I heard you talk about your program that you all have upcoming , and so I'm going to make sure I come back so that I can get on the list and share some of my talents .

LentWarrior 3:40

I'm trying to step outside of some of my boxes that I created for myself .

Brian Curee 3:45

That's awesome . We would love to have you come and share your talent . We would love that , lynn , so I'm gonna call you Lynn . Is that cool if I just call you Lynn ? That's perfectly fine .

What is Lupus? And How Lupus Affects You.

LentWarrior 4:00

Awesome , okay , so let's go ahead and start with . Can you explain a little bit about lupus ? So lupus is an autoimmune disease , and it can impact or affect any part of the body . Honestly , for me , it started with my kidneys . When I was diagnosed , I was . I went into the emergency room and thought that I was having some menstrual cycle pains , and it turns out that my kidneys were actually failing . But lupus can affect any organ in the body , and so I'll name a few that have been impacted Kidneys , lungs , my heart , my deal with brain fog .

LentWarrior 4:36

We experience on a daily basis . Most of us , we experience joint pains . That's one of the most common things that you'll hear a lupus patient mention that they're dealing with . But in addition to that , we deal with things like fatigue . So people often call us lazy , but we're not at all lazy people . We're actually some of the hardest working people to combat that sickness . But yeah , so those are some of the main things that people will experience as it relates to lupus , and oftentimes lupus is misdiagnosed because it is an autoimmune disease and so it it looks like a lot of the other autoimmune diseases .

Brian Curee 5:18

So yeah , oh , okay , so did you find that . Oh God , ms Klobe , okay , so did you find that oh go ahead , mrs Colby .

Shawna Curee 5:24

Oh , I was just going to say did you , were you experiencing symptoms for a while before you ever found out what it was ? Or did you were you ?

LentWarrior 5:34

yeah , go ahead .

Mike 5:37

I played sports .

LentWarrior 5:38

And so I played basketball , I cheered , I ran a little bit of track , I played a little bit of flag football . So the joint pains that people talked about , I chalked them up to sports pains . So I believe that I might have , but because I lived such an active life I didn't realize it and like I said I dealt with the space of having a very difficult menstrual cycle . I would sometimes bleed for months on end .

Mike 6:11

And so when I began to , experience the pains within my stomach .

LentWarrior 6:16

I immediately thought that it was just the pains that I was experiencing with my menstrual cycle , but when I woke up , my joints were swollen , so my feet and my hands were literally the size of footballs literally and I could not walk . I attempted to get up to go to the restroom and I hit the ground immediately and I was still experiencing the pains . When I got to the emergency room , the doctor saw what we call butterfly rash and it's a rash that forms on your cheeks and it looks literally like a butterfly .

LentWarrior 6:56

Really , oh really , and so your skin is discolored so you really can see it . It does not matter what your race is . Lupus predominantly affects the African , american and Hispanic communities , but every race of people can be diagnosed with lupus Male , female , children . It's unfortunate but all-giving disease .

Brian Curee 7:21

Wow , you said that a lot of people get misdiagnosed . Is that correct ? Is that what you're saying ?

LentWarrior 7:27

Yes , sometimes it could take patients up to six years to be diagnosed with lupus and oftentimes , like I said , oftentimes they're misdiagnosed with something altogether different before they are diagnosed with lupus , or they can have that disease and have lupus . I know quite a few people that have been diagnosed with cancer and also have been diagnosed with lupus or sickle cell and also have been diagnosed with lupus .

Brian Curee 7:54

So yeah , wow , and I thought it was interesting you said that . You said a lot of people were like that's all right , ms Kirby , I'll let you . I'll let you , I'll ask this question and you can go for it . You said a lot of people . Actually , you go ahead and ask your question because I don't want to take it off track . Go ahead .

