March 20, 2025 • 30 mins
Mentorship is hidden in unexpected places – including the biblical story of Ruth and Naomi where we discover powerful truths about how we influence others even without formal arrangements.
• People are constantly watching your moves – both good and bad
• Informal mentorship happens naturally through relationships and observation
• Position yourself for abundance like Naomi heading to Judah where opportunity awaited
• True mentors must be on track in their own lives to effectively guide others
• Mentorship is about relationship, not transaction – it works both ways
• Being humble enough to receive mentorship requires letting go of ego
• Everyone is an informal mentor to someone whether they realize it or not
• How you respond to crisis speaks volumes to those watching your example
• Your words and actions carry significant weight and responsibility
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
no-transcript.
(03:24):
Good morning y'all.
Happy Thursday.
It's Shelly.
I hope y'all are doing okay andwelcome back to Come Out of the
Wilderness.
This is our Thursday teaching.
For those who might be comingacross this video on Facebook or
LinkedIn or YouTube or ParadeDeck TV and wondering, like,
what's going on?
Who is this?
So I'm really excited aboutthis topic.
(03:46):
We're nerding out in this monthof March, just going a little
bit deeper into some of theBible stories and scriptures and
tying it back to our dailylives.
So today we're going to be inRuth one.
We're talking about mentorshipand I think this is going to
bless you, whether you consideryourself a mentor or not.
There's some, just some reallycool things that I want to pull
out from.
We're talking about mentorshipand I think this is going to
bless you, whether you consideryourself a mentor or not.
There's some, just some reallycool things that I want to pull
(04:08):
out from Ruth and I really thinkthis is going to bless us.
I'm trying to be better atlooking and following the
comment section.
Good morning, dr Tracy, and goodmorning Dump and Ground podcast
.
Good morning y'all.
So, lord, we just thank you forgiving us another day.
Thank you for this amazingThursday.
Thank you for good news of thisday and I pray for every person
under the sound of my voice,whether they have been here
(04:30):
before or this is new for them,that they'll be blessed, that
they'll hear something todaythat will inspire and encourage
them to just have better, morefruitful, impactful lives, and I
just thank you for blessingeach of us.
I thank you for those morefruitful, impactful lives and I
just thank you for blessing eachof us.
I thank you for those, lord,god, even those who are standing
in need right now, who justwant some encouragement.
I pray that this teaching todaywill encourage all of us.
(04:53):
Amen, so y'all.
So Ruth and Naomi.
You know, maybe you haven'tthought about I'm going to share
my screen, so I'm going to comeout of the scripture so you can
follow along with me, but maybeyou haven't thought about it in
this way.
I think, for the most part,whenever I hear teachers or
Bible teachers or pastors or,you know, whoever talk about
(05:14):
Ruth and Naomi, they reallyfocus more on, you know, moving
into a new season and taking itfrom that perspective, how you
know the relationship betweenthe two women and they kind of
pivoted to that way.
And Ruth again, ruth's loyaltyto Naomi, as you're seeing here
in the ESV version.
But there were some things thatI wanted to share with us.
(05:37):
First of all, when it comes tothe way we look at this in terms
of mentorship and I know you'reprobably like, wow, how do you
get mentorship out of this?
And I'm going to show you howright.
And also, I think this is just aseason, you know, I am fully
aware we have, by the way, wehave a phone prayer line called
(05:58):
Three Praying Sisters and we areon every Thursday 1 pm, 7 pm,
eastern Standard Time.
So if you are going through thethings and you need a community
to pray alongside with you, youknow 30 minutes of prayer and
you're welcome to join.
There is no seed needed.
You just need to pick up thephone, call in and that's all
All right.
The number should be scrollingon the screen.
(06:20):
So I want to start in the firstthing that happened.
And now, actually, before I jumpinto this, I just want to start
in the first thing thathappened and then, actually,
before I jump into this, I justwant to share something, just
because I think a lot of usdon't realize this most of the
time because we're busy, justkind of living our lives out,
that you have to be aware thatthere are people watching your
(06:40):
move.
And it's not always a bad thingy'all.
A lot of times when you hearpeople say, oh, people watching
your move, it comes across as ifsomeone's competing with you or
they're trying to attack ortrying to take something from
you.
But it just so happens thatthat you know, especially for
well women and men, you know, wekind of watch the way we move
(07:01):
and maybe you've seen someoneyou admire on the job or at your
church or in your community,maybe even in your family, you
have that one special uncle thatyou just like.
You know he's just like thebest thing ever and you're
watching his move, but thatuncle is informally mentoring
you and that's just because ofthe relationship, what you see.
(07:24):
So it starts out with Naomibeing widowed.
There was a situation thatcaused these two women to have
this kind of relationship.
It was clear that there was arelationship there before.
It doesn't tell you in detailof how deep the relationship was
.
What we know was it says thatin the days when the judges
ruled, there was a famine in theland.
I'm not going to read the wholething because I want you all to
(07:45):
go back in Ruth 1, chapter 1,verses 1 through 18.
That's our bio study, okay, butjust to give you an idea and a
context, ruth's husband passedaway and so did her sons, malon
and Chilion, and they were fromBethlehem in Judah and when they
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passed they left both theirwives right.
So when Naomi rose, it says inverse six, she arose with her
daughters-in-law and theintention it says, to return
from the country of Moab.
There was an opportunity, forshe heard in the fields of Moab
that the Lord had visited thesepeople and given them food.
So Naomi was in a positionwhere she was seeking out a new
(08:30):
opportunity and so it says sheset out from the place where she
was with her twodaughters-in-laws and they went
on the way to return to the landof Judah.
So they were moving intodifferent opportunity.
So I think about this when yousee certain people and you see
them moving and it seems likethey're moving into a different
opportunity, different levels,all the things right, and you're
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captivated by who you know,that move that they're making,
just thinking about it from thatperspective.
It says in verse eight.
