The Bite Size Podcast with Lorayne Michaels

The Power of Authentic Connections: Finding Resilience in True Friendships

• Lorayne • Season 2 • Episode 34

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Have you ever felt let down by those you thought would always be there for you? In this heartfelt episode of the Bite Size Podcast, I open up about my own journey through the highs and lows of my first and second marriages, sharing the sting of abandonment by church friends and the crucial role my faith played in my resilience. I talk about the deep need for genuine, authentic connections and my commitment to being a steadfast friend, embodying the love and support that we, as followers of Christ, are called to provide. This episode is a touching narrative of my healing, self-discovery, and the transformative power of true friendships.

Feeling inspired by voices that uplift your faith? I share my immense gratitude for the insights I've gained from the Lifetime podcast, particularly the profound influence of Carl and Laurel Lentz, Tim Ross, and Pastor Mike Todd. I reflect on how their wisdom and experiences have helped me grow spiritually, filling my life with inspiration and gratitude. If you’re looking for a sense of community or seeking to deepen your faith, this episode offers a space for reflection and encouragement, celebrating the beauty of heartfelt friendships and the lessons I've learned along the way.

Where you can find me:
My website: https://theboldbeginnings.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LorayneMichaels22
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Lorayne_michaels/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LorayneMichaels

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Bite Size Podcast. I'm your host, lorraine Michaels, former EMT and nursing assistant, now business owner and wild entrepreneur. I walked away from over 15 years in medicine to pursue my passion and my God-given talents. Now I get the honor of helping other women discover their passions and purpose. If you're feeling stuck in life, unsure where to go or what to do, welcome. If you're exactly where you want to be great, you're welcome here too. If you have faced any kind of hardship or setback, you have found a safe place here. In other words, no matter who you are or what you've been through or what you're going through, this is the space for you. On the Bite Size podcast, we'll discuss life, business and faith. There's something for everyone, so grab a cup of coffee and something to take notes with, because there will definitely be things you won't want to forget definitely be things you won't want to forget.

Speaker 2:

Today is Friday, august 30th, and I'm on my way back home from Tennessee and I have been listening to the Lights On podcast with Carl Lynn and so I really wanted to document my thoughts and feelings right now. This podcast lights on podcasts with Carl and has been the most healing that I have had in dealing with and healing through still the disillusion of my second marriage, understanding my brain, joe's brain addiction, just everything. And this one that I was listening to today on the way home was with Pastor Mike Todd from Transformation Church in Tulsa, oklahoma. I listened to him for a while, tony and I listened to him for a while, and then, you know, we let mainstream media kind of form our thoughts and opinions on him, just like we do with other people in mainstream media, and this episode really opened up my eyes to who Mike Todd really is. But also it really helped me understand and accept and be okay with and hold space for the people that were in my life when it all went down, the people that were in my life that I thought were my friends from church when I cheated on my first husband. And you know I'm the kind of person where when I do life with you, I'm doing life with you, I'm going deep with you, I'm not fake, I'm not going to front and I'm not going to run and if shit goes crazy I'm going to be there for you. I'm not going to front and I'm not going to run and if shit goes crazy I'm going to be there for you. I'm not going to condone it, but I'm never going to turn my back on you and I've always been that kind of person. I've always been that kind of family member and friend. I'll never turn my back on you and I'm going to love you through it. I'm going to call you out lovingly, but I'm going to love you through it and I'm going to love you through it. I'm going to call you out lovingly, but I'm going to love you through it and I'm going to help you through it, because that's what we're called to do. We're called to be the hands and feet of Jesus and we're called to love like Jesus.

Speaker 2:

And nobody did that for me ever really in my life and nobody did that for me when I messed up big in my first marriage. No one did that for me ever really in my life and nobody did that for me when I messed up big in my first marriage, no one did that for me. In fact, everybody turned their backs on me. And then in my second marriage with Joe, when he did that, nobody did that for him either. No one was there for him either, and no one was there for me either.

Speaker 2:

I've always had to pick myself back up and lean into my faith. Thank god it was for my faith, because both of those times the only thing that got me through it was my faith in jesus and it strengthened yes, I take it back page and joey, klein or prescott was there for me when you know, joe was when that whole thing went down, and I'm talking like friends in Christ. No one was there and it hurts because you think you think your church friends are there. You think you're doing life with your church friends and I remember going through it after my first marriage, going to Bayside Church in Granite Bay. I remember going through it after my first marriage going to Bayside Church in Granite Bay, california, and them always talking about. You know, get in a small group, get in a small group. You do life with these people. When stuff gets hard, you do life with these people. They were the first ones to bounce. They weren't there. They were not there and I was so bitter in church. I was so bitter because I was like you all don't practice what you preach at all.

Speaker 2:

And then, moving out here in the South, you know, in North Carolina, south Carolina, I found the most real people out here, the most real friends, but still nobody wants to go deep and I really, I really hope that people know that with me, that I'm going to go deep with you, no matter what, I will be there for you, no matter what you're going through. And I'm not one of those fair weather friends, I'm not one of those fake friends. I'm not only your friend only if you're in my small group. That's another thing that you know. Years ago I'd be bitter about it. You know the couple of small women's groups, small groups that I was in, women's small groups that I was in out here I thought were my good friends. But it's like as soon as you're out of that small group, you don't exist to them.

Speaker 2:

And, like I was saying years ago, I'd be bitter about it and I'd be like, ah, screw you, like, ah, you fake friend. But now, now I'm like maybe they're hurt, maybe they don't have the capacity to be a real friend, maybe they don't know what a real friend is. Maybe they don't know what walking through the fire with someone really is and what it's all about. Maybe they've never experienced pain and trauma at the level that I have. So they don't have the capacity, they don't know, and a lot of these people out here I mean good on them that they've never gone through anything deep like that, but I guess that's what makes me I'm not saying I'm a better friend than anyone but I want you to know if you are my friend and I call you my friend and I and I call you and I text you and I check in on you like I genuinely, if you could, if you have my number and you call me on you like I genuinely, if you have my number and you call me and you're like, hey, I need you. Man, if I can, if I am able, I will show up for you, because that's who I am.

Speaker 2:

And this podcast, this Lifetime podcast man, it's really helped me. It's really opened my eyes on podcast man. It's really helped me. It's really opened my eyes. And I wish I could talk to Carl Lentz and Laurel Lentz. I wish I want friends like that. I want friends like that, the ones that they talk about. You know, tim Ross, mike Todd, carl Lentz, laurel Lentz, nat. You know I don't know them, but I feel like I know them, like they're the real deal. You know what I'm saying, like man. Anyways, I just wanted to document this and really make it into a podcast. Depending on the, depending on the quality, I don't even care, I don't even care about the quality, but anyways, I'm so thankful the way God made me, I'm so thankful for the heart that God gave me. You know, on the real deal,