LentWarrior 8:18

Okay , I was just going to say are there medicines or lifestyle changes that can help you manage those symptoms ? Absolutely , one of the predominant medications that we take to stop what we call a flare . A flare is literally having all of the symptoms , or a lot of symptoms , dealing with lupus . So when someone is having a flare , they're typically going to put us on a steroid , and that steroid is called Plaquenil and it's a very powerful steroid and we hate that steroid because we all know that steroids make you gain weight . I myself , I have worn almost 400 pounds , just you know , being diagnosed with lupus and being on that steroid , whereas prior to being diagnosed with lupus , I only wore 150 pounds , soaking wet .

Shawna Curee 9:03

Wow yeah . Oh my goodness , like how long do they make you take that when you're dealing with the flare ? Is it an extended period of time ?

LentWarrior 9:12

Yes , ma'am , it can . When I was originally diagnosed with lupus , I was on the steroid for three years because that's how active the diagnosis was when I was first diagnosed and we couldn't figure out a medication to level things out for me .

LentWarrior 9:34

And so , as the doctor would try to take me off of the prednisone , I would go immediately right back into a flare and instead of me being in the flare , they would just put me back on the prednisone . Yeah , so they do what they . The prednisone is kind of like the safe gatekeep , if you will . So when someone is in that flare , they will immediately put them on that steroid and it just kind of quiets the flare down and it gives them an opportunity to try different medications to see what will work , because not all of the medications .

LentWarrior 10:13

You know there are several medications that we take . There's only two medications that are specifically for lupus , but we take a variety of different medications that are not specifically for lupus . You might have heard of the hydrocodone during the pandemic . Yeah , that's one of the medications that we , as lupus patients , take , and during the pandemic because it was said to be the cure , a lot of the patients that we work with were not able to get their medications because there was such a low quantity of it for that reason , and so that's one of the medications that lupus warriors heavily depend on , and it's usually that medication that will assist you in getting off of that prednisone .

Brian Curee 11:00

I see , wow , how fascinating I see , wow , how fascinating Lynn you were saying about how you know the different things that , how it affected you , like I guess let me ask you

Faith, Identity, And Lifestyle in Sickness.

Brian Curee 11:12

this what has been like some of the biggest challenges for you ? I know we're going to get to the part like talking about how this how your pain has really become like , how you found purpose in that pain has really become like , how you found purpose in that but what has been like some of the biggest challenges that you've had to face going through this and adjustments that you've had to make in your own lifestyle ? Because you said you were athletic , so has it affected any of these things as well .

LentWarrior 11:37

So , first and foremost , the first thing that it impacted for me I was preparing to go off to college as soon as I was diagnosed . I just graduated from high school , so I was preparing to go off to college , and so it changed the trajectory of the plans that I had for myself . That's first and foremost . And then , after it stole is what I call it . After it stole that dream of going off to college from me , I was released from the well while I was in the hospital . I lost my insurance because I didn't get to go off to school .

LentWarrior 12:17

So I lost my insurance while I was in the hospital , and because I lost my insurance , I was shortly after kicked out of the hospital and so I was home dealing with this brand new disease that no one in my family had heard about . So I felt ostracized , I lost , if you will . I felt like I lost my identity because I was athletic and here I was now not really living the life that I knew , and I began to experience a lot of pain , because while you're in the hospital , you're stuck to an IV , so you're getting the best medication possible . But once I went home , I wasn't receiving that medication anymore , and so I began to experience all of the pains that I was experiencing .

LentWarrior 13:07

In the morning that I went into the hospital and they continued to give me just pain medications , and I eventually lost the functionality of my body .

LentWarrior 13:17

And with me losing the functionality of my body , I found myself sitting on a couch , and while I sat on the couch , you heard me mention that I wore almost 400 pounds . I just sat on the couch and I watched TV and I ate , and I lost a part of me while I was sitting on that couch , and so those were just the beginning of me being diagnosed with lupus . Those were the hardest times of the journey for me , because I had to release who I used to be , all of the things that I knew about myself . I had to release those things and find a new normal , but not only find a new normal . There was a period where I wouldn't even look myself in the mirror because I didn't recognize . Once I finally began to walk , the mirror was the last thing that I wanted to see , because my face was fat , and when I looked in the mirror I had this fat face , but my lips were like the fish . You know how the fish's lips poop .

