Do It Anyway w/Tasha Cobbs Leonard

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Speaker 1: Coming up. Keep your positive, sweetie. Sometimes your heart will be broken and you don't understand the season that you're in, but I want you to dig deep within yourself and do it anyway. And so I got up seven days after my dad went to be with the Lord, and I won my first Grammy. Sitting there, they called my name, and I was like, there's no way to just be.

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Speaker 2: Your calling my name, you know, And so I got up.

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Speaker 1: And the first thing I said, is, seven days ago, the greatest man who ever walked the face of this earth went to be with Jesus. And I would love for you guys to honor my father. And so the entire academy stood up and gave my dad a round of applause. R.

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Speaker 3: Hi, I'm Christopher Nae Hazel, and this is keep it positive, sweetie, a safe space to heal, laugh, grow and love. I can't wait to ring today's guest to the couch. Her musical ministry has definitely brought me through. I'm talking about the Goddess of Gospel, Tasha Cobb's Leonard with the voice that carries the essence of praise and worship. A musical ministry that has blessed millions around the world. Tasha Cobb's Leonard is one of gospel's most grounded torch bearers. In recent years, she's child with the world, carry her gift of song and surrender with her.

00:01:32
Speaker 1: These days she's on in Optururse.

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Speaker 3: Stages, managing a ministry with her husband, mother and her children, and enjoying the release of her new devotional Do It Anyway. And in the midst of all that, guys, we got her on the couch to talk to me.

00:01:46
Speaker 1: Tasha, thank you so much for coming.

00:01:49
Speaker 3: Seriously, nowther heirs of all you came in here, you got the caulswife in Gorswain.

00:01:57
Speaker 1: What made you even decide to cut it off? Who talked about the big child?

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Speaker 3: That's such a It can be a spirituals regular you chop your hair off or emotional.

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Speaker 1: Yes, what made you chop your hair off? I love it, and I love that you mentioned that, because I don't think my expectation was for it to be so spiritual. Originally I was like, hey, I'm gonna cut it because a lot of people don't know. I don't do weeks, so I had so ends all the years, and so it was just pulling, pulling, pulling damage in my hair. And then when I don't have the soul ends you're doing braids, it's the same thing. It's kind of I know, we call it protective styles, but it's not so protective.

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Speaker 2: You're right, you know.

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Speaker 1: So it was just kind of pulling my hair and I noticed that it was just damage. So I told my stylars, I said, after this, so I did the big curls for a.

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Speaker 3: Woman involved Oh beautiful, Oh my god, yeah, I love it.

00:02:43
Speaker 1: After this, I'm gonna chop it. And she was like, all right, let's go for it, because I wanted it to be healthy. So that was really the original thought behind it. But after cutting it, I was just telling some of my friends, like, I feel exposed, but it's in a great way, like you see me, yes, like almost like I been hiding. I was talking to Priscilla Shired call me and she was like, girl, your hair is amazing, and I was like, you know, just pray for him in this place where I feel like something is being revealed. And it may not be for everybody, but I feel like, you know, all the years of hiding behind the hair, hiding behind this, and that now I'm in this space where Hey, this is me taking a leaving. So that's it. It's been a really good spiritual journey. Yes, I love my husband, lady, So that's all the patterns. So that's all the letters.

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Speaker 2: I love it.

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Speaker 3: But I love how I can see your beautiful face. And I asked, I was like having a complimence. Tell you got any ladder because all the times we don't realize how we hide. We do not intentionally, but we hide behind our hair and we don't realize when we reveal all that, it's like, Wow, people really can see your true beauty and I can see me.

00:03:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's powerful. That's powerful. I love it.

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Speaker 2: And you have parties that you like to use, you know what.

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Speaker 1: I've tried a few and I like that. It's different things for different people. Yes, and so for me it's been right now the Soft Curls by missus Jesse East shoutouts, but it's been working really good. I love it. That's pop a bit. I know that's right. I'm here for it. I'm here for it now.

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Speaker 3: You recently just dropped a new devotional called do It Anyway, and I feel like that is a testament of just.

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Speaker 1: Who you are.

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Speaker 3: There's things that you've done the Christian of guys whoever may look a like, but you do it anyway and it works, you know, will actually inspire your devotional.

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Speaker 1: So the devotional is actually the second portion, i'll say, of off of the main books. Of the main book, it's called doing Anyway. And the story behind that is when I released my album Grace. So that's the album has break every chain, confidence, happy, you know, smile. All those songs are on there. That album was nominated for UH seven awards that year, so it was Stellar Awards, double Awards and two Grammys.

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Speaker 3: Wow.

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Speaker 1: And literally a Freshman Artist is my first album with a label. And my dad was a down home I'm from Jessin, Georgia, so country pastor, and he didn't leave our church for anything. So literally we would do vacations from Sunday evening to Saturday morning because we're back on Sundays, right, and so all of the award shows literally are on weekends, so Saturday Sundays, and I'm thinking, oh my goodness, Daddy's not leaving Jessin. But they weren't that kind of parent. They were very, very supportive. So my dad was like, hey, Daddy's gonna be with you in Nashville. I'm coming to Nashville, but that he's not gonna be in LA. But I want you to go anywhere. He just kept saying that he's not gonna be in LA. I want you to go anyway. And I was like, nobody expects you to go to Nashville, La nowhere. You're not leaving Jessin. So I'm just excited that you're coming anywhere. And so the Stellar Awards happened in Nashville, and I had sixty seconds to sing break every change, So sixty sixty sixty seconds. It felt like two minutes, but it was sixty seconds. So I was like, I'm gonna give it all. I got here, I need sixty seconds. And to look out and see my parents in the audience because they had like the stage in the middle of the space, and so I could see everybody's faces. My dad, He's beaming with pride. And so that night I won three Stellar Awards and we were hanging out in my Mentors Hotel room, just hanging out, celebrating what happened that night. William Murphy and he was like, call dad and see if they want to come hang out. This is about two or three o'clock in the morning. So I was like, guys, we got Daddy to Nashville wherever they get church. He's not coming to your room at three o'clock in the morning. So I text him, was like, Dad, hey, we was just hanging out a little bit. He immediately responded it was like me and your mine were on the way, and I was like, you're okay here, you know.