But Naomi said to her twodaughters-in-law go, return each
of you to her mother's house.
Go to your mother's house, likego to your mother's house, okay
, may the Lord deal kindly withyou, as you have dealt with the
dead and with me talking abouther son.
(09:11):
So she's blessing them, right,you know?
You know, go on back to your,your home, your, your, your
family's home, and she'sblessing them.
The Lord grant that you mayfind, rest each of you in the
house of her husband, all thethings.
And it says that then shekissed them, so she's blessing
them.
And they lifted up their voices, that they wept, so that here
again there was a connectionbetween these women and Naomi.
(09:35):
Now, when it comes down to thisis where people you know most
folks when they're reading aboutRuth and Naomi, they kind of
get stuck into this.
But Naomi said turn back mydaughters because, again, when
they didn't want to break thatshe was the continuation, if you
will the relationship tied totheir husbands who passed right,
(09:56):
they're all widows at thispoint.
They all had tremendous loss.
And Naomi said turn back mydaughters.
Why will you go with me?
Have I yet sons in my womb thatthey might you know?
Why are you following me?
Turn back my daughters go yourway, for I'm too old to have a
husband.
There's nothing I can do foryou, right?
And if I should say I have hope, even if I should have a
(10:17):
husband, in the night and bearsand all the things that she's
basically giving them an escape,giving them a way out, don't
follow me, y'all.
So what I loved about verse 14,I guess this is where a lot of
us kind of tie into and this iswhere you can pick up on some of
the themes of mentorship.
Then they lifted up theirvoices and wept again and Orpah
(10:38):
kissed her mother-in-law butRuth clung to her and she said
see, your sister-in-law has goneback to her people and to her
gods.
Return after your sister-in-law.
But Ruth says don't urge me toleave you or to return from
following you, because where yougo, I will go and where you
lodge I will lodge.
Your people shall be my people,your God, my God.
All right, so I'm going to stopthere and I'm going to come
(10:59):
back and then we're going tokind of punch down into those
verses a little bit more when itcomes to mentorship.
So one of the first things Iwant to just remind us is that
what I said before that thereare people watching your moves
and you just have to beself-aware, and so that means
they watch your good moves andthey watch your bad moves, right
.
Informal mentorship is for real,you know, you don't have to pay
(11:22):
someone to be your mentor.
A mentor is someone who, by thevirtue of what they're doing
with their lives, there's somethings that you learn from them,
maybe some things that help youget, to quote the next level.
You know what I mean.
There's information orexperience that that person has
that you're tapping into.
(11:44):
You would have seen somemeasure of success in that
person's life you're tappinginto.
You would have seen somemeasure of success in that
person's life.
Like I always tell people, younever have a mentor who doesn't
have success in the area thatthey're trying to coach you
through.
Don't do that, because thenyou're just it's not a mentor,
it's a friend, right.
But just being aware, y'all,that even as mothers of adult
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children, you know a lot oftimes we have this incredible
informal relationship as amentor with them.
So how you show up really doesmatter, how you respond to
crisis in your life For those ofy'all who are, you know,
believers or Christians orwhatever you want to call it how
you respond to all of the chaosand crazy.
And I promise you, I knowthere's a lot of chaos and crazy
(12:27):
, there's a lot of thingshappening and everyone's going
through something, right, buthow you respond to those
situations, it speaks volumesand as a mentor, that shows up
right, how you respond, aspeople are watching, how you
respond and you can either hurtor harm the folks that are kind
of watching from afar.
Right?
So that's the first thing.
The second thing is, with thisstory of Ruth and Naomi, is that
(12:52):
you have to remember that Naomiwas moving into a situation or
she was positioning herself sothat she could go into a land of
plenty, if you will.
She was positioning herself sothat she could go back where
again, where in the word again,I'm coming from Ruth 1, ruth 1
(13:13):
and urging you guys 1 through 18, where it talks about she was
returning to the land of Judah,because she was going where it
says the Lord had visited hispeople and given them food, so
she was going to a place ofabundance, if you will.
So, naomi the mentor, right?
So maybe this is you y'all,you're the mentor and you're
(13:34):
moving into a place of abundance, you're moving into your land,
your Judah, if you will, and sothat is important.
You have to be in position thatyou're on the right track.
You cannot mentor people ifyou're not your Judah, if you
will, and so that is important.
You have to be in position thatyou're on the right track.
You cannot mentor people ifyou're not on the right track,
if you're not disciplined, allright, because you'll end up
encouraging people to do thewrong thing, right.
(13:56):
So that's really important.
So are you on track as a mentoryourself?
Like I'm a mentor to manypeople.
It always surprises me.
I you know, just yesterday Ihad someone, two people actually
who I actually I look up tothem as peer mentors, and both
of these individuals weresharing with me that they saw me
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as a mentor, and it's the mostamazing and humbling thing.
But it also reminds you thatthe way you move on the job,
y'all a lot of y'all are goingto these jobs and forgetting the
impact that you have on the job, right, you're forgetting that.
You know you have to have thatlevel of self awareness.
So when I'm working, I have thesame mindset, where I'm always
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putting myself in position ofgrowth or abundance or impact or
helping.
You know that's, that's, that'skind of, that's just my thing,
and so people will see that,just as they see it in me, y'all
, they'll see it in you, okay.
So that's the second thing.
Don't and don't ask people todo what you're not willing to do
, right?
Same thing with our kids, right?
We don't ask people to do whatwe're not willing to do.
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We don't ask you to make thekind of sacrifices that we're
not willing to do, okay, becausethen it hurts your credibility
as a mentor, all right.
Now the third thing I want toshare with y'all is that this is
also something that I find inthe story of Ruth and Naomi is
that bond of loyalty and thatlove, and I also want to caution
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you.
So I am really blessed.
I've always had mentors myentire life, but I've never
positioned my relationship withmy mentors as you do something
for me.
It's never been like that.
It's always been about arelationship.
It's a relationship.