LentWarrior 14:23

That's how my lips look . I know you can only imagine having a fat face with really , really tiny lips , and they were hot pink . And in addition to them being hot pink , I didn't like what I saw , and so I had to come to grips with all of that , after being robbed of what I knew .

Brian Curee 14:54

And so I'm so grateful that you're willing to talk about this because , like this is a , you know , it's probably hard in ways to look back at that as well .

Brian Curee 15:03

It's probably hard in ways to look back at that as well , but I'm going to ask you like has it I know for myself , mrs Killer , being me like there's been some just small health issues that has changed some of the things I like to do in life and I never really wrap my mind around how difficult that is on somebody . And but I would like you like your thoughts on this , on this , like , because we can look at people in real life .

Brian Curee 15:26

And you said earlier , sometimes people just think they're lazy I'm guessing that's because they're not , they're not really understanding what's going on . And uh , and I think that's probably happening more in in real life than all of us even acknowledge or recognize . Like I mean , it's easy to look at somebody and make a judgment based off of a cover . You know the cover of a book , you know stuff like that . Like we look from the outside but we don't see the inside . And being in that place , like did that open your eyes to ? Like for me , like I've been learning to have more empathy towards people , like what going through that process , how has that changed you ? Because you're also I know you told me that you are a believer and so how is going through this process and I think I love the way you said it like it stole these things from you .

Brian Curee 16:17

So , when things get stolen from you and you find your identities in these things , there's a lot of people in this platform that are searching for their identity , even in here , which we know is dangerous . Like that's dangerous . This is not your identity . This is yeah , this is a great technology that we can connect with each other and grow from each other , learn from each other . So , with that , like how has ? How did this ? Did it affect your faith at all during that time , and how has that transitioned and has it helped you see people differently ? Well , I guess it has , since you have a nonprofit now , so maybe you can explain all that to me . There's a lot I've just unpacked there , so all right give it back to you , Lynn .

LentWarrior 16:55

First and foremost , absolutely yes , it did shake my faith . I was really really angry . Just being transparent because I had plans for myself yeah , and I was being diagnosed with lupus helped me grow strong in my faith Because , as I stated , I was really really angry because I wasn't being allowed to do the things that I wanted to do . I considered myself a fairly good person , you know . I attempted to treat everybody right . I tried to do all of the things that the Bible said we were supposed to do and live the way that we were supposed to live , and still this thing happened to me , and I remember regularly asking God why did you do this to me ? Why did you take my life ? I liked my simple , simple life and you know , going through the journey of this diagnosis , I learned that God trusts me with this , because even to this day , I still deal with things in my body , even right now . As a matter of fact , not even two weeks ago , I found out through x-rays that arthritis is attacking me in my hips and in my back , and so it's a space of starting over on a healing journey all over again . But this time , instead of asking God why , I tell him . Thank you , because I now realize that he trusts me with this journey and I also know that he made me some promises . As I was diagnosed with lupus , he showed me some things that he wanted to use me to do , wanted to use me to do , and though they are not happening as rapidly as I would like to see them happening , I trust his word , I trust the promise that he made to me and I know that he can't lie , and so I trust the timing and I know that , going through each year , I know I grow . I grow and I learn something new and I learn something about myself and I learn something about people and I learn . As you mentioned , my word is grace . I learned to give people grace because I was sick majority of my life , so they don't know me . So I've lived in Savannah all my life , but the people that are from Savannah never saw me , so they don't know me from someone that's from a completely foreign community . So they have to get to know me and they have to see me being consistent and they have to see me being exactly who I am , and that's a daughter and a child of Christ . And I choose to just live my life . Live my life as open and as transparent as I possibly can . I share my journey on social media to encourage other people because I know that there is somebody who is where I was and , if I can use the things that I've gone through to help them realize that , despite what they are going through , that there is still life for them to live . As long as you're still here on this earth , there is life .