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Speaker 2: So they came and my dad.

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Speaker 1: Was two things. He was a man of very few words, but if he spoke, it was either profound or he was gonna have you in the floor screaming, laughing. And so that night he pulled out his greatest comedy show. I mean, he has the floor just crime laughing. And I remember they were leaving at about four o'clock that morning. He was getting on the on the elevator and I said, hey, Dad, he had three awards in his hand because I told him I would give him those awards.

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Speaker 2: That's a long story, we'll have.

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Speaker 1: To revisit it. Because I did an independent project and I talked him into being the executive producer. And he was like, oh till he figured out what it was. He was like, wait a minute, I had to pay for all of this. So he would all the way to day, We'm daddy gonna get his money back. We're the executive, the producer, get paid. You always say that, And so I told him and said, this is what I'll do. If I win any awards, you can have them all. And so he took that thing to her. So I'm so red. Yeah, he built a carryo for all of the awards that he felt like I would win. And so that night he was getting on the elevator, he had the awards in his hands. I was like, day, take out one. I want to take a picture, And so he took out one of my Stellar Awards. I snapped a photo, and that would be the last time I saw my dad on the earth. Yes. The next morning they got in the car, he had a heart attack in the car and went to be with Jesus. And so of course it was devastating. You know, this is unexpected. And I could always hear his voice ringing in my ear. So the Grammys would be seven later and I can't hear him saying, Dad, he's not gonna be with you in LA but I want you to go anyway. I want you to go anyway. And so now I realized that he was leaving with me the last lesson that he would lead, that sometimes your heart will be broken and you don't understand the season that you're in, but I want you to dig deep within yourself and do it anyway. And so I got up seven days after my dad went to be with the Lord, and I won my first Grammy. Sitting there, they called my name, and I was like, there's no way to just be just all in my name, you know. So I got up and the first thing I said, is seven days ago, the greatest man who ever walked the face of this earth went to be with Jesus. And I would love for you guys to honor my father. And so the entire academy stood up and gave my dad a round of applause. So that lesson, I felt like, I need to give this to as many people as I can. So if I got to do it in a form of a book or a devotional or a song, I want people to know that whatever you need, it is within you. You just got to dig deep and do that thing anyway.

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Speaker 2: Ooh you my eyes work.

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Speaker 1: I'm like, oh my God, for sure, that's an incredible story.

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Speaker 3: And I know a lot of people wouldn't have been able to get up seven days later after Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Everything about it is so foggy right now. Yeah, you know, because you're smothered in grief at that time. It was unexpected, but I knew one thing that Daddy wanted me to be there he did. Yes, Oh that is beautiful.

00:09:27
Speaker 3: You are all over the place, You're doing music, you're touring, you just started your own church. That's so incredible. The purpose, the purpose, play heaviest place. Oh my goodness, what started and what inspire that? Because I know a lot of my Christian friends say that they have such a hard time finding a safe church home. I have friends who live in LA that are like ministers and people that really are seeking that, like we just cannot find a place.

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Speaker 1: So what made you say?

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Speaker 3: I want because I know you to do leave praise and works with the from places and you actually I used to go to Free Chapel.

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Speaker 2: Uh huh.

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Speaker 1: And what's the church here? Man? I just drew a blank Leui giglio passion Passion.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I love that live album that you did that.

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Speaker 3: But so you've gone to all these different churches. What made you say, honey, we need to start our own church.

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Speaker 1: Where was that? I didn't that, So my dad was I've been walking with pastors my entire life. My dad was a pastor. My husband tricked me. I tell everybody my husband tricked me because while we were dating, I asked him, are you a pastor? And he said adamantly no.

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Speaker 2: So I was like, you know, I don't want nothing to do with that man.

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Speaker 1: And so we're about two years into our marriage and here he comes sitting up in the middle of night crying, I feel the calling.

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Speaker 2: Guy that you told me we gotta stick at the I don't world right now, but oh yeah, he had.

00:11:05
Speaker 1: He had this calling, and I think it was obvious, you know, the entire time, because of both of us just have a heart for kingdom, ministry and for people to fulfill purpose in the earth. So and it's what we've done, even with our team members, we push people. I don't want you here working for me forever. I want you to do what God calls you to do, because is to start a business, whatever it is. I want this to be a ground where it's like you're educating yourself, getting what you need so you can do what God has called you to do. And so I think it's just always been in the both of us because he's the same way. So my husband's actually the senior pastor and I'm just, you know, I'm just there.

00:11:41
Speaker 2: The co pastor.

00:11:43
Speaker 1: But we were about two or three years into our marriage and he was like, you know, God has called me Tasha, and I and I know that you also have that calling on using First of all, you need to stop being rebel. But I felt like, you know, what does God neat with another church? So we have to be very very sure about the vision because it's just not a place where I want us to come sing some pretty songs. People have, you know, experience to give you cheers and all that kind of stuff that you leave and you're not changed or transformed, you know. And so that was we went to work just praying, and at the time, we were actually serving as worship pastors at a church in Greenville, Relentis Church with John and Abbas, and during that time we had conversations even with them like, hey, we feel this calling on our lives, but where we're serving at right now, we feel like it's a great place for us to get training together because both of us had done ministry a separate but were never together in our marriage, and so that gave us an opportunity to work together, plan together, grow together. And so we were there for two years and then after that, you know, we just felt like, hey, it's time. And this is the interesting part where God always thows these recumations.