(15:44):
There are some things that Iadmire and something, and I ask
for feedback so that I can growy'all.
But I never position it as likewhat can you do for me?
And in fact, I always say thatmentorship works both ways.
So in the same way that I'm amentor to many.
That mentorship works both ways.
(16:05):
So, in the same way that I'm amentor to many, those folks are
mentoring me as well.
It works both ways.
There's a relationship involved.
What I love about the story ofRuth and Naomi is that you can
see that there was arelationship before they had to
make the decision.
Before Ruth made the decisionto stay on the path with Naomi,
and she didn't know if this pathwas going to be easy.
She didn't know that there wasgoing to be.
You know what was going totranspire at the end of it.
(16:26):
There was a significant loss.
There was a situation thatbrought them together, y'all, if
you will.
So the loss of both theirhusbands.
They were both widowed, right.
So there was a situation, acrisis, if you will.
They had to move out of theplace where they are.
Some of y'all need to move outof the place where you are.
You have been stuck and sittingin this wilderness for way too
(16:49):
long.
The Lord has sent you divinehelp, but you refuse to listen,
right?
You know what I'm saying.
He sent you and Naomi andyou're like I don't want to go
right.
So some of you have to, youknow again, be self-aware enough
to know when the Lord istelling you it's time to move.
If you've been tied to someoneout of loyalty and you've seen
no fruits, no, you know, fromthem there's the.
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You know, we call it the fruitof the spirit.
Is not in them, nothing, noseed they've planted, you know,
have yielded anything for thefolks they're mentoring.
That shows you something, right.
So I want you to you know, beaware of these relationships and
how we're showing up again, asI mentioned before informal
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mentors is real.
How we show up, it's not juston your job, it's not just with
your clients, it's not just withyour kids.
How you show up really matters.
And I think that when we talkabout living authentically and
we drop all the terms y'all, Ithink authentic living and being
authentic was the term we wereusing in 2021.
(17:56):
I don't hear that so muchanymore, because some folks
showed up in their true selvesand we didn't like it.
Right, just be for real, okay,but we have to get back to the
point where we're self-awareabout how we show up wherever we
go, and that again, you have tobe in a position where you are
on track with what yourassignment is what is it that
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you're meant to do?
All right, and so again, thisis Ruth and Naomi.
I told you we're nerding out alittle bit in this month of
March.
We have one more teaching to go.
Last week I talked about theJerusalem council and the week
before that, our first week, Iwas in Genesis and we were
talking about the environmentthat we're in and how we can
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allow sin to come in and reallydestroy the environment.
That you know, and I don't carehow beautiful your house is how
we can allow sin to come in andreally destroy the environment.
That you know, and I don't carehow beautiful your house is,
but when you allow sin ornegative thoughts or all the
things that come in, it canreally disrupt the environment
that you're creating.
So we're building on a themehere.
First, you got to have theright environment, not just
physically, but in your mind,mentally, also spiritually.
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Secondly, you know we talkabout when we talked about the
Jerusalem Council, it was reallyshowing you that the grace and
the goodness of God is comingfrom God.
It's not, you know, it's notreally anything we're doing.
We work with God.
Right, because it's not.
It is still free will, butthere's a partnership, if you
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will, we have to be obedient towhen he's telling us to do stuff
, even when it's uncomfortable,you know.
And then this third thing isaround the people that you're
aligning yourself to and, as youare also a mentor maybe you
don't realize that, but you area mentor in somebody's eyes and
you may never know that.
You know that person mightnever ever say now can I just
(19:42):
tell you something?
You might also be a mentor topeople who can't stand you okay,
people who don't like you, butthey admire you and they respect
you and they're watching yourmove.
So I'm just urging you to beaware of you, how you're
aligning yourself and then howyou're playing this thing out as
someone who is a mentor, I'mgoing to leave you with this one
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thought.
I was at this incredible eventyesterday.
If you're on LinkedIn, youprobably see me blowing up and
I'm so excited talking about it,and I won't stop talking about
it for a while.
This has been a very taxing,emotional, physically draining
month of March for my family.
It just has been.
And yet I have watched the Lordreally put me in position in
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places right when I was able toreceive his blessings through
people, right through people,and me being just coached and
mentored by folks who don't evenknow that they're mentoring me.
So the first thing is I have tobe humble enough to receive
that level of mentorship.
Some of y'all have way too muchego.
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You know everything.
Therefore, you can never betaught.
I am always willing to learn.
I'm always willing to learnwhen it comes to my corporate
girly role.
I'm always willing to learnwhen it's a spiritual role.
I'm always willing to learn.
In all my capacities personal,emotional, all those things I'm
always in a position where I'mwilling to learn.
So, a all my capacitiespersonal, emotional, all those
things I'm always in a positionwhere I'm willing to learn.
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So a lot of y'all have got tolet go of this ego thing where
you've been at it too long andyou don't need anybody telling
you what to do.
That's fine.
This is, then, not for you, okay, but this month I have watched
him, watched God work in my life, and I had to be in position to
receive that level of supportthat I was getting through
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informal mentors.
So, as an example, today isThursday and already this week I
was listening to a panel ofreally amazing, incredible women
that I truly respect rightAgain.
Remember I talked abouthumbling right and I was
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listening to them talk abouttheir mindset and professional
development and their careersand how they manage those things
, and so I told them, I told acouple of the folks that were on
the panel that this is anopportunity for me to just drink
it in.
I'm just here to drink it inand I was able to do that.
I had to.
Again, like Naomi, I had to gowhere the opportunity was.
So the opportunity waslistening to this panel.
The second time the secondopportunity actually came up
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yesterday I was it was a workevent and I was presenting there
later this day.
But I didn't understand why theLord wanted me to be there all
day, because I was like Lord, Idon't present until two in the
afternoon.
Why do you need me to be thereall day?
But I'm so grateful that I wasobedient to being there all day,
because what ended up happeningis all day I was being poured
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into and none of these peopleknew that I needed this right.