LentWarrior 20:24

And I believe because I've had two opportunities well , two moments , situations , if you will , where I remember flatlining . I remember when I was originally diagnosed and my kidneys failed . I flatlined , but God gave me another chance , he gave me a new life . And there was a time , not even 12 years ago , where I flatlined , and it was a lot longer than it was the first time . And I remember , you know , the space of being with my grandparents and them telling me no , it's not your time , there is work for you to do and encouraging me to live the full version of myself and not to water me down . And there are days when I am in pain and I find myself wondering and saying God , what is this ? What is this and what do you want to do with this ? It's not about me , what do you want to do with this ? Who needs to see this ? Who needs to get something from this ?

LentWarrior 21:27

And so that's really my space that I live in and that I dwell in in this season of my life . I accept that God trusts me and I trust him . I trust him to do everything that he said he was going to do . I trust the plans that he had for me before I even walked this earth . He had plans for me and so I just I'm choosing to walk in those plans and every time I go through a situation , my faith gets stronger , because I understand that he's allowing the enemy to to attack my body , because he knows that I can handle it , and he also is using that to build something greater in me , to prepare me for something else , the next stage of what it is that he wants to do with me , because the plans that he has for me , that he allowed me to see , they're big and I can't be in my broken or in my weak state to be in that place to do the things that he needs me to be to do , so I thank him for the preparation time .

Brian Curee 22:41

So I love that . So beautiful . It's the . So I want to wrap my mind around this , because you said there's promises that he's brought and made aware to you and stuff .

Brian Curee 22:51

You're in a situation . You're in this , this , this situation where you're ? You know you're on the couch . You're not happy with yourself , you don't want to look at the mirror because everything , just how it's changed your life so much .

Embracing Purpose in the Pain

Brian Curee 23:02

What was the moment like ? Like when you start realizing the purpose , like what did it take you to get to the point where you were willing to hear , hear this and receive that ? Because hearing it and receiving it , I know that can sometimes take a process in itself right . Absolutely so . What's your thoughts on that ?

LentWarrior 23:23

if you don't mind sharing , I do not and I actually , you know that's my turning point . I remember it vividly . I remember I just it was my first time going back into the house of worship and there was a sermon that was preached and all the way up until that time I was asking God why . But in that sermon I heard the why . I gained a greater understanding of why God was allowing everything that he allowed me to go through and all of the changes of my plans , everything that he allowed to happen . I heard that day , the purpose , and then , after that day , I'm a dreamer . After that day , that very same night , I went home . I went to , you know , sunday , sunday evening , I go home and at the end of the evening I sleep . And as I sleep he provides me with this beautiful vision of what he wanted to do with me .

LentWarrior 24:44

And I've been holding on that . I have attempted transparency , I've attempted to step out into that plan and something would always happen that would frighten me and make me question . Who would make me question who I am ? Who would make me question who I am and if I was capable and if I was qualified . And if , if God really chose me , if , if that vision that he showed me that dream , that he showed me if that was really from him or if that was something , trying to trick me into thinking that I was something . It was too great for it to have been the enemy . It was too great , it was too life-changing to other people for it to have been the enemy . And I won't lie . I occasionally find myself when things begin to happen and they feel like they're really big and I'm like whoa , wait a minute , this is moving fast .

Brian Curee 26:00

Or is this ?

LentWarrior 26:00

really happening . You know , though , I find myself , even to this day , sometimes still back in that space , because God has been blowing my mind in ways and allowing things that I haven't even dreamed of to happen in my life , and it's just like , okay , I'm on the path to that dream , I'm on the path to that vision , I'm finally correctly in alignment .

LentWarrior 26:26

And because I have those moments , if you will , of self-doubt . If you will , of self-doubt . I have to talk to myself . I have to talk to that self-doubt and remind myself I was chosen for this and , regardless of what thoughts come up , I have to be strong enough to speak to those thoughts and to remind those thoughts that I'm not doing the work that I'm doing for myself . I'm doing this because this is an assignment that God has laid upon my life and it's my greatest desire to make him proud and to continue to trust me .