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Speaker 2: Why of it, He's like, what, He's a little.

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Speaker 1: Twe And so we were planning to do like this pop up, like, Okay, we're gonna do a pop up in Spartanburg, South Calidt Line. We had never even really been to the city. We just knew it was forty five minutes outside of Greenville, and it's just where my husband's heart was like, hey, it's the city is Spartanburg. I feel like we were called to And so we were gonna do like this pop up service of people show up. And I mean as soon as we were about to do it, the pandemic hit. No, and we were gonna do it in June. A pandemic hit in March, right, and we were sitting at the house like everybody thought of the tower, it was gonna be two weeks. So it's like the two weeks gonna be going everybody. We railed and it wasn't so a month. About three weeks later, I was downstairs, my husband was upstairs. Both of us came together and was like, Hey, I feel like we need to do Bible studies right now. I feel like God is saying it.

00:13:45
Speaker 2: He was like, God told me that too. I was like, oh, okay.

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Speaker 1: So when two church kids and were a plan, we know how to do this. You build these start a Bible study and pop ups. You know, we had a plan. But God was like, no, we want you to do this in the pandemic. So how do you start church in a pandemic. When we started in April, it was a month after the pandemic started. So for two years our church was virtual. We had never experienced in person church whatsoever. So even now to this day, like the mother of our church, she lives in Chicago, we have people that drive in from Atlanta, driving from Savannah because they connected to us in the middle of a pandemic. And right now they love their church so much that they're willing to get in their cars to get on planes to fly in. So I think that that's what makes our church so interesting that in the middle of this moment that feels like chaos. God brought this group of people together and he's like, we're gonna build a community of people who will restore hope to the community. So that's a vision.

00:14:38
Speaker 2: I love it.

00:14:39
Speaker 1: I love that.

00:14:40
Speaker 3: It's funny because I just did a podcast would be Simone and every I don't know, I guess since I started dressing more lady like.

00:14:47
Speaker 1: It was like even every time I go to church and like, because I will wear like first lady, I would.

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Speaker 2: Literally I'm like first lady. I'm like, I am not gonna be the first lady. And they're like, don't ever say that. I don't.

00:15:00
Speaker 3: It's so funny, like you just turned to dressing so lady like that a this so and I was like, you know, I just got older, and I was like, let me switch it up because like, but I'm still a tomboy at heart. Yeah, yeah, I read like that's what I love myself. Yeah, ities, I'm like, pull over hoodie any day, even if it's ninety degrees outside.

00:15:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love hoodie. Like I just love hoodies.

00:15:20
Speaker 3: But she staid that, and I was like, I was like, Noah, you said, you're asking that question, Like wait, I wentify because that's.

00:15:28
Speaker 1: It's a beautiful experience. So just to watch people grow week. There are some that started started with us four years ago, and now I look at them and where they are and how they've grown as a person. It's just like, wow, this is it. To see the transformation is what keeps us going. Like if we were there and we show up and everybody steal a bunch of crazos, I mean like, now we ain't calling this because I ain't growing up. But to see every week that different people are just growing and fulfilling purpose, that's what keeps us going.

00:15:58
Speaker 3: I love it when your husband told you, I feel like God has called me to do this. Was there any moment where you felt like, Okay, I need to submit to this because we talk about submission when it comes to marriages. But even though you were having a little hesitance and reluctancy, was there any anyone we're like, you know what, Okay, God, let me just submit to this. If this is where his vision is, how does how do you navigate submission in your marriage?

00:16:23
Speaker 1: I trust the God and my husband like if he says God says something, no matter how I feel like I'm submitted to it wholeheartedly. There's there's not There's not been a time where I've said, Okay, God, I trust what you've said to him that it's let me down, you know. And I know he's human and he's flawed and all of that, but I believe that he's assigned to lead our family. So when I said yes to him, I said yes to everything that God instructs him for us. You know, that's that's my dude. They even if he's going down, I'm gonna let you. But yes, yeah, yeah. I felt like, if you know, God said that's this to him, that he's not gonna remember one. He's not gonna say God said something, he didn't say that kind of you'd be like, I feel like, well, I think, but when he says, God says, you know, yeah, I love that.

00:17:13
Speaker 2: I love that.

00:17:14
Speaker 1: So you all have a blended family.

00:17:16
Speaker 3: You recently adopted, and you've been very open about your fertility journey.

00:17:21
Speaker 1: I recently went to my gnocagists and.

00:17:24
Speaker 3: Got it all my labs done blood work testing and everything, and she said, you know, it's too late to freeze your eggs.

00:17:33
Speaker 1: And it was like a gut punch. Wow.

00:17:35
Speaker 3: I was like, and I had this friend and I used to get so frustrated with her because every time we would talk, it would.

00:17:41
Speaker 1: Come up, fres your eggs? Did you freeze your eggs yet?

00:17:43
Speaker 3: I'm like, get out of my unis, leave me alone, you know. And I've been so my career took off very late in life, so the time that I should have been.

00:17:53
Speaker 1: A full career. Thank you. You're such an inspiration. Thank you son.

00:17:57
Speaker 3: I want to be that for people because a lot of times we feel like it's too late to get started or to get going. I hope that I'm a source of inspiration for people who are still searching even.

00:18:06
Speaker 2: Later on their life.

00:18:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's never too late. That's how I feel. But in this moment when she told me that, I was like, oh my gosh. And she said yeah. She's like, I don't even want you to go through IVF because.