I think I might have only saidthat to one person, that man I
really needed today.
So in that opportunity yesterdayagain, I placed myself, like
Naomi, right In the place ofopportunity.
Then I humbled myself right,and then I listened right as a
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mentor.
I listened right and so whathappened for me yesterday is by
listening to other people'sexperiences and their journeys
and their challenges and beingempowered and inspired by folks
who have gone through the thingsy'all it really built me up, me
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as a mentor for someone else,because now I have, I've
refilled my cup, I've picked upsome new tips, I feel I feel
really good, I feel encouragedand, despite any storm or
anything that's happening in mylife.
Now, listen and I'm going tosay this because there are folks
, especially on LinkedIn, I knowthat there are people who are
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going through job loss and a lotof stuff happening Okay, like
when I say, everybody's gettinghit right now, people are
getting hit right now, okay.
So I'm not saying this, that Iwant you to just happy your way
through it, because the truth is, I woke up at three something
this morning and I was talkingto the Lord.
I was saying I'm angry with youbecause you're allowing this to
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happen.
I was having all kinds ofconversations with the Lord, but
then, just hours later, he wasreminding me that he was
shifting me and this.
Look at you know, stop and lookat what he's been doing just
this month.
This is a teaching moment for alot of us.
So maybe you don't have or youthink you're, you know you don't
have a Naomi who's a mentor foryou or a coach for you.
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There are a lot of really good,solid businesswomen who are
amazing mentors and coach andyou can go find.
I'm not in the business ofrecommending folks, you can go
find them on your own, but ifyou are a Ruth and you're
looking for someone to mentorand coach you and all the things
, again, it's really importantthat you understand that it
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works both ways that you have tofind someone who is on track,
who's done the things thatyou're trying to accomplish.
Maybe they haven't done 100%,but they're on the track.
They have experience, but theyare in position.
They shifted themselves andthey're in position to receive
right, because if I don't haveit, I can't give it to you,
right?
And then the last thing is thatall of us all of us are informal
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mentors for somebody.
How we show up, how we show upin our partnerships, on the job,
in our communities, as familymembers, aunties, uncles,
step-parents, whatever how weshow up really matters and that
there is somebody who's actuallylearning from you good or bad.
So I hope this blessed y'all,ruth and Naomi, just taking a
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different spin on this andtalking about really mentorship
that matters.
Maybe you stop to think about.
Maybe there's someone in yourlife who's been a mentor to you.
Thank God for them, pray forthem.
Thank you, lord, for as we closeout, lord, I thank you for all
the folks that you've placed inmy life who have been mentoring
me, even without them knowingthey are informally mentoring me
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.
I thank you for those whoyou've assigned to me so that I
can be a mentor to them and that, through your work in me, lord,
god, that they'll be blessed.
I thank you for every voice andevery family and everyone that
stands listening to thesepodcasts and watching us and
praying with us, and all thefamilies that are impacted in
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such amazing positive ways.
I thank you for all the strongwomen that I'm surrounded by,
who are mentoring and coachingme, lord, god, and as we shift
from season to season, as wemove into you know, into bigger
and greater things, that that,lord, that we will be the kind
of people who have positiveinfluence and tremendous impact
on our families and ourcommunities and everyone around
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us and that when people see us,that they will see you, they
will come to understand thepeace that we carry and the joy
in our hearts and all of thosethings.
And for those who are standingin need of anything, whether
it's just a physical need, afinancial need, a spiritual need
, some people are just lookingfor peace I just ask that that
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will be their portion today andthat, more than anything,
they'll come to understand theGod that I serve, that you are
real and I thank you, lord, forall the opportunities, all the
open doors, all the blessings.
Amen.
You know something I want toremind you.
I was telling someone at theevent, one of the events earlier
this week, and I told her shewas talking about you know,
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speaking truth to power and allthe things and how your words
are so important, and it justfell out of my mouth.
I was like you know whatAbundance is my portion?
When I say I believe all thingsare working together for my
good, I fully believe that Allthings are actually working
together for my good.
When I tell you that I amdivinely protected, I'm not just
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saying that it's in Psalm 91.
I'm just repeating what he'salready said about me.
So it is actually true for me.
And there is no, there is nomagic, there is no special
prayer, there's nothing.
It's just God's grace on mylife.
But you got to understand,there is a sacrifice involved.
There's a sacrifice as a mentorthat you make because you have
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responsibilities in how you showup, what you speak into other
people's lives.
So for those of y'all who areagain, all the informal mentors,
the aunties, the coaches, theteachers, all of us y'all that
we have to remember that thereis a responsibility that we
carry you are divinely protected, you're highly favored.
Carry, you are divinelyprotected, you're highly favored
(28:30):
.
But what you say really matters, and how you speak over your
children and how you speak overyour coworkers, even the ones
that drive you crazy, y'all isreally, really important.
So I just wanted to leave thatwith you.
And then a last reminder we haveprayer every Thursday, twice a
day.
It's 30 minutes.
We take your prayer requests.
It's a phone line, so we don'tsee who you are, but you know,
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join us for prayer If you'rereally standing in need.
If you don't have a communityto pray with, you can find us on
Facebook.
Come out of the wilderness.
Like I said, there is no seedneeded.
You know, we don't rock likethat.
It's just a community that wepray together.
We also pray live every Mondayand Tuesday.
I'm trying to get them all out,and then I also have a teaching
on Saturday.
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So to those who might look atthis and say, wow, I'm doing a
lot, I am doing a lot, but thisis just worship.
You're just joining me inworship.
This is not work, y'all.
This is just me worshiping Godand I'm inviting y'all to come
into this community so we can dolife together.
That's all it is.
So I thank y'all so much forall of your support.
(29:34):
I love y'all.
Obviously, I always say Jesusloves you more.
Please don't forget to like thevideo if you're on the social
media street, because it doeshelp us get more people to get
the message and be blessed.