Brian Curee 27:07

Yeah , that's beautiful and I love like , if we think about you know , if we in those moments , like I love that you pointed out that you realize this isn't something that you're doing for yourself , like this is the enemy , wouldn't be wanting you to help others and it's it's to to , to realize that that's the beautiful thing is that God knows your heart Like he knows your heart so deep down inside you know , you know what you're , why you're , why you're doing what you're doing . And I mean there's been times that I've had to check myself and say now wait a minute . Okay , my , like my , my plans are good . But then I really check , start really digging in deep and spending that time and looking deep down and there's times I'm like this isn't really of God , this is really of .

LentWarrior 27:53

God , this is really of Brian .

Brian Curee 27:55

This is a mystery killer bee that's wanting to do this . It's a good thing , but it's not really the best thing , and the best thing doesn't mean like the best of what we see maybe in culture and in our world , in our daily lives , but best in what God's plans are . And so I encourage you to always remember that . We know God knows your heart , and I think that's where it really lies . When it comes to those moments of self-doubt , and at times and Ms Kilby , you can correct me here Sometimes I actually I don't like self-doubt , but in some ways , self-doubt for me , I've learned is good because it reminds me to talk to God . It's not about me . It's like okay , god , I'm down , right , I need to talk to you , I need to like check my heart , and I love that . When you , when you point out about how you would come home and then you would sleep like you'd come home , you said on sunday , right , is that what you said ? Yes , you would come home sundays and then sleep .

Brian Curee 28:50

Uh , one of the things that was hard for me to wrap my mind around was the importance of even that Mrs Killer Bean knows I'll Reflection time . I tried to do that on Fridays , and there was one time that I'll never forget . I went out and I had so much stuff I had to do with the business . I'm praying and talking to God and taking my notes , going through my journal , trying to figure out team members , just so much stuff you're trying to do , and I I I sat up a hammock and I sat down and I started writing things out and I literally something came to me in prayer , I talked to God about it and I fell asleep .

Brian Curee 29:26

I fell asleep in the hammock for like over an hour and a half and I woke up and I was like , oh my gosh , what am I doing ? I'm supposed to be . And I woke up and I was like , oh my gosh , what am I doing ? I'm supposed to be . I got to get this done . But then I realized no , what I just did was what I needed the more than anything . And it seems what is ? It is the right word counterintuitive to to rest like that . But it's so crucial . Is that the right word , mrs ?

Shawna Curee 29:49

Yeah , it is , yeah , it's such a important part of our life is to put that trust in the Lord and let him , you know , be our rest and take the rest to know it's not all in our hands . You know , I love thinking about that and I love hearing your story about this , that you know there are times where you have to say , okay , I might not know what I'm doing , I might be a mess right now , but God knows what he's doing . He always works through people who look like they're not the best prepared and you can only go so far and he's going to do his will through you anyway . And I love that . I love thinking about that and , you know , realizing like we don't have to take the whole pressure on ourselves of making things happen . When he's promised to do something , he's going to do it through you .

LentWarrior 30:40

Yeah , and that was one of the harder things for me to really realize was that he doesn't always operate in the most popular person .

Brian Curee 30:53

No , no , that's true . Most never right .

LentWarrior 30:56

That was one of those things for me it's like I'm not interested in the popularity part of it . You know I'm not interested in doing this work to be well known Like if that happens , like I'm not looking for the glory . Like in every time that those moments happen , I will say to God be the glory , you know , because I don't want to find myself in a position or a space where the community or people's applause is what I begin to seek after .

LentWarrior 31:30

I'm seeking after the heart of God is what I begin to seek after I'm seeking after the heart of God .

Mike 31:41

I want the work that I do to be of benefit to his kingdom .

LentWarrior 31:48

I want to use the work that I do as ministry to bring people to Christ . Let them find healing in Christ , whether that be for their physical body or for their spiritual body or their mental . I want them to . I want my light to shine so brightly that they want to know the God that I serve .