00:18:18
Speaker 3: If they go in, they pull the eggs that you do have, say only two of them are like good, and what if you lose them? And then she's like you'd be more She said, you have your probability to have a child. It's better to do it naturally than to go through all that. And I would like to know because a lot of people leave out they're like, oh, yeah, I froze my eggs, but they leave out all the where and tear and how emotional that journey was. Can you talk to about it about that a little bit?

00:18:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think, and I don't really I don't want to over spiritualize everything, but I think everybody's journey is different. Yeah, you know, I feel like it's for me. So our experience is that we went through IVF and we talked a little bit before and it's something we actually ended up with three embry one that was implant and we ended up losing that baby, and that was literally one of the hardest things I've ever gone through, and for me, just super transparent. You know, we can sing about the God of peace, the God of joy, the God of life, we can preach.

00:19:16
Speaker 2: About it, but when you have to walk that thing out and live it out.

00:19:19
Speaker 1: That's when it's the true test of your faith. And for me, I needed that season to show me that there were areas that have been lying dormant of a lack of faith inside of me. Because I immediately started questioning God, like, do I believe what I've been singing about do I believe what I've been preaching about because you've been come through or what you saying, you know. And he had to remind me that Tasha, you hurt my wheel, but you didn't stick around to hear my way. You did it your way, brother run. And so he started just showing me through tomlines that hey, I showed you, Yes, you're gonna have a beautiful baby boy.

00:19:55
Speaker 2: He gonna look just like you, just like you.

00:19:57
Speaker 1: But I never went saying that it would be the traditional way, went about trying to feel god fulfill God's will your way, and that never works, you know, And so we had to go back now and say, well, what is your way? Where is your way? We know your will and that excites us, you know.

00:20:12
Speaker 2: Something that will excite you.

00:20:14
Speaker 1: You're gonna have a magic, gonna be a millionaire. But the process of it is the part that's grueling.

00:20:19
Speaker 2: You know.

00:20:20
Speaker 1: And so then.

00:20:22
Speaker 2: Shine there we shine, you know.

00:20:27
Speaker 1: And I believe that so many of us we hear you could hear the prophecy, even when we're younger people speaking over your life. I remember my mind would say, I see your name and rights. You know, we love that they all about that we lost sas to get today his way. His way is we don't know it always comfortable and sometimes it's foggy you can't see it, and so for us God's way. I remember my husband came to me and probably about five or six months after we lost the baby and I had gone through just oh, it was very childing. Was a dark space for me and I literally had to record an album in the middle of that. So I remember going to Nashville three days after we found out we lost the baby, and I was like, I'm not going to know rehearsals. If this is gonna be, if you want me to do this, you're gonna make this happen, so you know, just you know, we can get sometimes like.

00:21:19
Speaker 2: You died, you know what they know I'm on said, so you do your wheel your way.

00:21:25
Speaker 1: I went and I was like, I'm not gonna go to rehearsal. I'm not gonna do anything. But I ended up going to one of the rehearsals and they were doing a song that's on that album and says you're gonna get the glory out of this. It was a song that I wrote before ever really getting into this losing the baby. It was during the IVF. I know you're gonna get the glory out of this, and they started singing that song and literally everything I was feeling, the walls came down, It started to break, and my team didn't know what we were going through, but they felt us, so they immediately just started praying for my husband and I and I remember after going through that recording, you go back Now, the name of the album is Royalty, So going into it, I'm thinking, I'm singing about We're the Royal priestthood, I'm all excited. Downs on the photo shooting, God was writing, no, no, no, I'm gonna show you what Royalty really is and what it really means to be to be my child. And so through that season I had to to really live out. There's a song on that album called you Never Gave Up, Like it felt like the walls were closing it. Yeah, I'm writing all of these songs before that season, not knowing that these songs were gonna usher me through that season. You know, I'm thinking I'm writing for everybody, anybody going through depression, anybody going through anxiety. But it was really really for me, and so when we got back home, my husband was like, maybe what do you think about adoption? And I didn't hear just my husband. I heard him speaking to me, this is Guy's way, you know, and so we went through that process and it was miraculous. So my answer would be everybody's journey is different, and you can I can sit here and say do it my way, or you know, your friends can say do it their way. But ultimately I would say do it God's way. Yeah, and you are knowing it's his way because it feels right, you know, like, man, this is me, yeah, exactly.

00:23:18
Speaker 3: And it's funny you say that because when you say that your your test was your faith was truly tested. I find myself now be in a position when she told me it's too late for all that. Now it's like, okay, you really got to activate this faith that you in a different position because I've had faith in my career. I've had faith in how to for God to leave relationships and to guid you through life. But this is something totally different.

00:23:40
Speaker 1: You know, and have faith for the things you can't see, Yes, Like I can see that this relationship ain't right, so I can see let me go and get out of his you know, I can see where my career is going and I can't see where it is. Maybe yes, it's different.

00:23:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, So I find myself sitting in just quiet spaces, praying and talk and to God to like just lead me through this.

00:24:02
Speaker 1: Don't let it like take because sometimes it can overtake your mind.

00:24:05
Speaker 2: I know.

00:24:05
Speaker 3: For like when I turned thirty five, everything was just like going, I'm trying to lightning speed carell. I'm just like and then you get to like forty and like, wait, I'm here already, and then it's like, oh, yeah, it's too late, and you're like, wait what But I know the God I said, it's never So I did La Terrs Whitfield's podcast Differature Wifey And you'd ask about that, and I'll say.

00:24:26
Speaker 2: I feel every day love him.

00:24:30
Speaker 1: I say, you know, bro, I feel like.

00:24:31
Speaker 3: I'm in a space now where if it's meant to be, God allowed to happen the way he wants it to happen, in his.

00:24:38
Speaker 2: Will, not my way. Is I know.