So, y'all, have an amazing restof your Thursday and I will
talk to you next week.
Bye.
no-transcript.
(03:24):
Good morning y'all.
Happy Thursday.
It's Shelly.
I hope y'all are doing okay andwelcome back to Come Out of the
Wilderness.
This is our Thursday teaching.
For those who might be comingacross this video on Facebook or
LinkedIn or YouTube or ParadeDeck TV and wondering, like,
what's going on?
Who is this?
So I'm really excited aboutthis topic.
(03:46):
We're nerding out in this monthof March, just going a little
bit deeper into some of theBible stories and scriptures and
tying it back to our dailylives.
So today we're going to be inRuth one.
We're talking about mentorshipand I think this is going to
bless you, whether you consideryourself a mentor or not.
There's some, just some reallycool things that I want to pull
out from.
We're talking about mentorshipand I think this is going to
bless you, whether you consideryourself a mentor or not.
There's some, just some reallycool things that I want to pull
(04:08):
out from Ruth and I really thinkthis is going to bless us.
I'm trying to be better atlooking and following the
comment section.
Good morning, dr Tracy, and goodmorning Dump and Ground podcast
.
Good morning y'all.
So, lord, we just thank you forgiving us another day.
Thank you for this amazingThursday.
Thank you for good news of thisday and I pray for every person
under the sound of my voice,whether they have been here
(04:30):
before or this is new for them,that they'll be blessed, that
they'll hear something todaythat will inspire and encourage
them to just have better, morefruitful, impactful lives, and I
just thank you for blessingeach of us.
I thank you for those morefruitful, impactful lives and I
just thank you for blessing eachof us.
I thank you for those, lord,god, even those who are standing
in need right now, who justwant some encouragement.
I pray that this teaching todaywill encourage all of us.
(04:53):
Amen, so y'all.
So Ruth and Naomi.
You know, maybe you haven'tthought about I'm going to share
my screen, so I'm going to comeout of the scripture so you can
follow along with me, but maybeyou haven't thought about it in
this way.
I think, for the most part,whenever I hear teachers or
Bible teachers or pastors or,you know, whoever talk about
(05:14):
Ruth and Naomi, they reallyfocus more on, you know, moving
into a new season and taking itfrom that perspective, how you
know the relationship betweenthe two women and they kind of
pivoted to that way.
And Ruth again, ruth's loyaltyto Naomi, as you're seeing here
in the ESV version.
But there were some things thatI wanted to share with us.
(05:37):
First of all, when it comes tothe way we look at this in terms
of mentorship and I know you'reprobably like, wow, how do you
get mentorship out of this?
And I'm going to show you howright.
And also, I think this is just aseason, you know, I am fully
aware we have, by the way, wehave a phone prayer line called
(05:58):
Three Praying Sisters and we areon every Thursday 1 pm, 7 pm,
eastern Standard Time.
So if you are going through thethings and you need a community
to pray alongside with you, youknow 30 minutes of prayer and
you're welcome to join.
There is no seed needed.
You just need to pick up thephone, call in and that's all
All right.
The number should be scrollingon the screen.
(06:20):
So I want to start in the firstthing that happened.
And now, actually, before I jumpinto this, I just want to start
in the first thing thathappened and then, actually,
before I jump into this, I justwant to share something, just
because I think a lot of usdon't realize this most of the
time because we're busy, justkind of living our lives out,
that you have to be aware thatthere are people watching your
(06:40):
move.
And it's not always a bad thingy'all.
A lot of times when you hearpeople say, oh, people watching
your move, it comes across as ifsomeone's competing with you or
they're trying to attack ortrying to take something from
you.
But it just so happens thatthat you know, especially for
well women and men, you know, wekind of watch the way we move
(07:01):
and maybe you've seen someoneyou admire on the job or at your
church or in your community,maybe even in your family, you
have that one special uncle thatyou just like.
You know he's just like thebest thing ever and you're
watching his move, but thatuncle is informally mentoring
you and that's just because ofthe relationship, what you see.
(07:24):
So it starts out with Naomibeing widowed.
There was a situation thatcaused these two women to have
this kind of relationship.
It was clear that there was arelationship there before.
It doesn't tell you in detailof how deep the relationship was
.
What we know was it says thatin the days when the judges
ruled, there was a famine in theland.
I'm not going to read the wholething because I want you all to
(07:45):
go back in Ruth 1, chapter 1,verses 1 through 18.
That's our bio study, okay, butjust to give you an idea and a
context, ruth's husband passedaway and so did her sons, malon
and Chilion, and they were fromBethlehem in Judah and when they
(08:05):
passed they left both theirwives right.
So when Naomi rose, it says inverse six, she arose with her
daughters-in-law and theintention it says, to return
from the country of Moab.
There was an opportunity, forshe heard in the fields of Moab
that the Lord had visited thesepeople and given them food.
So Naomi was in a positionwhere she was seeking out a new
(08:30):
opportunity and so it says sheset out from the place where she
was with her twodaughters-in-laws and they went
on the way to return to the landof Judah.
So they were moving intodifferent opportunity.
So I think about this when yousee certain people and you see
them moving and it seems likethey're moving into a different
opportunity, different levels,all the things right, and you're
(08:51):
captivated by who you know,that move that they're making,
just thinking about it from thatperspective.
It says in verse eight.
But Naomi said to her twodaughters-in-law go, return each
of you to her mother's house.
Go to your mother's house, likego to your mother's house, okay
, may the Lord deal kindly withyou, as you have dealt with the
dead and with me talking abouther son.
(09:11):
So she's blessing them, right,you know?
You know, go on back to your,your home, your, your, your
family's home, and she'sblessing them.
The Lord grant that you mayfind, rest each of you in the
house of her husband, all thethings.
And it says that then shekissed them, so she's blessing
them.
And they lifted up their voices, that they wept, so that here
again there was a connectionbetween these women and Naomi.