LentWarrior 32:10

So I live a life .

LentWarrior 32:13

I live . I try to live a life that is just pleasing to God , because if people can put you up , then people can bring you back down . I don't want to be on a yo-yo . People find it strange when I say , like I'm not really that person that wants to be a part of a clique , I'm not that person that really cares whether I fit in or not , like I was created not to fit in . And I find joy in being that peculiar person that people are like . Who is she ?

Brian Curee 32:56

I love that . If we could really wrap our minds around I know we got a question that I'm going to bring up , We'll bring up the mic here in just a second that really what you said right there . If we could really wrap our mind around what you just said , that you weren't created to fit in . You weren't created to be like that . We're all created uniquely . And if we can wrap our mind around that , like we don't have to fit in , and I love .

Brian Curee 33:22

Like one of the things that I always kind of started asking myself is , like , even in here , like even in Horizons , like , well , why am I showing up ? Like what we do here ? There's different worlds , different creators . We all have our own unique purpose and what we're doing , but we always have to check ourselves Like , why am I showing up Whatever you're doing ? Why am I showing up ? Well , you know your purpose and I think it's beautiful that you're able to see the purpose even in your pain , and I think that's one of the things that is a big challenge . And I'm going to ask you another question here for just a second , because , as we're going into this holiday season , you know a lot of us like we love it , we love eating the sugar cookies . You love drinking the hot chocolate , even in virtual reality Like , and we obviously I didn't realize the sugar cookies was going to be such a big deal but it's probably because it's like no sugar added and zero calories .

LentWarrior 34:14

No pounds .

Shawna Curee 34:15

That's probably what it is . Eat a thousand cookies and gain no weight .

Brian Curee 34:20

Yeah , exactly . But when we come together in these places , we can really grow together and help each other , and there's purpose behind that . But there's people that's not only going to the holiday season joyful . There's people that's going into it in pain .

Brian Curee 34:37

Uh , there's people that's going into it with heartbreak , because , I mean , people have lost loved ones during this season and I want to , uh , I want to encourage us all to be an encouragement to each other and others and be sensitive , like you said , learning how to show grace , uh , others , and be sensitive , like you said , learning how to show grace , uh , but and because through that grace , that's where I think we can start seeing the purpose in our pain . So I'm gonna

Finding Healing in Loss. (Q&A)

Brian Curee 34:57

bring up we have two questions . I'm gonna bring up a couple people . Let's bring up mike first . If you can bring up the qa , mike deaner all right .

Mike 35:04

Thanks for joining us , mike . Yeah , yeah , yeah , I enjoy this kind of stuff awesome I guess for me . I just honestly wanted to share a little bit about how good God's been to me . You know I heard you guys talking about God and , to be honest , you know I come from a . You know a lot of addiction . My father was an alcoholic , grew up around a lot of drugs . I was pretty broken a few . You know about what . 11 years ago I lost everything and .

Mike 35:36

I came to God with nothing . I had like a backpack , a couple of weights . I moved out of my city . I was on my own and you know what ? It was the best thing I ever did . I went to church and they , they gave me . They helped me get a job , they helped me start a business years later . You know I've been . I've been married now for 11 years . I've been in business now for 13 years .

Mike 36:01

Yeah , thank you very much . And you know what . Every month , every week , you know , every day , it seems like God provided everything I needed and then some , you know and I've come to a place in my faith where I've come to realize that that my only prayer is thank you God , and I love you God .

Shawna Curee 36:19

I love that prayer right now .

Mike 36:21

That prayer right there has pointed me in the right direction in dark places so many times . I just want to tell you guys , god's been so good oh thank you so much .

Brian Curee 36:29

I got five kids , but I just want to testify .

LentWarrior 36:30

Awesome Thank you so much , mike , I got five kids , but I just want to testify .