00:24:40
Speaker 3: I mean, I'd be like, all right, Lord, we're gonna figure this thing out. But definitely faith is super activated right now.

00:24:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love it. So I sure, yes, I got to talk about my us when he was like all of them, you know what? So we mentioned the blended family. Yes, And for me, it was such a growing up experience because you're thinking, I'm gonna go in and this is the role I play, this is the parent that I am. I'm a disciplinary this is what I bring to the table, and it was so much different. My children have taught me so much about life, so much about myself. I've had to grow up to become the mother or stepmom that they need, you know what I'm saying, just to fill in those gaps and to be able to do it with their mom and with my husband, you know. And it wasn't always that way. You have to grow into that. I will never forget our two youngest before Asher, their mom called me one day and she was like, you know, I was just watching this podcast with Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith's oldest son's mom and she was like she said something that literally just shook me to the core that I love you the way that I love you because I saw the way that you love my children. And she told me, she said, Tasha, I can't help but love you when I see the way that you love my babies. And from that moment, all of the anything that was a source of tension. We go into it looking like, hey, this is about these kids. Yeah, and so we put ourselves to the side and it has just been such a beautiful experience. I love it. So my oldest is twenty one, twenty two, yes, twenty two now she is she just graduated fair Estate okay, and Charlotte she got a job and everything.

00:26:31
Speaker 2: Look at God right. Yeah.

00:26:35
Speaker 1: So our middle son he is at North Carolina A and T. So he's a freshman there now. And we have Symphony, who is our thirteen year old. So that's the one to try you. Yeah, that's today. And then do I actual who really tried you? Like it's three year old? Like what is wrong with the odors? No, my lady is three, and I'm like.

00:26:56
Speaker 3: Doug adults, yeah, ball, that has so going on, Like.

00:27:02
Speaker 1: People warn you about two, but they don't really want you about three. It is good because they can talk.

00:27:08
Speaker 2: Now and it's back. Oh yeah, what do you want?

00:27:11
Speaker 1: Where's my little baby? I ask him that all the time. It's my little tiny baby. He's like, big boy, that's right. Yeah. The fact Asher is our baby. All love Y'all's little shoots y'all did It's Sunday Shoots with Asher was the time he's a drummer. So Asher plays a drum and it wasn't burst on him like Asher picked up drumsticks probably at about three months old. Wow. And I posted a video the other day of him like playing playing people was like, oh this this used to be like you, but now it's a.

00:27:41
Speaker 2: Real baby play.

00:27:43
Speaker 1: That's incredible. All right, son? Is he gonna be playing for the church? You know, we try to. I took Sunday because he stares at our drummer the entire service. I mean, he's locked Undy in him.

00:27:53
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:27:53
Speaker 1: So while he was staring at him because Asher wants us to carry him so he can see the drums, he can't see what people standing. Yeah, he's fifty pounds, Like I can't hold you the whole Yeah. So I stowed him up on the stage and I was like, just go over there. He was saying, no, not big enough, like oh yeah, her hands that I'm just not big enough.

00:28:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, one day I'm gonna be able there.

00:28:14
Speaker 1: It's so key.

00:28:15
Speaker 2: I love that.

00:28:16
Speaker 1: That is beautiful and I love that your husband's ex.

00:28:22
Speaker 3: I was able to like because a lot of people are not that blessed to have somebody mature enough to say, I love the way you love my children, So.

00:28:29
Speaker 1: I love you for that.

00:28:30
Speaker 3: And to be able to get along, yeah, because it doesn't have to be. People move on, life goes on, but we can all get along.

00:28:38
Speaker 1: And I see the comments y'all like there's oh something like that, and they're like, that's y'all. They don't never do anything.

00:28:43
Speaker 2: And I think you have to.

00:28:45
Speaker 1: You have to grow to that. Dam. I will deny myself for the sake of peace for these children abs you know, and whatever that means, because oh you know, she she trifle and he trifling. It is never gonna happen, you know, that part you have to leave into a place of prayer. But growing up the mature rate, that putting the past behind us. But the only person you can really work on is yourself. And you gotta find out where have I've been the problem? Yeah, you know, you gotta really be honest with yourself because it's we gotta be honest, y'all.

00:29:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, it ain't always that. Everybody is not. No, it is not.

00:29:17
Speaker 1: That is real.

00:29:18
Speaker 2: That is real.

00:29:20
Speaker 1: You have been very vocal, even.

00:29:22
Speaker 3: Through your music about depression and mental health? Where do you stand now? And how important? Because I know now everybody's talking about it, but you've actually spoke about your and a lot of times Christians don't speak about it. So I love that when you sing about to say depression. You on one of my every c these albums, you took them in the wall go ahead, and you talked about your cousin saying with you and how she loves you, like she said, Tash, I can read is no more and you felt rejected, but God was like no, like this, you gotta work on this. What what steps did you take to get to where you are now? Because the Tasha see now like you look.

00:29:59
Speaker 2: Like you do work, you know what?

00:30:02
Speaker 1: And it's I am an advocate for therapy. All of us need to get a therapist, you know. And even if it's not every single day or every single week, or even if it's in seasons, there are some seasons where I'm like, Okay, I feel myself getting a little heavy. Maybe I'm trying to carry too much. Let me get on the phone, let me call it go away, you know.

00:30:21
Speaker 2: You know. So I feel like all of us.