(09:35):
Now, when it comes down to thisis where people you know most
folks when they're reading aboutRuth and Naomi, they kind of
get stuck into this.
But Naomi said turn back mydaughters because, again, when
they didn't want to break thatshe was the continuation, if you
will the relationship tied totheir husbands who passed right,
(09:56):
they're all widows at thispoint.
They all had tremendous loss.
And Naomi said turn back mydaughters.
Why will you go with me?
Have I yet sons in my womb thatthey might you know?
Why are you following me?
Turn back my daughters go yourway, for I'm too old to have a
husband.
There's nothing I can do foryou, right?
And if I should say I have hope, even if I should have a
(10:17):
husband, in the night and bearsand all the things that she's
basically giving them an escape,giving them a way out, don't
follow me, y'all.
So what I loved about verse 14,I guess this is where a lot of
us kind of tie into and this iswhere you can pick up on some of
the themes of mentorship.
Then they lifted up theirvoices and wept again and Orpah
(10:38):
kissed her mother-in-law butRuth clung to her and she said
see, your sister-in-law has goneback to her people and to her
gods.
Return after your sister-in-law.
But Ruth says don't urge me toleave you or to return from
following you, because where yougo, I will go and where you
lodge I will lodge.
Your people shall be my people,your God, my God.
All right, so I'm going to stopthere and I'm going to come
(10:59):
back and then we're going tokind of punch down into those
verses a little bit more when itcomes to mentorship.
So one of the first things Iwant to just remind us is that
what I said before that thereare people watching your moves
and you just have to beself-aware, and so that means
they watch your good moves andthey watch your bad moves, right
.
Informal mentorship is for real,you know, you don't have to pay
(11:22):
someone to be your mentor.
A mentor is someone who, by thevirtue of what they're doing
with their lives, there's somethings that you learn from them,
maybe some things that help youget, to quote the next level.
You know what I mean.
There's information orexperience that that person has
that you're tapping into.
(11:44):
You would have seen somemeasure of success in that
person's life you're tappinginto.
You would have seen somemeasure of success in that
person's life.
Like I always tell people, younever have a mentor who doesn't
have success in the area thatthey're trying to coach you
through.
Don't do that, because thenyou're just it's not a mentor,
it's a friend, right.
But just being aware, y'all,that even as mothers of adult
(12:04):
children, you know a lot oftimes we have this incredible
informal relationship as amentor with them.
So how you show up really doesmatter, how you respond to
crisis in your life For those ofy'all who are, you know,
believers or Christians orwhatever you want to call it how
you respond to all of the chaosand crazy.
And I promise you, I knowthere's a lot of chaos and crazy
(12:27):
, there's a lot of thingshappening and everyone's going
through something, right, buthow you respond to those
situations, it speaks volumesand as a mentor, that shows up
right, how you respond, aspeople are watching, how you
respond and you can either hurtor harm the folks that are kind
of watching from afar.
Right?
So that's the first thing.
The second thing is, with thisstory of Ruth and Naomi, is that
(12:52):
you have to remember that Naomiwas moving into a situation or
she was positioning herself sothat she could go into a land of
plenty, if you will.
She was positioning herself sothat she could go back where
again, where in the word again,I'm coming from Ruth 1, ruth 1
(13:13):
and urging you guys 1 through 18, where it talks about she was
returning to the land of Judah,because she was going where it
says the Lord had visited hispeople and given them food, so
she was going to a place ofabundance, if you will.
So, naomi the mentor, right?
So maybe this is you y'all,you're the mentor and you're
(13:34):
moving into a place of abundance, you're moving into your land,
your Judah, if you will, and sothat is important.
You have to be in position thatyou're on the right track.
You cannot mentor people ifyou're not your Judah, if you
will, and so that is important.
You have to be in position thatyou're on the right track.
You cannot mentor people ifyou're not on the right track,
if you're not disciplined, allright, because you'll end up
encouraging people to do thewrong thing, right.
(13:56):
So that's really important.
So are you on track as a mentoryourself?
Like I'm a mentor to manypeople.
It always surprises me.
I you know, just yesterday Ihad someone, two people actually
who I actually I look up tothem as peer mentors, and both
of these individuals weresharing with me that they saw me
(14:17):
as a mentor, and it's the mostamazing and humbling thing.
But it also reminds you thatthe way you move on the job,
y'all a lot of y'all are goingto these jobs and forgetting the
impact that you have on the job, right, you're forgetting that.
You know you have to have thatlevel of self awareness.
So when I'm working, I have thesame mindset, where I'm always
(14:41):
putting myself in position ofgrowth or abundance or impact or
helping.
You know that's, that's, that'skind of, that's just my thing,
and so people will see that,just as they see it in me, y'all
, they'll see it in you, okay.
So that's the second thing.
Don't and don't ask people todo what you're not willing to do
, right?
Same thing with our kids, right?
We don't ask people to do whatwe're not willing to do.
(15:03):
We don't ask you to make thekind of sacrifices that we're
not willing to do, okay, becausethen it hurts your credibility
as a mentor, all right.
Now the third thing I want toshare with y'all is that this is
also something that I find inthe story of Ruth and Naomi is
that bond of loyalty and thatlove, and I also want to caution
(15:24):
you.
So I am really blessed.
I've always had mentors myentire life, but I've never
positioned my relationship withmy mentors as you do something
for me.
It's never been like that.
It's always been about arelationship.
It's a relationship.
(15:44):
There are some things that Iadmire and something, and I ask
for feedback so that I can growy'all.
But I never position it as likewhat can you do for me?
And in fact, I always say thatmentorship works both ways.
So in the same way that I'm amentor to many.
That mentorship works both ways.
(16:05):
So, in the same way that I'm amentor to many, those folks are
mentoring me as well.
It works both ways.
There's a relationship involved.
What I love about the story ofRuth and Naomi is that you can
see that there was arelationship before they had to
make the decision.