Brian Curee 36:35

Thank you so much . Thank you so much for sharing that . That's so good . I love how he said his prayer to God is thankfulness . That's hard to come to when you're in pain , but , man , it really does . When you take that time , just like in Philippians , remember to look back and be thankful , it really starts changing your whole mindset . We've got another guest that we're going to bring up Another guest . We've got another person , another audience member we're going to bring up air mama . Air mama , come on up yeah .

Brian Curee 37:05

By like great update Well thank you , my favorite holiday . You got to make sure you do the quest and get inside the train because there's another room in there .

AirMama 37:14

We're so grateful you're here yes , thank you for inviting me . Good soldier , thank you thank you , good soldier sorry black box for a second . I'm very strong in my faith and coming into this holiday season , not only right before Thanksgiving , you know I stay strong to my friends , my family , but knowing that it's going to be very difficult for me . So , sorry guys , it's okay .

Brian Curee 37:57

It's fine . Take your time , you're fine .

AirMama 38:01

It's been a couple years , but I lost my grandfather two days before Thanksgiving . So going into Thanksgiving it's a little difficult for me , but I firmly believe that God does not give his children no more than we can handle . And I firmly believe that because I've been through so much and to be bullied , to be told that I would never amount to anything , I would never . I was just shot down and I was starting to think like what ? What ? Love you too , baby . I am a military wife , by the way , if nobody knows this , I am a military wife . My husband is in the other room .

AirMama 38:59

Um , he is a great support , great support . Um . He was in the air force . Um so proud of him . Um . He is my life , my joy . He's the reason why I wake up every day . Besides , you guys , and he knows that we love each other . We're deeply in love with one another , so , and we never going to get angry .

LentWarrior 39:26

Never .

AirMama 39:27

Yeah , just you know , I say this to everybody . Yeah , just you know , I say this to everybody just , even through the toughest times , darkest times , there's always sunshine in that cloud . And you know again , you know , I lost my grandfather two days before Thanksgiving and then , not even a year later , I lost my grandmother two days before Christmas . So going into this holiday season it's difficult , but I just but , as I get through life and I do what I do in here and I enjoy doing what I do , I'm a world creator .

AirMama 40:13

If nobody knows that , um , mr Killer B , you've been to some of my worlds and , um , I have done some updates , uh , to some of my worlds actually , and , uh , summer paradise is one of them .

Brian Curee 40:30

So if you guys check , it out you guys want to check it out . Definitely have to go check it out . Well , thanks for letting us know that , air Mama , and thank you so much for coming up and sharing all this with us . We really appreciate that . I know , mrs Killer Bee , we lost .

LentWarrior 40:44

Go ahead and let go , air Mama just as support to you my grandparents are both deceased as well . Support to you . My grandparents are both deceased as well , and Christmas was my grandmother's absolute favorite holiday and so and I , absolutely I was my grandmother's favorite , and I don't care what anybody else had to say about that .

Brian Curee 41:06

Me too . I hope all my brothers are listening .

LentWarrior 41:36

But what I will say is , because I know that Christmas was her favorite holiday , I tried to do something in honor of them on those special holidays and I promise you that it will help you turn around the way that you see those holidays coming . I love that . Amen , amen .

AirMama 41:46

So good , I will say this I do bake their favorite desserts .

Shawna Curee 41:50

I do bake their favorite desserts . Yeah , there you go . Awesome , yes , I love that .

Brian Curee 41:55

I love that . I love that . Thank you , air Mama , it's beautiful . Thank you so much .

AirMama 42:03

Grandpa loved pumpkin and Grandma loved country apple . Nice , I love that .

Brian Curee 42:06

I know that that's one thing that misses Claire B . We lost her dad . What was that ? Was that three years ago now ? Was it three or four ?

Shawna Curee 42:13

It was 2021 . So yeah , it was three years ago . Three years ago .

Brian Curee 42:16

We lost him on December 2nd , is that correct ? And that was a hard year for us . And now every year we go back to home in Ohio . We're in Florida , but we go back to Ohio at that time and we have a celebration dinner , which her dad always loved to have steaks and all the other stuff that you really probably shouldn't be eating a lot of Like . What are some of the things he always loved and like we always have there ? Well , we don't always have all of his favorites .