00:30:24
Speaker 1: Need a space where we can release, you know, that the tensions of life, just life in general. To talk these things out. I believe there's a story in scripture that talks about two sisters, Mary and Martha, and Jesus stops by the Bible says Martha's house. I don't think we often put enough focus on that. Jesus stops by Martha's house, and when he enters the house, Martha goes back to working and cooking and preparing for him. But Mary sits at his feet and she worships. I think a lot of times what we find in the Christian arena in the Kingdom is that we can work so much that we fail to take care of ourselves mentally. I believe that what Mary was doing was getting a mental break, a space in the presence of God where I'm seeing for myself, I'm singing about myself instead. Martha was like a lot of us, No, I gotta get this done. I gotta get up and preach every week, I gotta go to work every day. I gotta make sure that I'm encouraging people like you were saying, I gotta make sure I'm inspiring everybody who was taking time to take care of you. And I feel like we can compare ourselves sometimes to those two characters in scripture. Am I gonna be the one who's work work, work, worth working and never sitting down to take care of myself and sitting at the field even if some of us do work in church, You ain't got to be the one I'm singing every Sunday, sit down and receive. You one have to be the one up at the door usherman everywhere. Sit down and receive. Do something where you're filling yourself up again so that you have what it takes to go out and pour more So, I found that space for me, and it wasn't always me. I was the person who was always living in next like I could be there are times like even with that grammy, I don't really remember it. And then it wasn't so much just grief. It was just because I was a worcoholic. I could be like, did y'all answer that email?

00:32:14
Speaker 3: You know?

00:32:15
Speaker 2: Where are we going next week?

00:32:16
Speaker 1: If they know that street?

00:32:19
Speaker 2: Right? You know?

00:32:20
Speaker 1: After this, Empazze was like you gotta get rip like this. It's so many things, celebrate them now, you know.

00:32:26
Speaker 2: It's celebrate that I.

00:32:27
Speaker 1: Want you to find. Sometimes in scriptures, when they would experience major successes that they would build an altar. It would take a moment and establish something so that when I'm facing something hard in life in the next five ten years, I can look back to two thousand and four and see what God did and the same God that did it back then is going to do it again. So stop and build an altar. Celebrate those moments. And one of the things that my therapists would tell me to do I still do to this day. And she told me, make those people who are closest to you, make them make you be present.

00:32:59
Speaker 3: And I was like, how do I do that?

00:33:00
Speaker 1: And she said, so for me, I have authoritis in my toes. I know my sneaker game tight, but you know I have authoritis in both of my toes. I used to play basketball. I broke my toe. Whole long story. So I was like, if I got to wear sneakers, I got to be the best at it. Yes, So I started studying the culture all of that. So we own a sneaker store.

00:33:19
Speaker 2: All this came, yes, correct.

00:33:21
Speaker 1: It started from me having a broke told authritis, you know sometimes you gotta make limonade how to do limits. So she would say to me, She said, make them ask you questions like how do your toes feel right now? Do you have a headache right now? They make they make me be present in the moment. My husband will stop sometimes and he'll grab my shoulders and he'll say, do you have a headache right now? You know what does this moment feel like? You're just on Crystal's podcasts? How do you feel? You know? So those just man little things to make me be present. I'm still work, I still work a lot, but now I think I've matured to the place where take care of Tasha first and all of these things. You know, sometimes success can be fleeting. It can be here today, gone on tomorrow. Have you taken care of yourself? Am I am? I strong enough mentally that if it's gone tomorrow, said, it won't break me down. Yeah, I won't die in that season exactly. That's just where I am now. I love that you just helped me because I know my team back there. Like you for saying that. I know that I want to be sitting in a war showing about you. Where we're going to my arm show?

00:34:32
Speaker 2: Yeah that is me. I'm always like I don't know.

00:34:35
Speaker 3: I think also because I had the example of like a Tyler Perry who like was there with us grinding every time I looked at when I was tired, I saw him behind that monitor. Like I never felt like I was in it alone as the person who was pushing, you know, the whole thing, and he was driving it.

00:34:55
Speaker 2: But we were the ones.

00:34:56
Speaker 3: We were working together. So I think the part is like I never want any to feel like we're doing all this and she just shows up, you.

00:35:03
Speaker 2: Know what I'm saying. But there is a part of where you gotta like let people.

00:35:07
Speaker 1: Do what they are what they do, you know, because you also you're building the culture. So if they see you doing it and then they're like, this is how it is. I have to be this way in order to be successful. My husband says, this thing that rest is Trustsadarius. It's also our pastor. I don't know if you know that. So Pastor Darius is our pastor. Yeah, he teaches us that you know, trust God with with one day out of your seven because God will allow you to do more with six days than the average person can do with seven. Your rest trust. I'm trying to get this Saturday off on Saturdays, make it your Saturday.

00:35:45
Speaker 2: I'm trying to do it this week because.

00:35:46
Speaker 3: Some get you some no, but thank you for us Seriously. I needed that because it is hard to find the moment to just decompress and breathe.

00:35:59
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's important. It was ACTI don't thank you. I'll tell everybody to make sure you rest. And then I'm like, you ain't resting girls to the else somewhere, yees. Rest is trust? It is.

00:36:10
Speaker 2: I like that.

00:36:11
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna take away for this. I like, yeah, yes, this, I gotta remember that rest is trust.

00:36:16
Speaker 3: You have been an incredible merger between Gossaa and hip hop. I love the songs you don't you work with Nicki Minaj and that was like even when I saw, I was like, that's fire and I love. I was like, I love that she's taking these risks. What made you say, you know what, like these are people I want to work with it and I'm gonna do it no matter what because you know you'll get backlash for certain things. But what made you say I'm gonna do it anyway. I'm gonna do it anyway.