Before Ruth made the decisionto stay on the path with Naomi,
and she didn't know if this pathwas going to be easy.
She didn't know that there wasgoing to be.
You know what was going totranspire at the end of it.
(16:26):
There was a significant loss.
There was a situation thatbrought them together, y'all, if
you will.
So the loss of both theirhusbands.
They were both widowed, right.
So there was a situation, acrisis, if you will.
They had to move out of theplace where they are.
Some of y'all need to move outof the place where you are.
You have been stuck and sittingin this wilderness for way too
(16:49):
long.
The Lord has sent you divinehelp, but you refuse to listen,
right?
You know what I'm saying.
He sent you and Naomi andyou're like I don't want to go
right.
So some of you have to, youknow again, be self-aware enough
to know when the Lord istelling you it's time to move.
If you've been tied to someoneout of loyalty and you've seen
no fruits, no, you know, fromthem there's the.
(17:13):
You know, we call it the fruitof the spirit.
Is not in them, nothing, noseed they've planted, you know,
have yielded anything for thefolks they're mentoring.
That shows you something, right.
So I want you to you know, beaware of these relationships and
how we're showing up again, asI mentioned before informal
(17:35):
mentors is real.
How we show up, it's not juston your job, it's not just with
your clients, it's not just withyour kids.
How you show up really matters.
And I think that when we talkabout living authentically and
we drop all the terms y'all, Ithink authentic living and being
authentic was the term we wereusing in 2021.
(17:56):
I don't hear that so muchanymore, because some folks
showed up in their true selvesand we didn't like it.
Right, just be for real, okay,but we have to get back to the
point where we're self-awareabout how we show up wherever we
go, and that again, you have tobe in a position where you are
on track with what yourassignment is what is it that
(18:18):
you're meant to do?
All right, and so again, thisis Ruth and Naomi.
I told you we're nerding out alittle bit in this month of
March.
We have one more teaching to go.
Last week I talked about theJerusalem council and the week
before that, our first week, Iwas in Genesis and we were
talking about the environmentthat we're in and how we can
(18:40):
allow sin to come in and reallydestroy the environment.
That you know, and I don't carehow beautiful your house is how
we can allow sin to come in andreally destroy the environment.
That you know, and I don't carehow beautiful your house is,
but when you allow sin ornegative thoughts or all the
things that come in, it canreally disrupt the environment
that you're creating.
So we're building on a themehere.
First, you got to have theright environment, not just
physically, but in your mind,mentally, also spiritually.
(19:00):
Secondly, you know we talkabout when we talked about the
Jerusalem Council, it was reallyshowing you that the grace and
the goodness of God is comingfrom God.
It's not, you know, it's notreally anything we're doing.
We work with God.
Right, because it's not.
It is still free will, butthere's a partnership, if you
(19:20):
will, we have to be obedient towhen he's telling us to do stuff
, even when it's uncomfortable,you know.
And then this third thing isaround the people that you're
aligning yourself to and, as youare also a mentor maybe you
don't realize that, but you area mentor in somebody's eyes and
you may never know that.
You know that person mightnever ever say now can I just
(19:42):
tell you something?
You might also be a mentor topeople who can't stand you okay,
people who don't like you, butthey admire you and they respect
you and they're watching yourmove.
So I'm just urging you to beaware of you, how you're
aligning yourself and then howyou're playing this thing out as
someone who is a mentor, I'mgoing to leave you with this one
(20:03):
thought.
I was at this incredible eventyesterday.
If you're on LinkedIn, youprobably see me blowing up and
I'm so excited talking about it,and I won't stop talking about
it for a while.
This has been a very taxing,emotional, physically draining
month of March for my family.
It just has been.
And yet I have watched the Lordreally put me in position in
(20:27):
places right when I was able toreceive his blessings through
people, right through people,and me being just coached and
mentored by folks who don't evenknow that they're mentoring me.
So the first thing is I have tobe humble enough to receive
that level of mentorship.
Some of y'all have way too muchego.
(20:48):
You know everything.
Therefore, you can never betaught.
I am always willing to learn.
I'm always willing to learnwhen it comes to my corporate
girly role.
I'm always willing to learnwhen it's a spiritual role.
I'm always willing to learn.
In all my capacities personal,emotional, all those things I'm
always in a position where I'mwilling to learn.
So, a all my capacitiespersonal, emotional, all those
things I'm always in a positionwhere I'm willing to learn.
(21:10):
So a lot of y'all have got tolet go of this ego thing where
you've been at it too long andyou don't need anybody telling
you what to do.
That's fine.
This is, then, not for you, okay, but this month I have watched
him, watched God work in my life, and I had to be in position to
receive that level of supportthat I was getting through
(21:33):
informal mentors.
So, as an example, today isThursday and already this week I
was listening to a panel ofreally amazing, incredible women
that I truly respect rightAgain.
Remember I talked abouthumbling right and I was
(21:56):
listening to them talk abouttheir mindset and professional
development and their careersand how they manage those things
, and so I told them, I told acouple of the folks that were on
the panel that this is anopportunity for me to just drink
it in.
I'm just here to drink it inand I was able to do that.
I had to.
Again, like Naomi, I had to gowhere the opportunity was.
So the opportunity waslistening to this panel.
The second time the secondopportunity actually came up
(22:17):
yesterday I was it was a workevent and I was presenting there
later this day.
But I didn't understand why theLord wanted me to be there all
day, because I was like Lord, Idon't present until two in the
afternoon.
Why do you need me to be thereall day?
But I'm so grateful that I wasobedient to being there all day,
because what ended up happeningis all day I was being poured
(22:38):
into and none of these peopleknew that I needed this right.
I think I might have only saidthat to one person, that man I
really needed today.
So in that opportunity yesterdayagain, I placed myself, like
Naomi, right In the place ofopportunity.
Then I humbled myself right,and then I listened right as a
(23:02):
mentor.