Shawna Curee 42:44

Yeah , he loved junk food , so he loved Oreos the meal we try to have . Like it's kind of funny because we always have steak green beans from a can . They have to be French cut because he didn't like the bean part of a green bean , only just French cut Some sort of potato . He was a meat and potatoes guy , then we'll have some sort of dessert that he liked , but he was very simple in his taste . He loved Oreos .

Brian Curee 43:14

He loved sugar cookies , strawberry pie , things like that . He didn't use salt or anything on the steaks . But we don't really follow those rules like we don't follow that .

Shawna Curee 43:18

Yeah , they didn't like seasoning yeah , so we don't really go that far with it a lot of his favorites we don't have , like white castle sliders .

Brian Curee 43:27

No , we're not having that I'll be all up for that . You know , I'm like hey , oh no , we're not , mrs I'd be all up for that . You know , I'm like hey , oh no , we're not . Mrs Killer Bee is not up for that . But yes , we try to make the best out of it , so we pray the same for you , Air Mama .

Shawna Curee 43:42

It does .

Brian Curee 43:43

Exactly , it does , yes .

AirMama 43:47

Well , thank you so much Go ahead .

Brian Curee 43:50

I'm sorry .

Shawna Curee 43:51

Mrs , I'm good , go right ahead .

Brian Curee 43:53

I want to thank you so much for coming out too . There's been . I know we've been here for a while and I want to encourage you . We're going to take a selfie afterwards . We'll have everybody come up on the stage . This will be great Our first Christmas selfie for the year and you guys feel free to hang out . Check out the quest board . There's some things you can do to get access to the terrain Very cool . Check out the posters , which I know that's one of the things you have to do in the quest . You have to stand in front of each poster to get that point , but you read the posters . It's going to tell you some of the things that's going to be happening at our big Christmas event this year , december 13th , and outside the poster tells you how to get the text so you can get an alert before the event . It's always a big event . About an hour and a half long . Might be a little bit longer this year , since we're combining it , but yeah , go ahead , ms Kilby .

Shawna Curee 44:37

You might have been going this direction , but I'll just go ahead and ask ,

Contact LentWarrior

Shawna Curee 44:41

Len is there a way people can contact you if they want to , if they want to get involved with your ministry or your nonprofit ? Is there a way that you like ?

LentWarrior 44:51

for people to contact you . Well , I am on both Facebook and Instagram . On Instagram I am Lint Warrior . On Facebook I am Salathiel Deloach . The name of the nonprofit is the Deloach Lupus Foundation Savannah Georgia Incorporated , but if you go to any of my pages , I usually share things from the foundation . So if you go to my page , you'll still be able to find the link to get to the nonprofit .

Brian Curee 45:18

Great . And you have a podcast too , which is actually on the Killer Bee Studio website . So if you go to Killer Bee Studios dot com and I think it has a link to contact you too so you can click on the network and you'll find her podcast in there , so you can click and contact her that way as well . So that way , if they were trying to figure out how do I get there , just go to killerbeaststudioscom , you'll find her on the network . Well , we always like to close out and let our guests share a closing thought . So after she shares her closing thought , you guys are going to hear the outro music . We'll move this big desk , we'll get this out of the way so we can all come up here and get a picture together . Actually , you know what ? I think we should take a picture in front of the train . What do you think about that ?

LentWarrior 45:57

I think that's a good idea . Okay , cool , all right , let's do that .

Brian Curee 46:00

All right . So with that

Closing Thought: Trust The Process

Brian Curee 46:02

, lynn , if there's one thing that you would hope that anybody that our conversation tonight , what would that be ?

LentWarrior 46:15

so I think the greatest takeaway would be is for you to trust the process . Um , both good and difficult things happen to us all . Those difficult things are to make us stronger and to make us wiser and better people . And I would just say trust the process . The process is there on purpose and it will lead you to your purpose .

Brian Curee 46:51

Beautiful , that's beautiful .

Shawna Curee 46:53

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