00:36:43
Speaker 1: And I love this conversation. I think it's it's great because I've been hearing you talk a lot about the season that you're in. How people the comments about you representing Christ and representing the kingdom. You know, each of us we are. The Bible talks about walking out your own soul salvation. You know, how is God instructing you to represent Him in the earth. And it may not be the way. You know, such and such was called to do it, or those who went before me were called to do it, Like I love Yolanda. Yolanda goals on different platforms that you don't see a lot of gospel artists on. But even her walk is different than mine, you know. And so there are some areas where you have these people where you can you can say, Okay, that person mentors me. My life a little bit looks like theirs. But then there are some doors that God opens for you that's just for you. It's like, hey, I want you to represent me this way, and that's what that has been for me. And you see a lot of different collaborations now, like Kirk does a lot of Chandler has done collaborations. But in the season where I I did this song with Niki I'm getting Ready on my album and it just wasn't very very popular. You know, we had done I had done a song with Common before. But then you you go to somebody like Nicki Minaj and people think she represents one thing. You don't really know ho these people, you know a lot of times it's it's it's it's career, it's the success. It's sometimes it's just character. You think it. We're not judging you based those team.

00:38:12
Speaker 2: Be a live it don't get it's a character that.

00:38:16
Speaker 1: You put on. It's your job. And so I want I got to know Niki, yes, And then knowing Nikki, Nicki has relationship with God and she cares that other people do too. It's a means that she's without flaw. No, but most of us are. You know what I'm saying. So who am I to say that? She called me and she said, you know this, want this. I want this album to be the first one where I put my relationship with God on display. And who am I to say? You can't do that?

00:38:44
Speaker 3: You know?

00:38:45
Speaker 1: And so after hearing God and praying about it, if God says yes, then I'm gonna go with what he says. And yeah, we got backlashed. The comments were crazy. I sold out, you know all this kind of stuff irritable, you know, But when you hear God say for you to do something, stick to it and do what he says. Because some of those same people, now it's years later, have come back there in my DM saying I judged you when that happened, but now I have a greater understanding you now I see. Yeah, So there are people who have come to me and repenting, you know, for what they did or what they said. And even if they don't, you know, I'm sure that this was God's will for me.

00:39:21
Speaker 2: Even the song.

00:39:22
Speaker 1: So we did another one moves on her last album, and that even that moment, so we were in the studio. I went to La to do that one in the studio with her, and we just had a moment where it was like, hey, we don't want to just leave it up to chance that people understand who we're talking about. So Nikki said to me, I want you to say the name Jesus.

00:39:42
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying.

00:39:43
Speaker 1: A lot of people may think this is no, it's going both ways, and there's a relationship there and it doesn't matter how people may judge me or what it thinks about it, because I know for sure that this is something that God has called me, so you have to just stand firm moment a miss of like the backlash, how did you handle it?

00:40:03
Speaker 3: Because for me and you heard me be vocal about it, there's sounds Wh'm like, I ain't about to say nothing else, like I'm good, Like how do you handle it in the middle of because hindsight, you're like, I said yes to what God told me to do and people have something to say, But like, what do you feel in those moments?

00:40:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's painful, you know a lot of and we're human, so you can get a million comments that are like, go, girl, you did it. You're killing me, and yeah, you know that.

00:40:30
Speaker 2: It's like, why said you?

00:40:33
Speaker 1: Just be like everybody over here? You know, I've learned that blocking in a ministry. Baby know I love the ball. Well I respond, I'm gonna give you grace it just lock you. You know, there have been seasons where I responded, but even during that time I may have responded, like once I think I posted something and then after that I just didn't feel right. I felt like, Okay, let me just let this breathe and whatever happens happens. Because I know that Ultimately, vengeance is the Lord's you know, and it comes. It requires a lot. Right now with my husband and I've been studying Proverbs, just talking about wisdom. It's crazy, man, their first three chapters of Proverbs. Man, it will bless you so right now, I think what being able to not respond requires wisdom, that it requires you to say, you know, this ain't about me anyway, you know, it's it's ultimately maybe the person who's commenting, maybe they don't have a great understanding, maybe they don't have a revelation of what you're called to do. And I can't. I can't. I can't prove this to everybody in the world. You'll be You'll be commenting all day, you resigned out when it's somebody else is gonna come back, and before you know that, you you're overwhelmed in this space and it's like, I'm not even gonna take myself there. Ultimately, I know that I'm doing the will of God for my life, and that's all that matters. That's all.

00:41:55
Speaker 3: I love it because some days I have time, some days I have time, and like my friends are like Crystal, who's around you tell them to take your phone.

00:42:03
Speaker 2: I'm living your phone to somebody and.

00:42:05
Speaker 1: I'm like, like, my dog, here's am me and say, now we know you're not gonna respond, do you release us to respond?

00:42:18
Speaker 2: Yeah?

00:42:18
Speaker 1: It was so funny. It is my fans w I tell you.

00:42:22
Speaker 3: I realized I don't have the same thing because they ride for me so hard, so things I really want to say, Yeah, I love you, let them know.

00:42:29
Speaker 1: Yeah it's talking about it was good.

00:42:30
Speaker 3: I could just see that because yeah, I'm like, yes, that's exactly what one to say, but I can't see.

00:42:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I love the black bread. It's my favorite. Yeah, it's my ass favorite. It's a blessing.

00:42:41
Speaker 2: It is, it really is.

00:42:42
Speaker 3: It is when we talk about blessings, do you find that there's a burden and a blessing that comes with being in the ministry, Because sometimes people feel that there's a weight that comes.