I listened right and so whathappened for me yesterday is by
listening to other people'sexperiences and their journeys
and their challenges and beingempowered and inspired by folks
who have gone through the thingsy'all it really built me up, me
(23:24):
as a mentor for someone else,because now I have, I've
refilled my cup, I've picked upsome new tips, I feel I feel
really good, I feel encouragedand, despite any storm or
anything that's happening in mylife.
Now, listen and I'm going tosay this because there are folks
, especially on LinkedIn, I knowthat there are people who are
(23:45):
going through job loss and a lotof stuff happening Okay, like
when I say, everybody's gettinghit right now, people are
getting hit right now, okay.
So I'm not saying this, that Iwant you to just happy your way
through it, because the truth is, I woke up at three something
this morning and I was talkingto the Lord.
I was saying I'm angry with youbecause you're allowing this to
(24:06):
happen.
I was having all kinds ofconversations with the Lord, but
then, just hours later, he wasreminding me that he was
shifting me and this.
Look at you know, stop and lookat what he's been doing just
this month.
This is a teaching moment for alot of us.
So maybe you don't have or youthink you're, you know you don't
have a Naomi who's a mentor foryou or a coach for you.
(24:29):
There are a lot of really good,solid businesswomen who are
amazing mentors and coach andyou can go find.
I'm not in the business ofrecommending folks, you can go
find them on your own, but ifyou are a Ruth and you're
looking for someone to mentorand coach you and all the things
, again, it's really importantthat you understand that it
(24:49):
works both ways that you have tofind someone who is on track,
who's done the things thatyou're trying to accomplish.
Maybe they haven't done 100%,but they're on the track.
They have experience, but theyare in position.
They shifted themselves andthey're in position to receive
right, because if I don't haveit, I can't give it to you,
right?
And then the last thing is thatall of us all of us are informal
(25:12):
mentors for somebody.
How we show up, how we show upin our partnerships, on the job,
in our communities, as familymembers, aunties, uncles,
step-parents, whatever how weshow up really matters and that
there is somebody who's actuallylearning from you good or bad.
So I hope this blessed y'all,ruth and Naomi, just taking a
(25:32):
different spin on this andtalking about really mentorship
that matters.
Maybe you stop to think about.
Maybe there's someone in yourlife who's been a mentor to you.
Thank God for them, pray forthem.
Thank you, lord, for as we closeout, lord, I thank you for all
the folks that you've placed inmy life who have been mentoring
me, even without them knowingthey are informally mentoring me
(25:55):
.
I thank you for those whoyou've assigned to me so that I
can be a mentor to them and that, through your work in me, lord,
god, that they'll be blessed.
I thank you for every voice andevery family and everyone that
stands listening to thesepodcasts and watching us and
praying with us, and all thefamilies that are impacted in
(26:18):
such amazing positive ways.
I thank you for all the strongwomen that I'm surrounded by,
who are mentoring and coachingme, lord, god, and as we shift
from season to season, as wemove into you know, into bigger
and greater things, that that,lord, that we will be the kind
of people who have positiveinfluence and tremendous impact
on our families and ourcommunities and everyone around
(26:40):
us and that when people see us,that they will see you, they
will come to understand thepeace that we carry and the joy
in our hearts and all of thosethings.
And for those who are standingin need of anything, whether
it's just a physical need, afinancial need, a spiritual need
, some people are just lookingfor peace I just ask that that
(27:00):
will be their portion today andthat, more than anything,
they'll come to understand theGod that I serve, that you are
real and I thank you, lord, forall the opportunities, all the
open doors, all the blessings.
Amen.
You know something I want toremind you.
I was telling someone at theevent, one of the events earlier
this week, and I told her shewas talking about you know,
(27:23):
speaking truth to power and allthe things and how your words
are so important, and it justfell out of my mouth.
I was like you know whatAbundance is my portion?
When I say I believe all thingsare working together for my
good, I fully believe that Allthings are actually working
together for my good.
When I tell you that I amdivinely protected, I'm not just
(27:44):
saying that it's in Psalm 91.
I'm just repeating what he'salready said about me.
So it is actually true for me.
And there is no, there is nomagic, there is no special
prayer, there's nothing.
It's just God's grace on mylife.
But you got to understand,there is a sacrifice involved.
There's a sacrifice as a mentorthat you make because you have
(28:08):
responsibilities in how you showup, what you speak into other
people's lives.
So for those of y'all who areagain, all the informal mentors,
the aunties, the coaches, theteachers, all of us y'all that
we have to remember that thereis a responsibility that we
carry you are divinely protected, you're highly favored.
Carry, you are divinelyprotected, you're highly favored
(28:30):
.
But what you say really matters, and how you speak over your
children and how you speak overyour coworkers, even the ones
that drive you crazy, y'all isreally, really important.
So I just wanted to leave thatwith you.
And then a last reminder we haveprayer every Thursday, twice a
day.
It's 30 minutes.
We take your prayer requests.
It's a phone line, so we don'tsee who you are, but you know,
(28:51):
join us for prayer If you'rereally standing in need.
If you don't have a communityto pray with, you can find us on
Facebook.
Come out of the wilderness.
Like I said, there is no seedneeded.
You know, we don't rock likethat.
It's just a community that wepray together.
We also pray live every Mondayand Tuesday.
I'm trying to get them all out,and then I also have a teaching
on Saturday.
(29:11):
So to those who might look atthis and say, wow, I'm doing a
lot, I am doing a lot, but thisis just worship.
You're just joining me inworship.
This is not work, y'all.
This is just me worshiping Godand I'm inviting y'all to come
into this community so we can dolife together.
That's all it is.
So I thank y'all so much forall of your support.
(29:34):
I love y'all.
Obviously, I always say Jesusloves you more.
Please don't forget to like thevideo if you're on the social
media street, because it doeshelp us get more people to get
the message and be blessed.
So, y'all, have an amazing restof your Thursday and I will
talk to you next week.
Bye.
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