00:42:52
Speaker 1: Along with carrying this this car because you're literally calling across Yeah. Yeah, and I think it's a day every day. It's an intentional choice, like I choose to carry the weight that comes with it. One of my good friends his name iss why Younger, and he is talking to us the other other week and he said, we love to talk about the cost that Jesus carried. But I think we live in a generation now of Christians who are crossless Christians or we don't want to carry our cross. And I was like, you know, because the cost is heavy. It is so there is a burden that comes with representing Christ, especially outside of the four walls of the church. Like I applaud, I applaud people like you who know, I'm not standing on a stage preaching. I'm not you know, I'm not Sarah, I'm not Priscilla Shire. But I am Crystal and I'm doing it now. I got to do it through TV and film. That is it's a weight, it is, you know, to represent him in that way, but to see the benefits of it, to see so many people now who say, maybe I'm not like Tasha and I'm not like Sarah, but I see myself in Crystal, that I have all of these gifts that may not be used so much in the church, but they're used outside of the four walls of the church. And many times that's that's where you would find Jesus. Yeah, because we are in church, was walking up the street, little say, he was hosting conferences about ownership and so that that's the kind of God that we serve. That Hey, I do want you to for sake, not to assemble together at your weekly gatherings, but I want you to take that out now and represent me. And that's not always going to be easy. There's the weight that comes with it, but I am I am honored to carry. You know, if he could carry his cross and die for us and do all the things that he did, certain me I can carry the weight of of my little cross. Absolutely. I love.

00:44:57
Speaker 2: You, y'all.

00:44:58
Speaker 1: You killing me. You represent the kingdom? Well, I don't care what nobody says, ooh, you represent very well. Thank you, Thank you so much, because I do doubt that sometime like God am I doing?

00:45:07
Speaker 3: And even in this season, I found myself searching and talking to him more, guide me in the way that you want me to represent you, because I think it was it may ha been Sarah or some something happened during Women Evolved where someone said, we are living in a time where the people that are unlikely would be the ones that are raising up the kingdom and spreading the word, and either people that you wouldn't even expect, like wait, yeah, that's who he's using.

00:45:32
Speaker 1: And I was saying.

00:45:33
Speaker 3: I made a comment about how I noticed, like a lot of like singers and different people, people in the entertainment industry are publicly turning their life there the Christ.

00:45:41
Speaker 2: And bringing the millions of follower guide and brought to them.

00:45:45
Speaker 1: But it was for his word in the end. That's one of the things that happened. Even with the songs with Nikki, there was so many people who started following me or bought my album who they would say to me, I didn't believe in God I am when I heard this song or this is the first gospel I've ever purchased. That alone, I'm like, hey, you know, people, and I get the testimonies to well, what about our girls and what about our girls being exposed to this and exposed to that. I believe that God will cover our children. They will cover those who we are called to who are in our churches and is, but we also have to reach those who are not, you know, and how else do we do it besides collaborating people who represent Him outside of the for a while, so you know, I know that's what I'm called. Well that's the part of So thank you again for that. Thank you.

00:46:34
Speaker 3: I appreciate that is there anything that you can resten to you breaking on what's coming up?

00:46:39
Speaker 1: I want to know we are on the Good News Tour.

00:46:43
Speaker 2: I'm excited about the I'm out there with them, my.

00:46:47
Speaker 1: Kids, but they are I'm Auntie Tasha now so yeah, we're Maverick City and so we got tired. Todd Alvert, Naomi Rage Handler, Tim Godfrey is gonna be so uh, it's gonna be incredible. I'm looking forward to tours always stretch you. So I'm looking forward to how I'm gonna grow as a person just out being out in different cities every night. I'm gonna know if people know that side of it. Yeah, it's also growing every night having these encounters and having this experience in worship, and even having the conversations with different artists backstage and living with them for all of these months. We grow together. So I'm looking forward to that.

00:47:37
Speaker 2: You got a content, you know, I'm there.

00:47:39
Speaker 1: I got wait.

00:47:41
Speaker 3: Yeah, I went to the last Kingdom till they did here in Atlanta, and I had to feel the next day I didn't have a voice.

00:47:48
Speaker 2: Baby, I always up there, you gotta call. I was like, I gotta be if, I gotta whisper your ways. So you do have the tour.

00:48:03
Speaker 1: I'm excited about that, and the books, the devotional and do it anyway I put it. I put my life in that. So it's your little wires and stories. Amazing. Even my childhood literally like watching how it was just a theme in our house. To get up and do it anyway, even though even if you don't feel like it. I believe it's going to be an encouragement to so many people. Oh love, I'm looking at the titles that you have discovered.

00:48:31
Speaker 3: Pursue it, read it heart. It's that's a girl, yes, question it created. I'm a creator, So I love that. All right, So it's a sixty this is amazing sixty day.

00:48:44
Speaker 1: Say mmmm yeah.

00:48:46
Speaker 3: I cannot wait to div say, seriously, I lost starting my day with devotionalists. I love, started with meditation and just really being still. So I'm going to add this to my morning routine. I cannot really no, thank you seriously, I love you and I'm so glad I got to share space with you.

00:49:02
Speaker 1: This has been incredible. Thank you so much. Yeah, and keep walking it. Thank you, thank you so much.

00:49:16
Speaker 3: Who guys, I had to admit Tasha Cobbs Lynnard left me with so much to think about and pray about, so much that it was actually kind of challenging to come up with a gym for the day.

00:49:26
Speaker 1: But if I had one takeaway, it would be that rest is trust. Guys. I'm such a workhorse.

00:49:34
Speaker 3: I love having my hands and everything cause I have so many things going on, but sometimes I just need to be still.

00:49:41
Speaker 1: So that is my takeaway and my gym for this week.

00:49:48
Speaker 3: Today's show was nothing short of amazing and I can't thank you guys enough for watching. You can follow me on all social media platforms at love christor Anda, and you can also follow the show and Keep it positive, Sweetie. If you wanna write into our Positive Outcomes listener letter, you can send us an email at Kedipositivesweetie at gmail dot com.

00:50:07
Speaker 1: In the meantime, in between time, y'all already know what to do. Keep it positive, sweety. I'll see you guys next time.